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
One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! With You (from Don’t Mess Up My Tempo / Love Shot – 2018) With You fades in with a beautiful tranquility that continues even as more instrumental elements are added to the track. The vaguely trip-hop beat feels unique within their discography, … 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
One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! Winter Heat (from For Life – 2016) With all the winter songs EXO have recording, I feel like I’ve said all I can say about this kind of track. Winter Heat’s dynamic percussion allows it to stand out a bit, with each … Continue reading
Well, this song came out of nowhere! Boy group Cross Gene is facing a diminishing roster, with member Takuya the latest to exit in pursuit of new challenges within the entertainment industry. The group now stands as a quartet, and leader Shin Wonho is thankfully still among their ranks. Though he’s more well-known for his … 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
Red Velvet’s ReVe Festival series has seem them blitzing through a variety of styles with all the whiplash of a good carnival ride. Though I wasn’t too hot on it in the moment, the polarizing Zimzalabim remains my favorite title track from the project. It encompassed their quirky “red” side, which has always been my … Continue reading
One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! White Noise (from Ex’Act / Lotto – 2016) The first thing you’ll notice about White Noise is its odd, herky-jerky percussion that feels as if its constantly fighting to keep up with itself. This helps to forge experimental verses that take a … Continue reading
This particular countdown tends to be polarizing. How do you judge a “best artist,” after all? To be clear, this isn’t an objective list. It’s not based on facts and figures. Nor is it a straight-up bias list, though bias definitely plays a big part. My criteria for this category is simple, and encompasses three … Continue reading
One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! What Is Love (from Mama – 2012) I don’t often highlight vocal phrasing as a song’s greatest strength, but What Is Love is all about how EXO wraps their voices around the instrumental’s icy, alien-like beat. This is without a doubt my … Continue reading
Start here for an indexed post of all of The Bias List‘s end-of-year countdowns. This will be updated as new countdowns are added, and stickied to the front page for the rest of the year. Check back frequently as we approach 2020! >> Top 50 K-Pop Songs >> 50-41, 40-31, 30-21, 20-11, 10-1 (Honorable Mentions) Top … Continue reading
2019 was a huge year for rookie groups. In fact, I’d say that the year was almost driven by them. So many agencies unveiled new acts, offering a needed jolt to the industry. This makes for a highly competitive countdown, with lots of treasures to discover. Like usual, this list comes with some caveats. When … Continue reading
One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! What If… (from Exodus / Love Me Right – 2015) As someone who came of age in the 90’s, I have a total soft spot for this kind of r&b slow jam. For those of us who might remember, the vocal hook … Continue reading
The end of the year countdowns are finally here! As always, things kick off with the big one… The Bias List’s top 50 songs of the year! Each day this week, I’ll be counting down ten of the year’s best, until number one is revealed on Friday. To be eligible for this top 50 list, … Continue reading
One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! What I Want For Christmas (from For Life – 2016) Is that a slight jangle of sleigh bells I hear? It must be Christmas. EXO brings us yet another holiday track with What I Want For Christmas, but it’s in the upper … Continue reading
The end of the year countdowns are finally here! As always, things kick off with the big one… The Bias List’s top 50 songs of the year! Each day this week, I’ll be counting down ten of the year’s best, until number one is revealed on Friday. To be eligible for this top 50 list, … Continue reading
One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! Walk On Memories (from The War / Power Of Music – 2017) Sometimes, it can be hard to distinguish these mid-tempo EXO r&b tracks from one another. Walk On Memories doesn’t do much that would set it apart from similar efforts. The … Continue reading
The end of the year countdowns are finally here! As always, things kick off with the big one… The Bias List’s top 50 songs of the year! Each day this week, I’ll be counting down ten of the year’s best, until number one is revealed on Friday. To be eligible for this top 50 list, … Continue reading
One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! Wait (from Love Shot – 2018) Wait feels like a song that belongs on one of EXO’s holiday albums. Over a subdued, acoustic guitar instrumental, the track brings unique texture to the group’s standard r&b balladry. It suffers from appearing so early … Continue reading
Despite the tense political climate between the countries, rookie K-pop acts are making Japanese debuts earlier and earlier these days. ONEUS haven’t even been around for a year and they’ve already released two J-pop singles. The first was a Japanese version of their Korean track Twilight. The second is 808, the group’s first original J-pop … Continue reading
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