Bumkey“U-Turn”(Loen Entertainment)　R&B singer Bumkey is one of those artists who can rack up impressive chart rankings and music sales without going through the hamster wheel of radio and TV promotions that are obligatory for most artists to gain some traction. On “U-Turn,” his first studio-length album coming 11 years after his debut, Bumkey demonstrates why he has been able to survive with his music alone with eight tracks he wrote himself, as well as a new version of the hymn “Amazing Grace.

Feb. 5, 2016

The Seoul Central District Court ordered K-pop rock band CNBLUE to pay 15 million won ($12,500) in compensation to indie punk band Crying Nut for copyright infringement.　Crying Nut had sued CNBLUE and its agency FNC Entertainment for unauthorized use of its song “Deathblow Off-Side,” which was written by its member Lee Sang-hyuk to mark the 2002 FIFA World Cup and was released by the band. Crying Nut claimed that CNBLUE used the music on Mnet’s “M Countdown” in 2010 without authorization. CNBLUE

Feb. 4, 2016

K-pop idol group Big Bang topped the Oricon Daily Albums chart and Japanese iTunes chart with its new album “MADE Series,” the group’s agency YG Entertainment said Thursday.　Big Bang’s new album sold 80,262 copies Wednesday, the day of its release, the agency added.　The album is a compilation of a monthly series from last year that started with “M” in May and continued to August when “E” was released in August. It was released only in Korea. Big Bang (YG Entertainment)　The new album for the Japa

Feb. 4, 2016

Soaked with national pride, the hottest classical music event of the season concluded with a much-deserved standing ovation as pianist Cho Seong-jin performed at home for the first time since becoming the first Korean to win at the prestigious International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition last year. 　Cho, along with his fellow competitors who ranked through sixth place in the competition, gathered together at the Seoul Arts Center Concert Hall to perform at the winners’ gala concert.   Pianist

Feb. 3, 2016

YG Entertainment’s boy group Winner is the latest in the agency’s boy group lineup to take up the baton, following Big Bang in the first half of 2015 and iKON in the second half. 　After a 17-month hiatus -- a significantly long break considering that the group had only released their debut album before disappearing -- they’ve finally returned with the EP “EXIT: E.” The double lead tracks are the blues-infused, crooning “Baby Baby” and the more steadily rhythmic minor pop track “Sentimental.”　At

Feb. 3, 2016

THE HAGUE (AFP) - Art historians on Monday revealed that a painting stored for decades at an American museum was in fact a work by Dutch master Hieronymus Bosch.　The surprise discovery comes as 's-Hertogenbosch, the hometown of the artist whose nightmarish visions on canvas earned him the moniker of “the devil’s painter,” marks the 500th anniversary of his death. 　The newly-uncovered painting has been lying forgotten for years in storage at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missour

Feb. 3, 2016

Yu Seung-woo's EP “Pit a Pat’ is his first record since after he legally became an adult in Korea, but he has still maintained his cute, boyish character on the five tracks, four of which each depict a different stage of romance.The lead track "Whatever," featuring rapper Crucial Star, is about trying fruitlessly to brush off a breakup. "Getting like U" captures the first sparks of puppy love, "45.7 cm" is about the tingling excitement of beginning a new relationship, while last year‘s hit track

Feb. 2, 2016

Dead Buttons has launched just one official album but the rock and roll duo is not your typical rookie group. Grungy, carefree and playful, drummer Lee Kang-hee and guitarist Hong Ji-hyun exuded the ease of seasoned musicians when they spoke to the The Korea Herald at a cafe in Seoul’s Hongdae area.Although “Some Kind of Youth” is the band’s first official album, the band has already established a reputation for itself over the past few years. Dead Buttons (Love Rock Company)Formed in 2012, Dead

Feb. 2, 2016

In a short span of time, pianist Cho Seong-jin has risen from an unknown musician to a household name in Korea who shatters classical music records. His popularity has grown since he won the highest prize at the prestigious International Fryderyk Chopin Piano Competition last October. “It’s been almost a year since I’ve been back in Korea and I’m both anxious and happy to be back,” said Cho, during a press conference at the Seoul Arts Center on Monday, just hours after he arrived back to Seoul.“

Feb. 2, 2016

In 1963, Nam June Paik hung a blood-dripping cow head at the entrance of his first solo exhibition “Exposition of Music – Electronic Television” in Germany, shocking those at the scene and the German art circle. He continued to shock people with experimental and radical performances and said in several media interviews that he wanted to be remembered as a “crazy Corean.” At the same show, Joseph Beuys gave a performance in which he destroyed a piano on display with an axe. The performance was si

Feb. 1, 2016

It has been nearly eight years since girl group 4minute burst onto the K-pop music scene with the catchy, colorful pop song “Hot Issue.” Since then, they have gone on to establish themselves as a “girl crush” group in K-pop, building up a large female fan base with their tough, party-hard style. 　With their new album “Act. 7” featuring the electronic dance music lead track “Hate,” 4minute stays the course, keeping up their party music while trying to add a more seasoned touch. 4minute poses for

Feb. 1, 2016