Underworld to Go on Stage in SeoulBy Cathy Rose A. Garcia Staff Reporter British electronica duo Underworld will hold its first-ever concert in Seoul next month. The concert will be held at Korea University Hwajung Gymnasium on Nov. 17. Underworld is often named as one of the top electronica acts in the world, along with the Chemical Brothers, who rocked the Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival last July. Underworld is best known for ``Born Slippy.NUXX,'' which became extremely popular in the club scene after being featured in the 1996 film ``Trainspotting.'' The song catapulted Underworld to the forefront of the international music scene, and gained widespread acclaim for their unique sound. Underworld started its world tour in the United States last September, and currently is touring Europe. According to its homepage (www.underworldlive.com), tickets for most concerts have been sold out. The group is promoting their fifth album ``Oblivion with Bells,'' their first in five years, during the world tour. Their first single ``Crocodile'' was released last month. Originally formed by Kyle Hyde and ROct 9, 2007
Album ReviewsWill.i.am `Songs About Girls' Universal Will.i.am, more popularly known as one-fourth of the Black Eyed Peas, has gone solo. His first single is the immensely catchy ``I Got It From My Mama,'' follows the style of the Peas' ``My Humps.'' Will certainly proves he is one of the music industry's best music producers. He creates a crazy mix of hip-hop and old school R&B music in this album. Among the best tracks are ``Over,'' ``Fantastic'' (which samples the Jackson 5 classic ``I Want You Back'') and the socially aware ``S.O.S. (Mother Nature).'' Since Will is known for his collaborations with stars like Justin Timberlake, Sergio Mendes and Pussy Cat Dolls, fans were expecting more collaborations in this album. However, the only collaboration included in the album is ``The Donque Song,'' a fantastic collaboration by Will and Snoop Dog -Cathy Rose A. Garcia Bruce Springsteen `Magic' SonyBMG Rocker Bruce Springsteen has reunited his old band, ``E Street Band'' to release the new album ``Magic'' for the first time in five years since the Grammy-winning `Oct 9, 2007
Jazz Bassist Holland to Perform in SeoulBy Chung Ah-young Staff Reporter British jazz bassist Dave Holland will perform with his quintet on Oct. 28 in Seoul. Featuring Robin Eubanks (Trombone), Chris Potter (saxophone), Steve Nelson (Vibraphone) and Nate Smith (Drums), he will present his classic jazz performance, playing assorted pieces from ``Critical Mass,'' an album, which was released last year, during the Seoul concert. Holland is known for overcoming the limits of the bass, which is often perceived as a rhythm support to other main instruments, and extending the possibility of the bass as a melodic instrument. He began to be known to the public when he was first picked out to guest on the albums of jazz maestro Miles Davis, ``In A Silent Way'' and ``Bitches Brew,'' in his early 20s. His quintet was formed in 1997, gaining popularity from its albums, ``Points of View'' and ``Critical Mass'' and ``Extended Play: Live at Birdland.'' Particularly, its albums, ``Points of View'' and ``Prime Directive'' were nominated for the Grammy Awards. Also Downbeat, American magazine, named the band as ``No.1 AOct 9, 2007
Music Stars Shine at Autumn FestivalBy Cathy Rose A. Garcia Staff Reporter Jazz vocalist Woong San and popera star Lim Jae-chung wowed audiences at The Korea Times' annual ``Autumn Music Festival'' held Saturday evening. The Seoul Symphony Orchestra, led by conductor Lee Jin-kwon, filled the Grand Theater at Sejong Center for the Performing Arts with mesmerizing music, perfect for the cool autumn evening. The orchestra opened with an exciting rendition of parts of Tchaikovsky's Symphony No. 5 in E minor Op. 64. Soprano Yoo Mi-sook performed ``O mio babbino caro'' from Puccini's opera ``Gianni Schicchi,'' while baritone Choi Kwan performed ``Di Provenza il mar, il suo'' from Verdi's ``La Traviata.'' However, it was Lim who stole the limelight when he performed ``The Music of the Night'' from Andrew Lloyd Webber's ``Phantom of the Opera.'' Wearing a white mask to stay true to the Phantom's character, Lim's strong voice reverberated through the hall, with his emotionally stirring rendition of ``This is the Moment'' from the musical ``Jekyll and Hyde.'' Woong San captured the audience's attention withOct 7, 2007
Morricone Graces Cinema Night in SeoulBy Chung Ah-young Staff Reporter One cannot imagine films without decent music scores, key elements in heightening dramatic moments. At the Olympic Park Gymnastic Stadium, Ennio Morricone, legendary Italian composer and conductor, created cinematic images through beautiful film scores with his orchestra at his first concert in Seoul. The 79-year-old virtuoso, who wrote more than 400 film scores, led more than 8,000 Korean audience members into cinematic nostalgia with memorable pieces such as ``A Fistful of Dollars'' (1964), ``For a Few Dollars More'' (1965), ``The Good the Bad and the Ugly (1966)'' and ``Once Upon a Time in the West'' (1968). He performed with more than 80 members of the Rome Symphony Orchestra and 100 chorus members under the five themes _ Life and Legend, Social Cinema, Scattered Sheets, The Modernity of Myth in Sergio Leone Cinema and Tragic, Lyric and Epic Cinema _ during the concert. The maestro flexed his still-vigorous prowess, undaunted by age. The audience erupted when he opened the stage with ``The Untouchables (from the film).'' Oct 3, 2007
Album Reviews Foo Fighters ``Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace" SonyBMG Foo Fighters are back with their long-awaited album ``Echoes, Silence, Patience and Grace." Perhaps eager to prove that their best work is yet to come, Foo Fighters are coming out fighting with a solid album. The first track ``The Pretender" immediately grabs listeners by the ears and keeps them glued until the last notes of the final track fade. Foo Fighters have always been associated with an alternative-pop-rock sound, but this album certainly has a more classic rock sound. The melancholic ``Come Alive" stands out, along with acoustic tracks such as ``Stranger Things Have Happened" and ``Let it Die." -Cathy Rose A. Garcia Sean Kingston `Sean Kingston' SonyBMG Miami-born and Jamaica-bred rapper Sean Kingston is still baby-faced, but he hits the world with his second single, ``Beautiful Girls.'' This album presents a wide variety of styles of songs, which are tinged with new attempts to mix established pop numbers with Jamaican vibes and rapping. Tracks like "Me Love," a sOct 2, 2007
Foreign Artists Flock to Rock Seoul R&B singer Ciara will perform at the Olympic Fencing Stadium, Olympic Park on Oct. 19By Cathy Rose A. Garcia Staff Reporter R&B singer Ciara and heavy metal bands Scorpions and Megadeth will hit Seoul's music scene this month. Ciara, who is known for her hip-hop dance songs ``Goodies'' and ``1, 2 Step,'' will perform at the Fencing Stadium, Olympic Park on Oct. 19. Tickets to the concert cost 77,000 won, 55,000 won and 33,000 won. The 21-year old singer made a splash in 2004, when her single ``Goodies'' topped the Billboard charts in the United States. Her debut album sold over 3 million around the world. Ciara also received two Grammy Award nominations for Best New Artist and Best Rap Song Collaboration for ``1, 2 Step.'' Her collaboration with Missy Elliot, ``Lose Control'' also received two Grammy Award nominations. She released a second album ``Ciara: The Evolution'' last December, selling over 2 million copies around the world. She worked with top music producers such as Pharrell, Rodney Jerkins and Will.i.am. on the album, which spawned hit songs ``Promise,'' `Oct 1, 2007
YB Launches 10th Anniversary Tour ConcertsRock band YB, formerly known as Yoon Do-hyun Band, will give the tour concerts in more than 20 cities in the nation to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the band's creation. Its first tour venue is the Oulim Theater in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province on Oct. 6. The tour concerts will continue for five months under the theme of ``YB History After 10 Years.'' YB, an aspiring rock group that experimented with various songwriting styles, including ballads, consists of vocalist Yoon, guitarist Huh Jun, bassist Park Tae-hee and drummer Kim Jin-won. The band changed its name from Yoon Do-hyun Band to YB in 2005. In the upcoming concerts, the group will showcase its usual repertoires as well as Yoon's solo hits, which have illuminated its 10-year musical career. The concert organizer said that the anniversary tour concerts will feature impressive stage settings and special audio and visual effects never shown before. The band was first known to the public when it starred in a music movie called, "Jungle Story" in 1996 The band has released seven studio albums, three live aSep 30, 2007
Album ReviewNatalie Imbruglia Glorious: The Singles 97-07 (SonyBMG) Australian pop singer Natalie Imbruglia burst into the music scene in 1997 with the catchy hit song ``Torn.'' Glorious is a compilation of her best hits in the last 10 years. Imbruglia's best songs, ``Big Mistake,'' ``Smoke,'' ``Wishing I Was There,'' are from her debut album ``Left of the Middle. Her subsequent albums ``White Lilies'' and ``Counting Down the Days'' have failed to replicate her earlier success, with songs such as ``Wrong Impression'' and ``Shiver.'' Imbruglia added five new tracks in the album, including the title track ``Glorious.'' She collaborated with her husband Daniel Johns, who is frontman of Australian rock group Silverchair, on ``Be With You,'' ``Against the Wall'' and ``Stuck on the Moon.'' -Cathy Rose A. Garcia Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals ``Lifeline" (Virgin) Fresh off nine months of touring, Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals spent a week in a Paris studio recording their latest album, ``Lifeline," on a practically prehistoric 16-track recorder. Harper makesSep 18, 2007
Vienna State Opera to Perform in Seoul Vienna State Opera will perform for the first time in Korea at Seoul Arts Center, Sept.19-20. /Courtesy of Vienna State OperaBy Lee Hyo-won Staff Reporter The internationally celebrated Wiener Staatsoper, or Vienna State Opera, will visit Seoul for the first time with a festive spirit, performing ``Le Nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro)'' at the Seoul Arts Center, Sep. 19-20. Maestro conductor Seiji Ozawa will lead the Opera, the oldest theatrical institution with an unbroken record of performing in the German-speaking world. ``Le Nozze di Figaro,'' the timeless 1786 piece by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with Italian libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte, will be brought to life by over 100 performers from the State Opera orchestra, chorus and opera singers. Taking place in Seville, Spain, in the palace of the Count Almaviva, the opera recounts and traces the hectic, crisscrossed romantic relationships of several couples. Although the piece created a great scandal for its controversial plotline involving adultery and other complications during the time of Mozart, it is regarded as one oSep 12, 2007