Nah Youn Sun: Lento ACT Records, April 2013 Nah Youn Sun’s collaboration with Swedish guitarist Ulf Wakenius continues to bear fruit. This is her third album with Wakenius on the ACT label (and her 8th studio album overall), and like her previous ACT releases they are supported by Lars Danielsson on bass and Xavier Desandre-Navarre […]
Category: Recorded music reviews (page 2)
LKL Critics’ Choice 2012: Saharial
Thanks to a hectic work schedule, concerts and a rather filthy cold – I’m just getting down to reviewing my purchases for last year and in some cases – listening to them! The final list of five are as follows: Nell Vol. 5: Slip Away – released 10 April 2012 This 5th album is the […]
The London Korean Links Awards 2012
The seventh eclectic and highly personal commemoration of the best of the past year. Personality of the Year Runner up There were plenty of personalities in the South Korean Olympic team, particularly the pistol shooters, archers and the gymnasts. But the athlete that everyone will remember is fencer Shin A-lam, cheated out of a place […]
Saharial reviews Kyu Won’s 2nd album: 스스로 떠나는 사람들
Kyu won – 2nd album – 스스로 떠나는 사람들 Open Music, 2011. Released back in June last year, I’m not sure why it took me so long to buy this album seeing how much I enjoyed the first. I wasn’t sure what to expect this time round: most artistes attempt to have a different feel […]
LKL Critics’ Choice 2011: Philip
2011 all told was not a bad year for K-pop, and K-indie too is reaching listeners through more outlets. My own record-buying was somewhat slower than in previous years, but nevertheless I picked up enough to have a lot of rejects in my pile. And here are five of the disks that will stay with […]
LKL Critics’ Choice 2011: Saharial
Looking back over my orders, its been more of a Japanese movie year for me this year, but despite that and the usual excessive Shinhwa related purchases there are some honorable mentions, one disappointment, and a winner by someone you might not have heard of… 4Men – Vol. 4 – The Artist 14 June 2011 […]
LKL Critics’ Choice 2010: Mark Russell
Mark Russell returns with his pick of 2010’s releases First of all, 2010 was a very good year for Korean indie music. I had not even noticed until I started putting together this list, when I kept rediscovering one solid album after another. Not just great in one genre or another, the Korean music scene […]
The London Korean Links Awards 2010
LKL’s fifth unscientific selection of people and events who have made 2010. Personality of the Year No question about this: Kim Yu-na. Olympic champion, 5th-highest earning female sportsperson globally, ambassador for everything from the G20 to the Catholic Church. I’m sure if she ran for president she’d get elected. Albums of the Year Four LKL […]
LKL Critics’ Choice 2010: Saharial
Saharial rounds up this year’s Critics’ Choice series with her own picks. It’s not been a great year for album buying for me. I’ve been doing more film and drama watching, and the constant injection of yet anther boy or girl group into the already over-packed market is frankly quite off-putting. The longer I spend […]
LKL Critics’ Choice 2010: Philip
This is the year that Korean music has really started to appear on iTunes, making it a lot more accessible. It’s also a year which has seen a continued emphasis on girl bands, with the Wonder Girls keeping a foothold in the US and Girls Generation and Kara slugging it out in Japan. Some of […]
LKL Critics’ Choice 2010: Anna Lindgren
Another year is coming to an end, and in what has become an unfortunate trend I’ve found that I’ve listened to much less music than the year before. However judging from the limited number of releases that did reach my ears, I’d like to think that 2010 (and the three months preceding it) was a […]
LKL Critics’ Choice 2010: refresh_daemon
LKL is delighted to welcome guest contributor refresh_daemon presenting his top albums of 2010. Other contributors will be joining in soon. When Philip asked me to contribute to LKL’s yearly music round-up, I was actually quite excited about writing about my favorite new releases of 2010. Then I looked through the many albums that I’d […]
CD review: Nah Youn Sun – Same Girl
Nah Youn Sun: Same Girl ACT, September 2010 Nah Youn Sun returns with her second Western album. Her first, Voyage, was LKL’s editor’s choice for album of the year 2008 and so this follow-up release comes hotly anticipated. It does not disappoint. The opening track of the album, My Favourite Things, is often one of […]
Winterplay launches UK album with civilised gigs
Last weekend saw Winterplay’s UK debut and launch of their first western album on Universal. Three gigs in two remarkably different settings. Their first performance was in the Cultural Centre on Friday 10 September. Demonstrating the remarkable flexibility of the space, the area next to the reception desk had been converted into a stage, with […]
Album Review: Kyu Won – 두 번의 겨울이 만든 이야기 – 1st jib
Saharial reviews Kyu Won’s first album, released by Open Music on January 7th 2010 I bought this album simply on a whim. Maybe it was the cute artwork or perhaps it was the lure of an artist that wrote, sang and performed all his own work that was the lure. At least, that’s what I […]
LKL Critics’ Choice 2009: Philip
The editor provides an eclectic choice of albums from this year. 2009 has been a bumper year for new, innovative music and some welcome re-releases of the back catalogue. And anyone interested in the Korean contemporary music scene needs to be very grateful to Anna over at Indieful ROK for the work she does in […]
LKL Critics’ Choice 2009: Saharial
This year can definitely be marked down as one for the less inspiring years for discovering new musical talent. Korea is packed full of vocally gifted teens all eager to make the break into stardom and this year saw various girl and boy bands pop up from nowhere as companies vied for more of […]