In this corner, Norazo from Korea, singing about Superman, risking one's life, and that wonderful fish the mackerel (sung in an actual fish market). And in the other, DJ Ozma from Japan, singing about Spiderman, drinking, and Age Age Every Night (videos may be NSFW). [more inside]
posted by needled on Oct 10, 2009 - 10 comments

Korean girl groups dominated the Korean music charts this summer - Brown Eyed Girls cast a spell with Abracadabra, Girls' Generation is your Genie, 2NE1 is on Fire, 4Minute turn up the Muzik, T-ara Lies. [more inside]
posted by needled on Sep 18, 2009 - 31 comments

The live performance shows for Superstar K (warning: audio autoplay) will start beginning this Friday, September 4, 11 pm, Seoul time. The South Korean version of shows such as American Idol and Britain's Got Talent, 713,503 hopefuls in 8 Korean cities were winnowed down to 10 contestants, all vying for the 100 million Won (approximately USD 80,400) prize and recording contract reserved for the winner. The show has been a massive hit for Korean cable music channel Mnet, garnering viewership above 6%, or 1 in 10 televisions on at the time, where 2% or higher is considered a hit on Korean cable TV. [more inside]
posted by needled on Sep 3, 2009 - 4 comments

Korean cell phone ads blur the line between music videos and ads. "Lollipop" from popular idol group Big Bang and newcomers 2NE1 was created to advertise LG cell phones and topped various Korean music charts in the process, even while government-owned broadcaster KBS refused to feature the song in its music countdown show because it was a jingle and not an actual single or album release. "Amoled", from Son Dambi and After School, was created to advertise Samsung's Amoled touchscreen phone. [more inside]
posted by needled on Aug 24, 2009 - 31 comments

Dynamic Duo do an attendance check, DJ Doc run to you with Epik High and Younha's help, Epik High and Younha love love love, Buga Kingz hear a siren, Drunken Tiger has a good life with T (윤미래) and bizzy, and Dynamic Duo check whether you're solo and still here!
posted by needled on Apr 3, 2009 - 23 comments

Billy Jean from Winter Play, Can't get you out of my head from W & Whale, Karma Chameleon from 이장혁 (Lee Jang Hyuk) with 검정치마 (Black Skirts), Personal Jesus from Yi Sung Yol and 서울전자음악단 (Seoul Electric Band), Nobody does it better (+ Wonder Girls' Nobody) from Yi Sung Yol [more inside]
posted by needled on Mar 29, 2009 - 53 comments

Singing, dancing, rapping, looking hot - boy bands from Korea and Japan. From Korea: DBSK (or TVXQ outside of Korea), SS501, Big Bang. From Japan: KAT-TUN, Arashi, NEWS. But wait - Tohoshinki (as TVXQ is known in Japan) singing in Japanese, as do SS501. [more inside]
posted by needled on Dec 13, 2008 - 21 comments

Move over, Wonder Girls! It's Jang Kiha and Faces (장기하와 얼굴들), the latest Korean Internet music sensation. Their performance of 달이차오른다, 가자 ("The moon waxes, let's go") on a Korean educational TV channel catches the attention of Korean netizens, who respond by producing mashups and following the terpsichorean teachings of "Reverend Jang" - from middle school students to college students, and even a professional Starcraft player. [more inside]
posted by needled on Dec 4, 2008 - 9 comments

Clazziquai Project is a Korean band fusing jazz, pop, and electropop, leading their music to be described as Shibuya-kei. Several of the band members are Korean-Canadian, including the main man DJ Clazzi, who writes, mixes, and produces. The lyrics are usually a mix of Korean and English, with all-English versions of their songs being released for foreign markets. Their most recent album, Robotica, included remixes by a number of Japanese musicians, such as Fantastic Plastic Machine and Shinichi Osawa. [more inside]
posted by needled on Jan 14, 2008 - 18 comments