BTS

Colette Balmain’s top 10 Kpop music videos of 2018

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by Colette Balmain on 1 January, 2019

in 2018 year-end posts | Music features | Recorded music reviews | VoDs

My top 10 Kpop videos of 2018, chosen on the basis of their visuals, storytelling, songwriting and musicality: 10. #Cookie Jar (Red Velvet) Red Velvet are one of the few girl groups to successfully switch between the girl crush and cute concepts. #Cookie Jar, their single from their first Japanese EP, combines the sweet & […]

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A review of the London Korean cultural year 2018

by Philip Gowman 28 December 2018
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Every year at this stage in the year, I look back on the cultural highlights, whether they be live performances, exhibitions, movies or books that I have encountered over the past twelve months. Every year I lament that I’ve been unable to cover everything, that I’m getting slower and that there’s been even more to […]

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It will pass, someday: Gothic ethereality and introspection in RM’s Mono

by Colette Balmain 6 December 2018
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RM’s second mixtape, Mono, dropped on 23 October 2018 almost two and a half years after the self-titled RM, which was released on 20 March 2015. Mono was accompanied by a music video for the final track “Forever Rain” with lyric videos released for “Seoul” and “Moonchild” on 23 and 24 October respectively. It followed J-Hope’s earlier […]

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The BTS Love Yourself o2 concert – a fresh perspective

by Gargi Sengupta 30 October 2018
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LKL’s young contributor Gargi Sengupta, who reported from the Sheffield Korea Day earlier this year, provides her second report – from the biggest KPOP event in London ever! On the 10th of October I went with my father to watch the BTS concert at the London o2. Since I have been a HUGE fan of […]

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Affective becomings and musical transformations: BTS take London

by Colette Balmain 23 October 2018
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Dr Colette Balmain, or maybe a ghost writer, reports from the biggest KPOP event in the UK this year: Taking the Plunge This is the first concert review that I have written although I have been to many concerts, some of which I have good memories of and others which I wish I could press […]

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BTS’s busy couple of weeks

by Philip Gowman 16 October 2018
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It’s been a busy couple of weeks for Korea’s biggest band: A speech for UNICEF at the United Nations on 24 September. The speech, by the band’s leader Kim Namjun (aka RM), ended as follows: Like most people, I’ve made many and plenty mistakes in my life. I have many faults and I have many […]

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The end of the journey: desire, recognition and redemption in BTS’s “IDOL”

by Colette Balmain 1 October 2018
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Dr Colette Balmain examines the culmination of the BTS Love Yourself series: “IDOL” is the lead single from BTS’s final album in the “Love Yourself” series. The series comprises one extended storyworld music video, Love Yourself 起 Wonder; one mini album, Love Yourself 承 Her; one full length album, Love Yourself 轉 Tear; and one […]

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The Garden of the Forking Paths: Difference and Repetition in BTS “Epiphany”

by Colette Balmain 21 August 2018
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Dr Colette Balmain examines the BTS comeback trailer for Love Yourself 結 Answer: “Epiphany” is the comeback trailer for BTS’ last entry in the LOVE YOURSELF Series: Love Yourself 結 Answer. LOVE YOURSELF is a transmedia and multimedia project involving the expansion of the BTS Universe through the construction of a metafictional storyworld established by Music […]

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BTS “Love Yourself” World Tour in London

by Events Editor 2 June 2018
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If you’re very lucky, you might still be able to get tickets for this, probably the biggest K-pop event in the UK this year. The website occasionally releases a few more for sale. BTS “Love Yourself” World Tour in London The O2 Arena 9 – 10 October 2018 Tickets BTS will kick off ‘LOVE YOURSELF’ […]

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Artistry, Creativity & Emotionality: Choreographies of the self in “Fake Love”

by Colette Balmain 31 May 2018
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Dr Colette Balmain examines the lead single from BTS’s Love Yourself 轉 Tear: “Fake Love” is the lead single from BTS’ third studio album Love Yourself 轉 Tear (they have also released three Japanese studio albums, two repackages, five EPs and two single albums to date) and follows, both temporally and thematically, the comeback trailer “Singularity” […]

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Trajectories of Meaning in “Singularity” – the BTS Comeback Trailer: Love Yourself 轉 Tear

by Colette Balmain 14 May 2018
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Dr Colette Balmain analyses the comeback trailer for BTS’s third studio album: From Serendipity to Singularity: A Universe of Meaning “Singularity” is the comeback trailer for BTS’ third studio or full length album, Love Yourself: Tear which will be released on 18th May 2018. This follows up the mini album or EP, Love Yourself: Her […]

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BTS featured in BBC K-pop documentary

by Philip Gowman 21 January 2018
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Adele Roberts, who hosts BBC Radio 1’s Early Breakfast Show, thrilled UK K-pop followers and BTS Army members on 2 October 2017 when she played BTS for the first time on the BBC as part of a Best New Pop feature. That track, DNA, along with Mic Drop, have featured several times on the BBC […]

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