I have a playlist on my phone called “K-pop for People Who Hate K-pop.” It’s stuffed with the least offensive music I can imagine, designed for use when in mixed company. K-pop’s wilder ambitions aren’t for everyone, and that’s okay. American-sounding, coffeehouse-type tunes that just happen to be performed in Korean tend to become affable … Continue reading
One song. Every day. Alphabetical order. Keep up with EXO’s A-Z reviews here! December, 2014 (The Winter’s Tale) (from Exology Chapter 1: The Lost Planet – 2014) Released as a special winter track on the group’s first concert album, December, 2014 is an easy EXO song to overlook. It’s a standard r&b ballad, driven by … Continue reading
I know that I start every Great Guys review with a statement about how lame their group name is, but it just gets more ridiculous the more serious and brooding their music becomes. It fit the bright bounciness of this spring’s Dang, but seems at odds with the sexiness of new single Be On You. … Continue reading
Whether as album tracks or digital singles, the members of Mamamoo have each had their time to shine as soloists. Most of their material has played to the girls’ strengths, which means cool hip-hop for Moonbyul, sassy dance pop and slinky r&b for Hwasa and emotive ballads for Solar and Wheein. There’s nothing wrong with … Continue reading
After their incredible 2018 success, Momoland are in the process of navigating the tricky business of follow-ups. Their name is known throughout Asia, and they’ve attempted to capitalize on that by recording material aimed at different regions. When it comes to Japan, they’ve already exhausted their most notable Korean output, recording versions of Bboom Bboom … Continue reading
Since winning the first season of K-pop Star, Park Jimin has jumped from gig to gig — as part of pop duo 15&, as a co-host on After School Club, and as a soloist. She’s about to make her biggest leap yet: straight out of JYP Entertainment. It’ll be interesting to see what the future … Continue reading
With over 2,600 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
