Board Thread:Off-Topic/@comment-29512888-20200110193448

Hello everyone! Welcome to a new musical series of mine called Weekly Boost, with weekly playlists to spice your weekend up! Each playlist features 5 non-Korean songs and 5 Korean songs, which can be from any year and any artist (although I'll try to avoid hits as much as possible).

As for my Best of the Month series, sorry for not continuing it, university swallwed almost all my free time and I could barely keep up with new stuff, let alone finalise the drafts of my lists. I initially tried to make up for everything by focusing solely on the End of the Year lists, but it drew me even farther away from the new stuff.

Without further ado, let's get started!

Dubstep was a huge thing in K-Pop in 2013, but almost everyone failed miserably at incoroporating it in their songs because they always shoved an awkward breakdown or some out-of-place synths in songs that belonged to totally different genres. The producer for "Ring Ma Bell", however, escaped the trap by focusing on bringing proper melodies and harmonies to the table, combined with a raunchy bass and an angelic atmosphere. Didn't expect to put "angelic" and "dubstep" together, but hey, that's the mnagic of K-Pop! Easily one of the best debuts of 2019, "God Girl" takes a page out of Mamamoo's early catalogue and reworks it into a brand new song that keeps all of the original strength intact (cool brass, catchy chorus and powerful vocals). It even has a Lady Marmalade-like breakdown - if that's not a sign of absolute gold, then I don't know what is. IZ have spent the entirety of 2019 trying to push DAY6 out of my bias list (who haven't really kept up with the quality), and this is their magnum opus so far, with some great guitars and a truly heart-wrenching chorus. After sifting through my candidates for the Best of 2019 list and comparing it with Spectrum Pulse's, I quickly realised how much more informed he is in music and how much time I wasted with boring garbage and stale pop when I could have easily listened to his suggestions and found more awesomeness. "The Killing Kind" is exactly the type of song my list needed back in the day, with its grandiose instrumentation and the frontman screaming his lungs out while trying to distance himself from an unhealthy relationship. Another gem from Spectrum Pulse's recommendations, which leans more towards an emo side and tackles the topic of sexual abuse with great care and detail. Finally a song that was not recommended by Spectrum Pulse, thank goodness. Didn't really feel anything over this song at first, but a second listen illuminated my mind and a quick read of the lyrics made it glow like a star, filling it with pleasure and lovely feelings. Not really into fka twigs generally but damn, this song is a true masterpiece. From the ominous choirs in the background to the creepines of it all, there just isn't anything not to like about it. Another song that required a couple listens to grow on me. The cheerleader-styled adlibs are kind of annoying, but the amazing churning synths and the fast pace were just too engaging to be ignored. The entire cake is topped by one hell of a chorus that will make you bounce relentlessly until you run out of breath. One of the best K-Pop songs of 2019 (as well as Tiffany's best post-SNSD song ever). If you don't believe me, then listen to it and try not to fall in love for the vocal effects and the space-like keyboards in the chorus. OK so Gabbie Hanna might be in some hot water lately, but I can't deny that this is a pretty solid ballad. The lyrics are very detailed and heartfelt, and the word "butterflies" paired with those strings in the chorus just gets me.

That's all for today! Hope you enjoyed, and see you next Friday! 