[MONTHLY] Favorites for FEBRUARY 2025

Massively delayed catch-up time. Top picks were ONE PACT and KiiiKiii.

In the full post: IVE, LISA/Doja Cat/RAYE, EVNNE, KIM YEJI, CHUNG HA, KickFlip, ONF, Choo Seung Youp, JENNIE/Doechii, ATEEZ, ZEROBASEONE, Hearts2Hearts, YB, and WheeIn.

[MONTHLY] Favorites for JANUARY 2025

My burnout carried into January, for sure. The US electing a fascist piece of shit really took it out of me. Anywhooooooo. Something fun and peppy from An Shinae with 'South to the West' and then good ol' Chung Ha and some relevant advice with 'STRESS'.

In the full post: Horim, KickFlip, KEN, GFRIEND, IVE, BBGIRLS, Dynamicduo/GUMMY, VVUP, Balming Tiger, and CIX.

[MONTHLY] Favorites for DECEMBER 2024

Looking back, I lost a lot of steam at the end of last year. Burnt. Out. So. Bad. Picked RM and Balming Tiger for the top. Just kinda semi-indie hip-hop/rap vibes that defy genre to close out the year. Will I ever catch up to the yearly playlists I have backlogged? Not likely. 😆

In the full post: CHUNG HA, CRAVITY, Jiselle/Seori, Min Jiwoon, MARK/Lee Young Ji, Park Hyo Shin, GARDEN, IHOTEU, KARDI, KEN, Jaejoong, and DovIvI.

[MONTHLY] Favorites for NOVEMBER 2024

Months late, but here we are. Really enjoyed a lot of stuff in November. Lots of good melodies for some reason. For the top, I chose LEENALCHI, MINHO, and CLASS:y. Weird combo, but each just really fun to listen to with nice hooks or something to dance to.

In the full post: EJel, TXT, NCT DREAM, YeokSeong, MOVNING, KAVE, KARDI, ILLIT, YOUNHA, BIBI, 1/N, ANDA, LEE HEE MOON, SoYe-On, A-plus, TAEYEON, AHN YEEUN, ICHILLIN', ROSE, ROA, TWS, izna, DEAN/FKJ, and JAY CHANG/TAG.

[MONTHLY] Favorites for OCTOBER 2024

So September was a bit quieter than usual and then October was packed! Enjoyed a lot of stuff this month. My top choices were ITZY's 'Imaginary Friend' which is contending for my Song of the Year along with ROSÉ's smash hit 'APT'. Totally different feels between these two. ITZY's nails the kind of darkly ethereal jam I love and then aaapateu apateu aaapateu apateu is simply an irresistible bop.

In the full post: Minsu, APOKI, BEE BEE TAN, Jay Park/Chung Ha, JENNIE, Billlie, XG, SAY MY NAME, ODD YOUTH, RAPPORT, Epik High, SEVENTEEN, ILLIT, Monday, aespa, ID:Earth, PURPLE KISS, Cho Young Pil, LEE SEUNG YOON, Jin, TOUCHED, JUKJAE, STAYC, EJel, Balming Tiger, and JAMIE.

[MONTHLY] Favorites for SEPTEMBER 2024

A quieter month. Picked NMIXX's 'Love is Lonely' for the top. Love the mood of it. Kinda melancholic, but uplifting.

In the full post: QWER, YUNGIN/Jay Park, YOUNHA, LUCY, YERIN, Tasty Shop, Loossemble, Seori, Hasuan, FIFTY FIFTY, swja, YENA, ArchPlot, and sEODo BAND.

[MONTHLY] Favorites for AUGUST 2024

More mainstream this month. RESCENE's 'LOVE ATTACK' is just a solid catchy pop song. Both LE SSERAFIM's 'Crazy' and LISA's 'New Woman' kinda have the same thing going on where they aren't necessarily my thing, or have elements I don't love, but other parts are so nice that I still like them quite a lot.

In the full post: Sohyang, Colde, Stray Kids, COOING, John Park/GAEKO/THAMA, SOLE, KIM BOA, thủy/CHUNG HA, fromis_9, HYOLYN, LUCY, LUN8, MIMIIROSE, SF9, 1000°, ZEROBASEONE, OH MY GIRL, WOOSUNG, CHUNG HA, BANG YEDAM, OVAN, FIFTY FIFTY, and Lim Jisoo.

[MONTHLY] Favorites for JULY 2024

Fell terribly behind all my normal schedules for a few reasons... one of them being keeping the r/kpop HYBE/ADOR Megathreads updated. Geez louize. Gonna try to mass catch up at the end of the year here.

July was actually awesome. Loved a lot of stuff. Picked some stuff a little outside the mainstream for the top. Lee Seungyoon's rock track 'Waterfall' with a super satisfying melody and energy. Sunwoo JungA's 'STAR CANDY' is one of the tracks in her oeuvre that leans pop and is delightful. And then An Shinae with the gorgeous and bare piano ballad 'Hold Me Now'.

In the full post: KISS OF LIFE, NCT WISH, DALDAM, HYUKOH/Sunset Rollercoaster, LEE CHAE YEON, VVUP, TAEYEON, YOUNGJAE, pH-1/Lee Young Ji, KARDI, JINex, DKB, n.SSign, imzoo, Jimin, Stray Kids, swja, GroovyRoom/GEMINI/DAWN/Jay Park/Vince, KARA, ARrC, XG, and DORI.

[MONTHLY] Favorites for JUNE 2024

June ended up being kinda unspectacular for me. Plenty of solid stuff, but nothing that blew my socks off. Picked Red Velvet and Nicole's releases for the features this month. Both really fun pop tracks. Nice hooks. Good vibes.

In the full post: GRASS, Xdinary Heroes, Kep1er, BADVILLAIN, AKMU, TWS, Candy Shop, YOHAN KIM, DJ SPARROW/Gist/VVON, NAYEON, RIIZE, KWON EUNBI, BLITZERS, H1-KEY, aespa, Epik High, NewJeans, Lee Young Ji/D.O, CHUU, GYUBIN, FTISLAND, ROCKY, Jimin, and WUMUTI.

[MONTHLY] Favorites for MAY 2024

Had this May post done like two months ago, but was waiting until June was done to post them together. Got June done, but then accidentally deleted May while trying to delete a different draft. Welp. One step forward, three steps back. Always. Anyway, mostly recreated it now.

tripleS's 'Girls Never Die' was my top pick for the month. Cool track. Beautiful MV. Some of the imagery in there reminded me of BTS's 'Run' from way back, which is kinda neat regardless if it was intentional or not. Really love all that dark bird imagery, burial, feathers, etc, and the dance pieces.

And my second pick was NIKA's 'Easy To Please Me'. She was in BADKIZ as Monika previously. Changed her stage name a couple years ago and has done some nice stuff solo. Love this chill R&B, funky, city-pop-ish kinda jam. She also did 'After You' early in the year, which I quite liked.

In the full post: YOUNITE, KIMYUNA, YABBI, Solar, ASC2NT, HARMONIZE, KIM JAE HWAN, RM, aespa, DXMON, We;Na, IVE, SEVENTEEN, BLASÉ/CHUNG HA, ONEUS, APOKI/SOMIN, NewJeans, JEONAIN, WOOSEOK/Taka Perry, SUHO, and A.C.E.

[MONTHLY] Favorites for APRIL 2024

April was so stacked for some reason. Maybe it's just the trend of getting back to nicer melodies and less of the bombastic monotone shout-y stuff picking up, but I'm definitely enjoying more tracks on average. These top picks probably exemplify that. We've got ARTMS with the super chill city-pop 'Candy Crush' and ILLIT's light and bubbly 'Lucky Girl Syndrome'. Had a hard time cutting much out for the full post, so there's a ton in there this month.

In the full post: VVUP, TXT, QWER, 1000°, BANG YEDAM/WINTER, KISS OF LIFE, DRIPPIN, Catch The Young, Song Sohee, The Rose, Triple iz, BADA, ONF, WOOAH, EPEX, YUNGIN/JESSI/CAMO, Pagaehun/KKANBYEONGZ, CRAVITY, Im Soo/OVAN, Izykite/NSW yoon , BOYNEXTDOOR, Loossemble, Lee ye ryoung, ONEWE, BEWAVE, RIIZE, BIBI, LEE JIN HYUK, ZEROBASEONE, BIBI/Jackson Wang, ZICO/JENNIE, KINO, NewJeans, HAN HEE JUN, Heon Seo, IVE, D.O, and Solar.

[MONTHLY] Favorites for MARCH 2024

Another solid month. Queen Chung Ha in her element with 'I'm Ready' had to be on top no matter what for March. Also thought YooA's solo effort with 'Rooftop' was quite strong. A further shout-out to ILLIT and RESCENE for their solid efforts as they're just getting started. The new girl groups have really been on the ball for the last few years.

In the full post: LE SSERAFIM, LIMHYUNSHIK, HIGHLIGHT, TEMPEST, WENDY, LAS, NND, DAY6, MUSM/Hanhae/Choi/L.Do, LUCY, Seori, Ye Ram, ILLIT, RESCENE, AMPERS&ONE, 015B/Yireh, UNIS, Candy Shop, TAN, Dynamicduo, j-hope/Gaeko/Yoon Mirae, and ARTMS.

[MONTHLY] Favorites for FEBRUARY 2024

Well dang! Really liked February. Lots of good stuff. IU, Moonbyul, RESCENE, Wooseok, and TWICE could all be up here.

Went with three top picks for the month. BIBI's 'Bam Yang Gang' was an instant delight and I'm glad to see it getting some traction in Korea. That Kiha touch. I also loved the feel of TRI.BE's 'Diamond', which sadly may end up being one of Shinsadong Tiger's last releases, but it's a goodie. And finally this slightly off the beaten path duet with LimJi and LONE. 'Someday' falls into that category of R&B coffee shop vibes, but with some nice energy and pick-me-up to it. Kinda the same realm as SoYou/Junggigo 'Some' or KISUM/Jooyoung 'You & Me'. Solid.

In the full post: YFY, Thru/SUZO, LIM KIM, 1999 WRITE THE FUTURE/TIGER JK/Yoon Mi Rae, DK, n.SSign, IU, TWS, YANGDONGHWA, Moon Byul, JUNHA PARK, A.C.E, TWICE, WOOSEOK, Yoo Yong Min, JAEMAN, gitim, and RESCENE

[MONTHLY] Favorites for JANUARY 2024

2024 commence! January was a strong month for R&B. Some nice ballads in there too. So busy working on r/kpop's Annual Awards results I haven't finished my '23 list yet. Close. Determined to get it posted by at least some time in March.

Picked a couple of the more pop/livelier tracks even though I was super into some of the more chill stuff like Lim Jisoo's ballad. So we've got NMIXX's 'Dash' on top. It's catchy and the rhythm having those little hang-ups, or whatever those are called, is interesting. Also MiU's 'TWENTY TWENTY', which is kind of a basic pop song, but I dig it. LIMELIGHT will be adding new members, but they released an album as three members with some solo tracks. I think there is a fully Korean and fully Japanese version of this track, but the MV here combines both into one track(?), which is pretty clever for promotional purposes.

In the full post: Truman/JASMINE/ma1ro, Heon Seo, Lim Jisoo, B1A4, NIKA, Microdot, LEE CHANHYUK, LIMELIGHT, YENA, SISTAR19, LEE HI, HUI, GYUBIN, SOLAR, Woody, IU, Yun Jeong Hoon, CIX, POW, Lee Young Ji/Zeenan, Suyo, and VANNER.

[MONTHLY] Favorites for DECEMBER 2023

Very chill December. Heavily working on getting the full 2023 playlist done so I'm spending a lot of time listening to albums I missed through the year. Wasn't super enthusiastic about the new releases for the month. Could've put Jungkook's 'Hate You' and Jimin's 'Closer Than This' up here since I enjoyed those, but thought I'd feature non-Bangtan picks instead.

Haven't heard of FreezyBone before. I really like the singer's voice. Nice solid indie rock sound with some pleasing melodies. I'm also putting the Jessica/Amber collab up here out of appreciation for these ladies getting together to do some new music.

In the full post: Dreamcatcher, I'll, TVXQ!, Weeekly, LUCY, Song Heejin,, ROCKY, Zion.T/AKMU, Jungkook, ID:Earth, Lee Sungkyoung/Chanhyuk, Palm Tree Island, parkjiyoon, WOODZ, Ryeowook, Catch The Young, Jimin, DEAN, and Pagaehun.

[MONTHLY] Favorites for NOVEMBER 2023

Lots of stuff in November, including some oddball choices. Absolute favorite of the month was Jungkook's 'Standing Next to You'. The only thing that could make me love it more is if it was in Korean. Otherwise, it's my favorite genre/vibe and I'm all about it. Really struggled with Seven and 3D, so this was a joy for me. And I've also added SUMIN and Uhm Junghwa's collab up here. There were a bunch of duets I liked through the month. This was the most interesting to me. Love the distinct color of their voices together. And a super surreal video.

In the full post: Gyubin/GAEKO, I'll, KISS OF LIFE, SOOJIN, MEENOI/ZICO, Vince, Crush, SOYEON/WINTER/LIZ, ENHYPEN, ZEROBASEONE, THAMA, 24K+, Park Bom, Cacophony, XG, THAMA (again!), Nam WooHyun, Crackshot, Jambino/Lee Youngji, ATBO, HYOLYN, Joyce, ONE PACT, and MAVE:.

[MONTHLY] Favorites for OCTOBER 2023

Chill October. I've got Chuu's 'Howl' up here, though I liked her other releases as well. Also celebrating the return of ONF from military service with 'Love Effect'. Fun track. I'll add a shout-out to 'This Is Love' by Queenz Eye, which could go up here as well. A bop.

In the full post: BewhY, Song Sohee, JUST B, JUNGSOOMIN, JINI, tripleS, ID:Earth, TXT, Queenz Eye, SMUZ, Lim Jisoo, YOUHA, Loco/Minnie, MRCH, TAEMIN, and Heejin.

[MONTHLY] Favorites for SEPTEMBER 2023

Another month I enjoyed! On top we've got APOKI doing very typical catchy APOKI things with 'Space'. I finally put together that her voice reminds me of U Sung Eun, whom I love. Took me way too long to figure that out. I guess I shouldn't assume it's her for the fantasy, but... making bangers regardless!

Then it's the very violent 'Top or Cliff' by God Sejeong. The MV is quite the spectacle, but I also do love the song. That really heavy beat and yearning vocals. Nicely dramatic.

In the full post: RIIZE, Eien/MERENDE, g0nny/SHIRT, PURPLE KISS, Forestella, TRENDZ, BLACKSWAN, KEY, Hur Youngji, JUNG YONG HWA, TXT/Anitta, Loossemble, D.O, BIG Naughty, Rolling Quartz, YUJU, An Shinae, Hoody, FANTASY BOYS, IVE, Kep1er, TOUCHED, and Billlie.

[MONTHLY] Favorites for AUGUST 2023

Dang, I liked August a lot! July and August really both came through. Definitely not unique choices for my top favorites this month. SOMI's 'Fast Forward' is super catchy and gets me moving. Then we've got aespa's 'Better Things', which surprised me even. Not a massive fan of the English lyrics, but I love this instrumental and melody. I've had it stuck in my head for weeks. The flow of the choreo is also really pretty. But yeah, a ton of stuff over the month I was into.

In the full post: KWON EUNBI, Rothy, LIMELIGHT, Ahn Ye Eun, Kisum/Boi B, JO YURI, Kwon Jin Ah, Jooyoung, LUCY, Loco, JIHYO, Silica Gel/So!YoON!, AKMU, Izykite, XIA Junsu, H1-KEY, SE SO NEON, The Rose, HENG, Aylah, THORNAPPLE, cignature, and BIBI.

[MONTHLY] Favorites for JULY 2023

June was a little slim for me, but then July was packed with goodness! Loved lots of stuff. Really nice summery releases from Hyolyn, SURAN, LMST, Oh My Girl, among others, and also a few English language tracks I enjoyed. Plus the NewJeans blitz of solid releases.

My tops for the month were 'Super Shy' due it being happily stuck in my head the whole time (go NewJeans!) and KARDI's 'Skybound', which continues to grow my love for this band's sound.

In the full post: ITZY, NMIXX, KISS OF LIFE, TXT/Jonas Brothers, YUL2, ZEROBASEONE, BLASE/Lee Young Ji, ODD EYE CIRCLE, HYOLYN/Paul Blanco, Sandara Park, MISAMO,, (G)I-DLE, Huh Jee, NewJeans, SWJA, LMST, SURAN, OH MY GIRL, ILY:1, Susan, Jambino, SOYOU/Bora, and INFINITE.