When three childhood friends, including a pair of siblings, started the band Biffy Clyro over 10 years ago in Kilmarnock, Scotland, they strived to make music that was “as weird as possible.”“That’s what we thought was good,” said Simon Neil, the group’s lead vocalist, guitarist and songwriter, in an interview. The band, which is also made up of twin brothers drummer James Johnston and bassist Ben Johnston, met with The Korea Herald before performing at its first show in Korea at the Jisan Valle

Performance July 27, 2016

Pineapple tarts. The thought of those flaky butter cookies topped with pineapple jam made Cheryl Lu-Lien Tan’s stomach churn. She craved the taste of them. And she had a hunger for home.It was early 2009, a few weeks before New York Fashion Week. Tan, a fashion writer for The Wall Street Journal at the time, had plenty on her plate, except for her grandmother’s cookies.She didn’t know how to make any of her favorite food from her homeland. So she took a break, traveling to the kitchens of her gr

Books July 27, 2016

The Rev. Tim LaHaye, coauthor of the “Left Behind” series, a multimillion-selling literary juggernaut that brought end-times prophecy into mainstream bookstores, died Monday. He was 90.LaHaye died in a San Diego, California, hospital, days after having suffered a stroke, according to his publicist Johnnie Moore. Coauthored with Jerry B. Jenkins, the 16-volume “Left Behind” series of novels published by Tyndale House Publishers sold more than 80 million copies worldwide, Moore said, and populariz

Books July 27, 2016

Though Tegan and Sara Quin of pop duo Tegan and Sara, identical twins and both openly gay, are prominent advocates for the LGBT movement, they’re also aware that “people in other countries don’t always understand.”“We try to be very sensitive to social and religious norms in other countries,” Tegan said at an interview before their first Korean performance at the Jisan Valley Rock Music & Arts Festival on July 22. The sisters have been vocal proponents of LGBT issues for the length of their musi

Performance July 25, 2016

ICHEON, Gyeonggi Province -- The screen blazed red. Crowds scattered throughout the grounds at Jisan Valley Rock Music & Arts Festival swarmed the main stage. As 10 p.m. approached on Friday night, the Red Hot Chili Peppers clambered onto the Korean stage for the first time in 14 years.Jisan Forest Resort rang with cheers as the iconic rock band kicked off the show energetically with “Can’t Stop,” during which drummer Chad Smith delivered a spirited drum solo, and followed up with the 2006 hit “

Performance July 24, 2016

ICHEON, Gyeonggi Province -- With a precocious melancholic voice and a shy demeanor that, in her words, “doesn’t give too much away,” British singer-songwriter Birdy might be best described as the antithesis to chirpy K-pop girl groups.“For me, it’s always been a bit darker,” the 20-year-old replied when asked if she would ever take on a “cutesier” style, before her performance Saturday at the Jisan Valley Music & Arts Festival. “Where I grew up, it was very beautiful but reflective and moody,”

Performance July 24, 2016

The upcoming Korean War film “Operation Chromite” takes on the loaded subject matter with a studded cast of Korean A-listers and Hollywood actor Liam Neeson, best known to Korean audiences for his 2008 thriller “Taken.” It clearly aims to be a commercial blockbuster, armed with glitzy visuals, loud battle scenes, budding wartime romance and easily imaginable characters. It is, however, all style and very little substance. And like most recent Korean films that draw on conflict with the North --

Film July 21, 2016

"The Big Book of Science Fiction" Edited by Ann and Jeff Vandermeer; Vintage (1,216 pages, $25)Surprisingly, the literary spirit that haunts Ann and Jeff Vandermeer's massive new anthology, "The Big Book of Science Fiction," isn't Arthur C. Clarke or Isaac Asimov or even H.G. Wells.It's Jorge Luis Borges, the creator of miniature fables of humans grappling with their double-edged longing for and terror of infinity and omniscience. He's represented by a signature story, name-checked in another on

Books July 21, 2016

BewhY wants to continue spouting his own brand of “nice” rap. The 23-year-old, whose real name is Lee Byung-yoon, nabbed the spotlight as the leading contestant during the fifth season of hiphop audition program “Show Me the Money,” which began airing on Mnet in May. He eventually nabbed the top prize in last week’s final episode.The rookie rapper has been open about his Christian faith on the show. He wants to carry on writing lyrics that both convey his own beliefs and resonate with the wider

Performance July 20, 2016

If you imagine Nick Offerman is a real-life version of Ron Swanson, the mustachioed, macho character on “Parks and Recreation,” think again. Sure, he likes the outdoors, and yes, he has a wood shop in Los Angeles. But those things are connected to growing up in Illinois, not so far, really, from the American heartland portrayed by Mark Twain. And Offerman knows Twain; he’s a big reader.It makes sense, then, that Offerman has just recorded “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” for Audible, the audiobook

Books July 20, 2016

The next big breakthrough for K-pop -- and global pop music in general -- will be born from a collaboration between the newfangled genre and traditional British pop, believes Shin Jae-hong, a composer-turned-enterpreneur.While most major K-pop agencies, such as S.M., YG and most recently FNC Entertainment, are looking toward China for expansion, Shin decided to turn his attention to the U.K., the “homeland of global pop music” that yielded icons like the Beatles, Oasis and the Spice Girls, he to

Performance July 19, 2016

Police on Friday charged actor-singer Park Yoo-chun with solicitation of prostitution and fraud, while clearing him of sexual assault allegations.Police said it is “difficult to prove there was use of force” in the four sexual assault complaints brought against Park last month. However, Park will be charged with solicitation of prostitution and fraud concerning one of the four women who filed charges against him. The woman will also be charged with prostitution.Meanwhile, the second of the four

Performance July 15, 2016

Trick(Korea)Opened July 13Drama, Thriller. Directed by Lee Chang-yeolSeok-jin (Lee Jung-jin), a workaholic television producer obsessed with ratings, propels a terminally ill man and his wife to national fame through his sensational show. When the man refuses to be filmed further, Seok-jin pushes through in an attempt to capture his death on camera. Now You See Me(U.S.)Opened July 13Crime, Action. Directed by Jon M. ChuA team of illusionists known as the Four Horsemen (Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Har

Film July 15, 2016

Director Yeon Sang-ho’s apocalyptic thriller “Train to Busan” is something of a cross between Bong Joon-ho’s dystopian film “Snowpiercer” and the zombie flick “World War Z” starring Brad Pitt.In the movie, which screened at the Cannes Film Festival’s Out-of-Competition category in May, viewers are presented with a racing train on which an outbreak of a virus causes those infected to instantly turn into flesh-devouring zombies. Passengers fight for their lives, compartment by compartment, as the

Film July 14, 2016