I’m rather enjoying BoA’s 8th Korean album (Kiss My Lips, released a couple of days ago). There’s nothing particularly earth-shattering musically, but it’s all kind of comforting. And I hope she doesn’t get into trouble for the 4th track, Shattered, which at 2’52” is very close to the chorus of Daft Punk’s Get Lucky. On … [Read More]
Musician: BoA
BoA celebrates 10 years in K-pop
BoA celebrates 10th year since debut in Japan. And still only 24 years old. http://bit.ly/iSiPha # [Read More]
BoA – K-pop for lovers, says Last.fm
Via Indieful Rok: Very interesting to find BoA second on the list of last.fm’s list of Valentine’s day artists: http://is.gd/cc1ktg – after that undisputed master of romance, Barry White. [Read More]
BoA is back with Hurricane Venus
BoA is back with Hurricane Venus. My first commercial K-pop purchase of the year: http://tinyurl.com/32qqvx2. It’s even on UK iTunes already. #. An exciting sound, and some great moves. [Read More]
BoA in long-awaited comeback
I can’t believe it’s five years since “Girls on Top”. BoA will soon release her 6th Korean album, entitled Hurricane Venus. http://bit.ly/bIWVeT #. This is a comeback worthy of the name. [Read More]
A belated look back at 2009
For the past 3 years LKL has concocted a quiz of the year as a way of gathering together some of the news stories which have most caught our eye. This year, as I came to draw up the list in mid December I found it hard to think of anything amusing or diverting: most … [Read More]
BoA’s US album disappoints
Oh dear. I thought BoA’s US album was going to be a bit better than that. If you have to use a vocoder to make it in America, stay in Asia. #. I suppose the sound production is geared towards a US market. Shame. [Read More]
Can BoA eat up the U.S. of A.?
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 … [Read More]
LKL celeb of the month #2: BoA
I had been planning on giving Lee Dong-wook the honour of being LKL’s second celeb of the month. But Chinese netizens had other ideas. A massive spike in interest in BoA during the month resulted in certain posts about her getting ten times as many visits as any other page on this blog. So, BoA … [Read More]
The top 30 LKL pictures of 2007: the top 10
Here’s the top ten. And probably not all that work-safe. #10: The second appearance of LKL’s favourite ex-playboy model, Lee Sabi (806 views): #9: The Chejudo Love Land theme park (884): #8: Sassy girl and last vampire Jeon Ji-hyun displaying her smooth thighs as a rock chick (969): #7: Pop diva, CF queen and all-round … [Read More]
The top 30 LKL pictures of 2007 – part 2
Here’s #11-20, in reverse order: #20: Tottenham Hotspur’s Lee Young-pyo: #19: 1970s Seoul: #18: The first appearance of top K-pop star BoA, in her campaign for Olympus: #17: Shinhan Bank’s Manchester United Credit Card: #16: The cover image from Kyung-Hyun Kim’s heavyweight book on Korean Cinema — a still from Peppermint Candy: #15: Robot Taekwon … [Read More]
Welcome down the local any day
A still to go with this current TV commercial: The rather unrefined drinking mannerism brings to mind the classic Boddingtons commercial from the 1990s: and while we’re on the subject, the one featuring Melanie Sykes: Of course, it’s the spokesmodel rather than the product that would be welcome in the local boozer. The general consensus … [Read More]
Celebrity news round-up: January 07
Rain, LKL’s man of the year 2006 has started 2007 on a low-note with a speeding ticket in Hong Kong at the start of his gruelling tour. He also underwhelmed one reporter at a Singapore press conference who found him just a little dull. This wasn’t a reflection on his performance on-stage (and I’ve yet … [Read More]
BoA #5: Girls on top
(2005) BoA’s 5th Korean album is leagues ahead of her 2nd, (No 1). Since then, she’s worked on her voice, and her managers have hired some decent songwriters and pushed the music in a more international direction. Let’s get the final track, 가을 편지, out of the way first, as it’s atypical. It comes as … [Read More]
BoA #2: No.1
(January 2002) With the emphasis on electronic sounds rather than compositional inspiration, this is not a recommendable album. The robotic drum machine, brainless key shifts and silly noises do not make for engaging listening. BoA’s voice is nothing remarkable, a bit nasal – though not unpleasant. Perhaps the video is worth watching, but I’m not … [Read More]
Jeon Ji-hyun’s smooth thighs
As regular visitors to this site will know, once in a while I like to lower the tone with an unnecessary post. This post is one of them. I’m not sure how the Chosun Ilbo can tell from looking at the video of the cosmetic commercial in question, from which the still above is taken, … [Read More]