Though blockbuster sales and world domination remained elusive, Golden Child’s Wannabe expanded the group’s international appeal and earned them their first music show win. For repackaged single Without You, they’ve once again paired with composer BLSSD — one half of Woollim Entertainment in-house production team Rphabet. In a bid to court fans of moody, BTS-style … Continue reading
Though far from their only hit, Sechs Kies’ 1998 single Couple has become their most enduring classic. It’s the kind of light, melodic boy band fare that would often be played on adult contemporary stations here in the States. These kind of songs tend to have lasting appeal because they aren’t edgy or divisive enough … Continue reading
Super Junior are at the stage of their career where they can get away with anything they want, musically. And in the case of repackaged single 2YA2YAO! (it’s a mildly amusing pun in Korean), that means teaming up with Block B’s Zico for an uncharacteristic hip-hop track. In a happy bit of happenstance, Zico himself … Continue reading
With over 2,900 songs on my iPhone’s “K-Pop Singles” playlist, I thought it would be fun to add a bit of unpredictability to my song review posts. So as a result, we have the “Random Shuffle Review” feature. The rules are simple. I fire up my playlist, press “shuffle,” and whatever song plays first gets … Continue reading
2013 was a high-concept, musically diverse year in K-pop. Hip-hop hadn’t yet taken over, and melody was still king. Instrumentals aimed for the rafters of stadiums, bringing in explosive guitar, sledgehammer beats and bombastic electro riffs. Songs played around with structure in artful, unexpected ways, often polarizing opinion before unveiling themselves as future classics. Here … Continue reading
2013 was a high-concept, musically diverse year in K-pop. Hip-hop hadn’t yet taken over, and melody was still king. Instrumentals aimed for the rafters of stadiums, bringing in explosive guitar, sledgehammer beats and bombastic electro riffs. Songs played around with structure in artful, unexpected ways, often polarizing opinion before unveiling themselves as future classics. Here … Continue reading
2013 was a high-concept, musically diverse year in K-pop. Hip-hop hadn’t yet taken over, and melody was still king. Instrumentals aimed for the rafters of stadiums, bringing in explosive guitar, sledgehammer beats and bombastic electro riffs. Songs played around with structure in artful, unexpected ways, often polarizing opinion before unveiling themselves as future classics. Here … Continue reading
2013 was a high-concept, musically diverse year in K-pop. Hip-hop hadn’t yet taken over, and melody was still king. Instrumentals aimed for the rafters of stadiums, bringing in explosive guitar, sledgehammer beats and bombastic electro riffs. Songs played around with structure in artful, unexpected ways, often polarizing opinion before unveiling themselves as future classics. Here … Continue reading
2013 was a high-concept, musically diverse year in K-pop. Hip-hop hadn’t yet taken over, and melody was still king. Instrumentals aimed for the rafters of stadiums, bringing in explosive guitar, sledgehammer beats and bombastic electro riffs. Songs played around with structure in artful, unexpected ways, often polarizing opinion before unveiling themselves as future classics. Here … Continue reading
It’s the week of Lunar New Year, which means new K-pop releases will be few and far between. That makes this the perfect time to go back a few years and celebrate highlights of days past. Following up on last year’s countdown of my Top 50 Songs of 2012, The Bias List is tackling 2013! … Continue reading
Though they’ve only been around since 2018, Stray Kids have quickly amassed enough singles to be eligible for a top ten list. Not only have they made constant comebacks since their debut, but they’ve also filmed videos for many of their side tracks. Because of this, I had to leave a few strong tracks off … Continue reading
In contrast to most K-pop releases, BTS’s upcoming album is following a months-long roll-out schedule reminiscent of American acts. My feelings about this aside, the approach is gradually offering hints as to what the album might sound like. And honestly, I’ve got no idea so far. Last week’s Suga solo was more intro than song, … Continue reading
December’s glut of ballads seems to have extended into January this year. It feels like all I’m doing lately is reviewing ballads, which makes it hard to come up with anything new to say. Of course, TVXQ are no stranger to big, emotive balladry – especially when it comes to their Japanese work. But one … Continue reading
Taeyeon publicly stated that 2020 was going to be a year for her to focus on her mental health, so kicking it off with the release of Dear Me (내게 들려주고 싶은 말) seems fitting. The song leads a repackage of her October album, and is a hopeful wish for her own personal strength. It’s … Continue reading
Kim Jaejoong’s most recent Korean album was released around the time The Bias List was launched in early 2016. Since then, he’s enlisted, released Japanese music and been active on variety and in dramas. I can still remember when he made his solo debut back in 2013. I had only been a K-pop fan for … Continue reading
Because of how early the Lunar New Year holiday falls this year, the remainder of January is going to be very slow when it comes to comebacks. Like, December slow. It’s in these times that I find myself writing about each and everything that gets released, even if I’d usually pass on it during a … Continue reading
Boy group ENOi debuted last spring with the deep house track Bloom. I didn’t get a chance to review the song, but thought it was a decent – if super generic – offering. Like I always say, being a rookie is all about standing out and crafting a style all your own. Bloom did neither … 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 want to spotlight some of these buried treasures and give them the props they deserve. ATEEZ have finally wrapped up their Treasure series and, suitably, their … 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 want to spotlight some of these buried treasures and give them the props they deserve. I’m still not quite sure how I feel about VERIVERY’s Lay … Continue reading
Okay, K-pop, I think it’s time to admit you have a problem. Out of the eight songs I’ve reviewed this week, 50% of them have suffered from the dreaded half-time trap-rap breakdown in their second verse. The rest were mostly ballads or mid-tempos, which don’t generally include rap at all. Some songs are strong enough … Continue reading
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 