Ok-pop’s title tracks may acquire most of listeners’ consideration, however many album tracks are price equal highlight. I name these “buried treasures.”
Past this, Ok-pop’s albums ship hundreds of further tracks that accept a extra restricted viewers. It’s these songs that can turn out to be part of my “battle of the b-sides” function.
On this function, I’ll be placing on my A&R hat and taking a pay attention to 5 randomly-selected Ok-pop b-sides. I’ll write a mini overview for every, together with a Bias Record score, and rank them from least to most favourite. The winner will be part of a particular Bias Record B-side playlist. Consider it like my very own little company, hand-selecting songs I’d wish to pitch to my nonexistent artists!
You possibly can take a look at all rounds of my Battle of the B-sides right here!
Yena – LXXK 2 U (2022)
This can be a strong instance of the brilliant pop-rock sound Yena debuted with. She’s gone a bit quirkier than this since then, however her colourful vocal and persona match this fashion properly. The tune itself is extra easy than I would really like and the manufacturing is equally unadventurous. It’s an honest b-side however lacks the wild sense of abandon that it may have. She additionally carried out this one on music reveals, regardless that it’s technically not a single.
| Hooks | 7 |
| Manufacturing | 8 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 8 |
| RATING | 7.75 |
Lee Hello – What Is Love? (2021)
I really feel like I’m all the time speaking about “vibes” today. There are few artists vibier than Lee Hello, and that attribute doesn’t all the time go down properly for me. There’s no denying she has a beautiful voice, however a tune like that is so muted that it nearly fades into the background. It’s vibe music by way of and thru, well-suited because the soundtrack to a second however not significantly attention-grabbing by itself. It’s nearly troublesome to give you one thing to write down about this, truthfully. It’s simply so hushed and the melodies are so easy and repetitive.
| Hooks | 7 |
| Manufacturing | 7 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 7 |
| RATING | 7.25 |
Diva – Rumor (2001)
Ooh, we’re going far again in time with this one! Diva was an incredible first-gen group with fairly a couple of highlights to their title. When listening to early Ok-pop, I like to hint how its sounds influenced later generations. You possibly can hear touches of Sistar and Lady’s Day and all these nice second/third-gen teams in Rumor’s melodies, although this tune has an easier – extra primordial – execution. I’m most intrigued by the surprisingly strong guitar riff that opens the monitor and reappears a number of instances. It nearly feels ripped from a special tune totally!
| Hooks | 8 |
| Manufacturing | 8 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 8 |
| RATING | 8 |
Kara – Binks (2010)
It’s all the time good to revisit some early Sweetune as a part of this function. Binks is way from Kara’s greatest tune and finds the manufacturing staff working deep inside their treacly candy mode, however the melodies are sound and the manufacturing has that lush fullness you’d anticipate from a Sweetune monitor. Kara don’t ever get sufficient recognition for his or her vocals, however the attractive mix of their voices actually makes this refrain come to life. I additionally love the electrical guitar that is available in for the tune’s finale.
| Hooks | 8 |
| Manufacturing | 8 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 9 |
| RATING | 8.25 |
The Boyz – They See Me Dream (2024)
The Boyz have launched among the greatest Ok-pop of this decade however their albums are additionally filled with music I discover much less intriguing. I’ve by no means discovered all of them that convincing on extra sultry, mid-tempo materials. They See Me Dream feels very very similar to album filler, pushed by a fitful sound that always feels as if it’s going to construct to one thing larger than it does. This makes for a considerably irritating pay attention, although I take pleasure in among the textures they’re enjoying with right here.
| Hooks | 7 |
| Manufacturing | 7 |
| Longevity | 8 |
| Bias | 7 |
| RATING | 7.25 |
Fifth: Lee Hello – What Is Love?
Fourth: The Boyz – They See Me Dream
Third: Yena – LXXK 2 U
Second: Diva – Rumor
First: Kara – Binks
Congratulations to Kara’s Binks – the sixty-eighth winner of my Battle of the B-sides!
Readers, what do you suppose? Did you uncover any hidden gems? Go away your personal rating within the feedback!