[ADUHF]

 

[ADUHF]

^This also has a fairly trip-hoppy vibe.

 

[Lunatique]

I'm still sort of a newb to Asian music. So will take your word on that. I've run across a number of pretty good indie and alternative performers in recent searches though, mostly in the K-pop and C-pop genres (because J-pop searches are still a bit difficult for me). So they are possible to find, if you're willin to dig just a bit.

Although they don't get as much play on the mainstream shows and charts, several of the smaller, and even a few of the larger Korean music labels include indie and alternative artists in their rosters. Mirrorball Music is one of the more prominent independent labels. But you can find some pretty good alternative-ish music/artists on some of the other more prominent labels as well, like 1theK, CJ E&M Music and Super Sound Bugs!, for example.

SM Entertainment also distributes some more creative and collaborative work via its SM Station digital music project. I wouldn't describe most of the SM Station tracks as "alternative". But it allows some of label's more talented artists to stretch their legs a bit, and experiment with other styles and genres, which is a good thing in my book.

Lim Kim and Gain (of BEG) were a couple of my early favorites to bring a more alternative vibe to the Kpop genre. Following are a few of the more recent tracks that I like though, by a variety of artists. All female, for the most part...

Thanks for listening btw.

It's a shame that vast majority of K-Pop fans don't pay any attention to K-Indie music. There are a lot of really good K-Indie artists, and my playlists usually has both K-Pop and k-Indie. I read K-Music/K-Entertainment news sites almost daily, so I'm pretty on top of all the new releases. It's really hard to keep up though, due to so many releases constantly.

I've posted this song (and other songs) from Eyedi before in this thread. She's currently one of my favorite K-Indie artists. Unfortunately she has not gotten the attention she deserves. However, she's currently ranked #10 on the MixNine music competition reality show, and if she makes it into the final top 9 and debut as part of the resulting group, she will definitely get a lot more attention.

 

[ADUHF]

It's a shame that vast majority of K-Pop fans don't pay any attention to K-Indie music. There are a lot of really good K-Indie artists, and my playlists usually has both K-Pop and k-Indie. I read K-Music/K-Entertainment news sites almost daily, so I'm pretty on top of all the new releases. It's really hard to keep up though, due to so many releases constantly.

Agree.

I've posted this song (and other songs) from Eyedi before in this thread. She's currently one of my favorite K-Indie artists. Unfortunately she has not gotten the attention she deserves. However, she's currently ranked #10 on the MixNine music competition reality show, and if she makes it into the final top 9 and debut as part of the resulting group, she will definitely get a lot more attention.

It's possible I heard Eyedi and a couple of the other tracks here first, because I was lurking for quite awhile before I started to post. I've listened to her (Eyedi) other work as well, and think it's pretty solid. "Best Mistake" is my favorite so far though.

I've been following artists like Heize, Lee Hyori (who's really stepped up her game lately), Taeyeon and a couple of the others for awhile though.

 

[ADUHF]

Switching gears. The 2017 K-Ville Music Awards are in. And these are the winners for best song, based on user polling I believe...

Spoiler

1. Black Pink - "As If It's Your Last"
2. Bangtan Boys - "DNA"
3. Sunmi - "Gashina"

Not my favorite 3 tunes, but I've certainly heard worse (much worse in fact ). I've put them in spoilers for now, in case anyone wants to watch the awards video without the end being spoiled.

There were a lot of positive remarks in the KMA video comments on this group, so thought I'd give their video a spin. I can't remember if this has been posted here already, but it's a very high-energy track, so prepare your ears and volume controls accordingly...



I'm not crazy about the sound on this. But it's better than the run-of-the-mill up-tempo boy-band track. And whoever produced the video did a very nice job. I think they're stealing a little bit of a page from one of my favorite new up-tempo female groups, namely Dreamcatcher (who also won a couple KMAs). But it's all good.

Glad to see HyunA, KARD and Exid pick up a few KMAs.

 

[ADUHF]

Pristin also picked up a new artist KMA. I enjoyed their campiness on this track...



There are caps on this btw (which is usually helpful).

 

[ADUHF]

New Younha...

 

[Lunatique]

Pristin also picked up a new artist KMA. I enjoyed their campiness on this track...



There are caps on this btw (which is usually helpful).

I'm a huge Pristin fan. It's my favorite girl group along with Loona.

My favorite Pristin songs currently are:



The remix version's really good too:


And they absolutely slayed the live performances:

 

[ADUHF]

"Black Widow" was good. They probably should've done an official video for that. I'm sure it would've gotten ay least a couple views.

A couple more live versions. Sound quality isn't perfect on these. But it's not too bad for a live recording. This first version is complete, but it only plays on YouTube. Click on the image or link below to go to the video. Volume also needs a lift.



Music Bank - Black Widow - PRISTIN.20170324

 

[ADUHF]

This shortened version is also reasonably good. You can hear a little more of the live mics on this.

This does not need volume lifted btw. It can be played at more normal levels. So adjust accordingly.

 

[ADUHF]

Pristin also received a MAMA for best new female artist...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Mnet_Asian_Music_Awards#Winners_and_nominees

 

[Lunatique]

Pristin also received a MAMA for best new female artist...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2017_Mnet_Asian_Music_Awards#Winners_and_nominees

Yep, I was really happy and surprised, because based on the public voting, it seemed like they had no chance at all of winning, even though I felt they really deserved it. I hope the win will significantly boost their career. Maybe Kyla will be back with the group before their next comeback.

 

[SilverEars]

I didn't know Na-young is in Pristin. Na-young was part of group I.O.I that was was put together from the finalist from the TV show Produce 101, and got disbanded(unfortunately) due to the temporary contract expiring.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Produce_101

I personally think I.O.I was fun group to watch on Variety shows. A lot of the members have entertaining personalities/characters that their variety show presence made them entertaining to watch.

Na-young on I.O.I

 

[ADUHF]

(Weekly Idol EP.266) I.O.I Who is Queen of ugly dance?

LOL. I can't watch stuff like this, because I get addicted. After Minzy joined the cast of "Sister's Slam Dunk" (which also included So-mi), I got pretty hooked on the show, and couldn't really watch much else for a few months.

It's hard for me to say which of the ladies is worst. So -mi had some very nice moves. But I think Chung-ha and Yoo-jung also brought something special to the table. The best part of course are the others' reactions, particularly So-hye's.

 

[Lunatique]

I didn't know Na-young is in Pristin. Na-young was part of group I.O.I that was was put together from the finalist from the TV show Produce 101, and got disbanded(unfortunately) due to the temporary contract expiring.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Produce_101

I personally think I.O.I was fun group to watch on Variety shows. A lot of the members have entertaining personalities/characters that their variety show presence made them entertaining to watch.

Na-young on I.O.I

If you never watched Produce 101 (season one), I highly recommend it, because you get the see the entire journey of how I.O.I was put together (not to mention many of the trainees who didn't make it ended up in some of the current girl groups or debuted as solo artists), all the very talented trainees performing and competing, the friendships that were made, the tears, the laughter, the drama, etc. It's still the best reality competition show in K-Pop IMO--better than Sixteen, Kara Project, Idol School, MixNine, The Unit, etc. I never watched season two because I'm really not interested boy groups/idols in general, but many said the first season with the girls is better.