At the end of each month, I’ll look back at my three favorite title tracks by k-pop artists. Unlike my end-of-year countdowns, jpop and Japanese releases by kpop artists are ineligible, though I will give the great ones a spotlight. For my top three tracks, I’ll take my own ratings into account, but there is a … Continue reading
WM Entertainment’s Oh My Girl just won’t stop this year, releasing comeback after comeback. This isn’t a complaint (after all, they should be doing this as a rookie group), but I do wish their label-mates B1A4 were given the chance to finally release that new album they’ve been promising us. Even though it hasn’t been … Continue reading
I just love it when this happens. INX are a newly-debuted 5-member boy group from an agency that I’ve never heard of, and although they’re clearly working within a budget, they’ve burst onto the scene with an incredible debut song. It’s rare to find a debut group who aren’t simply a carbon copy of several … Continue reading
Listening to How’s This? (어때?), it’s hard to believe that HyunA’s Red was one of my favorite k-pop songs of 2014. Since then, the quality of her music has seemed to devolve with each passing release, culminating in what I hope is her low point. “How’s This?” — she asks us? Well, it’s pretty darn … Continue reading
It’s that time of year again! 2016 marked my second KCON, with a super solid line-up of performers that caused the concert side of things to sell out, and skyrocketed attendance for the convention. The past three days were a series of definite highs and lows, so read on to hear my thoughts. Convention Let’s … Continue reading
As a companion to my Top Ten Singles lists, it’s time to look at some of the best album tracks and b-sides from the best artists. B1A4 is one of my favorite k-pop groups, and a lot of that is due to their strength as an albums artist. Here’s the best of the best. Honorable Mentions: … Continue reading
If there’s anything I’ve learned from covering pop music for over a decade, it’s that songwriters and collaborators are just as important as the artists themselves. Though they often work behind the scenes, this feature is a chance to shine the light on some of k-pop’s most innovative and accomplished producers and composers. THOMAS TROELSEN … Continue reading
As a companion to my Top Ten Singles lists, it’s time to look at some of the best album tracks and b-sides from the best artists. Of course Infinite had to come first. They have a discography large and amazing enough to fill several lists like this, but here are the best of the best. … Continue reading
Call me a bad k-pop fan, but I had absolutely no idea that there was even a group called Unicorn. I kind of love it, though. I mean…. Unicorn? The only thing that would make it better was if they were secretly a heavy metal band. But it turns out that they’re a girl group, … Continue reading
With NCT 127’s Taste the Feeling, SM Station has given us a song with a purpose, though it might be kind of a silly one. The track is a cover of a song used to promote Coca Cola, and that’s exactly what it’ll do in Korea as well. It’s also tied to the upcoming Olympics, … Continue reading
Most of the time, a kpop group’s title track is the best song on their album. But, sometimes b-sides and album tracks deserve recognition, too. In the singles-oriented world of kpop, I wanted to spotlight some of these buried treasures and give them the props they deserve. Though it can’t really be considered a true … Continue reading
It’s an astonishingly (frustratingly) bare week for k-pop, but thank god for Japan, because there has been a slew of new j-pop releases over the past couple of weeks. I haven’t talked about Da-iCE on the blog before, but I’m a new convert to their music. Their vocal distribution reminds me a lot of Beast, … Continue reading
Rock group FTIsland are really on a roll this year. First, they released their Japanese N.W.U album with its excellent single You Don’t Know Who I Am, then they came back last week in Korea with one of the strongest singles of their career. Now, they’ve got another hit coming down the pike for an … Continue reading
As their latest Japanese release (and first as a five-piece), Beast have given us two singles under the concept “day and night.” I was pretty underwhelmed by the day, but it turns out that the night is where things really heat up. Though I enjoyed their latest Korean album (and loved the title track), it … Continue reading
Also known as Children of Empire (though that name has more to do with their agency, Star Empire, than their actual concept), ZE:A is a nine-member boy group who has been around for over half a decade. Though they haven’t come back as a whole in quite awhile, individual members are very well known for their … Continue reading
If there’s anything I’ve learned from covering pop music for over a decade, it’s that songwriters and collaborators are just as important as the artists themselves. Though they often work behind the scenes, this feature is a chance to shine the light on some of k-pop’s most innovative and accomplished producers and composers. YOO YOUNG-JIN … Continue reading
This week, SM’s Station gives us something close to an actual comeback. All four members of f(x) perform All Mine, a modern EDM track that fits nicely alongside much of SM’s recent output. I’m in two minds about the song. Oddly enough, I’m finding that I can adore it and be angry with it at the … Continue reading
In a climate where k-pop is dominated by SM and YG Entertainment, it can be easy to overlook JYP, which many consider to be Korea’s third most influential music agency. While SM and YG have been generally sticking by their respective trends and genres, JYP artists have actually given us an incredibly eclectic mix of styles … Continue reading
Beast has been all over the place this year. We had the misguided hip-hop of March’s Guess Who, the gorgeous midtempo drama of Ribbon, and now Freaking Cute, which takes a much lighter pop approach. The group gave us a handful of brilliant Japanese tracks last year, but I fear that the creative juice has been used … Continue reading
Beat Win came back last year with the underrated Stalker, but they’re the kind of group that never creates much buzz around their releases. Because of this, I came to their new single, Your Girl (니 여자친구), without expectations of any kind. This was probably a positive approach, as the song instantly resonated with me much … Continue reading
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 