Most of the time, a kpop group’s title track is the best song on their album. But, sometimes b-sides deserve recognition, too. In the singles-oriented world of kpop, I wanted to spotlight some of these buried treasures and give them the props they deserve. Airplane is a song from f(x)’s 2013 album Pink Tape. It’s … 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
There’s no denying the fact that girl group GFriend’s speedy rise to fame has been nothing short of astounding. They debuted around this time last year without any real fanfare. And with a name like “GFriend,” I didn’t exactly have my hopes up. But like the good kpop fan I am, I took a look at … Continue reading
Most of the time, a kpop group’s title track is the best song on their album. But, sometimes b-side tracks deserve recognition, too. In the singles-oriented world of kpop, I wanted to spotlight some of these buried treasures and give them the props they deserve. Reason is a song from MyName’s 2015 2nd Mini … 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
This track kind of passed me by until recently, but even though it’s not brand new, I still wanted a chance to talk about it because it’s become one of my most-played tracks of the month. For those who don’t know, LuHan used to be one of the Chinese members of EXO. He left the … Continue reading
There’s a very specific sound that’s become especially popular this year with Korean girl groups. It’s a bubbly, effervescent pop style that emphasizes bright melody and punctuations of synth that act more like guitar stabs. It’s a high energy mix, and one that groups such as Lovelyz and Gfriend have mastered in 2015. For … Continue reading
BTS have really thrown down the gauntlet this year and catapulted to the top tiers of the kpop industry. Their two part project, The Most Beautiful Moment In Life, has so far resulted in the brilliantly evocative I Need U song/music video and extended album trailer. Now we’ve got Run, which is itself a stunning long-form, … Continue reading
This song came out of nowhere. Literally, nowhere. I don’t think Road Boyz (terrible name, by the way) were on anyone’s radar. And nobody’s talking about them, even after the release of this single. They’re from a tiny company and their music video looks like it was shot for about ten bucks, but boy did … Continue reading
Insensible is an awkward name for a song, but I love me a big power rock ballad. Hongki is the lead vocal of Korean rock group FTIsland, and because of this I was expecting a straight-up rock sound from his new solo album. To my surprise (and delight), the album incorporates a lot more dance … 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
Rookie boy group HIGH4 have had the most confusing roll-out plan. From what I’ve seen, the rookies that end up with the most success are those who develop an identity quickly and ride the formula out until they’re big enough to experiment a bit. HIGH4 have done the complete opposite, moving from a successful indie duet … Continue reading
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 