Listen for the groovy Niga Pilyohae [RealAudio] by g.o.d on the radio station of your choice. This Inspector Gadget-ish piece from g.o.d's third album has a bit of a funk beat and is generally just good for toe-tapping. Guhjitmal (Lie) [RealAudio] off the same album did quite well for the group, but I wasn't so sure anything else would move forward (or up, as the case may be). The more I listen to Niga Pilyohae, however, the more I like it.

I would count Diva's Ee Gyuhoolae [RealAudio] in the three or four chart toppers that I really like this month. The flamenco guitar gives it a Euro flare, and it's got some pep to it. Attentive listeners will hear the Doris Day song "Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps" (made newly famous a couple of years ago in the touching dance scene behind the curtain with Scott and Fran in the movie Strictly Ballroom) in the background. I like this song enough that I'm willing to forgive the poor use of English, and that's a big move for me.

Surely Wax paid heavy royalties for remaking Cyndy Lauper's She-Bop into Oppa [RealAudio]. I was grooving along, thinking, "Hey, this is kind of a cool song," when suddenly I realized, "Hey, I know that song1x" And although my allegiance obviously lies with the original version, I'll say that I this song was pretty nifty, too. It cracked me up and kept me from finishing this article because I kept replaying it over and over.

Kim Sung Jib's Giyak [RealAudio] is hovering around the number ten position on several countdown charts. The song has a "traditional Chinese" sound, the type of music you hear in the most poignant moments of old martial arts movies. It's a pretty ballad and has some sweeping, romantic moments.

Another tasty ballad is I Love You [RealAudio] by Position. Two thumbs up for actually knowing that "saranghae" and "I Love You" mean the same thing. Usually pop groups interpret "saranghae" as "pork chops flying over my head" or something similarly meaningless. Grammar lessons aside, this is just a sweet piece of song. It's soft, and it's a ballad, but it's not boring.

In terms of subject matter and emotion, Position's I Love You and Flower's Endless [RealAudio] are almost interchangeable. I'm going to come down on the side of Position, but that doesn't mean I don't like this single by Flower. This song is more like a ballad on steroids. It has a lot of power and substance in the vocal track and is backtrack is fleshed out and given some depth (ie., it doesn't rely on a single synthesizer).

I'm trying to cut S.E.S. slack, but every time I hear Gamssaaneumyuh [RealAudio], I have to rededicate myself to liking this group. I wish someone would write to me and explain the allure of this song. Someone must like it, since it appears over and over again in the top five, but I just don't get it. Just because the song is supposed to be soulful and artistic doesn't mean it actually is. All I hear is wailing.

Also in the land of lukewarm reviews exists Paran [RealAudio] by the group Koyotae. I have generally positive feelings about Koyotae, but I'm not sure why made this song made it so high up the charts. This is a completely techno song and very much within the scope of what Koyotae tends to produce. After listening to this song several times, I don't see that it has much character. It is really just uninventive techo/dance music.

To finish on a positive note, listen to Gyuhool Eeyahgi [RealAudio] by Can. The tone of this music is a cross between a rock-and-roll classic and a bratpack soundtrack from the 1980s. I like the simplicity of this song. It isn't demanding, cryptic or complicated, but instead it has that straightforward anthem quality that makes for a good soundtrack cut.

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