KAIST student-turned-musician promotes Argentinean tango instrument By Yi Whan-wooKoh Sang-ji refuses to be portrayed as a pioneer of Argentinean folk instrument bandoneon in Korea.But her life is self-explanatory when it comes to raising awareness of the accordion-like instrument used in tango ensembles.Koh simply dropped out of KAIST, a top engineering school in Korea, because she wanted to learn bandoneon intensively after getting acquainted with it.Koh Sang-ji, one of Korea's first bandoneonists, poses with the Argentinean folk instrument. Her latest activity includes joining the Stay Joyful online concert hosted by the Korea Foundation to overcome COVID-19 and promote cultural exchanges with other countries. / Courtesy of Private CurveThe first Korean to study at Orquesta Escuela de Tango Emilio Balcarce, a two-year training orchestra, she started her professional career as one of Korea's early bandoneonists in the 2000s.Her rare yet challenging mindset in Korea's education-obsessed society is still brought up whenever she is interviewed by the media.This accordingly makes people curious about the bandoneon that is lesser-known here, and those sSep 9, 2020By Yi Whan-woo
Trot singer Kim Ho-joong to join military next month Captured from Kim's InstagramFamous trot singer Kim Ho-joong will join the military next month to fulfill his mandatory military service, officials said Thursday.Kim is scheduled to enter an Army boot camp in the central city of Nonsan, 210 kilometers south of Seoul, on Sept. 10 for basic military training for four weeks. He will then serve as a public service worker for about two years, according to the officials.He was initially scheduled to join the military in mid-June but decided to postpone it, sparking allegations that he was trying to evade the mandatory duty and the military manpower agency gave him preference. Both sides rejected those suspicions.In July, he underwent another medical checkup and was declared to serve as a social worker, rather than an active-duty soldier, due to health issues, the officials said.His planned date of enlistment would be just five days after the release of his first album.The 28-year-old man rose to stardom after finishing fourth in the finals of TV Chosun's hit audition show "Mr. Trot." Kim, once an aspiring opera singer, earned the nickname Aug 27, 2020
Drag artist dives into songwriting Hurricane Kimchi performs at Jebi Dabang in western Seoul. / Courtesy of Kang Josae By Jon DunbarHurricane Kimchi, the drag name of local artist Heezy Yang, has expanded into music. Teaming up with Jinho, the bassist of garage punk band The 1234-Dah!, they released their first single “Stronger Than You Think,” Aug. 9. After his best friend and work partner moved away earlier this year, Yang started getting more serious about his music. He started out at drag shows, accompanied by Jinho on guitar or bass, singing covers by anyone from Nirvana or Green Day to Britney Spears or Whitney Houston. Eventually, he decided to start writing songs, and Jinho helped him through the process. “It's sort of like, one door closes, then another opens ― like they say. My best friend Ali left Korea and I was left with no close friends and I was sad, but it made me make new friends who do music, and finally got me into making music,” he told The Korea Times. “So during the time I was sAug 25, 2020By Jon Dunbar
Godmother of Korean jazz dies Park Sung-yeon smiles during a performance held to mark the 40th anniversary of Jazz Club Janus in this Nov. 23, 2018 file photo. Courtesy of JNH MusicBy Park Ji-wonPark Sung-yeon, known to music fans here as the godmother of jazz in Korea and founder of the country's first jazz club, died on Saturday. She was 76.In 2015 she collapsed from chronic renal failure and had been in a nursing home since then. As part of Korea's first generation of jazz singers, she is a pioneer in the genre here. She helped introduce jazz to Korea and contributed to its expansion, founding Janus, Korea's first jazz club. Since debuting as a singer with a band at the 8th United States Army after graduating from high school, she devoted herself to jazz on all counts.Park Sung-yeon performs at Janus in this June 17 file photo. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chulAfter her debut, she entered Sookmyung Women's University to study composition and opened Janus in 1978 when the music genre was still in its incipient period.The club played a pivotal role for aspiring and professional jazz musicians.In a media intervAug 24, 2020By Park Ji-won
BTS inspires hope, happiness with all-English single 'Dynamite' BTS members pose during a global press conference to promote their new single “Dynamite” in Seoul, Friday. / Courtesy of Big Hit EntertainmentBy Kwak Yeon-sooBTS dropped its highly anticipated English-language song “Dynamite” to send messages of hope and happiness to ARMYs ― its fans ― around the world struggling through the pandemic. Speaking of the new single “Dynamite,” RM said the group initially had no plans of releasing new music before its next album. It is working on a new album set for release in the fourth quarter of 2020 after dropping “Map of the Soul: 7” in February.“We came across 'Dynamite' while preparing for our next album,” RM said during an online global press conference held in Seoul, Friday. “As soon as we heard the song, we thought it was really fun and it was a song we really wanted to try. “It made us feel good we could just dance to it, and we wanted to share this feeling as soon as possible and share this energy.”J-Hope recalled that releasing the single was a last-minute decision Aug 21, 2020By Kwak Yeon-soo
Pop star Britney Spears wants her dad out of the picture Britney Spears, right, is pictured with her dad, Jamie Spears. Captured from her InstagramBritney Spears wants her father to be removed as the person that controls her business and personal affairs in a major change to her 12-year court-appointed conservatorship.Ahead of a court hearing in Los Angeles on Wednesday, the 38-year-old pop star's lawyer filed documents saying the singer is “strongly opposed to having James (Spears) return as conservator of her person.” The document gave no reasons for her stance.Jamie Spears was appointed conservator in 2008 after the pop star's life spiraled out of control and she was hospitalized for psychiatric treatment.After a career comeback, the “Toxic” singer pulled out of a Las Vegas concert residency last year and briefly entered a mental health facility. She has not performed publicly since October 2018 and the court documents said it was “her stated desire not to perform at this time.”The long conservatorship for the former teen pop phenomenon has been the target of a vocal #FreeBritney campaign by fans. TheAug 21, 2020
Storytelling in music: K-pop labels cash in on secondary content A large banner featuring the lyrics of BTS' “Run,” the lead song of the boy band's album “The Most Beautiful Moment in Life, Pt. 2,” is installed on the exterior of the Kyobo Building at Gwanghwamun in central Seoul, Aug. 19. It reads, “Run, run, run again. It's OK if you fall. Run, run, run again. It's OK to get hurt.” / Korea Times fileBy Kwak Yeon-sooFollowing the success of the “BTS World” mobile game that launched last year, the global boy band once again collaborated with game developer Netmarble to unveil “BTS Universe Story,” an interactive mobile storytelling platform, on Wednesday.This is in alignment with the recent moves of BTS' label, Big Hit Entertainment, to expand character merchandise by integrating storytelling into music, pushing the K-pop industry to a new level of possibility. Big Hit Entertainment's character brand TinyTAN is comprised of BTS-inspired animated characters. / Courtesy of Big Hit Entertainment“Storytelling will be expanded in stages to include artists in our multi-label organization,Aug 20, 2020By Kwak Yeon-soo
Seoul punk band goes psychedelic Deadbuttons / Courtesy of Deadbuttons By Jon DunbarThe psychedelic punk band Deadbuttons has fared pretty well this year, releasing a 10-song album and a single and unveiling a slight modification to the band's name.Maybe to differentiate itself from numerous other band names, most notably The Dead Kennedys but also Korean bands Dead Gakkahs, Dead Chunks and Dead Chant, the band took the space out of its name. It seems small, but makes sense from a search engine perspective.“Always wanted to put them in one word and it seemed to be the right time,” frontman Hong Ji-hyun told The Korea Times.So as the newly rebranded Deadbuttons, the band released a new album on July 15 titled simply “1,” featuring 10 songs already released on previous albums, recorded in the band's new style. As the album goes on, the songs increase in complexity, as well as length, with track 1 clocking in at 6 seconds and track 9 hitting almost 14 minutes ― extremely rare for a punk band.Back in 2Aug 13, 2020By Jon Dunbar
More than 82,000 materials on North Korean music unveiled National Gugak Center Researcher Park Ji-sun speaks during a press conference at the Gonggan E-um at Gugak Museum in Seocho-gu, southern Seoul, Friday. Korea Times photo by Park Ji-wonBy Park Ji-wonAn inter-Korean concert in 1990 awakened musicians and researchers to look into the deep differences in musical traditions of the two Koreas, which were disconnected from each other 75 years ago. Along with other organizations, the National Gugak Center (NGC) kicked off projects in the late 1990s to study North Korean music, steadily adding to its collections. After the NGC was approved by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to collect North Korea-related data in 2016, the organization was able to speed up the process, gathering 15,000 additional materials such as audio recordings, photographs and magazines related to North Korean music. Collecting data on North Korea is strictly prohibited under the National Security Act, and institutions and researchers must get approval from the government to embark on such projects. To mark the 25th anniversary of the Gugak Museum and the 70th Aug 11, 2020By Park Ji-won
UB40 singer Duncan Campbell recovering after suffering stroke Duncan Campbell, pictured in 2016. Carl Court / GettyimagesDuncan Campbell, the current lead singer for UB40, was hospitalized after suffering from a stroke, the band said on Twitter.UB40, on Tuesday, tweeted out a photo of Duncan Campbell and stated that he has recovered."We can confirm that our lead singer and brother Duncan Campbell was taken to hospital after suffering a stroke. While we can report that he is already up and about, we ask fans to respect Duncan and the Family's privacy," UB40 said.Duncan Campbell became the lead singer for UB40 after his brother Ali Campbell left the band in 2008. Ali Campbell has gone on to tour as part of separate group UB40 featuring Ali, Astro Mickey.UB40, formed in 1978, is best known for songs "Red Red Wine," "Falling In Love With You" and more. (UPI)Aug 7, 2020
