It's been a year since I updated this. Sorry. I really do want to keep these Top Twenty K-pop lists of the year coming though. It seems strange writing this at the end of the decade. I've written about Korean films ever since I interviewed Park Chan-wook at the annual Edinburgh Film Festival back in 2004. However, my musical interests were always fairly plain - I had been an NME-junkie and token 'indie' music follower since my days as a student in the late 1990s. Never did I think, if you told me this a decade ago, that I would have binned my Morrissey CDs and have an iTunes playlist that is now almost entirely made-up of Korean music. I've even written about K-pop 'professionally' (i.e. I'm paid for it) over the past few years - with articles on the form in MYM, NEO and most recently in Anthem Publishing's BTS and Blackpink special edition magazines.
A decade ago I would turn up to gigs at the (now long-demolished) Edinburgh Picture House or the Liquid Rooms (where I once saw, yuck, Scouting for Girls play to about 150 people) and hope that something, anything, would reignite my passion for music - the same passion that once led me to bands such as Belle and Sebastian, Pulp and Suede. Little did I know that it would be a nine-member grouping called Girls' Generation that would solve the problem - but almost ten years ago it was songs such as 'Genie', 'Hoot' and 'Bad Girl' that would blow my mind and lead to my discovery of other outstanding bands such as 2NE1, Big Bang, Exo, T-ara and so many more. Suddenly I had a wealth of great young music to throw myself into - and my first visit to Seoul in December, 2013 was like experiencing a fresh new world entirely. The tunes blasted from every shop corner and inside every bar or coffee shop - the entire trip documented by the singles from that period which came from AOA, Block B, Crayon Pop, G-Dragon, SHINee, T.O.P and so many more. This was a city confident in its own grooves - and it made me fall in love with a strange, frequently experimental, pop music that eventually blew-up in the West with BTS (ironically one of the super-groups I never really became seduced by). And before that moment, I had to navigate all the usual Orientalist nonsense about 'liking the girl bands because they are hot' and/ or 'all these members look the same' (both conclusions which I personally found infuriating and xenophobic to the extreme).
In the interim I had moved to China for three years and got to see many of the biggest bands live for myself. Whilst the 'old me' would have been in a proverbial seventh heaven about The Stone Roses reforming, the 'new me' skipped their comeback entirely and instead saw full concerts from Big Bang, EXID, EXO (twice), G-Dragon, Girls' Generation (three times), Hyuna, SHINee, Taeyang, Taeyeon (twice), T-ara (twice) and two SM Towns (as well as a full-day K-pop celebration in Seoul that included Blackpink, Sunmi, Twice and other superstar names). Call it a (near) mid-life crisis if you want, but I felt young again - and K-pop is to blame/ congratulate for that.
So if there is a story from the past decade, for me, that has changed my life it has been many of the artists I've publicised and spoken about on this blog. As such, here's my usual Top Twenty list for 2019. If you have browsed this blog accidentally, for any reason, my hope is that there might be something here to give you the same 'mind-blowing' experience that I, myself, had not so long ago...
20) Tiffany Young - Magnetic Moon
Tiffany Hwang went through a name change on her transition from K-pop superstardom to California indie-girl, but her best American single to date affirms that she is probably destined to remain a fixture in the heart of many a fan from the trend's golden era. Whilst the former Girls' Generation member no longer has the sort of profile that was afforded to her via SM Entertainment, 'Magnetic Moon' is her best standalone project since the swoonsome 'Heartbreak Hotel' back in 2016. By rights this could have topped the charts across the planet but with Tiffany now falling between the cracks of 'legit' K-pop and mainstream chart 'success' she seems to have missed out on many of the 'Best of' lists from 2019. So consider this as at least one attempt to right this blatant wrong - the song is brilliant.
19) Infinite - Clock
The return of an old idol band favourite in 2019 with this absolutely rollicking early year single. A mid-tempo outing that builds into a classic, epic K-pop chorus of lovelorn pain. Yes, yes this does not really reinvent the wheel, but if you want a grand heartbreaker from the past 365 days (and if you love K-pop the chances are you live for this sort of thing) then 'Clock' is right up there with the best of them. Unfortunately, thanks to military service and contract negotiations running dry, it seems the band has concluded its run - but, to be fair, this superb short-play is a great way to go out.
18) Park Bom - Spring
Park Bom has had a turbulent year - with the solo idol tearing her heart out on the hit television show Queendom (more on that later), including one of the year's sweetest moments wherein she cried her eyes out after an encouraging video message from former 2NE1 bandmate Minzy. As part of a supergroup that split in 2016 but released its last album almost six years ago, it was always going to be tough for Park Bom to warm herself back into the iPads of younger K-pop obsessives and, so it was, that she came last of the Queendom lot whilst expressing her continued grief at the break-up of her old unit. Nevertheless, comeback ballad 'Spring' is a delight and a reminder of why Park Bom can easily claim to be one of the great voices of the K-pop revolution.
17) LOONA - Butterfly
There's a mesmerising early nineties-dance groove to this sublime opus that really captivates me - and, damn, it is good chill out music. Possibly the finest LOONA single to date - whilst the K-pop world (and end of year lists) seem to be more enthusiastic about the catchy but less adventurous, if similarly multi-membered, Twice, I'll happily toast to this understated gem.
16) Sunmi - Noir
I don't know if this flamboyant bop should be listed even higher, but Sunmi is her own worst enemy with her singles due to the exceptionally high standards of last year's Siren, the unforgettable fury of Gashina and her bombastic redux of Cheryl Cole with Heroine (yes really, this did happen). In comparison 'Noir' is not quite so instantly 'wow' but that does not make it anything less than first class and the video is, as expected, another gem from a singer who puts an exhaustive amount of effort into her music and persona. As with every Sunmi single you might want to turn this one up loud.
15) Stray Kids - Side Effects
This was listed as the best K-pop song of the year by Dazed, but my general impression of that list is that 1) Any list which does not have 'Lion' on it is not worth your attention and 2) I think that as smart and well put-together this mash-up is, it is not quite 'I Got a Boy' and Stray Kids have still to top the stadium-filling ambition of 'Hellavator'. With this said, make no mistake - this a brilliant piece of experimentalism and gives the lads a perfect rock-dance-pop palette in which to fuse a number of sudden pace-changing grooves with abrupt stop-start moments. On first listen it is both slightly annoying and, as it grows into itself and moves to its final crescendo, also totally euphoric. All these listens later I am not so sure that this is not the whole point. This is K-pop at its most challenging, insofar as 2019 goes anyway, and the end result reminds us that we are still in a glory period for new music.
14) CLC - No
The 'girl power' anthem of the year, this 'no means no' statement on toxic masculinity became a grower and a certified favourite of 2019. It blows-up into a celebratory, drunken chorus, of course, before pulling the wool out from under your feet and feeling rather more sombre. One of 2019's cleverest compositions, it is good to see CLC establish themselves as a force for the future of a less sexually problematic K-pop scene...
13) Hara - Midnight Queen
The suicide of Goo Hara was one of the year's most tragic happenings (especially since her attempt earlier in the year had been unsuccessful). The news made the mainstream (coming as it did so soon after the passing of her best friend Sulli), and some odious, paternalistic comments from the usual Western 'experts' (I'm not naming names) but rarely mentioned was the fact that the singer - who had reached K-pop superstardom with her former mega-group Kara - had been struggling to regain career ground as a solo starlet. The pressure of this, alongside her well-documented personal problems, was doubtlessly leading the performer down a very dark road. The Japanese single 'Midnight Queen', which allowed her a short tour before her death, went under the radar of many a K-pop fanatic (thanks to the fast-moving nature of the trend, Kara feels as 'yesterday' as 2NE1). In truth, the comeback was the most Kara-sounding pop epic since, well, Kara (and uses the same production staff behind-the-scenes which may explain this). Whilst this did not point towards a particularly original solo career for the troubled artist, it does mean that fans of Goo Hara got one last gem to treasure before the troubled artist left us far too early, aged just 28.
Note: the above is a fan-made video of the single as Hara only released an official video of the shortened cut - which can be seen here.
12) Dreamcatcher - Piri
Now this is how you stage a comeback. From the opening whistle, 'Piri' establishes itself as a force to be reckoned with. This is maybe the best attempt yet at perfecting that Dreamcatcher rock-pop crossover sound which has been ongoing for the past three years (they have been cruelly referred to as a South Korean attempt at Babymetal, which is sonically nonsense). This might be the best Dreamcatcher outing yet and, hopefully, a pointer for a group growing in its sophistication - let's hope that they continue to release scorchers of this quality.
11) Blackpink - Kill This Love
In our beloved K-pop world, Blackpink are now rivalled only by BTS in terms of global superstardom - but the foursome has achieved this stature without a single album to their name, three-and-a-half years after their debut. That in itself is mind-boggling. Perhaps it is the lesson of not overloading fans with material and keeping us all wanting, but it is difficult to imagine Blackpink sustaining their level of popularity with their current 'annual single' approach. Nonetheless, 'Kill This Love' is a perfectly uncomplicated dance floor stomper. It's not the outlet's greatest moment but it's still nearly flawless. To be fair, at this stage it is difficult to imagine Lisa, Jisoo, Jennie and Rosé putting a foot wrong - let's just hope the problems at record label YG don't see them tossed in the same direction as former labelmates 2NE1.
10) Mamamoo - Gleam
Arguably the best K-pop band currently in existence, Mamamoo had a fantastic 2019 - winning the Queendom television show and securing some acclaimed solo hits for the four band members (see below as well). 'Gleam' is another belter that in any other year would perhaps be even top five or top three. I mean, just listen to these vocals. As with Sunmi and 'Noir' the problem with Mamamoo is that their best moments are so perfect that it makes songs as fabulous as 'Gleam', which rate a 9/10, feel a little out of sync with the perfect tens that have come before. As Mamamoo come to that sixth year anniversary in 2020, let's all hope that this is a band in it for the long-term because a group this remarkable is a rare beast and it would be heart-breaking to lose them.
9) Exo - Obsession
Exo remains a group that explores sound-scapes that, just ten years ago (during the end days of my dingy indie music days) I would have found impossible to even imagine existing. Now down to six members (two military enrolments and Lay still hampered by the THAAD-missile stand-off between South Korea and China), Exo have not missed a beat in 2019. This is still the sonics of a band at the very peak of its powers - a grouping so formidable that I only wish they had been around when I was an undergraduate having to convince myself Oasis were worth buying into. Unsurprisingly, the subtle, sexy beauty of 'Obsession' is another work of genius in a year that has been packed with quality comebacks from veteran groups. Speaking of which...
8) Taemin - Want
With SHINee on hiatus due to that 'army' thing (and the ball is still out on whether or not, post-Jonghyun, a comeback should have been quite such a priority), Taemin had a packed 2019 what with SuperM and this smooth-as-fuck - if inevitably Michael Jackson-ish - sweeping rock-ballad. Taemin remains one of the most captivating, if mysterious (and even, I suspect, quite haunted), male K-gods - but with 'Want' he has his best anthem yet and a tune that stands tall as one of the most mesmerising and, frankly, fuckable of 2019.
7) Sulli - Goblin
This was always going to be a tough one to write about. When Sulli passed, at age 25, it was the biggest K-pop scandal since the death of SHINee's Jonghyun in December, 2017. Unlike the boy band hero, Sulli - who stopped promoting with SM band F(x) in 2014 - did not leave behind a posthumous album of gut-wrenching anthems such as Jonghyun - but, over the summer period, she dropped this unexpectedly sombre and slight single. It was widely acclaimed, but the intro and outro obviously pointed to a creative force that was disturbed if not outright exhausted. Whether or not SM just assumed Sulli to be playing a 'character' in her own fiction, time now indicates that 'Goblin' was something weightier and far more disturbing. With each month since her passing, it becomes less and less easy to listen to, but that should not diminish from its charms nor from its honesty...
6) Hwasa - Twit
Solo-power in the shape of Mamamoo's Hwasa - who had this superb single to showcase her stunning vocal range. Mamamoo have always had a slightly outré and eccentric feel to their music, which also made its way into Hwasa's solo debut which feels like a confident and relaxed (if still forceful) statement of loved-up confusion. Whilst the lyrics perhaps should have been stronger, especially given the quite dominant persona of the singer, 'Twit' remains as memorable as some of the best of Mamamoo and that in itself is one hell of a compliment.
5) ONEUS - Valkyrie
Getting the year off to a fine start was ONEUS - who can certainly boast about having the best opening riff to any tune of the year. What else is there to say? To steal a well-worn term... this just fucking rocks.
4) Red Velvet - 'Psycho'
Red Velvet's Christmas single may only have been with us for a week but it's so immediately catchy and kooky (in that now-classic Red Velvet way) that it has to be top five for 2019. I would even go so far as to argue that this is the heavenly fivesome's best release since the classic 'Red Flavour' two-and-a-half-years ago. Yes, it is this good and thus it easily lays claim to a position this far up my top twenty (and provides another argument for waiting until the end of 2019 before writing these lists!). Whilst Red Velvet may never overtake Girls' Generation's spot as the all-time greatest SM Entertainment femme-gathering, it is surely - at this stage - not without trying...
3) AOA - Sorry
AOA were one of the most unexpected joys of 2019. The band is now the oldest K-pop girl-group still in existence, being able to date back to 2012 (making them positively over-the-hill in the 'business') and looked done for after two members - including lead vocalist Choa - quit the line-up. Instead, the remaining five members used the show Queendom (yes, that again) to warm themselves to a new generation. It certainly worked - and whilst AOA did not win, official comeback single 'Come See Me' was a hit, whilst their live cover of Mamamoo's 'Egoistic', complete with cross-dressing dancers, raised eyebrows across their native nation. Wisely abandoning their 'risqué' presentation of old, the 'new' AOA seems to be finally doing things on their own terms. Whilst I could have easily placed the remarkable 'Come See Me' into this position, I've gone for 'Sorry' - which opens with a riff on Ennio Morricone before becoming a breathy-sexy pop classic - as it is the first new AOA single we got to hear (thanks to Queendom) and, frankly, it is a blinder.
It would be a sin if a group making music this exemplary were not to reach a bigger stage than ever before in the coming years...
2) ((G)I-DLE) - 'LION'
Another band that emerged from Queendom with an absolute belter of an anthem (in the final round each competing artist had to complete and release a new single). Unlike AOA with 'Sorry', the participants gave us a fully-fledged (and quite eye-opening!) music video for this cracker. With February's release of 'Senorita' this was a young group already staking a claim as one of the finest single bands of the year but 'Lion' takes the band to even higher heights - this is just such a beautifully orchestrated ditty... from that slow, sensual opening to the eventual fast-crash of different vocalists that makes the chorus feel like such an exhilarating celebration of sensuality... Now let's just hope that this (whisper it) slightly empowering tune, and this exciting new group, is not stuffed down the toilet in the way that Cube did with 4Minute just three years ago...
1) Taeyeon - Spark
Taeyeon remains one of K-pop's most fascinating enigmas. Musically, she has been in the shadow of her outstanding solo album 'My Voice' from 2017 - an LP that allowed the singer to step out of Girls' Generation once and for all and emerge as a solo star of remarkable talent and maturity. Since then, those of us who were at the 'Persona' tour, have been craving more outstanding moments - which have (and I hate admitting this) come in thin bursts (but when they arrive - wow, fuck me). Her second full-length LP was always going to be a tough cookie but Taeyeon returned with not just this frantically paced single but a number of accompanying heart-stopping moments. 'Spark' was a curveball of a comeback - not the big emotional ballad we all probably expected - but something quite radical and unique. It is not just a perfect example of K-pop's ability to keep us guessing but also my single of 2019 from my artist of the past decade.
