Shepherd mixes contemporary sound

Ashton Shepherd “Where Country Grows”MCAWith her 2008 debut, “Sounds So Good,” Ashton Shepherd offered a down-home contrast to contemporary country music. Like a Loretta Lynn for modern times, she flashed a feisty attitude and an unfiltered country twang that made Miranda Lambert sound uptown. The album drew critical praise, but little radio attention and disappointing sales.With her second album,

July 22, 2011

TVXQ tops Japan’s Oricon chart

TVXQ (aka Dongbangsingi or Tohoshinki), a two-member Korean boy band popular across Asia, topped Japan’s Oricon Daily chart on Thursday with its new single “Super Star.”TVXQ (Yonhap News)More than 75,000 copies of the new album were sold on the first day it hit the shelves in Japan on Wednesday and nearly 50,000 copies were sold the next day, putting the South Korean boyband on the top of Japan’s

July 22, 2011

Moon jar artist awakes, connects and heals

Kang Ik-joong holds mini-retrospective exploring Korean division at POSCO art museumWhat can a moon jar, Hangeul and Gen. Douglas MacArthur possibly have in common? “They are all connections of some sort. Moon jars are composed of the top half and the bottom half, Hangeul is composed of vowels and consonants and Gen. MacArthur came in and the peninsula was divided into two,” Kang Ik-joong told the

July 21, 2011

Photos of Beatles’ first U.S. concert fetch $360,000

NEW YORK (AP) ― In 1964, an enterprising 18-year-old snapped pictures of the Beatles’ momentous first U.S. concert in Washington, D.C.On Wednesday, Christie’s auction house said it sold 50 silver gelatin prints that the photographer, Mike Mitchell, made from the negatives for $361,938. The images, plus photos from another Beatles concert, had been estimated to fetch a total of $100,000. This file

July 21, 2011

Seoul Phil to hold second Europe tour in August

Led by conductor Chung, orchestra to perform Edinburgh Festival debutThe Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, led by music director and chief conductor Chung Myung-whun, will hold its second Europe tour concerts from Aug. 19 to Aug. 27, just one month after releasing a debut album under the prestigious label Deutsche Grammophon.The SPO said it will hold a special concert on Aug. 9 at the Seoul Arts Cente

July 20, 2011

Art museums strive to ride Korean Wave

Private museums join hands to promote Korean artists online; exhibition shows images of Korea captured by top photographersWitnessing K-pop and TV dramas lead hallyu, or the Korean Wave, across Asia and Europe, Korean art insiders decided to jump in and seek chances for Korean artists as well. The Korean Art Museum Association announced on Monday the launch of the “K-Artist Global Project” at Some

July 18, 2011

K-pop fans to fly from U.S. for SNSD

The Korea Tourism Organization said it was helping 103 U.S. fans of Korean pop visit the country to see a concert by girl group Girls’ Generation, attend two broadcasters’ K-pop TV shows and visit major tourist spots this week.The KTO said the 103 fans from a K-pop fan community in Los Angeles asked the KTO’s branch in L.A. to help them attend a concert by Girls’ Generation, also known as SNSD.Nin

July 18, 2011

‘Miso’ runs in Gyeongju, capital of Silla

A localized version of the popular performance “Miso” kicked off in Gyeongju, North Gyeongsang Province, earlier this month. Organized by Chongdong Theater in central Seoul, Gyeongju Metropolitan Government and Gyeongju World Culture Expo, and supported by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the musical titled “Miso II ― Silla, The Land of Gods” offers a compact presentation of everything

July 17, 2011

Inventions join art in Smithsonian exhibit

WASHINGTON (AP) ― The Washington building known as the “temple of invention” when it was built in 1836 to hold the nation’s patents is revisiting its roots, hosting a new “Great Hall of American Wonders” to explore 19th-century innovations through art.The idea for this major exhibit that opened Friday at the Smithsonian American Art Museum was sparked in part by talk among experts that the United

July 17, 2011

Lloyd back with uneven effort

Lloyd “King of Hearts” Zone 4/Interscope RecordsAfter a lackluster response to 2008’s “Lessons In Love” and departure from the label that gave him his start, The Inc., things were looking less than promising for Lloyd and his smooth falsetto. But he regrouped and found a home at Polow da Don’s label Zone 4, a partnership with Interscope Records, and the move seems to be paying off with his new alb

July 15, 2011

SPO’s debut with DG arrives

Seoul Philharmonic OrchestraDebussy, RavelUniversal MusicAfter reaching a long-term contract with Deutsche Grammophon in April, the Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra’s debut album with DG is finally on the shelves.The SPO’s performances of Debussy’s “La Mer” (The Sea) and Ravel’s “Ma Mere L’oye” (Mother Goose) and “La Valse” under maestro Chung Myung-whun are featured in the album. Ravel’s programs wer

July 15, 2011

Old Seoul Station restored as culture space

The old Seoul Station building has been restored to the way it looked in 1925 and will open as a new culture space, Korea Craft and Design Foundation announced Thursday. The station’s new name will be “Culture Station, Seoul 284” upon its opening in August. Originally named Gyeongseong Station during Japanese colonial rule, the old Seoul Station was designed by Tsukamoto Yasushi of Tokyo Imperial

July 14, 2011

Gwangju Biennale to explore meaning of design

About 300 international artists to participate in event, which may miss Chinese co-director due to Beijing’s oppression of dissidents  Ai Weiwei, co-director of the 4th Gwangju Design Biennale, may not be able to attend the show in September but his artwork will. “Field,” the 1.15 meter tall rectangular installation measuring 7.4 meter by 7.4 meters made with a series of porcelain pipes, which the

July 14, 2011

Exhibit in N.Y. explores creator of the Muppets

NEW YORK (AP) ― It seems so familiar to us now ― puppet characters on television that are so real, so expressive, so alive that we forget there’s a human being doing the actual work behind the scenes.There’s a reason that’s so familiar, the organizers of an exhibit opening this weekend in New York say: Jim Henson.The master puppeteer and media innovator behind pop culture icons such as Kermit the

July 14, 2011

A Pink shows seven pastel colors

The Korean pop market is dominated by idol groups, including Girls’ Generation, 2NE1 and Wonder Girls. For new girl group A Pink, which debuted in April with the first album “Seven Springs of A Pink,” it will not be easy to survive in the competitive K-pop scene. However, it will differentiate itself from other girl groups by showing unique colors of the seven members, they said.“If we say other g

July 14, 2011