"This rookie is giving IZ*ONE, GWSN, Billlie and LE SSERAFIM in one" (STATION-K #04)

[@soomi]

Chapters 00:18 Intro 00:54 TWICE 10:35 CRAVITY 13:23 Moonbyul 19:17 BABYMONSTER 32:54 Live vocals in kpop 48:05 RESCENE (roty?) 54:26 Outro

[@NDjiejie]

The audio quality is great & it is lovely to hear you both again! I actually liked & saved the same two Twice songs as Soomi - I Got You & You Get Me! Loved I Got You from the first time I watched the MV (which was also very beautiful, as you mentioned). The melody was lovely & the lyrics were heart-warming. I don't love You Get Me quite to the same degree, but it is also really nice, I will probably be listening to them together! Moonbyul pleasantly surprised me! While I know she can sing, I wasn't sure what vibe she was going to go for & whether all or most of her songs would be a bit rap heavy for me. The latter part of the album was more for me & I ended up liking several of the bsides (some thoughts on each one I liked below). Like a Fool - I like this, but I need to listen to it a bit more to figure out how much I like it, if that makes sense. I wasn't sure it would be one I'd relisten to much after the first listen, but I think I do like it overall. It just isn't my favourite track out of the ones I like. After Sunset - I like this one a lot & I thought this was going to be my favourite... I was wrong though lol! GOLD - I wasn't expecting to like this, as I had a preconceived idea about what the song would sound like after looking at the lyrics. I was wrong, after the first listen I felt a bit conflicted still, but then I listened to it with headphones & I do like it! The instrumental is really good! Memories - just epic & I love the band/anime vibe it gives me. I was reminded of several bands I like while listening to this. It is very fun to listen to, it just makes me feel happy. I think this takes the top spot out of all the tracks! Without - just a really nice song, I'm probably going to listen to it as background music when I do something. Stuck In The Middle was definitely a different vibe for Babymonster which I was pleased to see, as I did actually like this song & the lyrics & everything was so much better imo! Before I talk about the song, I absolutely love Art Nouveau & Art Deco design & architecture, so of course I loved the video backgrounds & the flowers looked beautiful as well! The song was nice, ballads can't always hold my attention, but this one wasn't boring & they did a very good job (will probably relisten to it occasionally). I am interested to see what they do next, of course they don't have to have this level of visual quality in every video, but I hope they keep up with this general standard in everything else going forward. Live vocals have definitely become a big debate & I can see arguments for balance on both sides, like you said. For me, I do appreciate vocal ability & talent, at least the main & lead vocalists (or those that tend to sing more) should have decent stability & support imo. Stable vocals & breath control are good for all in the group to have though, stamina is important too - if they can't sing to a basic level, even when doing less intensive choreo, I think that should be concerning in their line of work. They aren't supposed to just be backing or accompanying dancers. I am not expecting superb technique (although that would be nice), but I think the companies should at the very least make sure they are trained to sing in a healthy way that won't cause damage or strain. They should also give them parts in songs that are in their range & they can sing comfortably, if it can't be done then the song needs to be adapted, or they shouldn't use that song for the group. I also think it should be mandatory or expected to have at least one fully live performance (so raw or mostly raw vocals, with a low enough backing track if they really feel that is necessary to have) per comeback. Which is how it used to be at the very least! For songs with very intense choreo, maybe just have that one actually live performance or clip without the choreo or adapted to be backing dancers instead of them or something. I feel like it would be nice to hear & also help people to understand what live performances actually sound like & what are realistic expectations of live vocals. Right now, it is difficult for people to understand when they see videos labelled 'live clip' or 'live performance' but the backing track is so loud you can't hear much difference, or they are either just lying completely, or being a bit deceptive about recording it live prior to the performance & lip-synching to that recording. Saying someone can do better or should do better shouldn't be vilified, constructive criticism is supposed to help direct someone to improve & we should have standards, that isn't unreasonable. It is awful that some people have just decided to insult members instead of encouraging them to improve, so much so that some are frightened to even try to sing. That is not how we get progress! It then potentially contributes to companies not seeing any reason to have their groups/artists do live performances, as they don't want bad publicity or the members aren't wanting to do it anyway because they are getting too much hate. YoYo was interesting, I like the instrumental, it is reminiscent of several groups I liked, including Gfriend & IZ*ONE. The song is nice, I am still figuring out how much I like it though. Thanks for the episode, this was another very long comment, so thanks for reading it & take care!

[@CDOG14515]

Thanks very much for leaving this epic comment-it was a treat to read and I’m sure I speak for both soomi and myself when I say we’re flattered and appreciative of such a level of engagement! Was very glad to see you found some definite faves among the big releases of the month! I definitely echo your sentiment about live vocals: it really shouldn’t be asking too much to expect a live evaluation like that from people who are ostensibly singers before anything else! Thanks so much for listening! -Cam

[@soomi]

Hope you guys love the newly improved audio quality. Especially of Cam's mic. We finally figured out how to properly record him separately, whoo! Plus my ear and overall health being okayish enough to finally get back to recording again. I really missed doing this so much. Hope you guys like the newly added song snippets for segments as well

[@CDOG14515]

So glad to be back!! Hopefully look for us resuming our more consistent release schedule going forward 👀 can’t wait to share more 🙏 -Cam

[@soomi]

I'm so glad we finally got your mic to properly sound good. It's such a relief! 😭

[@CDOG14515]

@@soomiyes, that was looong overdue, lol. I really appreciate everyone’s patience with that 🙏

[@belllievia]

AHHH you're back!!! i love the long form podcasts that you guys have been doing. i've been playing them in the background of my work recently aswell! keep it up soomi. :)

[@soomi]

Omg hi Via! Thank you soooo much for the super early support on this podcast video. I'm so excited for you to hear it 😭❤and omg yeah I too listen to long format videos on youtube when I'm either gaming or working on something, hehe 🤭 Hope you enjoy!!!

[@belllievia]

@@soomi im excited to hear it too!!! looking forward to the future

[@soralution]

Oh yes for me, yoyo full version is on Spotify 💙💙 Definitely in luv with the wind chimey ish part 💙

[@CDOG14515]

Right?? I don’t even fully know why that sound is so perfect but it’s really stuck with me 😆 -Cam

[@soralution]

Ooo for the newest twice release, it reminded me a lot of feel special era with its celebretory vibes that cam mentioned as well as the songs actually suiting twice's theme of young womanhood :)))

[@CDOG14515]

Yess, definitely-very Feel Special era vibes! Love to see them back to that -Cam

[@all-kulture]

soo happy the podcast is back,kinda random question but what program did you use for the thumbnail?the quality is sooooooooo good,photoshop cs6 always ruin the quality of mine lol

[@soomi]

Aww thank you so much! Glad you're enjoying it's comeback

[@all-kulture]

@@soomi ooh thank you,i'm gonna check the settings then lol

[@soralution]

Wait thats so cute there are tracks called i got you and you get me 🥺🥺🥺

[@soomi]

Omg yessss I was thinking the same and I saved them both as a package deal

[@Chuu_Vault]

I wanted to follow Rescene.....but all the members but one are minors so....i don't know how to feel about that, bcuz they're music slaps from what i've heard from my friends

[@soomi]

Hi thank you for commenting!! Oh gosh rip yeah the ages. I think at this point it's a bit hard to avoid all groups with minors in them, so I kinda gave up. Although I will probably only bias the 19 year old Woni for now, obviously. It is good to know that later in this year 2 of them will turn 18, which means that at least once 2024 is over the majority would be adults internationally and nearly Korean-wise as well, but that would be the year after. I'm just happy to see there's no 14 year olds in this one. 😭 I also def do feel their vibes/concepts have been safe for them so far, which I appreciate.

[@Chuu_Vault]

@@soomi Soomi i just Checked.....and May and Zena are right now 14 years old 😭

[@soomi]

@@Chuu_Vaultkpopping.com/profiles/group/RESCENE They are 15, going 16 this year

[@Chuu_Vault]

@@soomi my mistake, my mind is still in 2023 TT

[@soomi]

@@Chuu_Vault Lmaoaoaoa huge mood

[@soralution]

Brooo cravity's c'est la vie, cherry blossom and worst thriller gripped me sooooo hard 😂😂😂