Music Month in Review (Discussion Post): November 2021

[adenar.livejournal.com]

Hello omona! In a few discussions recently, a couple of users (I remember dior_chic especially) have suggested we start to do roundup posts for releases through the year. I thought that a 2-weeks-later post for every comeback might be too much, so this is my pitch for something similar; a month-in-review post, perhaps posted two weeks into the next month, for users to discuss and review the previous months' releases, see if opinions have changed, and even find see if there's anything they missed.

~BRIEF FOREWORD AND EXPLANATIONS~

- I've left out overseas releases just for now because I didn't want to melt my brain
- i put together the spreadsheet because i knew that if i put all that information in a post i would go over the character limit by like, 200%. I think it's a good compromise between 'having links to music in the post' and 'not being able to post due to character limit'
- i put the header together on befunky.com ok please don't drag me, this is half a pitch and half a discussion post, if anyone can direct me to a 'download free editing software 101' pls that'd be gr8, graphic design is my passion. i finally found my mouse the other day and i am ready to do this
- please discuss november's music in the comments but please also discuss if i you think i could have added information, taken information away, alternate ways of doing things, etc.

Top 10 commented new music posts;

🧬TWICE: “SCIENTIST” MV🧬 with 101 comments
KAI - 'PEACHES' MV & ALBUM LISTENING POST with 89 comments
BILLLIE: “RING X RING” MV with 30 comments
CHUNGHA - 'KILLING ME' MV with 24 comments
티아라(T-ARA) - TIKI TAKA(티키타카) weki meki's impact with 22 comments
WEKI MEKI - 'SIESTA' MV & ALBUM LISTENING POST with 17 comments
MISS A’S MIN RELEASES PRE RELEASE “ONION” MV, PREPARING FOR SOLO DEBUT with 17 comments
MONSTA X "RUSH HOUR" MV & "NO LIMIT" ALBUM LISTENING POST with 14 comments
CIGNATURE - 'BOYFRIEND' MV & ALBUM LISTENING POST with 11 comments
LABOUM - 'KISS KISS' MV & ALBUM LISTENING POST with 10 comments

The biggest surprise to me on this list is to see Billlie so high; it goes to show that sometimes taking a risk and dividing your audience can actually be a really good strategy, if you are truly bringing something new and interesting to the table.

An overview of all new music posted to omona in November;



spreadsheet with links available here

I've missed some but that's 48 posts of new music, music videos and albums. While kpop posts are naturally the most popular, we have a good spread of genres thanks to posters such as waves_of_light and others who will post literally anything, and have introduced us all to music we wouldn't have otherwise encountered. Thank you to these users!

A selection of releases that omona missed;

Singer Gemini, who debuted under GroovyRoom's label Area in 2020 had a second release this month; his first EP, Inside Out, with lead single 'UFO' featuring Seori. There are 7 songs on the EP, including UFO and his single from earlier in the month, Mia. This is an energetic but chill r&b song, led by electric guitar riffs and a funky bass. Seori's feature is excellently used. You can listen to Inside Out in its entirety at youtube.

cw: blood, wounds

Heize collaborated with and promoted beauty brand STONEHENgE (weird capitalisation but ok) to release her newest single, Beautiful Moments. It's a fairly typical Heize-style ballad, but nice nonetheless if you're into her style of music. The M/V is a little dark though difficult to understand, with various people wandering around with open (small) wounds and arrows shot into them.

Changmo attends a very creepy, very wealthy wedding in the music video for the orchestra-infused r&b track 'Hourglass', the lead single off his third album, Underground Rockstar, and turns to mass murder.

Woollim Entertainment's newest group, Drippin, go through a transformation from gentle flower boys to supernatural? fugitives? in their contribution to the Universe app. The song is synth-heavy and heartfelt.

yodayoung is a 25-year-old soloist under Brand New Music's subsidiary, BrandNew-A, who debuted in January 2019 with 'One Side Love'. She's an indie artist through and through, with soft hushed vocals and a soothing, jazzy instrumental, perfect for cold winter days and warm mugs of warm drink. You can listen to her previous singles on youtube: One-Side Love; Cloud; A Night of the Star.

So, omona, let's discuss!
What are you still listening to?
What grew on you?
What fell out of favour quickly?
Did you miss any releases that you would have been looking forward to?
Who surprised you and who let you down?
Is there anything omona missed that you'd recommend?
Did you find that the reaction to releases in other kpop communities was different to omona's?

sources: me & google sheets, Stone Music Entertainment, Kozypop, Ambition Musik, UNIVERSE_OFFICIAL, 1theK

Comments

[zhyvae.livejournal.com]

Great idea op!! I love a good music round up post, Spotify recommends a lot of kpop to me already but I like checking out stuff that's recommended here :)
Spotify also keeps playing Billlie for me and I really enjoy their music, it's so different for a gg debut!

[adenar.livejournal.com]

it wasn't my idea but thank you! i hope the execution is vaguely ok, i'll keep working on it!
i keep getting bits of billlie's debut song stuck in my head, the only thing that's stopping me listening to it constantly is how much i hate the mixing on it. i love watching their stages.

[darklitplanet.livejournal.com]

going by that list the only release in november i REALLY loved was twice's formula of love. it's so good. icon, cruel, FILA, last waltz, and push & pull are my favorites. i hope they perform at least one of those on their tour!!

i got bored of kai's peaches pretty quickly ngl lmao, but i do still love the mv a lot and the studio choom performance is really good.

i love this post series idea btw!! i tend to like almost everything on first listen bc i am a simple binch who loves pop music and visual eye candy lmao so it's nice to have a chance to reflect on what stuck with me vs. what i tired of quickly after some time has passed.

[adenar.livejournal.com]

"am a simple binch who loves pop music and visual eye candy" hard relate tbh lmao

[paige-nevaeh.livejournal.com]

Glad you included the top 10 OP because I always forget what came out when.

I loved Billlie’s debut. Ring x Ring was a different, but it worked cuz they’re risssssky. The Rumour is the cheesy fun that I want out of Kpop & im looking forward to Sheon’s addition.

Formula of Love didn’t grab me instantly. I didn’t like Scientist, but there are some really good songs on the album. Moonlight is probably my new favourite twice song. FILA, 1,3,2 and Espresso are replays for me.

Killing Me — I adoreee.

Siesta — not what I’d expect from Weki Meki, but Luminous is fab.

[adenar.livejournal.com]

i keep forgetting about luminous because i like who am i so much. i really wonder what would have happened if that had been the title track but the members themselves are so in love with siesta and really pushed the idea/concept for it so i can't really hold it against them.

i really liked that billlie added sheon in for a couple of stages at the end of the ring x ring promotions. the choreo works really well with 7 members and she fits right in - which makes sense because she trained to debut with all of them except the maknae i believe but still. it's nice to know it's going to work!

[gathyou.livejournal.com]

That's a lot of work op!!! thank you, I really like these ideas
Billlie are my winners this month, I replayed their mini album A LOT and even made playlists around Ring x Ring and Flipping a coin lol. Their debut felt really different and they're good performers, I might have to follow them closely :) Besides them, I listened to TWICE a lot, and Weki Meki + Cignature quite a bit too. I expected to listen to Laboum and T-Ara more, but I guess I haven't been in the mood for their newest song? Though I'm very; very happy to see both having comebacks!
From earlier releases, I finally got into Pixy - not for lack of trying, but Bewitched finally made them click with me. They released a MV for it late october so their music got carried away well into november. Dreamnote is similar (though I've been losely following them since debut), they released Ghost and Night late october so I played them a lot in november.
Also Aespa's Savage did a number on me, now I love it. The mini album is pretty good but I used to find Savage bad and annoying, but now I'm jamming, I'm not sure why lol. Did listen to it A LOT in november

[adenar.livejournal.com]

I thought how Pixy's last promotional period was dragged out with so much content was done really well. I suppose it was technically easier when they only had 3 songs on the album (+ english versions) but the content they put out for each song was really high quality and was put out at such a schedule to keep new fans interested without blowing it all too quickly. And now theyre putting out a seasonal song to follow up which is really good. So far, I'm impressed by their management agency.

I too was happy to see Laboum and T-ara back but their songs just didn't grab me. Laboum was more expected as I haven't really clicked with their stuff but T-ara I was possibly hoping to vibe with a bit more.

[dior-chic.livejournal.com]

This is great! Thanks for bringing this idea to life! I think the 2 weeks later idea works better for Reddit since it’s more active there but a monthly roundup is better here.

My answers under the cut:

What are you still listening to?
- Formula of Love by far, I think it surpassed Eyes Wide Open for me though I love both. The b-sides are really fantastic, I love the variety. Ring x Ring for a debut is excellent, sometimes the instrumental will start playing and I’m like what am I listening to??? In the most intrigued way but once it clicks it’s RxR I’m like yes Billlie!

What grew on you?
- Scientist. While loving the album, it was surprisingly the title that was the misstep. I like it now even if it’s not an absolute love, but the stages made me really appreciate it more. Their charm on stage and cute choreo won me over. I do wish the song had a more exciting chorus (also I’m sorry the way they say “why so serious” just sounds off. The ‘serious’ part just sounds cramped with how fast they say it, I feel like with the English speaking members on the writing and production team should’ve considered that…) but I’m playing it more at least. Though it’s unlikely to make my top 5 on Spotify next year lol.

What fell out of favour quickly?
- Weki Meki’s b-sides for I Am Me. Still think it’s a great mini! But that’s been my issue with WM as their music just doesn’t stick for me, even for the songs I like. It’s missing that special addictive ingredient to make me replay it more. I’m sure I’ll revisit it again eventually and be won over again.

Did you miss any releases that you would have been looking forward to?
- Laboum, I really like them but didn’t really tune into their comeback since what I heard of Kiss Kiss didn’t really enthuse me. It grew on me but there is part of the production in the chorus that my ears really doesn’t like, it just grates my ears. The b-sides are nice though!

Who surprised you and who let you down?
- Not sure about surprise, maybe Billlie since I went in with little expectations. bugAboo’s debut let me down. I liked following their predebut stuff and got a little hyped. But their debut is just a type of sound I’m not into so I moved on quickly. I give them credit for straying the common path of girl group debuts this year like also did, but Billlie’s choice in path was much more my taste.

Other thoughts:
- There’s a part of Christmas Evel used on tiktok and it’s really addicting, I don’t follow Stray Kids but I considered checking the full song. After hearing more of it I’ll pass. Not for me lol, but the snippet used on tiktok is fun.
- Killing Me I like but probably won’t replay often, it kinda suffers from my issue with cignature’s song as it sounds too similar to something I can hear on US radio. Western influence will always be in kpop but mainstream pop here can be pretty bland in general so I have mixed feelings.
- joke! is a song I don’t see myself replaying often only because I gravitate to really emotional or songs faster in tempo. BUT I think its really cool, and I appreciate Se So Neon’s work! Definitely glad I saved that one.
- Still need to check out Lionesses, since I didn’t know they were part of the LGBT community. I have to show some support.


Also if anyone is interested, check out New Music Kpop on Spotify! That playlist is updated daily with releases spanning different genres, despite the K-pop in title they include releases in Korea in general. I find a lot of new music there.

[adenar.livejournal.com]

you're welcome, i'm glad you like it (even if i am going to have to cancel you for the comment about weki meki's b-sides)! the thing about reddit too is that it has infinity scroll so it's really easy to browse down quickly whereas omona takes longer, so sometimes it's better to put all the content in one place.

the opening part of ring x ring's instrumental really sets the scene, it just grabs you! i feel the same about bugaboo tbh. i did actually really like the song but i think there's something about the way they're packaged that puts me off. i was excited for them as a group with a slightly older-skewing average age but all that seems to have done is encourage their agency to really aggressively market them to men, lmao. it's like bugaboo is what happens when you want to try something different but overcompensate by overusing aspects of objectification, whereas billlie is what happens when you kind of just do the different thing anyway and see what happens

[dior-chic.livejournal.com]

Also mods is there a way to sticky this for a day, I think with how much work was put into it, it would be nice to keep it up too for awhile!

[daynr.livejournal.com]

Holy work and quality OP!

This month Twice converted me fully; in the last 18 months they won me over but right now they're my all. Kai was absolutely boring, much more than his first solo, but I'm indifferent to his looks.

I skipped many of these, but will go back and listen to the ones that stuck with omona.

[adenar.livejournal.com]

awww, i enjoyed it (mostly!). i lose my days when i get the opportunity to make a spreadsheet. you should see my pokemon go one

i have to admit i haven't even tuned into kai's releases. the impression i get is that he's basically a softer taemin which...is not what i want lol. maybe someday though

[nacomi.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the post.

I tried to post a few day ago, but the tags overwhelmed me, so nothing went through.
I’ll (Hoppipolla) will have a comeback with his very first ep (Kiwi Mixtape). He released two pre-release singles:

Liar (https://youtu.be/ZIrxiR5FDtI) (in November)

and Just Another Winter Song (https://youtu.be/BFEHprwcV5k) (in December).

[adenar.livejournal.com]

the tags can be pretty overwhelming if you haven't used them before. for the post you're thinking of i would suggest "solo debut", "indie", and "comebacks". sometimes if i'm really not sure i do leave a little note in the post saying that i wasn't sure what to tag it with, so that users and mods can make suggestions. If the pre-release singles haven't been posted here before you're also totally allowed to include those in the post, and if they've been posted to omona before what I often do is do a "previously with (x artist)" subheading and include links to previous releases/posts about them so that users can have some context/browse back easily. if you would like to try submitting again feel free to message me/reply here, i'd be happy to help!

[broadcities.livejournal.com]

wow op the work you put into this!!

from november releases, i think i'm listening to weki meki's and sf9's albums the most — but bsides over title tracks. siesta grew on me as a tt, but i still don't put it on on purpose and sf9's trauma i really like too and listen to more, but i prefer singing along dramatically to gentleman and on and on or bop to scenario. for weki meki, who am i is that song!!

i was looking forward to laboum's comeback but it fell very flat to me, it was just very generic. i also liked kai's album, but not enough to listen to it all the time? it happened with his last album too, i guess i like the performance aspect in his songs more.

a song that i loooooved in november and still do is guardian by kim areum and space cowboy, discovered through omona of course <3

[adenar.livejournal.com]

who am i is such a good song and the performances were so good with it, i hope one day we can see all 8 do it. thanks for the kim areum recommendation!

[adenar.livejournal.com]

so real quick here's my month in review;

i still listen to who am i _a lot_. i love that song. I don't actively seek out the rest of Siesta's tracks but they come up on shuffle enough and i skip them seldom enough that they remain in my current playlist. sweet winter in particular has grown on me a little more than i expected it to. There's not a lot else from the month that I have continued to listen to/chosen to download, but there were a lot of songs that I enjoyed in passing. I enjoyed MJ and Billlie's debut,

I've still not actually checked in to cignature's song. i don't know if i'm maybe just a little bit tired out from all the member changes, have been a fan of the girls since good day existed. there's also something really squicking me out about how they're styling/presenting dohee, the maknae. yes she's 19 but she looks like 8 and i know that some of their styling choices are more sexual in the context of kpop than i automatically realise.

when putting this post together i think i was most shocked to see that the post for B.I's Cosmos had 0 comments? This is the guy from Ikon right? Wow we as a community really just dropped him lmao. Mino's recent release also has 0 comments lmao what is going on with the fans of the yg/ex-yg boys

[chiives.livejournal.com]

i think omona in general has really soured on yg, including bp and somi, whose posts get comments although half of them are usually neutral to negative, lol. it's been going on for a few years now and the few hardcore yg stans this comm had have left. they're still really popular everywhere else (reddit, twitter, they also have a bunch of newer stans on ontd), just not in omona.

[nacomi.livejournal.com]

[I’m still at work so I will just post this thought in process (from early this morning) and perhaps some more later.]

The more I listen to Billlie’s album I like more and more songs. It’s a fun debut album, I just don’t like the tt. Perhaps I have to check out the live performances out, too.
I’m keeping my eyes out for this gg.

Releases I enjoyed:
Ha Sung Woon — Electrified: Urban Nostalgia (https://omonatheydidnt.livejournal.com/28445477.html)

Killing Me is one of the more listenable tracks of Chungha. I like it better on speakers.

Through this (https://omonatheydidnt.livejournal.com/28445378.html) ost post I stumbled upon Lee Eunsang and his discography is not bad, especially his debut ep: Beautiful Scar. Phew, Mirage is a fine song.

[kyungwons.livejournal.com]

i admire your organisational skills op!

normally i do do a 180 on songs but i feel like my first reactions in november have mostly stuck. i've been listening to a bit of billlie's mini and quite like it but i didnt dislike their title either, it just didnt wow me but i quite like the rumour and flipping a coin.

i ended up listening to the boyz mini more than i thought i would too, hypnotized grew on me a lot when i think i thought it was a bit dull on first listen? i like it now anyway lol

[adenar.livejournal.com]

aww thanks! it's just a simple table at its heart. i thought if i went full spreadsheet nerd on you i'd 1) lose my entire sunday and 2) put you all off lol

i actually sort of feel the same as you, generally how i've felt about things upon first reaction is how i feel about them now. i just have to keep in mind that the things that tend to be sleeper hits for me tend to really creep up on me over a few months

[myungung.livejournal.com]

Good work OP! To sieve through all must have taken some time, I hope your work has been forgiving for you to pursue this. Have been waiting for your originals since you teased a few previously

I liked Scientist and Killing Me on first listen, and still continuing to like them. T-ara’s releases were nostalgic and I did enjoy them, but yea they’re pretty forgettable and boring, hoping when their budget increases in the future they’ll have better songs.

Siesta kinda fell off because I wasn’t interested in the performance but I’ll let it play if it’s on Spotify. Wish WKMK goes back to something more dynamic

I chanced upon Gemini’s album recently and it was pretty solid, the Seori track is my fave though he had others with MVs. I totally did not realise Heize released something, it didn’t even pop up when I watched her MMA performance. But it was kinda a bore so it’s a nope from me

2am released in Nov? It felt like eons ago. They had some promo but I think omona glossed past them.

[adenar.livejournal.com]

thank you! i have no idea what other originals i mentioned doing lol. i think i remember saying i'd do a street woman fighter primer but i think that ship has sailed now.

there were a few people looking forward to 2am's release but i think since they're more of a ballad group (if i'm not mistaken) that they don't quite hit omona's key interests. i enjoyed discovering gemini through this post, his music is very promising.

[sweetestbliss1.livejournal.com]

I've been listening to younha's album. It is great and everyone should check it out!

[dior-chic.livejournal.com]

It is very lovely! Here is my favorite currently, when she sings “even if I can’t reach the light’ I feel like I’m being lifted by her vocals. It’s very satisfying

Oort Cloud too has a grip on me, which surprises me since it’s not a type of song I gravitate to? I’m enjoying her album but I have to sit and let it really soak in since she’s clearly talented.

[catharsiskat.livejournal.com]

I definitely missed DRIPPIN's new song but damn it's good! I'm really enjoying them, like they're not doing anything groundbreaking but they're pushing the right buttons for me. I learned about them from Omona when they debuted w/ Nostalgia. That mini is still my fave from them for sure. 10/10 no skip album.

Scientist grew on me a lot, it gets stuck in my head every other day lol. Peaches was fine, I liked some of the songs on the album but his first album was more up my alley. I love Rush Hour but the mini doesn't have as much replay value for me as OOAK. Mercy is top tier though, damn. Hyungwon needs to write more songs.

[lightframes.livejournal.com]

Thanks OP!

Mostly I was listening to Twice's album and Killing Me in November. And I was still listening to the Sticker album even though it had been out for a while, but I fell in love with it again after Favorite came out.

[namikaze-jkc.livejournal.com]

This is a great idea, OP!

I've mostly had SF9's and Twice's albums, plus Chungha's Killing Me on repeat for the month~ I prefer the Rumination mini more than Turnover (both SF9), then for Twice, while Scientist didn't immediately grab me, I really liked ICON, FILA, Cruel, Espresso, and Push and Pull!

I also really enjoyed listening to Luna, and I'm glad Oneus got their first win with it.

[dior-chic.livejournal.com]

Yes! Formula of Love has been on repeat for me, if anything I didn’t get into a lot of music in December since I was still replaying FoL regularly haha!

I’m in the November post lol I thought I’m in the December post. I got lost apparently. I’ll leave this up though hahaha

[takemydream.livejournal.com]

Thanks for making this post! It's nice to have a summary and have an idea of what came out when.

I checked out Billlie's song thanks to this post (I hate that extra L) and I like it! (except for the rap) It's an interesting song and video

I didn't like "Rush Hour" at first but now I enjoy it a lot lol

[reader17.livejournal.com]

Thank You, just seeing this now because I am behind and you just did January leading to this list :) Love it. Will have to come back later and listen to the songs I missed!

[adenar.livejournal.com]

aww, you're welcome! i've only done two so far so you haven't exactly missed a lot. i hope you find some music you enjoy!