With the year of 2012 turning into 2013 a few weeks ago, there are now plenty of lists covering the best of what 2012 had to offer – so also when it comes to Korean indie music. Chris has already offered a list of his favorites on the site and our contributor has Sangha shared her lists of Top 30 Songs and Top 20 Albums of 2012 over at strange seasons.
Daum Music Bar has been publishing 2012 lists over the last week, with Korean albums #11-20 shared yesterday and the top 10 Korean albums revealed today:
1. 3rd Line Butterfly – Dreamtalk
2. Jeong Cha Sik – 격동하는 현재사
3. Lowdown 30 – 1
4. Galaxy Express – Galaxy Express
5. 9 and the Numbers – 유예(猶豫)
6. 404 – 1
7. Glen Check – Haute Couture
8. f(x) – Electric Shock
9. Jung Tae Chun, Park Eun Ok – 바다로 가는 시내버스
10. Yoon Young Bae – 좀 웃긴
11. No Respect For Beauty – Why Perish
12. Naul – Principle Of My Soul
13. eAeon – Guilt-Free
14. Method – The Constant
15. Lang Lee – 욘욘슨 (Yon Yonson)
16. Gate Flowers – Times
17. Jambinai – 차연 (Differance)
18. G-Dragon – One Of A Kind
19. Smacksoft – Follow Your Heart
20. Primary – Primary and the Messengers LP
Just like last year Daum Music Bar also listed the top 10 Korean songs, although this time with more k-pop than indie tracks:
1. Psy – “Gangnam Style”
2. 3rd Line Butterfly – “헤어지는 날 바로 오늘”
3. Busker Busker – “여수 밤바다”
4. f(x) – “Electric Shock”
5. G-Dragon – “One Of A Kind”
6. Lang Lee – “잘 알지도 못하면서”
7. Lee Hi – “1, 2, 3, 4”
8. Gain – “Bloom (피어나)”
9. Naul – “Memory of the Wind (바람기억)”
10. Kim Dae Joong – “300/30”
10. Mukimukimanmansu – “Andromeda (안드로메다)”
Music webzine Weiv offered a list of the top 15 Korean albums of 2012 right around Christmas, in (hangul) alphabetic order listing:
– 9 and the Numbers – 유예
– Glen Check – Haute Couture
– No Respect For Beauty – Why Perish
– Lowdown 30 – 1
– 404 – 1
– 3rd Line Butterfly – Dreamtalk
– f(x) – Electric Shock
– Yoon Young Bae – 좀 웃긴
– The Electric Eels – 최고의 연애
– Jeong Cha Sik – 격동하는 현재사
– Jung Tae Chun, Park Eun Ok – 바다로 가는 시내버스
– G-Dragon – One Of A Kind
– Puer Kim – ㅇ
– Smacksoft – Follow Your Heart
– 블루스 더, Blues
Korean music webzine Boda published the list of top albums of the year on New Year’s Eve:
1. 3rd Line Butterfly – Dreamtalk
2. Yoon Young Bae – 좀 웃긴
3. 404 – 1
4. 9 and the Numbers – 유예
5. f(x) – Electric Shock
6. No Respect For Beauty – Why Perish
7. Lowdown 30 – 1
8. Lang Lee – 욘욘슨 (Yon Yonson)
9. No Control – No Control
10. Hoegidong Danpyunsun – 백년
11. Jeong Cha Sik – 격동하는 현재사
12. Galaxy Express – Galaxy Express
13. Glen Check – Haute Couture
14. Naul – Principle Of My Soul
15. Epitone Project – 낯선 도시에서의 하루
16. Kang A Sol – 당신이 놓고 왔던 짧은 기억
17. Primary – Primary And The Messenger LP
18. Jinbo – KRNB
19. Smacksoft – Follow Your Heart
20. Method – The Constant
(All artist names in bold on first listing) Daum Music Bar was alone in listing eAeon, Gate Flowers and Jambinai; weiv the only to list The Electric Eels and Puer Kim; and Boda the only to list No Control, Hoegidong Danpyunsun, Epitone Project, Kang A Sol and Jinbo. It seems there is a pretty strong consensus on which the very best Korean albums of the year were with 3rd Line Butterfly being the clear favorite.
In addition to the lists compiled by critics and fans, there are also the awards to highlight outstanding efforts. We covered the Mint Paper Awards a few weeks ago, for some Korean indie music on the softer side, but there’s more to come. Those into hiphop may want to vote for Hiphop Playa Awards – open till February 4th; and the nominees for the most prestigious awards of all–the Korean Music Awards–will be announced next week.