At the end of each month, I compile my top three K-pop title tracks and list a ton of honorable mentions. But each Sunday, I’ll offer a compendium of the week’s new releases featured on the blog. And even more than that, I’ll attempt to rank them from my least-to-most-liked. I invite you to share … Continue reading
Tag Archives: tws
TWS NO TRAGEDY: In-Depth Album Review – Back To Strangers
1. All The Possibilities // 2. You, You // 3. Why You So Bad? // 4. Get It Now // 5. Fire Escape // 6. Back To Strangers BACK TO STRANGERS Back To Strangers is the shortest song on the album, but its brevity actually works. I’m not mad at an album ending on a … Continue reading
TWS NO TRAGEDY: In-Depth Album Review – Fire Escape
1. All The Possibilities // 2. You, You // 3. Why You So Bad? // 4. Get It Now // 5. Fire Escape // 6. Back To Strangers FIRE ESCAPE As No Tragedy plays on, I realize that after the first couple of tracks I more-or-less enjoy the rest of the music at about the … Continue reading
The Top Three K-Pop Songs of April 2026
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. April 2026 Overall Thoughts I’ve been doing this K-pop thing long enough to know that slumps … Continue reading
TWS NO TRAGEDY: In-Depth Album Review – Get It Now
1. All The Possibilities // 2. You, You // 3. Why You So Bad? // 4. Get It Now // 5. Fire Escape // 6. Back To Strangers GET IT NOW I expect this to be the most divisive track on the new album because it plays with sounds and textures we haven’t heard from … Continue reading
TWS NO TRAGEDY: In-Depth Album Review – Why You So Bad?
1. All The Possibilities // 2. You, You // 3. Why You So Bad? // 4. Get It Now // 5. Fire Escape // 6. Back To Strangers WHY YOU SO BAD? Why You So Bad is the third English-language track from TWS, following Unplugged Boy on their debut mini and the awesome anime theme … Continue reading
TWS NO TRAGEDY: In-Depth Album Review – All The Possibilities
1. All The Possibilities // 2. You, You // 3. Why You So Bad? // 4. Get It Now // 5. Fire Escape // 6. Back To Strangers ALL THE POSSIBILITIES All The Possibilities was revealed a month earlier than the rest of the album at TWS’s most recent fancon, leading many fans (myself included) … Continue reading
Song Review: TWS – You, You
Given K-pop’s less-than-stellar track record over the past few months, I’ve been putting all my eggs in a basket called TWS. That’s way too much pressure to put on one release, but the group has earned the anticipation. Since their debut in 2024, their run has been absolutely impeccable, maintaining a bright, melodic color while … Continue reading
The Top Three K-Pop Songs of March 2026
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 2026 Overall Thoughts Hmm… um… Well… I guess if I look solely at my top … Continue reading
THIS WEEK IN K-POP: Ranking the New Releases from March 22 – 28
At the end of each month, I compile my top three K-pop title tracks and list a ton of honorable mentions. But each Sunday, I’ll offer a compendium of the week’s new releases featured on the blog. And even more than that, I’ll attempt to rank them from my least-to-most-liked. I invite you to share … Continue reading
K-Pop Risers & Fallers: March 2026
Rather than contain my “Risers and Fallers” feature to a single post in June, I’m going to share a bite-sized version at the end of each month. This will let me account for more songs and make a nice lead-in to the monthly round-up post. I anticipate most of these ratings adjustments will be negligible: … Continue reading
Song Review: TWS x 24kGoldn – You Like It I Love It
While I wait impatiently for TWS to announce the details of their promised April comeback, we’ve got an unexpected treat to tide us over. Three of the group’s members (Dohoon, Jihoon & Kyungmin) have teamed up with American rapper 24kGoldn on a project single for Bugs‘ Essential; Studio. I’m not sure exactly what this is … Continue reading
THIS WEEK IN K-POP: Ranking the New Releases from January 11 – 17
At the end of each month, I compile my top three K-pop title tracks and list a ton of honorable mentions. But each Sunday, I’ll offer a compendium of the week’s new releases featured on the blog. And even more than that, I’ll attempt to rank them from my least-to-most-liked. I invite you to share … Continue reading
2025 MBC Gayo Daejejeon: Recap & My Top Performances
It’s the last year-end festival of 2025! MBC’s Gayo Daejejeon is synonymous with the new year, as it also acts as a new year’s eve celebration (except for last year when it was postponed). As I always say, this adds a welcome sense of ceremony to the proceedings and makes it a special I look … Continue reading
The Top 50 J-Pop Songs of 2025: 10-1
I don’t write as many full J-pop reviews as I used to, mostly because I haven’t been as enamored with the industry as I was before, but I continue to spotlight new releases each and every Sunday. This countdown is a culmination of that feature, rounding up my fifty favorite singles (or promoted b-sides) of … Continue reading
2025 Music Bank Global Festival: Recap & My Top Performances
Last year, Music Bank’s Global Festival was interwoven into KBS’s year-end festival. This year, they’ve chosen to broadcast it separately but I thought I’d cover it anyway because (like last year) parts of it were stronger than many of the proper year-end stages. This year’s theme was “The Golden Path” and the show was held … Continue reading
Year-End List Recap: The Best Overall K-Pop Comebacks of 2025
Before I move on to my J-pop and global pop countdowns over the next few days, I like to sum up the K-pop lists that have filled the past few weeks. The title of this post should technically be called “The Best Overall K-pop Comebacks & Debuts of 2025,” since not every album on this … Continue reading
The Top 10 K-Pop Choreography of 2025
It’s time once again for someone who knows next to nothing about dance to rank his favorite dances of the year. As usual, I tend to prefer quirky, iconic moves to technically difficult material. The thing is, the vast majority of idol choreo has become so polished that it’s hard to choose which routines are … Continue reading
The Top 10 K-Pop Music Videos of 2025
For a moment, I debated whether or not to go forward with this particular countdown this year. Yes, K-pop music videos are generally great, but to be honest I just don’t watch them as intently as I used to. I’m much more familiar with the music than the visuals, which threatens to turn this list … Continue reading
The Top 40 K-Pop Album Tracks & B-Sides of 2025 (20-1)
Now that I’ve taken a look at my favorite title tracks and singles of the year, it’s time to move on to… everything else. This countdown encompasses any track that didn’t receive a full music video. This becomes more nebulous by the year, with “track videos” and “special videos” and the like. I allow myself … Continue reading