An Album a Day

An Album a Day is my exploration into the Korean music scene. This podcast will cover mainstream, indie and some underground artists within the scene and provide both factual and opinionated commentary. The biggest benefit to sharing my thoughts this way is that it will hopefully expose you to more great music and exploration of your own.

Happy new year, listeners! 2021 is here and if you’re on the show’s newsletter email list, then you know I was so over 2020 that I mistakenly put 2019 as the Rookie Roundup year. Whew boy, I’m glad it’s over and strongly encourage you to continue wearing a mask, keeping your body and surroundings as clean as possible, and respecting the boundaries that others have  while we move into more months in the pandemic. It’s not over, listeners… be safe. Today not only marks the start of Season 5, but the first overview of 2020 rookie groups. These are not deep discography dives, but a sampling of what I experienced and potentially something might spark your interest. Aespa, B.O.Y. [B-Of-You], BAE173, Blackswan, and Botopass, right after the drop.

You’re tuned into An Album a Day. Show start.

Hey y’all, if you still have not heard the final two episodes from Season 4, please continue to keep an eye out for when they publicly post. As previously mentioned, some podcasts experienced delays in publishing and distribution on various platforms over the holidays. It could very well impact this episode, too, but I at least have peace of mind that schedules were maintained nonetheless. I’m happy to inform you that this and several upcoming episodes are sponsored by Melophile Candles, a brand creating ambiance for music lovers with candles and accompaniments. Visit www.melophilecandles.com to join the mailing list and follow the Instagram account at melophilecandles for updates. Let’s traverse today’s new groups, first with SM Entertainment girl group Aespa.

Aespa’s debut was November 17, 2020, and caused quite a stir with their pre-debut teasers. You see, the four-member group aren’t just living, breathing new artists. The “ae” in the group name stands for “avatar experience,” as members Karina, Giselle, Winter and Ningning also exist virtually. Thus, “aespa” is to reflect the avatar experience and “aspect” of existing in two worlds. Beyond the interesting band name, the individual member’s names detract from their origin, so to speak. In recent years, Korean families have named their children with shorter names, but to fully omit traditional or modern Korean names for this group -- I mean, for what? International appeal has clearly been proven to not matter too much when it comes to member’s names since at least 2014, when Aespa’s senior labelmates Red Velvet came onto the scene. This choice sticks out more to me with girl groups than the guys. Why not use the Korean, Chinese, and Japanese names of these young women, versus perpetuating imperialism? I digress. Let’s talk about the music.

Aespa’s debut single, “Black Mamba,” was over-the-top, visibly expensive, and freaked me out because there was a giant virtual black mamba in it. I hate snakes, all reptiles, actually. So I’m grateful that I don’t take videos into consideration for this podcast because this would have a fat F for FREAKED OUT. As a fan of the League of Legends virtual group K/DA, there were noticeable thematic similarities but the songs are very different. And much like Red Velvet, the debut song is one I’m fine with skipping. The choreography was dynamic while the costuming was -- you know what? They’re 22nd century edgy Red Velvet. I’m saying it now, based on vocal strength and diverting from the experimental vibes of disbanded SM group F(x). The song doesn’t tell you much about how well the ladies sing, but SM Entertainment’s free online concert at the end and start of both years showed group