‘Deja-Boo’ is my musical color: Jonghyun

Jonghyun, a member of the K-pop band SHINee, said the song “Deja-Boo” best captures his musical style and color. “I personally like this song a lot, and that is the reason behind selecting it as one of the two title songs of the album,” the singer told the media before a live showcase on Thursday at the SMTOWN Coex Atrium in Samseong-dong, southern Seoul. “That is also why I decided to prerelease it.” The singer wrote lyrics to every song on his first solo EP, “BASE,” which consists of seven tra

Jan. 9, 2015

‘Deja-BOO’ is my musical color: Jonghyun

Jonghyun, a member of the K-pop band SHINee, said “Deja-BOO” best captures his musical style and color.  Jonghyun of SHINee sings during a showcase for his first solo EP, “BASE,” on Thursday at the SMTOWN Coex Atrium in Samseong-dong, southern Seoul. (Yonhap)　“I personally like this song a lot, and that is the reason behind selecting it as one of the two title songs of the album,” the singer told the press before a live showcase on Thursday at the SMTOWN Coex Atrium in Samseong-dong, southern Se

Jan. 8, 2015

Young artists critique modern life

A strong smell strikes viewers as they open the heavy curtain in the exhibition hall of the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Korea. Inside hangs a huge damp cloth with a brown urine stain, emitting the ammonia-like odor. This year’s Young Korean Artists exhibition of the MMCA is full of artistic experiments embedded with the anxiety of and satire toward modern Korean society. It features eight Korean artists in their 20s and 30s living through the crisis of Korea’s young generation, depriv

Jan. 7, 2015

’90s icon So Chan-whee relishes return to spotlight

After hitting it big in the ’90s with her debut album “Cherish,” solo female rock vocalist So Chan-whee seemed to have fallen prey to the so-too-often cliched stigma of music icons unable to maintain the spark of their heyday. However, unbeknownst to her, one televised performance was enough to change her life once again.The rocker recently appeared on an episode of Infinite Challenge’s “Saturday, Saturday is for Singers (TOTOGA)” ― a segment of the MBC hit reality show that invites ’90s stars t

Jan. 7, 2015

Korean art: What to look for in 2015

With the positive New Year remarks by the leaders of North and South Korea setting up the possibility of a thaw in inter-Korean relations, South Koreans this year will be able to see more exhibitions with North Korean elements than ever before. The Seoul Museum of Art is preparing a North Korea-themed exhibit to mark the 70th year of the division of Korea. The exhibition, scheduled to open in July, is expected to present a broad range of contemporary North Korean art and offer interesting South

Jan. 5, 2015

TVXQ is Oricon Chart’s top-selling foreign artist in 2014

Veteran boy band TVXQ recorded the most annual album sales among non-Japanese artists on Oricon Chart in 2014.According to the chart, the Korean duo ― Changmin and Yunho ― ranked No. 13 in Annual Album Sales in 2014 with “Tree,” which was released in March.The soundtrack of popular Disney animation “Frozen” was the only foreign album which was ranked higher than “Tree,” bagging the second spot on the chart.Some other K-pop artists ― Girls’ Generation, Big Bang, 2PM, Daesung, Taeyang and SHINee ―

Jan. 4, 2015

Eyelike: Lackluster tribute to Paul McCartney

Lackluster tribute to Paul McCartneyVarious artists“The Art of McCartney”(Arctic Poppy)This two-disc Paul McCartney tribute is a decade-in-the-making labor of love by one man, producer Ralph Sall. So it would be churlish to throw cold water on it, right?Sorry. Sall’s interest in chasing down marquee names, rather than marquee performances, makes this a gigantic missed opportunity. Sall enlists McCartney’s current backup band to fill the same role on this 34-song effort (42 with the deluxe packag

Jan. 2, 2015

Lee Jung-seop’s silver foil drawings return

“Children of Spring” by Lee Jung-seop (Gallery Hyundai)During the Korean War (1950-53), when art materials such as paper ― not to mention canvas ― were scarce, Korean painter Lee Jung-seop (1916-56) drew and painted on the foil linings of cigarette packs.His three small silver foil drawings, first purchased by Arthur McTaggart, director of the U.S. Culture Center in Korea in 1955, and donated to the Museum of Modern Art New York a year later, will be on view in Seoul for the first time since the

Jan. 1, 2015

A journey through the life of violinist Cho Jin-joo

The beginning, youth, searching and reminiscing ― these are the four stages of life that the young up-and-coming violinist Cho Jin-joo is looking to explore in her upcoming solo concert series as a Kumho Art Hall resident artist.The 26-year-old will perform four solo concerts this year, with each concert dedicated to one of the aforementioned stages of life. From her trials and tribulations after moving to the States to develop her musical gifts, to the pangs of youth, joys of love and reminisce

Jan. 1, 2015

Stage, screen actor Herrmann dies at 71

Edward Herrmann, the towering, melodious-voiced actor who brought Franklin D. Roosevelt to life in films and documentaries, won a Tony Award and charmed audiences as the stuffy dad on TV’s “Gilmore Girls,” died Wednesday. He was 71. Herrmann died at Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital of brain cancer, his son, Rory Herrmann said. The actor, who had been hospitalized for several weeks, was surrounded by family members including his wife, Star, and his three children, his son said.“He was full of kn

Jan. 1, 2015

[Herald Interview] The mind behind ‘Pop Danthology’

From the humorously trend-setting era of hammer pants to the present day hip-hop infused electro-psychedelic pop, the music world is certainly no stranger to the constantly changing and ever-so-inventive modern fads and phases. Much thanks to YouTube, technological innovation and sheer musical genius, the art of mash-ups is becoming one of the hottest trends in the music industry today. The 2012 Hollywood blockbuster “Pitch Perfect” helped rocket song mashing into the global, mainstream limeligh

Dec. 29, 2014

Guitarist doesn’t miss day of Vegas Cirque work

LAS VEGAS (AP) ― It’s easy to miss Bruce Rickerd during the “Mystere” show at Treasure Island especially when there’s a man balancing upside-down on the foot of another, or a giant inflatable snail emerging from the massive moving stage or the gasp-inducing drops from acrobats above. But he’s there ― up high on the right or rather, stage left ― playing guitar in just about the same place he’s been for every one of the 10,000 shows come Saturday in the 21-year history of “Mystere” as he and the r

Dec. 28, 2014

[Herald Review] Reliving adolescent bliss with ‘The Nutcracker’

While for some, the holiday season is about bundling up by a crackling fire, bellowing out some of Irving Berlin’s most cherished carols or guzzling down a cold cup of hard eggnog, for others it’s not quite complete without the sounds of whimsical percussion bells and the air of innocence in one of the ballet world’s most beloved holiday tales ― “The Nutcracker.”Saturated in festive tradition and Christmas nostalgia, the century-old production continues to spread cheer all around and remains a m

Dec. 28, 2014

Jazz great Buddy DeFranco dies at 91

PANAMA CITY, Florida (AP) ― Renowned jazz clarinetist Buddy DeFranco, who led the way on his instrument in the transition between the swing and bebop eras, has died at the age of 91, his family said Friday. DeFranco’s family told The Associated Press that the famed musician died Wednesday evening at a Panama City hospital. His wife, Joyce, said he had been in declining health in recent years. The couple lived in Panama City. DeFranco, who began his professional career as a teenager in the late 1

Dec. 28, 2014

Eyelike: Tuneful tunes with touch of twang from Colerick

Tuneful tunes with touch of twang from ColerickBrad Colerick“Tucson”(Back 9 Records) Brad Colerick opens his fourth solo album with the title cut, which reminds us the road does not actually go on forever. Colerick goes on to examine his trip down that road in tuneful tunes with a touch of twang.Colerick’s stories are worth hearing, in part because he makes singing sound so easy. His warm, sunny, homey tenor brings alive the characters, places and relationships in these 11 songs. Guitars, banjo,

Dec. 26, 2014