My J-Pop Collection 2023

The J-Pop Collection post for 2023 is not an exciting one and is starting off on a sad note. Unfortunately I had to declutter a large amount of my T-ARA Japanese singles at one point of the year. The story is that when I first got these CD's along with some others from Yahoo Auctions, they stunk of cigarettes. Like super strong! At the time, I managed to get the smell out or so I thought. The CD's that had the jewel case type were okay but the ones in cardboard sleeves were not. I always kept them in a separate box due to the smell and I came across the box whilst cleaning. The smell still hadn't gone from them and I decided it was a sign to clear something out of my collection. At least I still have the songs in my iTunes and maybe one day I'll re-buy them. Until them, my T-ARA collection has shrunk to just these five titles: two albums and 3 singles (one from the subunit QBS).

Everything else in the J-Pop collection is the same as 2022 as I didn't buy any new titles. No Zenmarket purchases as it is too expensive to import nowadays and some of the items I want are rare to find. I occasionally check Yahoo Auctions and I cannot find listings for some of the older CD's I want. No clue where I'll buy from Zenmarket again, maybe if the exchange rate is amazing. I'm thinking about getting some albums off iTunes as it is easier and I don't have to store the CDs which is totally up my alley as I'm big into decluttering in 2024.

Lately I have been listening to a few of my E-girls albums and I forgot how much I love E.G. Crazy! That album is so good and is full of great songs for the gym. That is where I have mainly been listening to it along with some of the singles like E.G Summer Rider. Crazy to think I'm still missing E-girls singles from this photo! Only a few more releases I need from them to complete my collection of one of each of their discography. Also my yearly compliant of the last Dream Ami single not matching the rest as it doesn't have an outer sleeve. Still bummed about that one.

My K-Pop Collection 2023

The end of 2023 is upon us and that means it is time to round up my K-Pop collection for another year. Pretty much only purchased Korean releases this year and no Japanese ones. Luckily I was able to obtain all the albums locally in my city. The main music store here which is JB Hi-Fi has a decent K-Pop collection and it was easy to find ones I was interested in. Let's get straight into it!

First off we have aespa who are the main group that i follow nowadays. I don't stan the group but I always make sure to get their new releases. Aespa is the only girl group that my local store stocks regularly and you can always find a few different versions. All of the albums shown except Girls are purchases in 2023. I pre-ordered My World and was fortunate enough to get the Zine version which was the one I wanted! Plus I got Ningning's photocard! I eventually found the World version at another JB Hi-Fi. The Drama albums are a recent purchase from last week and I wasn't too sure about getting them. Originally they were listed as online only and wouldn't be available in store. Then the listing changed and I was able to order them. It was impossible though to tell what the versions were so I did some research online. I got the big two photobook version and the what I believe is the retail exclusive version of the Giant one. It isn't the Target exclusive as it doesn't have the same inclusions and you get the English message photocard. It is pretty easy to buy other versions of aespa albums in store and it is always those poster versions which I'm not interested in. Just not at the price they are set at and I doubt it would drop.

Isn't this the most aesthetically pleasing photo of this post? So gorgeous and I love the hardbook structure of Red Velvet releases. Previously I only had four of these albums and got two new ones in 2023. Russian Roulette and Summer Magic are the new additions and I adore how they are the same size as the other smaller ones. Rookie is just chilling there being gigantic and The Red I've had forever. The store I brought it from isn't even around anymore.

This year I wasn't planning on collecting more releases from Oh My Girl but I lucked out with finding their latest mini album stocked in my local store. Seems such an old girl group to find so easily available. Love the design on these two albums and all the inclusions were gorgeous. I'm a big fan of bookmarks being included in albums recently as that is definitely something that I will use often. Also picked up their first mini album which I ordered specifically in as the price was quite reasonable.

My CD Collection

Since I always post my J-Pop and K-Pop CD collections on the blog, I thought wouldn't it be fun to post all the other CD's I own. This collection is one that I have been building since I was little and has grown and shrunk in size over the years. Sometimes I clear out titles because I don't enjoy them anymore or no longer have room and need to make room for new additions. Like I had every So Fresh from its inception in 2000 up until about 2004 when I stopped buying them. Also had other Australian compilation CD's such as Pepsi Chart Hits and 100% Hits. The latter ones are no longer around but So Fresh is still going strong in 2023. All the CD's will be organised into artists where possible like my other collection posts and I will try to note whereabouts I purchased the album if I can remember all the older ones. Let's get into it!

First off is my Sophie Ellis-Bextor collection and I would say that she is my favourite solo artist. Trying to collect her entire discography and it is going quite well. I had Shoot From The Hip on order at JB Hi-Fi but turns out it was deleted so my order had to be cancelled. Need to order one from Discogs along with Song Diaries and her Kitchen Disco - Live at The London Palladium which was released last year. This isn't available at my local CD store sadly but it seems easy to get online. She did announce a new album scheduled for June and cannot wait to get that one. Not really focusing on collecting Sophie's singles and I only buy them if I come across them which is only ever Murder On The Dancefloor. That single is all over the op-shops on the western side of my city, must've been popular out there. Out of these I got Wanderlust, Familia, Make A Scene and Songs From The Kitchen Disco from JB Hi-Fi. Read My Lips and Murder On The Dancefloor single were op-shop finds and Trip The Light Fantastic I found at a random CD stall for $2 that was set-up by my old work years ago.

Next is the Kaiser Chiefs albums who I've been collecting since they first came out. I remember being so excited for Employment as I had seen their music videos on Channel V and was obsessed with their music. Currently my favourite album is Duck however I was super into Yours Truly Angry Mob for years. Now you might notice that I have two copies of Souvenir and that is because one copy I got from the UK as a gift and some of the tracks skip. I kind of just put up with it as I had the songs on other CDs however I found the Australian version of the album on clearance for 99 cents so I brought it. And now I have two! So one copy of Souvenir, Stay Together, Off With Their Heads and Education Education Education & War came from some UK video game site that also sold CDs and they were a Christmas gift. Employment and Yours Truly came from JB Hi-Fi many years ago when they were released and Souvenir and Duck were more recently purchased there. The Future Is Medieval I had to get through Ebay as I couldn't find it at JB's and I think I brought it from a seller in New South Wales. Hopefully the group will release a new album soon as Duck was super good and I'd like to see a follow up.

Now for some good old compilation albums and some of these are super old. I brought the Wayne's World soundtracks back in the 2000's when we travelled interstate. We didn't have JB Hi-Fi in my state yet so it was super exciting to find CDs for $9.99 and a bigger range than the usual shops we had at home. The Blues Brothers and A Night At The Roxbury are more JB Hi-Fi purchases and the Roxbury is the best album ever but I might be saying that as that movie is one of my all-time favourites. It is just so hilarious and the 90's music is amazing. The Ultimate 90s compilation was one that we were throwing out at work so I took it as it was a favourite of mine on our old CD player. The Legally Blonde 2 soundtrack was one I brought from Amazon US back in the day and I've always thought about decluttering it. I never listen to it however it looks so pretty!