[MV] XIUMIN - Brand New

[MV] BIBI - Animal Farm

NSFW: Expect Kill Bill-inspired levels of violence/blood/gore. Lol.

Fucking amazing MV. Way gruesome, but it's beautifully done. 
I think I'm into the song as well, but I need to listen to it without the MV a few times to judge properly. XD

[MV] ADORA - Magical Symphony

Just really like ADORA's sound in general. This is super fun. Rest of the EP is nice too. We just had an AMA with her over on r/kpop and she's also completely adorable. Love the vibrant MV too.

[MV] Kep1er - Sugar Rush

[MV] NMIXX - COOL (Your rainbow)

Quite like this.

[MV] CRAVITY - PARTY ROCK

[DEBUT] mimiirose - Rose

mimiirose debuted on the 16th, but they released a 'half' version of the MV at the time. Full now!

[DEBUT] LIMELIGHT - STARLIGHT & Eye To Eye

Technically not a debut yet, but I'll still mark it that way. These two tracks are on their pre-debut EP.

[MV] MIRAE - Drip N' Drop

[MV] JUN (SEVENTEEN) - LIMBO

[MV] SWJA (feat. Woo Won Jae) - black coffee

So weird, but I like it.

[MV] KISU - Drive!

[MV] 10cm, BIG Naughty - Just 10 centimeters

[MV] NMIXX - DICE

JYP sticking with the Frankenstein-y switch-ups for NMIXX.

[MV] JAY B - go UP

[MV] Crush (feat. j-hope) - Rush Hour

Been very hyped knowing this was coming. Turned out pretty great. Fun and funky. Wish it was longer!

[MV] Jhnovr (feat. Samuel Seo) - 내부순환로 (Let's Roll)

Not actually sure about the title. But it has a couple of my favorite artists on it and it's a jam!

[MV] RoaD B - ICARUS

More solid Sweetune production from these guys. Good track for running/exercising.

[MV] Lapillus - GRATATA

If Big Bang's 'Bang Bang Bang' and all the loudest Blackpink songs had a baby. Lol.

[MV] MAKAMAKA - I AM

[DEBUT] P.O.A - ON AIR (Stand Up)

Seeing this called a project group, Project On Air. So not sure how permanent it is. A couple of them are from Botopass and Camila.

[MV] Simon Dominic, Loco, Woo, Coogie - TTFU

Sudden intense strobing at like 1:30, then intermittently.

[MV] COCONA - Wake up (School of Rock)

[MV] ITZY - Blah Blah Blah (Jpn.)

[MV] Jaejoong with Mika Nakashima - One Heart (Jpn.)

Dang, this was a nostalgic trip. Took me right back to 2005-ish watching Mika in 'Nana' while I was into J-Rock and saw my first K-Pop ever DBSK's 'Tri-Angle' around the same time.

[MV] BLACKPINK - Shut Down

Big improvement from Pink Venom, but most of the interest for me is in the Paganini sample of La Campanella, which I always say feels a bit like a cheat in every pop track that pulls from Classical pieces like this. Still works fine. I wish the lyrics had more substance though.

[MV] NCT 127 - 2 Baddies

Flashy light graphics throughout.

I feel bad, but I would hate being in this group so much. Would have such a hard time listening to tracks like this over and over again while practicing. Lol.

[MONTHLY] Favorites for AUGUST 2022

Almost all Rock and R&B for August. Three picks on top!

'Hype Boy' was technically released in July, but the performance MVs came out later and that's my jam. This will be a contender for my top songs of the year. Interested to see how NewJeans will follow up their debut. Also have YENA's 'SMARTPHONE' up here. Good song, but I also want to celebrate the gloriously fun music video. Makes me happy.

Wouldn't be me without throwing in some real obscure picks every once in a while. HEN's 'Nightmare' has completely enchanted me since I first heard it. Lyrically it's pretty dark, but the melody comes to me often, a waltzing lullaby of peace. It soothes my nerves. I breathe deeper when I think of it. A special little treasure.

In the full post: KISSXS, DAVII/BIG Naughty, Gaho, snzae/THAMA, KINO, pH-1/Woo Won Jae, msftz, SEOULDABANSA, JUNNY, LUCY, LEO, HA SUNG WOON, APOKI, TWICE, YOUHA, Xin Seha/SUMIN, Rocket Punch, KEY, UMiN, and Billlie.

[MV] CRAXY - REAL

[MV] SORN (feat. YEEUN) - Nirvana Girl (Eng.)

[MV] SOLE - ore ore

[MV] The Rose - Childhood

Nothing graphic, but there's a lot of artsy nude illusion/people in underwear.

The Rose is back!!

[MV] Wonstein - Cassie ($)

Flickering light throughout.

[MV] Vincent - WE ARE YOUNG

Gets very flashy/strobing near the end.

[DEBUT] TAERYEONG - HAPPY TRIP

Solo debut post-LUNARSOLAR.

[MV] LOONA - LUMINOUS (Jpn.)

[MV] pH-1 ZOMBIES + TIPSY

[MV] KUEN - Paper Boat

[[MV] SWEET SORROW (feat. meenoi) - Love Drive

[MV] CHOI YOOJUNG - Sunflower (P.E.L)

Good to see Yoojung finally have a proper solo release.

[MV] KANGTA (feat. Paloalto) - Love Song

[MV] DIA - The blinding past

[MV] MUSTB - La Señorita

[MV] Choco N Vanilla - Posting

[MV] IRRIS - STAY WITH ME

[MV] Hong Jin Young - Destiny

[MV] Lacuna - I Love You

[MV] Jaejoong - NOBODY LIKE YOU

Mentioned in r/kpop that it's trippy to see Jaejoong in such 'current' styling and MV trends. Fun song!

[MV] HWANG MIN HYUN - Again

[MV] CRAXY - REQUIEM

[MV] Rocking Doll - Survive (Eng.)

[MV] Jackson Wang - Blue (Eng.)

[MV] pH-1 (feat. Blase) - YUPPIE TING

[MV] zoey (feat. Samuel Seo) - Trust Issues

[MV] RAVI - KISS YOU

[MV] CNBLUE - LET IT SHINE (Jpn.)

[MV] ONEUS - Same Scent

[MV] Chuu - ONE AND A HALF

[MV] Kim Jaehwan - BACK THEN

[MV] KANGTA - Eyes On You

[MV] Jiselle (feat. oceanfromtheblue) - Butterfly

[MV] LEE CHANGSUB (BTOB) - SURRENDER

[MV] BOY STORY - WW (Kor./Chn.)

[MV] BUSTERS - Broken Clock

[MV] DUSTIN - CRAZY

[OST] ENHYPEN - One In A Billion

From the 'DARK MOON: THE BLOOD ALTER' OST.

[MV] Bernard Park - All day

[MV] Xin Seha (feat. SUMIN) - How you like?

[MV] UMiN (feat. HAHM) - Camera

[MV] SWAY - I'll Leave Work

[DEBUT] We;Na - Like a Psycho

[MV] KittiB (feat. Hanhae) - Lucky

[MV] HANRORO - DON'T BE AFRAID TO FALL

[MV] Balming TIger (feat. RM) - SEXY NUKIM

What a vibe. I like low/rumbly stuff like this. But especially want to note that when Namjoon works on stuff outside of BTS it stands out more to me that his vocal tone is fuckin' awesome. For some reason it takes me back to the first times hearing their stuff and RM's first solo work and being really impressed by his natural sound. I maybe get a little desensitized to it while I listen to a lot of BTS, but then in different contexts, fabulous all over again.

[MONTHLY] Favorites for JULY 2022

I should know better that I always have to delay things around August because working on the r/kpop Census eats up all my time. Whew! Catching up!

Hobi's 'MORE' with the top spot. Really cool that he explored such a different aesthetic and sound. Not that he didn't have some heavy stuff on Hope World, but Jack In The Box is conceptually darker overall. Cool project.

Then ITZY with 'Sneakers', which was too basic for a lot of fans, but for me it's still just a fun pop track and I dig it.

In the full post: Heize, WJSN, Rothy, SEOULDABANSA, IRRIS, Rosmile, 6Band, CHUNG HA, Super Junior, Apink CHOBOM, SF9, STAYC, seo yean, HyunA, P1Harmony, NewJeans, Loco/HwaSa, PURPLE KISS, Hezz, TAN, KB, CSR, and SHAUN.

[PLAYLIST] KPOPPY's first half of 2022

I feel like we might be just starting to shift towards a new trend. Or at least that this one is finally showing signs of slowing down. I'm more than ready to leave behind the super noisy, sing-talking/chanting, Frankensteiny stuff. Pleeeaaaase.

Pop-rock has been on the rise. Probably some Olivia Rodrigo influence there. I'm enjoying it!

As I've been trying to catch up with all these yearly playlists I'm behind on, I decided to simplify them in a couple ways. 1st half of the year will be 30 tracks and full year will be 50 tracks. I'll also just be including the list and a few honorable mentions instead of writing a bunch about selected tracks and extra things. That'll motivate me to get all caught up.

Out of the top 30 my utmost faves are Taeyeon's 'INVU' and B.I/DeVita's 'BTBT'.

[Link to full playlist on YouTube]

My 30 favorites in chronological order:

1. CHOCOME - Super Yuppers!
2. HYOLYN (feat. Jooyoung) - Layin' Low
3. MAX CHANGMIN - Devil
4. OnlyOneOf - skinz
5. U SUNG EUN - Like Tonight
6. BamBam - Slow Mo
7. Lee Jin Ah - Rum Pum Pum
8. Epik High (feat. Wonstein, pH-1) - Super Rare
9. TAEYEON - INVU
10. WOOSUNG - Hangover
11. 9001 - Zinnia
12. Park Bom (w/Kim Minseok) - Flower
13. XIA Junsu - HANA
14. Kwon Jin Ah - Pink!
15. SWJA - Burst it all  (live)
16. Ha Hyun Woo - My Enemy
17. ONEW - DICE
18. Llwyd - TIPSY
19. Dreamcatcher - MAISON
20. Kim Sung Kyu - Savior
21. RoaD-B - Nonstop
22. COCONA - Amoo-rae-do
23. B.I (feat. DeVita) - BTBT
24. CL - Chuck
25. Yerin Baek - Pisces
26. ADORA - Trouble? Travel!
27. JANNABI - summerfallwinter sprinG.
28. JO YURI - Love Shhh!
29. LOONA - Flip That
30. SUNMI - Heart Burn

Honorable Mentions

English:

There were some nice English tracks out. Eric Nam's is so beautiful. Even appreciated aespa's, as cheesy as it is, just a solid track with a good message (There is also a Korean version now).

• Eric Nam - Lost on Me
• JAMIE - Pity Party
• WOOSUNG - Phase Me
• aespa - Life's Too Short

Top Tearjerkers:

The animation for PSY's Happier is killer. Beautifully done. And also... Capitalism grinding people to a pulp. Then JaeSu releasing a duet. Not a particularly interesting Japanese OST track, but oh god, just seeing them singing together again turned me into a puddle.

• PSY (feat. Crush) - Happier
• Jaejoong & Junsu - Sixth Star

That's it! Keeping it short!