Loveholic’s debut album is a huge success. Intelligent, tuneful, and varied. Their style is shows a number of influences, including some from the 60s and 70s – I detect hints of Simon & Garfunkel’s 59th Street Bridge Song in the 8th track Come to Visit, some ELO in the background vocals of other tracks (particularly … [Read More]
Category: Pop, rock and indie (page 46)
Bada #2: Aurora
A ridiculously good album. Pop perfection. This is the sort of unpretentious music which has me bopping around the kitchen as I cook. If I were to have a criticism, there’s rather too much synthesizer and computer-generated beats – particularly in the numbers produced by the Japanese team – and not enough human intervention. But … [Read More]
Clazziquai Project #1: Instant Pig
A combination of Acid Jazz, electronica and chill-out lounge, with sometimes a flavour of Latin (the fifth track, novabossa, could almost come from an Astrud Gilberto album). The instrumental emphasis is very much on electronic sounds, though some tracks benefit from acoustic guitar. The vocals are always pleasant and relaxed. There’s nothing terribly profound here, … [Read More]
Kangta #3: Persona
(March 2005) This album is a winner. Some might dismiss it as pure kitsch, standard Korean ballad / R&B fayre, but it’s always just within the bounds of good taste. For those unfamiliar with K-pop stars, Kangta is a solo act which spun off from the now defunct boy band H.O.T. (Highfive of Teenagers) and … [Read More]
Another internet concept which almost works. But doesn’t.
Browsing aimlessly (trying to find reviews of Korean popular music CDs) recently I came across Last.fm, an internet radio station. It claims to have a huge playlist, and what’s played to you is determined by what styles you select and the sort of stuff your buddies are listening to. It seems very promising, with all … [Read More]
Lee Soo Young #6: The Colors of my Life
A great ballad album. From the big ballad 휠릴리 (track 4) via the more intimate 너도 그런지.. and Sam Lee’s funk-inspired “You want me” (featuring Eric) to a more R&B 겁쟁이 (track 7), Lee Soo Young shows how it should be done. She has a good team of song-writers — showing that you don’t have … [Read More]
The versatile Uhm Jung-hwa (엄정화)
A rather silly item in the Chosun Ilbo (entitled Singer’s Hotpants Inflame Cyberspace) has alerted me to an actress that I hadn’t really focused on before. She’s been in films that I’ve seen and vaguely registered as quite interesting, or films that I’ve missed and am eager to see. I haven’t heard her sing, and … [Read More]
Rollercoaster # 1: Come Closer
Rollercoaster, according to KBS, were the first Korean band to turn to Acid Jazz. Certainly one of the western bands which comes to mind when listening to this album is the Brand New Heavies. But the use of horn effects and guitar rhythms in some of the tracks also bring to mind the theme music … [Read More]
Yoon Do Hyun: Difference
I often find myself puzzled by the blurb at YesAsia. The editorial commentary on Yoon Do Hyun’s second solo project, Difference, is stranger than usual. If you haven’t listened to the album, it might seem quite informative if you edit out the superlatives: Yoon Do Hyun, head and vocalist of the K-pop formation Yoon Do … [Read More]
Ballads dominate K-pop albums in 2006
I keep an occasional eye on what’s top of the music charts. I’ve been noticing that one or two of the album’s I’ve bought have been appearing there. Whether it’s because I’m at the cutting edge of K-pop I somehow doubt. I just tend to buy the things I come across in the blogosphere because … [Read More]
Baek Ji-young: Smile again
It shouldn’t take six playthroughs to enable me to say anything constructive about this album. On first playthrough it made no impression on me whatsoever. Some generic ballad / R&B songs which could come from any of a wide range of Korean artists, and some songs with a Flamenco / Latin beat. Some of the … [Read More]
Bada and the birthrate
I wish I was in Seoul today. I recently posted about Anna Fifield’s article on Korean family planning, and in particular the government’s plan to spend $30 billion over the next 5 years to try to boost the birthrate. Here’s a story about how some of that $30 billion is going to be spent: a … [Read More]
Crying Nut to tour the US
This story has to be taken with a heavy pinch of salt, because it comes from KBS. But now its members have returned from military service the band has reformed. They are about to release their fifth album, and will tour it to the States later this year. If anyone knows if they’ll be playing … [Read More]
Prof Kim Chang-nam: history & characteristics of modern Korean culture
(SOAS, 5 June 2006, 7pm: the concluding event of the London Korean Festival 2006) I’m more reluctant than usual to make this post. The ground covered in Professor Kim’s hugely stimulating conclusion to the London Korean Festival was more than extensive, and left the audience wanting to ask tons of questions. To condense a hundred … [Read More]
Gig review: Crying Nut play the Mean Fiddler
What can one say about Crying Nut? Anarchic, mad, joyous. They opened the 2006 London Korean Festival last night in great style. While most of the audience was Korean, it was good to see some unaccompanied westerners at the gig, who seemed to be enjoying the show. Maybe they were there to support the backup … [Read More]
The Meredith play the Watershed, Wimbledon
Young Korean band the Meredith will be playing at the Watershed in Wimbledon (267 The Broadway, SW19 1SD) on Thursday 11th May from 8pm. Their cv is in the attached doc. Do go along and give them your support [Read More]