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
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. June 2019 Overall Thoughts Well… June happened. The K-pop gods giveth and they taketh away, and … Continue reading
Each year, I try to delve deeper into the vast world of J-pop. 2018, in particular, rewarded that persistence. J-pop may be difficult to find for international listeners, but it provided a wonderful antidote to some of K-pop’s overused trends. This countdown is usually littered with Japanese title tracks by Korean groups, but this year … 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 2018 Overall Thoughts September’s usually a pretty slow month, with the Chuseok holiday holding back … Continue reading
News are in the midst of celebrating their fifteen-year anniversary, though the group currently looks quite different than it did when they debuted in 2003. But though the years have whittled them down to a four-piece, their lengthy career is quite admirable. Few pop groups last even half this long. And to help mark this … 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. June 2018 Overall Thoughts After two and a half years, it finally happened. June’s cumulative rating … Continue reading
News are no stranger to World Cup anthems. This partnership has already resulted in my favorite single of theirs — 2012’s World Quest — as well as the excellent One (For The Win) two years later. Now they’re back with Blue, which sounds exactly as you’d expect it to. But when it comes to News … Continue reading
Though the Bias List focuses almost exclusively on k-pop, many Korean artists make a foray into Japan as well. Those releases deserve their own countdown, paired with a number of their Japanese counterparts. Huge disclaimer with this countdown. I am a k-pop blogger, first and foremost. My j-pop exposure is limited, and tends to be … 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. February 2017 Overall Thoughts If I could describe February with only one word, it would be “consistent.” … Continue reading
As happens with many acts within Johnny’s Entertainment, News have slowly become j-pop’s answer to a reliable old Vegas act. I don’t mean this as an insult. The group’s willingness to indulge in every manner of over-the-top novelty is one of their most endearing assets. And like any veteran performers, they always back it up with … Continue reading
The Bias List is a k-pop site first and foremost, but I’m always on the lookout for new j-pop as well. And though I can count myself as somewhat of an authority on Korean entertainment and idol groups, my knowledge of their Japanese counterparts is much more limited. Add to that the fact that j-pop … Continue reading
News has slowly inched their way to the very top of my J-Pop bias list, releasing brilliant pop song after brilliant pop song. They’ve been active for an incredible thirteen years now, first as a nine-member group, then as a six-piece and finally as the very strong four-member configuration they are today. Throughout it all, their … Continue reading
From time to time, it’s just not enough to write about individual singles. In the case of jpop group News’ Quartetto, I wanted to take a deep dive into several tracks. And, given the fact that I’ve already reviewed most of the album’s singles, it just made sense to take a look at the entire … Continue reading
At the end of each month, I’ll look back at my three favorite title tracks by k-pop artists. Unlike my end-of-year countdowns, jpop and Japanese releases by kpop artists are ineligible, though I will give the great ones a spotlight. For my top three tracks, I’ll take my own ratings into account, but there is a … 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
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
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
