Playlist: Rookies, kindie & idols - Up10tion, OMG, Mintty, Bizzy and more

Rookies of the moment

UP10TION - Attention

This 10-piece had two singles last year, and although they had great choreography, the songs were not that special. Well, hello 2016. They’ve turned to Hyuk Shin/Joombas (Growl, Dream Girl, TVXQ’s Heaven’s Day, Oh My Girl’s Cupid) for a funky hip-hop pop jam with a killer melody and arrangement. The bass is a subdued hum linked to the kick drum; doing little more than providing a reverberating bottom end. There doesn’t seem to be a vocal giant among them but the song does all the heavy lifting and the dancing - damn. It’s so tight. Laden with perfectly executed canons and laced with delicious slutty embellishments. Gonna be chasing this one on the Seoul shows until the goodbye stages.

Let's take a moment to bask in Jinhoo's awesomeness.

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BIZZY - All I Need

MFBTY’s Bizzy has joined up with Bum Zu, co-writer of Seventeen’s Mansae, Nu’Est’s Overcome and something from Taemin’s Press It album that I can’t find right now. Dude is the man of the moment. Not that Bizzy probably needs his help but I guess it never hurts to have a golden boy at your side. This is a pleasant hodgepodge of jazzy old-school rap and honeyed chorus with whispered lady vocals ("Bizzy, Bizzy, Bizzy, can’t you see? Somehow your words just hypnotise me"). There’s a bit of twanging guitar and some scratching on the decks. All bases covered.

JINBO - The sound of spring’s arrival

Jinbo’s soundcloud avatar is Alexis Carrington. That would be enough to make me fall under his spell, but then there is this: 4:15 minutes of perfection. A hip-hop pulse with smooth lead vocal, cascading strings and bossa-style vocal harmonies for the break. I am in love. His label is Superfreak Records. All right. There are some other cool sounds on his soundcloud, so head on over.

OH MY GIRL - Knock Knock

Despite their fantastic roller skate shoes, Liar Liar hasn’t grabbed me the way Closer and Cupid did. This album track is a winner though. It’s a co-write by Andreas Oberg, who co-wrote OMG’s Hot Summer Nights and Curious, Shinee’s Black Hole and Chocolate and Red Velvet’s One of these Nights, among others. It’s a breezy little thing, driven by an organ riff, with some scratchy guitar filling it out, and a bunch of layered vocals, sung and rapped, weaving in and out. Reminds me a little of Dal Shabet’s fantastic Holyru.

SAM KIM - No

An irresistible acoustic jazz-funk jam from the Korean-American runner-up of K-pop Star Season 3. Kim grew up in Washington state. He’s a fine guitarist, and a soulful singer; his voice developing a thrilling raspiness as he reaches for the high notes on this number, which he composed himself: “I told you once/I told you twice/I told you EVERY DAY”. Also he is pretty cute.

ROSE MOTEL - Stranger

This bunch of crazy looking dudes - most un-idol-like - popped up on Inkigayo (the show with, like, the most cred, right?) (Right?), with one of the CNBlue guys helping out (so there was a bit of glamour). They became famous when they went on the survival show Top Band 2 - yes, an idol show - a few years back. Their song Bong-sook Ah, about a drunk night out, went viral. This is a cool number; stripped back, with syncopated guitar, snaking bass and crooned vocals.

LOOK KING - Tough Lady

Oh babe, don’t dance in the middle of the road! Ow! This boy with the strange name has his MJ moves and grooves but the song is as addictive as any I’ve heard in a while. It has a chilled groove with a cool piano riff that embeds in the brain, percussive strings and a weird shuddering electronic sound like a gecko on the wall at midnight. The languid melody is beautifully sung. The dance moves in the MV are a bonus.

MINTTY - True Love

The b-side of the Tiny G member’s single shows a radically different style. Already Go Lady is hard-ass electronic hip-hop number; it’s a little tired. True Love is one of those chirpy, upbeat pop songs that fell out of fashion everywhere in the world a few decades ago. Except Korea. It diverts to the requisite on-trend breakdown, before going back to the skippy tra-la-las. Adorable.

HISTORY - Queen

I’ve been a fan of this band since the fantastic electronic pop track Psycho but this didn’t grab me at first. All farty sax and stuttering percussion; not enough melody. Then I saw them dance in suits and I decided: melody; what? Actually something about the minimalism of the whole thing suddenly just made sense. There is hardly a dud track on the mini though; the whole thing is co-written by bandmember Jang Yi-jeong. You’re probably already on it. If not; get on it. Boom, boom, boom, boom.