K-pop history is stuffed with great albums, and there’s only so many Buried Treasures and Battle of the B-sides features available to cover all these noteworthy tracks. The album format has always been special to me. Whether it’s a full-length or mini, albums have the opportunity to tell stories and develop an act’s personal style. … Continue reading
K-pop history is stuffed with great albums, and there’s only so many Buried Treasures and Battle of the B-sides features available to cover all these noteworthy tracks. The album format has always been special to me. Whether it’s a full-length or mini, albums have the opportunity to tell stories and develop an act’s personal style. … Continue reading
K-pop history is stuffed with great albums, and there’s only so many Buried Treasures and Battle of the B-sides features available to cover all these noteworthy tracks. The album format has always been special to me. Whether it’s a full-length or mini, albums have the opportunity to tell stories and develop an act’s personal style. … Continue reading
K-pop history is stuffed with great albums, and there’s only so many Buried Treasures and Battle of the B-sides features available to cover all these noteworthy tracks. The album format has always been special to me. Whether it’s a full-length or mini, albums have the opportunity to tell stories and develop an act’s personal style. … Continue reading
K-pop history is stuffed with great albums, and there’s only so many Buried Treasures and Battle of the B-sides features available to cover all these noteworthy tracks. The album format has always been special to me. Whether it’s a full-length or mini, albums have the opportunity to tell stories and develop an act’s personal style. … Continue reading
K-pop history is stuffed with great albums, and there’s only so many Buried Treasures and Battle of the B-sides features available to cover all these noteworthy tracks. The album format has always been special to me. Whether it’s a full-length or mini, albums have the opportunity to tell stories and develop an act’s personal style. … Continue reading
Following on the heels of yesterday’s ‘top 2021 singles,’ it’s time to turn our attention to K-pop’s full and mini albums. As with title tracks, 2021 has delivered a strong series of albums so far. My lists are a little longer than normal, but the criteria remains the same. To be considered an “album,” the … Continue reading
Compared to last year’s dynamite collection of albums, 2020 didn’t quite live up. But, that doesn’t mean there weren’t a few highlights. As usual, mini albums were generally stronger than fulls, which makes sense given how hard it is to retain a high quality across a dozen or more tracks. Like last year, my top … Continue reading
After looking at the year’s best singles (so far), it’s time to turn attention to 2020’s albums. I’ll reiterate what I said yesterday: relative to previous years, it’s been slim pickings. Consistently good mini albums have been particularly hard to find this year, at least in my opinion. But even though the overall picture may … 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
Though I’ve had my misgivings about many aspects of K-pop in 2018, it was actually a very strong year for albums. I could have easily expanded my “honorable mentions” list even more than I already did. Surprisingly, many of my top ten have one thing in common: the strongest tracks on them weren’t selected for … Continue reading
The idea of a musical “concept” abounds in K-pop, but true concept albums are rare. A title track may swerve one way, while its accompanying b-sides retreat to more generic territory. This was not the case with Wonder Girls’ 2015 reunion album Reboot. Not only did it establish the girls as an instrument-playing band, but … Continue reading
Though k-pop rises or falls on the strength of its singles, a group’s real strengths can often be found in the lesser-known material that makes up their mini albums and full lengths. The definition of “album” in K-pop is so wide that I’ve got to lay down some ground rules before composing any sort of … Continue reading
When considering a review of Jonghyun’s posthumous single Shinin‘, I struggled with how to structure my thoughts. As his final comeback, it didn’t feel right to look at the song through a critical lens. I respect his craft so much, but there hasn’t always been a huge overlap between his musical sensibilities and mine. This … Continue reading
As I was looking back in preparation for this countdown, I realized that it’s actually been quite a strong year for mini and full albums, even if 2017 as a whole seemed to lack impact compared to past years. Quite a few solid albums failed to make the cut due to this heavy competition, but … Continue reading
Released in September of 2013, Coup d’Etat built on the touchstones of G-Dragon‘s 2009 debut album and his 2012 One Of A Kind mini. At this point, his immense star power had been cemented, allowing for high-profile collaborations that brought a more international flavor to his work. Within this framework, Coup d’Etat is one of k-pop’s … Continue reading
Though k-pop rises or falls on the strength of its singles, a group’s real strengths can often be found in the lesser-known material that makes up their mini albums and full lengths. The definition of “album” in k-pop is so wide that I’ve got to lay down some ground rules before composing any sort of … Continue reading
Though k-pop rises or falls on the strength of its singles, a group’s real strengths can often be found in the lesser-known material that makes up their mini albums and full lengths. The definition of “album” in k-pop is so wide that I’ve got to lay down some ground rules before composing any sort of … Continue reading
In k-pop, music videos are nearly as important as the songs themselves. It’s become such a visual genre, regularly churning out glossy videos that look much more expensive than they are. Without focusing too much on the actual song (though it’s impossible to fully separate the two), here were the top ten visual moments of … Continue reading
An idol group is nothing without their actual music, and that music doesn’t come to life on its own. K-pop producers and composers shape a year’s sound more than anybody else, and in 2016 there were five that stood out as being particularly energizing. + Make sure to check out the rest of the year-end … Continue reading
