Press Release: Uhuhboo Project and Kiha & The Faces + Yi Sung Yol to perform in London in June
Gangnam Style? It’s so last season. This summer, Serious presents the latest sounds from innovative Korean rock bands the UK audience has yet to see. Along with two exciting concerts at the Scala, near King’s Cross, audiences will also get a chance to indulge in fusion Korean cuisine from two of the hottest street vendors in London during the shows. The concerts will be a chance to discover the edgier side of Korean culture through music and food.
Uhuhboo Project + Pere Ubu, Scala London – Sunday 16 June. Info & Booking.
Pere Ubu onstage at 7.45, followed by Uhuhboo Project at 9pm.
Avant-garde rock band Uhuhboo Project will pair up with David Thomas and his legendary band Pere Ubu for this night of experimental sounds and electric chemistry. Uhuhboo Project, formed in 1994 by Hyunjhin Baik and Young-gyu Jang, is one of Korea’s influential, first generation of indie bands, with distinguished fans, including the choreographer Pina Bausch and director Park Chan-wook. In fact, the band has made scores for two Park Chan-wook films – Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance (2002) and Night Fishing (2011), in which the members featured in a scene in the latter film that later won the Golden Bear for Best Short Film at the Berlin International Film Festival.
Besides the Uhuhboo Project, the two main members, Young-gyu Jang and Hyunjhin Baik, have prolific solo careers of their own, in art, music and literature. Last year, Jang’s project music group, Be-Being, fusing traditional Korean music and art with contemporary elements, performed at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, Southbank Centre in London. Baik’s artwork has been featured in galleries in Asia and Europe, including the Union Gallery in London.
The night will be accompanied by delectable kimchi tacos and fried kimchi rice balls prepared by Kimchinary, a London food truck set up by self-confessed “pork fat addict with a fermentation fascination” – Sweden-born Hanna Soderlund. Besides the main Kimchinary food truck, which can often be seen at the South Bank, Soderlund also holds monthly supper clubs serving up Korean food with a modern twist. The tacos and rice balls will be sold in the Scala’s foyer bar throughout the concert.
Kiha & the Faces + Yi Sung Yol, Scala London – Thursday 20 June. Info & Booking.
On 20 June, Kiha & The Faces, hugely popular in Korea but relatively new to rock fans here, will make their UK debut, along with singer-songwriter, Yi Sung Yol, considered by many critics to have made Korea’s first truly influential modern rock album in 1994. Often compared to U2’s Bono for his resonant vocal tone and flexible range, Yi is one of Korea’s most adored singer-songwriters. Kiha & The Faces burst onto the Korean music scene in 2008 and went on to instant success with their self-produced EP “Cheap Coffee.” Their folksy, ‘70s-esque ode to disillusioned youth and the loneliness of urban life, catapulted the band to overnight stardom in Korea and won them an unprecedented three Korean Music Awards, including Best Song of the Year.
Source: Sally Reeves for Serious
Press Release: K-Music 2013 – London’s Festival of Korean Music
Serious presents K-Music 2013, a London-wide celebration of the best of Korean music featuring leading lights of that culture. While we are opening our ears to the sounds of K-Pop and Psy’s Gangnam Style, this wonderful selection of concerts provides a chance to experience a broader, bigger picture of Korean music, which is both innovative and traditional – respectful of the past whilst pushing boundaries.
The highly acclaimed National Orchestra of Korea will open the Festival, performing in London at the Barbican (14 June) for the very first time and the inventive Geomungo Factory, who took Womex by storm last year, will also make their UK debut at the Cadogan Hall (19 June). Korea’s greatest Pansori star, Ahn Sook-Sun, makes a rare appearance for a uniquely Korean ‘Pansori Night’ at the Cadogan Hall (21 June) and Korean rock bands Uhuhboo Project, Kiha & The Faces and Yi Sung Yol will play two gigs at the Scala.
After playing all over the world, the National Orchestra of Korea finally make their British debut. Their new artistic director, Won Il, leads the orchestra, drawing on ancient instruments and the shamanistic traditions of Korea, whilst also embracing the new. Since it was founded in 1995, the NOK has specialised in using traditional Korean instruments in new and exciting ways. Won Il was a founding member of Uhuhboo Project, who can be seen at the Scala, has played London as a member of Baramgot and his music was used in Robert Lepage’s latest work Playing Cards.
Geomungo Factory epitomise what makes Korean culture so special – combining a respect for its distinctive past while staying at the cutting edge of innovation and technology. The geomungo zither is over a thousand years old – a six-stringed instrument played by hitting and plucking, with a deep muscular sound. Geomungo Factory have moved the instrument forward, inventing new versions – the ‘xylophone’ geomungo, the ‘cello’ geomungo and the ‘electric’ geomungo with a wah-wah pedal to create a completely new sound. You can make comparisons with Steve Reich, Portico Quartet, improvised jazz, folk and ambient, but this music sounds totally original. Their album Metamorphosis was released to great acclaim last year. They perform at the Cadogan Hall on 19 June for their debut in the UK.
Pansori is often described as traditional Korean opera, but it is more rooted in folk than that. To be part of a Korean audience at a pansori night is vivid and fun, experiencing the intensity of emotion as the stories are told, whether tragic or funny.
There are just five surviving pansori stories, each with their own character – classic stories of love, heroism, tragedy, self-sacrifice and of humour. Ahn Sook-sun, Korea’s most celebrated pansori star who has played at the Edinburgh International Festival, will perform the Heungbo-ga, which is largely a comic story of two brothers, one good and one bad, with a lot of grief along the way. As she puts it, “I can create an empathy with the audience, they can feel the breathing and sense the emotion through the tone of voice.” K-Music’s ‘Pansori Night’, featuring Ahn Sook-sun, is at the Cadogan Hall on 21 June.
There are two Scala concerts by exciting Korean bands, well-known in Seoul but new to European ears. Uhuhboo Project were one of Pina Bausch’s favourite bands, and Korean film director Park Chan-Wook raved about the band, who’ve retained an underground reputation in Korea. For their Scala show on 16 June, they’ve invited David Thomas and his legendary band Pere Ubu to share the stage with them, making a really sensational double bill.
June 20 at the Scala sees a combination of two bands who are sure to pull out every Korean rock fan in London – Yi Sung Yol, a terrific singer who’s featured in a string of Korean films, and Kiha & The Faces, a hugely popular rock band led by singer and composer Chang Kiha, who turns Korean into a natural language for off-centre rock lyrics.
Right across the programme, K-Music 2013 celebrates what Korea has to offer today, bringing together the ancient and the modern.
The National Orchestra of Korea Friday 14 June Barbican
Uhuhboo Project + Pere Ubu Sunday 16 June Scala
Geomungo Factory Wednesday 19 June Cadogan Hall
Yi Sung Yol + Kiha & The Faces Thursday 20 June Scala
Pansori Night – Ahn Sook-Sun Friday 21 June Cadogan Hall
For full details of all shows visit serious.org.uk/K-Music
K-Music Festival 2013 is in conjunction with Korean Cultural Centre UK
Stay tuned to hellokpop for more details coming your way soon.
Source: Sally Reeves for Serious
INFINITE’s remix featured on ‘The Beatles Code’
As INFINITE continued their appearance on Mnet’s The Beatles Code, a recent remix of some of their past singles have gained attention.
Broadcast on the April 15 episode, INFINITE were presented with their very own bibigok (비비곡), which means mix song. Creatively titled When a Man Loves, he shouts ‘Be Mine’ while doing Nothing’s Over like a Chaser, the members were able to listen to their songs mixed together skilfully with smooth transitions.
As Inspirits and regular Kpop fans alike can see, the title of the bibigok cleverly arranges the tracks used in the song to create a new title which still somewhat makes sense.
Check out the bibigok below:
PSY releases ‘Gentleman’ MV
Superstar, PSY, has revealed the MV for his latest single, Gentleman.
Full of cameo appearances, PSY’s new single and MV is much awaited by the world’s media as a result of the explosive Gangnam Style. PSY further promoted his new single through a live broadcast of his concert HAPPENING, via YouTube today at 6:30pm KST.
Check out the MV below!
What are your thoughts on the MV?
Actress Kim Soo Jin passes away; presumed suicide
Actress Kim Soo Jin has sadly passed away.
Found by her boyfriend on March 29, he called the police immediately. The police speculated that the actress may have hanged herself as it was known that she suffered from depression and a will was found at the scene.
A representative from the Gangnam Police Agency told enews: “Ms. Kim was found dead at 1 pm on March 29. It seemed she had hanged herself. We arrived at the scene after receiving a call. We are currently almost finished with our investigations.”
As a result of the news being revealed on April Fools’ Day, many were in disbelief. However, netizens came to show grief over her untimely passing.
Kim Soo Jin was well known for her role in SBS sitcom ‘Soonpoong Clinic’ and drama ‘City Men and Women’.
hellokpop extends our deepest condolences to Kim Soo Jin’s family and friends.
Source: enews24
