Kpop: Top 20 of the 4th quarter of 2016

The last three months of 2016 was quite awesome in kpop, this list list could have been a best of all 2016 and I wouldn't have been disappointed.

20. Girl's Day - Perfect Stage. Yes, this is an ad. 1 minute. But those four girls own it.

19. Hyukoh - Matsitnonsoul. It is in those riffs. This is freaking rock and it is amazing even though it kind of stands still in one place.

18. Sunwoo Junga - Springgirls. Songwriter, now singer, made this cool video that has superb beat and rhythm.

17. Hyolyn ft Jay Park - One Step. Still I am like "Like-Don't like-Like-Don't" like with this song, but it has to be on the list for its refreain and general shimmering of quality.

16. 100% - Better Day. The song may read like a combination of all the cliches of a dramatic boy kpop song, but it is such an unresistable production that I don't care.

15. Risso. Really, really nice electronic indie songs from this girl, and with a higher degree of variation she will really make us swoon. But don't miss any of her songs, the tarck are pure ear-candy with all them sounds and samples.

14. I.O.I - Very Very Very. This song could be very-very-very irritating but because of the perfect timing and production it isn't. It becomes a kind of "Red Velvet on high speed".

13. Uhm Jung Hwa. To make a comeback at 47 in a business that grades 30+ women as being too mature takes curage and style, but oh does this gal got it! Gothic and good melodies.

12. Yoo Jae Yuk & EXO - Dancing King. Oh, that beat!

11. Stellarjet - I don't like you. Borderline not kpop, but at the same time it is. And it IS quality music.

10. We Are The Night - You Are In. They used to be more punkrock but this synth and slow intensive singing is actually much better.

9. VIXX - Closer. There seems to be hard to skip over VIXX in any best-of-list in kpop and it is true this year too. They can really do dramatic pop videos well.

8. Jay Park - Aquaman. Jay Park finally hit the lyrical and musical orgasm button with this song, finally showing off totally the kind of American explicit R&B he must love.

7. CSP ft Kayla - Busan Girls. The cool an uptempo kind of fruity beat together with a great refrain made this memorable.

6. Song Ji Eun - Bobby Doll. She has something in her voice and deliverance, she doesn't seem to have a special voice but she still gives us hit after hit.

5. Joosuc ft Sanchez - I Kno. He's said to have an attitude problem, but nothing of that can be seen or heard here, his delivery is like honey for the ears.

4. Blackpink - Playing with fire. Without doubt they were this years no 1 new-comers. Attitude, singing and styling like a 2016' 2NE1.

3. EXO-CBX - Hey Mama! Oh, the swing of this song, oh the beat. That and dem boys, just delicious.

2. Twice - TT. OK, I will be honest with you guys. Just like the eye-contact videos of AoA added so much to their videos in 2015, Lia Kim's dance choregraphy and dance video for TT has meant the same this year for Twice's TT. Their song was great already but her choregraphy made it even better.

1. SHINee - 1 on 1. Retro that feels fresh by the oppas of SHINee. Pure gold.

Kpop: Stellarjet - I Don't Like You

Even if this is nominally "kpop" because it is performed by a band from Korea, "I Don't Like You" is a song that may as well has had its origin somewhere in any given place in the cultural western hemisphere, if there still is such a distinction anymore. Whatever, Stellarjet delivers another track with great feeling and soft melancholia.

• Stellarjet - I Don't Like You

Kpop: Top 20 third quarter of 2016

A great quarter where the best songs more often than not had a more soulful or western sound than usual.

20. Crayon Pop - Doo Doom Chit. The most cute kpop girls are back with another catchy track with a saxophone and refrain that slays all opposition.

19. San E & Raina - Sugar & Me. I really, really don't have a soft spot for all these duets in kpop, but this is an exception. It got that dynamic and creativity that is often missing.

18. Zhoumi - What's Your Number? The track sounds familiar - in a good way. Soft and retroesque, Zhoumi invites us for some reality escape.

17. Two X - Over. Actually, the video is the strong point here to be honest. I find the girls and the story super charming. ;-)

16. Hitchhiker - 10$. Some will hate this track, call it a failed 90s fallback techno track, but love the trashy samples and video. Hypnotic like in the good 'ol MTV days.

15. Jaeney - Tell Me Why. Great ballad, and the only thing I disagree with is why they don't use the real singer in an otherwise atmospheric video.

14. Beatwin - Your Girl. Classical romantic kpop boy band song with a sweet melody.

13. Mino - Body. Yo, Mino, damn are you one cool guy. Love the way you sing and all.

12. Sweet Sorrow - No Dae-bak. The veteran boys gives us attitude - and it is super Dae-bak!

11. Cosmic Girls - Secret. A relatively new group, this video is their best so far, a fantasy that is combined with a well delivered and sweet track.

10. Spica - Secret Time. If there was a top list for competent and charming kpop girl groups that never quite gets a break, Spica must be in the top.

9. Clazziquai Project - #Curious. The rhythm. The soulfulness. Aaah.

8. Eric Nam ft Loco - Can't Help Myself. His voice is just to die for, again.

7. Red Velvet - Russian Roulette. Kpop quality A, again the girls of RV delivers a world of rhythm and distinction that is all familiar and still their own.

6.Taewan - Problem. The passion is very much tangible in the song and the video.

5. Stellarjet - Just Before A Storm. SUng in english, it may seem like a 90s throwback, but it is rather a timeless indie song.

4. Jero ft Giriboy - Airplane. I just love the swing in this track, it's just perfect.

3. Fei - Fantasy. It's a dreamy song that is light a sensual fantasy, a great solo debut for Fei.

2. Kiha & The Faces - The Smell's Gone. That refrain just sticks there, with all the guys presenting a tight and well delivered track.

1. ELO - Rose. Nostalgic and very beautiful song with a cool ELO performing.

Kpop: Stellarjet - Right Before A Storm

I really appreciated the debut "Guiding Light" of indie band Stellarjet. Ara is a lovely girl but I like that we in the new "Right Before A Storm" get to see all the five members show themselves.

• Stellarjet - Right Before A Storm

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.