100% Ver., released on 1.10.12, is MBLAQ’s 2nd mini-album.

What the heck is 「Run」. I thought I heard a bad horror movie in the beginning. Then a synthesizer/electronica instrumental starts up as the guys go, “You better run, run, run”. And then lots of autotune, oh joy. Plus the return of the classic movie screaming. No, really, this is starting to sound like a bad horror/action movie or something.

「전쟁이야 (This is War)」 is their title track. The song starts off with an announcer’s voice before Joon does this quick speaking verse in the beginning. The guys then come in to bring a strong, intense first verse. I’m loving the orchestra in the instrumental as it creates a dramatic mood to the song that goes together with their vocals. At first, I didn’t like the “OH!” in the choruses, but I’ve started to get used to it and it doesn’t bother me that much anymore. The ending is kind of out there with a piano ended it rather peacefully (compared to the abrupt ending in the performances).

Mir’s rap starts up 「낙서 (Scribble)」 followed by Chundoong’s (?) rap. Chundoong is also the one to start up the first verse. The song has this laidback feeling that is very likable. Even with the rapping, the song itself goes at a constant my-pace-like beat which makes for a nice composition.

Wow the dialogue in 「아찔한 그녀」 is really fast. All Mir at first in the beginning before Chundoong comes in to sing his verse. It has a somewhat similar feeling to Scribble, but has a more light airyness to it. It kinda feels like one of those musical songs, haha.

Lastly is 「Hello My EX」, which also has a light, electronica instrumental. Chundoong starts off with a quick dialogue before Joon starts the first verse off. Synthesizers come in for the chorus as the boys harmonize together. The lightheartedness of the song is actually really refreshing, especially considering the topic (?) of the song.

A MV was made for This is War. This MV does not make sense at all. Okay, so Joon is about to kill a girl. But, what is this, she’s also targeted by ANOTHER assassin. So Joon takes out the assassin and saves the girl. Huh? He brings her home and nurses her back to health where he lives with his buddy Chundoong. But then Chundoong and the girl fall in love and Joon feels ~betrayed~ so he starts beating up Chundoong and is about to shoot him, but then the girl is like OH NO YOU DON’T. And then he fires his gun and WTF the bullet makes a U-Turn around Chundoong and shoots Joon in the neck. Uh, what just happened?

I really like this mini-album as, besides Run which is just kinda ridiculous and This is War, which is the darker song, the other three songs were pretty uplifting and light in sound. A really nice mini-album from MBLAQ.

Seasons, released on 12.28.11, is Akanishi Jin’s 2nd single.

At first 「Seasons」 starts off with a piano instrumental which then introduces the some percussion sounds as Akanishi comes in with some slightly high pitched vocals. The instrumental has a slight synthesizer to it but I like Akanishi’s vocals. The synthesizer does get slightly more prominent in the chorus, which I could’ve done without. I really like the slow pace of this song.

「The Fifth Season」 has a ticking instrumental, which would be the time, while a soft guitar plays in the background. Akanishi’s vocals echo as he sings in pure English (his English is getting pretty good). The chorus has this weird uplift in instrumental where other instruments join in, but I think it just sounds weird. I also think this song is really nice.

A PV was made for Seasons. It shows Akanishi singing along with the song, writing at a lit desk, and playing with some kids. Oh, and he sings back to back with a little girl. Whut.

I really like these songs. But the instrumental of Seasons bugs the heck out of me with the synthesizer. And for The Fifth Season, there’s something about Akanishi’s vocals in that song that bugs me. But they’re both good songs if you don’t let them bug you, haha. On a side note, Akanishi’s hair. I seriously want to just cut it. It looks really greasy too.

Believe… ~Kimi wo Shinjite~, released on 12.21.11, is JUNO’s 2nd single. The title track was used as theme song for BeeTV drama Kaikan Strawberry ~Himitsu no Hanazono~.

「believe… ~君を信じて~ (~Kimi wo Shinjite~)」 starts off with a echo-y piano instrumental coupled with some orchestra for a pretty instrumental. JUNO’s nasal, deep vocals then come in; his voice kinda reminds me of another singer… can’t place my finger on who it is right now. However, his vocals really stand out starkly against the instrumental, so I would’ve liked a bit more interlacing between the instrumental and his vocals. The song is really pretty, though! My only problem is how nasal his vocals sound.

The last song is 「Bad Girl」, which starts off with some street talking noise followed by slight radio noises before a rock instrumental comes in. The verses aren’t really rock, instead it feels a bit like a light-hearted, jazzy rock? If that even makes sense. It’s not really even pure rock until maybe the choruses. JUNO’s vocals are still sounding pretty nasal here.

A PV was made for Believe… ~Kimi wo Shinjite~. So, the PV (short ver.) in a nutshell: JUNO is a singer and previously was dating this girl. She saw shoes she liked and JUNO wanted to buy them for her, so he did part time jobs to get them like a good jdrama LOL. Something like that, haha.

There’s something about JUNO that’s pretty nasally this time around, but hopefully that won’t be there in his next single. I did really like Believe… ~Kimi wo Shinjite~…. if only not for his nasally vocals :c.

Thanks Tako for the request!

愛のメリークリスマス (Ai no Merii Kurisumasu; Love’s Merry Christmas)　by ハロー！プロジェクト (Hello! Project)

髮を飾る小雪を　そっと指ではらって
Kami wo kazaru koyuki wo sotto yubi de haratte
The light snow decorates my hair; I gently brush it with my fingers
夜になればもっと降るね　朝は白くなるね
Yoru ni nareba motto furu ne asa wa shiroku naru ne
Once it becomes night, it will fall more. The morning will become white.
やせた肩を引き寄せ　きつくきつく抱きしめ
Yaseta kata wo hiki yose kitsuku kitsuku dakishime
Pull my thin shoulders together, tightly, tightly, hold me
二分待てば　ふるえないね　胸も熱くなるね
Nifun mate ba furuenai ne mune mo atsuku naru ne
If you wait two minutes, I won’t shiver, my chest, too, will become hot

メリー　メリークリスマス
Merii merii kurisumasu
Merry merry Christmas
メリー　メリークリスマス　今夜逢えてよかった
Merii merii kurisumasu konya aete yokatta
Merry merry Christmas, I’m glad we met tonight
人は愛のためにいきて　愛は人を生かす
Hito wa ai no tame ni ikite ai wa hito wo ikasu
People live for the sake of love, love stays alive through people

過去をつつむ　雪の街を
Kako wo tsutsumu yuki no machi wo
The town of snow that covers the past
踊るように　歩きながら
Odoru you ni aruki nagara
In order to dance while walking
逢えた時が聖夜なのと　ともに信じた
Aeta toki ga seiya nano to tomo ni shinjita
Together we believed on that holy night we met

笑いそうなくちびる　しゃべりそうな瞳は
Warai sou na kuchibiru shaberi sou na hitomi wa
Like laughing lips, like talking eyes
若い時の君のままで　とてもうれしかった
Wakai toki no kimi no mama de totemo ureshikatta
I was really happy with the youthful you

メリー　メリークリスマス
Merii merii kurisumasu
Merry merry Christmas
メリー　メリークリスマス　今夜逢えてよかった
Merii merii kurisumasu konya aete yokatta
Merry merry Christmas, I’m glad we met tonight
人は愛のためにいきて　愛は人を生かす
Hito wa ai no tame ni ikite ai wa hito wo ikasu
People live for the sake of love, love stays alive through people

過去をつつむ　雪の街を
Kako wo tsutsumu yuki no machi wo
The town of snow that covers the past
踊るように　歩きつづけ
Odoru you ni aruki tsuzuke
In order to dance, continue walking
逢えた時が聖夜なのと　ともに信じた
Aeta toki ga seiya nano to tomo ni shinjita
Together we believed on that holy night we met

メリー　メリークリスマス
Merii merii kurisumasu
Merry merry Christmas
メリー　メリークリスマス　今夜逢えてよかった
Merii merii kurisumasu konya aete yokatta
Merry merry Christmas, I’m glad we met tonight
人は愛のためにいきて　愛は人を生かす
Hito wa ai no tame ni ikite ai wa hito wo ikasu
People live for the sake of love, love stays alive through people

Also, that one Christmas song I’m translating; I’m really sorry Tako! I planned on finishing and posting it before Christmas but things got too busy. I have only one or two lines in the song that I’m still not clear about, but I will get my butt to finishing it soon.

TEST DRIVE featuring JASON DERULO, released on 12.7.11, is Akanishi’s first mini-album. The title track was released previously on November 8th as his debut in the USA.

「TEST DRIVE featuring JASON DERULO (7th Heaven Mix)」 starts off with a dramatic electronica/synthesizer instrumental as a voice says, “It’s Jin… Jason Derulo.” The song then goes into a techno-like electronica instrumental as Jin sings about taking a girl for a ride (cough, I really think this has sexual undertones to it. Is it just me?) By the chorus, Jin’s vocals get buried under the instrumental before it goes into the second verse which Jason Derulo sings in.

I’m assuming 「TEST DRIVE featuring JASON DERULO (Main Mix)」 is the original song. Instead of the techno-ish instrumental, this time the instrumental has a constant electronica/drum beat beating along with the light electronica affects. The chorus also has a different instrumental which is lighter and sounds slightly pipe organ-ish and doesn’t bury Jin’s vocals as much as the last mix did.

This 「TEST DRIVE featuring JASON DERULO (Funkystepz Mix)」 is definitely completely techno this time. It manipulates the voice recordings to fit the techno of the song with the instrumental being very prominent over Jin’s vocals.

「MY MP3」 has a quirky electronica instrumental as Jin comes in with slightly autotuned vocals. The bridge before the second chorus has Jin singing in a really high key which totally surprised me at first. So this song is basically about Jin describing a girl as his mp3 or a song. That’s kinda sweet in a way, haha. Although I didn’t really like the way this song is arranged.

Next up is 「PAPARATS」 which starts off with a quiet guitar instrumental with the percussion as Jin sings as if we’re hearing him through the radio (that’s how his voice is edited). The bridge has him going breathy with light vocals followed by a completely rock instrumental in the chorus as Jin’s hoarse vocals sing against the instrumental. This song is about the paparazzi, but I really like how emotional the lyrics are and the song itself is really nicely done.

Last is 「TIPSY LOVE」 which is a sweet sugar-y song about Jin being totally tipsy over a girl. The song is really a weird mix of different styles as he starts off really sweet in the beginning chorus, followed by a rap, then an autotuned bridge before he goes back into the sweet chorus.

There should be a MV for TEST DRIVE somewhere, but I really did not like the song nor the MV when it first came out, so please watch it for yourself LOL.

With this single, Jin is turning fully into American music influences which is understandable since TEST DRIVE was his debut single in the USA. A song I really like is PAPARATS. I would’ve liked TIPSY LOVE a lot if it wasn’t so bi-polar and without autotune.

Milestone, released on 12.7.11, is BoA’s 32nd single. Milestone was used as the CM song for audio-technica and I SEE ME was also a audio-technica cm song. This is her 10th anniversary single.

「Milestone」 begins with a classic piano and BoA’s lone vocals in a winter-y ballad. Once the chorus comes around, the instrumental is joined by orchestra as BoA sings with greater strength in her vocals. The song is a short three minutes, but it is a very simple, yet compelling song.

This was BoA’s first digital single; 「I SEE ME」 uses a mixture of piano and electronica as BoA sings in continuous rhythm. The chorus is sung with BoA singing with her own recorded vocals supporting/overlapping her lines. The third verse has various ad-libs in it that bring great emotion to this song. The song ends as it fades out from her ad-libs.

「メリクリ ～BEST & USA Version～ (Merikuri)」 is a revamped, re-recorded version of the song of the same name released in 2004. As said in the title, this is the version released in her BEST & USA album. It’s the same song albeit with a quieter piano instrumental and BoA’s own vocals being more subdued into the background. Her vocals slowly build up as the song goes on with the addition of orchestra. The original song used a lower piano key and instruments that created the “twinkling” feel of the song.

A PV was made for Milestone. It features BoA being driven around a city as well as on a building rooftop in the sunlight. There are scenes of her standing in an empty performance hall as she sings along to the song. There’s also a PV for I SEE ME which you can check out.

As usual of BoA’s Christmas singles, she brings a very pretty ballad along with a re-recorded version of Meri Kuri, which is a song that I love from when she first released it in 2004.

Trouble Maker, released on 12.01.11, is Trouble Maker’s (consisting of B2ST’s Hyunseung and 4minute’s HyunA) first mini-album.

「Trouble Maker」, the album’s namesake, starts off with whistling, grunting, and snapping. It has this somewhat classy mood to the song coupled with a snobby edge to it. The song is very easy to get into to but the song itself is relatively short and goes by really quickly. I wish there was no rap; while it does fit into the song, the way HyunA is “rapping” does not fit into the song at all. Love all of Hyunseung’s lines, though. At first this song gave me a Michael Jackson vibe, but after listening to it again, I agree with a comment I saw that it gives off that Justin Timberlake-like feel to it.

「듣기 싫은 말 (The Words I Don’t Want to Hear)」 starts with some ad-libs done by Hyunseung in a soft acoustic guitar instrumental combined with some garage drums. When HyunA comes in, some supporting vocals back her vocals. The song has a nice mood to it, matching nicely to its title as a melancholic song.

Next is 「Time (feat. 라도)」, which is a ballad-like song with a soft electronica instrumental. I’m assuming that this is a HyunA solo with Rado as the male vocals instead of Hyunseung.

Ending the mini-album is 「아무렇지 않니 (Don’t You Mind?)」, which also follows the last song with an R&B ballad that has an electronica/synthesizer instrumental. Also assuming this is Hyunseung’s solo song. I kinda wish that his vocals were more pronounced instead of being background vocals when he emphasizes his lines in the chorus. Also wish the instrumental was a little different. Besides that, the song itself is nicely done and is pretty a basic within kpop imho.

I honestly really liked Trouble Maker the first time I listened to it. It was classy and well executed with the exception of the rap. Though the MV I could do without, mainly because of how fail the sexy was (imo, Cube tries to sell HyunA’s “sex” concept way too much to the point where she’s starting to be trying too hard to be sexy now to me). HyunA’s vocals still leave much to be desired, but for the songs they did, I have nothing to complain about quite yet.

BIRTH, released on 11.30.11, is KAT-TUN’s 17th single. The title track was used as the theme song for the drama Youkai Ningen Bem, which member Kamenashi Kazuya stars in.

「BIRTH」 is an upbeat rock track that is pretty fast paced. The boys do a great job harmonizing with one another; they’re kinda adopting Arashi’s way of singing songs (going in pairs/trios) instead of just having solo lines, though I would prefer if someone other than Kame had a lot of solo lines. Anyway, with how fast the song is, it is a bit difficult to keep up with it.

Following after is 「STAR RIDER」 with a constant synthesizer as Kame starts things off with a dark tone to his vocals. And… the re-introduction of autotune. Dang, almost avoided it. The chorus is really heavy with the synthesizer/techno as they sing, “I’m just a rider” (I think, I can’t make out their Engrish). After a while, the pattern of the song gets a bit aggravating, BUT it is a bit tolerable.

「ACT ON EMOTION」 gradually builds up into a electronica instrumental that unfortunately starts off with… autotune. Darn that autotune. The chorus starts off as they say, “And one. two. three.” and whatever Engrish they just spoke… The song is relatively okay, it feels energetic but it is a bit basic.

Last up is 「BABY B MINE」, which starts off with some electronica/techno beats as the boys sing, “B-B-B-Baby be mine” (either that or “They be mine”). The rock then comes in after the introduction, with a dark tone to their vocals. The chorus is a bit more upbeat as they sing “B-B-B-Baby be mine”. It sounds a bit dark for a song asking for a girl to be theirs, haha. It’s really repetitive however.

A PV was made for both BIRTH and STAR RIDER. BIRTH’s PV has them in a monochrome world… just lying around. That is, until they get up and start singing to the song, rofl. The PV mainly consists of their faces being put all over the city and them running around the city. There are also a few scenes in a room with lights flashing. Oh, and they dance! That’s about it. Oh, and can’t forget that Hime (Ueda) shaved his head for his drama. Bald Tatchan </3.
STAR RIDER's PV is also monochromatic and just a dance PV basically. Also, Ueda is wearing a wig, which is why he has a head full of hair in this PV LOL. Nothing else that interesting about the PV.

So this single is basically pure rock/electronica/as well as autotune. Oi. I did like the songs a bit, but it also was a bit… much. There's something about Johnny's songs that irk me for some reason. I guess it's from the way the members sound when they sing together. Although a bit harmonized, it sounds really jarring.

Winter ~Winter Rose / Duet -Winter Version~, released on 11.30.11, is Tohoshinki’s 33rd single.

The single starts off with the first A-side, 「Winter Rose」, which has a classic winter instrumental with the piano, bells, and snapping. Changmin starts things off first with low, soft vocals followed by Yunho. The choruses has a bit more tempo than the verses along with a stronger stress on their vocals against the instrumental. The song has such a classic Christmas/winter feel to it, that it feels really familiar and the boys do a good job singing it.

Next is, as the title describes, 「Duet -winter ver.-」. It’s basically a Christmas version of the same song from the TONE album, with a combination of keyboard, some electronica, and occasionally orchestra and bells in the beginning.

I have no idea what was different about 「Winter Rose -reversible ver.-」 until I looked it up. Apparently the regular version is from the man’s point of view. This version is from the woman’s point of view, so the lyrics are slightly different. Besides that, it sounds exactly the same.

A PV was made for Winter Rose. The PV features two young children (a boy and girl) looking out the window at the snow and decorating the Christmas tree respectively. Changmin and Yunho sing inside the building as well as out in the snow in their scenes; their outfits are nice for once! Near the end, the boy gives the girl a present and the PV ends with the message “Merry Christmas”.

This single definitely screams winter and Christmas. Not that that is a bad thing. The songs are nicely done and the winter version of Duet is MUCH better than the original IMHO.