Kpop: San E & Raina - Sugar & Me (달고나)

With the success of San E & Raina's previous cooperation two year's ago, "A Midsummer Night's Sweetness", it isn't surprising that they came together again this summer for "Sugar & Me". And in both cases I didn't care, and especially with the new song where Raina only figured in a token short five secs at the start (to be followed by a anonymous model for the rest of the song). Then comes the charming Date version and -wham- I love it! The charm and presence is all there, and isn't there quite the chemistry too? ... :-)

• San R & Raina - Sugar & Me (Live/Date version)
• San E & Raina - Sugar & Me (달고나)
• San E & Raina - A Midsummer Night's Sweetness (한여름밤의 꿀)
• San E & Raina - A Midsummer Night's Sweetness (Acoustic ver)

Kpop: Kiha & The Faces (장기하와 얼굴들)

Jang Kiha and his band has made their own kind of retro sounding jazzy/funky/whatever music but with the new "The Smell's Gone" they really lifted themselves a step further with more passion, more catchiness and more fun. It's great and just so cool.

• Kiha & The Faces - The Smell's Gone (빠지기는 빠지더라)
• Kiha & The Faces - Blah (Kieuk/ㅋ)
• Kiha & The Faces - Blah (live. Must see!)
• Kiha & The Faces - The Most Beautiful Song (가장 아름다운 노래)
• Kiha & The Faces - Cheap Coffee (싸구려 커피, from 2008)

Kpop: Laysha (레이샤)

My first thought when seeing the debut music video of Laysha was that Nassun was the singer, I mean...

But then I realised four of the girls are actually the centerpiece. They are part of a trend with kpop girl groups working their way to success via sexy dance numbers, growing a fan-base who shares fan-cams of their performances, and then in the end they debut with 'real' music videos of their own. Now one could just say they are trying to do a more hip hop version of Stellar's successful and sexualized 'Marionette', but the thing is, the song and the performance (yes, I really mean the singing part...) actually grows on you and at the end of the video they got me. This will be interesting.

• Laysha ft Nassun - Chocolate Cream
• Laysha - Turn Up The Music (360 VR)

Kpop: Heize (헤이즈)

Heize was a semi-finalist in the latest season of korean Unpretty Rapstar, where female rappers battle it out, and it was probably just a quastion of time before she got som solo succes and I think with what the two singles so far has shown it should come true. I hope her not being part of a group shouldn't be to big a disadvantage. As many other contestants, outside the hiphop competition she sings mostly non-rap songs, Heize going for the soulful and it seems to suit her, and she and Dean really seems to have something going musically.

• Heize ft Dean, DJ Fritz - And July
• Heize ft Dean - Shut Up & Groove