The Korea Herald

Buzz bands seek to stand out at SXSW

Mar 14, 2012

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) ― Members of the ascendant rock band Alabama Shakes can tell you all about buzz in the 21st century.They first read about themselves on the Internet about nine months ago. They began playing in packed houses for enthusiastic fans after putting out a hastily released EP just six months ago. And this week the foursome will reach the pinnacle of their exposure ― so far ― with a jam-packed schedule over five days at the South By Southwest Music Conference and Festival.With thousan
Mexico group banned for playing drug songs

Mar 14, 2012

CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico (AFP) ― Authorities in the capital of Mexico’s most violent state, Chihuahua, have indefinitely banned popular music group Los Tigres del Norte for playing drug ballads at a concert.Songs glorifying drug traffickers, known as narcocorridos, have attracted a growing following in recent years from Mexico City to Los Angeles.Los Tigres del Norte, a successful mainstream group, were banned from playing in the city of Chihuahua “for playing three songs at the weekend which defen
Black Keys rock Madison Square Garden like pros

Mar 14, 2012

There were few flashing lights, the backdrop wasn’t overloaded with visuals or videos, and the band rarely spoke, if it wasn‘t in song.The Black Keys are rock stars, and their traditional rock sound electrified Madison Square Garden on Monday night.The duo performed more than 20 songs in a 90-minute show that was exhilarating, bluesy and loud.Singer and guitarist Dan Auerbach was top-notch throughout, especially on ``Same Old Thing,’‘ ``Run Right Back’‘ and ``I’ll Be Your Man.‘’ The petite, bear
N. Koreans, French prepare for major Paris concert

Mar 14, 2012

PARIS (AP) ― A North Korean and a French orchestra held a daylong rehearsal on Tuesday ahead of a landmark concert in Paris, a sign of warming ties between Pyongyang and the West following years of tensions.Pyongyang’s Unhasu Orchestra and Radio France Philharmonic make their debut together on Wednesday ― under the baton of renowned South Korean conductor Chung Myung-whun, who organized the event.Most of the 90 North Koreans ― many of them under 30 ― will be performing with a Western ensemble fo
2AM returns with new album on painful but endless love

Mar 13, 2012

Idol group takes motif from American classic ‘The Great Gatsby’Idol group 2AM returned to its fans on Tuesday with a new mini album, breaking its one-and-a-half-year absence from the country’s entertainment scene.With the new album titled “F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Way of Love,” the group attempts to turn its image from young and fragile into one that is more mature and manly. Taking motifs from “The Great Gatsby” written by F. Scott Fitzgerald in the early 20th century, the group said they wanted t
SPO to hold first North American tour in April

Mar 13, 2012

The Seoul Philharmonic Orchestra, led by music director and chief conductor Chung Myung-whun, will hold its first North American tour April 15-19.Starting in Vancouver, Canada, the orchestra will also perform in Santa Barbara, Los Angeles and Seattle.The North America tour, sponsored by Hyundai Motor, is part of maestro Chung’s efforts to create a world-class orchestra. Chung said last year that the orchestra would have to offer many recordings and tours to attract international attention.“North
Jay-Z brings the hype to South By Southwest

Mar 13, 2012

Jay-Z may have 99 problems, but getting to the venue isn’t one.The rapper brought the beat to South By Southwest, but not before he needed a police escort to make it from the airport to the show, which started 40 minutes late.Jay-Z played a hits-filled set for a standing room-only crowd after flying in late Monday afternoon. He was on the town with his wife, Beyonce, in New York City the night before to see fellow SXSW participant The-Dream, perhaps explaining his late arrival in Texas.The show
Top Japan musicians play US for cherry blossoms

Mar 13, 2012

Two of Japan‘s best-selling pop acts will play in Washington to mark the centennial of the capital’s cherry blossoms and offer thanks for U.S. support after last year‘s tsunami, organizers said Monday.Misia, Japan’s best-known R&B singer who has sold more than 30 million albums, will perform on March 25 at a ceremony to celebrate 100 years since Japan gifted the celebrated pink-flowering trees to the United States.AKB48, an all-girls J-Pop band named after Tokyo‘s geek culture neighborhood Akiha
Taylor Swift tops U.S. music earnings, Adele squeaks in

Mar 13, 2012

LOS ANGELES (AFP) ―Country star Taylor Swift racked up the biggest U.S. earnings last year, followed by Irish rockers U2 ― while British sensation Adele made it into the top 10 despite her health woes.The Grammy-winning Swift made a cool $35.7 million from all sources of U.S. income, including touring and music sales, according to annual 2011 rankings in industry paper Billboard. In second place were stadium veterans U2, who earned $32.1 million, including north American revenues from their monu
Crowd-funding plays lead role in SXSW films

Mar 12, 2012

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) ― The crowd-financing website Kickstarter.com has electrified the traditional structures of filmmaking, aiding 33 films at the South By Southwest Film Festival. That’s 10 percent of the festival’s entire slate. Even SXSW Film head Janet Pierson was surprised.“I’m fascinated that this is a viable tool, or seems to be,’’ says Pierson, who produced indie films in the ’80s and ’90s. “How great that this vehicle exists that’s working for all these filmmakers.’’The budgets for even
Daughter to follow Whitney Houston into showbiz

Mar 12, 2012

LOS ANGELES (AFP) ― Whitney Houston’s daughter said Sunday she plans to follow her mother into show business, while the drug-troubled star’s sister-in-law admitted her untimely death could have been predicted.In her first interview since Houston’s death last month aged 48, Bobbi Kristina ― Houston’s daughter from her stormy relationship with singer Bobby Brown ― also said she still hears her late mother’s voice.“I feel her passing through me all the time,” she told TV talk show host Oprah Winfre
Eyelike

Mar 9, 2012

Springsteen’s anger channeled in new albumBruce Springsteen"Wrecking Ball" (Columbia)Nearly three decades ago, Bruce Springsteen wrote with sadness about a man showing his young son a hometown ravaged by outside economic forces, a town the family was about to leave.He’s not sad now. He’s angry, mighty angry. On the new song, "Death to My Hometown," he wants to "send the robber barons straight to hell, the greedy thieves who came around and ate the flesh of everything they found, whose crimes hav
N. Korean orchestra opens musical bridge to Europe

Mar 9, 2012

PARIS (AFP) ― South Korean troops may be conducting live fire exercises near the North Korean frontier, and Pyongyang may be ramping up its anti-southern rhetoric, but there may be more harmony on the musical front.Next week, for the first time, musicians from North Korea will perform in Paris with a French orchestra led by a South Korean conductor, Myung-Whun Chung, in a minor diplomatic victory for the international maestro.“I’ve been trying to do this for 30 years,” he said this week. “For pr
Japanese conductor Ozawa to take year off

Mar 8, 2012

TOKYO (AFP) ― Celebrated Japanese conductor Seiji Ozawa is to take a year away from the podium as he struggles to recover after a battle with cancer, his office said Wednesday.The 76-year-old maestro, who underwent surgery for esophageal cancer in 2010 and was treated for a hernia last year, had planned to conduct four concerts in Japan from March 17 but had decided to cancel the performances.“Unfortunately, Ozawa’s condition has not improved enough to conduct, and it has been decided that the f
At SXSW media zoo, convergence is annual buzz word

Mar 8, 2012

Increasingly, the media zoo that is SXSW looks more like today‘s overlapping media world.The annual South by Southwest Conference and Festival, which begins Friday, gathers thousands of creators, performers, media and industry members for 10 days onto the boozy downtown streets of Austin, Texas. It’s really three festivals -- Interactive, Film and Music -- in one, but each bleeds into the other.The annual buzz word at SXSW is always convergence. Just as the tech and entertainment worlds physical