Dickpunks - Let's Play In The Han River

As summer starts to wind down, I'm still looking for those perfect tracks for the hot weather. The unfortunately-named Dickpunks have released a few this season, despite being all but ignored by the k-pop fandom at large. We Young was a dance-infused departure for them that paid off big time, but Let's Play In The Han River may just be better. It's a bouncy, uber-joyful throwback track that displays what I love most about this band. The vocals, the singalong melody, and the pure musicianship just put me in a great mood from start to finish. It's one of those timeless tracks that could easily slot itself in any decade it wanted to. Lucky for us, the guys decided to release it this year. It's quickly become my favorite song they've recorded.

w-inds. - In Love With The Music

Earlier this month, K-Pop group Shinee got "Married to the Music." Even before that, though, J-Pop group w-inds. was "In Love with the Music." I like to think that these two songs are related, and it's not just because of the titles. Both groups are mining a very discofied, MJ-before-he-was-MJ style of 70's dance pop for their latest releases. It's actually a trend I've been noticing in Asian music for the past few months, and while I can't say it's my absolute favorite decade to throw back to, the trend has resulted in some pretty awesome songs. Now about w-inds... I've been exploring the vast world of J-Pop for the past month or so. It's super exciting, but pretty difficult due to the fact that Japan doesn't make it as easy as Korea for foreigners to discover new music. Recommendations are always helpful, but sometimes the itunes store is also my friend. Much of the poppier side of J-Pop doesn't seem to be available there, but I discovered w-inds. through the store. I don't think they'll be the type of band where I end up loving every single thing they release, but this most recent single is pretty undeniable. It's so catchy and summery, and I love the big drums in the breakdown.

Swiss Lips - Got It Bad

Swiss Lips are back with a new track on their soundcloud feed, and as usual I'm inclined to share it here. This is a band that never broke out big, despite releasing a string of excellent synth-rock tracks. And now they've unfortunately announced their disbandment. Sadly, they just never produced that one song that'd become a hit for them, despite a discography full of excellent material. Got It Bad may be their best song yet, particularly that grand, intensely jubilant backing track. I talked about Sound Of Arrows last Friday, and the music in the second half of this reminds me of something those guys would have created. It has that vast, slightly interstellar feel to it (if music can be described as "interstellar"!). The song is taken from their upcoming second (and last) album, which from the samples sounds like it could be quite good.