Kpop: Gain - Carnival (The Last Day)

Not many kpop artists project that kind of darker passion that Gain can, whether it is about violence, lust or love, and the new "Carnival" (from upcoming album End Again) is no exception. The song and video is what I would call artistic (meaning the music isn't in focus ie not so good...) but it is still interesting to watch, a passionate story about memory and set in what must be southern Italy.

• Gain - Carnival (The Last Day)

Kpop: Brown Eyed Girls - Warm Hole & Brave New World

The BEG has returned and as they now get closer to their 10 year anniversary, they have both shared and solo success behind them, so what can they do to get some more attention beyond appeal to their existing fan base? The sexual innuendo of "Warm Hole" was hard to make more explicit without being just explicit (which Korean censorship rules prevent), but visually and especially musically it was just meh. "Brave New World", though, is another case. The video is a spacey affair with almost retroesque scifi looks (this must be just up Narsha's alley I think), and the song is also quite catchy.

• Brown Eyed Girls - Brave New World (신세계)
• Brown Eyed Girls - Warm Hole (웜홀)

Kpop: Gain - Paradise Lost

Gain from Brown Eyed Girls has long been the one female in kpop who has been threading the border of what's accepted in regards to female sexuality in a commercialized korean pop industry controlled by men. A few examples are "Bloom" that was celebrated as the first main-stream kpop video about the female orgasm, and Fxxk U a really dark video about violent relationships.

• Gain - Paradise Lost

Kpop: Yoari (요아리)

Yoari, or Kang Mi Jin as is her real name, has a history in kpop that is quite unlucky, basically she was going to be part of now famous group Brown Eyed Girls but got put in a loser group which disbanded almost directly and has been struggling since then. The song "Excuse Me" from 2010 touched many and will most probably be the song she is remembered for, with a video that suits it perfectly in its personal dramatic touch. On the other hand you have the relatively fresh "Do You Like It?" which still showcases the kind of rocky image that was the initial reason for her being moved from BEG. She got some more publicity for her participation in Voice of Korea in 2012.

• Yoari - Excuse Me (저기요)
• Yoari - Do You Like It? (맘에 드니?)