Papercut Project Release First Full-Length Album

Papercut Project gathers Sugarbowl vocalist Ko Changin, Soulights guitarist Yu Kyeong Pyo and Soulights drummer Kim Doo Hyun. The acoustic trio released their first full-length album 불공정연애 on May 21st including all three songs from debut single Pass Me Not, released a year earlier.

Going for a combination of detailed and witty lyrics with light and timeless arrangements Papercut Project tell love stories over bossanova influenced melodies. In addition to several songs of their own, the album includes a remake of “왜 날” from Light & Salt leader Kio‘s solo album.

(sample the album…)

Yi Sung Yol Returns with New Album

Launching his musical career in 1994 through modern rock duo U&Me Blue–sometimes called Korea’s first indie band–Yi Sung Yol made a celebrated solo debut in 2003. His third full-length album Why We Fail came out two years ago and on May 24th he stands ready to offer new album V.

Not a typical studio album, its ten tracks have been produced under the lead words ‘ambience’, ‘muddle’, ‘estrange’ and ‘emancipate’. There’s the ambience from recording at a live venue. There’s the muddled sound that comes from recording all the instruments of the band together instead of having one microphone for each. There are the English lyrics, making the songs freer and overall estranged from the Yi Sung Yol of the past (‘I take myself too seriously’). There’s the emancipation from the strict studio recording process.

As a consequence of how the album came into existence, Yi Sung Yol has been performing several of the songs live before the release. Fluxus Music has already published a set of ‘recording’ and ‘live sketch’ videos. The song “Fear (Don’t Let It Get The Best Of You Darling)” was released as a digital single on May 21st while the recording video was published on YouTube:

(check out all the videos…)

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…)

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

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…)

Johnny & The Instruments Debut with Self-Released EP

One man band Johnny & The Instruments self-released his first self-titled EP on April 5th. On it are five experimental songs created from when he bought his drum set in June 2012 till end of March this year, released now as he received his notification of enlistment a couple of days after his birthday last month.

Brief samples of all songs on the release can be heard through the teaser video:

(watch the teaser video…)

Swimmingdoll Release Digital Single Shine

Experimental shoegazer band Swimmingdoll debuted with album 8wimmingdoll end of 2010 . Now they’re back with digital single Shine including the song with the same name and introducing new title “Flowing”. The single was released in Korea today April 8th and has been available on international music outlets such as iTunes and Spotify since April 1st.

(check out a performance of Shine…)

Daegu’s Club Heavy Celebrates 17th Anniversary with Compilation Album

It is easy to think that Seoul always has been and still is the one and only place for indie music happens in Korea, but in fact is has many hopes. One of them is Club Heavy in Daegu, that has been around since 1997 showcasing local talent as well as bigger names from outside the city. In order to celebrate its 17th anniversary Club Heavy is releasing compilation album 17 : Club Heavy 17th Anniversary Album on April 20th, featuring 17 songs from artists that have frequented the venue.

(check out videos of included songs…)