The Singles Jukebox

Korean Glee Swing Special Episode!

[Video][Website]
[5.70]

Iain Mew: I found “200%” a mixture of the joyous (mostly Suhyun) and the clunky (mostly Chanhyuk). “How People Move” flattens out the both to just be slightly precious and trying throughout.
[3]

Adaora Ede: Akdong Musician exists as an anomaly in the world of Korean pop music, especially on their label YG Entertainment. YG has trademarked themselves for handpicking any Western musical trend from spooky trap ballads to adult contemporary dad rock and making it sound hip even if it is completely awful. AKMU had to have been some kind of social experiment for YG because what is the resident cool label going to do with awkward teenage siblings who literally write songs about the Korean alphabet? This is why I’ve always been partial to AKMU; “200%” has to be up there in my rankings for favorite K-Pop song ever because I am boring and the only fun I like to have involves . This song, however, was painful for me to listen to. Gone are the days where coffeeshop pop was all that was needed to pass, no, we need an overproduced nursery rhyme. I still don’t know where the chorus is in this song and I would like to have a word with the person who decided that telephone-filtered scatting and that horrid pseudo-operatic part were necessary flourishes. But hey, it’s not “Bang Bang Bang”! It’s not “Hello Bitches”! Thank GOD, it is NOT “Rhythm Ta”! In the most meaningless way, “How People Move” is a breath of fresh air because it is unfiltered, non pretentious fun that stays true to the heart of K-pop.
[8]

Katie Gill: Big band stylings and K-Pop should not work this well together, and yet Akdong Musician manages it PERFECTLY. Those were some damn sexy trombones interacting with some damn sexy harmonies. I suppose my only complaint is that Suhyun plays her riffs and runs a bit safe, but that’s only one problem in an otherwise great song.  The end result is something refreshing, a bright, wonderful, peppy, picture perfect dance track that will make you want to…well, move.
[8]

Leonel Manzanares de la Rosa: I don’t know how Chan-hyuk became so obsessed with the brass sounds and the structure of golden-era Swing, but every moment in this track reflects his search for the perfect amalgamation of those influences with the quirky, dynamic pop we love from AkMu. “How People Move” is a hit-and-miss exercise; it feels a little disjointed, especially and the verse-to-pre-chorus-to-chorus transitions, but those brass/piano arrangements and Soo-hyun’s delightful vocal runs are a very effective — albeit initially awkward — pairing. That last chorus key-change was completely unnecessary, though. 
[6]

Patrick St. Michel: Charming can turn exhausting really fast. “200%” has only gotten better in the two years since it came out, a breezy song for lazy summer days finding two emerging artists having fun and seeing what sticks — every goofy rap verse and record scratch capturing the spirit of being young and feeling unrestricted by what you can do. “How People Move” sets out with an interesting lyrical theme — literally being amazed at how people move and just being in general, K-pop Huell Howser — but dear goodness the music is cloying, a try-hard Broadway set where the rap doesn’t sound fun, but contractually obligated. Even the instrumental breakdown smothers. This sounds way too much what people think being young is like.
[3]

Will Adams: Well, it’s not Electro Velvet, so… good job?
[3]

Taylor Alatorre: There are some admirably gutsy choices being made here, some of which fare better in concept than execution — the old-timey swing interludes, for one. Chanhyuk’s rap breakdown, on the other hand, is stupidly clever enough to work, and those piano frills in the chorus are aural candy. That they’re able to able to piece together all these disparate elements without having this come off as a novelty song is an achievement in itself. To write what essentially amounts to a lyrical deconstruction of dance music as a genre, and still have it be 100% danceable, is a triumph.
[8]

Cassy Gress: I imagine I may be alone on this, but holy crap. This is incredibly in my wheelhouse. It’s jaunty, bouncy, piano-y, it’s making me think about Dolly Parton and Porter Wagoner for god knows what reason, and the lyrics about “wow it’s amazing to be a human being, with ribs and breathing and walking and movement! Glad I’m not a rock! Life is so mysterious~~~” are just, well. This is a song for Cinnamoroll.
[8]

Brad Shoup: An incredible lyric, far as I can tell: curious and not wacky. Akdong Musician are precise about their allergy-commercial arrangement: pop-rapping and hoeing down in disturbing measure.
[6]

Edward Okulicz: It’s pretty cool that this starts with what sounds like the Thames Television ident, I guess. 
[4]