indonesiapopmusic-blog - Tumblr blog

[indonesiapopmusic-blog]

Indonesia Pop Music is going on an indefinite break

The truth is, I've been really, really busy. Lots of things are popping out right now; college, family, friends, and so many problems and they are taking my time so I don't really have a spare time to do the blog. BUT, I promise once I finish tidying up my life (and my heart) I'll be back to spill the truest tea of anything those flops releasing. Promise!

So, while I'm gone, don't you dare to read those stupid blogs and just have a faith that I'll be back fiercer than ever to snatch y'all flop weaves.

XOXO

[indonesiapopmusic-blog]

[Single Review] BEXXA - "Lihat Aku"

BEXXA's first single is titled "Lihat Aku", lifted from their upcoming full-length debut album. Produced by Raditya Iryandi, who I believe is also working for Cherrybelle's next album , "Lihat Aku" is an uptempo pop record about the girls telling how they made it to their positions now, with some lines thrown here and there to brag about their artificial beauty (which is not so beautiful tbqh) and questionable successful career. The lyrics are so dull that they make me cringe so much to the point where I just can't listen anymore.

But, the worst thing about this song is actually not the lyrics, it's the production itself. How do I put this, "Lihat Aku" sounds like a really, I mean, really really bad remix of a flop song from the 70s era. It's very outdated, lack of catchiness, and sounds like something 7ICONS would be dying to get (it's a sarcasm if you don't geit it). I appreciate how the producer is trying to give BEXXA the fierce and edgy feel by putting some disco-esque touches with the euro-beats (simply because Indonesia needs more disco song), but it's just not it. The production is super lazy with only using the beats as the main instrumental. The funky electric guitar breakdown is cute, but it's the only thing decent from this song and it should have been used throughout the entire song if he wants to make BEXXA sound stand-out among the other girl groups.

Instead of exploring with the music intruments, Raditya seems to be foolishly certain about BEXXA's abilities with him relying 110% on the girls' vocals, which absolutely is his biggest mistake. All the girls, and if by all I mean literally all of eight members, sound so unpolished, off-tone, off-tempo, and misplaced here and there. The majority of them can't even carry simple notes and none of them nails the high ones, as they hideously screaming like their butts are bitten by a dog when they're trying to reach the notes in the chorus. The background singers aren't helping at all, they actually make it even worse with the random oohs and aahs that made me once think whether this is a reject from Michelle Williams' flop gospel album.

To sum it up, "Lihat Aku" is disappointing, far short of expectations, and quite horrible for a song coming from a group who's in the same label as Cherrybelle.

Score: 1.5/5

Along with the release of their debut single, BEXXA performed "Lihat Aku" yesterday on RCTI's DahSyat. And believe me, they were miming the entire song, so we can hear how bad their vocals are eventhough it's previously recorded with thousands of re-takes (God knows how many they are!).

Their outfits looked cute as they wearing same peach-colored lace mini dresses with pairing leather cowgirl-styled belts. Their dancing wasn't bad but it wasn't anything stellar either, so I'm expecting them to get better with each performance as how Cherrybelle did. So far, I haven't seen those x-factors that every group needs to stand out among the others in BEXXA, so it's added to the many things Catz Records should be working on these girls in the future.

[indonesiapopmusic-blog]

[Single Review] Coboy Junior - "#eeeaa"

It has been a few of months with Coboy Junior performing the same damn song in every event they went to. Not that I hate their stellar debut song "Kamu", not at all. I've always loved "Kamu", it's a really good pop song with catchy chorus and good vocals in it (I know that trashy boy band Treeji wish they had it). But, to hear it over and over again for the past 5, yes people five, months, I'm sorry goodbye.

However, you can always count on them. Right when we just couldn't take it anymore, they released a new single called "#eeeaa". Now I know some of you guys might raise your brow when the title came, like seriously, seriously? But don't worry, aside of the awful title, it's another good song that you're just gonna find yourself loving it and can't stop jamming to it.

Coboy Junior are known for their simple but crazily catchy, children appealing, cheesy but sweet type of song. The foursome sang about twitter, facebook, ping!!!, retweet, and many other cheesy/childish stuffs on "Kamu", and this time, it's not much different with "#eeeaa" (typing the title is seriously tiring!). They toned down the cheesiness a bit here, so instead of singing about social network, they were trying to woo the girl with flattering her as an angel who fell from heaven to their hearts.

"#eeeaa" is a medium tempo, bubblegum pop song with melodic piano keys and synths (I'm not really sure they used synths since the quality of mp3 I got isn't so good, but I think it's synths.) to give the song a modern sound. The production is quite simple, with the same drum beats repeated from the start and some changes here and there to save the song from being monotonous. What makes "#eeeaa" sounds so good is actually the boys' vocals. For such teens under 15 years old, Coboy Junior have matured vocals, the fat boy has big and husky voice while the hat boy and the glasses boy have similiar light voices that sound pleasant enough to listen to. And of course, the other boy always sounds as annoying as ever with his chipmunk voice. But as a whole, they always sound good, recorded or even live.

Overall, "#eeeaa" is a solid follow-up to "Kamu" and no doubt will cement Coboy Junior as one of the most successful, established boy bands in Indonesia. Other groups, take notes!

Score: 3.5/5

(The song starts at 7:40)

[indonesiapopmusic-blog]

Geisha unveil "Cukup Tak Lagi" MV

I admit it, I do this post not because of the music video, it's just Geisha performing the song in their garage before hitting a random stage, but only for the song itself. "Cukup Tak Lagi" is just a really good pop-rock song with a really catchy chorus that I fell in love with the first time I heard it. It's so good that it's even used as the themesong of a soap opera (lol).

Geisha's guitarist and very own producer, Roby, has done another good job. He made a really good twist of pop and rock that still appeals to the current taste of most people. Frontwoman Momo also successfully fitted her unique and big voice with the song, making it sounds so fresh and pleasantly savory. The highlight of the song is probably the chorus near the end of the song where the drums thumping and kicking, making it so good for people to sing along and shake their heads out. Too bad, it's so short, it should have been longer than that.

Check the music video below!

[indonesiapopmusic-blog]

Afgan's 3rd album shapes up to be awesome

For awhile, Afgan has stayed quiet and taken a few steps back from the business to make sure he doesn't get dropped out from school again, but now, the singer is ready to save his carreer with the release of his new album in May.

The husky-soulful voiced singer has been flying back and forth from Malaysia where he studies to spend his weekends working on his third album in Indonesia. So far, the album is promising enough, he has been working with some well-known producer and composer. But, what I want to mention is that a few of them is, what's the word: shocking? DJ Sumantri, Inu and Mhala Numata, can you imagine?

Afgan has never been really experimental and out-of-comfort-zone in his last two albums. However, with this one, he has aimed something spectacular and totally different. It looks like Afgan has channeled top 40 dance tunes for the new album. DJ Sumantri himself is known for all the remixes he did with many artists' songs. Inu and Mhala Numata aren't different from DJ Sumantri. Inu and Mhala have been trying to mix some cool electronic house music, like one for his own group and one for DRAGONBOYZ' debut single (it was actually Sunnu's work, my bad ;)), and they are decent enough. So I'm expecting both of them to give Afgan the best of them with some killer dance tunes. Afgan is also working with Rossa, considering that she was also doing the dance thing for her greatest hits album last year, it's gonna be real hawt if they have a dance song together.

We have gotten a preview of his new song, it's called "Without You (Eyoo)" and it's amazing for Indonesia's standard. Afgan performed the accoustic version of the song at an event in last February, check it out below:

We also can hear the dance version in his latest commercial, check it out here! It's so short but I'm loving it already, can't wait for it to drop!

So far, I haven't heard about him collaborating with his long-time producers such as Bebi Romeo and Dian Pramana Putra, but I'm hoping he is. His ballads were hit-and-miss in The One album, unlike in his flaw-free first album, but I believe Bebi and Dian still can make some hits for him.

In addition of his new album, Afgan has completed filming a music video for "Bunga Terakhir", a remake song written by Bebi Romeo. The song is a total snoozefest that you don't really need to hear and instead of bothering to try, just re-listen to that video above and tweet him to release the song asap.

[Via Afganisme]

[indonesiapopmusic-blog]

Cherrybelle to release a new album in July

Cherrybelle's so-called producer, Dino Raturandang, has confirmed via his twitter account that we will get a brand new album from the girls this July. There's nothing confirmed yet whether it's gonna be another mini or their first full-length album, but I'm down for whatever. Their Love Is You mini album was indeed amazing, and if they can deliver another mini that's just as good as the previous one, I'll definitely take it. Sure, a full-length album would be awesome, but I always prefer quality over quantity.

To make everything even crazier and exciting, Dino also confirmed that the now sevensome will be taking vocals for the first single of the album in early May. The song is called "Brand New Day" and it is produced by, wait for it, Catur. Yes people, Catur is going to handle Cherrybelle again! (My bodeh is so readeh!) For those who don't know about Catur, he is responsible for a lot of hits from many artists, including Cherrybelle's very own smash "Dilema". It looks like the girls will channel 90s bubble-gum pop concept again with the new album, so it is safe to say that they are in the good hands.

On top of that, the remaining members are now busy filming the second season of their variety show in Korea, and the audition for Cherrybelle's new members will be held in a few of days so I think the new members won't appear on Cherrybelle's new single but maybe they will in the next one. They will also start a small tour to some places in May. Surprisingly, "Dilema" MV has garnered over that 5 million views on Youtube which is a crazy number, I don't think there's any Indonesian artist who has the same amount of views. And I don't know if it's true, but I heard that Cherrybelle have filmed a music video for "Beautiful", once it's dropped I will post it on my blog. Oh, I almost forgot! Cherrybelle are also nominated for two nominations at SCTV Music Awards, but I don't think it's a big deal since that SCTV Music Awards is kinda meh.

Now, let's pray that their new single and album won't get pushed back because I can't wait for another months or year to be slayed by something like this:

[indonesiapopmusic-blog]

SM*SH impress with "Ada Cinta" performance on IDENESIA

SM*SH had been spending a few weeks in Malaysia, touring and promoting their album release there. So, it's been a while since we saw them on television performing the same songs over and over again. But just last night, they made an appearance and performed that same-song-over-and-over-again, "Ada Cinta" and "I Heart You". I'm not here for "I Heart You" tho. It was good but I've seen better than that so yeah.

On the other hand, they really impressed me with "Ada Cinta". It must be the first time I hear them not miming the song, but singing it so harmonizedly. All the boys sounded very good and looked fresh. Everyone did a good job for their solo parts, I must say they all nailed it.

After performing the song, they sat down for an interview. Rangga must have known how boring it was, so he did what he always does: giving us some Indonesian drag queen realness by quoting Britney Spears (LMFAO) for the answer of a question about haters. I don't really remember what it was but I think it's "haters are secret lovers" or something like that. Only Rangga could make me crack like last night! After that, they did a game with the host where they were given a brand new song and must follow the notes the host played with his piano. I'm sure it's been prepared before the taping, let's be honest, there's no way they could do it by hearing the notes only once. The song sounds good tho, they should buy it.

Anyway, we also got a few updates of them. First, the sevensome will continue expanding and launching their album in another countries in Asia. Second, their self-titled first album has sold 1.3 fucking million copies which is a crazy number for today's standard. They must have been billionaires now!

Let's check out their first good performance of "Ada Cinta" below!

[indonesiapopmusic-blog]

RAN select "Salah Tingkah" as fourth single

RAN have been nothing but a mess in HOP3 era. Not only their album isn't as good as their previous ones (I think this is their weakest album), but the singles have also been wrongly selected from the first to the third one. "Mencuri Hati" is a good song, but it just didn't click the the majority of Indonesians when it was released. And selecting "Sepeda" as their second single is probably their biggest fault. But then again, I don't think there's many choices in their album. HOP3 was a let-down for me, I was expecting a more experimental and distinct sound from them, not a been-there-done-that that is HOP3.

Thankfully, they did the right thing now. "Salah Tingkah" is one of my favorite cuts from HOP3. I know, it's sounds exactly like something from RAN for Your Life, but I'll take everything that sounds like anything from that flaw-free album.

Once again, the threesome (that sounds wrong lol) tell us a story about them falling in love with a woman, being mesmerized by her beauty and charm. The vocal production is simple and typical RAN, but Nino sounds very good in the breakdown part, showing the jazzy side of him. And the choruses are so damn catchy that I found myself singing along and tapping my toes by the third listens, and I'll probably get my lazy ass dancing and jamming to this when it starts over in two minutes.

Should have been the lead single!

[indonesiapopmusic-blog]

The True Tea About Wenda and Devi's Withdrawal from Cherrybelle

I always have a soft spot for my girls Cherrybelle. They are indeed the biggest girl group in Indonesia right now. None of the current girl groups in Indonesia is close enough to be considered as their rivals. Cherrybelle is the first group to really use a concept for their music, videos, and image. Hence, when the official statement came out yesterday, I couldn't help but feel shocked and sad that Cherrybelle are falling apart.

The rumor about Cherrybelle disbandment has been circulating since March when they made an appearance on a talkshow. Many had speculated that something was going on in Cherrybelle, the girls seemed awkward and they refused to say something about the rumour of disbandment. Time goes by, rumours stayed as rumours, nothing's really confirmed about it, Cherrybelle kept doing their activities as usual and promoting their first movie, 'Love is You'.

Fast forward to yesterday, suddenly, Cherrybelle and their management held a press conference (with the most awful name ever Ada Apa dengan Cherrybelle??? or in English: What's Wrong with Cherrybelle???) and announced that Wenda and Devi have withdrawn from the group.

Their so-called producer Dino Raturandang (I seriously have no idea why is he being called as their producer. Does he produce for Cherrybelle album? Or does he think because he gave the money to make Cherrybelle makes him the producer? Somebody must not know the difference between producer in music and movie.) said that age factor is the reason of the withdrawal. Wenda and Devi were said to have matured (the girls are 22 and 24 years old) so they don't suit Cherrybelle's concept anymore.

After digging up for some true tea about the situation, I found out that age factor isn't the reason why Wenda and Devi are being axed from Cherrybelle. It's actually not that hard to find out about it. Both Doni and some Cherrybelle members are such Indonesians that they can't keep their fingers off twitter and accidentally spilled the truth about Wenda and Devi. Doni said on his twitter that he won't kick out the current members of Cherrybelle as long as they have a good attitude, hinting that Wenda and Devi were such little bitches with bad attitudes who always made troubles. Angel also tweeted, "you can't blame him (Doni) for letting them away, if they didn't do enough to make themself stay". Cherly, the leader, even vented to her followers that covering something up is a mental pressure, while Christy also hinted that there's some lies going on.

There's a rumor also floating around that Wenda and Devi don't get along with the other members. Some Cherrybelle's fans told me that the two girls always took seperate cars when they're doing their activities. Another one, some said that Wenda is going to get married in June (this one seems like a false alarm).

Whichever rumor is true, Wenda and Devi's withdrawal is still bad for Cherrybelle. The girls are in the peak of their career, they just had a movie out, they have been signing many CF deals, and their mini album is selling amazingly for today's standards. So, I dare to say that their management is pretty bad at managing them. Whatever that case was, the management should have tried harder to keep the girls in the group. Even if Wenda and Devi truly had bad attitudes, they should have just gotten their beating stick out and told them not to mess around like that CEO from CCM to T-ara (LOL).

Devi is actually my favorite member from Cherrybelle. She's beautiful and talented. She's one of the strongest singers in Cherrybelle, so it's sad to not seeing her anymore in Cherrybelle's performances in the future. And as useless as Wenda was in Cherrybelle (sorry, but she didn't add anything up for the group), she's still a part of orginal line-up of Cherrybelle, so that counts as something.

Well, let's put it this way, what has happened can't be changed. The main issue right now is actually what will happen to Cherrybelle. I'm a little bit worried about the upcoming new members. It feels like After School's E-young case all over again. New members of new group are tend to lack of everything that the original members have gained during their experiences. These new members, for instance E-young herself, are tend to hold the group back. So, Catz Records and Doni must find the right girls to fill the available positions. The girls must be not only able to sing and dance well, but also have the x-factor that's needed to boost the group popularity. So, please Doni, take notes!

*Sigh* Let's watch the original line-up performing "Best Friends Forever" on their press conference for the last time! *sobs* *runs to the corner of my room*

[indonesiapopmusic-blog]

[Single Review] Hearts - "Boytoy"

2012 is probably the year of idol groups. Almost every week, a new boy/girl group debut with their lazy asses, false voices and weak songs. Amongst all the upcoming groups that are going to debut soon-ish, Japan manga inspired girl group Hearts is probably the one I'm looking forward to.

They were first making waves with online comics, before later announced that Hearts was actually a girl group in the making. Soon after that, they garnered a lot of fans who are mostly mentally unstable teens, but that counts as something, right? A music video teaser released later, to keep their momentum alive I guess. I was a little bit excited because I thought a new girl group would finally bring good music, but nothing followed the teaser. I kept waiting, and just like many other artists out there, I had to wait for three to five months to watch the music video after a teaser released. Sadly, I have a life to live so I don't really remember I was waiting for Hearts. And what month is it now? Still no music video.

Luckily, we are finally able to hear the full song of Hearts' first single "Boytoy". I had figured it out before that "Boytoy" was going to be an euro-pop trash, but Hearts proved me wrong! "Boytoy" is a pop song with some euro-synths and a little autotune thrown here and there, but it's actually very good. It's danceable and quite catchy. Hearts didn't try to push it too hard with their vocals, they sing with the right amount of some basic voices and safe notes. And that's a good thing! Most groups these days are oversinging everything with tons of improvisation and turning their performance into some Christina Aguilera parade, but Hearts had probably heard the 'less is more' quote somewhere before. The autotune parts are well put, elevating the song from a typical dance song to a sweetly generic chill-out pop record that Indonesia needs in the first place.

"Boytoy" talks about a girl taking things playfully with this flirting boy, treating him as Barbie Ken or Buzz Lightyear or something (no, they don't say anything about Barbie or Fulla, I just like to put it that way lol) as they warning "Don't you take it seriously! Boytoy, boytoy, uh, uh, uh, uh!". I'm assuming that they're going for a more fierce image rather than the cutesy and sugary one I thought they would be (take a note, manga isn't a good promotion to show off that you're fierce or anything like that). Their English is pretty good, not to mention the English lines do actually make sense. If there's anything to complain, it's the hati-hati 1000x thing that is getting old and tiring. Come up with a better idea, will y'all? (I'm talking to everyone who's gonna release something with another hati-hati-hati.)

Lack of lyrical creativity aside, "Boytoy" is still a solid debut track, and with some television performances (if they can 'deliver' of course), "Boytoy" is going to cement Hearts' position as the rival that Cherrybelle have been waiting for (sorry 7ICONS, but it's clearly not you).

Score: 4/5

On a side note, I just can't with not mentioning how gorgeous the girls are! Yay for cute outfits, awesome hair styles, and pump-heels!

[indonesiapopmusic-blog]

[Single Review] Princess - "Kekasihku"

For my first official single review, I have taken things seriously because I want this to be a bit of a big deal; selecting some right songs that are worth to be reviewed. The song must either be hyped up so much or has a very high quality. After sorting out a few of songs, I decided to do Princess' second single "Kekasihku".

The song is said to be a continuity of their After School Blue's knock-off single, "Jangan Pergi". While "Jangan Pergi" tells a story about the girls hoping to work out their already broken relationships with a metaphor of them trying to find some strange princes (I have no idea where Kevin got his inspiration to write this), "Kekasihku" lulls us with these fickle chicks saying they don't want to go back again with their exes. Gurls, go die! (kidding!)

Opening with 90s piano melodies, "Kekasihku" drops into a ballad that sounds like something Sherina would have released when she was a child singer. Entering the chorus part, the song is covered with full orchestra instrumentals, making it sounds bigger and heavier. Things aren't really interesting until the bridge comes to serve some Barbie soundtrack realness that I secretly love. Still, that's not enough to help the song and enhance its low appeal. It's sad that Alika's amazing voice has to stay hidden because "Kekasihku" doesn't provide a room for her voice to come out and show her fellow members how a real singer singing.

"Kekasihku" is actually not that bad, it would be a good B-side if they drop a mini album/album. But to be a main single, absolutely no.

Score: 2.5/5

Princess performed "Kekasihku" for the first time today on DahSyat. There's some interesting stuffs here I need to mention. First, the girls looked pretty in their white/blue mini dresses, thumbs up for the effort. Second, Kevin, their producer, said himself that Princess aim to be the first girl group using this ballet concept, as he has done some research that resulted no group in Korea has tried this concept before (umm... somebody must haven't seen Rainbow's flawless commanding anthem "To Me"). I'm sorry Kevin, but, get your facts right.

(Their performance starts at 6:40)

[indonesiapopmusic-blog]

Melly Goeslaw unveils CH2 (Cinta Hati-hati) featuring BBB

Looks like the poor man's Lady GaGa a.k.a Melly Goeslaw is preparing for a new era, with releasing a new song earlier this week and its accompanying music video.

CH2 marks the return of clubby Melly Goeslaw. After the guilty pleasure "Let's Dance Together" back in 2007, Melly has been constantly releasing boring pop ballads that made bored to death (with the exception of the most horrible song of 2009 Glow). Everyone has been anticipating a new club smash tune that was loved by many when she released Let's Dance.

Time goes by, after 5 years, Melly have finally released a new dance song that we've been waiting for. Teaming up again with her very own made-by-herself group BBB, Melly tries to crack today's music industry, to at least stay present and relevant. The only big question is, is this the 'it song'?

Sadly, no. The timing is actually accurate. Melly just had that big gig as the judge of Boyband and Girlband Indonesia, and most likely will take a place again in the new season. With a great and current sounded song, her recent apperances on televisions will boost her upcoming album sales and RBT downloads, she will finally have a true 'comeback'.

However, I don't think that will happen. CH2 is generic, unoriginal, and definitely not as catchy as Let's Dance. I believe Ahmad Dhani did the hati-hati 1000x thing first with that Mulan song. The production is too generic that I don't even bothered to listen to it carefully to know what instrumentals she used for the song. And both Melly and BBB sounded so basic in CH2. Melly, who once was a good singer, is aging and losing her voice. As for BBB, they have never been good singers, so I'm not surprised that they sounded so bad in this.

Melly, you were a great songwriter with many hits in your discography. Where did that talent go? How come this happened to you? Get yourself together and stop trying to be the edgy fashion-forward girl you wish you were! That ain't gon' happen, gurl!

[indonesiapopmusic-blog]

Ello's new song is actually quite good

Ello has been away from the music scene for too long and he finally realized that his vacation time is over. The last hit I remember from him is "Masih Ada" and it was released two years ago!

On March 1st, Ello released his third studio album, Taub Mumu, and announced a new single, "Gak Kayak Mantanmu". With Taub Mumu, Ello wants things to be simpler and relaxed, and I can hear that. "Gak Kayak Mantanmu" is a pop song with a twist of rock and country(?). The production of the song is very simple, just like he said: Less is more. (True dat!) The guitar sounds are conspicuous and very country-ish, making the song  is different from what's on the radio.

In the song, Ello blatantly asks a girl to forget her ex and just look at him. The lyrics aren't so demanding yet very decisive, he wants that stupid girl to be with him! His voice sounds very good, I can feel his emotions through the lines.

Well done, Ello!

[indonesiapopmusic-blog]

Kahitna start promoting "Suami Terbaik", finally!

It's been months since Kahitna released their newest album. And it's also been like three months since they released the music video for the second single of Cerita Cinta: 25 Tahun Kahitna, "Suami Terbaik".

The production of "Suami Terbaik" is very Yovie Widianto, with melodic piano keys and rhythmic drums. The vocalists succeeded in bringing the song's true colours, just like they did with every other Kahitna's songs. What really makes "Suami Terbaik" stand out is actually the theme of the song. "Suami Terbaik" tells a story about a man who lost his wife just right when they were at the happiest phase during marriage. The lyrics were beautifully written, it's definitely not corny but not overly phoetic either. The lyrics are on point and very appropriate for their age.

If I made this blog earlier, I would have written a single review for it cause "Suami Terbaik" is just so good and innovative. In case you're curious, I would probably give it 4.5/5 or even 5/5.

Kahitna have been busy with their sold-out tours in Indonesia, but they finally performed the song three days ago on RCTI's Dahsyat. Since nobody has uploaded a high quality video of the performance, you can watch the one that's available on youtube here!

[indonesiapopmusic-blog]

Indah Dewi Pertiwi premieres "Tentang Aku dan Dia" MV

Tentang Aku dan Dia is the third single lifted from her second album, Teman Ter-Indah. Unlike the previously released single, the crime-against-humanity "Gerakkan Badanmu", "Tentang Aku" is her typical boring ballad with her average singing voice and safe vocal production that won't make her struggle during live performances. In other words, it's just another IDP trying to be the new Agnes Monica yet keep being uninnovative and lazy.

Everything about her in this era has been a mess! The awful single choice followed by another awful single, the tacky cover above, the over-the-top fashion, everything seems rushed and pushed. Her first album cover was edgy and fierce, and her singles were enjoyable enough, "Hipnotis" was my guilty pleasure! The only thing that saves her now is probably the music videos, they were made very well and in high qualities.

The music video for "Tentang Aku" was done in an arty way, as IDP looked very gorgeous when she was in the air and the girls around her throwed fists full of glitters in the air. The intimate male and female dancers thing is kinda cool too, it fits the dramatic feeling from the song well. And did I mention how gorgeous the scene when she was at the top of that rock with red ball gowns is? The scene, not her.

Overall, it's another good video for another bad song. Such a waste of money.

[indonesiapopmusic-blog]

JKT48 select "Kimi No Koto Ga Suki Dakara" as new remake single

JKT48 has selected "Kimi No Koto Ga Suki Dakara" as their 3rd remake single, now titled "Karena Ku Suka, Suka Dirimu".

JKT48 is known as the official Indonesian sister group of Japan's giant idol group, AKB48. They are first launched back then in late 2011, making waves with their commercial film of a health drink. The song used in the CF, "Heavy Rotation", became an instant hit and they started their promotion on morning music shows. Later. they followed the hit with another remake from AKB48's debut song, Aitakatta.

"Karena Ku Suka" is a coupling song from AKB48's 14th single, "RIVER". The song is uplifting, full of cheers, with strong guitar riffs that have been used in many AKB48 songs. Choosing "Kimi No Koto" over "RIVER" is right, Indonesia is not ready for edgy and fierce JKT48 and is still milking the cuteness of them.

If there's one thing I disagree about the song is the way they sing it. Their voices are too big and too full, making the song less cute that it was when AKB48 did it. And from I heard, they don't have any girl who has good squeaky voice like most girls in AKB48.

JKT48 have been garnering attentions since they debuted as they have landed another CF feature, this time a tampon commercial with "Karena Ku Suka" playing in the back. With some performances on music shows, "Karena Ku Suka" will be another hit for the group.

They performed the song for the first time during that fan meeting with AKB48 a few days ago. Check out the video below!

[indonesiapopmusic-blog]

Catz Records to launch new girlband called BEXXA this month

Catz Records has a new girlband in the making!

(Their official name is BEXXA but I can't find pictures that's saying BEXXA. I guess they decided to change their name from BEXA to BEXXA.)

Catz Records is taking things up to the next level with a new girlband, BEXXA. The label has been very successful with Cherrybelle. After one year managing Cherry Belle's career and making them as the biggest girlband in Indonesia, they have decided to lauch a new girlband, one that's totally different from Chibi.

BEXXA carry different images from the fluffy sugary Chibi. The girls will debut with a sexy, fierce, and a little slutty image. They can be seen rocking black mini dresses with some tacky hot poses in the above picture. I also see disco ball lamps in the back of them, so I'm guessing they will debut with some disco flavored tunes. Are we finally getting the Indonesian version of the flawless Nine Muses? *A boy can dream*

Honestly, I don't know if launching BEXXA now is a good or bad move. Eventhough Chichi have cemented their position as one of the biggest girlband in Indonesia, they have yet to release a full album or another mini album. They only have two successful singles from their debut mini album, but that's not enough. Girlband is debuting everyweek and one of them can easily steal Chibi's position from people's hearts, just like when Chibi themselves snatched 7ICONS' wigs and put them in trash can.

But if BEXXA do it right, debuting with this sexy image without being tacky, having a really good earworm song with a cool music video, they can be very very big! People are thirsty of this type of girlband. And sex always sells. Place for sexy group is available. But look at the photo above. Tacky is the only word that can describe how awful their expressions are.

Let's not judge now. They might be losing one point from me, but who knows Indonesia will love or not love them?

BEXXA is set to debut later this month. Check out the video teaser below!