Kpop: Jonghyun - She is (좋아)

I really liked the swing in Shinee's Jonghyun's "DejaBoo" this winter, and the new "She is" is on parity with that, with that same rhythm and panache that makes one just plain happy and wanting to dance.

• Jonghyun - She is (좋아)

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: Top 10 of the first quarter of 2015

The first quarter of 2015 has passed and again I find myself with many good songs. I may become more demanding as my relationship to kpop matures, but there are obviously still quite a number of good videos to be had.

Honorable mention goes to Yoonmirae, Tiger JK & Bizzy in MFBTY for their colorful "Bang Diggy Bang Bang".

10. Infinite H - Pretty. An easy and charming video that mostly fascinates by the (un?)intentional homo-eroticism.

9. Skrillex ft Diplo, G Dragon & CL - Dirty Vibe. If this is what we will be getting, I'd love to see more of these kind of east-west crossovers in the future.

8. 9Muses - Drama. New member constellation but keeping with the successful concept, this time 9Muses used a cafe meets theater set as a background for their usual beauty contest.

7. Lizzy - Good Bye PMS. The video is really just super fun with mixing Godzilla like fights with a PMS medicine commercial (sic!), and the song isn't bad either.

6. Crayon Pop - FM. I love what Crayon Pop stands for. More nerds in kpop! The video is pure anime/super hero nerdiness, and the song is better then most they have released the last year.

5. Fiestar - You're pitiful. This is basically a well crafted and very traditional girl group kpop song, and it works well for giving their fans a great time. But, and yes there is a but, it should have hade a bit more variation to make it really take off.

4. Rainbow - Black Swan. A dark return for the girls of Rainbow, the song has all the right drama and with just a little more variation it would have been top 3 this quarter.

3. Jonghyun ft Zion T - Deja Boo. Charming and smooth singing in this video from Shinee member Jonghyun.

2. Tey - Dangerous. A cool and sexy debut from Mr Mr's Tey, with a song that is precisely the right level of dramatic while keeping up the tempo.

1. Hong Jin Young - Love Wifi. This isn't cool. This isn't updated. This is old school, before there even was kpop. And it is super charming. I love trot when it is done with this much fun.

Kpop: Jonghyun (종현)

This is the debut song from Shinee member Jonghyun's solo debut. A nice R&B song which I quite like. To be honest very mainstream, but well produced and carried out.

• Jonghyun ft Zion T - Deja Boo (데자 부)
• Jonghyun - Crazy

Kpop: Mamamoo - Mr Ambiguous (Mr.애매모호)

The formal debut of vocally strong group Mamamoo is "Mr Ambigous", which again showcases their singing capabilities together with a soulful charm. Also, they again show of an impressive number of guests in the video, even going so far as it to become distracting like the cut with Baek Z Young.

• Mamamoo - Mr Ambiguous (Mr.애매모호)