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
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
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
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
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
Well, this seems to be the week where all my favorite, once-bright boy groups go dark. I’m not sure what alternate timeline I’ve stumbled into, but I want out. With Golden Child, this transition was eased by an excellent album and some inventive song construction. Astro’s Blue Flame does not enjoy these same benefits. This … Continue reading
As I impatiently wait for some of my favorite acts to make long-overdue comebacks, it made me wonder how long the longest K-pop hiatuses have been. So, I did some research! The following statistics are rounded by month rather than specific days, unless there was a tie between two acts. I’ve kept my focus to … Continue reading
Now that I’ve looked at the year’s best singles, it’s time to spotlight the standout albums of 2019’s first six months. It’s been a relatively solid year for albums so far, though not as strong as 2018 at this same point. As usual, minis have been more plentiful than full albums — especially when it … Continue reading
It’s that time of year again. The sun comes out, the temperature climbs, and K-pop goes tropical! Well, it wasn’t always this way. A few years ago, summer didn’t instantly mean tropical pop music, and I hope we’re working our way out of this persistent trend. But tropical or not, many of my top K-pop … 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. April 2019 Overall Thoughts After a March that included some of my favorite songs of the … Continue reading
It’s been gratifying to watch Astro’s surge in sales numbers this year. 2018 was rough for the group, without a fully-promoted comeback as the fate of their agency seemed unclear. But, their first full album was a surprise success this January, and now the guys are entering the Japanese market. With J-pop’s love for bright … 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. DAVID AMBER … 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. January 2019 Overall Thoughts Last year, January bucked expectations and became my favorite musical month of … Continue reading
Most of the time, a k-pop group’s title track is the best song on their album. But, sometimes b-sides deserve recognition too. In the singles-oriented world of k-pop, I wanted to spotlight some of these buried treasures and give them the props they deserve. Astro have taken a slightly more mature turn on their new … Continue reading
It feels like it’s been forever since Astro was active as a group. They released their Rise Up mini album last summer (led by the underrated Always You), but scheduling contracts prevented them from promoting. Thankfully, Fantagio Music is making up for lost time with the group’s first full length album. Most of its tracks bring … Continue reading
2018 was a fantastic year when it came to album tracks. In fact, many of them were stronger (and more interesting) than their title track counterparts. This makes for a very competitive top 40 list. Check out yesterday’s first part of the countdown, and read on for the top twenty of the year! NUMBERS 40-21 … 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
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. CODE 9 … Continue reading
It hasn’t even been a week since the release of SM Station’s Red Velvet-meets-GFriend-meets-(G)I-DLE-meets-Chungha supergroup, and we already have another unlikely collaboration on our hands. S.O.U.L is a little different, combining actors and idols for the soundtrack of upcoming Youtube Red drama Top Management. The biggest name here is probably Astro’s Cha Eunwoo, with actor … 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. August 2018 Overall Thoughts Well, if July was disappointing, August was downright anemic. For the first … Continue reading
