Kpop: Top 20 of 2015

If my yearly top 20 of jpop is about variation and oddness, the kpop top lists is more about perfection and honing that hit recipe a bit more, adding that extra spice or trying a little new. This may sound boring but it is what has made kpop tha shing beacon of musical success outside the local asian community, instead nowadays almost everyone knows someting about kpop.

The five outside top 20, which deserves some mention of course, were:

25. Jimin & J.Don - God. She may not be a 'real' rapper but that attitude just gets to me every time.
24. Girl's Generation - Catch Me If You Can. A masterpiece choregraphy-vise hides a rather average EDM song. But that dance oh it is perfect.
23. Red Velvet - Dumb. Visually a top 10 video, a must see, but the song was just a tad too much.
22. Primary ft Lena Park - Hello. Stylish and intelligent kpop again from Primary.
21. Crayon Pop - FM. My favorite nerds with their celebration of otaku culture.

Moving on to my absolute favorites:

20. Kara - Cupid. Yet another trademark Kara song, polished and shining kpop that I never tire of hearing.

19. Hong Jin Young - Love Wifi. My number one trot track this year.

18. 9Muses - Drama. A bit of a step down for the girls compared to last year song-wise, but Drama was quite good.

17. Rainbow - Black Swan. A dark theme and a well crafted song (though a bit repetitive) from the experienced girls brought them into my favorite list.

16. Twice - Like OOH-AAH. Even for kpop, twice seemed like a very artificially constructed group, but in the end I found it hard to defend myself from the song's inherently catchy sound and refrain.

15. Jun Hyo Seong - Into you. She really got something going for her in her solo career with already several nice videos under her belt, this being the best.

14. Tahiti - Skip. The strength and weakness of this song is its accessibility bordering on tediousness depending on persective.

13. PSY - Daddy & Napal Baji. The lightning never strikes twice and all that...this placing is honestly somewhat unfair to PSY, but I still after 3 years find myself comparing him to his historical hit Gangnam Style. This is his best try so far, but it still stands in the shadow of that landmark.

12. AoA - Heart Attack. This song really grew on me after a while, and the eye-contact version really did it for me.

11. Girl's Day - Ring My Bell. A burlesque and at times but ugly video that is (because of this also) very fascinating and addictive. And as usual their charm is unresistable.

10. Jonghyun ft Zion T - Deja Boo. Super smoth and soulful but still with passion.

9. Jay Park ft Genius Nochang & B-Free - Want It . So. Cool. The Man in kpop 2015.

8. Melody Day - Speed Up. A surprisingly everyday kpop melody for a top 10 song, but it delivers on the points that matters in the long run, not just in impressive visuals or gimmicks.

7. Fiestar - You're pitiful. A melancholic uptempo track that didn't have any weak spots really.

6. Stellar - Vibrato. Stellar managed to make the theme so openly sexual that it almost took the step into sex ed instead, in a video that actually had again a really nice song too.

5. Got7 - If You Do. The popular boy band got to me with this well tuned ballad where both refrain and all the other parts works so well.

4. Stephanie - Black Out. The almost embarrasingly explicit video aside, I just dig this track so badly, its a killer.

3. Tey - Dangerous. Even though I'm more into girls, I must say Tey is sexy in this video, with a dramatic song to match.

2. IU - Twenty-three. Gloriously well written and intelligent lyrics sung with a new-found mature charm that really makes the Alice-in-Wonderland-styled video shine.

1. miss A - Only You. So what makes this the number one kpop song this year? Well, the girls really pull off a superbly choreographed feat with a music score that has such an enjoyable combination of instrumental and singing fun that it is hard not to love this track every time I hear it.

Kpop: 9Muses - Sleepless Nights (잠은 안오고 배는 고프고)

9Muses last video "Heart Locker" was one of my summer's disappointments, but with winter returning (and before the month of corny Christmas kpop songs) there was plenty of possibilities for a comeback with the new song. Hearing that it would be more like a ballad, I felt the odds was stacking against them as I usually don't like slow tempo kpop, but as such things goes this is pretty OK. Having Brave Brothers as producers helps ofc too. But I still their more usual stuff like we saw last in "Drama" last winter...

• 9Muses - Sleepless Nights (잠은 안오고 배는 고프고)

Kpop: 9Muses - Yes or No

The girls of 9Muses have a steady and working concept as sexy pinup girls with easy-to-like (k)pop songs with just the right amount of substance to excuse watching their videos, an idea which I found slightly spoiled by their latest video Heart Locker. Therfore it is refreshing to see them release a slightly (for them) experimental video, as the whole of "Yes or No" is filmed as a long Instagram selfie with the girls also singing a much more laid-back and charming song than one would expect from them. I like it and I hope this is not only a creative way to cut production costs but instead rather means that they will develop positively from now on.

• 9Muses - Yes or No

Kpop: Girls, girls, girls - a recap of this summer's top 10 disappointments

As usual, kpop and summer for me usually means misery. All my favorite groups tend to go into some kind of lazy and tasteless mode where bad songs are mixed with garish videos and unfocused productions, and debuts this time of year doesn't have that extra umph. I really, really want to give them love but usually end up watching them the same way you eat too much icecream because you have nothing else to do and usually likes sweet stuff.
Here's my top 10 "meh" this summer, in no particular order, and please bear with the whining...

1. Hellovenus - I'm Ill. The jury is out on this one, but I just feel it has something mssing. It's basically to generic for a group at this level.

2. NC.A - Vanilla Shake. She was so promising in the start but somehow this average summer release just confirms my impression that, however crual that may sound, she has already passed her prime.

3. Sistar - Shake it. This is just what I am talking about. Take a stylish group like Sistar and add summer and what do you get - just...eye candy without any taste beyond the imminent moment, and a slight queasiness afterwards.

4. BESTie - Excuse me. Up and coming stars, BESTie goes for pompous and a song structure that unharminously oscillates between two levels of sound. Reminds me of Girl's Day's Ring My Bell inits shortcomings.

5. CLC - Like. No, girls, colorful visuals and funny dresses isn't enough. You have to deliver something at least resembling a good song too.

6. Sonamoo - Cushion. I have had my eyes on them since they debuted this winter, as they obviously has a lot going for them, but I have still haven't seen anything from them that breaks through the kpop noise. This is an excellent example - its got attitude, production and they look charming. But where's the extra, the non-generic?

7. Girl's Generation - Party. Is this a music video or a commercial for a Thailand holiday? Or possibly a fan video cut together from various Pepsi ads?

8. AoA - Heart Attack. Oh, you too girls? AoA has done some really great hits, and I really love their sound, it has a kind of sharpness to it that is just perfect. All that is there in Heart Attack (the video is great), but somehow the composition doesn't do it for me. I think it has to do with the song somehow being to flat, it all kind of flows together.

9. Playback - Playback. So, these are supposedly a power debut, much like BESTie last year, but I can't see what they have to offer that isn't already there in kpop. Safe is not safe in such a saturated market as korean pop. Yawn.

10. 9Muses - Heart Locker. Until this year, 9Muses has wisely stayed away from the hot weather and through that kept on producing hot videos with good sound tracks. This unbroken row of hits is sadly broken with "Heart Locker". I must say I think eurodisco actually doesn't agree with 9Muses, at least not in this case. They feel bland in both performance, looks and singing. It is not bad. Just not that good.