Music

Music header

Welcome to LKL’s Music section, where we cover Korean music from K-pop to P’ansori and beyond. Here you will find news of concerts as well as featured content such as our live music reviews, recorded music reviews, and music-related interviews and features. You can also find Dr Colette Balmain’s K-pop essays featuring BTS and more.

Cult of Ya comes to the Kentish Town Forum

event date Fri 14 Jan 2022 posted

Tickets go on sale tomorrow for January’s hip-hop fest: Cult of Ya Fest 2020 Season 1 O2 Forum Kentish Town | 9-17 Highgate Road | London NW5 1JY Friday 14 January 2022, 6:30 pm Tickets: www.cultofya.com with SIK-K | GROOVYROOM | GEMINI | MIRANI | MOON (MOON SUJIN) | SMMT | CO.KR Links: The event’s […]

The Sound of Nature: Dal:um live at Southbank Centre

posted updated 22 Nov 2021 by Federica Ionta 5 minute read

“Korean traditional instruments contain the sound of nature.” This is the opening line of Ha Suyean’s answer to my question regarding what Dal:um would like their international audience to know about ancient Korean instruments gayageum and geomungo. “For someone coming to these two ancient instruments for the first time, what will they discover?”, I had […]

Festival Film Review: The Singer

posted by Philip Gowman 5 minute read

As is often the case, I was out of town for the London East Asia Film Festival, so I missed the international premiere of the Director’s Cut of Cho Jungrae’s The Singer. I’m not sure if the previously available version has had a formal international premiere – probably not, given the devastation that Covid has […]

ATEEZ plays the SSE Arena Wembley

event date Tue 15 Feb 2022 posted

After a two year delay imposed by the pandemic, we can finally welcome ATEEZ back to London. This is the concert originally scheduled for March 2020. ATEEZ: The Fellowship – Beginning of the End Tuesday 15 February 2022, 7:30pm | Doors 6pm The SSE Arena | Arena Square | Engineers Way | Wembley Park | […]

Interview: Cho Jungrae (The Singer, 2020)

posted updated 15 Nov 2021 by Philip Gowman 11 minute read

I watched Cho Jungrae’s 2020 movie The Singer earlier this year online, after being told by a friend of the director that it was available on Amazon Prime. It struck me as a fresh take on the pansori movie genre: instead of telling a pansori tale more or less straight like Im Kwon-taek’s Chunhyang, it […]

seoul private 프라이빗 hip-hop / trap night

event date Fri 12 Nov 2021 posted

It’s good to have this type of event starting up again – things almost seem to be getting back to normal. seoul private 프라이빗 hip-hop / trap night with dj/producer roots Friday 12th November 2021 10pm – 3am (last entry 1am) | Buy tickets Piccadilly Institute | The London Pavilion | 1 Piccadilly Circus | […]

KCCUK Live Concert at St James’s Piccadilly

event date Fri 05 Nov 2021 posted

The KCC’s November House Concert emerges from the online to the real world, and for the first time moves to St James’s Piccadilly for a celebratory live event: KCC House Concert Friday 5 November 2021, 7pm St James’s Church, Piccadilly Register via Eventbrite Trio Mazzolini Harry Rylance (Piano), Yurie Lee (Cello), Jack Greed (Violin) Sungbin […]

KCC October House Concert (online): Rachel Hayoung Woo (violin), Jisu Song (viola), Heeyeon Chloe Cho (cello)

event date Thu 21 Oct 2021 posted

October’s House Concert online on the KCCUK’s YouTube channel features one of the most accessible piano trios in the repertoire: Trio Mazzolini: Harry Rylance (Piano), Yurie Lee (Cello), Jack Greed (Violin) Thursday 21 October, 7 pm KCC YouTube Channel Programme Mendelssohn Piano Trio No.2 in C minor Performers: Trio Mazzolini is a London-based piano trio […]

Gallery: Chuseok celebrations at the British Museum

posted by Philip Gowman < 1 minute read

The early Autumn brought two simultaneous Chuseok celebrations in the London area on 18 September: the harvest fest in New Malden, organised by KBCE, and a special event at the British Museum. Over the past months we’ve been starved of live music, and it was great to be able to hear the Shilla Ensemble perform […]

K-Music 2021: Dal:um

event date 06 Nov - 08 Nov 2021 posted

Dal:um are a Seoul-based musical duo who challenge the sonic possibilities of Korea’s most well-known traditional string instruments: Dal:um Saturday 6 November 2021 7:45pm, Southbank Centre / Purcell Room | Belvedere Road | London SE1 8XX | Buy tickets Monday 8 November 2021 8pm Norwich Arts Centre | 51 St Benedict’s Street | Norwich NR2 […]

K-Music 2021: Black String & Nguyên Lê

event date Thu 28 Oct 2021 posted

To mark the band’s 10th anniversary, Black String return to the K-Music Festival with their old friend, musical companion, and one of the most versatile jazz guitarists Nguyên Lê. This is an extremely rare opportunity to watch them perform together presenting the masterpieces from Karma, their collaborative work. Black String & Nguyên Lê Grand Junction […]

K-Music 2021: Sinnoi + Dongyang Gozupa

event date 22 Oct - 23 Oct 2021 posted

Before heading to WOMEX in Porto, Dongyang Gozupa joins the K-music festival to perform at the Coronet Theatre for a double bill with Sinnoi, a quartet led by vocalist Bora Kim, ‘her flawless voice gliding between the purest of high tones and animalistic growls’ (Songlines). An exciting night with a true mixture of fresh sounds […]