Ever since the divine chants of the 2008 SOTY oblivious Kalafina (my favourite Japanese band, by the way) have always delivered quality HYMNS but then something happened to them circa 2014 and far on the water couldn't match the same level of mournful wailing as their previous efforts. One Light is the closest I've got from it. Also, it was used in Arslan Senki's ED.
19. Ailee - Mind Your Own Business
Better than Beyonce's discography, CASE CLOSED.
18. Kinoko Teikoku - YOUTHFUL ANGER
I remember suggesting KT to my good sis Kxvk and I PRAY he didn't start with their last album which conceals its underwhelming content behind a cute album cover. It's a shame because their shoegaze-inspired discography prior to Neko to Allergy is great and everyone who wants to leave their j-pop confort zone could start there. YOUTHFUL ANGER is the only song I saved and it KNOCKS. It's kind of similar to Slay Bells and Yeah Yeah Yeahs, but with some Japanese quirk.
17. Ji Min, IRON - PUSS
I'm yet to finish both seasons of UR (I'll do that on holidays, I promise), but it's a well-known and established fact that the songs from there always put mainstream k-pop to shame. PUSS is simple and unpretentious, yet it blows everything the **** out of the water with its fierceness. QUEEN.
16. Ayumi Hamasaki - Sayonara feat. SpeXial
I honestly have no real issues with Ayu's music (aside from the fact that it is obviously not on par with her 90's-00's stuff which is fine, who IS hanging there with same amount of material?). Anyway, Sayonara was a decent bop and originally the top 5 for this year until I explored a little bit and caught up with the latest novelties. Nonethless, it still sounds good to my ears and I'm anticipating her next effort (even more after the slayage of MCM).
Kinda flopping, but this update includes some ATRL-acclaimed acts!
15. AISHA - CANDY LOVE
AISHA is a cute post-JASMINE act, but she posesses own personality and hits straight to the heart. This is not about CANDY LOVE, though, which is, according to the comments under the video, is a Shake it Off knock-off (I can't hear it, but maybe you can). It's a pure *****-bopping track and, while it's far from being her best even in 2015 alone, I love how polished, fluent and accessible it is.
14. a MEI / AMIT - Freak Show
I'll leave my expression of admiration for the album write-up (), for now I'm going to say only the following: 1) All tracks titled Freakshow I know SLAY. 2) I love the fairytale-ish feel it has, this is the way the songs are supposed to be. 3) She's singing something similar to "moshimo" which is used to emphasize condition in Japanese. WHAT KIND OF POLYGLOT QUEEN.
13. lecca - shine
Well snatch me legecca with probably the best Asian ballad this year.
12. Red Velvet - Dumb Dumb
I hated it at first and the whole RV craze seemed strange to me, but it has grown on me considerably and to the point of knocking ICC out of the countdown. It is, in fact, a cleverly written and elaborated track that promised a lot (let's not talk about The Red). The MV is also all over the place and artsy-fartsy to the backbone which makes it a full-fledged successor to Up&Down.
11. f(x) - 4 Walls
The essense of love is laid out in this ANTHEM. Love is 4 walls... Educate us legends.
But wait at this tea: ''1) All tracks titled Freakshow I know SLAY'
It's a really unique track for her too, that accordion (?) intro is amazing.
That's EXACTLY what hapened to me with DD.
At first I was like: ''The **** is this awful Bang Bang rehash '' but it turned out such much better as I kept listening to it. It's my fave single by them, but I sill think they can do better!