Oh Ji Eun Releases 3rd Album

Stunning singer-songwriter Oh Ji Eun will be releasing a new album on May 14th. Coming four years after her second album, compared to the previous albums her third full-length is said to be more pessimistic while still on the theme of love. It includes “누가 너를 저 높은 곳에 올라가도록 만들었을까” from last year’s 이야기해주세요 compilation in support for Korea’s comfort women as well as “겨울아침” from the 3rd Mint Paper compilation Life, released in 2010.

The music video for album lead track “고작” was released on the 13th, showcasing a sound where Oh Ji Eun’s strong vocals remain in the center:

(check out the video and related performances…)

Julia Hart Reboots Second Album

Veteran indie pop band Julia Hart have gone back into the past, re-recording the since long sold-out second album 영원의 단면 after a successful crowdsourcing effort. First released in 2005 the album came with hidden track “Young & Stupid”, but for the ‘rebooted’ version the song “체리 블라썸” serves as bonus track. “체리 블라썸”, or “Cherry Blossom”, is a new version of “활짝 핀 벚꽃나무 아래서” from the 2004 single Miss Chocolate first released as a digital single in April.

Limited to 500 physical copies the album will be released May 14th. A music video for the new version of “가장 최근의 꿈” was revealed a day early:

(check out the music video…)

10cm Release Single with Orange Caramel

On May 10th 10cm released a digital single in collaboration with k-pop idol group Orange Caramel. The two groups have recorded a joint version of 10cm’s “안아줘요”, now also under the international title “Hug Song”. 10cm first recorded the song for Mint Paper’s café night & day compilation in 2011 whereas this new version has been made for LOEN Entertainment’s re;code project.

The new single is called re;code Episode IV. Previous episodes include Daybreak doing their “들었다 놨다 (Love Actually)” together with Sunny Hill and Lucia singing Epitone Project‘s “선인장” together with Infinite‘s Woohyun.

A music video has yet to show up for the new version, but a day before the single release LOEN published a special ‘Coming Soon Interview’ video with English subtitles on YouTube. Showing the two groups interviewing each other, among many other things viewers learn that it was 10cm that had asked to work together with the girls in Orange Caramel.

(check out the interview and more…)

Hello Rookies of June 2013 Announced

The live auditions for Hello Rookie of June 2013 were held today at Rollinghall with two winners announcd. In competition with Drongo, Roundheads, The Barberettes, ECE and fine it was psychedelic rock band Squash Vines and Jeju based reggae & ska band South Carnival both came out of the evening 1,000,000 won richer also qualifying them for the final at the end of the year.

(check out the winning bands…)

Big K-indie Acts Coming to London’s K-Music Festival

As the Korean Cultural Centre UK prepared its 2013 K-Music Festival in London care was taken to secure some of the biggest indie names in Korea. In addition to an opportunity to see traditional Korean musicians in action, anyone who ventures to London mid-June may be able to enjoy live music from UhUhBoo Project, Yi Sung Yol and Chang Kiha & The Faces.

(learn more and listen to the artists…)

Peterpan Complex Release Spring Single

As spring continues in Korea, the spring themed releases keep on coming. Today April 16th Peterpan Complex debuted the song “봄봄봄” on a digital single with the same name. It’s a synth-pop number in a style similar to the sound that dominated the band’s fifth full-length album. For the live premiere of “봄봄봄”, to take place during the Beautiful Mint Life 2013 festival ten days from now, Peterpan Complex vocalist Jeon Ji Han will perform a special dance.

The single is the first new material from Peterpan Complex following a short hiatus. Drummer Kim Kyung In aka Locomotive announced her pregnancy during the recordings of Top Band 2 last summer, but has now returned to the band.

Via: Bugs Music

Jambinai to Perform at Finland’s World Village Festival

While the UK has the Korea Rocks tour coming up in a couple of weeks, Northern Europe too–Helsinki, Finland in particular–has something to look forward to before the summer: Today it was announced that Jambinai will be playing this year’s World Village Festival, performing a 1 hour set from the festival’s second biggest stage on May 25th.

As Jambinai introduces their unique use of traditional Korean instruments for a post-rock/post-hardcore sound to a Finnish audience, they will get some extra support to make their sound even heavier. 13Steps vocalist Dokyo13 will be travelling with the band offering his bass playing skills, where as Ryu Myoung Hoon–drummer of 13Steps, Hollow Jan, Rux and several bands more–will provide some extra percussion.

Rumors have it Jambinai will return to Europe and also visit another continent before the end of the year, but any official announcements have yet to be made.

(sample Jambinai with backup…)

MYK Releases First Mini Album as Saltnpaper

Korean-American musician MYK is perhaps best known for his work in hip-hop with Epik High, but as a talented songwriter his scope is much wider. Now he’s going for a modern rock sound with one-man band Saltnpaper.

First single LoveStrong, featuring Tablo, was released on April 10th and a self-titled mini album is out this week–online release through Korean outlets today, offline release and internationally available tomorrow April 16th. Additionally up and coming Polish singer Iza Lach is featured on two tracks–”Home” and Windward”.

Album lead track “모자” is the Korean version of album closing track “Hats”, with lyrics written by Lee Seung Hwan. A music video for “모자” should be released within the next few days.

The Saltnpaper teaser introduces the many different styles found on the album:

(check out the trailer and listen to lovestrong…)

24Hours Release Single Why Ahead of Album

After releasing debut single Blackhole in March last year, 24Hours are getting ready to expose more of their British pop/garage rock fusion sound. Digital single Why was released today, April 15th, with the bands first full-length album set to follow on April 29th. Learn more about 24Hours through our interview from January.

(check out a recent performance…)

Rocket Diary Project We Are The Night Release First Album

Electro rock band We Are The Night is the new project of emo-punk act Rocket Diary. The first digital single Melancholy showed up in March this year and second single This Is It came out in early April. The self-titled debut album is set to follow suit on April 25th, including both songs from the singles alongside 9 titles more. SounTruck vocalist Im Sun Young is featured on a song called “Fine”.

(check out related performances…)

Taru Releases Third Album in Collaboration with Yellow Monsters

Singer-songwriter Taru will release her third full-length album on April 18th. In the past we’ve heard her do sweet indie pop songs as the vocalist of The Melody and her first few releases on Pastel Music was all Sentimental Scenery produced electronic pop. Her second album was more ballad oriented and after joining Old Records she reclaimed her original sound.

Third album Puzzle is touted as a meeting between Taru and label mates Yellow Monsters, with the rock band providing the ‘hardware’. Just like for last year’s Blah Blah mini album, Yellow Monsters’ song writer Lee Yongwon has contributed songs to the Puzzle. The tracklist also includes “기침”, previously released on Blah Blah.

(check out related performances…)

Lee Sooryun’s Jazz Project Hommage Release Album

It’s only been two months since The KOXX guitarist Lee Sooryun released his first solo EP 동화일기, but already he’s got new things coming up. On April 18th Lee Sooryun’s jazz project band Hommage will release a self-titled debut album, promising 64 exciting minutes of sophisticated jazz of the future.

The album teaser briefly introduces the members and provides a chance to sample “Decalcomanie” ahead of the release:

(check out the teaser…)

Standing Egg Release Spring Mini Album Ambler

Prolific acoustic trio Standing Egg will release spring themed mini album Ambler on April 16th. It includes 5 songs and instrumental versions of all, including the R&B flavored “시간이 달라서” which was released as a digital single in February.

Mini album opening track and ukulele number “Miss Flower” is made for KTO’s campaign with the same name. In March foreigners were invited to write song lyrics about spring time in Korea and the two winning lyrics will inspire the coming “Miss Flower” music video, to be recorded in collaboration with the two winners.

The Ambler trailer, produced by Indie2Go, was revealed yesterday:

(check out the trailer and more…)

Mary Story Return with Second Album

After a well-received debut album in 2007, little was heard from modern rock band Mary Story. Last year the band members tried their luck on band survival show Top Band 2, but failed to make it through the initial Triple Tournaments. Still strong in spirit, the band has continued performing around Hongdae over the last year and yesterday, April 12th, Mary Story had second full-length album Lovesick released online. The offline release of Lovesick is scheduled to April 15th and comes with 2 bonus tracks.

(check out related performances…)

New from Lips Bite, WHOwho and Yellow Monsters for Greenplugged

This year’s edition of the Greenplugged Festival will take place between May 17th-18th. The third line-up announcement was made on April 12th, and the same day the first three songs from this year’s Greenplugged Ombinbus Album Sum∞ debuted online. This is the third year that Greenplugged put out their own compilation, and just like previous years the participating artists have contributed previously unreleased songs.

The songs already revealed come from Lips Bite, WHOwho and Yellow Monsters. Once the full compilation is released on May 6th seven more new songs from Sugarbowl, 9 and the Numbers, Eastern Sidekick, Bye Bye Badman, Rubystar, Rock’n'Roll Radio and Mintgray will be out.

Lips Bite’s new “같은 호흡 (Same Hope)” can be heard in the third GPS2013 line-up announcement video:

(check out the trailer and more…)

Sweden Laundry Release Spring Single

Following up from last year’s Christmas single, acoustic duo Sweden Laundry returned with digital spring single 다시,봄 on April 12th. The duo first introduce the song through various live performances, but for the single the song has gotten a richer arrangement, made dramatic through guitar arpeggios and piano, with a bit of melodion for extra spring warmth.

The following video from The Haberdashers shows the two girls singing the song at Café Stockholm:

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VenEZ Cover Last Jump Theme in Redux Project

Hard rock band VenEZ made it to the Top 30 on band survival show Top Band 2, got themselves a label, and released their first digital single in November last year. Today, April 10th, VenEZ returned with digital single Showdown – VenEZ Redux Project No.1 with a 2013 version of 1994 hit drama Last Jump (마지막 승부)‘s theme song “마지막 승부”.

The single announces VenEZ’s ‘Redux Project’ in which VenEZ intend to interpret Korean masterpieces, leading up to the release of a project album. As the first single came out, so did the music video:

(check out the music video and more…)

Actress Jung Eun Chae Releases EP

Jung Eun Chae is not just an actress and a model, on April 16th she will be releasing her first EP. The release is self-titled and the five songs have all been written by Jung Eun Chae herself. A long-time fan of Thomas Cook herself, she tracked him down via email and managed to convince him to sing with her for the song “소년, 소녀”.

Although this marks Jung Eun Chae’s real music debut, she’s been heard singing before. In 2011 she was the female lead in Mate‘s music movie Play (플레이), where she sang Park Joo Yeon‘s “음악은 너” as heard in this movie trailer:

(check out the old trailer…)

Boktea and Hangun Share Their Love Story

Singer-songwriter Boktea released her debut EP Hello Boktea in 2008–creatively packaged in an oversized tea bag. A couple of years later she went looking for a guitarist and teamed up with Hangun. In 2011 the couple got married–a wedding successfully crowdfunded when their parents opposed their union–and they’ve continued to make music together. On April 12th the two will release their first mini album 다른, 사랑 이야기 with four songs total.

A year ago a music video for “토끼야 토끼야”, included on the new release, was recorded by recandstop:

(check out the video and related performances…)

Joe Won Sun Does Naver On Stage Plus

In addition to the weekly On Stage sessions hosted by Naver Music, there are the irregular On Stage Plus sessions for special themes or collaborations. The fourth Naver On Stage Plus Session was published today, April 9th, and the featured artist is Joe Won Sun. Supporting her is a number of well renowned musicians including bandoneón player Koh Sangji and members of her band, thereamong former Bard violinst Yoon Jong Su, as well as Dear Cloud bassist Elang.

The first song she performed for On Stage Plus was “아무도, 아무것도” from her so far only solo album, now sung together with Yoon Sang:

(read more and watch all the videos…)