fave 2024 korean releases
IMPORTANT CAVEAT: I HAVE YET TO LISTEN TO 'AAA' BY HYUKOH x SUNSET ROLLERCOASTER! IT IS NOT ON THIS LIST! I AM WAITING FOR THE RIGHT TIMING! IT IS NOT TIME YET!
on to this year's list:
beautiful world - kimhwol
akin to its album cover, it's best to listen when you are out on a walk. kim hwol's voice cradles you like a beating fire, like a baby bird. while forest child might be the best song of the album, my favorite is the demo track of dear my love with its plinky piano which i find particularly delightful. sparse, basic, but each tracks soars.
yin - colde
i was hesitant to place this here since it's only 3 tracks long but considering it's on my top spotify wrapped, i felt it'd be bias not to give it a place of honor. the background adlib at 3:25 mark in I Color You is laced with cocaine. solid rnb singles, per usual. where is that offonoff album.
dudndudndudn - yujin kim
get on the ground floorrrr. kim yujin is a gorgeous jazz vocalist (listen to her past 2 albums if you haven't) and this EP is rich, bright and her voice is playful and unpretentious. the double track You Love Me / I Love You are so disgustingly cheesy it rounds back to being good. personal fave track is hit me back where it dipped its toe in shoegaze.
orange hour - joyce kwon
have your ever heard an album that is so technically perfect that you get mad? this is that album. i don't even know what else to say.
neom 0541 - BØJEONG
during my first time listening of Unreal, i had to pause and check out if they were a side project of the band The Solutions - they're not. it doesn't mean this release isn't an absolute barn-burner. a concept rock album of landing in a desolate new world, this EP's highlight is Unreal but i implore to stick around for the next track Hyenoid as it hits you with a solo that can melt your face clean right off. check out their latest EP kin as well.
angel interview - meaningful stone, swervy
the latest entry in this list, not even a month old as i am typing this. however, i had a sneaking suspicion this album is going to be an instant shoegaze classic (red car and i open the window instead of the closed door especially) the transition from garage rock esc to house track _()_ is insane.
are you watching at all? - min.a
while i can't say i am a fan of the current epidemic of particularly nasal tiktok singing that's hitting youngsters, min.a is an exception to the rule because she actually has the sauce. by that, her EP thoroughly impresses in its production that i am here for everything she releases from now on. while skipping stones has the play numbers, do not skip on sunshower and petty because they are so cleverly arranged that i don't wanna spoil it.
cool - hyelyn joo
this is a funnnn indie-pop EP with great earworms like Kiss! and Crazy. it's bubbly nature oddly reminds of Lee Jin Ah, albeit steers more safely to the pop side. it's a true crowd pleaser release and each track can be someone's favorite. no on asked but B-Yum is my tongue-in-cheek fave.
the world you live in - ashmute
let it be on the record that everytime they release, it's gonnaaaa be on this list. i prayed for an album from them and my prayers were answered this year. to top it all, it's good and STILL so underrated. Air and Saudade deliver their signature sad sexy bops but surprisingly HARUMADA comes out as the citypop track i didn't know i needed.
honorable mentions:
growing pains - ghost bookstore, miniseries 2 - sumin & slom, play with earth! 03 - wave to earth, "L" - the volunteers, PUMP - epik high, sphere - jooyoung, gimbap - george, entire i & and july - kim kak sung, overtime life - 8호실 peridot, the earth - mrch, bonfire - cifika
