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Top 10 kpop songs of March

有吗炒面 ALGTR - Lexie Liu. Once again the mandopop masterpiece comes in first (at #25 overall).

Sparkling - Chung Ha. Really catchy. Fun and upbeat.

I Am The Best - 2NE1. Finally added it to my crush playlist and it's my go-to hard-hitting beat moment.

오늘 조금 취해서 그래 - Youha. The other synthpop masterpiece at #39! Kinda expected it higher.

Flower Rain - Youha. At #41, sure to follow in 오늘 조금 취해서 그래's footsteps as another great synthpop song.

That's all I got! Top artists this month were Lorde, Taylor Swift, Cannons, girl in red, Halsey, Lexie Liu, Aurora, Imagine Dragons, Twice and Olivia Rodrigo. No surprises there. I got carried away making a night pop playlist and discovered a host of new songs.

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TWICE 𓆩♡𓆪 ONCE AGAIN photobook

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Fresh Finds - February

You Got Me - Twice. A nice catchy chill song! Didn't like any of the other b-sides or even the title track which is a first for me as a Once. I mean I don't like More & More, and some of their older title tracks, but my first comeback with them was Formula of Love, and I love The Feels and liked Scientist. Plus I liked nearly every b-side from Ready To Be and Between 1&2 so yeah, this is really a first.

Holssi - IU. Kinda mysterious! A lil sexy??? Me like.

Shopper - IU. Straightforward banger.

Diamond - Tri.be. I loooove the low chorus. I've decided the post-chorus lyrics are actually am I like, am I like, am I like a diamond? Too bad Shinsadong Tiger is dead, he gave them great songs.

Yeah, not much from February. But that tracks, winter is typically the doldrums of kpop (not just real life).

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Top 10 kpop songs of February

有吗炒面 (ALGTR) - Lexie Liu. Mandopop lmao. What can I say? It's a beautiful synthpop masterpiece.

Crown On My Head (Yeji) - Itzy. At #17 is the best solo of Itzy.

Love wins all - IU. All the way at #21 is another gorgeous piano ballad from IU. Still sad I can't sing the actual love wins all part.

Abittipsy - Youha. It's the top song of 2023, best synth pop masterpiece of all time, still here at #22!

Shopper - IU. Still on the fence about this one but it's on the list at #33. It's nice enough I suppose but not an IU classic.

Narcisissm - Sunmi. At #35 is my fave Sunmi song! Beautiful, dreamy, love the chorus and the instrumentation.

Chill Kill - Red Velvet. Was torn about this when it first came out but popped into my head one day and now I like it enough to land it a #37 spot on this list.

Welcome To MY World (feat. naevis) - aespa. Def only ended up here cause I put it on my synthpunk playlist. But it is nice and synth-y, so I guess it's nice.

HWAA - (G)I-DLE. At #44 is a beautiful dreamy song by them girls which they ought to get back to making.

I GOT YOU - Twice. Continuing a trend of English pre-releases that a re better than the title track. Classic Twice banger. But a bit too similar to their other songs to stand out, so it's at #46.

Actual top songs are exactly what I'd expected. Heartbeat Highway - Cannons, Runaway - Aurora, Amour censure - Hoshi, two Lorde songs, Hayley Kiyoko, Fall Out Boy and Imagine Dragons. As it should be. Top artists were Taylor Swift, Lorde, Itzy, Halsey, Twice, (G)I-DLE, Imagine Dragons, Aurora, Olivia Rodrigo and IU. Exactly what I'd expect. Except for Olivia Rodrigo. Not sure how she made it there.

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TWICE ♡ With YOU-th

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With You-th Concept Photos

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JINI for MARIE CLAIRE (2023)

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Fresh Finds - January

Untouchable - Itzy. A teen crush, hard-hitting banger! Love the post-chorus. Bum bum bum ba di.

BORN TO BE - Itzy. A solid girl crush song with an absolutely killer choreo. Ryujin's part at the beginning? Beautiful.

Crown On My Head (Yeji) - Itzy. Great pop rock song! She's a great vocalist and she really shines in the chorus. Can't wait to see it live.

Run Away (Ryujin) - Itzy. Another great pop rock song! Not as good a singer so she really sounds strained in the chorus but still good.

Yet, but (Yuna) - Itzy. Ahhhh classic Yuna. She really shines with this bubblegumy teen crush type of song. Cute but in the cool girl at school kind of way. Perfectly matches her vocal tone.

DASH - Nmixx. Now this is what mixpop ought to be. Wish they went harder in the final chorus, YG party style, but still good. That mix section finally felt like it had a purpose. It's just great ;-;

Run For Roses - Nmixx. So glad they finally released this. Probably my favorite kpop song of the year. (Admittedly it's only Feb 1). An incredible, pirate-esque banger with great live performances, a great choreo (ooo that post-chorus) and great performers. A+

Soñar (Breaker) / Break the Wall - Nmixx. Didn't quite like either song enough to put it in a playlist but deserves a mention. Another solid mixpop song, they really like their spoken choruses huh, where was that energy in Itzy's early years, plus a solid b-side.

Good Girls In The Dark - Yena. Another great sexy song a la Wicked Love from Yena! You love to see it.

Good Morning - Yena. A great pop rock bubblegum song!

Damn U - Yena. Another fun rock song with a gentle opening.

Revenge - (G)I-DLE. Sexy.

Doll - (G)I-DLE. Sexy!

Love Wins All - IU. Another ballad masterpiece from IU! Funny that she changed the title out of respect for LGBTQ+ people meanwhile they remain illegal in SK.

So I didn't like VCHA's debut, but Itzy and Nmixx restorted my faith in JYPE. Itzy girls finally getting solo and becoming lyricists, Nmixx finally getting good music lmao. They're getting better too as singers and performers which I didn't know was possible. Incredible. And Twice is about to have a comeback as well. After a December so empty I didn't even make a Top 10 kpop songs of the month, much less Fresh Finds, I am pleased to see good stuff still coming out!

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Top 10 kpop songs of January

Crown On My Head (YEJI) - Itzy. At #4 is a pop rock anthem! I hope she gets to properly go solo and perform this one live.

Untouchable - Itzy. I completely regained my faith in Itzy this comeback. Hard-hitting but not too loud, catchy but not too high. Banger post-chorus. Bum bum bum ba di indeed.

Yet, but (YUNA) - Itzy. At #13 is a teen crush bubblegum Yuna solo! Don't think she's a strong enough vocalist to go solo yet, as evidenced by the flatness of the chorus. But goddamn girlie knows how to put the right inflections. The little "ooh?" before the last chorus? Brilliant. So glad they got to write their solos.

Flower Rain - Youha. An oldie but a goodie at #15.

BORN TO BE - Itzy. Right below Flower Rain is a properly girl crush song. The instrumental sounds a bit like Mic Drop at the beginning. The chorus feels a bit flat though.

오늘 조금 취해서 그래 - Youha. The best of all kpop songs! A synth masterpiece like its sister Flower Rain, but with a killer chorus.

DASH - Nmixx. At #23 is Nmixx's redemption! Surprised that it's above Run For Roses though considering how much I love that song. It's got pirate vibes and killer vocals. Plus that post-chorus.

Escalator - Itzy. This is a surprise. It's fine but I didn't like it that much. Solid b-side.

Break The Wall - Nmixx. At #37 is a solid b-side from Nmixx. Dunno how much I actually like it though.

Mine (Chaeryeong) - Itzy. A sweet, solid song from Chae. Man I wish her voice was stronger though.

Top artists were Lorde (naturally), Aurora (a newcomer but ooooh she's like if they made music in the winter forests that the Wild Hunt flies over), Itzy, Taylor Swift, and Halsey. Plus (G)I-DLE, Sunmi, Twice, and Nmixx. Love to see it. Top song was Heartbeat Highway - Cannons. No surprise there. Really grew on me.

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JIHYO x SINGLES KOREA x OUTDOOR RESEARCH ♡

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Momo x Onitsuka Tiger for ELLE Japan

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Top 10 kpop songs of October

Chasing That Feeling - TXT. Not surprising. It came out in October and I liked it quite a bit. Very synth ethereal. Don't like the choreo too much though, it's too sharp.

오늘 조금 취해서 그래 - Youha. Very not surprising. It'll probably be my top song of the year. What a glorious synth masterpiece.

Eyes Roll - (G)I-DLE. Coming in at #12 we have our third kpop song which is kinda surprising considering I didn't like it that much. It's fine, but ehh very standard I guess?

有吗炒面 ALGTR - Lexie Liu. Still confused by the title, but still a glorious synth guitar masterpiece. At #22.

Payback - Ive. Directly below ALGTR is the only Ive song I liked from their newest release. Nice and chill.

Flower Rain - Youha. At #32 is another top song of the year contender. Perhaps my favorite opening of all time.

Back For More (TXT Ver.) - TXT. Hip and groovy! Sexy and cool! Better than the collab ver. lmao.

Bubble - STAYC. At #45 is my fave bubblegum release of the year. A fun chorus, and a swag synth for the post-chorus.

GRL GVNG - XG. Right below Bubble is my favorite girl crush release of the year! I don't super like Maya/Jurin's rapping style, Cocona is my favorite, but that's a style matter. I love the instrumental and the lyrics slap surprisingly enough.

X-GENE - XG. At #47 is a surprise considering I only remember playing it like three times this month. It's a fine intro song but I wish companies weren't so afraid of releasing full-length songs.

Actual top song was, funnily enough, La Borinqueña (Sharks Version) from the 2021 West Side Story movie soundtrack. #3 was Howl's Moving Castle Theme, Kyle Landry's piano version. That's my music tastes for you I guess.

Top artists were: Taylor Swift, Lorde, Halsey, Marina, and Fall Out Boy, in that order. Fascinating. Been a while since I had guys in the top 5. Then Imagine Dragons, (G)I-DLE, TXT, Twice, Over The Garden Wall soundtrack, and Olivia Rodrigo. Truly fascinating stuff here.

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Fresh Finds - October

GODS - NewJeans/League of Legends. Ayo?? Another LoL anthem. Still wish they were better singers tho.

RINGO - Itzy. Didn't expect to get a girl crush Itzy song out of..like, Itzy, I guess. But here we are!

Payback - Ive. A nice chill song that isn't *too* quiet. Love the "winter's coming, you'd best get going" part.

Chasing That Feeling - TXT. A nice calm synth song! Like many I wish the chorus popped off a bit more, but I'm also happy with a more laidback track.

Back For More - TXT. So groovy and sexy of them. I approve. Also I like their second version. Plus I crack up every time I hear "me pongo naughty" like I just can't take it seriously. I just can't.

That's it! Eyes Roll by (G)I-DLE almost made the list. Disappointed by Sunmi and Jini's releases. Wanted classic Sunmi and instead got an Nmixx song. I do like Nmixx, but I wanted Sunmi from Sunmi. Also I wanted more elegant and sexy songs from an EP named "An Iron Hand In A Velvet Glove." Like goddamn Jini what a letdown. Also I have yet to see her sing live.

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Myoui Mina for ELLE Japan

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MINA x ELLE JAPAN