Happy new year! I think the only album I 100% (heh) loved in 2016 was KAYTRANADA‘s 99.9%. There were other albums that came close but none of them had the replay value I felt this album did. Anyway, I added links for only the more “obscure” songs on the list. Enjoy! (more…)
Tag: year in review
-
Best of 2016: Japan
WHO KNEW that a song commissioned by Yamato Transport would be the song of the year? Amazing. I’m kidding (sort of), but NEKO FUNJATTA is genius and visually stunning in every way. Meow!
I listened to a lot less Japanese music than I should have and the only real release I looked forward to this year was Utada Hikaru‘s Fantôme (featuring my personal favorites, 俺の彼女 and 真夏の通り雨). I was looking forward to Gesu no Kiwami Otome.‘s album, but Kawatani Enon sucks and we can’t have nice things!! A few days ago I took it upon myself to listen to some new-to-me acts (chay, WONK, G.RINA) and old favorites (Nobuchika Eri, Superfly, the pillows) who also dropped new material this year. Some recent favorites:
-
Best of 2016: Korea
pictured: Red Velvet, “7월7일 (One of These Nights)”
A post inspired by Melissa Johnson’s wonderful blog (The Mind Reels). But before I get into what I liked in k-pop this year:
Over the past few months I’ve had a Red Velvet reversal. Being a big fan of f(x), I was convinced RV were the harbingers of doom when Sulli announced her hiatus (2014, RV debut) and withdrawal (2015, debut album). I couldn’t help but think that SME was putting my favorite group on the backburner! MY FAVES!! You know, irrational fangirl feelings and what not.
Then “7월7일” dropped and I was shocked by the generally negative responses it got. Maybe because it was a slow R&B ballad and not completely suited for INSTANT popularity, something destined to be a b-side. For me though, it was perfect. It felt like Red Velvet found their niche (the “velvet” concept). Unfortunately they went back to a crowd pleasing poppier sound for Russian Roulette just as I started listening to more of the velvet themed stuff… at any rate, I hope they’re not scared to be experimental in the future because in the end, the music is what makes them interesting to me. If they’re like everyone else, it’s just boring! (more…)