Show Notes Ep 4: More K-Pop with Rob Cunningham

How does an experimental music aficionado become a K-pop fan? Always on the search for mind-blowing sound (see part one of his story in Epiosde 3), Rob reoriented to fun and living in the present during the pandemic. This led him to K-pop and its spectacular, dramatic audiovisual abundance. We talk about K-pop’s relationship to 80s music, Rob's favorite bands, originality, whiteness, politics, and joy as a compass.

You can find playlists and reviews at his blog: https://theaquamarinelayer.blogspot.com/

Or on mastadon at: @toblaveistobluff@kind.social

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1:54 Pandemic reset

5:10 Intro to K-pop via homeschool conference

9:53 Twice

19:48 Diving into the deep end

24:05 Connection to past music genres

28:34 Functional versus spectacle aesthetics

33:26 Girls Generation “The Boys” as a quantum leap

38:32 Fandoms and politics

47:54 K-Pop Dreaming podcast

53:32 Joy as a compass

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Key links

K-pop homeschool: https://www.instagram.com/kpophomeschool/

Twice “Jelly Jelly”: https://youtu.be/WuLQ5iV3Q64

Dreamcatcher: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1QD0FeZyDtQ

Red Velvet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBnGBb1wg98

Girls Generation “I got a boy”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wq7ftOZBy0E

About “I got a boy”: https://web.archive.org/web/20230120020946/https://www.mtv.com/news/nol58l/girls-generation-i-got-a-boy-new-retro

K-Pop Dreaming Podcast: https://laist.com/podcasts/california-love

Maid: https://www.netflix.com/title/81166770

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More links

Homeschool conference: https://www.hsc.org/

YP: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/JYP_Entertainment

Itzy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zndvqTc4P9I

Black pink: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2S24-y0Ij3Y

Ministry: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2MH5c2sTvc

Guy Debord: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spectacle_(critical_theory)

Girls Generation “The Boys”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pA_Tou-DPI

Exo “Mama”: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KH6ZwnqZ7Wo

Loona https://youtu.be/zW-AIXAnLcE

NewJeans https://youtu.be/js1CtxSY38I

On BTS “Not Today”: https://muish.wordpress.com/2015/12/06/bts-baepsae-english-translation-ramblings/

Politics: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/22/arts/music/k-pop-fans-trump-politics.html?unlocked_article_code=1.4E8.mhXf.l7jYUvwCUm-q\&smid=url-share

“Flawless”: https://www.npr.org/2023/05/22/1177477181/beauty-culture-in-south-korea-reveals-a-grim-future-in-flawless

K-pop and feminism: https://web.archive.org/web/20211213160637/https://catapult.co/stories/dear-irene-im-still-learning-how-to-be-a-feminist-too-k-pop-fan-giaae-kwon

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