I watched MBLAQ cover “Mirotic” today, and let’s just not even talk about it because it was not obviously meant to be better than the original, but it just reminded me of the video above, which is a compilation of the high note that Changmin hits in that song, for a good number of live performances they’ve done of the song.

I know, it’s ridiculous. If you watch the video, you will most likely be subjecting yourself to a massive headache afterward, but you will also understand why I. Love. DBSK. They are the only group I will ever stan this hard for.

God! Why couldn’t they all sue together. I will probably never see another live performance of “Mirotic” again :(

Angry Asian Man posted about Boyz II Men performing in Seoul, singing “It’s So Hard To Say Goodbye to Yesterday” with 4Men.

Immediately reminded me of this :(

I’m not a fangirl anymore and I don’t keep up with what they do in minutia, but the thing that breaks my heart is that I will never be able to watch them perform live again.

- SM files lawsuit against trio
- Max Matsuura tweets like a drunk man, essentially rambling about how the group is so over

Dudes, it’s like 50% official, isn’t it? All we’re waiting for is a statement from SM and some webbie out there can officially put on TVXQ’s Wikipedia page that their status is “disbanded as of 2010.” DBSK to stop Japanese activities.

I think from the moment Jaejoong, Yoochun, Junsu sued SM and Yunho and Changmin didn’t, I was expecting them to break up somewhere down the line. DBSK is a group that doesn’t do well with solo activities, and whether or not it’s due to their success that SM has always pushed for them to do more and more and more and more as a group, it really works out for the best because the five of them complement each other well.

They are my only true Kpop fandom but I can honestly say that I expect none of them to do well as solo artists. If they could, SM would’ve pushed for that pre-debut. In a way, it’s kind of a cycle. None of them started out as solo-star material as trainees, so they debuted together, and in working together, they learned to be in sync with each other, and in being in sync with each other, they deviated further and further away from picking up qualities that make a great solo star, ranging from personal traits to technical skills. How many of Junsu’s inner torments are revealed on Japanese variety shows because the other members egg him on? Who’s gonna do that when Junsu goes solo? How has Yunho been able to achieve a lower and lower bass every time they come out with acappella tracks? Who the eff is he going to harmonize with when he’s by himself? Who is Changmin going to snark on? Who’s gonna make Jaejoong dance less like some kind of weirdly drugged bird? Who’s Yoochun gonna rub his crappy preference of wearing flip flops on?

I am expecting people to argue with me already, but if they all went solo, I don’t think their success is going to go beyond having a core group of fans outside of the ones that already liked them from DBSK days. They will never achieve the same level of success as what they’ve achieved as a group together. This is the way Korean pop culture works in Korea. Groups always do better than the solo artists that come out of a group’s disbandment.

I’m sure Yoochun and Jaejoong would do the ballad thing and Changmin might do the light ballad & maybe light dancing thing, and Yunho would maybe perform the same kind of music that Junsu would perform. The only member that is well-rounded enough to breeze through the traditional requirements of Kpop idoldom is Junsu, what with the perfect dancing and singing, but I don’t really see Junsu as having that solo star quality about him, and I love the boy to death. I have never once been impressed by any of their solo performances during Korean or Japanese concerts and none of them have ever wow’ed me with performances by themselves. Together though, they can pretty much blow everything else away.

I’m mad that the five of them didn’t sue together. I’m disappointed in the shitty way that the Korean idol system works. I’m pissed off at the way SM is not trying harder — DBSK is the biggest economic asset they’ve ever had, and could’ve KEPT having. Adjusting their contracts in order to allow the five members to earn more money is not going to be a huge loss compared to the money the group could have continued to earn the company.

Korea’s idol system just needs a bigass rehaul. It shouldn’t be done at the expense of the industry losing one of its best groups.

Time for an end-of-year post. In addition to the music post, which I also did last year, I’ll also be doing a drama post because…I watched a lot of dramas :Db

Favorite albums of the year:

Eternal Morning’s “Soundtrack to a Lost Film” – This album was released in 2007, but I’ve only gotten around to loving it this year. The pieces make me feel like I’m wandering around, submerged under water. Everything looks illuminated, but hazy too, so I don’t know what I’m looking at, yet I want to keep looking. This album makes me feel a jumble of things, but most importantly, it makes me wish I could set every single song to moving image so as to truly make it a soundtrack.

Kanye West’s “808 and Heartbreak” – I like this album better than anything he’s ever done. Yeah, it’s a mystery to me too. But the short of it is that I’ve always been wary of Kanye West because he samples SO much and this album is 80% refreshing and new. “Love Lockdown” is one of my favorite songs ever.

Super Junior’s “Sorry, Sorry” – I basically talk about this album ad nauseum in the rest of my favorite song review, so read the ramble after the jump!

The Bird and the Bee’s “Ray Guns Are Not Just the Future” - Delightful new find of the year. Their sounds are really whimsical and I love the lead singer’s voice because it sounds so clear. If The Bird and the Bee’s music were a person, it’d be a person who’s good at pushing away pangs of disappointment and loneliness when he/she has to deal with the rest of society. But hey, being sad is still being sad, and I feel the album does dip into more melancholy territory in the second half.

Epik High’s “Map the Soul” – Tablo’s writing never strikes me as pretentious even though I can see how it can come across like that to other people. He’s very sharp with his words and his music (as well as Epik High’s music) reflects that aspect of him, along with the qualities he admires in other musicians.

This is “Cipher” from the album.

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I will NEVER forget the atmosphere in Irving Plaza when Tablo jumped on stage to sing this first line. I can see is so clearly in my head: Beatbox DG does about 5 minutes of beat boxing and then he signals the start of the “Cipher” performance and the crowd goes crazy. Tablo speaks into the mic from backstage and the cheers get even louder. We were all anticipating, but even that is not enough to describe the mood of the audience. Even watching fancams now, my heart still pounds in anticipation of Tablo jumping on stage and whipping the audience with water as he raps his first line.

Favorite songs of the year:

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