Intro to INFINITE: A K-Pop Retrospective

I've recently began dabbling in video editing, in the hope that I can string together an artist's entire music video discography and help promote this thing called K-Pop to those who might find it all too overwhelming.

I had to start with my absolutely favorite group, Infinite. So here, in just under twelve minutes, is an encapsulation of their flawless singles run. Enjoy!



INTRO to INFINITE: K-Pop Retrospective by KpopRetrospective

PSY - Bell Bottoms

God, these Psy songs are so stupid. Honestly, and I'll admit full bias here, if they were created and performed by some obnoxious American group like LMFAO instead of an obnoxious Korean, I'd probably dismiss them altogether. This is just my own issue, and I own that. A song like Daddy has the potential to be incredibly annoying, but something about Psy's exuberance to perform and make a mockery of himself is contagious.Plus, he's one hell of a dancer. Better than Daddy, though, is his other new single, Bell Bottoms. It's just not as in your face and... well... it's more of an actual song. Plus, I'm a sucker for anything 80's or disco influenced. The backing track and hook alone are worthy of praise here. The music video is also really clever and well-done, and as usual with Psy tracks, the production is top-of-the-line, robust and impeccable. It's great to see him returning to the kind of material he perfected between 2010 and 2012. Daddy, as fun as it is, feels like yet another diminished grasp for Gangnam Style-level success, but Bell Bottoms (and some of the other tracks on the album), have a bit more heft to them while still managing to be funny.



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BTS - Run

BTS have really thrown down the gauntlet this year and catapulted to the top tiers of the K-Pop industry. Their two part project, The Most Beautiful Moment In Life, has so far resulted in the brilliantly evocative I Need U music video and extended album trailer. Now we've got Run, which is itself a stunning long-form, cinematic music video. It's probably wrong to romanticize teenage gang crime or turn it into fashion, but for whatever reason I find myself drawn to concepts like this. Maybe it's because I wish I was a little more rebellious! I think it's also because BTS have managed to fully capture a mood with this video, and that's an ambition that few K-Pop groups aspire to. Whatever the reason, the cinematography and acting here is top notch, and the song itself is an instant head rush. Taken together with their previous work this year, it really feels like they're the group that's currently leading the hallyu wave.



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Road Boyz - Show Me Bang Bang

This song came out of nowhere. Literally, nowhere. I don't think Road Boyz (terrible name, by the way... especially since in Korean it's pronounced "load boys") were on anyone's radar. And nobody's talking about them, even after the release of this single. They're from a tiny company and their music video looks like it was shot for about ten bucks, but boy did they deliver with this song. Ignore the overused autotune/vocoder in the introduction. It tones down quickly, and what follows is a propulsive dance track that sounds like a throwback to the way k-pop was three or four years ago. I have no idea why it's called "Show Me Bang Bang" (another stupid name, btw), since those lyrics never come up. Instead, the guys repeat "can't let you go" a gazillion times (too many times, in fact). In short, there are so many amateur missteps here, yet somehow the song itself ends up being absolutely epic and one of the best I've heard this month. This is the kind of pop music I love.



(If you decide to buy K-Pop physical album releases -- and my god you should, because they're awesomely presented -- try catchopcd for some of the best prices out there. Use this link to get 5% off your first order!)