On the surface, Waltz is Ryugujo’s first anime theme — an important milestone for any J-pop group. However, the song is meaningful in other ways as well. It’s been announced that this will be the final Ryugujo song written by their producer and mentor Avu-chan. This news elicited and honest-to-god gasp from me when I … Continue reading
The Bias List is a K-pop blog that also covers a fair amount of J-pop. But just like most music fans, I enjoy tracks from all around the world. So, I thought I’d start a monthly round-up of some of the non-K-pop songs that have caught my ear. No ratings — just highlights! February 2022 … Continue reading
Super Junior sub-unit L.S.S — comprised of members Leeteuk, Shindong and Siwon — have the dubious honor of the lowest-rated SJ release on this blog. In fact, last year’s Joke is one of the lowest-rated songs in general. Their music tends to blend retro with novelty for tracks that feel more like memes than enjoyable … Continue reading
When last we heard from TIOT (I swear… there are so many “T”-acronymed boy groups right now) they delivered the melodic pop rock of The Long Season. Though this song didn’t do much to stand out from the pack, its sound pointed a very promising way forward for the group and grew more addictive with … Continue reading
A K-pop act’s title track isn’t always the best song on their album, even if it’s the one most people will hear. Sometimes, b-sides deserve recognition too. In the singles-oriented world of K-pop, I want to spotlight some of these buried treasures and give them the props they deserve. Listening to NCT Wish’s new mini … Continue reading
I love being able to spotlight a severely under-the-radar act on this blog. Epic Travels quietly debuted last year but have since added member Sangil (formerly of Snuper!). If you need a catch-up on Snuper’s extraordinary singles run, this blog will be a great resource. Epic Travels’ new video for Tab Tab currently has just … Continue reading
EXO’s Kai pre-released Adult Swim earlier this month, wasting extraordinary potential on a dull, spoken-word chorus. His actual comeback is still around the corner, but before that he’s surprised us with another new track. Walls Don’t Talk picks up the pace a bit and feels slightly more developed than its predecessor, but still delivers a … Continue reading
As Top Media’s first girl group, Odd Youth have their own path to pave. That path has been rocky so far — at least musically. Their output has trended toward the garish, aiming for quirky but more often landing closer to cloying. It’s nice to see a young group experiment with sounds. However, I’d prefer … Continue reading
Girl group UNIS were one of a handful of survival series spawned groups who made their debut last year. Their two title tracks were solid but unspectacular. If you were to ask me to hum either one of them today, I don’t think I could do it. New single Swicy aims to lodge itself in … Continue reading
It’s been tricky being a Kis-My-Ft2 fan lately. I’ve long held them up as my favorite J-pop group and recently ran down their entire discography when it finally made its way to streaming (check the posts out here and here!), but I haven’t cared for any of their material in the past couple years. And … Continue reading
J-pop promotion schedules can be a bit weird, especially when compared to K-pop’s tightly-wound logistics. &TEAM’s new single doesn’t officially come out until next week (at which point the full music video will be unveiled), but they’ve pre-released it alongside a performance video today. Since the full audio is out, this seems as good a … Continue reading
82MAJOR have made their name on a quirky hip-hop sound that feels more fully-realized than many of their close peers. While none of their songs thus far have stuck on my playlist for long, I admire their consistency and willingness to play around within their genre. Their music is always fun, and that’s no small … Continue reading
With DRIPPIN’s future uncertain, Rocket Punch disbanded and the vast majority of Golden Child gone, I think Kwon Eunbi may be Woollim Entertainment’s only active artist. What a sad state of affairs for an agency I dearly loved. Fortunately, her popularity remains high and strong management would likely fuel that ascent. I don’t trust that … Continue reading
NCT Wish had a moment last year — starting with their excellent Songbird and continuing into their upbeat banger Dunk Shot — where I could clearly hear the potential of a fun, youthful new generation of SM boy groups. But surrounding those songs has been material I’ve had a hard time connecting with. The music … Continue reading
It’s getting more difficult to decide which songs to write a review for on this blog. NiziU’s b-side What If (만약이라는 건 없어) is promoted by a “track video” today, which is basically a different term for a (somewhat budget) music video. I’m not sure whether the group will be performing this on music shows … Continue reading
At the end of each month, I compile my top three K-pop title tracks and list a ton of honorable mentions. In 2025, I thought I’d try something new and add a weekly feature to supplement my monthly round-up. Each Sunday, I’ll offer a compendium of the week’s new releases featured on the blog. And … Continue reading
In connection with my desire to fully keep up with the J-pop industry, I’m planning to do a weekly round-up of any new releases that have caught my ear. Some of these may have been covered on the blog already, but my hope is that this will become a one-stop shop for anyone interested in … Continue reading
A K-pop act’s title track isn’t always the best song on their album, even if it’s the one most people will hear. Sometimes, b-sides deserve recognition too. In the singles-oriented world of K-pop, I want to spotlight some of these buried treasures and give them the props they deserve. This has been an extremely mediocre … Continue reading
XG fans are spoiled for choice, as it seems the group are constantly releasing new material. They’re currently on their world tour — a fact I only know because every website I visit seems to be advertising this to me. In the midst of this, they’ve also released new single In The Rain. This track … Continue reading
As a longtime fan, it’s been thrilling watching from20 and Hello Gloom’s Way Better transform from idea to boutique agency, swiftly collecting new artists like Pokémon. Their roster now holds five individual acts and today we have a new single from the one who started it all: from20. From20’s music has been remarkably consistent so … Continue reading
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 