Rock band aims to keep making indie music, plans Japan tour in fall While idol-centered K-pop has been heavily covered by the media, the Korean indie scene has received relatively little attention. Seeking diversity of Korean music, The Korea Herald is running a series of interviews shedding light on the Korean scene. This is the third installment of the series. ― Ed. Chang Kiha & the Faces, a ...

Pop star Lady Gaga appeared on Japanese talk show “Room of Tetsuko” wearing yet another unique outfit called “costume onion,” according a report from Oricon.co.jp. The singer shocked the Japanese interviewer Tetsuko with a round black dress resembling an onion and a “reverse vortex” hairstyle measuring 50 centimeters high. She also sported her iconic 40 centimeter high-heeled shoes. Gaga offer...

Israeli conductor Daniel Barenboim will lead his youth orchestra, consisting of artists from the Middle East including Israelis and Palestinians, to perform at Imjingak near the demilitarized zone to promote peace on the Korean peninsula. The concert will be held on Aug. 15, Liberation Day in Korea, the organizer said. Barenboim and the West-Eastern Divan Orchestra, which the conductor formed i...

Playboy magazine has claimed trademark infringement on YG Entertainment’s popular duo “GD&TOP” album. YG Entertainment has confirmed on their official website that GD&TOP’s first album’s cover was designed based on the magazine’s rabbit logo and took into account Playboy’s demands to stop using the trademark. YG also said that they will discontinue the production of the original album and cre...

Top music acts will perform at summer music festivals at major amusement parks in late July and early August. Summer Wave Festival will be held at Everland in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, on July 22-23. Will.i.am., the talented producer and member of The Black Eyed Peas, will be performing a DJ set, while Korean American hip-hop rapper Tiger JK, UV and 2PM will also take to the stage. The perfor...

Peyroux explores rootsier sound Madeleine Peyroux “Standing on the Rooftop’’ Emarcy/Decca Madeleine Peyroux impressed on her 1996 debut “Dreamland,” singing early jazz and blues standards with a tone uncannily reminiscent of Billie Holiday, re-emerged as an innovative interpreter of more contemporary fare by Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen and others on 2004’s best-selling “Careless Love” and establ...

MOSCOW ― South Korean artists clinched five prizes, including two top vocal prizes, in one of the world’s most prestigious classical music competitions. Bass Park Jong-min, 24, and soprano Seo Sun-young, 27, of Korea won first prizes in the male and female solo vocal categories of the 14th International Tchaikovsky Competition that closed here on Thursday. In the two-week-long contest, Korea’s ...

K-Pop enthusiasts in France surprised many people in Korea as they queued for hours to see the SM Town concert. Now they are gathering online to talk about the stars. The French fan site “Sweety Nine Forum” (snsd.frenchboard.com) has a fan base ranging from the 12 to 26-years-old, but what they share in common is the Girl’s Generation. They talk about what they like about the girl group and li...

The French Ministry of Culture and Communication conferred the country’s top French cultural order “Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters” on Maestro conductor and pianist Chung Myung-whun Wednesday, making him a recipient of all three French cultural honors. The medal is the highest honor among the three “Order of Arts and Letters,” awarded to an artist who has made significant contributio...

Late works of great composers to be heard on the hills of Gangwon Province Internationally renowned sister musicians Chung Myung-wha and Chung Kyung-wha said they will combine their decades of musical experience to help the Great Mountains Music Festival & School become a world-class chamber music festival. Cellist Myung-wha and violinist Kyung-wha have become new artistic directors for the GMM...

K-pop idols Gu Ha-ra of the girl group KARA and Yong Joon-hyung of the boy band BEAST revealed their romantic relationship Tuesday. Yong’s agency announced Tuesday that the two stars have been dating for a month. Cube Entertainment agency added that when Gu, 20, was having hard time going through the contract dispute with her agency, Yong, 22, had been a great comfort for her. However, with the...