#bsides one from finals last year

[mentichi]

rarely post my non digital art lol, here’s my paintings from this year :)

[sanstropfremir]

ok nana unsubtly kicked me in the ass about this and i realized they were mostly done anyways so here we go! only four months late!

best stylings 2023 - first half

runners' up

rising - triples

there are two good stages with funky athletic wear, but it wasn't enough to bump it up to the overall category. mcountdown 230216, the show 230221

abyss - woodz

didn't promote it which is a shame, but the variety in the costuming for the different versions of himself is well done and it's a beautifully shot bottle mv.

moody - superkind

you got a fake member you gotta make it spooky!!! he's not real that's inherently spooky!!! anyways this is what i wanted them to do right off the bat some i'm glad they finally got my psychic memo.

golden hour - mark

absolutely fucking crazy. fantastic imagery. i think i talked about it earlier in the year but it's such a stupid and hilarious idea to make a whole diss track mv about a several year old meme and then actually make it strange and weird art. obsessed with it still.

sos - kang daniel

i'm also including the wasteland music sequence here because holy shit when this dropped i lost my mind. i'm always surprised by what kang daniel does bc i can never predict it, which over the last few years i'm coming to enjoy. and i absolutely did not expect him to produce basically an entire wild west mad max movie with equal the production value???? literally how did he do this. how. and then everyone paid it dirt??? it's an amazing mv and one of my faves of the year, the only reason it's not bumped up categories is bc although the styling was actually one of the only times tactical gear has been thematically relevant to a cb, its been so overused that it has no punch anymore, which makes me sad bc the tactical gear was good! and a good choice! and i feel bad saying it has no punch bc it should have!

small talk - kim sungkyu

we love when sungkyu acknowledges that he's annoying and a loser. all these outfits were so losercore. i loved this deviation from form for him; he's normally king wailer supreme, but he does smooth upbeat rock very well and it's a nice contrast with the capital y yearning that's in the bsides. it's only here bc he didn't promote much and i'm mad at him for putting dancing in the mv and then not dancing in any of the stages. mcountdown 230629, music core 230708, inkigayo 230709

ay-yo - nct 127

this is just here for taeyong's urchin outfit. well i'm a bit of liar it is actually a really fun early 00s inspired mv, but we all know the urchin outfit stole the show.

stamp on it - got the beat

i will hear NO slander against got the beat in this house, this was a great mv i love hot women planning a heist.

tricky house - xikers

FANTASTIC debut. does a really great job of establishing a character for them as a group and it's got such unique flavour. kq has made great use of their ateez money and also the lessons that they learned with ateez. i'm excited to see where xikers goes in the future, and since i'm writing this section from the future i can say that i do like where they've gone with full confidence. the only reason it didn't make the top list is bc the styling is kinda average for this era of kpop.

best overall

rose blossom - h1 key

i was aware of h1key before this but they hadn't really grabbed me, but damn this cb was so good. the mv is a nice mix of story and dance sections. plus a surreal section in the middle! and by virtue of being like the first cb of the year, they got the jump on this alt girl look that would be the dominating look for ggs this year. and i do think first did it best in this case, all the looks are smart with good group synergy and and a lot of creativity; when you do this type of alt-y punky style it's important that there's a diy element to it, which a lot of groups fail to grasp bc stylists are obsessed with luxury branding. h1key manages to avoid that mostly by being flops, but i'd like to believe its also bc their creative team cared about capturing the true spirit of the style.

stages: music bank 230106, mcountdown 230202, music bank 230203, mcountdown 230119, inkigayo 230108

tic tac - 8turn

honestly i was kinda ready to not like these guys since mnh shat the bed with chungha, but then i remembered that the mnh creative team is very good at their jobs, so here we are. this is one of the few debuts/cbs this year where every single stage was a hit and it was very hard to narrow down to just a few for here; lots of good emphasis on shape and colour and accent pieces with repeated motifs, which was a big part of the fashion in the 00s that they are remixing here. very strong debut especially for so early in the year and i'm looking forward to more.

stages: show champion 230208, mcountdown 230202, music bank 230203, show champion 230222, music core 230211, mcountdown 230223, music core 230225, inkigayo 230226

bonus: this absolutely hysterical 4minute cover (they even got the name bucket hats! not in the stage, but they had them in photos)

sweet juice - purple kiss

i'm not normally a fan of wes anderson or wes anderson inspired aesthetics because i find them too twee and perfect, but this wasn't too direct in it's inspirations and definitely had the spooky purki flavour. i really liked the uniformity of the costuming, both literally using uniform motifs and using the same fabrics; i really do miss the days when kpop costumes were design to actually be costumes with the group image in mind.

stages: mcountdown 230216, inkigayo 230219, music core 230225, music bank 230224, inkigayo 230226, music core 230304, inkigayo 230305

sour & sweet - bambam

bambam again proving that he's one of the few idols that knows his shit in terms of interesting styling. also if anyone knows where he filmed the mv/performance vid please tell me i need to know bc its so beautiful.

stages: mcountdown 230330, music bank 230331, inkigayo 230402, music bank 230407, music core 230408, inkigayo 230409,

bsides: music bank 230331, inkigayo 230409,

macarena - blitzers

i'm so so so glad blitzers got a bit more attention this year bc they deserve it and macarena was so good. perfect culmination of their goofy ass talents and the unusual creativity of their performance + creative directors. i'm even linking the mv teaser here bc its so goofy and offbeat and different. honestly i'd recommend watching as many of the stages as you can find bc they do different intros every time and it's very funny, but unfortunately tumblr has a link limit so i can't link them all.

stages: show champion 230426, music bank 230428, music core 230429, inkigayo 230430, inkigayo 230514, music core 230527

bouncy - ateez

yea yea yea nobody is surprised so sue me. this was a crazy followup to halazia and proved that ateez can deftly switch between serious dramatic performance and comedic but no less dramatic. i'm very happy to see how much work has been going into the main ateez mvs in the last year because it has very clear and striking direction that fits both their performance style and their creative ambition, as well as their growth as a group. also yea i'm not immune to neon cowboy shit.

stages: inkigayo 230618, music bank 230616, the show 230620, mcountdown 230622, music bank 230623, mcountdown 230629, music core 230701, inkigayo 230702

kick it 4 now - tnx

tnx had an absolutely banging 2023 and although kick it 4 now is has superior and more comprehensive production, love or die is also a very good cb, and both of them together have shown that they have a really good grasp on the genre of teen listlessness, from two different directions. kick it 4 now has been i think the most successful cb to actually capture the feel of first gen, and the creative team did a lot of extra work in order to pull that off. from all the graphic design to the goofy lil 90s style music show promos, to the styling, they had a clear goal and achieved it. i think it will be quite difficult for any other group to pull it off this thoroughly.

stages: music bank 230609 (the giant lyrics!!!), music core 230610, show champion 230614 (more giant lyrics!!), music core 230617, mcountdown 230622

shooting star + left right - xg

we all already know that left right was my most listened song this year, but the fact that the mv was b movie sci fi star trek themed? it's like simon made everything about this specifically for me thank you. xg blew everyone out of the water this year on every front; music, styling, choreography, you name it. i said i wanted groups to commit to their bits and i got it. they were completely unafraid to actually commit to the y2k nostalgia AND to harajuku styling; a lot of groups have weakly pawed at it but always back away due to the fact that harajuku and y2k are not actually 'pretty' fashion trends, which leaves their attempts half assed with no real understanding of why and how those trends happened. xg came saw and conquered the current trend in a way that only a japanese gg can do. my only annoyance is that they tone down the stylings when they promote on music shows, and i know why they do it, so it's not an annoyance at them, it's an annoyance at everyone else.

stages: shooting star - mcountdown 230202, con-tour 230217, the show 230221, inkigayo 230212, inkigayo 230205, con-tour 230224

left right - the show 230228, show champion 230222

circle - onew

absolute masterpiece. album of the year in every way. it's a profoundly beautiful unpacking of grief and the sadness that comes with acknowledging that things change, and the way that in that change life and humanity and story is eternal. a circle. the theatre imagery combined with the 60s style children's tv show use their similar but contrasting forms to illustrate the same point: something can be eternal and fleeting at the same time, and that heightens its value rather than diminishing it. the promo campaign was so thought out as well, i love the integration of the theatre imagery into the highlight medley and i highly recommend you watch it if you haven't. one of the best cbs from a solo artist in years.

stages: mcountdown 230309, music core 230311, music bank 230317, inkigayo 230319

--

ignore the fact this was almost five months late even though i started writing in like. november. i'm busy ok. it's planting season and i have to send so much post. the choreos post is the next most finished so that will probably be out before the styling second half one.

[dlstmxkakwldrlarchive]

230714 SPOKKING GO YOUNGBAE — WITH MINHO

Minho talked about Hard wins on music shows

‘It’s not the first time we got first place but seeing how we got first despite being in our 15th year, it somehow made me so happy’ Minho also talked about how they have wins in the 2000s, 2010s and 2020s

Minho: Actually compared to HARD being the 15th anniversary title, we worked harder because it's a comeback after a long time...

At first, he didn't feel much pressure about it being their 15th anniv but everyone around them keept on emphasizing on '15th anniversary', he felt the pressure.

GYB then said, in particular to the comeback this time, he could feel that the members, fans and the staffs really put the utmost importance of 15th anniversary towards the group 'SHINee', the feeling of preciousness. It looked so beautiful to him.

GYB wanted to talk about <Like It> but can't seem to remember the title.. he said <It's Okay>? Someone told GYB it's <Like it>, GYB then said he's not exaggerating but he feels emotional listening to it, it gives off the feeling of SHINee from back then.

Minho agrees too, saying it gives off 'view' vibe.

GYB said it's like a mix of View and also SHINee even older songs. From the track, vocal directing, vocal lines.

<Like It> is the last song to be recorded. They already decided on the rest of the bsides but as they're searching for the last one, A&R team finally brings out <Like It>. Minho feels that <Like It> can even be a title track if it's well handled. However because of time constraint, they couldn't develop the song any further and just recorded as it is (for Like It).

GYB said <Satellite> is also good, it gives of a retro vibe.

Minho said the members had the best reaction upon hearing <Satellite> demo. Key and Taemin said with a great handling/tweaking, <Satellite> can even be a title track.

Minho's first impression of <Satellite> Intro = it reminded him of Bohemian rhapsody's intro

Minho said A&R team might find their team the most difficult to handle because of the numerous request to revise/tweak the song.

MH: This is why.. the A&R noona staffs.. don't let us hear the songs in advance

Minho also said he never rejects anyone who asked him to do any challenges.

Minho said back then, juniors will come to the seniors room and give signed albums and that's how they interact but these days it's through challenges.

GYB asked about the SHINee movie that will be aired in September

Mh said it's a documentary as well as a live recording of their concerts, their best stages during their 15 years of career.

trans.

[a-moth-to-the-light]

Most-Listened of December 2023

(via stats.fm/spotistats)

This was finals month, and a particularly rough set of finals, too. But I always tend to enjoy music as a whole more in December, as everyone takes time to appreciate their favorite songs of the year! So, though there weren't a whole lot of new releases, this was a great listening month for me, hence all the five-star songs :)

[last month]

1. The Very First Night -- Taylor Swift

This is an exuberantly painful song--just how happy Taylor Swift sounds, as she dreams of the impossible, breaks my heart and then brings me back for yet another listen.

2. Elevarte Caer -- Xoel López, Repion

This song is so powerful, hit after hit after hit of melody. The headbanging goes WILD whenever this one comes on.

3. Pierre -- Ryn Weaver

Soundtrack to my (requisite) finals breakdown, and WOW is it catchy. The bittersweet feeling chokes me up every single listen!

4. Closer -- The Chainsmokers, Halsey

Of all the songs Todd in the Shadows has featured on his yearly best lists, I don't know why THIS is the one that has made my own monthly list twice. But here we are!

5. Like I Can -- Sam Smith

Sam Smith angst is something special. I still like "Stay With Me" more, but "Like I Can" has the bite I needed this month.

6. Lean On -- Bely Basarte

I got really sick around Christmas, and Bely Basarte's soft covers of songs from my childhood helped comfort me through it :)

7. Numb Little Bug -- Em Beihold

Thanks @embroselu for the rec! When the instrumental go CRASH I go SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE (the texture is fantastic we love it)

8. Blame Brett -- The Beaches

This one is so much fun!! It brings pop euphoria to rock music just as excellently as my favorite Yena tracks!

9. Favorite Crime -- Olivia Rodrigo

Yeah, none of the GUTS ballads have managed to match this one, or "1 step forward, 3 steps back", for me.

10. Temporary Fix -- Dirty Blond

This is exactly what winter gloom feels like.

11. Una Sonrisa -- Repion

I've taken this on as sort of personal theme song, I love it so much!! AL FINAL, TE CANTARÉ, PARA SI SENTIRME BIEN &lt;3 AL FINAL, TE CANTARÉ, PORQUE ME HACE BIEN A MIIIIIIIIIII PORQUE ME HACE BIEN A MIIIIIIIIIIIIIII <3

12. Royal -- IVE

This song is fine, I don't mind it! I left it on repeat while speedrunning a final essay, and apparently that was enough repeats to get it on this list--I don't think I've listened to it in any other context.

13. Heavy Lashes -- Ichiko Aoba

Accidentally clicked on this while looking for "Heavy" by Linkin Park & Kiiara--no regrets! It's mysterious but also tender, a ballad that's full of surprises. One listen, and I knew it was going to be on the five-star songs list.

14. Piklu's Vacation Dream -- Abeer Khandker

Every list needs a random meme song! Thanks to Pinely on YouTube for bringing this song into my world <3

15. All-American Bitch -- Olivia Rodrigo

Me when Olivia Rodrigo lyrics...

Five-Star Songs This Month:

BIBI Vengeance -- Bibi (i didn't realize how great this one is until it showed up on my spotify wrapped top 100 this year. bibi & the song work SO well together, it's captivating!! and there has to be something in that chorus, because its shock value still hasn't worn off)

Bruise -- Jo Yuri (this was overshadowed by the other songs on the album, but i fell hard for its delicate atmosphere this month. jo yuri's vocals on love all really are something else!!)

Call My Name -- Sunmi (yet another flawless sunmi bside. i really hope she releases another mini album--or an album, if we're lucky--soon!)

Elevarte Caer -- Xoel López, Repion

Heavy Lashes -- Ichiko Aoba

Peach Blossom -- Yuju, sokodomo (another song i underestimated earlier in the year. i'm so glad yuju's solo songs have been centering her vocals so heavily, moving away from gfriend's dramatic, showy instrumentals--she really can carry a song, and i'm so glad for the chance to appreciate her singing more!)

[whoseafraidofliloleme]

💫𝐘𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐑𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 2022💫

Well 2022 has ended by the time I post this 😂. Man it's been a year for me, so let me celebrate the dramas, songs, Taylor Swift Songs I enjoyed this year in no particular order...

𝐓𝐨𝐩 6 𝐃𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐬:

1. 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐨𝐥 2021. (2021)

This was a highly anticipated drama for me. I finally got round to watching it. It had everything I love in a drama and I couldn't stop watching. Everything was great and I need more people to watch this drama.

2. 𝐀 𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐝 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞. (2019).

This is the only drama that wasn't from 2021 or 22. It's been on my list for some time and I loved everything about it, the slow burn was so worth it and the secondary couple with they're enemies to lovers kinda story was fantastic.

3. 𝐀 𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐚𝐥. (2022).

MY FAVOURITE DRAMA OF THE YEAR AND IT DESERVES THE LOVE AND APPRECIATION IT GOT.

4. 𝐒𝐡**𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬. (2022).

I didn't expect to love this drama as much as I did. The chemistry between all the actors was top tier and the couples were the cutest things ever.

5. 𝐓𝐨 𝐅𝐥𝐲 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐘𝐨𝐮. (2021).

This was the first drama I watched last year and it was like a warm hug in a drama. I love Figure Skating and seeing Speed Skating was something new and fresh for me. The friendships and relationships were cute as well.

6. 𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫. (2021).

I know this was like a modern season 2 of a historical drama. I did start the historical drama but I just skipped to the last episode. Moving on from that, this drama was a fun time, the slow burnish relationship, the family drama. It was a fun time and I had the best time watching it.

𝐓𝐨𝐩 5 𝐍𝐨𝐧 𝐓𝐚𝐲𝐥𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐰𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐒𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐬:

1. 𝐑𝐮𝐧 𝐁𝐓𝐒 ~ 𝐁𝐓𝐒

This was my hype song. I have to leave the house at 7 am for work and it's hella dark out so this song just woke me up and the performance and practice vids? I'm dead and we are not worthy for this top tier song.

2. 𝐒𝐡𝐮𝐭 𝐃𝐨𝐰𝐧 ~ 𝐁𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐤.

The much anticipated comeback. I loved the album as a whole and the struggle to only pick one song was real but this song just sounds amazing and the mv with its parallels to other mvs was great.

3. 𝐋𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐃𝐢𝐯𝐞 ~ 𝐈𝐯𝐞.

I didn't expect to even get into Ive but here I am with this song being in my top 5 😂.

4. 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐎𝐮𝐭 ~ 𝐄𝐧𝐡𝐲𝐩𝐞𝐧.

This is probably my favourite Enha bside. It's literally a hug in song form to me. When I tell you I lost my mind that they performed it live at the GDA...

5. 𝐅𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 ~ 𝐋𝐞 𝐒𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐟𝐢𝐦.

I just love this song and the girls are hilarious so here it is 😂🤷🏽‍♀️.

𝐓𝐨𝐩 5 𝐓𝐚𝐲𝐥𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐰𝐢𝐟𝐭 𝐒𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐬:

Not even going to explain this cause I'll literally go into it and this post is getting long enough 😂.

1. 𝐀𝐧𝐭𝐢-𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐨.

2. 𝐖𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐯𝐞, 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐯𝐞, 𝐒𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐯𝐞.

3. 𝐊𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐚.

4. 𝐁𝐞𝐣𝐞𝐰𝐥𝐞𝐝.

5. 𝐘𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐎𝐧 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐎𝐰𝐧, 𝐊𝐢𝐝.

5 𝐆𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐏𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝:

1. So like if anyone remembers the whole time of me going through it in terms of Uni. Im repeating my third year and yeah that's happening. Also I'd like to thank everyone that sent asks and comments on my fics being reassuring and comforting. Thank you all so much, I didn't expect the support but getting it was much appreciated.

2. I've finally figured out what I want to do with my life 😂. So I got a job at a school, I'm a teaching assistant and that kinda solidified the idea of becoming an English teacher for me.

3. Found my platonic soulmate 😂. Love this idiot and honestly it's weird how we never met before but now she's my best friend and I love her idiotic ass 😂.

4. I finished the True Beauty fanfic, it finished with 30k+ words and that's insane to me.

5. I started and finished a handful of Enhypen smaus. I love writing them and I love the interaction with readers. I love that I've got a permanent taglist. Something I only ever dreamed of since I started reading smaus in 2020. So thanks for that to my wonderful readers. I'm thinking of branching out to other groups (txt, bts) but don't hold me to that 😂.

[aplateoflasagna]

My thoughts on Treasure - The Second Step: Chapter Two

(edit: I wrote this in 2022 and didn't post it for some reason :p I'm posting it now, cause it was fun to read my reactions to the songs. wrote VolKno was my least fav song from the album and it's just not true omg, I love VolKno 😭)

Finally getting around to typing out my thoughts eventhough the album has been out for like a month and promotions have basically ended lol

Hello: Perfect song 10/10! I swear I cried when i first saw the MV/ listened to the song because it's just so them! It's everything Treasure stands for: being young and having fun.

People are still calling Treasure 'a young group', eventhough they have been in the industry for 2 years and are no longer rookies. They are not even younger then other groups who debuted that same year, but they seem like it because they are allowed to act/look their age. Other groups mostly go for a serious and mature concept so having Treasure release 'Hello' feels like a breath of fresh air.

It's a song meant for festivals and concerts! The choreo is fun to watch and I can't wait to see them perform it for their Seoul concert + Japan concert tour + MAMA performance 💙

VolKno: It's a rock song with rap and about rap which is cool. the instrumental sounds like it could be from Linkin Park.

It's probably my least favorite song on the album but that's only because the other songs are just so good. the reason is that they went with a classic kpop song structure for a rapsong which is just weird to me. They did verse-prechorus-chorus-verse-prechorus-chorus-bridge-outro while most k-rapsongs i've listened to are verse-chorus-verse-chorus-verse-bridge-chorus

This would bave allowed Yoshi to have an entire verse to himself instead of getting the prechorus. He had to keep to the beats and couldn't rap in his flow. and that's too bad because out of HyunHaYo, I love Yoshi's flow the most.

I also want to apologize to Yoshi. Reading the translation of his verses, I was really dissipointed because they didn't seem that good/interesting? But then I saw ItsANDYandJAS's analysis video on youtube and I realise how wrong i've been lol

translated the lyrics of his first verse are:

"Bang Bang, appearing like a lightning

Handle every single dirty rats

Flip the stage proudly, i'm a star

Our company is hip and turn silent"

I took his lyrics at face value while obviously i shouldn't have smh.

I was thinking, why use rats in your lyrics?, and i'm not going to pretend to know Yoshi, but that doesn't sound like him at all. Now I realise it's a play on words with the next part of the verse. (flip the stage/flip the word ---> rats becomes star ughhhh i did not see that)

"Our company is hip and turn silent" is a play on words in Korean as well + he delibirately accentuates certain words so it basically becomes: "Our company = hiphop." It's what the whole song is about -> the influence their seniors had on the K-hiphop scene.

Really looking forward to the MV! the teaser images make it seem like it's western inspired. In the bridge there is that 'hands up' moment, it would be cool to see that in the MV.

CLAP!: What a song! Again so much fun + they added a singalong ending. This will be so much fun on stage. Asahi really outdid himself on this album. Yoshi's rapverse really stands out to me here. The next Darari. Now Yedam and Asahi should release that christmas song they teased last year lol. My favorite bside of the album. (edit: ah now I see why i never posted this 😭 I wrote this right before it was announced Mashidam left the group omg)

Thank You: Another masterpiece by Asahi. A rock song which I totally didn't expect Asahi to do. + now it's a whole song with only his voice . i've been waiting for this moment since his one line in Going Crazy lol. he's going to rock the stage. can you imagine Asahi and Haruto on stage together during their Japan concert tour?? singing this song in Japanese?? my heart srsly this will be amazing. I'm so fucking proud of him. it's the perfect fusion of Kpop and Jpop. I kind of need Asahi to release an album with songs he composed and are sung by the treasure members. as their editor puts it: Give me that guys hard drive. his voice is srsly insane. like the prechorus?? it's so fucking good

Hold it in: (edit: apparently I hadn't written a review for hold it in back then so I'll do it now ^^ It's my absolute favorite slow song from Treasure (it rivals Orange?!) and I hope they never remove it from their setlist! Before the album came out, I remember thinking 'It's the last song on the album and those are usually slow songs, but how it that possible when Hyunsuk wrote it???' The fact Hyunsuk wrote such diverse songs (this and VolKno) on 1 album is just so amazing and I hope the next album will have another song written by Hyunsuk!)

It's an OT10 comeback and while I miss Yedam and Mashiho alot, I also didn't feel sad listening to this album, watching the promotions etc. Treasure really gave it their all so we wouldn't feel Mashidamr's absence and I'm actually so proud of OT10. It's tough on fans but it's even worse for them and they didn't show it at all.

definitely their best album. very diverse, but still they songs fit well together. it's shows what treasure is capable of.

[minjv]

armageddon - aespa thoughts 🫶

initial: i’ve been waiting for this for almost two years. there have been so many delays and set backs, and even when it was initially announced, i didn’t believe it would actually happen bc i was so ready to be let down again. it’s my most anticipated album of all time. aespa’s discography is so superior (savage + MY WORLD being some of the greatest kpop minis ever imo) and i have such high hopes for æ1. all of the pre-release promotions have been so stellar and both TTs are beyond top tier. they’re probably the strongest aespa has ever released, so i have sm faith this album is going to be phenomenal. MY have been waiting so long for aespa to drop aoty i really can’t believe it’s finally here and we get to keep it forever 🤍

supernova: i loved this from first listen. i absolutely adore high energy weird aespa. to me this has felt like a combination of spicy + illusion in a way that pushes them further and develops their sound even more as a group. solid contender for my favorite aespa TT (tied with wtmw)

armageddon: aespa has always gone off with ad libs but this is another level. i loooove the world play between "armageddon" and "imma get it." easily their most ambitious TT and (imo) unquestionably the strongest song they've ever released. aespa has never been more locked into their song + concept then they are rn which is exactly what i dreamed of this being. we knew it would be amazing bc of how much they hyped it up, but to have it still be even more.. will be crying over this song for a long time 🤍

set the tone: FANTASTIC transition from supernova + armageddon. definitely see this being a favorite for a lot of ppl. sister of salty & sweet and lingo. the pre-chorus giving us everything and providing the perfect contrast to keep the song from being monotonous. i love how the bass line pushes the song forward

mine: dark + heavy suit aespa sm. the metallic sound in the background... savage influence shining through. both the raps + vocals in this sound soo great. this song screams aespa sooo much. definitely one of their great bsides ever... and i think it'll remain in the rankings for the rest of their career 💖

licorice: another song we've heard!! track vid was sooooo fun. i 🤍 quirky aespa + licorice + mint choco so what's not to love here ^^ this feels like car ride music or songs for getting ready in the morning. not exactly in a chill way but in a "getting ready to face something." i loooove the guitar in the background. im always a huge fan of guitar highlights and it just gives the song the final flair it needs to be solidly great and interesting

cannot overlook the importance of these two tracks for the album. as stand alone tracks they are both so fun and upbeat. within the context of the album, they are THE transition between the two halves of the album and they make it a seamless and beautiful experience when you’re listening through the full albums. mvps of the album fr it could not be the same experience without them performing so stunningly these sisters deserve all the flowers 🤍🤍🤍

bahama: the way i have anticipated youuuuuuuu. their soft and sweet vocals 🤍🤍🤍🤍 i would love if we someday get a mini full of songs like this + better things + yeppi yeppi. it's just so pretty but still peppy and fun. this perfectly encapsulates that side of aespa. for the last three years, i think SM has been trying to create this exact bside on each mini, and they've finally nailed it and jesus they really blew it out of the water 😭🌴

long chat (#♥️): the cuuuutest track video. sm really gave us the perfect styling for every concept we could have hoped for this time ^^ thirsty + bahama sister song 👯‍♀️ idk what TMT means but i trust ning when she says it's what they are <3 there's just something so fun and endearing seeing them do these concepts. it's so different then how they debuted but it's something that's been with them since predebut + they showed this side within months of debuting with forever. you can tell it's v precious and dear to them and something they love and that suits them so well 🤍

prologue: the ooo ooo ooo's.. im already so in love. karina's singing voice 🤍🤍🤍 winter singing "im a weirdoooo" ilysm. i'm gonna look up lyrics bc this sounds so intimate and heartfelt... ohhh ning bridge. their vocals have shone so many times before but they have never sounded better than this.

ohh the lyrics are even more than i imagined. easily the most precious song in their discography to date.. and another song they've been working toward their entire career. it's so heart achingly intimate and sad and scared and hopeful... i can't say ive ever loved aespa more than I do in this moment 🤍 it makes me feel that the girls had a lot of input and involvement in the album and that their desires and interests were really taken into consideration and upheld which makes me so glad. ik i keep saying it but i feels sm like this is the exact album that the girls wanted it to be and every song only furthers that conviction

live my life: back to yt bc i never got around to this track vid bc of work </3 they are sooo precious. aespa getting their soft rock moment 😭😭😭😭 cannot explain how much this sound + aesthetic align with my taste perfectly 🤍 // take two for lyrics: they're really having their coming of age movie moment <3333 the lyrical callbacks to life's too short and visual callbacks to wtmw... i'm struggling to explain how much i love this project and just how perfect i think it is.. all i can say is that every single thing they've done so far makes so much sense and was the perfect decision over and over and over // take three for album version: the added bridge (?) with vocal moments... exactly what the song needed to feel complete

melody: we made it... final track of æ1. we're so lucky to have made it this far and it still feels unreal that we have the full album now. the entire album has been nothing short of stellar so im excited to see how they close it out. the girlies (and SM) usually go for a ballad to finish things out so we'll see how it hits <3

this is soo typical aespa album closer but even more twinkly and full than usual 💫✨💫 sonically it reminds me a lot of "til we meet again." sister of forever + 'til we meet again + "cause youre MY whole world" they are sooo cute. i think the song is even sweeter knowing that they debuted during covid, waited so long to meet fans, became so much stronger and more dynamic as performers after finally performing to their fans live, qnd they're releasing this off of their first concert experience. it's the sweetest and most expected way they could have finished this amazing experience of æ1 🫶

misc thoughts:

so much quirky aespa sprinkled throughout its super fun ^^

i love how much rina's and giselle's vocals get to shine throughout the album. their rapping is great and always enjoyable, but their voices hit differently especially when utilized well. further solidifying aespa as one the best vocal groups of fourth gen <3

ning + winter get to play off each other so often i looove the difference in their vocal colors and line delivery

i love the contrasting visual / aesthetic / concepts showcased throughout the album and the way they all still feel like aespa

overall:

the tracklisting is genius. in some ways, it’s like two totally different albums pushed together. the first half versus the second half are so different sonically, but it works perfectly. aespa’s discography has always been so diverse, and the members have always been vocal about their varying interests and desires to explore different genres and concepts. putting together everything that they’ve released before into a cohesive project, where every song has a connection to a previous release, while still making each new song fresh and elevated and better than anything they’ve given us before, is such an incredible feat. this is something they should be so so proud of bc it’s genuinely phenomenal.

the first half playing up their futuristic concept and emphasizing their strength and confidence while the second half becomes soft and vulnerable gives them the ability to express their full range. nothing feels boring or overused, and it all feels natural to them. each section accomplishes its sound so expertly they are incredible songs truly

standout songs rn: mine; BAHAMA; prologue (but realistically… they are truly all so amazing and hit different moods)

second half of the album (bahama onward) hit more for me bc that’s my personal taste in music (also why MY WORLD has been my favorite release from them) and will likely get the most play, but godddd does the first half hit <333 when i need that energy it’s gonna be so good

i’m really excited to add their songs into playlists and put together different vibes solely from their discography… still reeling from the reality of TEN new aespa songs <33333 and more to come later in the year if the jp release holds true <3

genuinely. truly. earnestly. honestly. happily. with the greatest relief and satisfaction, i can report that this album is everything i have asked for and so much more. my heart is exploding for them 🤍

æ1 i’m soo pleased to finally know you and see armageddon prove itself as aoty just like we always knew you would 🫶 we believed in you for so long and it feels unreal to finally have you and be able to cherish you forever

[leechaeyyeon]

BEST KPOP RELEASES - 2022

yes, i know, i'm late to this trend-thingy. but hey, it's been a month so it could've been worse. also…if your fave isn't on here, i don't know what to tell you…! probably that they make terrible music?

25. flip that — loona

even though I disliked the song at first, it has grown on me well and for that it deserves a spot on this list. and fawk bbc for leaving those girls out in the cold, they could have been so much more than they were if it wasn't for that company

24. sparkling — chungha

after bicycle and killing me this song is the best way to come back. she looked so gorgeous here, the song made me feel like a princess. now that bvndit and chungha both left that terrible company i'm hoping it goes bankrupt 🙏

23. loveable — joyuri

people keep calling this song boring left and right and i'm like?? it's fun and catchy, you all just hate cute songs 😒

22. undo — heize

retro done right, we love you heize!

21. trouble? travel! — adora

need chuu to debut solo with a concept like this

20. higher — fifty fifty

everyone hating on this song hates ggs it's true. please support my sisters when they come back this month

19. sunflower — yoojung

this song is so yoojung in the best way possible

18. last sequence — wjsn

wjsn still holding onto the elegant concept when theyre on the verge of disbandment #consistency

17. 28 reasons — seulgi

need more red velvet spooky songs ASAP

16. loveade — viviz

this song is so viviz/gfriend in the best way possible. like this is the most them thing they ever did

15. stay this way — fromis_9

needed a day or two to let this song grow on me but ever since this song has been on repeat. not to mention the amazing bsides, they always serve

14. _world — seventeen

disliked almost every boy group release this year, but seventeen really blew me away, will definitely tune in for that bss release

13. hush rush — lee chaeyeon

this song was so different than I had expected her to debut solo with, but I don't mind! need her to do a barbie like concept next



12. hype boy — newjeans

this song is too good. you just HAVE to like it.

11. sneakers — itzy

i honestly don't get the hate around this song, it was pretty good actually! also, there are people who like nmixx's music…focus on that first

10. feel my rhythm — red velvet

everytime I hear this song I ASCEND. their vocals are no joke, and those outfits?? 😩

9. smartphone — yena

this song is too good. you just HAVE to like it.

8. antifragile — lesserafim

this song is too good. still upset this song didn't get nominated for soty

7. after like — ive

sampling I will survive and then make out this masterpiece, starship finally made a right decision for once. the whole era outfitwise and stage wise do this song justice. might learn the dance just because

6. beautiful monster — stayc

this song has been dragged through the mud for no reason. okay, it wasn't that up in your face like other releases this year, but I think that's completely fine! it's calmer for stayc, and that's what I like about it. also, I like it having a stage made up for it, since that song was one of my most played songs last summer

5. patbingsu — billlie

this song is so kpop in the best way possible: 7 girls singing about a silly little dessert. like?? it's almost ironic how much effort that company put in to release a song dedicated to patbingsu just to make the worst punk release ever known to humanity. hoping for more quirky songs soon

4. loveticon — csr

this song??? you guys don't get it like I do. it's so genius. from the great rap with an awesome word play, to just being one of the best nugu releases this year.

3. selfish — yooa

okay, i know we all hate yooa but HEAR ME OUT... it's not that bad actually…like?? I actually felt something else than being weirded out when listening to it. need her to release more of these songs. other than her looking bored af on the stage most of the time I have no complaints

2. dance on — alice

and when the world needed alice the most, they finally came back! this song is so simple yet so impactful. should've gotten a music show win, tho. need them to feed onto this newfound fame and release more songs like this

run — h1-key

alright, i know what you're thinking: who the hell is h1-key? and that's what's wrong with kpop stans! like, how could you NOT know h1-key? sure, their debut was (very) disappointing, but they perfectly picked themselves up again with run. I was very surprised when I heard this song, since it was so simple yet so fun. rose blossom did kinda disappoint me, since I had hoped they would feed into the cute sporty concept, but they put it down just as quickly as they had picked it up. don't get me wrong, rose blossom is fine, but it wasn't the route I was expecting them to take.

some honorable mentions:

talk that talk — twice // seoul — bol4 // last dance — youha // pop?pop! — csr

[neocrush]

— enhypen reaction to hearing you sing for the first time !

genre: fluff + established relationship for heeseung and sunoo

pairings: idol!enhypen x gn!reader

note: requested by anon ♡

★ heeseung

you got into an argument, a dumb one actually

but you both being the stubborn people you are, you decided to give each other the silent treatment

you couldn’t handle it much longer

you just wanted to say sorry and cuddle with him

but then again - you didn’t wanna deflate your ego

so directly speaking to him was a no-no

so you sat there in his bed, grabbing his guitar and started strumming it

until you started playing and singing get you by daniel caesar

heeseung must’ve heard you as he slowly walked towards his room, pressing his ear on the door

he didn’t know you could play the guitar and sing

pls he had massive heart eyes

was convinced he fell in love with you all over again

he completely forgot the argument ever happened and just barged in

“you’re the love of my life.”

you stopped playing and singing and just went *instert shocked pikachu face*

“can you sing for me? please?” and you just shake your head no

pouts and gives you puppy eyes

you give in and kiss his cheek “fine, but only if you do it with me”

he nods and cuddles you as you both sing each other to sleep

★ jay

you were a new trainee at belift and he was at the studio, preparing a new song with jake and a producer

the producer had called you in to record a demo for one of the hybe groups

he wasn’t that fazed when you entered the room - the both of you having a mask and bucket hat on

as you entered the recording booth, you removed your mask and hat

you listen to the instrumental and re-read the lyrics once again as you asked the producer if you could record the song without instrumental first

the producer agreed and started recording

you got straight into the chorus, surprising jay

that specific part was in a very high key and he was shocked at how effortlessly you sang it at the first try

the recording went pretty well

but the way jay kept on looking back and forth between the lyrics he was writing and you in the booth didn’t go unnoticed by jake

you were done and had to return to practice as you bowed to the boys and producer - leaving the room

jake nudges jay, signalling him to go follow you and at least say something

jay took the hint and left the studio

“y/n!” he called out and you turned around

“your voice is beautiful. would you want to record with me- i mean enhypen some time?”

★ jake

you were part of a girl band

you played the bass and was also the lead singer

your company - a fairly small one - was just recently bought by bang pd so you were under hybe labels

your group used to perform for different high school festivals and you just happened to have performed at sunoo’s

after hearing the news that you were under hybe too, sunoo begged his members to come with him see your band at the company

“sunoo they’re there to practice, not to do free concerts” - jungwon

jake chuckled and he was the only one who agreed to come with sunoo

“hyung did you know their lead singer is the same age as you” sunoo said wiggling his brows as they both made their way to your practice room

jake just shook his head at his younger member

hearing a familiar melody, sunoo dragged the older member to what he was sure was your practice room

“sunoo you can’t just barge i-“

was he seeing an angel?????

“sunoo i thought they did rock”

“yeah but they have bsides in other genres too yknow”

you were singing your solo song twilight

jake nodded and watched you in awe, admiring how into the song you were

your members weren’t there and it may seem lonely but your voice echoing throughout the room made the atmosphere feel heavenly

once the song was over, sunoo cheered and clapped his hands as you grew shy, finally acknowledging their presence

the two boys introduced themselves to you and you did the same to them

you chuckled as you saw jake fumble on his words

“i know who you guys are, i watched your very good cover. you should try doing rock sometime, it seriously fits you guys!” you complimented them

as they grew shy, you couldn’t help but notice jake’s unique smile and how he plays with his hands when he’s nervous

“do you wanna grab lunch with us?”

“is the jake sim asking me out?”

“is the y/n l/n rejecting me?”

you both laughed as sunoo playfully rolled his eyes and you went to go get lunch with the two

★ sunghoon

you were at karaoke with the guys

all of them were having the time of their lives, doing song after song without taking breaks

jay and riki were singing new face and you were busting your lungs out watching them get tired of the never-ending song

remember when yoongi went “when does this song end” when bts was singing new face during that one run episode? yeah that’s them

when the song finally finished, jungwon noticed how you have been laughing and just sitting there the whole time

so he took the mic and pointed at you

that little shit

sunoo had already queued asap by stayc for him to sing, but jungwon insisted that you sing it since you should at least sing one song

“but that’s my song!” - sunoo

“sunoo you can do the choreo while y/n sings” - jungwon

sunoo nods, also wanting to hear you sing

(ps he wanted to do the choreo lol)

you refused and kept shaking your head until your crush, sunghoon, placed his hand on your shoulder, making your heart do backflips

“cmonnnn y/n, please?” he pouted at you

finally giving in, you stand up and grab the mic from jungwon

starting the song, your body was stiff

but once you reached the chorus, you and sunoo were doing the choreo while you sang with a big smile on your face

not you being a whole kpop idol whoop

sunghoon couldn’t help but look at you and smile to himself and blush - you looked so cute and your voice was so addicting

you even lipsynced the “i think you’re really cool” part (the one before the chorus) while winking at him

the song really brought out your inner confidence as you made sunghoon a flustered mess

once you were all finished and went home, riki showed you a video he took of sunghoon when you were singing

“dude i swear he’s super into you! look at him smiling ear-to-ear!!! he looks like he just saw an angel”

“oh shut up riki”

you mentally thanked jungwon for setting you up like that

★ sunoo

“can you sing me to sleep please?” you asked sunoo asked with puppy eyes

he poked your cheeks, nodding

“you’re so cute. of course i’ll sing you to sleep baby”

getting in bed with him, he started playing with your hair and caressing your shoulder

he softly sang love is not over by bts

what took him by surprise was that you suddenly joined in, harmonizing with him

he knew you liked music but wasn’t aware that you had such an amazing voice

he held your hand as you both finished singing the song, giggling

“baby you have the sweetest voice ever, you should sing more often” he playfully pouted

you softly laughed as you moved his bangs out frame, kissing his forehead

“i’ll only sing for you darling, i don’t want others to fall for me”

he playfully hit you as you laughed at your own joke

facing you, he looked into your eyes

“i love you so much.”

you blushed at his words

“i love you even more sunoo.”

★ jungwon

your group and enhypen were appearing on weekly idol together

your members kept on teasing you because you had previously revealed that jungwon was your ideal type on knowing bros

what you said garnered a lot of attention from knetz and engenes, some negative but most of them positive

“they would make an adorable couple”

“i wanna see them sing together”

“their visuals together would shake the whole country”

you were glad engenes didn’t hate your guys for being open about your admiration towards the boy

you being nervous was an understatement - this was your first time seeing jungwon in real life

and you expected the hosts to bring up what you said about him so you were prepared to face him directly

pls this sounds like ur about to have a boxing match w him

anyways filming started out okay until the hosts (ofc) brought up what you said

a few laughs here and there but suddenly they had an idea

“so you’re the main vocal, correct?”

you nodded at one of the hosts

“that’s perfect because it’s time for our karaoke session!”

you ended up getting paired up with jungwon to sing just one day by bts

you made eye contact the whole time and it didn’t take a genius to see the instant chemistry

your voices went so well with each other that even you and his members were shocked at how heavenly you both sounded together

you were both smiling and you could just melt right then and there

once you were done, you covered your face with your hands as you were a blushing mess

your members and enhypen clapped and one of the hosts went “you guys should sing an ost together”

you both got super shy and the rest of filming went well

a month passed and the episode aired

engenes and your fans went insane on sns and knetz were demanding a collab

it wasn’t anything serious until your ceo brought you in in a meeting with hybe executives and he popped up the question

“how would you like to feature in enhypen’s newest album?”

★ riki

your classmates were cleaning the classroom as it was the last week of the whole school year

you were sweeping the floor, humming the song that was silently playing in the background as the room was filled with chatter

riki was removing the decorations on the walls, listening to your soft hums

the songs that were being played were fairly calm

until a more energetic song suddenly played

your classmates suddenly became all energetic when i can’t stop me by twice started playing

you smiled, singing along

you were just playing around but you didn’t realize that you just hit nayeon’s high notes

“woah! y/n??? you’re really good”

you saw that riki was listening the whole time (and so was the rest of the class lol) and you got shy

you shook your head and stopped singing

“no keep going!” - a classmate

you gave in and went on with the song and riki gave you a “you’re so awesome” look

once the song was over, your classmates started playing even more hype song

a guy went “lets do karaoke!”

a girl chimed in “y/n has to go first!”

riki softly laughed and nudged you to go sing

you used the broom in your hand as a fake mic and mic stand as you sang blue hour by txt

he filmed you, zooming in on your smiling face

he was sure going to cherish that video forever

[stormseasonishere]

STORM SEASON is the debut mini album by korean boy group TEMPE5T, it was released both digitally and physically on January 23, 2019. It contains SIX tracks with RUN being its title track. The bside VENDETTA was promoted alongside the title. The play chosen to represent this comeback was The Tempest.

— TRACKLIST:

RUN

VENDETTA

CHAOS

THE STORM IS ENDING

SORRY

COURTAIN CALL

— STYLING.

SEONGMIN’S HAIR COLOR: Black.

YOUNGJAE’S HAIR COLOR: Brown.

JACE’S HAIR COLOR: Dark Brown.

CHANHEE’S HAIR COLOR: Blonde.

HAOFENG’S HAIR COLOR: Black.

OLIVER’S HAIR COLOR: Dark blue.

WEI’S HAIR COLOR: Black.

— ERA HIGHLIGHTS.

Three years after their official opening, Lumiére finally debuted their first group! The pressure was huge, but the boys were excited nevertheless.

Happily, the result was positive. As a company that was just getting started, there was a certain doubt regarding the success of the group.

However, they didn’t expect the amount of traction they got. Run’s MV reached 30 million views in 24 hours and the song was always in the top 10.

The MV went viral on twitter due to its aesthetic and quality, which helped people to know the group.

In general, twitter loved them. Seongmin went viral for being a girl group stan; Jace went viral for, well, existing and everyone fell in love with their personalities.

The concept also drew a lot of people’s attention to the group, making the expectations high on how they’re going to use Shakespeare’s plays in future comebacks.

Speaking of the plays, they re-enacted some scenes from The Tempest in one Vlive! It was one little chaotic moments the fans treasure until this day.

They got three wins with their debut! Seongmin was the one that cried the most and his fans since the no.mercy times were supporting him a lot.

There weren’t really major scandals for them this era, aside from the last minute addition of Chanhee. A lot of people doubted of his talent because of his background.

— ALBUM CREDITS.

RUN: LYRICS BY ARIES & JACE; PRODUCED BY ARIES & JACE

VENDETTA: LYRICS BY ARIES, YOUNGJAE & OLIVER; PRODUCED BY ARIES & MOON

CHAOS: LYRICS BY MARS & YOUNGJAE; PRODUCED BY MARS & MOON

THE STORM IS ENDING: LYRICS BY WEI; PRODUCED BY WEI

SORRY: LYRICS BY YOUNGJAE; PRODUCED BY MARS & MOON

COURTAIN CALL: LYRICS BY ARIES, OLIVER & WEI; PRODUCED BY WEI

[wickymicky]

my top 10 favorite kpop singles of the first half of 2021

i did one of these at the end of march, for the first quarter of the year, and this is my update for the second quarter, which obviously is also the first half of the year lol. so like, that’s kind of a big deal, we already know half of all the kpop that will be released this year, and im starting to have strong favorites that all the stuff from the second half of the year will have to struggle to beat, haha. 

rather than do a big thing like my year-end list that i did at the end of 2020, i’m gonna limit myself to just three sentences per song for songs 10-6, and five sentences for the top 5 songs haha. if these songs are good enough, and they stay high on my list all the way through to the end of the year, then i’ll post big full-size reviews of them then, i guess. or if you want to know more of what i think about something, or why i put something where i did, feel free to ask me about it lol, i love having discussions about this kind of stuff

anyway here’s the list

10: Lunarsolar - DADADA This is kind of a surprise pick for me lol, and I’d be lying if I said that at least half of the reason I wanted to include it here wasn’t just because I want more people to know about this song, and also to surprise people with an interesting pick haha. But genuinely, I think this song is really solid, there aren’t many flaws with it that I can even think of, and I’ve listened to it a ton since it came out. It’s such a fun song, and if you like girl groups and you don’t know this song, then I highly recommend it haha

9: Rocket Punch - Ring Ring When I saw the teaser images, I thought this would be a disco concept, and like it kind of is... but only in the visuals lmao, the song seems pure 80s synthwavey stuff, more like Everglow La Di Da than GFriend Mago (and I’m into that, personally haha). This was a really cool comeback for this group, and I’m continuing to get more and more into them with each new thing they do! I don’t really have a lot to say about it, but it’s just fun and catchy and bright and loud and good, and yeah, it’s a song I’ve really enjoyed listening to a lot, which is really all that you need in order to make it on this list, you know?

8: Cherry Bullet - Love So Sweet This song feels really simple to me, but in a good way! It really feels like the songwriter(s) had a really good idea one day, and wrote a song for it immediately, rather than trying to start a song and come up with ideas as they went haha. It feels like everything in the song is in service to that underlying idea, and everything helps bring it to life more

7: Itzy - In the Morning (or Mafia in the Morning, whichever you prefer. I just tend to call it “Mafia” and nothing else, lol) Okay this one might be kind of a hot take, cause I’ve seen people be prettttty divided on this song, but I personally love it haha. Sure, the lyrics are corny as hell, but that’s nothing new for kpop, and I do think the use of the mafia game as a song motif is kind of interesting, I suppose. But honestly the biggest reason why I love it is the production haha, cause damn this song hits hard and the instrumental just sounds so cool (as do the bsides! their Guess Who mini album is my album of the year so far for sure, no question)

6: Fromis 9 - We Go I’m so glad Fromis came back with this song, and I feel like it’ll be a really meaningful song for me in time. This period of time right now, when we’re starting to feel like progress is being made in the fight against this virus that’s been dominating our lives for a year and a half... I think this song captures that feeling perfectly, possibly without even necessarily trying to. It sounds like a sigh of relief, meeting friends who you haven’t seen in a long time, or just the reassurance that even though many people are still very much in quarantine and taking things very seriously, this won’t be forever and there is still good in the world... that’s what it sounds like to me 

5: TRI.BE - Rub-a-Dum This one was kind of a surprise for me lol, cause I wasn’t expecting to like a song with this title this much. I like Doom Doom Ta, and I would have put it relatively high on this list if Rub-a-Dum hadn’t come out afterwards, but I feel like this song does everything that Doom Doom Ta did but better, and in a bit more of an interesting way. It was written by Shinsadong Tiger and LE from EXID (just as Doom Doom Ta was) and I think this song has LE’s touch all over it, in the best way. I love that this song is kind of experimental, cause like it only has one verse... it goes Intro > Verse > Prechorus > Chorus > Bridge > Final Chorus haha, and i think that’s mostly so that you can luxuriate in that chorus drop as much as possible. The song just really works for me overall, it’s super solid and I just couldn’t deny that it’s in my top 5 favorite songs of the year so far. 

4: Dreamcatcher - Odd Eye As soon as this song came out, it was another moment of “Wow, Dreamcatcher just put out the song of the year right at the beginning”, just like they did in 2020 lol. But as the year has gone on, I think I’m not as into this song as I was into Scream and Boca (the other two from Dreamcatcher’s Dystopia trilogy, with Scream being my SOTY last year). But like... a Dreamcatcher comeback that I feel is just fairly decent and not one of my most favorites... still gets it to 4th place overall haha. That’s just Dreamcatcher’s power, even the songs I’m not as obsessed with are ones that I still get pretty obsessed with. I love this vibe, it’s a really different take on a cyberpunk-y genre from other kpop songs that have dabbled in it, and overall I think every member slayed this (especially Handong who made her triumphant return this comeback!)

3: Weeekly - After School Okay, I’ve been pretty conflicted on this song, because even though initially I wasn’t sure how much I would get into it, it nevertheless is my single most-listened-to song of 2021 so far. Part of that is how much I love Weeekly, part of that is how fun the performances were to watch (and I’m counting watching those as listens to the song lol), but also I think it really did grow on me quite a bit, and I was even considering it to be my favorite of the year for a while. It’s a lot of fun, it’s really catchy, and it’ll probably go down as one of their most iconic and fan-favorite comebacks. It’s the kind of song that’ll get stuck in your head for weeks. It’s just very very very very... Weeekly, haha. 

2: Everglow - First This song is a fucking whirlwind, and it really beat the shit out of me just like the members do to the camera in the music video lmao. It’s pretty different from La Di Da, which has become one of my favorite kpop songs ever, but I really really like it too. I feel like First is what Everglow were going for with Adios and Dun Dun, but fully realized, in a more complete form. I love how high their budget seems to be now, and I love how they seem to be really coming into their own as a group, I feel like this is the Everglow they were always meant to be. Honestly, I could see this maybe becoming my SOTY by the end of the year, and it’s very close (within 10 or so) to being my most-listened song of the year, but I do still think it’s too soon to say for sure haha

1: STAYC - ASAP This was such a hard decision to make, because honestly the top 4 on this list were all really strong contenders for first place, but after a lot of thought, I’ve decided that ASAP is the one I feel like I’m the least likely to change my mind on. I’ve listened to this song every single day since it came out, except for like 4 or so, which means that even though I’ve listened to it less than the three songs below it on this list, I’ve listened to it more consistently than any of them... I just have not gotten tired of it. It’s such a breath of fresh air for kpop. It’s kind of minimalist because it really doesn’t have any extra stuff, it’s very streamlined and it knows exactly what it is and that’s all it needs to be, and that makes for a very satisfying listen, in my opinion. This song sounds like what heart-shaped things look like. ASAP ❤︎

[sanstropfremir]

Wait while we're talking about Hybe's business philosophy, something that has has been bothering me for ages is that period of time where hybe would acquire a company with fairly successful groups and then? those groups would disband? like i was only a casual nu'est enjoyer and am by no means a fan of gfriend but i've been struggling to find a reason. nu est was probably some sort of internal disagreement bc they at least had a final album, but it seems like gfriend were dropped like a hot potato. idk. firmly believe society is better bc of it tho! it just nags at me a lot and i was curious if you had any thoughts on it.

oh gfriend got canned bc they had a nazi scandal, so that one was deserved, but nu'est got nuked without warning like a month before their ten year anniversary + album. from the verbiage used by the guys when they've talked about it, it appears like hybe essentially didn't offer them a contract renewal as a group. the two guys who stayed with the company have extant commitments (minhyun i believe is on an acting contract/had some acting gigs lined up and baekho does a huge chunk of songwriting and producing and would probably lose all his copyrights if he left), but the other three had nothing to keep them there without the group. obvs we're probably not going to know actually what happened but the general consensus is that the members and perhaps even pledis staff got blindsided by the decision, because the guys were talking about their anniversary and looking forward to the future with the group at their winter concerts (if they had known they were disbanding on the anniversary we would have also known bc they're all criers) and there straight up was a bus ad campaign that ran in seoul until AFTER they had already disbanded? which why on EARTH would a company pay for a whole ass ad campaign if the group was about to die? there's also a theory that their last album was just meant to be a tenth anniversary cb with galaxy as the actual title track, bc it's much more in line with a tt from them, and again was meant to be the anniversary song bside. the guys are pretty close (mcing/going each other's fanmeetings, ren's guested on aron's podcast at least twice) and they fought like HELL to stay together as a group for the last ten years (they're literally the group that pioneered the survival show flop revival) so them disbanding was extremely out of left field. as for why hybe would have incentive to not renew them? nu'est have a fair amount of domestic popularity and a very stable and loyal fanbase BUT not a very large intl one and not one that was actively growing. they were quite large in japan as well, but they never hit big with a western audience and as we know, that's the only audience hybe cares about. plus, as ten year veteran idols and staples of the industry they would have likely had a lot of negotiating power during contract discussions. hybe probably knew that they wouldn't be able to beat them in line with their company vision if they stayed together so the easiest solution was to just disband them.

[a-moth-to-the-light]

Songs of the Summer, 2023: Honorable Mentions

[intro & rules]

Allergy – G-IDLE

I like this more than I want to, and that’s mostly because of how catchy that chorus is--it almost makes up for the messy production, but not quite. But I have a feeling this is one of the songs I'll remember the summer by, given how many times I've listened to it--so "Allergy" deserves a place here!

Cool With You – NewJeans

It’s not boring, it’s PEACEFUL!! You just don’t understand me!! *stomps off to my room*

Dance the Night – Dua Lipa

This was my last cut from the official list, actually. It’s mostly a wrong place, wrong time thing--"Dance the Night" would have been THE song last summer, but this summer I’m just kind of like, “Huh, that’s pretty cool, I guess.” 

Estúpida Mentira — Ringo Galperin

Beat of the summer! Outside of that beat, there’s not much else going on with this song, but it’s MY good-texture anthem and you can’t take it away from me!!

Fast Forward – Jeon Somi

Meh, the formula works on me. I love it, I love it, I love it. I could listen to boring club music from a performer like Somi all day. 

Lemon Black Tea // Taxi – Jo Yuri

More good-texture anthems… at least one of these two would have been on the main list if the album had come out earlier in the summer. Maybe “Lemon Black Tea” will be on my Songs of the Year list in January, once I’ve had more time with it! That title alone is worthy of a spot. 

Madeline – Limelight

Obligatory tropical house!! I'm still not sick of tropical house--leave me ALONE. *giggles* This is just so, SO good though, with beautiful performances from the members. After this one AND “Eye to Eye”, I have high hopes for Limelight. 

Sunshine Baby – The Japanese House

“Sunshine Baby” is awesome! … I think? I don’t know, give me two and a half years to get back to you on that--that’s how long I took with the similarly-gloomy “Dionne” (which I now think is her best song), so…

Wicked Love – Yena

Obligatory Yena! I mean, she sounds GREAT in this style of song (I think I called it a top-tier Red Velvet bside back when it first came out), but I have to admit that “Wicked Love” is mostly just here because of how much I’ve liked Yena's previous releases. She’s my favorite of this generation of soloists, and I love the distinctive persona she's built with her discography!  

Zero (J.I.D remix) – NewJeans

This is a VERY begrudging addition; I couldn’t avoid it, though, because of just how much I’ve listened to “Zero” in the past few months. The production on this remix is gorgeous, especially that future bass in the chorus, but even considering how muted the rest of my listening this summer was, I find SO MUCH of this song SO BORING that I really can’t explain why it was so huge for me this summer. 

Air Force One – Odd Eye Circle // None of My Business – Itzy

These sound like fall songs to me, not summer ones, so it feels weird including them here, but I want to at least shout them out, since they were both released this summer!  

[these two were released in early may, but close enough to summer to be songs of the summer for me, anyway]

Kaze – Younha

Younha performs soft songs so well. This is two summers in a row where she’s blown me away with some random understated acoustic track. “Kaze” isn’t quite as wonderful as last year’s “Rain Song”, to be fair, but it still meant a lot to me these past few months. 

Welcome to MY World – Aespa

This probably would have been a new favorite even without Aespa’s vocals, which make any melody a thousand times better, but WITH them, well... I think we have a new kpop classic on our hands, folks. Listening to this at like 5am while I was staying up all night to see the sunrise, just because it was summer and I could, is what finally made it click for me, so I think I’ll always associate it with the summer.

[aplateoflasagna]

This popped up on twitter yesterday:

A leaked tracklist of Treasure's next album?

It's probably fake. The source is a person living in Japan who posted it on facebook. (Apparently they also leaked that Babymonster's debut song was going to be called 'Batter Up' months in advance and that turned out to be true...) But no one knows who it is + how they are associated with YG.

Someone could have just typed this up. 🤔Like sure, Baemon's actual tracklist was just scribbled on a piece of paper, leaked by a chinese businessman taking a selfie at YG but still

The titles of the songs make it seem like it would be a very powerful and dark album and Treasure has never released an album like that before. Don't get me wrong, it would be cool, but it's also not really their style? They have a lot of powerful party songs for title tracks but their bsides are more fun and vibey

+ We know some of these songs already and it seems unlikely yg would put that many known songs on one album. It's more likely a fanmade tracklist and they included songs that teume would recognize.

But I do want to indulge and give my thoughts pretending it's real 😅👍

Treasure is working on a new album and last year they did sign with Colombia Records for promotions in America... Au/Ra and Arcade Fire are two artists under Colombia records but it seems very random to feature them on the album. Because of that people think it might be an English album. I don't think that at all. No offense to the boys because they work very hard, but most of them can't speak English yet or still talk with an accent. It seems highly unlikely to me that there will be any English songs on the album.

I think they'll just finally start promoting in America by going on tour + It was leaked that Treasure might perform at a festival in Las Vegas in April (though the organization already released a statement that it is not the final line up and they just put placeholder names... I don't really believe it cause it said 'Treasure US debut!' on the site... You're not going to put it there if it's just a placeholder right?)

Analyzing the songs: The 2 asterisks' indicate 2 title tracks! So probably Apex as a pre-release and Ravage as the actual title track.

Maybe Rampage featering Au/Ra could be with the rapline? HyunHaYo doing the rapverses and Au/Ra singing the chorus?

Guy Like Me is a song by Junkyu so it would make sense for it to be made for T5, like their debut was. It's weird that it's not a pre release song though. T5 members have had schedules without the rest of treasure + some dyed their hair + they were hinting at it. It would just make sense that T5 would do the pre release...

More is probably refering to Jaehyuk's song. (the one he played when he filmed Lawoo). I would be over the moon if Jaehyuk got the chance to release his music, but from what we have heard of it already, it seems a bit out of place with the rest of the album (assuming they are going for powerful and dark vibes)

Fantasy by Asahi 🥺 I have prayed for this song to be on an album 🙏😩 Could we really have this after 4 years? It could be the perfect last song for an album 🧡

So I really don't think this is the actual tracklist of their new album :p but I am super excited for their next comeback 😍

This is my prediction for the timeline

End of April/beginning of May: T5 pre release

Beginning of June: Treasure album release + Tour announcement

I have never been able to predict YG's calender (because I swear to god that company doesn't understand how time works) so i'm probably wrong 😅 I'm just pretty sure they'll first let Baemon release their mini- album and do month long promotions so Treasure will at the earliest have their comeback at the end of April.

Let's all pray for a world tour announcement Teume 🙏 YG doesn't know that I would give them so much money 😩

[grlsgen]

my favorite 2020 kpop songs

there were some bangers this year... this includes title tracks & bsides and everything else under the sun.

i always got shit to say and i always see youtube videos like this but i simply can’t edit so here we are

you never know - blackpink

okay yeah i didn’t really fw hylt or lovesick girls when i first heard them but when i listened to the album you never know really stuck with me... i never get sick of it. definitely the best track off the album imo. rosé’s prechorus has made me cry a few times ngl

alien - lee suhyun

alright miss thing... i was obsessed with this song when i first heard it... the pre chorus with the ooo ooo ooo and the switch to the chorus is so good it gets me every time. she’s cute i like her... while we’re here i’ll also mention i really liked her ost in your time for it’s okay to not be okay.. i loved that drama and that’s my fav ost from it.. but anyway

lalalilala - april

They Served. Big time. the music video is so pretty and the song was stuck in my head for 6 months straight... they really did the damn thing with this. kinda sounds like an apink song but that’s a compliment... overall this whole comeback was really good and deserved better. honorable mention : the bside on this ep you.zip is so good too

open your eyes - iz*one

this is all i listened to for months after bloomiz dropped... izone’s music is really a hit or miss for me and i didn’t really vibe with fiesta but i’m so glad i gave the album a chance because open your eyes is definitely in my top 5 releases of this year. their other bside dreamlike is really good too

the book of us : the demon - day6 album

now where do i start with this... to this day i am still obsessed with 1 to 10... like that’s gotta be the best off this album imo. zombie was so good and i really liked the lyrics. the album as a whole was really really good. i sound like a broken record

children - bvndit

oh boy... another one of my top 5 releases from this year. not only is the overall sound of this amazing but i love the lyrics too. these girls deserve so much better

d-2 - agust d/yoongi/suga mixtape

my king. i shit myself when this dropped ngl... i don’t even know how to elaborate on how much i love this. daechwita was stuck in my head for the longest time.. i think the highlights off this for me have to be people, honsool & dear my friend. this mixtape was really a moment.. i love yoongi y’all

love again - baekhyun / underwater - baekhyun

alright alright .. i put these two together since they’re from the same album idk but it took a while for candy to grow on me but i’ve loved these since i first heard them... i was Obsessed. the final bridge/chorus whatever the hell thing he does in love again put me into shock for 3 months straight and the beat in underwater is heavenly

the dream chapter : eternity - txt ep

this serve. has to be my favorite from txt yet... rookies with the best discography fr. i love dark concepts and really like that they did something different with this. can’t you see me was Amazinggg. fairy of shampoo has to be one of the best songs i’ve ever heard it’s insane. i also really liked eternally, who else has that range... Nobody. top to bottom this ep is really good, i hope they do another dark concept like this again soon bc this hit big time

eight - iu & suga

it took a while for this to grow on me but whew...when it did... kinda makes me feel like i’m in a coming of age movie and i like that, makes me nostalgic for that. eight soty, they both did great on this

# - loona ep

Now... Cmon. so what was either a hit or miss for a lot of people but something i think everyone can agree on is that the bridge is godsent. like that shit makes me cry sometimes. the music video was really good, i always come back to the subway/train scene. number 1 is also so damn good. overall i really loved this ep. they really ate with this one

eyes wide open - twice album

when i first heard this album i didn’t like it That much but it’s really grown on me lately. the whole retro trend was fun and then it got a little overdone so i was tired of it by the time this dropped but actually.. some of the bsides are insanely good. behind the mask is definitely a highlight for me, mina’s bridge is heavenly. i love mina so bad. but anyway, i can’t stop me took some time to grow on me as well but it always gets stuck in my head. i also really like up no more & depend on you, they’re cute

maybe - gidle

Y’all... i love this song. it’s short and simple but it was so addicting to me. i really like that one part in the last two choruses if you know what i’m talking about (i’m not sure who sings it ? some people say soyeon some say shuhua idk, shuhua my queen btw) and soojin’s verse in the bridge hits. to this day i’m still obsessed with this song

a song written easily - oneus

this is so underappreciated, this is easily one of my favorite title tracks released all year. i’m not a huge fan of beat drops but this one was really nice imo, i also liked the lead in before the drop and the final chorus. this was really good and i never get sick of it

wannabe - itzy

CUT THE DAMN CAMERAS.... no fr this is my #1 favorite song released this year. talented brilliant incredible amazing... itzy seriously ate up everyone with this. i keep going back to this song it’s insane. iconic choreo good mv good styling amazing song.. like everything here lined up. i don’t know how they’ll ever top this for me. definitely my soty (next to psycho)

black swan - bts

this is excellent idk what else to say. i thought it was just okay when i first heard it but it’s seriously so good, me being yoongi biased i loved that he got multiple verses but i love the do your thing with me now breakdown part too. the choreo is one of my favorite from them and the mv was really pretty. black swan is one of my favorite movies so the comparisons with it made me love this song more. overall, probably my favorite off mots7

my time - jungkook of bts

jungkook always has the best album solos fr. i loved this the second i heard it, kinda justin bieber esque but it’s so good. i love the lyrics and transition it takes thru the song. the chorus hits man.. this song always makes me a little sad but he really did amazing on this

monster - red velvet irene & seulgi ep

my queens what can i say. i was so excited for this unit and they did not disappoint. monster still hits, aged like wine. the best track is fr feel good, i still have it on repeat.. insanely good. seulgi really delivered with uncover, it’s so beautiful. i think sm’s intention was always to have a subunit this year but i thought it was smart to do while wendy was recovering, hoping for ot5 soon y’all..

never gonna dance again : act 2 - taemin album

taemin my king wtf!!! i loved criminal so i was really excited for this and of course... he always delivers. top to bottom i loved this album, he really did amazing on it. identity might be the best song i’ve ever heard... and of course i loved the collab with wendy 🙏 overall such a good album, taemin always serves the best

pporappippam - sunmi

what can i say i love a little retro tune. even though i just said earlier i was sick of it idc i loved this. sunmi always shows up, i don’t know what else to say. this song never gets old

dystopia : the tree of language - dreamcatcher album

i didn’t expect to love this album as much as i did... i don’t listen to it as often anymore but i can’t deny that scream was a major serve. every time i hear it it’s like the first time... their bside jazz bar was so good. dreamcatcher’s bsides always hit what can i say

12:00 - loona ep

Yes. why not is not necessarily my favorite title from them ever (it’s butterfly, btw) but it’s always stuck in my head... obviously i loved voice/star, was obsessed for weeks and i was happy they decided to promote it a little. styling on those stages were so cute btw. i also loved fall again from this ep, chuu sounds angelic on it. loona had some amazing cbs this year

la di da - everglow

Obsessed. i watched every stage as they dropped and listened to this every 5 seconds, Amazing. sihyeon really owned this era for me and shes my bias so of course i ate this whole thing up. this was definitely one for the books, what more can i say

literally everything gfriend released this year

this might be their best year yet for releases imo, i really liked how they tried out different concepts and sounds this year, i’ve always loved their music but the switch was refreshing yknow. crossroads was so good, i loved that mv. here we are is still on repeat almost a year later... and now APPLE. apple was so mf good. i love that they decided to do a dark concept, this song really fit them well, still obsessed w it. mago might be my least fave out of the 3 but it’s still so good. don’t even get me started on yuju in the mv.. Queen. i liked the subunits on walpurgis night, especially better me. gfriend had a really good year imo, they deserved more for it.

Anyways. that was my 2 cents.

wannabe & psycho soty

[vyvesvi]

1 (for loona maybe), 5, 11 👀

1. For one or more of your favorite groups match each member to one of their songs (excluding solo stuff cuz that’s too easy)

ooo loona

heejin, girl’s talk

hyunjin, frozen

haseul, new

yeojin, rendezvous 18.6y

vivi, one way

kim lip, love & evil

jinsoul, rain 51db

choerry, you and me together

yves, sweet crazy love

chuu, chaotic

go won, loonatic

olivia, twilight

i decided to just shift the subunits so 1/3 > oec > yyxy > 1/3 to make it more ~challenging~ i have no idea how i did i think i’d have to think about it more

5. A song or album from a group you aren’t a fan of that surprised you? A song or album from a group you like that disappointed you? 

surprising:

the boyz - bloom bloom (the choreo is soooooo good. bg’s don’t do cute as much but they really should!!! the boyz proved that cute songs can have complex choreo with this one. i really think the choreographer laced it with crack it’s really sososo good)

1team - vibe (cute chill bop of the century what can i say. if any bg just made this their entire concept i would stan forever)

golden child - wannabe (idk it’s just a bop. i was forced to do a dance cover of their song lady which i hated but grew to hate even more so the fact that wannabe snapped so hard was honestly shockingly delightful)

wayv’s awaken the world album (i mean i stan them but. i didn’t expect their first full album to be That good)

nature - girls (with nature i really just experienced wanting to like their songs but not, so it was really cool that this was my #1 gg song of 2020 for so long (it’s since been unseated for #3 BUT it’s still fantastic)

itzy - not shy & id ( i have nothing against itzy but their sound isn’t quite me? but not shy is my #2 title track of the year and id is one of my favorite gg bsides i was really happy to finally like an itzy album lmfao)

weki meki - picky picky & tiki taka (not current songs but they were onto something there that’s all i’ll say)

yeeun - barbie (not much to say but it’s a cute picky bop that i wasn’t expecting!)

disappointing: 

red velvet - psycho, bad boy, and power up (queens of interesting and unique concepts but these ones just felt very...easy for them? like they weren’t as special as almost all of their other songs to me? this is just me but i prefer when groups experiment and you get a ~controversial~ song rather than them just doing something basic that’s easy for the gp? like i respect it as a strategy but rv has proved time and time again that they’re better than that so i was pretty disappointed in these songs. full disclosure i still listen to bad boy sometime though lmao)

seventeen - fear/ an ode/247 ( i’ve talked about this at length before but seventeen is my favorite bright concept boy group because they manage to do it without it being overly cute and nauseating. their choreo quality also doesn’t change at all and i find that to be really refreshing. fear isn’t my style at all but mostly i just didn’t want fear from svt? like they did super well with it i just don’t know that i would say it plays to their strengths. also, the whole album was kinda disappoint for me but the most disappointing part was that performance team did a ballad. like i understand them wanting to show their other talents and i commend them but. i wanted a dancey thot bop. on the bright side we did get network love which saved this album for me personally.)

ab6ix’s album B:COMPLETE ( i love ab6ix’s title tracks sm but i hate this album with everything in me. like literally the maddest i’ve ever been at an album)

onlyoneof - heartbreak theatre (it’s produced by cha cha malone and you can tell he gave them something from the trash pile. ooo do all these cute videos with their producers where they vlog the process and the pd talks about their thought process in creating the songs and about the boys and it’s really really nice to hear their perspective but cha cha is the only one who didn’t film one and you can literally hear why in the song. it’s so obvious that he didn’t really try to understand their sound and it’s their only song that actively takes away from their discography.)

there are literally soooo many more because i was very bitter about music last year but i’ll stop here lol

11. Favorite alternate language version of a song?

you know i’m sure that i have strong opinions on this but i can’t think of them lmfao

off the top of my head though:

uniq’s eoeo - the chinese version is 1000000x better

i get why they released svt jun & minghao’s my i was released in korean first but the chinese version has more ~sentimental value~ to me idk

exo’s chinese songs in general hit. like i don’t understand chinese so i can’t comment from that perspective but based solely on sound they don’t sound awkward and translated like a lot of other alt language releases? like i feel with many songs you can tell that it wasn’t written in the alt language but i don’t really get that feeling with exo’s stuff (and the rest on this list)

wayv/nct’s song comeback is better in mandarin but i’m hella biased so

omg that was long lmfao! but thank you sm for the ask!!! :D

send me a creative kpop ask! feel free to repeat because i have Opinions ;)