Posts Tagged ‘acts’

25 Dec

Best of 2025: Top 15 K-Pop Singles

Posted by vagrantesque in Best of 2025, K-Pop, Lists, Music. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , .

So is K-Pop cool again?

Ever since the midpoint of the year, when a certain Sony animated fantasy movie appeared on the world’s Netflix accounts, I have heard all kinds of publicly-blaring K-Pop music while out and about – and not just songs in English, or the standard BTS/Blackpink-adjacent breakout hits either. I’m not saying the success of K-Pop Demon Hunters directly convinced an entire industry to collectively get its act together and put on a show, but only six of my top fifteen songs this year came out before the movie…

This list is today and always based primarily – if not exclusively – on audio, and I don’t tend to watch music videos at all until I actually write it, so visuals have virtually no bearing on the ranking; the only requirement for consideration as far as I’m concerned (beyond language) is that at one point or another throughout 2025, each song was promoted by itself as a lead track on an audio release of some kind.

Despite their seemingly ever-increasing presence, songs without Korean lyrics in them are not eligible for this list. So that means the fabulous UP by Alyssa Reid and oceanfromtheblue isn’t eligible, and it also means no Twice’s Me+You, no Katseye’s Gnarly, no Miso’s happy, no Monsta X’s baby blue, no Olivia Marsh’s Strategy, and no Boynextdoor’s Say Cheese! But all of those songs are worth seeking out, regardless.

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VR BEST OF 2025 DISCLAIMER

This list represents my opinion only. I am not asserting any kind of superiority or self-importance by presenting it as I have. My opinion is not fact. Nobody ever agrees with me 100%. Respectful disagreement is most welcome.

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15. How It’s Done – Huntr/x

I can think of no more fitting way to kick off the 2025 list than with a song from the movie that swept the world off its feet and reinvigorated global interest in K-Pop like it was 2012; the only question is which Huntr/x song to pick. Golden is the, uh, golden child, of course, but it feels a bit too Broadway for this top 15. What It Sounds Like just reminds me of how weirdly quickly the movie’s finale is wrapped up, and Takedown sounds kind of unfinished by thematic design. That leaves just the opener, and the song that turned K-Pop Demon Hunters from a well-animated curiosity with a fun conceit into a genuine musical threat backed by proper industry talent. It’s probably no accident that How It’s Done sounds more like a recent K-Pop song than any of the other Huntr/x tracks, but importantly, it also sounds like a good one.

14. Express Mode – Super Junior

There has to be some level of nostalgic comfort food vibe at work deep within my subconscious whenever a supposedly post-peak Super Junior song finds a way onto this annual page, but I will stop putting the lads on the list when they stop putting out “100% certified slappers”. This long-settled group has made plenty of songs that experiment with unexpected influences, but there’s definitely something about this one that goes just a little harder on the throwback play than SuJu has in recent years: the backing track is all about club motifs, the chanted chorus is heavy on bass and light on melody, while the post-chorus and bridge provide all the tune and vocal highlights – that’s right, it’s the old Sorry Sorry / Bonamana / Mr Simple template, and now that I’ve seen the full video, I’m certain of it. Hey, they’ve still got it.

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29 Dec

Best of 2023: Top 10 K-Pop Albums

Posted by vagrantesque in Best of 2023, K-Pop, Lists, Music. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , , .

As we head into the home stretch and say goodbye to 2023, we have a good chance to look at the output of some of the bigger names in K-Pop that skipped this year’s singles list; a few of them land here with unexpectedly stellar longer-form work.

Right after a year where all five LP entries came from soloists, the groups are back in full force after an unusually strong year, but it’s business as usual for the mini albums: 2023 brought a bloodbath of quality EPs and most of them came from girl groups.

Though all-English songs on albums are no big deal here, all-English song collections aren’t eligible, but I’ll give a quick shout-out to ex-SNSD vocalist Jessica’s unexpectedly great solo EP Beep Beep.

1-3 tracks = N/A

4-7 tracks = mini album

8+ tracks = full album

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VR BEST OF 2023 DISCLAIMER

This list represents my opinion only. I am not asserting any kind of superiority or self-importance by presenting it as I have. My opinion is not fact. If you agree with me 100%, go buy a lottery ticket. Respectful disagreement is most welcome.

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MINI-ALBUMS
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5. ASSEMBLE – TripleS

The whole song and dance around how TripleS functions mechanically is enough to give anyone a migraine, but their first album effort as a “full group” is a doozy; you just have to love the bravado that had to power the decision to do both the classy standalone tone-setting opening song AND the trendy nonsense-syllable salad designed to build up the title track. Rising thus sits comfortably in the Track 3 nook, where its inherent choppiness is improved by the warm, wide sound of Beam and the even choppier Before the Rise in almost equal measure.

Though the success of that little trick is the most standout characteristic of the EP, there is certainly more to enjoy here, as Colorful and New Look both push accomplished synth flourishes through the listener’s headphones in different flavours – the former buzzy and brash, the latter covered in gloriously city-leaning 1980s confidence. The Baddest serves as the palette cleanser between them, and the quality of the production ensures it comes out better than that threatening title – and some misplaced sing-talking – might suggest. Short-and-speedy closer Chowall lends the kind of symmetry I will probably always over-reward to the mini, and TripleS are off to the races.

4. OO-LI – Woodz

The man who can’t seem to leave this mini-album list alone brought more of the goods in 2023, although the way OO-LI shakes out is a bit different from Cho Seungyoun’ prior best. Rock influences continue to creep into his work – this 7-tracker feels fully half electric guitar-powered – but the more interesting characteristic on show here is that rather than a tracklist comprised of just hard songs and soft songs, OO-LI positions almost every track as a ‘builder’.

Only straight-roller Who Knows stays at one level the whole way through; the rest make sure to ramp up on their own individual terms. Smooth tunes like opener Deep Deep Sleep and closer ABYSS start with minimal instrumentation and add layers until they reach a fuller sound, while the choir vehicle Journey, saloon jam Ready to Fight and Nirvana-inspired Drowning go much harder with the marked goal of reaching a vocal tornado on the chorus and an absolute hurricane at the crescendo. No track goes bigger than the centrepiece, however: Busted is a stone-cold platinum star for Woodz’ career highlight reel, almost stopping itself dead in the final minute just to maximise the impact of a shred-and-growl finale.

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27 Dec

Best of 2017: Top 10 Movie Scenes

Posted by vagrantesque in Best of 2017, Lists, Movies. Tagged: , , , , , , , , , .

A movie scene isn’t just there to get you from Story Point A to Story Point B. That’s certainly one of its purposes, but using the constraints of a single setting or moment in time a scene can go far beyond mere mechanical function. It can hit the audience with a concentrated dose of adrenaline, fear or laughter that they aren’t likely to forget in a hurry, slotting into a larger narrative in a way that usually adds to a film’s quality – though occasionally it can stand out like a sore thumb from a lower-quality movie. My 2017 list is thankfully filled with scenes from the first category for the most part. I tend to be drawn towards memorable action sequences or moments of unbearable tension, so they make up the lion’s share, but there’s a bit of inspirational exposition and a song in there, too. Spoilers, obvs.

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VR BEST OF 2017 DISCLAIMER

This list represents my opinion only. I am not asserting any kind of superiority or self-importance by presenting it as I have. My opinion is not fact. If you actually agree with me 100%, that’s strange. Intriguing, but strange. Respectful disagreement is most welcome.

Spoilers are in this list!

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10. Wednesday – Kingsman: The Golden Circle

The Golden Circle‘s action scenes are almost all riffs on the insane church brawl from its predecessor, Kingsman: The Secret Service. It’s crystal-clear that Matthew Vaughn really enjoyed shooting that scene, because the sequel is loaded with similarly kinetic close-up camera acrobatics. Though any scene in which Pedro Pascal’s agent Whiskey gets in on the violence is well worth an honorable mention, the best instance of this unique style is the final one, when our hero Eggsy and his resurrected former mentor Harry engage with countless goons outside a 1950s-themed villainous hideout to the tune of Elton John’s Saturday. This fight has it all – gadgets, wince-inducing Vaughn brutality, cool team-up moves – It’s my favourite straight-up action beat of the year.

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