This is not your abuela's Asian funk!

NCT DREAM - BOOM
cw: lens flares, supernatural elements (powers)

Flashback Friday to this song that always starts playing on the psychic radio in this household when it starts thundering outside. Which is not the most random association, but still kinda random. 🤣 Old enough to be part of when SM was still building NCT lore, but also NCT lore is maybe no longer relevant to anything? And also I'm still having FEELINGS that this is old enough to qualify for Flashback Friday oh lort cheesus.

CC in Chinese, English, Indonesian, Japanese, Spanish, and Thai

SORAN - Love Crash!
cw: surrealism, lens flares

Something a little different from what I usually post (rock instead of pop) while also being not all that different because this MV is also wonderfully stupid and crazy in the happiest way.

GIMP monched on my previous banner template AND I was having a bear of a time with getting things to work with the previous layout anyway, so a new rainbow-fied banner! How long will it last? Who knows! I am capricious and fickle as spring weather sometimes! And other times I can't be bothered to change templates for months and years on end. 😜

Also, speaking of the weather, if it doesn't stop trying to kill me, I may have to take the week (less than three days now, sigh) off to reset. Maybe. I don't know. Things are still kinda all over the place and the rain is not helping. But neither is not being able to even try to do these reviews until Saturday, so yeah. Something something watch this space for more updates.

SO! After starting out the process with over 120 videos in the playlist, I was eventually able to drop that down to ~65, between doubles and then a batch rights transfers (which I had suspected was the situation even as I was adding the "new" 1theK batch to the playlist, but I had to be sure all of those videos were a batch transfer). What remains is a little bit of this and a lotta bit of that - dance pop and hiphop of course, but also R&B and assorted styles of rock and even some trot and surprise jazz. If soft rock and adult contemporary are your thing, JANNABI dropped a whole brick of videos in those genres. If you're looking for a dance fix, RIIZE coughed up two pre-releases, plus we've got comebacks from TRENDZ, HyunA, and more. Looking for hiphop? Tablo and RM are out to pluck your heartstrings while Young Posse show thanks for their audiences. Not sure what you're in the mood for? Feel free to run a genre search or comment with what you usually listen to and I'll try to offer some suggestions!

Banner slots this week go to RIIZE and HyunA, with additional nods from me going to TRENDZ, EPEX & joan, TXT, and NCT's Chenle. And yes, I've added a new symbol this week: 🔤 for tracks with English CC channels. (Yes, I know, that's not the CC symbol - did you know the usual CC infoglyph is not actually part of the common emoji set? Now you do! Ah yes, the subtle abelism in the systems...)

( releases for the week of April 30 - May 7 )

key:
* content warning - see item below for specific warnings
+ comes with "disappearing" hardcoded subs
🔤 posted with English CC
🚩 other flag - see item below for specifics
⚠️ elevated warning - see item below for details


( the links and my limited commentary )


This post brought to you by my lovely Patreon and KoFi supporters. No obligations and the foster kitties will love you either way.
DW | Mastodon | Bluesky | Ko-fi | Patreon | Discord | Twitch

izna - SIGN
cw: flashing, lens flares, fireworks/pyrotechnics

Includes official translation into English (and several other languages) in CC and the letterbox formatting of the video means those subs stay out of the video. I know the video's supposed to be talking to a boy, but the fanservice is strong in this video. 😜 At least the girls are allowed to use their lower registers as well?

( BONUS Song of the Day: Junny - POV )

HOOBOY HOKAY SO! Yeah, it's been A Time trying to get this post to come together. Considering the listing started at over 105 videos, are we surprised? No, not really. Still having Feelings about it, but, you know, World on Fire means some weeks are worse than others. So if you're in need of a Kpop pick-me-up, well, hopefully this week you'll be in luck finding just the right thing. Or if you need a therapeutic cry, we've got some hanky warnings you can search for instead. The power is in your hands!

This week we've got multiple debuts and pre-debuts (BURVEY, UDTT, Polarix, and Chenle (NCT), just to name a few), plus comebacks ranging from the return of HIGHLIGHT (aka BEAST) to new MEOVV and LUCY. Looking for trot? This is the week for it, with nine new songs from both old hands and newer faces. Plus fresh hiphop, new jazz, and plenty of rock and R&B.

So yes, even with the overly full Mea Culpa section this week, I did eventually trim this listing down to a mere 97 new videos. Which is still a LOT, so I recommend getting a snack and/or drink before settling in to give the listing a browse. Remember, "Find..." is your friend, whether you're searching for genre tags or specific artists from the list. And if you feel lost and want suggestions, I can help with that, too!

Banner slots this week went to ONEUS and FIFTY FIFTY, with additional recommendations from me for D.O (EXO), HIGHTLIGHT, LUCY, maijin, Moon Yeonjoo, Chen (EXO), Kim Nayoung, and Chenle (NCT). Yeah, it's a lot, but I couldn't help it?

( Releases for the week of April 23-30 )

The Mea Culpa Section:
Between picking up yet another channel (for OSTs and yet more indies) and then missing some Japanese releases…. Always something with me, I know, I know. This will lead the links list below.

Kep1er - Yum (Japanese release) *
Hi-Fi Un!corn - Beat it Beat it (Japanese release) *
liimaa - My ears with your hands *
BLEXA - LUMINOUS
Jeong Sewoon - Eternally *
KISU - Face&Pace (audio only)
Yu Hwudo - NADU *
Kwon Jieun - I'm in love
VVS - Tea (debut) *


key:
* content warning - see item below for details
+ comes with "disappearing" hardcoded subs
❌ I was unable to finish watching this video - see item below for details
🚩 other flag - see item below for details
⚠️ elevated warning - see item below for details

( the links and my sometimes snarky commentary )


This post brought to you by my lovely Patreon and KoFi supporters. Did you know these posts take 6-10 hours/week to compile? If you've found them at all valuable, a KoFi would be much appreciated. No obligations, of course, and the foster kitties will love you either way.
DW | Mastodon | Bluesky | Ko-fi | Patreon | Discord | Twitch

2AM - Moment

If you're an ancient Kpop fan like Abuela is, then you'll understand why I squee-ed (and then cried) when this popped up last month. And if you aren't, well, just trust me. And grab a hanky anyway.

EDEN - Suffering for Love
cw: flashing, lens flares

Have I shared is before? Probably. But it's Flashback Friday and Eden is wildly under-appreciated outside of the KQ-sphere, so here it is again.

Everything about this song (melody, rhythm, lyrics, vocal style) is like Eden reached into my heart and pulled out all the things that would sink into my bones, such that I tend to get hung up on it every time I hear it. Between now 18+ "kids" (ATEEZ+xikers (+Dreamcatcher)) and being married, he hasn't made time for another solo release in some years now and that's unfortunate but understandable. I'd love to hear new music from him for himself, but I'm happy with what we get, too.

Yeah, it may just barely be Wednesday still by the time I finally get this posted, but still! A post going up on actual Wednesday! It's a goddamn miracle! 😆

So this week saw a lot of releases by the men of Kpop, which is great if they're your preference, but less so if you're more interested in the ladies of Kpop. Which isn't to say the ladies didn't bring it - they absolutely did, between new trot from Lee Rakyung, jazz from Luca minor, hiphop from JA!L, an OST from aespa's Winter, and then comebacks from APINK, SUNNYKEY, and CHUU - just that there were far fewer releases from the ladies this week. On the other hand, we've got some big names in male Kpop making comebacks this week with yet another MV from EXO's Kai, new music from PENOMECO, a new OST from Jeong Sewoon, and a new solo release from Lee Daehwi (AB6IX), among others.

The week starts off a bit sleepy, so if you're someone who likes to just go straight down the list, be aware of that and watch the hanky warnings. That said, I've had to flag a couple releases with elevated warnings (⚠️) this week, so please take care. And remember, you are so, so loved, especially all my fellow potatoes out there, you know who you are.

Banner artists slots this week were almost a nightmare to pick, but in the end I went with Leedo (ONEUS) and Chanyeon (BIG OCEAN), with additional highlights for me being SuperJunior-L.S.S., Kai (EXO), AXN, Han Seungwoo, SUNNYKEY, and PENOMECO (sorta).

( Releases for the week of April 16-23 )

The Mea Culpa Section:
Only missing a couple tracks and I even know how I missed each of them and it may or may not happen again.

Yuri Park - Prayer
Xdinary Heroes - BBB (Bitter But Better)


key:
* content warning - see item below for specific warnings
+ comes with "disappearing" hardcoded subs
❌ I was unable to finish watching this video (see item below for more information)
⚠️ elevated warning - see item below for details

( the links (starting with the Mea Culpa pair) and my (limited) commentary )


This post brought to you by my lovely Patreon and KoFi supporters. Did you know these posts take 6-10 hours/week to compile? If you've found them at all valuable, a KoFi would be much appreciated. No obligations, of course, and the foster kitties will love you either way.
DW | Mastodon | Bluesky | Ko-fi | Patreon | Discord | Twitch

DooBoo - Full Moon
cw: flashing/lens flares, fireworks

Running out of day, so a bit of a drop and run, but if you think the restaurant looks familiar, you're not wrong.
No, really, some day I'm going to put together a pictorial guide on Those Places - the half dozen or so locations that eveeyone in Kpop use over and over and over again - and this restaurant will indeed be on the list.

Ailee - Illusion
cw: flashing

By accident (this was originally scheduled for several days ago), this is kinda the perfect song for today. Yeah, I'm having a lot of feelings today, some good, others not so much.

( 2 bonses: ATEEZ - Birthday + Ten - Stunner )