#1: JYJ - Long Way

I liked a lot of songs this year, and so choosing the best was literally like picking a specific needle out of a pile of needles that look exactly the same - nearly impossible. There was too much good music and too little time to take it all in. Question me all you want, call me biased or whatever, but I've made my decision and this is final.


When I was in the process of choosing songs for this year's list, I was debating between putting this in, or W. So why did I choose Long Way instead? Because while W made me bawl my eyes out (I kid you not), Long Way made me smile, cry, and feel all tingly inside at the same time - the only thing I was sure of was that this song is gorgeous. I don't get tingles down my spine very often, mind you, it's usually just goosebumps or the hairs on the back of my neck standing.

The first time I heard it I didn't know whether to laugh, cry or jump around the room - never mind that I couldn't and still don't understand the lyrics. That's truly what music should do to you, to be honest - it should make you feel something you never thought was possible. In this case, a combination of feelings you never knew existed.

I'm not saying all these because I like DBSK or Jaejoong or whoever, I'm saying this because this song deserves the praise, and that's that. If someone else released it and did just as good a job as the three, I'd still name this the best song of the year, because it's beautiful, epic, sad, happy, outstanding and every other positive adjective I can think of, rolled into one song.

I say this and that about songs, that they lack conviction, that the arrangements suck and the execution was sloppy and I say that because they lack what I think are qualities that will really give depth to a song, like what they've done for Long Way. Music is an art, and because it's an art it should be respected - with depth comes beauty and with beauty comes respect. At least that's how it goes for me.

In simpler terms, Long Way is epic and beautiful in every way. The light but sure drum rolls throughout the song, the strong arrangement that leads the song to places and doesn't just stay still, the sweet melody that's full of emotion, and the three gorgeous voices singing it just leave me speechless every single time.

But most of all, it is everything I stand for thrown together in one song, perfected and put together in all the right ways.

This song proves that there's more to good singers than ballads - the true measure of a technically and musically outstanding singer is flexibility and ability to sing more than just ballads. It's not how many notes you can hit in a minute and how high they are, it's how you hit those notes.

Long Way isn't a ballad, nor is it an uptempo - it's a nice, sweet midtempo that really makes you think.

I'm literally getting the shivers as I begin to write this.

The melody, oh dear the melody, it has enough variety to not bore us for 4 minutes, but it has enough repetitions to allow the boys the freedom to adlib and change things up a bit - showing their ingenuity and creativity. And mind you, these three know how to put fantastic and mind-blowing, yet appropriate and well-executed, adlibs together. It was treated in such a way that there's a balance to the sanitary-ness of Japanese production and the intensity of the three's vocals - need I say more?

In songs, I always look for an arrangement that explodes, or doesn't explode, in the right way. This is it. Everything starts out with a nice, sweet piano line and then a percussion part comes in and the song develops into a pretty package. Little by little it's like everything comes to life, and it explodes without you even knowing it, but very much feeling it. By the end of the song you have organized chaos - things are happening all over the place but there is a clear direction to the arrangement, as expected from the Japanese. But more so, the way everything was resolved at the end was done with finesse - it was neither a sudden stop nor a dragging, element-by-element drift.

Everything about this song matters - from the instruments to the vocals to the production. I was listening to the instrumental and while it's gorgeous and you really get to hear the instrumentation in it's purest form, it has no intensity, no life - until you put in the vocals.

That said, Long Way, as a whole, soars - there's no other way to put it, really. While it has the intensity, enough build-up, to make you stand up and listen to it every time another dimension is added, the way each element is executed then put together in relationship to the entire song is so effortless that the whole song just makes sense. You don't want to question why or how anymore - everything just makes sense.

Each element was so meticulously thought about and executed, every note painstakingly put into place, the entire package perfected over and over and over again, and yet listening to Long Way is more than a pleasure - it's such a joy. For me, that's what music is, and should be - pure and utter joy. More than a way to express yourself, more than a business, a profession, a commodity or a hobby - music is something that is to be enjoyed, savored.

There's nothing more I could ask for, really. As a writer, putting this together was just as effortless as listening to the song - it was like all the ideas, and the right words to express them, just poured out of my head and I didn't have to force any of them out like I had to for some songs on the list. It's because of songs like this that I write, it's because gorgeous, effortlessly stunning, songs exist, and continue to.

For all these simple, yet very meaningful, reasons, Long Way is the best song of 2010.

#2: SHINee - Lucifer

Several people have guessed that this would be my #1 song, but I'm afraid it isn't - keep guessing! Although that most definitely does not mean that it's not any good. It's more than good actually, it's fantastic.

When I first got into kpop last year, I was concentrated on learning the history and grasping the sound throughout the years. This year, because I had already practically mastered the history and was writing about what would become history, I was concentrating on looking at current k-pop, sound-wise. And the result of that? My current opinion on Lucifer.


I and a whole swarm of bloggers adore the song to bits, obviously, and practically the entire blogosphere, fans included, went wild with the release of this. When I brought out my review I was focused on the song itself, and there's obviously nothing wrong with that, because all anyone had at that point was the song. The technicalities of the song were spot-on - the production brilliant, the arrangement very tight and the delivery fantastic.

Question my taste level all you want, I still think that Lucifer is one of the, if not the, most solid and representative pop songs South Korea has brought out this year. Lucifer is another one of those "this is where kpop is" songs, but unlike the others that I just accept, I adore Lucifer. In a sense, it's because of songs like this that I'm still writing about kpop.

Lucifer is a feast to the ears and an absolute pleasure to listen to, whether recorded or live, and you don't have to say that "oh, I like it better live" or "oh, the recording's a gazillion times better" because the song allows for both mediums to sound fantastic in their own ways.

Which brings me to a point that I heard my dad raise earlier this year - a recording is different from a live performance. OK, of course it is, but if you think about it, there are times when I, and a lot of other people, compare the two then deem one inferior. But you can't do that. OK, you can, but logically speaking you can't. You've all heard of hi-fi, right? High Fidelity, it means that you somewhat "strive" for what's called a "real" sound, a recording that's closest to the actual sound of instruments, whether they be voice, drums or whatever. I only found out what it really meant when my dad raised that point.

So everyone goes on and on and on about hi-fi, speakers are advertised with it and equipment guaranteed to provide hi-fi, but with all this recording technology nowadays, it's hard to differentiate real from not? The vocals, like any other pop song this year, have been put through processing - whether obvious or not. The instrumental is 75% computerized at the very least and all the instruments have also gone through computer processing. Can you call these real? WHAT IS REAL?

But anyway. In simpler terms, the point I'm trying to make is that critique-ing live performances and recordings can no longer go hand-in-hand - you cannot compare them anymore, because the recording studio and the performance studio are two different environments, and their technologies have gone in two different directions.

So what does this have to do with Lucifer? Well, it has proven that point. SHINee are fantastic live singers and performers - they know exactly how to sell a song, and they do it extremely well. Other bands of their stature are still struggling with vocals (ahem2PMahem), but these guys just sing like it's second nature, and it's supposed to be. But no matter how good they are live, the trends dictate that their vocals be processed, obvious or not. There is a difference between their live performances and their recordings. They sound good on both, of course, but good in different ways.

I do have one tiny little problem with the song though, that has ultimately prevented it from being fiercer competition with my top song of the year. I got a physical copy of the Korean release of Lucifer for Christmas a few days ago (along with Rising Sun! My cousin just came back from Korea), and I noticed something very interesting about it - I listened to the album on my dad's nice speakers and I noticed that Lucifer has no depth. I listened to Rising Sun (the single, let's be specific) before that, and I heard things I had never heard on the MP3s - the CD quality version of Lucifer was essentially the same sound, except for the fact that everything was crisper. It's not that big a problem if you look at it, but for me it makes all the difference - I value the little details in a song, it's what separates CD from digital for now, and what makes CD much more superior.

#3: The Saturdays - Higher

This getting on my list this year could mean a few things - my standards aren't the same as they were before, I haven't listened to an awful lot of Western songs in comparison to K-pop, and I adore a good pop song when I hear it. I'll go with the last one, thank you very much.


As much as I adore Girls Aloud and Xenomania and whatnot, there is a part of me that adores the fun and effortlessness in The Sats. Girls Aloud are very serious, and the songs they put out are really WHOA, but The Saturdays are light and fun, and girl groups should be fun, don't you agree? The technical side is important, don't get me wrong, but so is how those technical aspects are executed. Basically what I'm trying to say here is that GA and The Sats are two completely different girl groups - they both have their strengths and I adore them both for those. It's just that we were without an epic GA album this year. D:

On a side note, I love the video for this - I really do. Nevermind that they shot it in an LA studio when it's supposed to look like NY, I love everything about it, ESPECIALLY the walking on the first chorus. I took film back in sophomore year, I think I've said a few times before, and I love the cinematography on this - it's very, warm. A nice contrast to the in-your-face-fun-ness of the song.

The chorus is epicly fun in all the right ways - I love how it explodes into this extravaganza of synths and beats and a gorgeous chorus, with enough repetitiveness to make you hum the song even after it ends. I love the synths throughout the song - they're crisp, and classy, but very playful. Throw in strong vocals from all of them, and you have a masterpiece worthy of praise.

#4: Kylie Minogue - Get Outta My Way

Essentially, this is the kind of pop I grew up listening to - fun and fresh, yet musically proficient in more ways than one. So essentially, this Kylie song in particular would have no problem climbing up my list this year.


If anything, this was the song that ultimately pulled me through several big, and difficult, events this year, and that would've been enough to put the song high on the list, but the fact that it's so damn brilliant puts it comfortably at 4th place - it's more than worthy in my opinion. (LOL but I made the list, so everything's worthy in my eyes)

THIS is how things are, and should be, done in pop - even with all this brilliance happening throughout the song, it's very light to the ears. The production is very clear, but also very dynamic and somehow, the instruments all together, no matter how loud they may be, end up sounding very floaty. For some strange reason when I talk about how the song's light, the first thing that comes to my mind is jell-o - it sounds like jell-o, it's very tasty but it's rather light for food. OK that came out strange, I hope you got my point.

Everything about Get Outta My Way is brilliant. But I think I've already said that a gazillion times. The synth and piano lines are gorgeous, the percussion, although obviously computerized, matches the song very well, and the way everything was arranged - from the explosions to the settling to the fade at the and - makes the entire package sound so effortlessly fun. To the point where this could be the music for one of those commercials where there's this boring office and boring corporate stuff then this comes on and someone starts dancing like a madwoman and everyone around her glares at her before they join in and then somehow, magically, they get transported to some random island where they have this huge party.

Do you get me? I hope you do. I'm sorry, I must be really desperate to get something written down right now for me to talk about jell-o and commercials. Just watch the video and prepare to be blown away.

#5: BoA - BUMP BUMP! feat.VERBAL(m-flo)

OK, BUMP BUMP! wasn't the biggest hit ever and it didn't stay on the charts for a gazillion weeks, but who cares? This was one of the songs I had the most fun listening to this year, and even after playing it almost every day in the car (to my dad's approval, thank you very much), it's still one of the best.


I like this song because it's musical. I say that there are good and bad musicians everywhere, and that's entirely true, but there have been quite a few songs that have proved to me that Japanese musicians are generally more musical. They have more experience, the industry has been around for longer, it's harder to survive as a musician in Japan, and generally everything about the industry pushes them to become more musical. But that's just an opinion.

The song has dynamics, it has direction, but it also has enough repetition to appeal to the mainstream audience. Add in a pinch of sophistication in every single part of the song, and you're made. The gorgeous melody placed on top of the spot-on, brilliant, instrumentation is a joy to listen to - it's so effortless, yet it's so fun. Hey, it's made me want to get up and dance at one point. I don't dance.

And, for one of the few instances, BoA's voice is bearable! (for me) I mean it's far from bad, but there are times when I just get annoyed. I wasn't this time around. That much. The gorgeous song most probably made up for it.

#6: DBSK/Tohoshinki - BREAK OUT!

BREAK OUT! really marked the beginning of the end for DBSK as five, at least for the next few years. They could've very well given us a ballad parade (which I wouldn't really have a problem with as long as they're gorgeous), but they didn't, and I'm glad this song actually got the chance to be released, because it's brilliant.


I still have a hard time writing about songs by my current favorite boyband, so even if I'm head-over-heels for this song, I apologize if the review gets a little.. whacked out? Anyway.

This is a lesson to all new idol groups that you don't really need to autotune the hell out of songs. A bit is fine, like what they did on the song, because it gives the sound another dimension, but autotune, like anything, should be in moderation, especially around already-gorgeous vocals.

BREAK OUT! was a growth from their The Secret Code-era sound - you could hear traces of Survivor, but they ventured into the realm of autotune for one of the few times. The instrumental was all dark and serious, the arrangement strongly complementing it, the melody floating, and the vocals well-executed.

Even if the song's gorgeous, my biggest regret is that we never got to see them perform this live. I mean it's a fantastic song and a more than worthy recording of it, but knowing that DBSK earned the privilege of performing with a live band on tour in 2008, I can't help but imagine how this would sound like with a live band, and all five of them singing. Let's just say that it's my life's mission to hear all my favorite songs sung with a live band. It's different, and I've talked about why it is.

#7: Robyn - Dancing On My Own

Before we get on with the review, MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE! *hands out virtual gifts to everyone* I'm most likely asleep, tired from last night's festivities, when this is published and I'll most probably be out the entire day. But I really do want to wish you all a merry Christmas with lots of presents and food and people you love. ;D

There are times when I don't want to write about a song, for fear that I won't be able to put it into words properly and do it justice - I'd rather have the song speak for itself. This is one of those times. But I promise to try my best to somewhat put this epic song to words. Somewhat.


Strangely enough, the first thing that comes to mind when I hear Dancing On My Own is cram school. Last summer I was in the Philippine equivalent of "cram school", reviewing for the series of university entrance exams I was to take come the start of senior year - this what what I was listening to during my marathon late-night study sessions with my books and chocolate as best friends. So apart from the fact that it's a brilliant song (we'll get to that in a while), it holds very vivid memories.

It's such a pleasure to listen to the song, even if there are a gazillion things all happening at the same time. The song has a very clear direction, and I think that's one of the biggest factors - yes, you have synth lines and whatnot floating above Robyn's very full, yet ever so slightly thin, vocals but when you listen closely they all complement one another.

The melody's a big factor in me adoring the song - it's slightly disjointed during the verses, but as the chorus nears it slowly gets slightly more flow-y. The gaps in the melody allow for the amazing instrumental to be heard more, and who wouldn't want that? It works on Dancing On My Own because the instrumental is actually something that's worthy of being heard on it's own.

Put everything together, and you have an epic song, worthy of it's place in this list. But then again all the songs are worthy. But you get the point, right? I hope you do.

#8: SM The Ballad - Hot Times

We break into the top 10 today, right on schedule! Once we reach the top five, the posts will come once a day only - to add an element of suspense, perhaps? The countdown is scheduled to end on the 30th with my #1 song of the year. On the 31st I have something planned, but that's all under wraps for now. On to the review. Sorry.

When I first heard of SM The Ballad, I wasn't really so excited, partially because no one from DBSK, or HoMin, is in it, and partially because I didn't really like the idea of Jonghyun murdering more ballads than he usually does. And who the hell was that Jino guy? However, the day I heard the teaser for Hot Times, all my doubts and frustrations disappeared. The day I heard the full version of Hot Times, in HQ (not that crappy MuCore leak), I nearly cried - THIS. SONG. IS. GORGEOUS.


Up until a few days ago, there was a part of me that had already gotten sick of the song - I really didn't want to listen to it because I felt like I was gonna throw up (I'm serious.), but listening to it again, I'm still in love with it. It's a good thing, I don't have the freedom to move this down the list if I stopped liking it!

I believe I said this last Sunday during the Inki year-end recap, but SM really did pick the right combination of the right people. You have Kyuhyun, who sounds fantastic anywhere you put him and is very consistent when he sings, you have that guy from TRAX, who has probably the most gorgeous voice in SM now that JYJ are gone and who knows how to flaunt it, you have Jonghyun, who, when restrained, can sing ballads like no other in SHINee now that Key's voice has gone down the drain, and you have the new guy, Jino, who, although a bit inexperienced, is clearly trying his best and is practically on the same level as the 3 - that's hard to do.

I think that had they put Yesung in instead of Kyuhyun, the vocals would've exploded - it would've been too much. Had they put Ryeowook, well, I would've gone after them with more than a torch, telling them to repent for their sins. I'm thankful that Onew clearly didn't make the cut and SM finally got the message that HE IS NOT A BALLAD SINGER GODDAMNIT, and Key was snubbed too, because yes he was my favorite ballad singer in SHINee before, but that was then and this is now.

So they work together brilliantly, I think you all get the picture, and now that SM has four of it's best vocalists together for promo, obviously you need a song worthy of both their ability and their "chemistry". In comes Hot Times. After all the sins SM has committed this year AHEMSuperJuniorSNSDf(x)BoAAHEM, the release of Hot Times has made me consider forgiving them for several of those mistakes.

The melody of this is WIN, one hundred percent WIN. From the verses to the chorus to the drop-dead gorgeous middle 8 I just wanna replay over and over and over again, this is not only a Yoo Young Jin creation, this is an A-grade YYJ masterpiece - I can hear the guy singing this in my dreams for heaven's sake! The high note parade can get a little too much at times, especially when Jonghyun does it live, but I think without it the song would've lost one dimension, so it's fine as it is.

The chorus, oh my heavens the chorus - when 4 voices of their calibre sing it with that kind of intensity and urgency but with so much finesse, I feel like crying - IT'S STUNNING, GORGEOUS, AMAZING, OUTSTANDING, BEAUTIFUL and every other positive adjective I can think of.

That, coupled with a simple yet stunningly apt instrumental and a cool arrangement, make for a song that is just waiting to blow my mind. The live performances are fine, but the recording gets me every single time.

#9: 2NE1 - Clap Your Hands

I have a love-hate relationship with 2NE1, as you all may know. There are times when I think they're fantastic, but there are also times when the autotune goes overboard and my ears start registering them as a bunch of annoying chipmunks. However there are also times when I start out hating the song, but end up adoring the heck out of it after seeing them perform it, or even just see the video for it.


2NE1 is basically a performance band in my eyes - you have to see them for the material to make sense, and obviously they don't perform their entire album when they promote. I was less than impressed with To Anyone this year, mainly because the tracks were never given the chance to make sense. However, they did perform Clap Your Hands, and did more than make sense.

I'm not one for rapping, nor am I for autotuned Sandara-fests, but like I said, Clap Your Hands makes all the sense in the world. It's your standard 2NE1 song - the rapping, the autotune, the jam-packed instrumental with YG production at it's finest, and the stick-in-your-head-like-glue hook. What sets it apart from the other two singles they promoted? Everything is bearable - everything was done in moderation, with our ears in mind. That, and it's not trying too hard to be stylish or whatever Go Away was trying to be - what you hear, and see, is basically what you get.

For 2NE1 standards, the hook is pretty laid-back actually, but it's in-your-face and repetitive enough to stick. The chorus as a whole is pretty, actually, without all the computerized sounds running all over the place. The elements flow well, and the song actually progresses, and it's resolved neatly.

#10: Dae Guk Nam Ah/The Boss - 비틀비틀

Apparently, they've never been D-NA to start with, so I'm calling them The Boss from now on.

So The Boss haven't exactly swept music show wins this year, nor have they really sold a lot both in Korea and Japan (do they even have a single out there?), but I like these guys. And for more than the fact that they remind me of my beloved DBSK.

I re-iterate what I said earlier this year (like in a lot of what I've been writing lately) - 비틀비틀 is generic, cheesy at certain points, and you know not a lot of money was invested in to this, but it's like that to show how much more talent The Boss have compared to your run-of-the-mill boyband from a small agency no one's heard of.

I'd say they're tied with BEAST - BEAST have the backing of a semi-major agency, but lack in terms of talent when compared to The Boss. Put these two groups together and you have just a little less than what DBSK had when they were just starting out.

Let us now take the time to worship Mika and Karam's vocals. I have an unpublished, unfinished, draft of a vocal commentary for The Boss (that I wrote last summer), and I call Mika the Junsu of The Boss, and Karam and Jaejoong. Their vocals are drop-dead gorgeous, and I think being in one of the many generations of Xing helped. The other three are strong too, but Karam and Mika carry the band vocally, and for a band as new as them to be as good as they are is a hard feat to even try reaching.

비틀비틀 is catchy verging on cheap sometimes, but the way all five of them carry it both live, with their stage presence, and recorded with the epic, amazing vocals give it another dimension. To be honest with you, if k-pop gave me the same songs it did this year, only with people who could actually sing them, I wouldn't be complaining.

#11: Diana Vickers - Jumping Into Rivers

The season of X Factor that Diana Vickers was on was the one I watched the most, as I've said countless times. (note: this was the same season JLS were on) And I REALLY wanted her to win, or at least get into the finals with JLS. She obviously didn't, and I was devastated to say the least, but the material she put out, years later, was enough to console me. For now.


Diana has a rather different voice - it's both rough and smooth, it's got a bit of body coupled with an airy texture, but it's an absolute pleasure to listen to. The combination makes it rather soothing, to be honest. As much as it sounds gorgeous singing ballads, (like Notice, which almost made the list) it's her uptempos that intrigue and amaze me.

It's hard to choose uptempos for her, to be honest, because you can't give her some random song you'd give Pixie or Alexandra. But Jumping Into Rivers was the perfect choice, if I may say so. And the execution was just spot-on, especially for the vocals to really stand out.

The arrangement is very simple, but the instrumentation is very sharp. All the instruments have a snap to them - from the drum line to the guitar section - and it's a contrast to Diana's very soft (not in terms of volume) voice.

And oh dear, the melody. The melody is drop-dead gorgeous - it has enough intensity at the chorus and enough smoothness at the verses to actually be rather soothing. And none of that "chill" crap - it's a midtempo verging on uptempo and it's got kick, thank you very much.

#12: G.NA - I'll Back Off So You Can Live

G.NA is one of the most promising debuts I've witnessed this year, if I may say so. I've had my doubts, of course, but in the end there's something about this girl that makes me very curious, and very optimistic about what the future will bring her.


Like I said when this song was brand-new, the song itself is actually rather generic if you listen to it closely.

It's what you would give your typical new "rising star" solo female singer-dancer-combination and it won't really get her anywhere. The way the chorus explodes is gorgeous, I actually like the rap part (done by the guy from BEAST and no one else, thank you very much) and the song flows very naturally, however majority of it was most likely recycled from other songs. But, like I said earlier this year, these days it's all in how your carry the song, and G.NA sure knows how.

There were times when I was unsure of whether she was lipsyncing or not, but for the times that I was sure, her vocals were near perfect. To top it all off, the girl knows how to perform - there's finesse to the way she moves and carries herself, both on stage and in the video. And that's important if you're selling your song.

But aside from all the technical and musical stuff, I genuinely enjoy listening to the song, regardless of it's flaws and generic-ness. At the end of the day, me liking the song is the biggest factor. And I like the song a hell of a lot!

#13: 2AM - 잘못했어

I like 2AM - they're currently fighting SHINee for my second favorite boyband, seeing as their vocals are obviously a notch higher than SHINee's, even if both of them are fantastic in their own ways. My point is, if DBSK never existed, heaven forbid, they could very well be my favorite boyband. Because they can sing. Extremely well.


Now I don't usually like it when good vocals are autotuned, like what happened on this song, but I'll make an exception, because it's only now that I realize something. In a way, I Did Wrong was a very risky song for 2AM, but in a way they pulled it off better than anyone like them could ever have.

It's not your typical heart-wrenching, soap-worthy ballad that you'd assume a ballad-based band would sing (although their repertoire is practically swimming in them) - it's like a cool version of that. It's too slow to be a dance-worthy song, even if I believe they did a bit of "dancing" for this, but once again, it's a little too upbeat to be a ballad ballad. Out of their "comfort zone".

The song also has a rap part. Of course I have no idea if it's any good, but that was another risky move. So was putting in a hook, and a very infectious one at that. In all honesty, they pulled the entire song off extremely well, and the result was more than OK.

Which brings me to a rather important point - just because someone has a gorgeous voice most definitely does not mean that they should be given a repertoire swimming in ballads. Don't get me wrong, I love beautifully-done ballads, but I believe I said this when I reviewed Lucifer - when there are few ballads on an album, I notice them more. But that's beside the point. What I'm trying to say is, it doesn't hurt for "ballad singers" to do some uptempos every now and then, because they clearly have the chops to do it - uptempos are most definitely not for talentless people.

#14: Pixie Lott - Doing Fine (Without You)

I haven't really said it a lot lately, but I love Pixie Lott and I don't care what you say about it. Call it a guilty pleasure, call it whatever you want, really - I like her and you can't change anything.


It was around this time of the year (although maybe closer to new year, actually) that I first heard of her in 2008 - back when Turn It Up was called The Fall and I thought it was brilliant. After a while her album got a little stale for my taste, but then the repackaged tracks came out and this particular one stood out.

Doing Fine (Without You) reminded me of why I loved British pop, girl bands in particular - because everything was so fun, yes, but they had class. American girl groups are great, yeah, but I prefer the British when it comes to pop bands. But anyway, this song would have absolutely no problem making it's way into a Sats album/EP, and it has absolutely no problem worming it's way up my list!

The melody's gorgeous, the arrangement strong, and the hook an actual hook. It's a lot of stereotypes of a lot of different songs thrown into one package, in the right way. Brilliance, I tell you, brilliance.

#15: Sara Bareilles - King Of Anything

Thankfully, this Sara Bareilles single is one of those Western releases I didn't overlook this year. Had I not heard this, I would've missed out on one of the best songs of the year!


Sara Bareilles' first album was one of the first albums I'd willingly listen to from start to finish - it was also one of the albums I was avidly listening to when I just started PRN. The ingenious lyrics (even if I don't care about them - they made me notice them), the solid, piano-driven arrangements, the strong and emotional vocals and the drop-dead gorgeous songs all thrown into the glory that was that album just make me want to listen to it again.

After years of waiting, and her first album never really going out of style, she came back this year with this gorgeous song. When I first reviewed this I was all for it - fantastic production, real drums and a distinctly-Sara sound. Now that I listen over to it and write about it again, I'm ready to fall to my feet.

This is the pop I was talking about when I wrote about the Katy Perry song, only without the excessiveness - King of Anything has class, thank you very much. But even with all the "class" I say it has, it manages to capture that same element of fun that mainstream American pop has.

The elements are probably the polar opposites of the ones on the Katy Perry song - trumpets, Sara's staple stomping piano, a lay-low melody and REAL DRUMS with a touch of real cymbals - yet it's fun and an absolute pleasure to listen to. Over, and over, and over, and over again for ever and ever and ever.

HoMin - Athena

*note that I am not calling them TVXQ/DBSK/Tohoshinki for reasons I have stated a gazillion times already - DBSK is Jaejoong, Yoochun, Junsu, Changmin and Yunho and without even one of them, it's not DBSK. Therefore, I will be calling, and tagging them as, HoMin for the duration of their promotions.

Even before their comeback was officially announced, HoMin were the part of DBSK that I was really worried for - how were they going to pull it off? JaeChunSu were the "voices" in DBSK and they left - what remained was a dancer and a screamer, not the best combination in the world. But you know, the release of this song is one of the biggest reliefs I've had since the start of the lawsuit and everything, apart from what Jaejoong said during a recent interview.

I go on and on about how JaeChunSu are the better singers in DBSK and how I always find something wrong with HoMin's vocals - when the HoMin comeback was confirmed I was honestly having some doubts about how they were going to carry themselves vocally as compared to how JYJ have (even if their production team was crap), but then I remembered something. Just because JaeChunSu are the better voices, doesn't mean that HoMin are bad. They're actually fantastic compared to a lot of other idol group singers these days, why else were they put in DBSK?

DBSK are the best of the well-trained - these 5 were lead singers of their respective SM project groups before ending up in DBSK. If JaeChunSu are the best voices in the idol group world, for me at least, for HoMin to be able to not only stand, but sing, beside them, takes more than just long legs and "decent vocals". I still believe that there is un-replicate-able magic when the 5 of them sing together, but I cannot deny the fact that all 5 of them can very well function on their own and do a damn good job at that!

If you're waiting for me to say it - HoMin have brilliant vocals. There, I said it. Because it's true. I was talking to Mel and purplelykthat on Twitter the other day and I was saying that Changmin really has to step up vocally now that JaeChunSu's gone because I don't think Yunho will, but to be honest with you, now that I've heard this song, I can conclude that both of them really upped their game, and that's a relief.

To a certain extent, this song has allowed HoMin to step up. You know why? Because it's in the right range for both of them. Another worry I had before I heard the song was how SM was going to make the top and bottom voices of DBSK work, seeing as vocally they're pretty much polar opposites. Then it hit me, when I finally heard this, that Changmin actually sounds better singing lower octaves and not screaming his head off, while it is very much in Yunho's range to hit the occasional high note and not suck at it. One of the main reasons why DBSK songs are so high (in relation to their ranges) is because Jaejoong and Junsu can sing basically anything and not suck.

Whoever wrote this song clearly knew what he/she was doing, and I'm glad he/she does.

The song starts off all dramatic with the string section and the eerie piano line with Changmin's vocals, but part-by-part it turns into 3 minutes of head-banging fun, mostly during the chorus. I don't usually head-bang (unless it's for a joke or something), but I find myself having urges to just let go and bang my head (maybe even whip my hair? LOL!) when I hear this.

Notice how the verses and the chorus are rather different from each other - while the verses sound like they're straight out of a 2010 version of Tri-Angle, the choruses are begging to be sung in a big stadium with thousands of Cassies screaming every line along with them. Somehow, everything just works. It's a mixture of a few things done right, in my opinion.

First off, the production is spot-on - it gives emphasis to the right things and even if it's a really intense song, there are elements that lay low when they have to, letting shine whatever should shine during a specific part. Then the vocals. Apart from the fact that both of them really stepped up and delivered, they way their vocals were treated is a joy to listen to. The faint, but still noticeable, harmonies throughout the chorus, the reverberations during the chorus and the regulation Changmin scream thrown in with everything else that makes this song brilliant is sometimes a little too much for my little fangirl brain to handle! I love the synths throughout the song too. SYNTHS.'

Vocals are important, yeah, but the material you deliver those vocals with will ultimately contribute just as much to the final package, so gorgeous voices are great, yeah, but gorgeous voices singing fantastic songs are just mind-blowing.

So as you can see, even if I've pretty much cooled down from the initial shock of hearing such brilliance a while ago, I still can't find the right words to describe how epic this song is. And don't you dare go listen to the audio on the music video sment posted on YouTube - YOU HAVE TO HEAR IT IN 320 KBPS, NO LESS.

Basically, what I'm trying to say is that all my initial doubts about the HoMin comeback have been laid to rest, buried and will never again be heard of, let alone seen because THIS SONG IS BRILLIANT. That said, I cannot wait for January, even if it means I'm gonna be dumped with yearbook and paper editing, BECAUSE IT'S HOMIN COMEBACK MONTH EVERYONE! Time to show all these new idols how it's done.

5/5

#16: IU - Rain Drop

I think today is "songs that hold memories" day on the countdown, because this is probably the song that makes me the most nostalgic. Once again, it's story time.


In June of this year, we found out that my grandmom was in the late stages of cancer. It greatly affected me, for a gazillion reasons I have no time to enumerate. I was (literally) fainting in class, walking around like I was dead, and running around the city doing errands. I skipped class for days because I was having a hard time coping, and everything was just happening too quickly that I needed a break, even if I knew I couldn't get one. The important thing to take note of is that like in any situation, I ran to music for support, and writing when I had the time.

(side note: I almost cried writing that, since I'm listening to the song too)

So anyway. This was the song I was listening to throughout all that, and throughout my grandmom's wake, so whenever this comes up on shuffle mode again or I accidentally play it, all those feelings start rushing back, and my chest feels exactly how it felt right after I fainted that day. I'm saying this because this is what music is - it holds memories and brings them back when needed.

Without the memories this song is drop-dead gorgeous - the melody is strong, the arrangement clear and the instruments strung together effortlessly. The whistles at the beginning set a nice, happy mood (even if they make me sad), and IU's bright yet strong vocals pull everything together nicely.

This was also the song that signaled the start of her growth vocally - there are points in which there's more power and a deeper timbre to the vocals, but the youth in her voice is still clearly there. And that's why this song is on the list, aside from the fact that it's gorgeous and that it can make me cry any second now. That and songs off her new EP are not eligible (we'll get to them later).

#17: JoJo - Boy Without A Heart

If you were with me from the very beginning, you'll know that I acknowledge JoJo as the one who started, and fueled, my love for pop music - she's the reason why I write about music, and why I want a career in it. She's also one of the reasons why I feel the way I do towards the industry.


It's story time. LOL. During the summer between fourth and fifth grade, I'd spend afternoons with my dad at our local record store (which is now gone. D:) and I, not knowing a lot about music, would go over to the listening booths they used to have and listen to JoJo's debut album. I'd listen to it everytime were were there, until my dad bought me the album, along with Alicia Keys' The Diary of Alicia Keys. Everything just took off from there, and Christmas 2006 came around - I got my first iPod (1st gen nano, white, 1GB) and was buying physical albums to fill it with. Obviously, The High Road was the first one I got.

So why tell you guys part of the story of my life? Because JoJo always manages to come out with new material during turning points of my life. In 2005 she was the turning point, in 2006 I was going through what was the best year of my school life, as well as learning more and more about music by the day, and finally now, in 2010 - I made a lot of decisions concerning my future, so of course, JoJo had to come out with her free mixtape. And this gorgeous song.

Can't Take That Away From Me had a truckload of gorgeous songs, but for some reason Boy Without A Heart stuck the most. Why? Because strangely, it reminded me of 6th grade, and even that summer I first heard her. This is a new song we're talking about, and it brought back memories it never even witnessed.

It has a very simple arrangement (how many times have I said this before), but it's not only JoJo's now more mature and gutsy vocals that stand out, it's the drum line. The stunning drum line that makes me smile like a madwoman - it's very sharp but it sounds very real. That put below the gutsy but in-place electric guitar and thrown together with a well-done arrangement makes for a drop-dead gorgeous song.

[December 19, 2010] SBS Inkigayo YEAR-END SPECIAL Highlights + Commentary

I'm back! Why wouldn't I be - it was the Inki year-end special today and although not as packed as the MuBank one, it was fun revisiting my weekly Sunday routine of loading a truckload of YT videos then watching them all in one go.


If there's one thing that's changed with Inkigayo since I last recapped it, it's that they're letting bands use hand mics now! That's basically it though - the sound still sucks and for Christmas, I would like the sound engineer fired, before he screws up this year's Gayo Daejun as well. He actually kinda reminds me of the sound guy in my school - he once "accidentally" stopped the backing music of one of our big music presentations. It was graded, mind you. I literally wanted to scream at him and have him fired when that happened.

YT credits go to Jackhklee5.

SM The Ballad - Hot Times
(note: This song is on my 50 best songs of 2010 list, so the full version of my fangirling is available when I publish that post. In a few days.) SM picked the right combination of the right people for this new sub-group/project - they could've picked Yesung SuJu or Onew or Key SHINee but they chose Jonghyun SHINee, Kyuhyun Super Junior, that guy from TRAX who has A GORGEOUS VOICE and Jino, who isn't too shabby himself. They're actually kinda like DBSK - they're not only lead singers of their respective bands, they're 4 (or today 3) vocalists who work extremely well together. Today's performance was half-mimed, and I'm not exactly happy with that, but at least the Inkigayo sound guy/girl had less chances to ruin their gorgeous vocals. For the live parts, it's a YESSSSSS.


VNT - Sound
Just when I thought there was nothing more pathetic than SISTAR, VNT show up. The entire facade is crap - the crappy choreography (and that's already coming from someone who knows nothing about dancing), the cheaper-than-SISTAR costumes and the pathetic song that makes them sound like nothing but wannabes. However, that girl with the black hair has a gorgeous voice, and that other girl who sings, albeit sloppy and given the worthless song, would sound pretty not-bad in say, KARA. There are times when I forget rapping-girl-in-yellow-jacket exists, until she comes in and tries to sound like Hyun A, who isn't exactly my favorite in 4Minute. Lesson learned - GET A GOOD SONG AND SIGN TO A TALENT AGENCY WITH MONEY. As much as I hate that everything revolves around money, in pop you need money to get a decent song.


SISTAR - How Dare You
After VNT, SISTAR actually sound pretty decent. Maybe after SISTAR, KARA will sound good. Wild guess. Their progress has basically halted, if there was any to start with. That 1 girl still carries and entire band, and she's doing a pretty good job considering who else is in that band, but as a group they still have no grace. I understand that you're supposed to just dance and sing like crazy when you're on stage, but you also have to do it with some grace.


BEAST - Breath + Beautiful
If there's one band I want to see sweep music shows and become legends in the near future, it's BEAST. They've gotten a heck of a lot better this year, and they still have the potential to get a hell of a lot better. They work well as a group, individually they all have decent vocals, some fantastic, and they're not afraid to try new things, without straying from who they've shown they are. That and they're an absolute pleasure to watch on stage, especially when they themselves are having fun, and even if the song's a little on the cheesy side *ahemBEAUTIFULahem*.


2NE1 - Can't Nobody
Performers in the truest sense of the word. They have the right balance of everything in the right amounts - the dance-like-crazy attitude, a sense of grace, strong live vocals and audience impact. (LOL that sounded like the criteria of some school presentation) Yes, even Sandara, even if she's weak compared to the other 3. At the end of the day, these girls know how to put on a show, they know how to make a mediocre and generic song sound great and they can show that their performances really had a lot of thought put into them.


2AM - Even If I Die, I Can't Let You Go + You Wouldn't Answer My Calls
Gorgeous. There's no other way to describe it, and I wouldn't want to say anything else. Gorgeous.


After School - LOVE LOVE LOVE
Ahhh yes, the RainaNanaandabitofUEE-fest. Raina now annoys me and she should be never let near this song ever again so Jung Ah can take all her parts and cream Raina at her own song. Nana is lightyears better than she was last year when she had just joined the band and she actually has a pretty decent voice, but if she so much as gets more lines than Gahee on their next single I am going to have to go and whack Pledis in the head. In a perfect world, After School is made up of Gahee, Bekah, Jung Ah and maybe Nana so there's someone for the fanboys.


SHINee - Hello (remixed) + Lucifer
They truly are the leaders of their generation of boybands, in my opinion. At least, not when the Inkigayo sound guy/girl is out to get them. HE TOTALLY RUINED ONEW'S BRILLIANT MIDDLE 8! And they even mimed part of it. OF ALL PARTS TO RUIN, IT HAD TO BE ONEW'S I WILL NEVER FOGIVE HIM FOR IT. Oh, and the slightly remixed version of Hello was a nice variation to a pretty song, and it's good to see everyone dancing again, even for a simple routine.


KARA - Jumping
So where's the singing? As if their vocals can get any worse, the sound guy strikes again. Has he no pity for these girls? No one can hear them on Music Bank and he chooses to literally drown them in the backing track, ruining the entire performance. The only actual vocals I can clearly hear are Nicole's squeaky high notes and short parts of Gyuri's solos. That's it. Everyone else is a blur.


GD&TOP - Oh Yeah (with Bom)
I won't be talking about High High because it's practically all rapping and if it weren't for Bom, I wouldn't be talking about this either. The song is all YG - the arrangement, the hook, the English, the rapping, GD and TOP. However, the melody fits Bom like a glove - something tells me that only she can sing it and have it sound like that. In a sense, you need a voice that wild but with that much body for it to make sense, because of the range of the melody. I say time and time again - YG acts are performers, and these three are no exception. I'm actually starting to like the song because of this! This doesn't always happen, but I'm all praises for them today.


Super Junior - No Other + Bonamana
It's been a while since I've heard, and seen, both songs performed live, but I gotta say, they really have gotten better vocally, under the crap Inkigayo sound. Ryeowook is starting to sound better, actually, which is GOOD. I mean, how can someone STILL sound bad using hand mics? If I had the money, I would willingly give SBS a new sound system for Christmas. But I don't, so they'll keep sucking. Aaaaand the dance break is still there.


IU - Good Day (WINNER)
May I just say that justice has been served because IU HAS FINALLY WON A MUSIC SHOW! I'm actually glad that she didn't win for Marshmallow or that other song because they simply did not do justice to her talent - this song, however, does. So I can sleep peacefully tonight knowing that the voting and buying public still know what talent mixed with a good song is like. She didn't hit the high note today, and like a lot of people, I'm quite pleased that she's changed things up a bit. For someone else that would be a sign of vocal inability, but for heaven's sake we've heard that note several times already, live mind you, so we know she can sing it. Apart from the fact that the theatrics can get boring at times, the performance was spot-on. But then again this is IU we're talking about - the girl is beginning to sound like Hwayobi for christ's sake!


Next week, on Christmas day, I'll be recap-ing the MUSIC CORE special, so read up on my past MuCore recaps beforehand!

#18: After School - Bang!

I liked this phase of After School and as of now, only this phase. Diva and Ah! weren't my taste at all, LOVE LOVE LOVE is the Raina and Nana-fest, and even if I worshipped the ground Because Of You walked on, they couldn't pull it off live to save any of their lives. They couldn't actually pull off Bang! until the tail end of promotions, but I liked the song so much that I really waited.


Bang! may seem a little too chant-y for my taste, but I like it because it really works for After School. They're not a band that can pull off very vocally-demanding songs, but they're not a band with absolutely no vocal ability either. The melody is simple enough to sing by decent voices and it would sound good, but it has enough spunk to pass for a lead single.

The very hard and sometimes soul-less drum rolls throughout the song make the melody simpler, actually. The "sonic mess" I was talking about earlier this year isn't really a mess - it reminds me a lot of DBSK's O Jung Ban Hap and how this super dance-y and intense song turns into a puddle of gorgeousness. Of course DBSK can pull that off effortlessly and they have the production team to do it while After School/Gahee struggled and they don't exactly have a Yoo Young Jin to whip their songs into shape, but it was a good try.

Speaking of production, I never said it, but Bang! has some of the best non-SM production this year and is probably as good as Kara's Jumping. Plus the fact that After School have more gutsy and generally better vocals than Kara. Why do I find myself comparing everyone to Kara these days?

Speaking of vocals, I'd like to point out the performance where I found out that Lizzy actually has a voice, that I have a love-hate relationship with Raina's voice, that Gahee is one of the stronger singers, and that Jung Ah is obviously my favorite voice in the band. Even with the crap sound system and non-existent acoustics, this was by far the best performance of Bang!. It was also the last one I recapped, if I'm not mistaken.