Please just interpret this as '10 Awesome Instrumental OSTs' ... I realised as I was figuring out my top 10 that it was almost an impossible task! There are so many instrumentals, and they all have their own charm. I compiled this list by selecting my favourite 2 from each drama, then picking my top 10 from those. There are so many more which could have made the list!
I've excluded all OSTs which are either instrumental versions of or based off an OST with lyrics - simply because if I love the OST I'll love the instrumental as well, and this will just turn into an instrumental version of my Top 10 OSTs :P
10. Oh Joon Sung - Endless Crying (Cyber Voice Ver.) (City Hunter)
This instrumental reminds me of the prosecutor's death scene :( I really like how eerie the 'cyber voice' sounds, and the beats in the background have a really 'City Hunter' feel. I know it's probably because Oh Joon Sung composed all the tracks, but he's managed to slip something into the City Hunter ones which differentiate them from his other drama instrumentals.
9. Leekeugeobook - My Man, Kim Boong Do (Queen In-Hyun's Man)
I'm actually finding it really difficult to talk about why I like the instrumentals I've picked :/ They just sound good! I really like the part starting at 0:30 for this track. And it makes a lot of sense how they used traditional-sounding instruments (oh gosh my music knowledge is zilch) since this is a time-travelling drama.
8. Kim Jang Woo - Promise (Doctor Stranger)
To be completely honest I didn't pay this instrumental much attention until I saw it mentioned in a Top K-drama Instrumental OSTs video. According to my brother I have a bias towards 'epic' music (you'll see in the coming few), so I often neglected the slow instrumentals. But this track is so beautiful! Especially in the context of the storyline ... as delicate as the soft piano is, the song becomes progressively twinged with the sadness of the strings. It really reminds you of how the pure love between the leads becomes corrupted by the politics around them :'(
I actually have a hard time differentiating 'To Battle' from 'Trouble', another Healer instrumental OST. Am I the only one who thinks they sound really similar? Anyway, this one's really good at heightening suspense. I keep seeing that creepy Secretary guy whenever I hear this.
6. V.A. - Hold On There (Sassy Go Go)
Ooooh we've finally gotten to this one! If you've seen my Sassy Go Go unboxing post you would probably know that there was a bit of a commotion about this instrumental ... in short, fans were divided between thinking the singer was or was not Eunji. Turns out the singer was not Eunji, and was in fact someone called Jang Mi Young. Anyway this OST's got a really unique feel-good vibe about it, something which is also characteristic of Sassy Go Go :P I get flashbacks to the time when Kim Yeol tries to kiss drunk Yeon Doo whenever I listen to this hahaha.
5. Kim Jang Woo - I Am A Stranger (Doctor Stranger)
I'm sure everyone who watched Doctor Stranger searched up this OST! This plays almost every time an intense operation takes place ... and rightly so! Everything becomes so much more dramatic when this is playing hahaha.
4. Oh Joon Sung - Endless Run (Scholar Who Walks The Night)
Is this the only Scholar Who Walks The Night instrumental which made it onto here? Seems like another case of Master's Sun OSTs missing out on my Top 10 OSTs ... they're all consistently good unlike most dramas where there're only 1 or 2 excellent highlights, but because of that they tend to miss out on top 10 lists ><
3. Oh Joon Sung - City Hunter (City Hunter)
So. Many. Good. City. Hunter. Instrumentals. I struggled a lot with deciding between Hot Spade / Gun Fighter / Sad Run / City Hunter because they're all awesome instrumentals. I guess I went with the eponymous one!
2. V.A. - Healer 힐러 (Healer)
And here comes my ringtone :P I usually get sick with hearing whatever song I set as my ringtone since I hear it so often ... but not this one! I can't put it into words but this song is really ... uplifting? Empowering? It's probably a result of the drama though cause this instrumental was used really well, so if you haven't watched it you probably have no idea what I'm talking about haha. There's another version of this instrumental called 영원한 기억, which is slower and more delicate. I really like that one as well, you should check it out :)
1. V.A. - Circus In Court Strings (I Hear Your Voice)
Finally number one! Whenever I refer to the name of this track my mind always seems to think 'court strings' is something and that there's a circus in there hahaha. But yeah it's more Circus in Court (strings). Just like no. 2, I think a huge part of this track is the underlying emotions embedded within the drama, so the instrumental might be mediocre to someone who hasn't watched the drama. I can almost feel Park Soo Ha's desperation whenever I listen to this ...
And that's it! Top 10 Instrumental OSTs as of early 2016. It really did take a while to write this up because I'm less familiar with instrumentals, so I might not be doing another one in the near future. See you again in my next post!
