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Category Archives: Music: K-pop

A meeting with Yeongene

27-Nov-08

By Anna Lindgren If you're into Korean music and have a thing for cute pop you are probably already familiar with Linus' Blanket (left). And if you are, you are probably well aware that the name of the band's adorable vocalist is Yeongene (연진) (right). It has been a few years since Linus' Blanket last released a CD of their own, and it has also been a few years since Yeongene had her name on a front cover. But this is all about to change next year. Yeongene was kind enough to provide a few details on the future as well as answers to my questions on the past in an e-mail interview. Let's start with Linus' Blanket. The band formed in ...

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Dong Bang Shin Ki (TVXQ) #4: Mirotic

30-Oct-08

(SM Entertainment, September 2008) Stern(9,g) Review by Jo Wakely After one year and seven months TVXQ’s eagerly awaited 4th Korean album is finally here. The release date was put back by two days because of pre-sales in the region of 330,000. How SME failed to realise that there would be a rush on this long-awaited album is a mystery. Estimated over the counter sales on the day of release were said to be in the region of 36,000. Long queues formed outside record shops in Seoul as TVXQ-deprived Korean fans waited to get their hands on the album. The album has been released in two formats so far, version A (top left) containing ten tracks and a DVD containing footage of the members ...

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Lee Soo Young: Eighth album

12-Oct-08

(Manine Media, 2007) Stern(8,g) There’s something reassuring about a Lee Soo Young album. You try to explore different genres of music, some of which may be exciting and original, and others may be frankly rather tiresome. And then you come to Lee Soo Young and it’s like returning home. It’s a bit like comfort food. It doesn’t ask too much of you, and you know it’s probably not very good for you, but it’s warm, it envelops you, and it makes you think for a while that everything in the world is just fine. Lee’s Eighth brings together some of the same composers as her recent albums, and we have the same skilled orchestrations. Composer Hwang Sung Jae is continuing his exploration of ...

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Can BoA eat up the U.S. of A.?

18-Sep-08

Despite the hallyu’s success in Asia, today’s Korean pop stars have yet to make it big in the States. Yes, we’ve seen a Korean or two in a Hollywood film or on Comedy Central, but concerts have been fairly localised, and the high-profile tour by Rain never got off the ground. And we’ve yet to see JYP’s investment in his US operation make any significant payback. Can BoA succeed where Rain failed? She has been achieving significant success in Japan, where her language skills have helped her to make the breakthrough. All the while she has been honing her English, preparing for the onslaught on the US. She’s even prepared to tackle some questions in English at a press conference. Her backers ...

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So Hot?

06-Sep-08

The official provider of broadband services to the LKL household has been looking East. As part of their Hot Girl Group series Virgin Media has noticed JYP's teenage girl band Wonder Girls. Number 8 in a list containing 7 other girl groups whose average age is at least 5 years older than them, the performers of annoying, catchy and perfectly crafted pop songs are brought to the attention of the UK public. Branson's pop researchers highlight Wonder Girls "comeback" single So Hot (did they ever go away?) as the one to listen out for. Who: Where Japan have J-pop (an abbreviation of Japanese pop), Korea have K-pop, and these five young ladies are leading exponents of the genre. Attempts to expand into ...

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Rollercoaster #5: Triangle

04-Aug-08

T-Entertainment, March 2006 Stern(5,g) Rollercoaster's fifth album was released in 2006, after a gap of 2 years since the almost flawless fourth. Gone is the sense of rhythmic drive, of energy, of joie de vivre. Instead we have something a bit more laid back, less characterful. I had been warned that the fifth album was a disappointment after the band’s previous efforts, but being a completist I decided to search it out anyway. My adviser was right. While the music is pleasant enough, it doesn't really justify getting out the credit card if you already have their previous albums. Here's a video of the fourth track, 숨길 수 없어요 (Can't hide it) [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFizzuUwkHg[/youtube] Links Buy Rollercoaster Triangle at YesAsia Related posts:Rollercoaster # 2: Il Sang Da Ban ...

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Alex: My Vintage Romance

02-Aug-08

Fluxus Music, June 2008 Stern(2,g) As a fan of Clazziquai, I wish I could be more enthusiastic about the first solo outing of one of its members, the male vocalist Alex. On the plus side, he has a mellow, well-controlled voice, very pleasant to listen to. And he has a reasonably distinguished line-up of guest stars. And that's about where it ends. An endless stream of undistinguished compositions utilising most of the tired cliches of the Korean ballad / lounge / slow pop genre. A well performed collection, but ultimately a bit pointless. Links Buy My Vintage Romance at YesAsia Related posts:Kangta #3: Persona (March 2005) This album is a winner. Some might dismiss...Kwak’s next film a lower-budget romance At last night’s Q&A following ...

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A meeting with Sunflower - 해바라기

05-Jul-08

Anna Lindgren meets with one of the fathers of modern Korean folk music, with special assistance from Jeon Sung-min. A few years ago I came across a stunningly beautiful folk piece. It was called 내마음의 보석상자 and it had been recorded by 해바라기, Sunflower, in 1986. After getting my hands on a couple of Sunflower compilations, I could conclude that Sunflower offered some of the highest quality music I had ever heard coming out of Korea. By a lucky chance it turned out that a friend of Philip, Jeon Sung Min, is the nephew of Sunflower founder and leader Lee Joo Ho. He kindly agreed to interview his uncle for me when they would meet next time. The text below could ...

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Music at the Dano!

15-Jun-08

Saharial wraps up on our coverage of the 2008 Dano Korea Summer Festival, and launches the LKL YouTube Channel with exclusive live video footage from her camera. Its now a week on from the Festival, but the memories still linger very happily. Of course, there was more going on than Noridan, with three musical sets Guy Barker, Tomi Kita and of course Y.B. (Yoon Band). Guy Barker, pictured above, went down well with the crowd, especially on his mention of Kim Duk Soo and his visit to Korea to work with him. It’s a shame that schedule constraints made it impossible for them to play together, but hopefully this can be resolved next year to provide an interesting set. Tomi Kita played the ...

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Imagination at play with Noridan

12-Jun-08

Saharial meets with the members of Noridan, the unexpected stars of the Dano Festival. Before going to the Dano festival in Trafalgar Square this year, the highlight for me was going to see the Yoon Band play again and feel thoroughly spoiled for having the opportunity twice. Much to my surprise, I actually found that the Performance group Noridan was the real highlight for me to the extent that most of my pictures and video clips were of the three sets they did. As the opening act of the festival, they began with a parade around Trafalgar Square pausing in front of the main steps for dance and drumming before continuing back to their start point. Despite the weather being already hot, ...

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Yoon and Tall Lee crowd-surf in Kingston

07-Jun-08

Saharial reports from the Yoon Band's gig at The Peel, Kingston, 6 June 2008 Arriving at 5.30pm, Y.B. (Yoon Band) was almost instantly swamped by the dozen or so Korean youngsters that had been lurking for a while, and amiably chatted to them whilst posing for photos and signing autographs. I chatted briefly to Lee from Steranko, one of the support acts, who knew Yoon Do Hyun from the days he had been in Korea. His band had been banned from Korea now since the Couch incident where the singer had stripped entirely during a performance. Lee’s performance is frenetic and involves shirt removal and swearing, probably why they found themselves no longer welcome in a Korea suddenly sensitive to rock ...

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The versatile Yoon Band plays London

21-May-08

Saharial introduces the talents of the Yoon Band, which will be performing in Trafalgar Square on 8 June When I heard that the Yoon Band was coming to the UK for two gigs in June, I was almost jumping round my room with excitement. That my room is rather small and I suffered a few blows to the knee, bears testament to the reputable talent heading our way. To many K-pop fans, the band’s founder and lead vocalist Yoon Do Hyun is best known for hosting the KBS music and talk show Yoon Do Hyun’s Love Letter. The show that has a wide and faithful audience, and the format attempts to be diverse and encouraging of singers ranging from ...

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A meeting with The Invisible Fish

05-May-08

Anna Lindgren continues her series of interviews with interesting musicians When only a few days remained of 2006, Korea's most distinguished indie folk duo said "goodbye" with the release of their second full album. We were many that didn't quite want to believe it - of course there were other prominent folk acts, but nothing quite like Bluedawn. The two members still make music on their own, however, and last month the male half, slowzz, released an EP that should make all former Bluedawn fans still restless feel more at ease. With much assistance from mrkwang I managed to perform an email interview with him to learn more on his solo project, The Invisible Fish. slowzz, real name Jung Sang Hoon, ...

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Radio Pyongyang

28-Apr-08

Anna Lindgren explores some music from north of the DMZ Two years ago, I found myself browsing the homepage of Seattle-based label Sublime Frequencies. They offer some really interesting CDs and DVDs, but with my interest in most things related Korea the CD called "Radio Pyongyang: Commie Funk and Agit Pop from the Hermit Kingdom" was the one that got me most curious. I got myself a copy and finally - here's a review! From Sublime Frequencies: Schmaltzy synthpop, Revolutionary rock, Cheeky child rap, and a healthy dose of hagiography for Dear Leader Kim Jong-il, this is the now NOW sound of North Korea! A hermit kingdom with a rich folk history and an even richer tradition in over-the-top praise for the ruling House ...

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A meeting with Zitten

17-Mar-08

By Anna Lindgren In January, Korea's premier indie label, Pastel Music, released a 5CD compilation to commemorate its 5th birthday. On those five CDs there are 71 songs in total. Needless to say there is plenty of good music on those CDs - I had expected as much when I pre-ordered it. What I did not expect was to find that the best song, out of all those 71 tracks, came from somebody I hadn't even heard of till I read the tracklist for the first time. The song in question was 곁에 - an "early recording version" of it, to be specific - and the artist responsible was Zitten (짙은). With a little help from the guy that created the ...

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New indie music sites

14-Mar-08

Those who keep an eye on my blogroll (I know that's not very many of you) will have noticed that I recently added one or two new sites to my list of Music blog links. Firstly, Indieful RoK, a new blog of news about the Korean indie rock scene. Its creators are Helikoppter, aka Anna Lindgren, a regular and valued LKL contributor from Sweden, and Orienkorean, from Toronto, curator of the massive collection of Korean music videos on YouTube. Still in its early days, the blog has been focusing on content rather than design, which is fine because content comes first. But Anna promises a cosmetic makeover of suitably Korean proportions, and soon the 200 Pound Beauty will morph into a ...

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Ruby Salon and the digital singles phenomenom

25-Feb-08

Anna Lindgren meets the people behind Ruby Salon I know I'm not alone in feeling frustration over the digital singles concept; artists releasing music only available through paid downloads - a not too uncommon way for Korean artists to get a few songs out before the next CD. Sure, in this day and age most people don't treasure CDs like I do (it's not just the materialist in me, I love flipping through the booklets and, especially when it comes to little known artists, feel good about supporting good music) and it is a very environmental friendly way of distributing music, but what to do when there's no way for you to actually purchase the music you so want to hear? Last ...

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How did I do?

04-Feb-08

At a recent trip to visit my co-workers in Manhattan I of course made sure I looked in at AM Records in 32nd Street to see what Jay Kim could fix me up with this time. I went in without any fixed idea of what I wanted: an ideal scenario for an astute salesman such as Mr Kim. So here's what he sold me - an interesting selection of stuff released in the last three or four months: Top left to bottom right: Lee Sang Eun vol 13 - The 3rd Place. Pak Sun Zoo vol 5 - Dreamer Sweetpea vol 3 - Proposal which can't be rejected Yozoh with A Small Mystic Puzzle Band - My Name is Yozoh Lucite Tokki - Twinkle Twinkle Tim Vol 4 ...

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Trot singer comes to London

17-Jan-08

In a top-secret event known only to selected members of the New Malden Korean community, Trot star Kim Soo-hee (below) is coming to London. She will be performing at St John's Smith Square on 26 January at 7:30pm. The event is sponsored by one of the local Korean newspapers. The event is so secret that it is not even advertised on the St John's website. My spies had to work overtime to deliver the goods on this one... Update 17 January 2pm Although the full details of the concert are not on the St John's website yet (on the "What's on" pages), you can now book tickets for it by following the "Book Online" link on their site. I spoke to their box ...

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Bada #3: Made in Sea

29-Dec-07

(CJ Music, January 2006) Stern(5,g) After her lively second album, Bada's third is a big let-down. Gone are the catchy pop tunes which show off her vocal range and bring a smile to the face. Instead we are faced with a run-of-the-mill R&B and dance collection, which could have been put together by anyone. The voice is still unmistakably Bada's (a slightly thin, nasal sound which works OK with pop numbers but less well with the more soulful songs) but the musical style is generic. After the seemingly obligatory instrumental introduction we get a slow, cheesy number which could serve as the soundtrack for a second-rate soap - "Find the way". Bada herself isn't responsible for this treat, that privelege belonging to Lori ...

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Two more 2007 album choices

20-Dec-07

As an appendix to the recommendations by the three critics who know Korean pop, rock and indie music much better than me, here are two further choices. I can't help but sympathise with Jenny when she comments that 2007 was not an outstanding year. My own purchases of Korean music are somewhat random. When I'm guided by people I trust, more often than not I like what I hear. When buying what seems topical or in the news, I'm less than successful. As an example of the rogues' gallery of turkeys I've mistakenly bought this year: Ivy's Second, of which the most complimentary thing I can think of to say is that there are some pretty pictures; Dynamic Duo's Third; and Lexy's ...

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A nomination for artiste of the year

18-Dec-07

In more than a footnote to her Critic's Choice article, Saharial reviews the achievements of Lee Minwoo this year My personal nomination for artiste of the year goes to Lee Minwoo a.k.a. 'M'. In the last 12 months he has not only released a live album and a third solo effort, and held successful tours in both Korea and Japan, but also started his own company, produced and written songs for other artistes and started his own line of clothing merchandise designed by himself. The year hasn't been an easy one with his 3rd solo album being leaked onto the net a week before its release date. Four months after its release, there was a completely bizarre and late-timed decision from the ...

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Evan #1: Hard to Breath

17-Dec-07

Jenny Wu reviews her album of the year T-Entertainment, March 2007 Stern(10,g) It seems as though the recent kpop scene has been increasingly riddled with generic and bland tunes. However, once in a while, I'll come across something that's worthy of my time. For every cloud, there's a silver lining. This is where Evan (Yoo Ho Suk, former Click B member) comes in. Evan's debut solo album is perhaps one of the best pop albums I've come across so far this year - a refreshingly varied mix of R&B and modern jazz influenced pop songs. Although his vocals nowhere near as powerful as say, Wheesung or Hwanhee of Fly to the Sky, they're deliciously soothing. At times, his voice reminds me a bit ...

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LKL critics’ choice: Saharial

15-Dec-07

Saharial, a moderator in the soompi forums and a self-confessed pop junkie, presents her selection of 2007 releases - and has some words of comfort for a disappointing release which didn't make her list First up is the King of Ballads -- Sung Si Kyung. This sixteen track 5th Album called The Ballads opens with the number On The Street written by singer-songwriter Yoon Jong Shin, a long-time collaborator with Sung Si Kyung, and it's a partnership that works very well. The song was the first single released from the album and proved very popular with fans and in the charts. Who do you love?, the follow-up single, also by Yoon Jong Shin, showcased Si Kyung's ability to sing in English, ...

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That Wonder Girls song - and an antidote

13-Dec-07

This one will be quick. Once again, Matt over at Popular Gusts has has written the post that everyone wishes they'd written themselves. So, here's Tell Me, the song and dance that everyone's talking about, performed by the teenage girl band Wonder Girls - the creation of Park Jin-young (JYP), the man who invented Rain: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpcDPr6b5o4[/youtube] A cartoon character has got in on the act... [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTFKqrxWJsA[/youtube] ... someone's been inspired to make a bossa nova remake ... [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1-UFKz_Hi70[/youtube] ... and even traffic cops have the bug [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPS3BSqFeDY[/youtube] But JYP himself does it best: [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YKOjsQKDcq0[/youtube] So now the tune's really driving you mad, go and read something intelligent over at Popular Gusts. And I know I shouldn't have done this to you, so here's an antidote which will drive the tune out of ...

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