Yes, I know you didn't really believe that when I said I'd be back with the 6-month music review, it would actually happen within a week or so. But here I am with a whole load of links for your listening pleasure.
The first 6 months of 2024 was a busy one for music. From a relatively quiet start with only 863 songs in the January playlist, by the time we reached June, the monthly playlists alone totalled 7,081 songs.
According to my trusty Last.fm stats, I listened to 17,628 songs between 1 January and 30 June, covering 2,141 artists, which is about 3,948 different albums, EPs and singles.
So I did a quick spreadsheet thingy, which shows the breakdown per month of the various types of media I logged - and goddamn do the Asians love an OST 😱. They're not included in this breakdown, and I have to admit I'm not looking forward to trawling through them all at the end of the year. I'm so glad I thought to make a note when I really liked a song this year - I wonder if there will be 20 by December and I can just choose those ones 😂?
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- EXO
- The KingDom
- Pentagon
- Lee Junho
- WayV
- Ten
- Stray Kids
- INI
- Chen
- sodagreen
These are all the various language, band and solo categories rolled into one to create my tip-top favourite albums from the first 6 months of 2024.
The winner is Ineffa Lucas's amazing album wotecomb, which gripped me by the throat the first time I heard it and is showing no sign of letting go even now.
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| 🥇 - Ineffa Lucas - wotecomb |
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| 🥈 - DK - NAKSEO (戀) |
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| 🥉 - Vanillare - Smoking with the Angel |
Well, obviously the top space has been taken by Vanillare. This is followed by a couple of bands I hold close to my heart, Youth Chapter 1: YOUTH DAYS by EPEX and EVERLASTING by E'LAST. I love both albums a lot and can't decide which is the better of the two - they switch depending on mood - so they both make it to the number 2 spot.
Given the above, it's not hard to work out the top 2 places for this category (Ineffa Lucas and DK respectively, in case you have as short an attention span as me). Third place went to EXO leader, 수호 (SUHO), with his third solo offering, 1 to 3. And yes, I know what you're thinking, of course a member of EXO made it, but I should point out that so far this year 4 of the 9 members have released albums or EPs (with at least another 2 or 3 still to come - Xiumin please release X2 before Christmas 🙏🏻 - the last 2 are currently enlisted), and this was the only one that troubled the top 3. That's not to say that I didn't enjoy them all, I did, but this album really is a special one, showcasing Suho's more playful side on tracks like Cheese (f. Wendy from Red Velvet), while his vocals give you a warm hug.
Of course, just because I love the album overall, it doesn't mean I'm necessarily as fond of the title track, although as luck would have it both Vanillare with Alive and DK with Groovin' came top two in this category too. Third place was taken by BOYNEXTDOOR with their crazy Earth, Wind & Fire, which has the most amazing rap section - and a fun MV to go with it - go check it out.
As everyone knows, the B-sides of albums are where the gold is found and this batch of B-sides is no different. However, given my great love for the albums, it's probably not surprising that my top 3 tracks are by artists all previously mentioned. Ineffa Lucas (f. Hash Swan)'s Just For You is my number one, followed by DK's LTNS (another incredible MV - he's so ethereal in it), and coming third is 수호 (SUHO)'s Moonlight, although picking one favourite track from his album was sooo hard.
EPs
Once again these are all the various language, band and solo categories rolled into one to create my favourite EPs from the first 6 months of 2024. This is a huge category compared to albums as a lot of K-Pop is 'mini albums', which are EPs (we've had this discussion before - especially the fact that they cost as much as a full album to buy - then again, so do 'single albums', which are actually just singles).
I have to point out here that despite my best efforts, there are 21 EPs on this list. This is because those occupying the bottom two places (LEE JIN HYUK's NEW QUEST: JUNGLE and KIM WOOJIN's I LIKE THE WAY) are unable to be parted from each other. I had this problem when I chose the Top 3 for their month so added them both, and even now I still can't decide which one I prefer so they both make number 20.
The winner is, and considering last week's post probably won't be much of a surprise, I.M (from Monsta X)'s third solo EP, Off The Beat. I.M has grown up and it definitely shows as this is one of the sexiest EPs released ever this year, and his beautiful deep voice is to die for, as are the classy MVs he filmed for most of the songs. I am never going to stop listening to this EP ever.
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| 🥇 - I.M - Off The Beat |
In second place, and giving I.M a close run for his money in the sexy stakes, is TEN (from NCT U, WayV and SuperM), with his first solo eponymously titled EP. Completely different from the first place EP in every way, but every bit as wonderful.
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| 🥈 - TEN - TEN |
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| 🥉 - WayV - Give Me That |
In third place, and it had a hard fight to get there is JUNNY with his second EP, dopamine. I love this EP so much. It's just fantastic and it was lovely to finally get another album from him after several excellent singles, albeit a short-form one rather than the dozen or so tracks I really want from him.
I do want to mention the fourth-place EP this time because I spent so much time going back and forth between the two, so it's close enough to tie for third. It's Lim Hyunsik's The Young Man and the Sea. As expected from a member of BTOB, he has the vocals of an angel and it's such a soothing and relaxing album - with yet another incredible MV that needs to be seen (it was filmed underwater).
When I say this was a particularly hard list to decide on, I'm not even joking - I mean, EXO member D.O. came 20th! I could easily put the top 5 tracks as number one, but in the end ONF's completely amazing Bye My Monster took top place. I love everything about this track and the MV is cinematic in its scope. The use of Rachmaninoff's Symphony No.2, Movement 3 is absolutely perfect, and the song is heartbreaking.
In second place is I.M's LURE, a suave and sophisticated title track that sets the tone for the rest of the EP. In third place, is TEN's Nightwalker, both because it's a wonderful track and yet again the MV is top class.
If you thought the last list was hard, it had absolutely nothing on this one. D.O. did make it to mid-table this time, and considering it's one of his best tracks ever (IMO), that shows how tough it was to make the decision. But at the end of the day I.M's Skyline, TEN's Water and JUNNY's figure8 reigned supreme and won the top 3 spots. But on another day it could easily have been WayV's Might as Well, Lim Hyunsik's Deep Blue Sea or AB6IX's ILY (I LOVE YOU).
SINGLES
This is always a tough category purely because of the sheer volume of songs that need to be considered. I have a pretty eclectic taste in music, so most of what I listen to I like. This makes choosing 3 singles from between 30-150 songs per category (depending on language) each month a real chore, especially when a lot of the songs sound very similar - some soloists love to release more than one single a month (why can't you just release an EP?), and there are a lot of very good singers out there.
Sometimes I get lucky and a song grabs me and won't let go, as is the case with this Top 3. I think I listen to all of them at least once a day, probably more. Yet again, all of them could be number 1, but at the time I made the list, they came out in this order.
Number one is Corbyn, an old favourite from last year's list, with his haunting 3-track single, of which Before I is the title track. It's such a beautiful song, I just want to listen to it forever.
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| 🥇 - Corbyn - Before I |
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| 🥈 - LUCY - The knight who can't die and the silk cradle |
So when FRI(END)S by V (from BTS) came out, I honestly expected it to be like all his other songs, but it really isn't. Somehow, it's the perfect blend of a wonderfully written song combined with a slightly deeper vocal than he usually deploys. I was hooked immediately, and more so once I saw the entertaining MV that goes with it. In fact, I was so impressed that I revisited his other work in hopes that I had missed something equally brilliant the first time around (it does happen very occasionally). Sadly, I still don't like any of his other songs, but I live in hope that his next release also has a bit more oompf in his vocal tone. Until then, I'll just play this to death.
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| 🥉 - V - FRI(END)S |
So, yeah, LUCY and their massively titled song clearly takes top place - how can you resist a band with a violinist?
In second place, is 1000 YEARS, a collaboration between Tablo (leader of the hip-hop band Epik High) and Taiwanese singer and rapper, J.Sheon. I'm a sucker for a sad song, and this fits the bill perfectly.
In third place are FTISLAND with their album pre-release track, BURN IT. The song takes them back to their hard rock roots and is an explosion after the more melodic outings they've released in the last few years. The album this song was taken from (Serious) was released in July, and I'll be surprised if it doesn't make it into the end-of-year list, as it's a banger.
I think you know the drill by now. Corbyn and V take the top two places because they have to. I love them so much.
In third place is YOOK SUNGJAE from BTOB, who released his latest 3-track single titled EXHIBITION: Look Closely, which contains 3 diverse tracks - the title track, BE SOMEBODY which is a nice upbeat song, Without You, a song that puts me in mind of boy bands like McFly (disclaimer, I'm old so it might not be them but you'll know what I mean when you hear it). The last track is . . . well, you'll be hearing about that one shortly.
In these days of digital streaming, most singles released are either solo songs or just have an instrumental version - the days of a 7" vinyl disc containing 2 perfect tracks (or some weird experimental bollocks on the B-side) are long gone. However, sometimes you get a multiple-track release (especially if they want to sell a hard copy as a 'single' album) and some fine tracks have been released in this category in the first 6 months.
Taking first place is YOOK SUNGJAE's The Ghost. You'll know it already as I raved about it in June and posted the video of him singing it live. I often see new releases being touted as 'Song Of The Year' (SOTY) when they drop, but I think this really might be the one for me as it hasn't been out of my top 3 songs since it dropped in early May and I'm pretty sure it will still be there by the end of the year (It's currently #1 for August). I honestly think this might be my favourite song ever recorded, I love it that much (big words, I know, but possibly true, at least at the moment). I heard that Sungjae fell in love with the song when he heard the demo back when BTOB were still with Cube. He bought it with his own money to ensure no one else would sing it before him. If it's true, it was a fantastic decision and I love him for it, and even if it isn't, the song is still perfection and I love him for singing it.
The second-place track is Wolf by PICKUS. This came as something of a surprise, as songs by debut bands are usually pleasant, cute and occasionally go hard and are generally designed to appeal to as many K-pop fans as possible to draw them into following the band, but are rarely memorable enough to bypass songs from more established bands. The PICKUS release Little Prince has 3 tracks, of which the title track is eponymous and (as far as I can remember) fits perfectly with my description of debut songs. There's also a third track, A-CHA!, which I don't remember at all. However, the second track is pure gold and is exactly what I'm looking for from a K-pop song and it beat off all challengers to take the silver medal.
What could a rookie band knock into third place, you ask? Well, that is a tricky one as it could have been any of about a dozen songs (no, really, it could). But eventually I gave the place to LUCAS (ex-NCT, ex-WayV, SuperM) with Dip It Low, the B-side to his excellent (and top 10 reaching single Renegade). This track is sexy, of course it is, Lucas was in WayV after all, but it's also a banger and his deeper vocal tone, which I can listen to all day, just clinched it (sorry Key).
And so, inevitably, we find ourselves at the final category, my top 20 favourite songs of the first six months. It will be interesting to see how many of the current favourites remain in the top 20 at the end of the year.
I was going to list the top 3, but you already know what they are after reading the rest of this horrendously long post (thank you so much if you made it all the way here, I really appreciate it), so instead I'm going to put videos so you can watch them for yourself.
Right, that's it from me for a while, probably. I need to go work out what my July top 3s are (I did manage to get the Korean singles down from 134 to 35 while writing this post - only another 32 to lose 😭) and keep up with the August playlist. I may post again, but 🤷🏻♀️. Eventually, the tracks will go in the top 3 lists, so you can always check there.
What were your top 3 favourite songs, albums and/or EPs of the year so far?
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