In connection with my desire to fully keep up with the J-pop industry, I’m planning to do a weekly round-up of any new releases that have caught my ear. Some of these may have been covered on the blog already, but my hope is that this will become a one-stop shop for anyone interested in … Continue reading
Tomorrow is J-pop Day on The Bias List, with my top 50 songs of the year unveiled throughout the day. Before that, I thought I’d compile some honorable mentions. It was a very strong year, so there’s a ton of music that didn’t quite make the cut for the main list. I settled on twenty … Continue reading
The Good Prior to the agency undergoing dramatic changes this fall, the entity-formerly-known-as-Johnny’s (seriously, I don’t even know what to call it!) had a solid enough start to the year. Its acts continued to dominate, with record sales numbers for King & Prince ahead of their reconfiguration and Snow Man leading the charge for the … Continue reading
In connection with my desire to fully keep up with the J-pop industry, I’m planning to do a weekly round-up of any new releases that have caught my ear. Some of these may have been covered on the blog already, but my hope is that this will become a one-stop shop for anyone interested in … Continue reading
I’m pretty obsessed with this list of singles and albums. I’ve been a J-pop fan for almost a decade now, but this year I’ve made a concerted effort to really dive deeply into the industry. Part of this initiative includes weekly J-pop round-ups that are posted every Sunday on this blog. My efforts have been … Continue reading
In connection with my desire to fully keep up with the J-pop industry, I’m planning to do a weekly round-up of any new releases that have caught my ear. Some of these may have been covered on the blog already, but my hope is that this will become a one-stop shop for anyone interested in … Continue reading
KAT-TUN released their eleventh album this week and it’s their most consistent work in years. Also, you can stream the standard eleven-track version worldwide! Way to go, Johnny’s! Fantasia promised to pay tribute to the group’s various eras and sounds, but the whole package feels pretty sleek and modern. It’s relentlessly upbeat, embracing sick dance … Continue reading
I know that 99% of my readers are K-pop fans and likely have little interest in the goings on of Johnny’s & Associates, but I’m a big fan of the agency and there’s so much to write about them – particularly in 2022. My thoughts on Johnny’s are a little muddled this year, so rather … Continue reading
The Bias List is a K-pop blog that also covers a fair amount of J-pop. But along with most music fans, I enjoy tracks from all around the world. So, I thought I’d start a monthly round-up of some of the non-K-pop songs that have caught my ear. No ratings — just highlights! February 2022 … 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. March 2022 Overall Thoughts I’m eager to write a super effusive, super excited monthly round-up. Unfortunately, … Continue reading
I don’t know whether to classify this as a single or a buried treasure under Bias List rules, but indulge me a bit because it’s not often I get to write about a Johnny’s song that’s actually available on streaming platforms! KAT-TUN have been venturing into digital distribution since last March, and I hope this … 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
I’m sure many Bias List readers are like, “Johnny what?!?”, but I’ve decided to branch out this year and offer my thoughts on one of J-pop’s biggest agencies. I mostly want to do this because I think they’ve had a great year worth writing about. As usual, the thoughts are my own and aren’t privy … 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. September 2021 Overall Thoughts September is usually a hit of miss month. Releases tend to be … Continue reading
With shake-ups at the agency and an influx of new debuts, Johnny’s Entertainment seems to be in an era of flux. Some changes have been very welcome (SNS accounts! MVs on YouTube!), making it feel like the agency is finally reaching out to global fans. But, we’ve been down this road with K-pop. Outreach threatens … 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. March 2021 Overall Thoughts I’ve heard whispers around social media lamenting that 2021 has been a … Continue reading
KAT-TUN are currently celebrating their 15th anniversary, and I hope that means we’ll be hearing a lot from them. It’s been nearly two years since their last album, and because the Kame x Yamapi project was scrapped last year, we haven’t even heard any solo music in the interim. KAT-TUN were one of my entry … Continue reading
I watched J-drama Nobuta wo Produce for the first time last month and fell head over heels in love with it. Even since, I’ve been revisiting KAT-TUN’s (consistently fantastic) discography and remembering just how much I adore their music. At their best, they’ve delivered some of the most essential pop tracks of the last fourteen … Continue reading
Longtime readers of The Bias List will know how stingy I am when it comes to rating songs nine and above. But, there’s plenty of music that qualifies. In fact, I’ve got a playlist of over 600 of them sitting in my iTunes. The vast majority of these are singles or title tracks, but there … 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 