These Songs Are Rad: February 2015

February came and went — much like Kim Hyun Joong’s career — and while it wasn’t the most exciting month for music in Korea, I still found myself vibing to a few releases. Largely indie and K-hip-hop stuff. Check out my faves of February below and I’ll see everyone later this month when I venture into the insanity of SXSW 2015, with full coverage on Asian Junkie. Stay tuned!

Azin – “Delete”
You really can’t go wrong with Pastel if you’re looking for indie gems, and Azin is one of them. Koreanindie has a great review of her EP on their website. Definitely check it out for a bit more information on her (link).

Zion T, Crush – “Just”
I can always kick it to a bluesy, R&B driven slow song and these two guys delivered on all fronts for me. If you’re freezing your ass off like I am (and I live in Texas, mind you), this song and music video sits perfectly in a winter playlist.

Now where’s my goddamn latte…

Saltnpaper – “완벽해요 (ft. 박신혜)”
Speaking of chill, winter playlists, go ahead and throw this one in. Saltnpaper brings the melancholy in full force with this song and it’s absolutely delightful.

Hong Dan Ah – “탓탓탓 (ft. 스윙스)”
I don’t remember where I was or what I was doing when I stumbled across Hong Dan Ah, but I’m effing glad I did. I’ve been on the prowl for a sexy soulful voice a la Amy Winehouse and I think I might have found her. I’m definitely keeping my eyes on this one.

Also, Swings is in here.

MYNAME – “too very so MUCH”
Confession time: I’m a MYNAME fan. Like, I didn’t even know it till I found myself super excited for their February comeback. They have yet to let me down, and stupid song title aside — too very so much, really? — I’m here and fully present for this.

Giriboy, Mad Clown, JooYoung, NO.MERCY – “0 (YOUNG)”
When I first listened to this song and watched the MV, I was really feeling it. Then I found out it was a project single under Starship’s NO.MERCY boyband Hunger Games competition thing, and you can probably guess what happened next.

I watched every episode, got invested in the members, and now it’s safe to say I’m sort of maybe really looking forward to Monsta X’s debut later this year (Monsta X is the winning boyband name. Yeah, whatever I’ll take it). I hope Starship doesn’t rush them out the gate though, and opts to refine their talent because there’s promise in their work.

4Minute – “Crazy”
I dedicated an entire blog post to this song, so I’ll spare you the details here and direct you to everything I had to say about it with this convenient link.

If you have some memorable February releases of your own, share them in the comments section below. I’d love to find out what you guys are listening to at the moment.

March is setting out to be a hectic month for me, which means I’ll have tons of things to share and write about hopefully. SXSW 2015 is in a couple weeks, so if you’re interested to see what I’ll be up to during the festival don’t forget to follow me @hey_arrrrnold on Twitter and Instagram for updates.