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Thursday, January 02, 2014

Countdowns Wrap-Up: Top 5 EPs

The music industry is in continual change, and one of the things I've noticed (especially internationally) is that more and more artists are choosing to release EPs rather than albums. I don't think it's fair to pit them against full-length albums, as it's easier to have five awesome songs than it is to have twelve, but I also wanted to make sure that these amazing releases got their due on my blog. So here they are... my top five EPs of 2013.
 

1. The Fooo
I used to not be enthralled with the idea of a boyband, but that was before they started churning out some of the best pop music around. The Fooo are young, fresh and bring an extraordinarily high energy to the pop scene. Best of all? Each song is a solid gold hit and comes with its own promo video. There's no filler here.


2. Anton Ewald - A
Fresh off of his Melodifestivalen success, Ewald opted for an EP rather than a full-length, and that was a smart choice because it allowed him to distill what was great about his hit single Beggin' and craft a handful of other tracks that lived up to its promise. No dreary ballads here, just great Scandinavian pop music.And from the sound of his new track (which I'm sure I'll write about next week), this is just the tip of the iceberg.


3. Henry - Trap
Probably the most Americanized K-Pop release of the year (it even has a song entirely in English), this still manages to take the best from both worlds and work as a really solid endeavor in international radio pop. No pretensions beyond those of making some incredibly catchy tracks.


4. Diviney - Sex Games
The Short Stack frontman stepped out with an extension of the sound from his band's most recent album. Self-financed through a Kickstarter-like format, I was delighted that he was able to get the music out in this way.


5. Seungri - Let's Talk About Love
Big Bang's youngest member released his second EP, and it definitely improved on the first with a string of excellent r&b flavored dance tracks. Guest spots from fellow bandmates G-Dragon and Taeyang certainly didn't hurt.

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