East Asian pop update Jun - Aug 2018

From: Pristin V - Get It

It has been an unusually good summer for kpop, with some japanese and chinese tracks too.

Apink - I'm so sick. If you know about kpop, you know about how it all goes south during summer with songs that may have fan-service videos of lightly dressed boys and girls, but which musically often fails terribly. Apink proves me fantastically wrong with what may be the video of the year. Pure kpop classic.

SF9 - Now or Never (질렀어). Almost perfect. Those bass rhythms are a killer.

Yubin - Lady (숙녀). Sultry retro from Yubin, of Wonder Girls fame.

ONF - Complete (널 만난 순간). Oh My God, so catchy and charming. That refrain...

Reol - Saisaki (サイサキ). She oozes with that sub-culture electronic style unique for Japan.

Elris - Focus. Good song but it is the dance number that makes the video me come back

Laboum - Between Us (체온) and Love Game proves again that Laboum is a underestimated group. Between Us may be the "real" video, but "Love Game" proves again (like with Elris ' Focus' above) that a good dance video can deliver on all accounts.

Saturday - MMook JJi BBa (묵찌빠). If this is not the new Crayon Pop, I don't know what! Momoland have touched upon the Crayon Pop concept, but Saturday perfects it soundwise and style; nerdy and super catchy. Now just add some vimsical dance act and all is the same.

Jvcki Wai - Anarchy.  This is actually from 2017, but I discovered her just recently and I love her singing, with pronouncation and all.

Twice - BDZ. The song from their Japan debut album with the same name has a lot of "story" in it, the music piece in itself buried in the middle.

Norazo - Cider(사이다). Channeling that PSY craziness...

Rocket Girls(火箭少女101) - Calorie (卡路里). A satiric(?) song about pressing down your calorie intake, that can be heard in the movie "Hello Mr. Billionaire! (西虹市首富)".

Oresama - Hot Hashiru(ホトハシル), an ending song for the anime "Muhyo & Roji's Bureau of Supernatural Investigation".

More interesting videos:
Leo - Touch & Sketch. Leo from VIXX
Varsity - Flower. Good new song from this boy group.
f(x) - Signal. The track is so so, but I do have a soft spot for them, and I like the retro vibes
Pristin V - Get It (네 멋대로). A nice enough debut from a Pristin sub-group in glorious 4K.

Kpop: Laboum - Shooting Love (푱푱)

Laboum has been slowly building up a backlog of good and distinctly kpop-colorful videos, the best being "What About You" and "Aalow Aalow". They also have their share of bland songs, but the new Shooting Love is more of the first kind, having a nice video concept together with a working song. This is a schoolbook example of a (good) classic kpop video.

• Laboum - Shooting Love

Kpop: Top 20 of the last quarter of 2015

Lots of nice songs and videos this autumn/early winter, with a nice mixture of debutantes and celebrities.

20. Click-B - Reborn. This they earned for their posing. Seriously.

19. LPG - Slow. This may not be the best song they've made, but I have a weak spot for trot music (old fashioned korean pop) so this wa snot to be missed.

18. Exid - Hot Pink. Basically a high quality production in a song that is in its roots average, resulting in an enjoyable video that may or may not last much beyond when you play it.

17. Oh My Girl - Closer.  The video may be etheric bordering on bland in trying to be otherwordly, but it is still a very nicely creation from the new girls in their second single.

16. Teen top - Ah-Ah. This is honestly a summer track, but I added later so no matter. A very positive and life-affirming video.

15. Hotties - Bambambam. A catchy refrain for this new rookie group.

14. ATT - Temptation. As I wrote, it is interesting for being slightly 'off' somehow in its singing/sound. A bit of assymetry can do all the difference.

13. Ailee - Mind Your Own Business. The first single from her first album, her strong voice and presense is familiar by now.

12. Laboum - Aalow Aalow. I agree with the fans - why doesn't this have more plays?! Even though not everyone likes 80s retro, this is so sharply implemented that I'm still perplexed over why not more enjoy it.

11. DinDin - Pour. I like this for the unabashed drinking and partying. ;-)

10. f(x) - 4 Walls. Like, don't like, like, don't like. Sometimes I feel the mood of this video is one of the best this year, other times it feels like that song you just skip over in your play list because you just don't have the patience for it.

9. Jay Park ft Okasian - You Know. Jay Park is The Man of kpop this year, all hands down (and with just a little irony). With Okasian doing his slow stupid rap, this song is like rap syrup down my ears.

8. Brown Eyed Girls - Brave New World. While 'Hole' was just too much idea and to little real musical quality, this song and video had that edge that suits BEG just where they are now, with soundbites from classical disco and some odd space vibes in the video.

7. Stephanie ft. Eljo - Higher. Another one of her italo pop - inspired songs that feels just so fun as usual.

6. Jay Park ft Genius Nochang & B-Free - Want It. Jay goes to Shanghai and delivers another impressive performance with his guys.

5. Tahiti - Skip. This is the song this year with the most singular sound, the most well defined song structure. You just get it all from the start. SOmetimes it is too repetitive, but mostly it is dance, dance, dance.

4. Melody Day - Speed Up. It is hard to define why I like this song so much, it is just so likeable and very much what one want from kpop.

3. PSY - Daddy & Napal Baji. These two powerful releases, had they preceded Gangham Style, would for sure been among the absolute top 5 songs of 2015. Now the fact is that he still has to be compared with his historical hit and this of course makes it hard to top that kpop landmark. Unfair? Yes, maybe, but it is still the way it is. As a side notice, I like Napal Baji more but I accept the fact that Daddy has a greater hit potential.

2. Twice - Like Ooh - Aah. I actually tried to be a bit sceptic as this felt like the new kpop group that everyone should like, but then the song just grows on you and it is soo effective. A very promising debut.

1. IU - Twenty three. Everyone's sweetheart but for me she has been doing mostly borderline pretentious music the last year(s). SO imagine my happiness when '23' shows up, with a more mature IU singing with lyrics that is to die for, and a video that is picture perfect. Every line and facial expression perfectely timed.

Kpop: Laboum - Aalow Aalow (아로아로)

Laboum has so far stayed under the radar for many kpop fans but I quite liked their "What about you?" that they released almost exactly one year ago. The new song "Aalow Aalow" (which I think is a onomatopoeic for something moving quickly past) is a 80s/90s retro that again shows off some really ear-catching sounds that lays the base for a song to like. The video for sure is basically a 80s variation on the aegyo theme, but still, it works fine here.

• Laboum - Aalow Aalow (아로아로)