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. February 2022 Overall Thoughts Oof. I predicted February would be slow, and unfortunately I was right. … Continue reading
Exile Tribe’s Fantastics have been jumping from strength to strength these past few years. So many J-pop and K-pop groups embrace retro sounds, but it’s not always a perfect match. Fantastics feel designed for the aesthetic, and that continues with the upbeat city pop of Santa Monica Lollipop (サンタモニカ・ロリポップ). This song is a bit more … Continue reading
My Top J-Pop Songs countdown continues in its expanded format! We’ve got fifty of the best (mostly idol) tracks Japan had to offer, with many great choices relegated to the honorable mentions. Because I don’t write about all of these songs the way I do for K-pop, this is always a fun countdown to compile. … Continue reading
My Top J-Pop Songs countdown continues in its expanded format! We’ve got fifty of the best (mostly idol) tracks Japan had to offer, with many great choices relegated to the honorable mentions. Because I don’t write about all of these songs the way I do for K-pop, this is always a fun countdown to compile. … 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. July 2021 Overall Thoughts Well, July was… interesting. And by “interesting,” I mean unimaginably dull. Other … Continue reading
It’s been fun watching Exile Tribe’s various groups find their niche. The artist collective is really diversifying its roster, tailoring different sounds to different strengths. Unsurprisingly, I’ve been enamored by Fantastics’ recent embrace of retro synth pop. They’ve been on an incredible roll of late, from High Fever to Play Back to Stop For Nothing. … 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. May 2021 Overall Thoughts 2021’s momentum stalled a bit this month. But, it wasn’t for a … Continue reading
It’s a good time to be a fan of Fantastics. We finally got a music video for their excellent single Stop For Nothing, along with a new b-side or two. And days earlier, the video for their entry in Jr.Exile’s Battle Of Tokuyo project was unveiled. Now, if they’d only throw us international fans a … 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 2021 Overall Thoughts 2021 continues to be a strong year for K-pop. When it comes … Continue reading
When it comes to J-pop, I prefer to wait until music videos have been released before writing about the song. There’s an mv on the horizon for Fantastics’ Stop For Nothing, but it’s unclear when it will materialize. And, the song is too awesome to delay. Teasers have become such a big part of modern … Continue reading
A J-pop group’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 J-pop, I want to spotlight some of these buried treasures and give them the props they deserve. I don’t usually write “buried treasure” … Continue reading
I’ve compiled a “Best of J-pop” list every year since The Bias List started, but it always came from a very narrow point of view. In 2020, one of my personal resolutions was to follow the J-pop industry more broadly and (hopefully) expand my palette in the process. So while those past lists definitely included some epic … 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. October 2020 Overall Thoughts After a fantastic September, October was another strong month. And, it was … Continue reading
This year’s retro synth revival continues to spread around the globe, and that includes Japan. Exile Tribe has always had a retro flair, rooted most deeply in the early-90’s, so it’s no surprise that one or more of their groups would pick up this baton and run with it. However, Fantastics have never attempted a … Continue reading
Hey, I kept my promise! After February’s maiden voyage, I’m back with the second Bias List J-Pop Round-Up! This is the place where I get to recommend Japanese tracks or albums that I’ve been into over the past few weeks. Like before, this won’t be a place for Japanese songs by Korean artists. Those will … 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
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 