Music Highlights: 4.22.2024

At work I was thinking about how sad I was that I haven’t done these music posts in a while. And even when I tried it was only one and then I just left. I really liked doing them, but to be fair I was doing them when I was layed off and had more time to just mindlessly listen to a bunch of music. But I want to change that so maybe we can find a way to do these and work lol. Below is mostly stuff that has released fairly recently, but I will throw in some older things that I want to touch on.

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+The Poles - Stargazing

A long-time fave The Poles came out with their EP Anomalies in the oddity space. The whole album is good, but I particularly loved Stargazing.

+ Solji - Western Sky

My girl. My fave. My ult bias. One of the best singers in kpop Solji came out with a new single Western Sky. During the MBC duet festival Solji sang this with Du Jinsu and now has a studio version.

+Band Maid - Bestie

Band Maid can do no wrong in my eyes.

+eaJ - Mad

eaJ has a lot of music coming out soon (like Friendly Fire!!) and we have to wait for it, but Mad has been on repeat for the past month getting me through it.

+Seungmin - Phobia (I'm the Queen in This Life OST)

This is such a great rock ballad for Seungmin. I’d love to hear more of this from him.

+Gyuna - Lava (Hide OST)

I found this on a random TikTok (she’s the sister of one of the New Jeans girls), and instantly fell in love. I’m not watching the drama but it’s now making me want to.

+VINCIT - KO

VINCIT releases such little music that it makes things a torturous wait. The wait is over with KO

+ONEWE - Beautiful Ashes

ONEWE is finally back full-member from the military and are really aiming to take away DAY6’s hold on me. It’s a good try. A great try even. Beautiful Ashes is the title which I love, but I think my favorite on the album is Shoot It Out. Still deciding.

+Chansung - Into the Fire

Chansung has a jdrama out, a kdrama out, and he released Into the Fire single with AK-69 and Changmin. All for me.

+Jun. K - Command C+Me

And Jun. K decided he would also join by releasing the Korean version of Command C+Me

+Jun Doohee - Sway

Jun Doohee’s Bad Flower is one of my top songs of 2020, and he quickly became a new favorite. His new single is Sway and everyone should be listening to it.

+Rolling Quartz - Stand Up

Rolling Quartz also came out with new music with Stand Up.

+DAY6 - Welcome to the Show

I’m in a weird conflicted place where I absolutely loved the DAY6 comeback but am also devastated that I don’t get to hear Jae’s voice with them. This is what I get for making them the only thing that got me through my deep depressive spot during COVID. I will get through it - hopefully, but now I’m just…kinda sad and happy to see them around at the same time. Grief and emotions are weird. Sad Ending was my favorite from the album, but the title is also great.

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2021 Music

While it seems like I spent a lot of time devoted to music over the past year, especially on the blog with my weekly roundup of music, it was a fairly quiet music year for me. I wasn’t on top of everything and missed a lot of music towards the end of the year. It also seemed like a lot of my favorites were fairly quiet. Especially compared to last year, when there seemed to be a new online concert every week, or new live clips and singles. Maybe the pandemic is just hitting us all a lot harder this year, but things were definitely off. That doesn’t mean I didn’t listen to some really great music. On the contrary, I found some great things this year, an ult group came back, and I even added a new group or two.

Starting the post like I always do with my top ten songs of the year. I make a thread every year on Twitter where I explain my choices that you can find here.

Here they are in the order they were released:

• ‘White Light’ by Lanalogue (ft Nody Cika)

• ‘Obsessed’ by jujuland

• ‘Wonderland’ by Aimer

• ‘above the clouds’ by DAY6

• ‘OK or Not’ by 2PM

• ‘AuRoRa’ by ONEWE

• ‘BEcause’ by Dreamcatcher

• ‘SOOP’ by JENYER (ft. Heo Gayoon)

• ‘Fargo’ by TRAP

• ‘joke!’ by Se So Neon

I actually had some challenges making the list. A lot of the songs on my top 25 I really, really like so narrowing them down to ten was hard. This year I tried to keep an ongoing list of my top songs - a place for the best of the best - and while it helped in remembering songs (and not having to do go through the hundreds of songs I enjoyed over the year), I realized quickly the group was just too good. I finally came up with the list like I normally do, these are the songs that I just had on repeat the most. This list also had a good bit of songs that I fell deeply in love with the minute I heard it.

But, there must always be a winner and this year’s #1 song went to an artist who I’ve loved for years, and generally always makes their way to this list. This year that goes to Aimer with her song ‘Wonderland’. Aimer does everything I love and combines it in a way that is just artistic perfection. ‘Wonderland’ combines a rock guitar line with sweeping folk and string instrumentals and creates this really majestic song paired with her voice. It builds with intensity throughout the song’s length and echoes the lyrics perfectly. The music video is also great, with its creepy and dark Alice in Wonderland storyline that actually goes with the lyrics. If you know Aimer, the song is par for the course for her, but it held on to me all year since its release in April.

Here’s my top 25 in a full list:

While my top songs list was hard to narrow down, my album list proved even harder. This was the year of amazing full albums, and it was extremely hard for me to narrow down this list. Even as I work on this post, I’m still debating my choices. It’s interesting because I felt this year I didn’t have enough time to listen to full albums like I had the year previous. I found myself focusing on listening to all the music that was coming out for my weekly posts that I didn’t have the time to listen to more, and yet quite a few crept in and got me.

The list, in the order they were released:

-Unseen World by BAND-MAID
BAND-MAID is always going to jump to the top of my lists. They consistently put out great music, and music I love. You really can’t go wrong with them. Solid vocals, solid instruments.

Songs to check out: After Life, I Still Seek Revenge, and Sayonakidori

-Walpurgis by Aimer
Aimer does no wrong, but this album in particular is probably my favorite of hers. So many of my top songs are on this and when I want to feel all of the feelings, she’s the one I go to.

Songs to check out: SPARK-AGAIN, 季路 (kiro) and 春はゆく (haru wa Yuku)

-The Volunteers by The Volunteers
An album that is just good from top to bottom, The Volunteers went out of their way to release a phenomenal first full album. Produced by lead vocalist Baek Yerin’s label, the group debuted this year. They’ve got a great 90’s indie alt-rock vibe to them.

Songs to check out: Let me go!, Radio, and S.A.D

-Must by 2PM
2PM is back, and picking up perfectly from where they left off, giving a solid EP. If you are an older fan, you’ll appreciate the songs, but I think it also is a solid choice for new fans. The only problem with this EP is that it’s not a full album. While I had wanted that, I’m glad that it was at least an extended EP.

Songs to check out: Make It, OK or Not, On My Way, and Hold You

-Right Through Me by Even of Day
I know this might seem like sacrilege, especially seeing as DAY6’s The Book of Us: Negentropy - Chaos Swallowed Up in Love was released this year as well, and it’s not on this list. I love them, but really just fit more with the Even of Day sub-unit for the majority of the songs this year. I like what they did with this group, and I thought that this was a great follow up from their first album, The Book of Us: Gluon. It transitioned what they did in that to this well, and I think it effectively transitioned Even of Day from DAY6.

Songs to check out: WE, Right Through Me, and WALK

-COBALT by Meaningful Stone
This is the shortest EP on my list at only five songs, but I loved those songs enough to make room for it. Meaningful Stone a great indie rock singer/songwriter. Her album from last year, A Call From My Dream, caught my eye and this EP has solidly added her as a favorite.

Songs to check out: Dancing in the Rain and Fly

-Trap by TRAP
I’ll talk more about TRAP later in this post, but for now I will say that this is the top album of the year. It’s what I’ve wanted to find in Korean artists, and have been obsessed with this album since hearing it for the first time.

Songs to check out: Fargo, Surface, and New World

-Happiness, Flower by Soumbalgwang
Soumbalgwang is one of those artist that I just keep coming back to. In fact, their Fuze EP made it to last year’s list highlighting my favorite indie albums. Happiness, Flower is the type of album you want to throw on and turn up while you are driving around when you need to just drown your thoughts in nothing but music.

Songs to check out: Ember, Eve, and Happiness.

-This is NOT by Jun Doohee
When Jun Doohee’s ‘Bad Flower’ came out at the end of the last year, it immediately became a favorite, and here we are this year with a full album. His songs have that sound that you’d hear them as like a theme song for an HBO crime show, or straight out of True Blood with a great classic rock sound with a bit of grisliness (is that even a real word? I’m making it one, I’m no true music reviewer) and I am so incredibly into it.

Songs to check out: Just a Dream, Bad Flower, and Desire

-Sand by Bosudongcooler
Don’t be fooled by the fact that this album was released in November, it’s the perfect lazy beach day album. The songs make you feel like your floating on water, letting the current sway you, totally relaxed.

Songs to check out: Breath, Dani, and Rubber

One of the major comebacks in kpop for me this year was that with 2PM. 2PM has been my top kpop group for a very long time, well before I was on social media talking to anyone other than myself about dramas and music, so this felt like my first true comeback because there were people to share it with me. Since I’ve also still been unemployed, and just generally not doing well mentally, I spent a lot of the year in various stages of insomnia and being able to be up during livestreams and stages was a much needed bright light. Their comeback was great, and it was really nice to see them all together.

This was also the year that I really solidified my love of the kband ONEWE. This was something that had started last year (their song ‘Parting’ was on my top list last year), and I’ve just given in fully. Especially with DAY6 in various stages of enlistment and change - I have had time to focus on them, and they are good. I think they are fantastic with all their singles, but I’m partial to rock ballads and they are doing them well. Their song ‘Rain to Be’ was also fun. I also got into the girl group Purple Kiss, who debuted at the beginning of the year with their song ‘Ponzona’. Their discography is a bit different, they live in this world of fun darkness and I’m always partial to vocally-led groups. A lot of their songs have a jazzy quality. They also have members who are actively helping write and produce music, something that is not seen a lot. I look forward to what they do in the future.

I did find a lot of new artists in 2021, but a lot only had a few songs available and/or I didn’t make time to listen to the rest of their discography. That’s one of my missions this year and hopefully can track back to their work. But my favorite new discovery of the year hands down goes to the post-grunge band TRAP. I found them in the middle of October when their music video was released and fell hard. Their first full album, Trap, is fantastic and a no skip album from top to bottom. I’ve seriously played that album more than most of my other albums, and some of those have been out for much longer. While their one of those groups that are really hard to find things about (combine a very unsearchable name with my lack of Korean), I take any and everything I can, which their is a few things. Besides their album, they do have a couple more songs on Spotify, and a YouTube channel where they do live clips or covers and other various videos. I’m hoping to hear more from them soon, and now that they are officially on my radar that’ll be easier. If you are into grunge like I am, you’ll really like their songs.

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I think every year I talk about how I want to focus more on my favorite artists and have the intention to and every year I fail at that in some respect. I’ve been focusing a lot of my energy the last few months of 2021 focusing on what type of content I want on this blog and really looking at if some of the things that I had been doing are worth carrying into the new year. I have decided to move my weekly music highlights to Twitter posts, more loose than I had at the beginning of the year. They took too much time for me, and I felt they just weren’t as beneficial here as they could be on the timeline. Because of this, I hope I’ll be able to focus music posts on more in depth looks on my favorite artists and more album reviews.

Check out previous years: 2019 and 2020

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Music Highlights 8.23.21

This post is filled with returning favorites, including a lot of my favorite 2nd gen women. Music has been good.

Releases and Finds ▹▹▹

-We Are the Night came out with a new single, ‘Summer Fiction’.

-Fei has a very special place in my heart. She’s my bias in Miss A, one of the first girl groups I really fell hard for. It’s been a while since she’s released music and I’m very glad she has. My only complaint for ‘Stalker’ is that the background beats are too loud. I haven’t been able to get ahold of the song outside of YouTube, though, so there is a chance it’s not that present in the recording. Despite that, I really love the song and the MV.

-Hyolyn and Dasom did what they do best, and put out a great summer bop. Watching them do the dance on TikTok with the other members has been fun.

I really don’t need to add TXT to my too long music list, but as this is now the second release I’ve liked I might be losing that battle.

-I really liked Jenyer’s last release and was excited to hear more. And then she announced she was going to be featuring her former 4Minute member, Gayoon, on the single. I don’t know what happened in the universe that made it so we got Miss A, SISTAR, and 4Minute former member comebacks all in a span of two weeks, but I’m not complaining.

-I think this might be my favorite Lucy title track.

-I really like the lead singer’s voice, and I think it lends really well to the water/summer feeling of the songs, almost like waves. Adding the group to my every growing list to look more into.

-You really can’t go wrong with Standing Egg.

-Another group who can do no wrong for me, Yorushika. I think at this point if you haven’t listened to them yet just means we can’t be friends.

-Seori and eaJ (Jae from DAY6) came out with another collab. It’s the perfect song to throw on during a drive..

-Summer isn’t really my favorite season, but I still can’t seem to stop myself from adding all the summer songs.

Upcoming ▹▹▹

CL single, ‘Spicy’ (24th)
Ben&Ben album, Pebble House Vol 1 (29th)
The Black Skirts Japanese album, Team Baby (29th)
NELL album, Moments In Between (2nd)

Artist Spotlight ▹▹▹
Since the indie rock singer The Black Skirts will be releasing his first full Japanese album the end of this week, it seems fitting to focus a bit of attention on him. I’ve posted about him before, and I know the relatively he’s a bit more popular than a lot of the other indie artists I focus on, but if you haven’t listened to his work, specifically the 2017 Team Baby, you are really missing out on some solid music. The title track, ‘Everything’ was one of the first indie songs I listened to and still one of my favorites.

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Music Highlights 8.9.21

I’m back with another Monday filled with a lot of really great music. It’s been a while since I’ve posted an update of my recent music faves, and after missing the last post there was a good bit of music to go through so I tried to limit to what was at the top of my list so this post didn’t go on forever. I also know that I’ve probably missed some great music to mention but I was pretty random checking the new music that was coming out the past month. There were some good hidden gems this round, though.

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Releases and Finds ▹▹▹

-AKMU has a new album with a bunch of collabs, and they have been releasing it slowly. All have been very good, but I think ‘Hey Kid, Close Your Eyes’ with Lee Sun Hee is my favorite.

-sunwoojunga collabed with a number of people for 'Buffalo' including Dami, which is how I was introduced to the song. The song is great, and I've been really into it.

-E.So's 'Orgel' has a good beat and I loved how she uses her higher register.

-SURL rarely disapoints, and 'Beside' proves that. It's a chill song, but perfect for warm nights.

-Another band that doesn't disappoint is JANNABI.

-LOREN is back with another grunge rock single, 'NEED (ooo-eee)’

-I’ve regrettably haven’t made time to listen to the rest of the album, but if it’s anything like "‘I’m Alive’ it is safe to say I’ll dig it.

-Seoul Magic Club’s ‘Que Sera Sera’ is that perfect 90’s song that you’d blast with all the windows down while driving to the beach. Which is a vibe this Floridian is always into.

-You didn't think I would forget to talk about Dreamcatcher, did you? ‘BEcause’ was everything I wanted from a title track. It's creepy and catchy, the perfect Dreamcatcher summer bop. I have a full album review up that you can find here.

-I really liked both songs that SANJO came out with and they have been officially added to my new music list. I don't think they've been a group for very long, but even with the small sample I'm anticipating a lot more great music in the future.

-While ‘You Can’t Sit With Us’ is super fun and catchy (I’d delete the rap part, though), where it shines is the music video filled with great visuals and 90’s/00’s references. And zombies. Off the EP my favorite song is ‘Borderline’.

-’Ghosts Are Bored’ has a good beat and I love the lead singer’s voice. Another group I very much need to focus on the rest of their music.

OST ▹▹▹

-So I don’t really know anything about Nevertheless but I want to check it out purely because of its OST.

-Another Nevertheless, but Say Sue Me will always be the right choice.

-I haven’t started The Devil Judge yet, but oof. I loooove this song.

Upcoming ▹▹▹

We Are the Night single, ‘Summer Fiction’ (9th)
HYOLYN and DASOM unit single, ‘Summer or Summer’ (10th)
Fei single, ‘Stalker’ (12th)
Red Velvet EP, Queendom (16th)

Artist Spotlight ▹▹▹
I learned of the shoegaze/progressive rock group Monotheism a week or two ago and have been really into their music since then. Their most recent EP released in June is Rally, a sampling of their previous works live and a great introduction to what you can expect from them.

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Music Highlights 7.12.21

I was a little bit busier than normal last week because of the KPSN Podcast Festival, and with 2PM and Even of Day’s comebacks I’ve not had as much time to keep up with new music so this week is going to be a little less diverse with newer groups since I pretty much zeroed in on prioritizing faves.

Releases and Finds ▹▹▹

-Let’s get the main ones out of the way, starting off with 2PM’s ‘Make It’. I, of course, loved every second.

-Do I wish it was full group? Yes. But Even of Day has just the slightest difference in sound that I am really into. If I find the time, I might be able to do an album review soon.

-THE ORAL CIGARETTES came out with a new song that is being used in an anime. I hadn’t been keeping up with any Japanese music news, so it was a pleasant surprise.

-Have I heard of LUAMEL before I listened to this? I don’t think so, but they’ve been added to my ever-growing list of groups I need to listen to their discography. Hasn’t happened yet, but it will.

-I loved Boyz II Men. LOVED them. They are currently promoting in Korea and we’re getting collabs with artists and I just want to tell 12 year old Jessie that this is happening.

-Say hello to my favorite TWICE song.

-Again, surprise music. And surprise SEKAI NO OWARI is the best kind of surprise…

-…which was then followed up by surprise NELL! It’s like the universe was like “Hey, Jessie. Heard you are preoccupied by 2PM and DAY6. Let me do this to you”.

-I liked Royal Pirates, but I was never into them when they were truly a group, so I didn’t focus on them a lot because I knew that I wasn’t going to get new music. And then, they followed on the surprise train and reformed as LIVIN.

-I know that I talked about ONEWE last post, but the put out a mv with my favorite song off of the album, and I have to share.

-Not a surprise, cause I saw them promote this for a while before it came out, but new TRICOT is always welcomed in this house.

OST ▹▹▹

-I feel like this is my third Voice 4 OST song that I’ve talked about, but it’s really starting to become a favorite.

Upcoming ▹▹▹

Currently I don’t really have anything scheduled for the next few weeks. Which is good since DREAMCATCHER DECIDED TO ANNOUNCE A COMEBACK AT THE END OF THE MONTH.

Album Spotlight ▹▹▹

Band Nah is a fun indie rock group that has grown a lot on me this past year. They are a relatively newer group, but they do have a good discography, and their music videos are a lot of fun. They just released their single, ‘Summer Days’ last week. You should check out their music.

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Music Highlights 5.31.21

So much music came out these past weeks, and most of it was full albums/EPs that I loved, plus a few new adds to the playlist. I’m still not keeping up with a lot of news, out of laziness, but the amount of music is making up for it. I also thought it would be fun to separate out the OST music I was digging into it’s own separate section. There are some OST that I like immediately, and some that I like because I hear it 40 times a binge and it grows on me. I think if you aren’t watching dramas, you don’t focus on the songs coming out of those OSTs and some a really great. Maybe you’ll find a new song to add to your playlists.

Releases and Finds ▹▹▹

-Japanese group The GazettE put out a new album, MASS. It’s great, but I’ve also liked them for a while (they’ve been a group since I was in college) so I’m a bit biased.

-ARUM’s ‘No Gravity’ has prompted me to focus more on her: that voice!

-Confession: I haven’t listened to the rest of Taemin’s album yet. I’m sorry. I will do that soon, I’ve just been focused on a lot of other things. I have listened to ‘Advice’, though, and it’s great.

-O’Doyle’s ‘Silly Love With You’ is a pretty great song to add to your roadtrip playlist.

-I believe that punk is great all year, but it just fits the summer. O’summer Vacation apparently knows this too. I hadn’t known about them until their ‘Hommage’ video came up on my feed, but I immediately added them to my list of deep dives.

-I don’t think there is actually a Heize song I don’t like, she’s got the perfect voice to have playing in the background.

-PIXY came out with their second comeback with the song "‘Let Me Know’. The production quality has gone up, which is a good sign that they’ve been doing well. I think they are a good group, and I’lll always love a performance/theme based group.

-Punk band RUMKICKS came out with another single, ‘I Don’t Wanna Die’

-A couple of posts ago I talked about how I was going to make a playlist of songs good by the water, and Monday Off With Bluesy is 100% going on it. Also, very on brand.

-EVERGLOW.

-Drinking Boys and Girls Choir always makes me happy, but they make me even happier when they put out a new EP.

-I can not pick a favorite off of The Volunteers album. No skip and on repeat for the past week.

-This is a really cute song, I’m not going to lie the main reason I clicked play was because of the title.

-Minsu ‘Healthy Food’

-Vias’s ‘To Me’ is just one of those songs that you need to throw your headphones in, close your eyes, and crank up the volume.

-Last year Young K would do VLives every day on his way to his radio gig. Through it he found out that the Filipino band, Ben&Ben, were fans of DAY6 and had put out a cover. Now, almost a year later, they are collaborating on a remake of the Ben&Ben song ‘Leaves’. It’s as magical as everyone expected. If this produces more collaborations I will be the happiest.

-Another song to throw on that roadtrip playlist.

OST ▹▹▹

-There are some amazing songs coming off of the Taxi Driver OST, and this Sanha song is my absolute favorite. (Slight spoiler warning for the clips in the video)

-NIA’s ‘Save’ for the Dark Hole OST is chef’s kiss.

-Another Dark Hole offering, ‘Black Rain’ by Kim Young Heum.

Upcoming ▹▹▹

Cotoba EP, Since the World is About to End (31)
Monsta X EP, One of a Kind (1)
MAMAMOO EP, Where Are We (2)
N.FLYING album, Man on the Moon (7)
EXO EP, Don’t Fight the Feeling (7)

Album Spotlight ▹▹▹
I found out about Nemophilia, an all-female Japanese metal band through a person on Twitter, and now and now am obsessed. They have several EPs out, all easily available on Spotify. Their latest release Dissension (below) came out in February. Check out their YouTube channel for music videos, behind the scenes, live videos, and some awesome covers.

Last highlights post can be found here.

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Music Highlights 5.3.21

Releases and Finds ▹▹▹

DAY6 came out with their last comeback for a while as a full group, with the title ‘You Make Me’.

I got into Lanalogue last month - right in time for them to do a comeback.

I don’t know if I’ve listened to Dios (it’s possible, I’m terrible with keeping up with people…especially remembering names), but I really liked ‘Runaway’.

My new favorite thing is all the indie groups creating music videos featuring home videos of cats, like Bigbet’s ‘Rainbow Boy’.

IZ’s newest single, ‘Missing U’.

I just want to lay on a boat listening to Ohyoung’s ‘Siren’.

I’ve never listened to Crystal Tea’s music, but that’s going to change now. I think if you are into that singer/songwriter jpop vibe (but not Japanese), I think you’ll really like her.

I always enjoy indigo la End’s songs.

Add Wind&Wave’s ‘The Flow of the Water’ to the songs I want to listen to while laying in a boat.

Soul Echo - ‘Bird’

moi - ‘Kuuung’

My second favorite thing is indie groups putting out music videos featuring home videos of dogs.

If you’ve never listened to The Black Skirts, now is your time to start.

Upcoming ▹▹▹

Tricot single, ‘Exposure’ (5)
Ailee album, Lovin (7)

Album Spotlight ▹▹▹
Since there are quite a few songs on this list that would be good listening to on boats, I thought I’d keep the water theme with this week’s spotlight: the all-female rock trio, Fishingirls. They are a lot of fun, and put out just as equally fun music. They don’t get as much hype as they should, I really think they should be getting a lot more traction. They do a lot of covers and extra videos on their YouTube channel, so even though they don’t have that much in their discography there is plenty of content to check out. I highly suggest searching and watching some of their live sets.

Here’s their 2019 album, Fishing Queen:

Check out the last Music Highlights post here.

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Music Highlights 4.19.21

Another late highlights post, but some really great music came out that needs to be listened to. I didn’t pay attention to news much, so I’ve decided to scrap that section this time.

Releases and Finds ▹▹▹

ASTRO’s ‘One’ is my favorite songs they’ve put out. One of my favorite kpop releases so far this year.

Marchi (ft Sang Won) - ‘Love Talk’

Hongbi - ‘Maze’

I’ve already talked about Se So Neon’s ‘Jayu’, but they recently did a collab with the movie Minari and produced this MV

Punpee - ‘Odd Taxi’

Minhye J - ‘Knock Knock’

Aimer - ‘Wonderland’. I love this song SO so so much.

Jeong Cha Sik - ‘Shining’

Men Envy Children - ‘向前走’

AVOKID (ft Jayci Yucca) - ‘Hate You’

TK from 凛として時雨 - ‘yesworld’

Audrey Nuna - ‘Space’

Lee In - ‘Duality’. I may have basically dropped this drama, but not dropping this OST.

SURL - ‘Firework’

CHEEZE - ‘Loser’

Lee Bada (ft Winona Oak) - ‘Lonely Hearts Club’

CASTLEBEAT - ‘I Follow’

YB - ‘Silence’

Upcoming ▹▹▹

DAY6 EP The Book of Us : Negentropy (19)
Soran EP Beloved (19)
Dir En Grey single ‘Oboro’ (28)

Album Spotlight ▹▹▹

I’ve sort of talked about Jun Doohee on here before. His song from last year, ‘Bad Flower’, was one of my favorites. He’s also in a really great rock band Gutz. They are a bit harder to find if you are outside of Korea and don’t have access to the live scene, but I highly suggest listening to their first full album, Gutz Vol 1, below and listening to the rest of his solo work and covers.

Want to know what I was into last post? Check it out here.

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Music Highlights 4.5.21

Kind of glad that I didn’t switch to these posts being weekly, as I said I might do last week. A potential job came to be, and I’ve been stalling updating my portfolio to escape the reality of everything that is going on, which meant that I had to focus a good deal on that along with updating my resume to apply which meant not only barely extra time to work on posts, but also to listen to new releases. Here’s what I did manage to catch.

News ▹▹▹

A new 7-part Netflix Originals documentary was released, K-Pop Evolution. It features the history of kpop and how it’s evolved to what it is today.

What is K-Pop? How did it rise to worldwide prominence? This new 7-part series tells you everything you need to know – from its history to its hitmakers, its fandoms, and more – told from the perspective of those who were there. K-Pop Evolution is the definitive accounting of a global phenomenon. With appearances from SuperM, H.O.T., BoA, SUPER JUNIOR, KARA, Ha:tfelt (Wonder Girls), Kang Daniel, Sandara Park (2NE1), Red Velvet, EXO, NCT, (G)I-DLE, EVERGLOW, and PENTAGON.

The tvN drama, Crash Landing on You, is getting a musical adaption slated for middle of next year. It’s producer, Studio Dragon, has a number of dramas that have already had some pretty successful adaptions since it’s first one, Another Miss Oh, last year.

HYBE (form. Big Hit) has merged with Ithaca Holdings.

Releases and Finds ▹▹▹

-IU’s full album is great top to bottom.

- iri ‘はじまりの日’

-eldon ‘Monster’

-Park Bom ‘Do Re Mi Fa Sol’

-JISOKURY ‘Light Chaser’

-Dreamcatcher ‘Don’t Light My Fire’

-BULGOGIDISCO (feat. Bassagong) ‘Kimchi Soup’

-3YE ‘Stalker’

-Heju ‘Helpless’

-Harrianne ‘The Breat of Self-Esteem’

-RIO ‘Map On Your Face’

-Shiwang (feat. An Da Eun) ‘Curse’

-Groovy Groove cover ‘Yoasobi’

-Weeekly ‘After School’

Upcoming ▹▹▹

ASTRO 2nd album, All Yours (5)
Yukkika EP Time About (7)
Aimer Walpurgis (14)
TK from Ling tosite sigure EP yesworld (14)

Album Spotlight ▹▹▹
I stumbled upon 6 Day Layoff when a song from their newest EP, Memory, was recommended on YouTube. They are a really great alt rock/grunge band. They’ve been around for a couple of years, but hope to hear more.

Need more music recs? I got you.

Music Highlights 3.22.21

Yesterday was a busy day and had some other things to do so this highlights post is a little late. A lot of music came out that I was really into the past two weeks (even more than what is listed). I might have to switch these back to weekly posts. I really love the flexibility of not having it every week, but this list is long and last post was long. If you happen to read these let me know what you’d prefer.

News ▹▹▹

Interpark has been producing a lot of musical stages online since the pandemic started, and they are now integrating more packages to promote the service.

If you know me, I’ve been a fan of Radwimps for a while, and while I’ve had to start to distance myself from them since Yojiro Noda’s remarks (and his lack of a sufficient apology), I do check in on them from time to time. They just recently released an album that memorializes the Great East Japan Earthquake on its 10th anniversary.

Good review about SXSW and its recent set with a bunch of international acts.

Perfume to release two concerts on Netflix. The first one is already currently up.

Paper Mag did an interview with Mark Tuan (GOT7) about his aspirations and a look forward at what he’ll be doing since his departure from JYPE.

Releases and Finds ▹▹▹

-Utada Hikaru ‘One Last Kiss’

-The FSM ‘Silly Me’

-Sojung ‘Its Alright’ (Mouse OST)

-NELL ‘Don’t Hurry Up’

-Band Nah ‘All the Time’

-PURPLE KISS ‘Ponzona’

-Kisnue ‘Nightmare’

-Secret Asian Men ‘Even If It’s Lonely’

-HIZY ‘My Name Is’

-Lanalogue (feat Noda Cika) ‘White Light’

-jujuland ‘Obsessed’

-Future Foundation ‘Dawn’

-RUMKICKS ‘Don’t Touch My Head’

-Seori ‘Lovers in the Night’

-As Silent as the Forest ‘Tranquility’

-Young K ‘Imagine’ (cover)

Full albums to check out: Jun. K’s Japanese album, This Is Not a Song, DPR IAN’s Moodswings in This Order,

Upcoming ▹▹▹

ATEEZ Japanese album Into the A to Z (24th)
Dreamcatcher Japanese single ‘Eclipse’ (24th)
IU album Lilac (25th)
Park Bom ‘DoReMiFaSol’ (31st)
3YE single album Stalker (1st)

Album Spotlight ▹▹▹
The Korean artist, Western Kite, just released her newest album Ultraviolet! and it’s a solid listen.

Last Music Highlights

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Music Highlights 2.22.21

+ News

I didn’t keep up with news these past two weeks (I’m sorry, I made it up with lots of good songs) but wanted to bring attention to two good articles. Bandwagon Asia released two articles that highlight some of my favorite Korean indie groups. The first one is on Se So Neon, which just released their newest single, ‘Jayu’. The second about Drinking Boys and Girls Choir (who I highlighted last Music Highlights post). It’s a good article that interviews the pair about how they come up with the music, and how they focus on current events and issues.

+ Releases and Finds

-HOA’s ‘Wifiboy’

-Rolling Stars ‘Hello My Beach’ (from the Lovestruck in the City OST)

-onthedal ‘Homework’

-Dongchan ‘The Abandoned Moon’

-PINN ‘Escape’

-KANG CHAN GU ’Thing That I Hear Sometimes’

-indigo la End「夜の恋は」

-I.M ‘God Damn’

-Young K, Wonpil ‘Last Call’ (Hudson Thames cover)

+ Upcoming

Seung Hyub 1st solo album, On the Track (22)
SHINee 7th album, Don’t Call Me (22)
Sunmi album, Tail (23)
Wonho album, Love Synonym (#2): Right For Us (26)
ATEEZ album, ZERO : FEVER Part.2 (1)
Scandal 15th anniversary single, ‘eternal’ (3)

+ Album Spotlight

Say Sue Me is a great Korean indie rock band and if you haven’t listened to them yet, now’s the time. They will be performing in March during SXSW’s virtual concert.

Check out the previous highlights post here.

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Music Highlights 2.8.21

+ News

• SXSW announced the lineup for their digital experience from March 16-20, which includes a personal favorite: Say Sue Me.

• The kdrama, Hotel Del Luna, will be getting a musical in 2022. So I have until then to save up money to visit and watch.

• The visual kei rock group, The GazettE, announced a new album for May. A digital single will be out in March.

• Radwimps will be releasing an album dedicated to the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake disaster areas with profits going to the Japan Red Cross Society and local government.

+ Releases and Finds

-Yorushika released their mini-album, Creation. At this point I’m just mad at you if you haven’t attempted to listen to their great music yet.

-Dreamcatcher also released their mini-album, Road to Utopia, and while it’s not my favorite ‘Odd Eye’ has been growing on me more.

-I already talked about Leaves Black last post, but they put out an official music video for their song, ‘Farewell My Books’.

-DRC’s ‘Dot Dot Dot’ is really good.

-So I think it should be fairly obvious that while I like kpop, and have some kpop groups and some are my favorite artists of all time, I don’t actually connect with most new releases. It’s always a plus for me to find a new song or group to get into. Enter Purple Kiss with ‘Can We Talk Again’.

-In new to me world: I randomly got suggested this song by the rock band DANGGISIO and really really like them.

-Awesome City Club came out with a new song.

-Se So Neon can really do not a lot of wrong, especially with a lead singer like So Yoon.

-Some other songs I enjoyed include The Poles ‘Good Morning Sunshine’, Swan’s ‘Visualizer’, and CIX’s ‘Young’.

+ Upcoming

Sekai No Owari best hits album, 2010-2019 (10)
Zutomayo 2nd full album, ぐされ (10)
Chungha 1st full album, Querencia (15)
Lucy single, ‘Inside’ (16)
indigo la End album, Yako Himitsu (17)
TRI.BE debut, ‘TRI’ (17)
Kingdom debut mini album, History Of Kingdom : PartⅠ. Arthur (18)

+ Album Spotlight
If you are into punk, then you have to be listening to Drinking Boys and Girls Choir. I first found them towards the beginning of last year/end of the previous year. Highly recommend checking out some of their live concerts.

Check out the last highlights post here.

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