With the cute bubblegum pop of Twice leading the girl group wave in Korea, it’s becoming harder to find new rookies debuting with anything but a cheerful image and sound. …
Read More »EXO’s dramatic, aggressive “Electric Kiss” is one of their best efforts in years
Japanese releases by K-pop artists can be very hit and miss, but if any agency has managed a consistently solid J-pop catalog for their artists, it’s SM Entertainment. They’ve nurtured …
Read More »MXM’s “Diamond Girl” is a throwback to sleek 80s funk but it has timeless qualities
Lim Youngmin and Kim Donghyun of MXM became one of 2017’s best-selling rookies, even though their current configuration as a duo is only temporary until they join fellow ‘Produce 101‘ …
Read More »Dreamcatcher’s anniversary song “Full Moon” was a pleasantly aggressive surprise
Dreamcatcher recently released “Full Moon” for the fans to celebrate the group’s one-year anniversary. They’ve released ballads before, so I figured this would be a perfunctory one as well since …
Read More »Oh My Girl’s beautiful atmosphere on “Secret Garden” undercut by relatively flat melody
Back in 2016, it felt as if Oh My Girl were poised to become one of the leading acts of K-pop’s new wave of girl groups. They can still get …
Read More »Block B return with a rather pedestrian ballad in “Don’t Leave”
As Block B have progressed to a new stage in their career, their comebacks seem to alternate between the raucous hip-hop/pop of their past and more pensive balladry. November’s “Shall …
Read More »INFINITE do their best to make the surprisingly subdued “Tell Me” work
As a long-time (some might say obsessive) fan of Infinite, “Tell Me” is not the kind of song I wanted from their return. The group has been inactive since September …
Read More »SME relegates Luna & Amber to generic prog house effort in “Lower”
At this point, I think I’d rather SM Entertainment abandon their digital ‘SM Station‘ project to focus more completely on full-fledged comebacks. It’s not that ‘SM Station’ hasn’t resulted in …
Read More »Indie Focus: Love X Stereo find success by going with a different style for ’37B’
Even though Love X Stereo didn’t complete their plan of 37 songs in a year, it’s actually a positive. ‘37B‘ is the second set of tracks from their Patreon, and …
Read More »N.Flying continue to use rap-rock hybrid to successfully deliver fun on energetic “Hot Potato”
N.Flying returned yesterday with “Hot Potato“, and I know it was yesterday because people were already yelling at me for not reviewing it just hours after it was released even …
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