best of Red Light's Top 25 Female K-pop Songs of 2018 - FINALE

[Red Light]

#23

Spoiler

 

 

Since its release in February, Bad Boy has become a very notable triumph for Red Velvet--such a triumph, in fact, that it ended up spurring a sequel single in the gloriously unimaginatively titled Really Bad Boy. An important milestone in Red Velvet’s career, the ladies finally scored a Velvet track that was just as big a hit as their Red tracks, which will hopefully (probably not) inspire SM to continue pushing the ladies outside of their comfort zone and experiment with more mature sounds. They might as well--they went full-fledged YG style with the fashions and MV’s for Bad Boy and its sister track, so why not give them some darker material to match? Especially since it’s been obvious since their debut that they should have a dark era titled Black Velvet? Can you tell I’m desperate for another Red Light?

 

Discrepancy between visual and sound aside, I can understand why it became such a big hit: The choruses are among the catchiest in their entire catalog, which is saying a lot for a group with songs like Ice Cream Cake and Russian Roulette under their belt. The falsetto octave jump in the “Oooh-oooooh” hook is R&B at its finest. Unfortunately, the instrumental is rather underproduced, with ‘small,’ tinny, mediocre percussion, and no real ear candy outside of the vocals, unlike for instance the warm, smooth synths flowing throughout the whole of Automatic. Nonetheless, the song strikes gold during the first post-chorus--the classic “Bad boy down” hook--whereupon the instrumental abruptly stops and then surges back in... And so, naturally, there’s only one part like that in the song. Similarly to the Perfect Velvet B-side Look from last year, and the surprisingly moody but unfortunately lazy Mosquito on this year’s Summer Magic, Bad Boy is a very good song--but it is a very good song with the maddeningly obvious potential to be incredible.

 

Edited January 8, 2019 by Red Light

[Red Light]

#22

Spoiler

 

 

On occasion, there have been songs that have totally defied each and every one of my preconceived music preferences, and been included solely for the production quality--no minor seconds, no heavy snares, no theatrical key or tempo changes--just songs that... sound good. Rosy is one of those tracks.

 

This song is very microhouse-esque, and the minimalistic direction that it takes makes listening to it a breath of fresh air--particularly coming right after the chaotic onslaught of noise in Egoist. The drum kick is deep and full without overpowering the rest of the track, the marimba synth tones are icy and clean without sounding overly tropical or trend-chasing, the bassline is subtle, and the achingly soft, sterile vocal style couldn’t be more perfect; cementing a robotic, vocaloid-ish 90’s techno atmosphere. And that definitely seems to be the atmosphere it’s going for--just listen to that “DJ rock the bass” glitchfest that is the bridge. It’s like Daft Punk gone K-pop.

 

With the understated production, mallet-driven synths, and heavy bass kicks, this has all the makings to sound like a tropical house song. But it just… doesn’t. And for that, I couldn’t be more grateful. This is the kind of quirky, unfamiliar material that made me fall in love with f(x), and the kind of direction I hope to see LOOΠΔ continuing in.

 

[Red Light]

#21

Spoiler

 

 

Hey, everybody, look! It’s Rookie, except it’s actually good!

 

I think I very well may be the only person who actually likes this song, and I agree it’s pretty unremarkable compared to a lot of Red Velvet’s discography, but I really don’t understand why it’s hated so virulently.

 

Look, I have no idea what it’s about, and I refuse to look up the lyrics, because “Put your hand in the cookie jar” is too hilarious to be ruined by anything as party-pooping and inconsequential as context. To this day I still choose to believe Ice Cream Cake is about semen. This time, however, the suggestive lyrics actually match the set of melodies the track has to offer. Whereas Ice Cream Cake’s choruses were bittersweet and euphoric, the chord progressions in Cookie Jar’s choruses are a bit moodier--with a vaguely urgent kind of mischievousness underlying the arrangement. That urgency might be in part to the song’s ludicrously high tempo, clocking in at 160 BPM for one of Red Velvet’s most sugar-crazed energetic songs yet. The absolutely sick funk bassline and twangy, surf rock-ish guitars match the deviously playful mood perfectly, not to mention complementing the acoustic mimicry in the percussion. Add on the sublime softness of the bridge, which spotlights the silky smooth vocals, and finally add the extensively lengthened final chorus, and Cookie Jar is pretty much a homerun. It’s certainly nothing revolutionary, but it’s a solid rendition of the Red Velvet formula we’ve all come to know and love.

 

#20, #19, and Best Album/EP reveal tomorrow night!

Edited January 8, 2019 by Red Light

[Red Light]

#20

Spoiler

 

 

My favorite girl group of 2017 were very much missed this year, and while this song may not reach the heights of Remember or Love City, it’s still leagues above most tracks this year.

 

Blue Moon is subtlety personified, underproduced in the best way possible; minimalist enough so that every single sound stem comes through loud and clear and perfectly mixed, making for one of the most crisp, eargasmic instrumentals of the year. Not that it doesn’t have any layering at all--there are actually loads of warm synth pads, icy stabs, and other sound effects, not to mention the insanely effective guitar riffs scattered throughout, or the sub-bass wonderland that is the bridge--but all those extra bells and whistles are mixed very softly in the background, allowing the fundamental strengths it has under its belt to take center stage with no distraction. For Blue Moon, those fundamental strengths are the hypnotic, twinkly music box-ish foundation that sounds vaguely like The X Files theme; the rough, squelchy bassline; and most notably, the deep, 808-equipped bass kick. Here is an awesome, dense kick sample that doesn’t drown out the rest of the instrumental (unlike Egoist). In an instrumental with tons of production detail (like Egoist), it wouldn’t work (like it doesn’t, in Egoist), but the stark simplicity in Blue Moon allows the drum kick to flaunt its power (unlike Egoist) and carry the song (which Egoist should have done). In fact, the bass kick is so carefully managed that during the beat increase in leading up to the chorus, it pulls out an interesting production technique where it actually loses its bass and fades out, just in case the more frequent beats caused any audio muffling.

 

Besides my gushing over the production, the mood of the song is spot-on as well. The aphotically sexy and atmospheric future bass track, with a house beat so slow and teasing that it hinges on mid-tempo territory, couldn’t be any more slinky or bewitching if it tried. The deep, throbbing bassline progression incorporates a nice, tense half-step at the end of each chorus, which offers a cyclically moody climax throughout, and the seductive, breathy vocals are the perfect final cherry on top.

 

[Red Light]

#19

Spoiler

 

 

The reigning champs of my 2017 rate made their first comeback of the year, much to my surprise, by delving further into the classical music territory they incorporated for Summer Rain. Besides the modernity of the driving percussion, Time for the Moon Night is almost exclusively comprised of a string and piano ensemble--sort of like LOOΠΔ’s Sonatine with a beat and a faster tempo. In my first few listens to it, I got an unmistakable sense of deja vu that I couldn’t shake when I heard the romantic, celestial pizzicato strings in the verses, and it drove me crazy for days. It didn’t remind me of another K-pop song, and it made me oddly nostalgic, so it had to be bringing me back to something I enjoyed in the earliest years of my life. That’s when it finally hit me: It sounds like the furniture shopping music in The Sims. And I say that as complimentarily as I know how. As someone with a short attention span who could never stick with one Sim for more than a day, I heard that music a lot. I want to get as rich as possible and go on an IKEA shopping trip while I bop around in upper-class obliviousness, like an interior decorating version of Ina Garten, and I want a playlist on my phone for the occasion that includes Time for the Moon Night.

 

That said, the one distinguishing GFriend gimmick that has led them to becoming one of my favorite girl groups is still there in spades--that is, of course, the sentimental, emotive melodic choices. Unlike Fingertip, the heavier moment of the track corresponds with the catchiest hook, which comes right after the first and last chorus: This climactic moment is brilliantly augmented by the bass kick, which charges up from the syncopated structure in the verse and chorus, to a persistent four-on-the-floor rhythm that propels the song’s moodiness to new levels. Additionally, the bridge could not be more perfect, breaking up the beat into an emotional frenzy while the strings gradually pick up in speed and pitch, all culminating in the pivotal climax of Yuju’s spine-tingling high note.

 

[Red Light]

ALBUM/EP OF THE YEAR:

Spoiler

 

 

Weki Meki wasn’t even on my radar last year, and to be honest, I can’t remember how I got along to checking them out this year. I would have been singing praises to I Don’t Like Your Girlfriend if it didn’t **** itself in every chorus with that annoying, anticlimactic “Eh oh eh oh oh ah ah” mess, but I appreciated how diverse the song was nonetheless. With that said, the impressive difference between 2017 Weki Meki and 2018 Weki Meki reminds me a little bit of the difference between 2011 and 2012 f(x). Lucky isn’t the most cohesive EP ever released, but it’s not a total mess either. And for that matter, when it comes to EP’s, I personally think variety is more important than cohesion. Albums, even in K-pop, are more artistically driven; ideally having a solid sonic direction that makes the listening experience an actual experience. EP’s, in my opinion, are basically fanservice, created to promote the lead single and to pack as much variety in the mini-albums as possible, so as to have something in there for every type of fan. EP’s like Lucky, which carry the dichotomy of both cohesion and variety, are pretty much the best that you can ask for.

 

La La La, the lead single, is by and large the worst track featured, but not a total chore to get through, and it’s helped by an awesome, hype-building intro (which is hilariously way better than the actual song). Metronome, the most contemporary track on the EP, is one of the finest, and least generic sounding forays into deep house that I’ve heard from a K-pop group. The remaining three tracks are all 80’s-flavored synthpop with their own unique twists--Iron Boy is a hyperactive flurry of hefty, robotic production, while Color Me has a breezier, more traditional, EXID-like R&B tinge. Finally, the euphoric closer, Butterfly, takes cues from the more ambient, understated style of 80’s synthpop associated with the likes of Carly Rae Jepsen. Three of these tracks all earn a spot in my top 25, meaning 60% of the EP was good enough to be included in my Best of the Year (75% if you discount the intro!). As I’ve already said, the only analog I can draw to this kind of feat is from six whole years ago (which is more like 12 in K-pop years) with f(x)’s Electric Shock EP. Do I expect Weki Meki to continue down this road and come out with their own Pink Tape next year? No. But just a consistent run of EP’s half this good will be very welcomed in today’s K-pop climate.

 

[Red Light]

#18

Spoiler

 

 

I hate that this song has to be so good. I have no blessed clue what is actually going on here or why there's an American artist featured, or why one of the best bangers of the year came courtesy of League of Legends, or what the hell League of Legends has to do with music, or any idea really what League of Legends is at all. I downloaded it and tried playing it one night and somehow got confused just during the tutorial and had to X out. Then I tried winging it, forgot the controls, and bumbled around the entire game completely silent because I didn’t know how to open the chat box. I’m too fragile a narcissist to ever be that bad at something on the first try.

 

The fact that this is one of the best produced songs of the year either says something really positive about the League of Legends team, or something really negative about the current state of K-pop. The sub-bass is deep, strong, and constant, without once interfering with the rest of the instrumental or making anything sound muddled. The snare is harsh, tight, crisp, and once again, prevalent throughout the entire song, whether it be in the simpler, sparser verses, or floating along the glitchy tsunami of heavy synths in the chorus. The chorus is incredibly fleshed out and mixed superbly, filling in every last nook and cranny of the soundstage with dense, squelchy future bass tones, proving that the genre doesn’t just have a place in dreamy midtempos, and can fit in just as well among high-energy trap and EDM.

 

In spite of its western ties, it’s the perfect example of that quintessential K-pop banger, with the aggressive, more vocal-driven verses, the serene, tension-building pre-choruses, and the instrumental-focused drops functioning as the choruses. In spite of that, the instrumental still stands out, incorporating seemingly random interjections of grimey bass wobbles that I thought I’d never hear again in K-pop. Unfortunately those unpredictable sounds are absent in the second half, making the song front-loaded, but the first half is so excellent, and the second half is short and listenable enough, that it’s earned an embarrassingly high spot on the list.

 

[Red Light]

#17

Spoiler

 

 

Talk about a step up! Last year’s Gashina, in my opinion, epitomized everything I hate about the current tropical house movement, packing a gorgeous acoustic pre-chorus before delivering the lamest, most unimaginative drop I’ve ever heard, composed of likely the all time most obnoxious example of the godawful pitched voice synth that’s been plaguing the charts for the past two years. Not that Siren doesn’t have a chipmunked voice synth as well--and not that it wouldn’t be better without it--but it’s merely one small feature of the instrumental instead of just being the only thing the song has to offer.

 

The dusky, broody Siren is a totally different beast from its boring, sunny predecessor. There’s multitudes more sonic variety to be found in this instrumental than in even the most layered moments of Sunmi’s last single--opening up with mysterious organ-like synth pads on top of a sampled alarm sounding off in the background, providing some subtle dissonance. The suitably straightforward beat contains a very nice, hefty snare lash that echoes the dense, murky 80’s production Sunmi’s home group nailed so perfectly in 2015 with Reboot.

 

The song makes a complete 180 for the raunchy, aggressive bridge, spilling in a nice dosage of sub-bass behind a slow, sludgy bassline, and spicing the song up enough to keep it worth listening through to the end. The main reason for listening to Siren at all, however, lies in the distressed clamor of its brash, anthemic choruses. The instrumental explodes with an urgent, pulsating bassline and Sunmi’s vocals go from the sultry monotony of the verses to a wailing, emotional outcry, instantly elevating the track from 0 to 100.

 

[Red Light]

#16

Spoiler

 

 

In one of DIA’s most mature tracks ever, Blue Day takes advantage of the woozy, ambient future bass sound not to follow the current ethereal midtempo trend, but to punctuate the ghostly sadness of a morose, electronic faux-ballad. 

 

The choruses are so different from the rest of the track, and so sonically layered and powerful, that they could technically be considered drops--which would make this, by far, the most unusual drop I’ve ever heard; instead of dropping for the purpose of serving up an adrenaline-rushing, dance-ready sonic pay-off, Blue Day’s drop is a crestfallen dive into a world of neuroses.

 

The verses are a slow burn of murky pads; wobbly, attack-long synth stabs; and fragile vocals; finally being built on with a slow and tense syncopated beat; deep house bass plucks; and glitchy sound effects like the binaural bass scratches that add on to the unstable, foreboding atmosphere. The emotional outburst of the chorus is a frantic torrent of oppressive, flowing synths that brilliantly clash with the weak, sluggish percussion, and haphazardly back up the complex, overlapping vocals. The haunting g7 chord that plays out in the disturbingly angelic “hooooo-wahhhhh” vocal harmony is far and away the indisputable highlight of the song, perfectly delivering the ominous misery the song tries to express. In all, this cold slow jam has a fantastic dichotomy of soft, desolate verses and chaotic, severe choruses, and it all mixes together for an end result akin to a weird, hazy, gloomy anesthesia.

 

[Red Light]

Hello, everyone. 

 

#15

Spoiler

 

 

Much like last year’s entry from the Queen of K-pop, Woman is a gourmet of all things bass-related, this time blending a sharp 808 drum kick with a slick glissando bassline. The slow glide in the instrumental’s addictive hook creates a tense, siren-like urgency that wasn’t present in Camouflage, making Woman even more insidious and palpably sexy than its predecessor. The surging synths accompanying the bassline in the chorus help add that little bit of extra power that makes the choruses of Woman far more climactic and satisfying than Camouflage ever was.

 

Unfortunately there are a few things holding it back from being a slam-dunk contender for my top 5: First, and less importantly, the amateur producer in me can’t help but nitpick at a missed opportunity in the chorus. While Woman’s chorus, as I just said, is leagues above Camouflage, it peters out by the end and sounds too monotone. I would have added a third bar, and altered the bassline to employ a Db-Eb-Em-F chord progression to add that final dose of drama. It would have fit perfectly in this song and been gloriously climactic, as evidenced by Brown Eyed Girls’ Sixth Sense, which follows a similar chord progression in its chorus.

 

Most importantly, however, is the mixing during the pre-chorus. Woman has a very thick bass kick, and it’s admirably mixed everywhere else in the song, including the heavier choruses where you’d expect it to clash the most--but for whatever reason, the pre-choruses suffered a different fate. You can easily hear the bass drowning out the rest of the soundscape, especially in BoA’s higher notes towards the arrival of the chorus, which sound like they’re fighting off being drowned in mud.

 

Nonetheless, the fact that I can enjoy it so much in spite of the mixing issues is a testament to how good it is. Not that Kiss My Lips wasn’t, in my opinion, the second best album of 2015 (behind Reboot), and not that BoA doesn’t arguably nail R&B even better than she does dance-pop, but I’m glad to see the return of Hurricane Venus-style BoA even more. Hurricane Venus was, after all, my gateway into K-pop. And while this doesn’t quite reach the same level of electronic, manic, supersonic, bionic energy of 2010-era BoA, there’s something nostalgic about seeing her kicking ass with these fierce dance tracks again.

 

[Red Light]

#14

Spoiler

 

 

The severely underrated Gugudan came roaring back at the beginning of the year with one of their most mature--and certainly one of their most well-produced--comebacks yet. Boasting one of the most colorful and diverse instrumentals of the year, The Boots, quite simply, is audio heaven: It offers everything from the earworm of a ludicrously simple and catchy whistle hook, to a sick, funky, infectious bassline, to the bubbly, synth-slamming choruses, all the way to the slow, 808-flooded breakdown of the bridge.

 

I believe I came up with the cheesy term “Paragon of Percussion” last year during my review for Love Cherry Motion, and The Boots unequivocally takes that title for 2018: Carrying a booming, thudding bass kick in syncopation with a striking, clobbering snare-clap, our Paragon of Percussion this year employs a hard, massive, walloping beat that felicitates the slow funkiness of the verses. Most remarkably is that these overbearing drum samples don’t clash at all with the fuller, more layered production in the choruses.

 

And those choruses are sound mixing at its finest. In addition to the excellent production, they employ that magical formula that is so often responsible for landing tracks a spot in my year-end lists: Syncopated rhythms during the verses, and steady four-on-the-floor rhythms during the choruses. Just off the top of my head, a few other all-time favorites that use this technique are Red Velvet’s Russian Roulette, GFriend’s Fingertip, and, of course, f(x)’s Red Light. While not in the same league as those titles, The Boots is a wonderful song, and probably one of the most universally enjoyable tracks of the year.

 

Last three before the top 10 tomorrow night! I'll see myself there. 

[Red Light]

I'm bored and I'm the only one here and I want to start early so here we go! 

 

#13

Spoiler

 

 

In the best 80’s synthpop song of the year, the fantastic Weki Meki provides ear candy of the highest order, unleashing total production madness on one of the best, if not the best, EP’s of the year. It may fall very slightly short of being as delectably produced and eargasmic as last year’s top synthpop track, Red Velvet’s Look, but it totally eclipses every other aspect of its predecessor in terms of energy, catchiness, and overall notability.

 

Iron Boy seamlessly melds a brutal, pelting drum kick sample overtop a highly complex, ridiculously detailed instrumental, made up of deliciously gratifying slap bass, squelchy analog Moog-ish basslines, funky guitar riffs, celestial synth pads, record scratches, and short, manic interjections of what’s always my favorite 80’s synthpop feature--gloriously psychedelic, vibrato-heavy synth attacks. Best of all, the bridge tosses the vocals in favor of letting the listener hear all of these sound stems with no distractions, shooting the song above and beyond satisfaction and distinction. The Editors' Notes on iTunes for the Lucky EP called it robodisco, which I'm pretty sure doesn't actually exist, but it's a cute and accurate way of describing it. This is one of those incredible songs where further description is fruitless--you really just have to listen for yourself.

 

[Red Light]

#12

Spoiler

 

 

Dreamcatcher is by far one of the most unusual girl groups to sprout up in the K-pop industry during the last few years, practically balking at the idea of actually being successful on the charts, and shooting for a concept akin to KARA on meth. Female K-pop has gotten even more aegyo-oriented with the rise of the new generation, so Dreamcatcher’s presence almost feels like a rebellious reaction to it, like K-pop’s own weird version of the punk rock movement. In spite of that, none of Dreamcatcher’s material has ever felt as balls-out aggressive and harsh as Scar. It’s basically screamo-lite. And for some reason, I really, really like it.

 

What makes Scar different is how “Tasteful” the metal is: Instead of filling the entire song and leaving the listener exhausted, it’s incorporated similarly to an EDM drop. This “Drop,” which offers a dysfunctionally syncopated beat, and a psychotic orchestra of electric guitars (one set being the denser, lower progression that functions like a really menacing, unstable bassline, and the other being a screaming wah-wah pedal effect which, in my opinion, is the best feature of the song) is what sets it apart from the rest of the solid but all-in-all forgettable B-sides on the Escape the ERA EP.

 

The rest of the song, which is classic Dreamcatcher--elegant, regal strings, twinkly piano chords, soft vocals, and classic J-rock choruses--offsets the wild, abrasive, heavy metal madness the song ends up breaking into, which prevents it from coming off as trying too hard.  And last but not least, Scar has one of the best, most satisfying and sonically climactic bridges of the year, rivaled only by its sister track, You and I.

 

[Beyonnaise]

That Dreamcatcher song is excellent

[Red Light]

AND THE LAST SONG BEFORE THE TOP 10 IS...

Spoiler

 

 

There have been some songs where I’ve looked at the name and instantly known that I was going to like them: Hurricane Venus, I Am the Best, Electric Shock, Dracula, Kingdom Come, Black Dress, etc… Manhattan Tango joins that list. There’s just no way a song called Manhattan Tango isn’t going to be cool as hell. And BoA thankfully delivers pretty much whatever you were expecting from the title. The verses are as gorgeous and classy as you can imagine, with a graceful harp melody backed up by tense pizzicatos and a jumpy, rhythmic accordion. However, my favorite sound stem by far is the long, crunchy handclap sample that drives the beat, which elevates the sexy, fiery tone of the verses beautifully.

 

The choruses are practically unrecognizable from the rest of the track--light, cheerful, and guitar-driven, with hardly any tango feel to be found. This should be a flaw, and in my mind I know it technically is a flaw, but I’ve always been totally helpless when it comes to disjointed songs like this. The choruses are different enough that they actually feel climactic and cyclical, rather than just muddling along at the same pace throughout the whole song (last year’s Camouflage was guilty of this). And, to make up for the lack of spiciness, the choruses make a sudden shift from its basic IV-I-V-vi structure to a grittier sounding IV-I-vii-iii in the last bar.

 

Ironically, this song is actually less true to traditional tango form than BoA’s first foray into the genre (and what I personally believe is leagues better than this)--Clockwork--but Manhattan Tango is still an awesome, unique track, which very nicely complemented the other song from K-pop’s Queen still in the running, Jazz Club. To be honest, this is suffering the same fate as Lee Hyori's Black from last year--it definitely should have been higher up, but I didn't discover it until right before the rate, and didn't want to put it anywhere too high while I was still in the honeymoon phase with it. Manhattan Tango most likely SHOULD be in the top 10, but this was the most recent addition to the list, and as such, I don't feel comfortable putting it up that high yet. 

 

[Red Light]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

#10 and #9 tomorrow night, plus Artist of the Year! 

[Red Light]

#10

Spoiler

 

 

4Minute isn’t gone after all! Sure, I beat the 4Minute jokes into the ground long ago, but that’s because they really aren’t jokes. Hobgoblin was no fluke--CLC officially embody everything I loved about 4Minute, which was not so much their discography, but their reliability. 4Minute was the group that I could always look forward to in the first quarter of the year, when there’s usually a lull in big name releases otherwise. In 2015 they took it to a whole new level with, as far as I’m concerned, one of the best K-pop songs of all time, and ended up becoming my main source of the darker, more high-energy material that I so desperately needed after 2ne1’s disbandment. In 2017, they practically passed that torch down to CLC, but I wasn’t able to actually confirm this at the time. Now though, with Black Dress, I’m finally comfortable crowning CLC the new queens of brash, intense dance music. (Now watch them disband or come back this year with a crappy tropical house midtempo.)

 

The song is pretty much the straightforward trap-ish fare that Cube has such a corner on, and I wouldn’t ask for anything more. It makes itself distinguishable by trading in the usual dirty CLC basslines for a reeling, psychotic synth wobble that clumsily falls around in the background like a drunk murderer. It’s a delicious soundfont and a sick melody, and I only wish it were mixed more prominently at the front of the soundstage instead of taking a backseat to the sub-bass. The production is what holds this back from getting any further. Everything sounds a bit weak and muffled, particularly the sub-bass and the snare-claps which, considering this is Cube, aren’t nearly as sharp as they could be. It would be one thing if this were 1theK or something like that, but I’ve practically ejaculated over the heavy production in at least one Cube-produced track every year since 2015, so I know how much better it could be. (I actually made a short instrumental snippet of how I would have liked the percussion to sound. My MacBook unfortunately crashed and I apparently didn't save the finished intro beforehand like I'd thought, so the synth sounds gross and the rest of the instrumental is bare, but it gives you an idea of what I had in mind. Listen to it here!)

 

Nonetheless, that’s all just me splitting hairs and being picky--there are no truly deterring flaws to be found here. It helps that the highlights which send it over the top all come at the end for a proper climax, with Seungyeon’s hilarious “Black draaaaasssssss,” and the bass kick pumping up from a slower syncopated rhythm to a quicker, more urgent four-on-the-floor pounding. Black Dress is a fantastic song, and the opposite of a letdown from CLC.

 

Edited January 15, 2019 by Red Light

[M-P-B]

Black Dress is THAT song   

[Red Light]

#9

Spoiler

 

 

Why oh why couldn’t this have been the new style of music to catch on instead of lame-ass tropical house? We have the technology that we can make awesome sounds like this and I really wish we used it more often. This is probably the most balls-out psychedelic deep house track to come from a girl group in four years, when Afterschool released the legendary Shh. The centerpiece is the orgasmically trippy synth oscillation that wouldn’t sound out of place in an acid house instrumental, and in fact, is probably the closest that I’ve heard K-pop come to acid house since EXO’s phenomenal EX’ACT EP in 2016. On top of that, the beat is gloriously heavy and perfectly mixed, with a treble-loaded kick sample that does its job without drowning out the rest of the instrumental, and a series of binaural mechanical sound effects (including a clock ticking from the left ear to the right) busily cranking away in the background. Every audio detail to be found in the production sounds well-placed and excellently mastered, and it makes the whole experience, from start to finish, pure and utter ear candy.

 

This does technically fit under the big future bass umbrella that’s in vogue right now, but never comes within range of sounding the least bit generic. The erratic, out of control synth line barely has any discernible melody at all, much less any basic catchiness about it, which gives it enormous longevity and keeps it interesting and fresh no matter how many times you listen to it. This song is just plain cool in every way, and is leagues above practically every other deep house foray I’ve heard since Shh--which, considering Shh was technically J-pop--makes Metronome the best tackle at the genre from a K-pop girl group that I’ve heard yet, which is a remarkably high accomplishment.

 

[Red Light]

ARTIST OF THE YEAR:

Spoiler

 

Everyone can look at my username and tell that I stanned for f(x), and getting to know me a little bit further, you’ll learn that my other two favorite girl groups are Brown Eyed Girls--the only group whose experimentation is either equal to or greater than f(x)’s--and Girls’ Generation, whose Japanese discography is arguably just as good or better than any discography in all of K-pop. But what isn’t mentioned enough, primarily because this paragon is in such a different league than the rest of the industry, and I simply forget to include her in the same breath as the rest, is how much I adore and support the indisputable Queen of K-pop herself, the legendary BoA.

 

I am very honored to say that BoA was my gateway into the K-pop universe, when a very dear online friend who I still have contact with to this day introduced me to her US single, Eat You Up, back in the spring of 2010, and, well, I ate it up. Like the stars had aligned, BoA made her huge 10th anniversary comeback just a few months later, with the monster electropop smash, Hurricane Venus. On that album were a treasure trove of other dance-pop bangers, such as the bubbly, runway-ready Game, the urgent, moody Adrenaline, and the icy, sexy Let Me. Most notably, however, was Dangerous, a militantly aggressive and hard-hitting dance track that put even Hurricane Venus itself to shame, and finished 2010 as my favorite song of the year. In the comments section of a Dangerous lyric video, it was compared to Nu Abo by a girl group called f(x), and the rest is history.

 

Since then, BoA has persisted in being my black horse favorite, if not for the music that she’s been putting out, then for her mind-boggling breath control, her seemingly effortless choreography, and a stage presence so strong that it’s almost tangible. In 2015, she helped produce and released one of my favorite full-length K-pop albums of all time, Kiss My Lips. Last year, she practically teased her return in 2018 a year in advance with the slinky Camo, and finally in the last week of 2017, began what must have been one of her most exhausting years yet: A full-length Japanese album with the absolutely brilliant lead single, Jazz Club, a Korean EP with a whopping six new tracks on it, and finally a full-length Korean album at the end of October.

 

And that October comeback, much to my delight, saw a return of the fierce, powerhouse BoA that I fell in love all those years back, rocking a gloriously cocky title track that sampled the sound of her heels clicking as part of the beat. And for no other reason but to show off just how much talent and ambition she still has stored up inside that tiny 5’3 figure of hers and say, “Look what I can do, bitches!” she kicks the performance off doing just that--walking in her heels… upside down.

 

[Red Light]

On 1/11/2019 at 7:29 PM, Beyonnaise said:

That Dreamcatcher song is excellent

Civilization!  Thanks for posting. Yeah, it hit me all over again last night how great the bridge is in particular.

 

48 minutes ago, M-P-B said:

Black Dress is THAT song   

I should have also mentioned it's probably my fave video of the year. I don't know wtf is going on in it but I love the aesthetics so much. Thanks for posting!

 

Last three eliminations before the top 5 tomorrow night!

[Red Light]

#8

Spoiler

 

 

Dreamcatcher was the undiscovered blessing last year that had me in the foolish belief that 2017 was a bad year for music. This is the most reliably dark girl group that I can recall being apart of the K-pop realm, and their presence is even more appreciated during the edginess drought that’s been ongoing for roughly two years now. With cute concepts dominating (even the experimental LOOΠΔ shooting for the bubbly schoolgirl sound to make their official debut), and the more mature concepts typically manifesting in subdued, anticlimactic future bass fare, the prospect of Dreamcatcher has been like an oasis in a desert of boredom.

 

The caveat you get with Dreamcatcher is the more extreme version of the GFriend criticism--the great curse of J-Rock, where all the songs start blending together and sounding identical. Look no further than Chase Me and Good Night, which employs practically the exact same guitar riff to top off their choruses. To evade this trap, Dreamcatcher has pulled out a few surprise tricks, namely the riveting electronic departure of Sleepwalking, which to my knowledge is the purest attempt at Drum ‘n’ Bass to ever come from a K-pop group.

 

It’s even more difficult, however, to once again attack the full-fledged J-rock sound and still sound halfway different. You and I remedies that by opting for the familiar sound we all know and love (or hate) for the choruses, and filling the rest of the song with a dreary mix of high-pitched strings, murky hip-hop beats, and glum piano chords. In my favorite pre-chorus of the year, the weepy strings take center stage as they mournfully descend half-step by half-step, finally being acquainted with the beat urgently kicking back in, and accompanied by an awesomely sinister, scratchy guitar that teases the metal explosion of the chorus. The true triumph, though, lies in the best bridge of their career so far: All the ingredients mentioned, joining forces for the stormy high point, nailing a kind of apocalyptic urgency that I haven’t really heard since KARA’s Pandora in 2012. With this thrilling climax, You and I separates itself from all the other rock anthems, and makes itself a very formidable addition to Dreamcatcher’s discography.

 

[Red Light]

#7

Spoiler

 

 

 

Okay, look: I love Weki Meki, but they take terrible pictures. I completely ran out of good pictures to use of them from the Lucky era so I decided to just slap together the worst of the worst and make it as unpleasant looking as possible instead. Sorry, ladies. It's still not as bad as the Umji collage I made last year.

 

The closer to one of the best, if not the best, EP’s of the year was actually a cover of an OST track from 2009, and you can certainly hear the OST influence: Butterfly is an absolutely breathtaking master class in pure euphoria. Something about the warm, graceful melodies evoke a kind of Christmassy feel, which is exactly what I said about Red Velvet’s Hear the Sea last year, only Butterfly practically agrees with this notion and goes as far as to feature jingle bells in the instrumental.

 

The heavy percussion gives the song a necessary kick, no pun intended, much like the remarkably similar Secret Garden, and the rest of the instrumental is mixed low enough that you can truly enjoy every beat. That understated production works wonders here, loaded with soft synth accents that make it sound like a lost E-MO-TION B-side, which makes the big, triumphant guitar riffs scattered throughout the arrangement extraordinarily effective. Finally, the vacillation between soft, whispery falsettos and strong, emotional vocal belts are the cherry on top of audio perfection, making Butterfly one of the most beautiful, celestial K-pop tracks that I’ve heard in a very long time.

 

The absolute best part of the song, however--bar none--comes right at the end, when the song showcases its nostalgic chord progression with a series of angelic binaural doo-doo’s in tandem with the bass kick. Just the few bars in which this takes place was enough to propel Butterfly very high up on my list, making Butterfly one of the most subtle and brilliant tracks of the year.

 

[Red Light]

AND FALLING JUST OUTSIDE THE TOP 5 IS...

Spoiler

 

 

Oh My Girl is a girl group that has somehow, in spite of their excellence, flown completely under my radar in the 8 years that I’ve been listening to K-pop. Closer and Windy Day in particular are songs that I’m especially peeved I didn’t listen to upon release, as both would have undoubtedly made the top 5 on the 2015 and 2016 lists. Coloring Book, like many non-nugu releases in the depressing 365-day-crapfest of 2017, was a bit of a misstep (although not nearly as offensive as the Red Velvet song that shall not be named), but this exceptionally underrated group came roaring back at the start of the year with the corner of the market that they truly excel in: Mature, ambient synthpop. The lead title, Secret Garden, is a slam-dunk in that category--and yet, as soon as you hear the sound of the clock being pulled back in the intro of this gorgeous B-side, even the lead single pales in comparison.

 

I know the clock sound effect is in tandem with the actual concept of "Love O’Clock", but combined with the overall tone of the song, I can’t help but interpret it as being themed around sleep instead. The whole song just sounds “Sleepy,” from the whimsical melodies to the dreamy production and most importantly, the best feature of the entire EP, and one of my favorite music moments of 2018: The magnificent, soothing, lullaby-ish “Ooooooooo”s scattered throughout the track that sound like a choir of angels serenading the listener to slumber. The pre-choruses are perfection, with a slower beat and a symphony of heavenly strings building in the background before being topped off by a tense semitonic climb in the vocals, and the choruses are effervescent bursts of fantastical, nostalgic joy, with a bassline progression straight out of a Disney movie--and yet it doesn’t sound overly cutesy or saccharine. For some reason, it reminds me a lot of Orange Caramel’s Bubblebath, which was one of the most mature tracks in Orange Caramel’s discography (although that's not saying much). Both songs are like neon-lit joyrides of dreamy romanticism, mixing warm and jubilant melodies with icy, ethereal instrumentals that create a hazy, almost otherworldly level of gushing ambience. Love O’Clock is quite simply sonic euphoria at its purest and most heavenly. 2018 has been a banner year for ambient synthpop tracks, thus to make it all the way to being the top-rated of that crop would require it to be one of my all-time favorites, and that’s exactly what Love O’Clock is: One of my all-time favorite ambient synthpop songs K-pop has ever put out.

 

[Red Light]

 

 

 

 

 

 

Last two eliminations before the finale tomorrow night! 

 

Edited January 14, 2019 by Red Light