79. melancholy - oait
Whenever oait dip into a more dance punky sound, their music is the better for it. It was true with their massively underrated 2021 single D O N K E Y !, and it's true on 2023's melancholy.
78. Some Excuse - Jeon Yoodong
The second album by Jeon Yoodong was released this year. It's called I Call It Love, Though It's Not The Word I'd Use, and it's full of the delicate and emotional folk-pop we've come to expect from him. Album closer Some Excuse is our pick.
77. 끌어당김 @traction - Love X Stereo and DA1SY D00M
This year, our favourite synth-rock duo, Love X Stereo, released a series of collaborations with DA1SY D00M (aka Mindy Song). Of all the music that came out of this partnership, we're choosing the epic electronica of @traction.
76. CINDERELLA MODE - MADDYXP
The music of MADDYXP is an absolute shit mix of electronic musical ideas, from the darkest depths of techno to the pure joy of garage pop. CINDERELLA MODE is a pop track with a helping of electro-thrash for dessert. Really great stuff.
75. Floweing Plant - Adios Audio
Another band who had a fantastic year that included a performance at Pentaport was Adios Audio. Flowing Plant is a piano-driven rock track that is both dark and epic.
74. Don't Look Back! But... - sucozy
It's hard to say why sucozy's city pop-inspired smooth disco pop hasn't caught on. He has all the ingredients to be massive. With chilled synth-pop like Don't Look Back! But..., it is surely only a matter of time.
73. Fairy Time - Yojung
"FAIRY TIME!" the opening line of this song shouts before mighty morphing into a 60s psychedelic song with a heavy helping of garage rock. Extra points for the amazing video.
72. 138 - BrokenTeeth
It has been great to see BrokenTeeth go from an unknown artist to one of the stars of Korea's burgeoning shoegaze scene in such a short time. On 138, he does exactly what he does best: fuzzy emotional guitars.
71. city burns - Jowall
Ok, we're kind of cheating here. This track was taken from Jowall's debut album from 2009, Things You Are Going to See Here. But it has just been repackaged for international release, and it's such a great song, and it's our list, and we'll do what we want.
70. Bad - So!YoON!
Thanks in part to her regular partnership with RM from BTS, So!YoON! has now become a full-fledged pop megastar. Our pick for her is the track Bad, dripping with aloof, alt-R'n'B charm.
69. Everybody Hurts - Gila
New music from Korean indie veteran Gila is always a cause for celebration. This is especially true when he is putting out songs as juicy as this reflective little indie pop song.
68. kume-naom - iamyouriut
This fun and sweet indie song from Korean-Danish collab, iamyouriut, comes with an equally fun and sweet music video.
67. Vaulting Horse - CHASEDAE
Like everything CHASEDAE do, there's a healthy amount of Oasis to be heard on their sunny, singalong indie track Vaulting Horse.
66. Numb - pigfrog
This duo, made up of O3ohn and Joonie, made some of the most delicate and gorgeous synthpop you could hear, and their 2023 song Numb is no exception.
65. Soulful Energy Exchange - Airy, Livigesh, Velvet Dust
Speaking of great partnerships, our next pick is a great song from the fruitful collaboration of Airy and Livigesh. This time, they have brought in Velvet Dust for a well-textured hip-hop track.
64. See you again tomorrow - Kim Oki
While Kim Oki is best known for heartfelt ballad jazz, what makes his music so special is that it never stays one thing for very long. Here he is making smooth-as-hell, ethereal music, and we love it.
63. Unloved - Shin In Ryu
Shin In Ryu debuted back in 2018 and have since become one of Korea's most popular indie bands, thanks to their emotionally-charged, atmospheric music. Unloved sees the band in a rare loud, almost angry mood.
62. Dear My Death - Cheon Miji
Cheon Miji has been promising new music since 2021, yet, despite the sporadic release of a few surprisingly-great demos, there was nothing. Until this year when she released a double single showing both of her sides. Our pick is the ferocious and noise-driven Dear My Dear.
61. Gap Year - Offing
Gap Year is a track dedicated to refreshing yourself and making changes in your life - a sign that the artist is enjoying their time since moving to London? We like to think so.