Kpop: Top 20 of the second quarter of 2016

People talk about the golden age of kpop as being a few years past, but this quarter there is no sign of that as I could easily have done even a top 30.

20. Stellarjet - Guiding Light. Is this kpop? Well, they are from Korea, so in one sense it is at least Korean pop if not kpop.

19. Park Ki Ryang ft Mechilling - Hustle. The popular cheerleader gous kpop, and unexpectedly, it is pretty nice kpop.

18. Brave Girls - High Heels (하이힐). On the one hand, a disappointment in regards to them changing style from the more dark one from before, but on the other hand we got a super charming dancing boy in high heels. ;-)

17. Sleepy ft Bang Yong Guk - Body Lotion (바디로션). I really don't fall for genuin rap videos but this one got me bad.

16. Sugardonut - Imagine, Close Your Eyes. A really nice indie song.

15. Wheesung - Hold Over (제껴). The charming 34 old enjoys himself immensely in this video that has great humor in it, and I feel it deserves more attention than it has gotten so far.

14. R3hab, Amber & Luna, Xavi & Gi - Wave. This was my first contact with a station project song and it is really nice. Amber looks really comfortable and for Luna this is a nice precursor to even more successful 'Free Somebody' later this spring.

13. U-Kiss - Stalker. There has a number of obsessive themes in (both boy and girl) kpop videos, but thankfully it is usually not creepy as one would have feared, and such is the case here. Instead its a well delivered kpop song that was precisely what U-Kiss needed.

12. Tiffany ft Simon Dominic - Heartbreak Hotel. I like this more western song more than I would have though, yet another Station project track that delivers a great and internationally sounding sound.

11. Romeo - Miro. A new single from the rookies of Romeo and again it is a nice uptempo hit.

10. A-Daily - Spotlight. Unknown group with a song where quality shines through the simpler production values.

9. Icia - Time Bomb. This is the highest placed 'amateur' group but while it is obvious that the mv is really cheap, the song is unmistakingly big time catchy.

8. Jonghyun - She is (좋아). He repeats his funky success from DejaBoo with this song that again makes me want to dance.

7. Lovelyz - Destiny. I really hadn't expected to like a video from the super sweet girls of Lovely, but there is something unmistakingly attractive about the composition and drama in their 'Destiny' that catches me again and again.

6. VIXX - Dynamite (다이너마이트). One of the must successfully delivered kpop songs I have heard that leans on a plural of distinctly different sound parts, the piece together in the end for a engaging song with a video to match.

5. EXO - Lucky One. Some have called this song simplistic but I love it's happy and clean style.

4. Luna - Free Somebody. Super star EDM from Luna of f(x) and it is such a shame this genre isn't more popular than it is in Korea as it may mean we may not see as much of this kind of superb music as we could have.

3. Drug Restaurant - Mistake. Jung Joon Young may generously abandon naming the band after himself nowadays, but he is still the great voice that carries them along.

2. Up10tion - Attention (나한테만 집중해). In a close fight for the top 3, Up10tion wins out over VIXX to basically being more romantic and dynamic. The perfect kpop boy band track.

1. Sistar - I Like That. How I have waited since their last super hit, "Give it to me", almost precisely three years ago. To say that 'I Like That' is not only a bad pun but also a great understatement. It is so well crafted, with build up - drama and beats precisely blending into each other with a video that grows more and more on me.