[MV] XIA - Homage

[MV] XIA - GRAVITY

Some flashing light effects throughout.

Much heavier beat then anything I've heard from Junsu before. Great to see him still dancing and pushing himself. He'll be 40 in December. 😅 My favorite genre/style of sound for Junsu is R&B and there wasn't much on his new album unfortunately for me. It's nice though. My favorite track on it was 'Like Like Like'. Love the dramatic rhythm changes.

[MV] XIA Junsu - Our Season

Nice hopeful ballad-with-a-beat from Junsu. 

[MV] PALMTREE ISLAND - MY CHRISTMAS WISH

Got a little emotional seeing Junsu's company release one of these ensemble tracks. They're essentially all musical theater actors so they all have crazy voices. Lol. So cute.

Included: XIA/Junsu, Kim So Hyun, Jeong Sun Ah, Son Jun Ho, Jin Tae Hwa, Seo Kyung Su, Yang Seo Yoon

[MV] XIA / Kim Junsu - Red Diamond

Really classic sounding ballad with a beat. Cute animation too. Don't mind my fangirling, but Junsu has sounded so good recently. I mean, he always sounds good, but still. Watched some of his live performances from his recent fanmeetings. Sounded smoother and stronger than ever. Dunno if there's a reason for it... or if I've just been missing new music from my ult. Lol. Either way. 20th anniversary in the industry this year. Crazy. Anxious to see what happens this December for DBSK's official debut anniversary. Jaejoong and Junsu have talked about doing something together. 🙏

[OST] XIA Junsu - Childhood Dreams

From the 'Behind Every Star' OST.

[MONTHLY] Favorites for OCTOBER 2022

Strong start to the month with Seulgi's big villain energy. Really cool track and great performance. Then nearly to the end of the month with ALICE's 'DANCE ON', which is a fantastically catchy bop. Nice comeback for them.

What happened after that in Itaewon was such a gut punch. Still very much on my mind. Only heartened to see that there will hopefully be better safety measures in the future.

In the full post: TREASURE, GroovyRoom/GEMINI/MIRANI, THE BOYZ, Stray Kids, N.Flying, Dreamcatcher, KWON EUN BI, Kep1er, Loco/GRAY, LEE CHANHYUK, (G)I-DLE, Junsu/Lee Jisoo, KyongJi, KIHYUN, JO YURI, JungIn, TEN, tripleS AAA, Jin, and CHANMINA.

[OST] Kim Junsu & Lee Jisoo - Tonight ('West Side Story' Musical)

Really curious to see how this gets adapted for Korea.

[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!

[OST] XIA Junsu - The Memory of Wind

From the 'Jinxed at First' OST.

[OST] Jaejoong & Junsu - Sixth Star (Jpn.)

From the 'Bad Woman' OST. 

A JaeSu duet! My dream since 2005! I hope they continue to work together. 🙏

[MV] XIA JUNSU - HANA

MY GUY. I think this is the 'trendiest' thing I've ever heard Junsu do. Slightly wish it had a catchier hook, but it's still nice! Happy to see him back to pop music after focusing on musicals and making his own agency. The other two songs on the mini album are more ballad-y and lovely as usual.

[MONTHLY] Favorites for AUGUST 2021

Catching up with monthly posts part 8.

A little mainstream and a little indie.

In the full post: ASTRO, Weeekly, SUNMI, AKMU/Sam Kim, HYO/BIBI, ONF, MOVNING, NCT U, Gaho, PARK JIHOON, XIA Junsu, Red Velvet, TXT, GRAY/Zion.T, CIX, V-Hawk, CL, KWON EUN BI, Soo-Yeony,and DPR LIVE.

[OST] Kim Junsu (XIA) - The Chalice And The Blade

From the musical 'Xcalibur'. Junsu reprising his role as Arthur but with the addition of this new track made for the second run. Sounds great!

[OST] XIA Junsu - Good Bye

From the 'Penthouse' OST.

[MONTHLY] Favorites for NOVEMBER 2020

November ended up being pretty stacked. BTS, LUCY, and GFRIEND were my picks for the month. Aside from Suga's jarring line in 'Life Goes On' with the heavy tuning (sorry Yoongs!), it's a great song. Has more in common with older tracks like 'Just One Day'. I continue to be excited about LUCY. Any time they have strong violin in there I'm gonna be a fan. And y'all know I'm all about the retro trend, so GFRIEND's 'MAGO' has been a treat. I like it even more now that I've listened to it a bunch.

Also a shout-out to Chung Ha sneaking in there at the end of the month with her English performance track 'Dream of You', which I've had stuck in my head since its release. Wishing her well with the positive COVID diagnosis. This current surge is frightening. Finally starting to hit idols. And here in the US people have obviously just utterly given up. Hard to give a damn when people in power are willfully cruel and don't give a damn themselves.







In the full post: GEMINI, Dynamic Duo/BewhY, BOL4, SECRET NUMBER, Super Junior, OWLER, Paloalto, HA SUNG WOON, TAEMIN, Sound Kim, Ha Hyunsang, XIA Junsu, Lee Juck, JAMIE, STAYC, AKMU, UZA&SHANE, Yang Da Il, and Chung Ha.

[MV] XIA - Pit A Pat

Junsu managed to peel himself away from the theater for two seconds, grow a mullet, and release a classic pop track. You're lucky you're my ult with that hair, dude! Lol. Seems like most of the songs on the upcoming album are ballads, so this is some nice standard pop-Junsu fare. Feels a lot like Incredible or Rock The World.

[OST] XIA - Why Can't You Love Me

From Mozart! the Musical. A new recording for 2020.
Just indulging myself here until Junsu decides to make a new pop album. Been musical theater all the way since he got done with military service.

[OST] Kim Junsu, Lee Yeeun - LIFE AFTER LIFE

From Dracula : The Musical.
Junsu with another Dracula run so I'm just fangirling for a moment.

[COVER] XIA - Last Love