As a former member of girl group Kara, it’s ironic that Nicole has been giving us more Kara-esque releases over the past few years than Kara itself. This is due, in part, to her continuing work with Sweetune, whose bright, poppy style is ideally suited for the Japanese market. As I’ve mentioned before, Sweetune are my absolute … Continue reading
I’ve been a massive fan of pretty much everything GOT7 has released in Korea. Given this, I’m continually baffled with how utterly terrible their Japanese singles have been in comparison. Other than one or two tracks, their jpop persona might as well be that of a completely different band. Yo Moriagatte Yo is the lead track from … Continue reading
VIXX has recently embarked on a push into Japan, and Depend On Me is their second original Japanese single. I thought the first, Can’t Say, was a catchy piece of pop and was happy with the general direction they were going, but Depend On Me does it one step better. VIXX is well known for … Continue reading
The guys of 2PM have been in the kpop scene in one form or another for over seven years, which means that the time is drawing near for their mandatory 2-year military conscription. As such, I fully expect that we’ll be hearing a lot from them for the next year or so, and that starts … Continue reading
Let’s get the strange stuff out of the way first. The concept of this song is “finger love,” as the guys remind us over and over again in English. I know what they mean, but I can’t help but feel that this phrase’s more…adult… connotations were lost in translation! Now on to the song, … Continue reading
The second of News’ double a-side single releases, Hikari No Shizuku, which translates to Drop Of Light, is a very different beast from their other single, Touch. In short, it’s a traditional News ballad, making use of the guys’ powerful harmonies and performance style. As a ballad, it’s not the best they’ve ever released, but it’s … Continue reading
MyName is one of those kpop groups that just haven’t received the recognition they deserve. They’re consistently solid, but haven’t produced that breakout hit that could bump them up a tier or two. One of the problems is that they’ve been incredibly active in Japan, where they enjoy a certain amount of success, and that’s … Continue reading
I feel like I need to begin every Infinite review or post by reminding everyone that they are my ultimate bias group, and although I’ll try to be somewhat objective, I’m going to like pretty much everything they do. That being said, Can’t Get Over You is probably my least favorite single they’ve ever released … Continue reading
Okay, okay. When I say kpop, I mean mostly kpop, because there’s going to be some jpop and cpop in this list as well (some of it in very prominent positions), but “Top 50 K-Pop & J-Pop & C-Pop Songs of 2015” just doesn’t have the same ring to it! The only other criteria for … Continue reading
Okay, okay. When I say kpop, I mean mostly kpop, because there’s going to be some jpop and cpop in this list as well (some of it in very prominent positions), but “Top 50 K-Pop & J-Pop & C-Pop Songs of 2015” just doesn’t have the same ring to it! The only other criteria for … Continue reading
It’s become routine for almost every successful kpop group to branch out into the Japanese market. Oftentimes the sound is quite different from their Korean material, which makes sense because the bulk of jpop is completely different than kpop. Some artists have a pretty stellar Japanese sound (Girls’ Generation, Myname, 2PM, Infinite), while others frustratingly lower … Continue reading
Well, this has got to be one of the strangest major pop releases of the year. It’s not often you hear a pop track based entirely on a classical symphony piece, but Four Musketeers uses Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini by Rachmaninoff as its backbone, complete with copious breaks for a string section and … Continue reading
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 