Mandopop: Yen-j (Yan Jue / 嚴爵)

The Taiwanese singer Yen-j has mostly done softer pop songs so far, nice for sure, but ultimately slightly to boring for my taste. The new "Contemporary Art" is therefore (hopefully) a much appreciated re-boot of his msuical vocabulary, as it is both visually and musically more lively. He doesn't come close to what for example A Mei, but it is still a refreshing.

• Yen-j - Contemporary Art (現代藝術)
• Yen-j - As Usual (照樣)
• Yen-j - π
• Yen-j - Something

Kpop: Girl's Day - Darling (달링)

Girl's Day will with all certainty have one of my top songs this year, but it will not be with the new "Darling", but with the early january release "Something". Darling is a trip backwards for Girl's Day, as they exchange the sexy concept for the traditional aegyo (cute) theme. This isn't bad in itself, but it is combined with a song that really isn't that exciting in any way, just…standard pretty-girl-group fare. The four members of Girl's Day do what they can with the music they are given, like good actors with a bad script, so if you are a fan of them, this is still worth your while.

• Girl's Day - Darling (달링)

Kpop: AOA - Miniskirt (짧은 치마)

AoA (or Ace of Angels) did one of my favorite kpop songs of 2013 with their "Confused", where they like many other kpop groups this last year began moving into more overt sexualized terrain. This is continued in "Miniskirt", which will probably be remembered as "the zipper song" as they use it to show of the upper reaches of their legs in a way similar to the recent Girl's Day video "Something". While I think that video actually pulled of the sexy look, I find myself being a little unconfortable with Miniskirt. There is nothing inherently wrong with using this kind of "styling", but as with all other choices of looks it should be done well. My view is that AoA in this video veers into tacky, leaving us with a song that is, if not as good as Confused, best played on audio only. Also, is that pussycat at the end an intentional joke or what?...

• AOA - Miniskirt (짧은 치마)