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Tuesday, July 16, 2013

[MV Review] Rania - Up

This was actually released last week (I think), but I've only just now heard about it while scrounging around for something to write about. SO HERE'S A MUCH-DELAYED REVIEW~

Rania's latest single is a promo CF song for some resort in Korea, so my expectations going in weren't that high. Especially when they decided to release it for free as a gift to the fans. While the motion is appreciated, that doesn't bode too well for the song quality if the management didn't think it would be able to sell. In any case, the MV essentially boils down to just dancing and frolicking.  But then again, that's not necessarily a bad thing. You have to remember that this is a CF song for a resort. A water resort. Meaning swimwear. Meaning Rania in swimwear.

If I have to spell it out any more for you, this probably isn't the MV for you.
As such, the MV is understandably heavy on the fanservice and easy on the eyes. The dance, while uninspired and obviously just cobbled together to meet a sudden need for choreography, does have its moments. Unlike a certain other dance routine from a recently reviewed MV. 

Bring back the swaglean.
Told you it was pretty basic.
I will give them credit for this bit of twerkin' though. Not many girl groups can
attest to that kind of choreo.
No one's been this blatant in a while. At least the 94'ers are legal in Korea
now, or this woulda been bad. (Not.)
Whole-lotta ass but even I, a diehard Rania fan, will admit that there are not many buns there to admire. Unless I've been spoiled by the likes of Girl's Day and the Yurass, I'm sure most of you out there will agree. I do have to gripe about the mysterious lack of Di in the dance bits though. She's present for (many) of the jammin'/chillin'/frolickin' segments of the MV, but her face is always obscured by goddamn lens flare. I'm almost 80% sure she wasn't even present for the recording of some of the choreography for some as-of-yet unexplained reason, but surely DR Music doesn't expect us to buy this shit:

"Di" is the one in the purple bikini top and studded white shorts.
(4 if you're counting from left to right.)
COME ON MAN, THAT STUNT DOUBLE DOESN'T EVEN HAVE THE SAME HAIR COLOR. ARE YOU EVEN TRYING? EVEN CCM DID A BETTER JOB PASSING OFF THAT COW AS HYOMIN IN THE DAY BY DAY MV!! And just look at this blatant lens flare bullshit!!

OH PLEASE.
("Di" is on the far right. Duh.)
I may be biased and all, but just look at her! Jjangbak as fuck, how could you even try frontin' that shit with me the viewers?! Especially when she's resplendent in the parts of the choreo that DID make it into the MV.

HNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNG
NAE MA EUUUUUUUUUUUUUUM
(Google translate tells me that's the romanization of 내 마음, or "MY HEAAAAAART")
Like I said earlier, the MV is pretty much just Rania dancing around a pool and clubbin' it up at this fancy resort. Lotta eyecandy, because the girls look fantastic. Like jjangbak as fuck. Standouts still remain Di and surprisingly Saem (she really broke out of her previous shell, so to speak). I would usually go with T-ae, but I'm not enjoying that dirty blonde dye job she's rocking at the moment. Oh random note, but apparently the resort features a "snow" zone too. One that just BEGGED for sexualized advertisement.

Like wat. Who would actually believe attractive girls in their sane, rational minds would
EVER go frolic in the snow dressed in sports bras? How did that ever get through??
Blatant fanservice aside, I have to say, this is a fairly good "feel-good" summer clubbin' jam. I mean sure, it's pretty basic and nowhere near the level of their real singles, but it's a pretty good fit for a randomly commissioned CF song for a summer resort. Pretty heavy on the autotune for my taste, but that IS the nature of these kinds of songs. I really enjoyed the first bridge, that shit sold me on this song. Not so much that shitty dubstep breakdown, but the choruses were serviceable and the hints of eurodance and Latin music influences were nice. Best part is, the lyrics don't pretend to be something they're not. This is all about dancing and partying and (possibly) sexing it up, and that's not a bad thing.

I'm sure many of you will question my ears, but I think it even holds up to the "mainstream" normal shit that the idolverse has been pumping out lately. Not that it says much to be better than say the 4Minute track, or the 2NE1 one (both of whose names escape me right now), but still. Pretty good for my favorite nugus.

TL;DR: Feel good viewing experience of girls in bikinis frolicking to a feel-good summer clubbin' jam.

+:

  • decent song
  • that bridge doe
  • interesting hints of eurodance/Latin flava
  • DI
  • Saem
  • everyone looks damn good
  • passable choreography
-:
  • T-ae's unfortunate hair color
  • wtf snowzone?
  • dubstep breakdown
  • a tad Engrishy
  • lack of Di in some parts 
  • LENS FLARE AIN'T FOOLIN NO ONE, DR MUSIC
I give this MV a 3.5 out of 5, with an extra 0.25 for the visual aspect. ;D

20 comments:

  1. Drum and bass progressions with petty, basic electronic summer chorus, that you can (AND WILL) find on anywhere during the hot months. Cancel your cruise'n'booze 'cause Rania brings the mediocre DJ mixes to YOUR speakers. FOR FREE! (Beer not included)
    Yeah- not working. Especially since it doesn't have the speed or beat complexity of DnB, or the woo-crowd of puke-edged 20-somethings to sustain it, much less remembrance. The overall "sound" of the synth are noticeably stock, with 2 lifted almost straight of Cubase. The breakdown wasn't as bad in itself. What makes it bad is that it's uncomprehendingly unnecessary.

    Go listen "Just Go" again. That was a great song compared to this broccoli.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I actually did listen to Just Go again after reviewing this. It made me sob a little because although Up is nowhere near as good, it's still better than 70% of the trash we're getting now...

      PS: Once again, I bow to your technical knowledge. I'm starting to think I should just review the visuals and let you more knowledgeable folk fill in the aural bits instead of me fumbling for words/terminology to describe my feels. l0l

      Delete
    2. I do my thing for leisure, so my inputs are, in relevance, inconsistent at best. A far majority of the people enjoy your formula, so I see no reason as to alter it in the light of some 3rd party's technical obfuscation.
      It's not about you and me. It's about you and everyone else.

      Delete
  2. It's your pretty basic "listen to it when you need empty music" kind of jam, but it works. I really loved the first bridge, too. Wish they had more of that in the whole song...

    Why the fuck are they always sweeping Jooyi out of sight all the time, though, she's so cute. If she doesn't fit beauty standards I honestly don't notice it; even if she doesn't, she's not THAT bad, come on now. And dem vocals... come on give me some sweet, sweet Jooyi time.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think Jooyi's a cutie too, certainly more attractive and talented than at least one other main vocalist of a group she was allegedly almost debuted in (*coughparkbom2ne1cough*). Breaks my kokoro, it does, to see her not given much screen time. :/

      Delete
    2. I honestly don't understand what her company is trying to do, not letting her get any screen time... like, is there a reason? A REAL reason? If you watch the lives of "Just Go" you can't tell which parts she sings at, because they NEVER show her!

      Delete
  3. You know Zaku, I actually wrote an article about this MV before I saw your draft. However, my article was basically "songs sucks dick, mute it and watch the MV." I deleted my article because the gifs were worth the wait.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. GOOD THING, AMIRITE? Why you only want my gifs doe... D:

      And hey, it doesn't suck that much dick!

      Delete
  4. I think Di broke her leg or something so she couldn't dance for the MV. The obnoxious lens flare is so hilarious though.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OH YEAH... I remember that incident now. Thanks for reminding me.

      Delete
  5. I was listening to the song and thinking "hang on how come this MV just loops a single shot of a girl's ass" for about a minute before I realised the MV was further up the page and I had scrolled down.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Trashy, shitty, fun music. I'm game ;)

    ReplyDelete
  7. Waiting for Mr. Worldwide to make an appearance. It sounds like one of his shitty clubbangers again.

    ReplyDelete
  8. This sound so much like those songs you play in the gyms, those party/club american songs, just a bit better IMO. I say the song is not that bad, but just isn't special, generic might be the right word.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. oh and the song sounds so much like it came out of DDR type games lol.

      Delete
  9. saemsaemsaemsaemsaemsaem

    will there be a destiny review?
    tbh i want the dance version so bad-the special effects in the mv look cheap af and inpenis' choreographers seem to have outdone themselves totally this time

    also bap and bangtan released stuff like 0.5 seconds ago.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I don't know any of these girls and this is the first time I've seen a video by them.
    However, the one in the turquoise bikini is clearly the hottest.
    Song is un-listenable-to because of disgusting autotune and otherwise completely replacable.

    Also, their group name sounds stupid.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. still better than those groups with numbers eg. se7en, b1a4

      Delete
  11. Di and T-ae are secks

    I still miss Joy :(

    ReplyDelete
  12. can you make a review for mblaq's (or Joon and friends) smoky girl, just curious since seoulbeats gave them a decent review about the song. Not good, just decent.

    ReplyDelete

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