2017 marked my third year attending KCON Los Angeles, and each time the convention and concert have felt like a unique experience. I had a lot of criticism for the the convention side of things last year, even though the concert line-up was amazing. This caused me to come in this year with slightly lowered … Continue reading
Last year, I marked the halfway point of 2016 by looking at some tracks that had either grown better or worse with time. This year, I’m a little late — but better late than never! As with 2016, the vast majority of my reviews still reflect my thoughts about a song, but sometimes it’s impossible … Continue reading
Before the Bias List‘s Top 50 songs countdown in December, it’s time to take a mid-year survey of the k-pop landscape in 2017. Compared to 2016, this year has been somewhat underwhelming. But that doesn’t mean 2017 hasn’t had its share of highlights. Unsurprisingly, my list includes a number of acts that overlap with last … 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. May 2017 Overall Thoughts May was a month of contrasts. The first two weeks were among the … Continue reading
I was prepared to hate this. I could go on and on about how American/Western trends need to stay far away from k-pop, and how the tropical house sound in particular has felt stale for over a year, but I feel like I bring that up every few days anyway. Even when other k-pop artists … Continue reading
Debuting in 2015, Seventeen are still a very new group, but their unique configuration of vocal, hip-hop and performance units within the larger group has rounded out their promotional material to create a singles discography just big enough for a countdown. And honestly, they’re one of the biggest and best k-pop acts of the moment, so … Continue reading
I love the stage set-up MBC uses. I can’t remember if this is the same staging as last year, but it’s definitely the same as it was in 2014. It strikes a nice balance between intimate and expansive, and places the audience super close to both indoor stages, which results in a more “live” feel. … Continue reading
