2013 was a high-concept, musically diverse year in K-pop. Hip-hop hadn’t yet taken over, and melody was still king. Instrumentals aimed for the rafters of stadiums, bringing in explosive guitar, sledgehammer beats and bombastic electro riffs. Songs played around with structure in artful, unexpected ways, often polarizing opinion before unveiling themselves as future classics. Here … Continue reading
2013 was a high-concept, musically diverse year in K-pop. Hip-hop hadn’t yet taken over, and melody was still king. Instrumentals aimed for the rafters of stadiums, bringing in explosive guitar, sledgehammer beats and bombastic electro riffs. Songs played around with structure in artful, unexpected ways, often polarizing opinion before unveiling themselves as future classics. Here … Continue reading
It’s the week of Lunar New Year, which means new K-pop releases will be few and far between. That makes this the perfect time to go back a few years and celebrate highlights of days past. Following up on last year’s countdown of my Top 50 Songs of 2012, The Bias List is tackling 2013! … Continue reading
Though they’ve only been around since 2018, Stray Kids have quickly amassed enough singles to be eligible for a top ten list. Not only have they made constant comebacks since their debut, but they’ve also filmed videos for many of their side tracks. Because of this, I had to leave a few strong tracks off … Continue reading
For my final year-end list, I like to shine a spotlight on Korean variety — a vital component of K-pop’s appeal. As always, this countdown is very much my own opinion, and has a definite idol group bias. This is a K-pop blog, after all! + Make sure to check out the rest of the … Continue reading
Despite its title, I’m quite confident that this list does not represent the “best” J-pop tracks of the year. It’s a much more filtered list than my K-pop countdowns, because I just don’t keep up with J-pop as strongly as I’d like to. So, what you’re getting here is twenty great tracks by artists that … Continue reading
At the end of each month, I look back at my three favorite title tracks by K-pop artists. I take my own ratings into account, but there’s a bit of wiggle room as certain songs tend to grow or fade. December 2019 Overall Thoughts December always feels like a throwaway month for K-pop, and this was … Continue reading
Honestly, I came into tonight’s festival feeling pretty pessimistic. KBS’s Gayo was largely forgettable, and tonight’s line-up was missing some of my favorite acts. But, MBC ended up balking expectations and being the most enjoyable of the three gayos overall. When I think about it, this isn’t too surprising. I’ve always loved MBC’s more intimate … Continue reading
2020 has a nice ring to it, and I’m optimistic about what the new year will bring when it comes to K-pop. It feels like we’re finally crawling out of some of the trends and approaches that I’ve been complaining about for years, leaving the future open for new ideas. With that in mind, I’ve … Continue reading
As is Bias List tradition, it’s time to take a look back at last year’s K-pop resolutions and see how many of them came true. As always, the results are a mixed bag, but on the whole I’m reasonably satisfied. Make sure to read through my 2019 hopes and wishes, first. And check back tomorrow … Continue reading
You can’t have a K-pop comeback without choreography! However, this is not a list of 2019’s most difficult or technically impressive dance routines. I’m nowhere near qualified to judge that. Instead, these are the top ten performances that really stood out to me this year. Honorable Mentions Cosmic Girls – La La Love Dongkiz – … Continue reading
This is always one of my favorite end-of-year posts, as if gives me the chance to write about a vital facet of K-pop that I rarely touch on throughout the year. Visuals can make or break a song’s legacy, and these ten videos helped to improve and expand their already-strong soundtracks. + Make sure to … Continue reading
For me, any end-of-year K-pop festival isn’t complete without a bit of trot. And though none of tonight’s trot performances made my list, I was happy to hear them sprinkled throughout the show. The opening artist intro was particularly fun. I’m also glad that KBS moved out of their usual performance hall for this event. … Continue reading
This is always a difficult list to form. After all, there are way more b-sides than singles to choose from each year, and with K-pop’s love of promoting genre trends, the most interesting music is often hidden within albums that not every listener bothers to check out. Following up from yesterday, I’m counting down my … Continue reading
This is always a difficult list to form. After all, there are way more b-sides than singles to choose from each year, and with K-pop’s love of promoting genre trends, the most interesting music is often hidden within albums that not every listener bothers to check out. Today and tomorrow, I’ll be counting down my … Continue reading
The end-of-year festivals officially kicked off this Christmas, with SBS’s Gayo Daejun once again opening the three-night festivities inside the immense Gocheok Sky Dome. Unfortunately, this year’s proceedings were marred before they even started, with Red Velvet’s Wendy suffering a horrible accident during rehearsals. I’m sure that idols were (understandably) concerned about the safety of … Continue reading
Merry Christmas to those who celebrate it! In honor of the holiday, I thought I’d unwrap K-pop’s 2019 slate of seasonal songs. Whether they’ll soundtrack your holiday gatherings or not, here’s my ranking of nine of this year’s offerings. 9. Jung Seung Hwan – My Christmas Wish A whisper of a song by one of … Continue reading
I’m probably the only K-pop site that does an end-of-year list for producers, but it’s one of my favorite features to create. They’re such a vital component to the K-pop industry, responsible for the sounds and trends that power each year. As usual, my list has plenty of familiar faces, along with some new entries … Continue reading
2019 was a great year for albums, with an onslaught of full-length releases coming in its second half. Given this, I decided to so something different this year. It seems unfair to compare mini and full albums, since it’s obviously much easier to craft an excellent, filler-free mini than it would be to stretch that … Continue reading
