If they are still insisting on doing MIXXPOP, this is definitely the right way to do it.

Yes ladies and gentlemen, the very beloved MIXXPOP is back but instead of making you go through the worst whiplash you’ve ever had in your life, they this time fixed their mistake and the ride is way way way smoother than before. It’s sprinkled all over the album but if you want to see a showcase of it, check out “DASH” and “Sonar (Breaker)” (“BOOM” too if ... read more

Holy tracklist, what the fuck lmfao

For those who only want to listen to the actual track, it's only track 1-4 but I ain't no weakling. I'm gonna listen to this whole thing and give my review on it.

Okay I lied, I'm not listening to the whole thing because the accappela section is probably the worst thing ever conceived in a Kpop album. You know how the instrumental version is just the tracks without its vocals? Yeah the accapella version is the inverse of that. No instrumental just vocals. ... read more

I’ve stayed away from all the pre-release for this album mainly because from all the reviews I’ve seen makes me think that it’s not really worth my time to listen to them on top of the fact that I don’t really care about ITZY that much. So all the tracks here are practically new for me and to be honest, I am definitely not missing anything by following the rollout of this album.

Seems like they are still going down the downward spiral with this one. The productions are ... read more

I'm sorry but the vocals break the album for me. I know that he is 10 (age-wise not vocal prowess) but that doesn't give the album a pass for its pretty bad vocals. Add on top of that some of the awkward vocal lines/melodies + performances resulting in me not really enjoying the the album overall. There are some nice synths line here and there and I think that the production is pretty okay even if sometimes I do feel iffy about some choices. But since I am one of those people who think that ... read more

Is it really that bad guys?

I mean it's not a good album, but it's not "awful" awful. It's awful when the Ado-ness starts to reeks out from the track which mainly resides on the second half of the album, but there are some tracks that is okay. First 2 tracks are pretty inoffensive and acceptable but I think that's mainly tied to its original source's quality and not because of Ado's cover of said songs. Also, I know that people have been raving on how Ado's vocal is the best thing ... read more

This is absolutely my kpop song of the year. My comment about "Bebe Yana being the proto-NWJNS" is most prevalent on this track. The dreamy combination of baltimore club and 2-step beat is probably the best thing I've heard from the South Korean Pop scene this year. Add on top of that Bebe Yana's soft vocals and the faint and hazy backing vocals and you get a very strong highlight of 2023's Kpop.

After 2 years and a marriage, Queen Kika finally released a follow-up to “timeabout”. It’s a cover album of Korean and Japanese city pop songs from the 80s and 90s and you can definitely feel it here just from listening to the album. I’m not familiar with the original material so I can’t really compare the cover with it but regardless, I think this is an enjoyable city pop album. I do wish that she infuses some modern elements to these old city pops just like how ... read more

She's taking a more atmospheric and moody path for this one and while it's not necessarily a bad thing, the lack of catchy hook and song progression is holding this track back substantially especially if you compare it to her other releases this year.

Extremely captivating.

I don’t know what to expect coming to this album because all I know (or rather what I thought I know) about Isyana is that she's just another one of those mainstream pop artists that releases safe and harmless pop songs. This album slaps me in the face for thinking that way and tells me that she is definitely more than that.

LEXICON is very theatrical in its presentation which could get a bit too much on certain parts especially when it gets to the rock cuts of ... read more

Uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh

My only expectation coming into this is "this is going to sound super YG and doesn't try to even innovate the YG GG sound they've been doing for the last decade" and they've met my expectation perfectly. While yes, it is not as grating as Blackpink on the production side (still quite flavorless tho), the songwriting is the same old and boring YG GG style songwriting that plagued the latter portion of BP's career. I have no idea how YG is still one of the top ... read more

O shit, watch out ladies and gentleman, we got a new Xmas classic over here. Mariah Carey is shaking in her boots right now.

First thing first, I have to commend DC on finally making a cohesive EP. I’ve listened to every release by them and this is by far the one where the sound stays consistent for the majority of the runtime. They established what kind of sound they wanted to present in the EP with the intro and hold on to that sound until the last track where the cohesion broke. It’s still not for the entirety of the runtime, but yknow, 4 tracks is already a pretty good number by DC’s standard. ... read more

When I was told about this collab, I thought that they’ll pick either Karina or Giselle from aespa and Yujin from IVE to collab with Soyeon since those members fit Soyeon’s vibe the most. It comes as a surprise when they announce that Liz and Winter are the pick instead, which I am actually quite excited for since both of them are probably my fave vocalist in Kpop right now, so both of their vocals in the same track? Count me in brother. And how was it?

Don’t get me wrong, ... read more

Pretty okay j-rock. At best, the songwriting and playing are lively and quite dynamic which exuberates an energetic feel to the tracks and at worst, both elements are serviceable and make the tracks feels like a dime of dozen j-rock. The instrumental here is pretty solid even if I do prefer it if there is a bit more clarity to the mix.

My issue comes when the vocals turn into the dramatic spoken word style. I'm definitely biased against this kind of vocal style in alot of j-rock and this is no ... read more

Insane-o

The genre of this album is technically Alt Metal, but I feel like that's downplaying the sound Maximum The Hormone is offering here a ton. The sound presented here is a combination of pop punk, metalcore, hardcore punk, nu-metal, j-rock, death metal, heavy metal, and more. While yes, that much genre in a single album could make it sound absurd, goofy, and too schizo for some, that same exact reason is also why "Yoshū Fukushū" is insanely fun for others, myself included. ... read more

Ah, so that's how they are going to do it. Good release then mid release then good release and repeat.

Yeah this EP is quite underwhelming. The easy comparison here is of course with 'Girls'. While yes, 'Girls' does have a lower low with its washed up westernized tracks on the back end, but it also has "Illusion" which is one of aespa's best tracks. What does this album have? Uuuuh, I honestly do not know. There's not a single track here that stands out among the rest. Sure some ... read more

To be honest, I don't really know how a new Heejin solo project would sounds like. Her last solo project is back in 2016 and the sound presented there is more of a gimmick if any which I don't think would transfer that well to the current age. So this album could sounds like anything as far as I'm concerned.

I wouldn't say that her re-debut album is the catchiest thing in the world, but I would be lying if I said it's not good. What 'K' lacks in catchiness, it makes up for in the tastiness of ... read more

me: mom, can i have a jpop?
mom: we have jpop at home
jpop at home:

At this point, it is extraordinarily clear to me that IVE is one of the 2 top Kpop groups who doesn't really have a sound they can attach themselves onto (the other one being LSRFM) and it shows with this EP. It is honestly kinda hard to talk about an IVE album because the sound they are presenting is very simple, easy to digest, and similar to one another. At best, it is pleasant to listen to with some catchy hooks here and there, while at worst, it is extremely inoffensive.

Watch out King Gizzard, tripleS is coming to snatch that "most release per year" crown.

Honestly to me this is just another tripleS album, the same thing they've done since Acid Angel which means my opinion towards this album is the same as their other albums, meh. I think I know why I couldn't really get into tripleS as much as the others here. It's because of their weak and flat vocals. Now they are actually playing around that by making the general soundscape of their albums to be ... read more