Posted On Friday, January 6, 2012 • 9:54 PM

Hey guys! This year I’ve compiled my favorite Korean songs - both singles and album tracks - as a list of 50. Just like last year we’ll be counting them down, 10 at a time, until we reach #1. Read below for my first picks, and stay tuned for parts 2 - 5 coming up soon!

_

50. ZE:A / Here I Am

Just as trashy as it wants to be while also sounding quite gentlemanly at the same time. Maybe it’s because they’re wearing suits in the* music video. Just ask Pitbull, a suit and tie can make any sleazy club banger sound up to 12% more classy. 

*AWFUL

_

49. Orange Caramel / Shanghai Romance

Sha! Sha! Sha! - How can you not appreciate that bit?

“Shanghai Romance” sounds like all of Orange Caramel’s other singles put together, but when your other singles are also quite good you’re allowed to do that, so say the rules of Pop. 

_

48. ALi / Don’t Act Countrified (feat. JunHyung)


The funky beat from TLC’s “Waterfalls” didn’t just dissolve back into that huge puddle at the end of the video - it simply traveled across the ocean until it reached Korea about 15 years later. Soul is universal, and it’s alive and thriving in K-Pop. This one will creep up on you. 

Also - “Countrified” is officially the oddest fucking word we’ve ever heard. And while the song title also translates as “Don’t Act Foolish”, Countrified is just so much more fun.

_

47. AA / So Crazy

Rookie talent was in short supply in 2011, so it’s a good thing these guys came along and broke us out of that rut, ridiculous facial expressions and inanely amazing dance routine included. 

_

46. LeeSsang / Grand Final (feat. Jung In & MC Nal Yoo)

This party jam by LeeSsang sounds like it’s up to something naughty, but it’s actually about rowing. Yes, BOAT ROWING. Forget about all that ‘putting your hands in the air’ nonsense - 2012 is going to be all about putting your oars in the air. To a dubstep beat, of course. 

_

45. Girls’ Generation / TRICK

No one cares if “The Boys” makes a bigger impact; “TRICK” is the god damn single that should have been. Teddy Riley can continue tripping over his keyboard trying to think of something that goes down this smooth.

_

44. Nine Muses / Figaro

Asian Disco was kind of a big ‘thing’ in 2011. No, seriously. The Japanese were at it, and so were the Koreans. They were quite good at it too, as Nine Muses showed us. 

_

43. KARA / Rider

Okay,

Korea,

it’s really about time you started doing the whole ‘second single’ thing. 

_

42. Brown Eyed Girls / Hot Shot

Sure, you could say that this is just Ga-in’s solo material + 3 backup singers. 

But then we’ll say we like it that way. Korean tango was still ‘hot’ in 2011.

_

41. After School / Virgin

It’s actually kind of epic when you think about it. Okay, yes, the title sounds like the name of some low-budget Asian porno, but, THE SONG!!!

A lot of songs of this sort - the ‘CLUBBING’ kind - are all about being a superstar. Or at least feeling like one. Escapism. And hey, sometimes that’s good! But this one takes a different approach. I guess when one thinks of the idea of ‘superstar’, you think of someone who’s a pro - good at what they do. So, in a club, you could say this would be someone who’s rather experienced and obviously goes there a lot. In the case of “Virgin” the lyrics actually enhance appreciation. 

“From this moment on / I am a Virgin

Virgins used to know nothing / Those days are gone

Now on the stage again / it feels like the first time”

So while the beat might trick you into thinking this is just another one of those ‘going out and dancing’ sort of affairs, at the heart of matters is this idea of a ‘Virgin’. But even then, it’s not as simple as it seems. After School aren’t saying that they are virgins to this stage, they’re saying that - FOR TONIGHT - they are virgins, and are going to experience it like the first time. 

You could say the characters in the story are in fact ‘superstars’, but are tired of being so and just want to get back to that feeling of ‘the first time’. The newness and the excitement. That human experience. There are loads of dance songs cluttering the charts nowadays, but few so beautifully understand the humanity like “Virgin”. 



theme by: someonetolookupto