K-Pop

4MINUTE: NAME IS 4MINUTE

Name is 4Minute is K-Pop girl group 4Minute's fourth mini-album. "4Minute, what's my name?" they ask, hip-hop style, during the enticing and suspense-building intro track, "What's My Name?" The track features layers of electrifying synth and hard-driving beats. It also has a lot more vocals -- both singing and hip-hop -- than your typical K-Pop intro track. To that end, it feels like an actual song... Until it ends rather abruptly at 1:19.

YouTube Video: 

JUNIEL: FALL IN L

South Korean singer/songwriter JUNIEL was born Choi Jun-hee in 1993. She was initially known as Junie, based on the sound of her last name, but she eventually started going by JUNIEL, which combined Junie with an L for love. So, I suppose it's fitting that she should call her new mini-album, her 3rd, Fall In L.

YouTube Video: 

SHINEE: VOL. 3 - CHAPTER 2 'WHY SO SERIOUS? - THE MISCONCEPTIONS OF ME'

Earlier this year SHINee released 'Dream Girl - The misconceptions of you,' their second album/volume and the first chapter of a two-part album fans are referring to as Misconceptions. But both chapters are nine songs long, however, so it's more like a double album than when most K-Pop artists release a sole album in two or three parts.

GUMMY: FATE(S)

Gummy is a South Korean R&B and pop singer whose real name is Park Ji Yeon. She chose the stage name Gummy because that is the Korean word for Spider. In Korea, she is a YG Entertainment artist, but in Japan her music is released by Avex Trax. To that end, she's been becoming more and more popular in Japan since the release of her first mini-album there, 2011's Loveless. FATE(S) is her second Japanese mini-album.

PSY: GENTLEMAN

Psy's new single, "Gentleman," his first since "Gangnam Style," starts off with a throbbing house beat. It's not bad, but it's certainly not anything special or unique. Not until Psy starts doing his thing, rapping on top of the beats. Then it gets quite catchy. His lyrics are silly as ever and it's hard to not to be amused by him. And, as it progresses, the beats change, transforming into something more original yet with hints of the sound of "Gangnam Style," making it all the more likable.

LEE HI: FIRST LOVE PART II

16 year old Korean singer Lee Hi has become quite the singing sensation during the past year. First she was the runner-up on the SBS channel's Survival K-Pop Star (behind winner Park Ji Min) last year then she was signed to the illustrious YG Entertainment and her first single, "1.2.3.4", reached number one with 667,549 first-week downloads. And then the first part of her debut album, First Love, was released and the lead single, "It's Over," reached number one on most charts.

YouTube Video: 

TWO X: RING MA BELL

Two X, the K-pop girl group consisting of Ji Yoo, Eun Young, Min Joo, Eun, and Soo Rin, are finally back with their new single Ring Ma Bell, which follows last year's hit Double Up.

YouTube Video: 

SISTAR19: SINGLE ALBUM VOLUME 1

Sistar19 is a Sistar sub-unit formed by Hyo Rin and Bo Ra. In 2011 they released a hit digital single called "Ma Boy," which appears here on CD for the first time, but they're only now releasing their first physical single with the appropriately entitled Single Album Volume 1.

YouTube Video: 

NINE MUSES: DOLLS

Nine Muses -- or 9MUSES -- is a Korean girl group that can't seem to hang onto its members. Since they debuted with "No Playboy" during August 2010, they've had three members leave. First Jaekyung left during the group's first year to pursue modeling and Hyuna was added to replace her. Then in 2011 Rana and Bini left the group -- "to pursue individual activities," according to Wiki -- and they were replaced last year with Kyungri and Sung Ah. A little confusing, eh?

YouTube Video: 

2YOON: HARVEST MOON

2YOON is a duo consisting of 4Minute's Ji Yoon and Ga Yoon (hence their name). The first track here on their debut mini-album, "24/7," is something different and unexpected: country K-Pop. The song it most reminds me of is "Blue Jeans" by American country pop artist Jessie James. It's also somewhat in the vein of the pop remixes of Taylor Swift's songs. Still, "24/7" is ultimately K-Pop first and country second. In fact, it would simply be a K-Pop song if you removed the country guitars.

YouTube Video: 

BOA: DISTURBANCE

BoA -- the undisputed Queen of K-Pop -- has been taking more and more control of her career during recent years, so it probably shouldn't come as a surprise that she receives a writing credit for this song. What may surprise some of you is that she wrote the song ENTIRELY herself. Music AND lyrics. And it's fantastic!

YouTube Video: 

JEA: JUST JEA

This mini-album, Just JeA, is being billed as the solo debut of JeA, leader of the insanely popular K-pop girl group Brown Eyed Girls. And it is her first album or mini-album. But she's actually contributed various solo tracks to soundtracks during recent years, including "Geudae Babo" ("You Fool") for Padam Padam, "Because Of You" for History of a Salaryman, "Mia" for Chuno and "Poison" for The Fugitive: Plan B.

YouTube Video: 

GIRLS' GENERATION: I GOT A BOY (TRACKS 3 - 10)

Since I already spent so much time writing about the first two tracks, "I Got A Boy" and "Dancing Queen," it seemed only fitting that I should give the rest of Girls' Generation's colorful new album a track-by-track rundown...

TRACK 3: "BABY MAYBE"

GIRLS' GENERATION: I GOT A BOY (SINGLE)

It was only a week or so ago that Girls' Generation unleashed "Dancing Queen," a four year old track that hadn't been released previously for whatever reason(s).

YouTube Video: 

HELLO VENUS: 오늘 뭐해?

Hello Venus blasted into K-pop orbit earlier this year with their amazing debut mini-album Venus. Now they're back with their second mini-album, 오늘 뭐해? (translation: What Are You Doing Today?).

YouTube Video: 

SON DAM BI: 눈물이 주르륵

Son Dam Bi is one of Korea's biggest stars today. She got her start acting in music videos for others and appearing in an MP3 player commercial. Soon she was appearing in the reality series We Got Married and releasing her own music. Last year -- until June of this year -- she appeared in the scripted television series Lights And Shadows, receiving positive reviews from critics and fans alike.

YouTube Video: 

SECRET: TALK THAT

SECRET: TALK THAT

YouTube Video: 

M.E.N: POWER

The name M.E.N stands for Most Especially Nameable. Sounds kind of silly, and a little boring, to me. And, unfortunately, I wasn't able to learn all that much about them online. Most of what I found was on K-pop sites but they only mentioned that the group released its first single, "Especially," in Japan. So, I'm not sure if they are a K-pop group that is just now releasing singles in Japan or what.

YouTube Video: 

SPICA: LONELY

Following Russian Roulette - and its re-release entitled Painkiller - earlier this year, girl group Spica are back with their second mini-album, Lonely, and it's a retro-tastic masterpiece.

YouTube Video: 

DAL★SHABET: 있기 없기 [HAVE, NOT HAVE]

Have, Not Have is the immensely popular K-pop girl group Dal★Shabet's fifth mini-album, following the release of their first full-length album, the exquisite BANG BANG, earlier this year.

YouTube Video: