On the morning of December 26th, I was shocked to find not only a new YouTube video of Youngji and Mijoo together, a new Seulgi video (guest-starring Joy), but a Byul the Gatekeeper episode with the entire 9294* crew. It was a true Christmas miracle. … More A Very 9294* Christmas
Mijoo. I have to hand it to Mijoo. Seulgi couldn’t get it done, nor Youngji or Hyojung. Well, they did so partially. As covered last time, Seulgi hosted Youngji and Mijoo on her Hi Seulgi YouTube channel, but Hyojung couldn’t make it. Since then, Youngji had Seulgi and Hyojung on her channel but no Mijoo (and no subtitles). At some point, Hyojung managed to gather everyone, but barely filmed it. Now, believe me, I understand. These are highly in-demand people, and the whole thing here is their friendship. When I hang out with my friends (let’s say I have them), I’m not gonna think to record it. Perhaps it takes a special occasion, like a birthday, and who else’s but Mijoo’s? As it turns out, she was responsible for the entire ‘94 Line to begin with. As Youngji puts it in the resulting video on Mijoo’s channel, linked above, she was too lazy to keep meeting up with everyone individually, and had them all get together as a group. And this includes Moonbyul now, as they rechristen the group: 9294*, with the asterisk a reference to “byul” which means “star.” How lovely! … More The ‘94 Line: War Stories
My initial reaction to Cosmic should’ve been a bellwether. I don’t know if it’s just how I respond to music generally or if it’s something about Red Velvet specifically, but upon each of their new releases, I tend to have relatively neutral feelings at first. This has led to the observation of a sociological phenomenon – localized entirely in myself – where I think, “Academically, I recognize that this song is good, but it hasn’t hit me yet,” and I know it will soon. That’s finally happened with Cosmic. I’d been able to recognize that it was solid, but now I can see it’s a 10/10. It’s the best Red Velvet album. … More Through the Solar System
Mamamoo’s 2018 single “Wind Flower” is one of the best songs I’ve ever heard, and its corresponding video is a nice surprise, a Hong Kong-set mood piece with echoes of Wong Kar-wai. Although, my second thought watching the video was, “Is that true, or is it just the blue fluorescent in the noodle shop?” Maybe for Hong Kongers, Wong doesn’t solely define the city, but nevertheless, the four members of this group do their part in staring sadly across wide spaces and dancing in private. As this is the first real mention of Mamamoo on this site, I’ll introduce each member as they come and try to give you a sense of the group. … More My Favorite Shots from “Wind Flower”
With Eyes East 