Almeng "compoSING of Love" (2014)

02/09/21 • 7 min

4 Listeners

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.

Unexpected. It’s the first word that comes to mind when reflecting on today’s group, co-ed duo Almeng. The “little eggs” (the meaning of the group’s name in Korean) are K-pop Star 3 alumnus who combine hip-hop and R&B with an unexpected approach. Their short discography, right after the drop.

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Hey y’all, the Goodpods app takeover is tomorrow, February 10, 2021. I need your help in helping the Black into K-pop Coalition gain at least 25 group members on the app! Goodpod’s mission is simple -- making it easy for people to find great podcasts by following their friends to see what they’re listening to and for podcasters to grow their audiences through word of mouth recommendations. It’s a social media platform exclusively for podcast content. How cool is that? Download the app, follow my profile, Multifacetedacg, and check out some of my favorite podcasts outside of the Hallyu Wave.

Last thing before we get started. BKC wanted to let you know about an awesome giveaway we're doing right now to uplift Black podcasters in the K-Pop fanbase. We're giving a one hundred dollar Amazon gift card to one lucky listener. All you have to do to enter to win is to head to Podchaser and leave a review for any BKC podcast (or an episode of their podcast) in the month of February. We've made it really easy for you with a list of all the BKC podcasts. Just go to podchaser.com/bkc and start leaving reviews to enter. Again that's podchaser.com/bkc and you could win!

Onto the music!

Almeng consists of two members -- miss Choi Rin and mister Lee Haeyong -- born in October in 1990. Unlike our most recent co-ed duo, these two are not siblings but met during their days in college. An Internet search of images of the group gives you no idea what type of music you’ll hear. Even more cleverly, stereotypical expectations will make you believe that once you hear the first few sounds of their music, you know who’s bringing what type of vocal experience to the table. Unless you were consumed with interest from K-pop Star 3 in 2013 and 2014, you’d have no idea that Choi Rin soars in rapping and Lee Haeyong’s grainy singing voice is wonderful. Although these lanes occasionally cross on their October 12, 2014 debut album, “compoSING of Love,” both members know where they excel.

“compoSING of Love” was released with YNB Entertainment and features six tracks, making it a lovely EP. Choi Rin can sing but the woman has range when rapping. Her tone is intriguing and her cadences are worth a rewind, language comprehension doesn’t even matter. Lee Haeyong takes the theme of the album, love, and convinces you that it’s essential to a life well-lived with his gorgeous vocals. And both members joined hands in writing, composing, and producing their debut album, making it a true reflection of their ages and style. They once joked about this, stating in an interview with Korean publication News 1 that because Lee Haeyong had already served in the military, his writing brings more to the music process than similar duos because of life experience, acknowledging their entertainment seniors AKMU in the process.

What I enjoyed most about this album is the fact that they sound mature. This is not a jab at other artists and I don’t want it to be mistaken as such. These artists were already in their early 20s when they made their debut and each single they’ve released since “compoSING of Love” reflects a progression of maturity that comes along with aging. Now in their early 30s, their music resonates most with my personal preferences and similar, more recent experiences. This might not be as enjoyable for a person just entering university or a passive listener to R&B, but it works for older fans.

K-pop fans on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being essential listening and 1 not worth mentioning, the A3Day rating for this album is 5. I’m a bit frustrated that they’ve only released singles since this album, but at least they are still active. Continue to check out the #A3Day Highlights Playlist on Spotify, as it features tracks from today’s albums and past episode’s artists, and I’ll catch you in the next episode, bye y’all.

There’s sponsored ads and social media hashtags but this show is truly supported by the efforts of my MACGoalas, the most amazing fan base a lil’ entertainer could ever have.

Special shout out to my Patreo...

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Onto the music!

There’s sponsored ads and social media hashtags but this show is truly supported by the efforts of my MACGoalas, the most amazing fan base a lil’ entertainer could ever have.

Special shout out to my Patreo...

Previous Episode

Akdong Musician: Final Thoughts

Today marks the end of our time with Akdong Musician and I’m sad to see them go. Final Thoughts are rarely scripted but there was no need to extend myself for what has clearly been an enjoyable collection of songs. You likely know what the overall discography ranking is by now. Albums Summer Episode, Sailing and Happening, right after the drop.

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

Hey y’all, February is Black History Month and I’m participating in activities the remainder of this month with Black Into K-pop! Black Into K-pop (BKC) is a coalition, cohort, and community of Black K-pop podcasts coming together during the month of February, to collaborate with each other in a variety of ways. You can visit https://blackintokpop.tumblr.com/ to learn more about the members and view our calendar. One upcoming event that you can definitely participate in regardless of ethnicity is the Goodpods app takeover on February 10, 2021.

Goodpod’s mission is simple -- making it easy for people to find great podcasts by following their friends to see what they’re listening to and for podcasters to grow their audiences through word of mouth recommendations. It’s a social media platform exclusively for podcast content. How cool is that? Download the app, follow my profile, Multifacetedacg, and check out some of my favorite podcasts outside of the Hallyu Wave.

Onto the music, onto the music!

In 2017, AKMU released two songs to add to your road trip playlist with their July 20th release, Summer Episode. The two songs, “Dinosaur” and “My Darling” are upbeat and feel like the energy of summer, but I remember “Dinosaur” promotions the most from that year. And for what it’s worth, it was lovely of them to have given their fans and general listeners three seasons of music to enjoy, as hiatus was inevitable. Lee Chan-hyuk after all had mandatory military enlistment that began that September. While he served the South Korean Marines, Lee Su-hyun had solo schedules in radio and television.

When it was time to come back together, the duo released the eclectic “Sailing” on September 25, 2019. This album sounds nothing like their past albums, all the while staying true to their unique sound and colors. The 35 minutes of playtime skips to-and-fro between pop, folk, Americana, and rock genres. By the time I reached the third track on the 10-track album, I found myself excited about what the next song could possibly sound like. It was hard to set an expectation, but the course could be trusted, much like the experience of sailing. You step onto your boat, feeling it adjust itself to the waves, and set sail into whatever may come.

And if November 16, 2020, was any clue, their latest release, “Happening,” is a sign of something to come along the lines of “Sailing.” The single album is edgy and a potential prelude to a dynamic comeback. I can only hope for another live album, too! If you have time today, listen to the Sailing Tour live album and sing along to what you’ve learned through their discography exploration with a smile. “This is reality! Reality - ality - oh!”

K-pop fans on a scale of 1 to 5 with 5 being essential listening and 1 not worth mentioning, the A3Day rating for these albums and the complete discography for Akdong Musician is a 10. An absolute, unmatched 5 for the first time in A3Day history -- my usual rankings wouldn’t do. What they bring to the music scene is an understanding of each other’s musical strengths, their capabilities together, and longevity that will surely stand the test of time. They are a phenomenal group and my heart’s happy to have experienced their works with you, listeners!

One more thing! The A3Day giveaway is still rounding up entries. I’l...

Next Episode

AlphaBAT "Attention" (2014)

Its the middle of winter in North America and the covid-19 pandemic experience is almost a year old in the United States. Through your support of the show -- both through reviews, listenership, and in some cases, financial contributions -- the pandemic bumped A3Day around a bit but didnt end. Thank you! Being the host of this podcast is a true joy for me and a true energy drainer while juggling responsibilities away from this microphone. Therefore, there will be a long break between this season and the next.

During this time, I will be participating in guest spots on other shows, mentoring, supporting the development of a brand ambassadorship program within the podcast community, researching and developing episodes for Season 6, and preparing details for the potential return of the podcast festival my team hosted in 2020. Most importantly, Ill be resting. It might not sound like it, based on what I just shared, but know that Ill be basking in rest.

We arent finished yet, k-pop fans. First, our final idol group of Season 5, the men of AlphaBat, right after the drop.

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Hey yall, in 2012 two young men were set to debut as AlphaBAT under an agency called YUB Entertainment. By the time the group made its debut in 2013, one fully departed the scene while the other, Shin Selin, changed his stage name to Iota -- the ninth letter in the Greek alphabet -- and was joined by eight other young men, all named after letters in the Greek alphabet. You would think that he would be the leader since he was an original member, but that belonged to the member who went by Beta. Alpha was reserved for their fandom.

Allow me to break down the name of AlphaBATs members, past and present:

Ji Ha Yong, aka Beta
Yoo Yeong Jin aka Epsilon, the older brother of Ricky of boy group Teen Top
Lee Yeon Woo aka Lambda
Lee Yong Hun aka Kappa
Kim Jun Su aka Gamma
Kim Sang Hun aka Code, whose name isnt in the Greek alphabet and who almost made his debut with EXO
Choi Yeon Soo aka Delta, who almost made his debut with boy group BOYFRIEND
Lee San Ha aka Fie (Pi)
Seol Jun aka Heta, another almost-EXO-member
Shin Se Lin aka Iota
Kim Su Yeob aka Jeta (Zeta), and
Cho Gyu Min, who went by his first name and left the alphabet alone

This was during the time when double-digit groups were the way to play, trying to compete with the behemoth that is was? the original EXO lineup, numerically brought to us by the efforts of Super Junior. Well learn more about these groups later down the line.

After leaving YUB Entertainment, AlphaBAT made their home at Simtong Entertainment and technically made their debut on November 12, 2013, with a performance of AB City for Arirang: Simply K-pop. I say technically because their label at the time selected November 14, 2013, as their official debut date. This is also the day that they performed on M! Countdown for the first time and just what was the reason for rejecting the Arirang moment? Is it because thats South Koreas premier English-language television network? Who knows, but things went well, apparently. The positive reception sent them into the release of their first studio album, Attention, released February 25, 2014.

I remember the debut singles video. I was tickled by the refrain of the English alphabet and overwhelmed by the size of the group. I found them somehow by way of another large boy group called Topp...