The Korea Herald

Super Junior’s ‘Miinah’ tops Gaon Chart in 2010

Feb 10, 2011

Boy band Super Junior’s latest album “Miinah (Bonamana)” ranked No. 1 among Korean pop albums sold last year, the Korea Music Content Association said Wednesday.Girl group miss A’s “Bad Girl Good Girl” topped the online chart and veteran singer Lee Seung-chul’s “Geu Saram (That Person),” the mobile chart, of the Gaon Chart, the Korean national record chart similar to U.S. Billboard charts.Culture
’70s music revival captivates unlikely audience

Feb 8, 2011

Back in the 1970s, a music salon called C’est si bon, located in Mugyo-dong, Seoul, attracted many youngsters with its special charm.All you needed to bring was the money for your cup of coffee. Once the drink was served, you could stay as long as you wanted, enjoying the live music performed by some of the most talented young musicians of the generation.The C’est si bon musicians, now reaching ag
U.S. violin-makers thrive despite Chinese competition

Feb 7, 2011

WASHINGTON (AFP) ― American violin-making is enjoying a rebirth, craftsmen say, despite the rapidly improving production by fellow makers in China which artisans here see both as a threat ― and a boon ― to their livelihood.Even with U.S. interest in classical music slipping, and some orchestras folding in harsh economic times, support for the artisans’ business is such that hundreds of individual American violin-makers are thriving.“Violin and bowmaking in this country is the best it’s been in U
Indonesian star gets jail after sex-tape scandal

Feb 1, 2011

BANDUNG, Indonesia (AP) ― An Indonesian pop star who rocked this predominantly Muslim nation after several homemade sex tapes found their way to the Internet was sentenced Monday to three years in jail.Nazril “Ariel” Irham’s trial has made headlines and dominated chatter on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter for more than three months. Nazril "Ariel" Irham and Girlfriend Luna Maya (
Chris Brown finishes domestic violence program

Jan 30, 2011

LOS ANGELES (AP) ― Chris Brown has completed a domestic violence counseling program required as part of the singer’s guilty plea to assaulting then-girlfriend Rihanna nearly two years ago.On Friday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Patricia Schnegg congratulated the 21-year-old R&B performer for finishing the yearlong program.As a result of completing the required counseling, Brown will no longer
Chopin's hallucinations caused by epilepsy - scientists

Jan 30, 2011

PARIS, (AFP) - Can anyone beat Frederic Chopin as an emblem of the Romantic artist? (MCT)In the great Polish composer, towering genius combined with a wasted frame and a pallid face behind which lurked melancholy, a brooding over death, adisconnection from ordinary life and sometimes horrifying hallucinations. A force that created this image was the French novelist George Sand, whodescribed lyrica
Capturing crowd child’s play for CocoRosie

Jan 24, 2011

With their strange combination of instruments, fantasy lyrics and weird fashion CocoRosie seem hell bent on obscurity. So there were some doubts about bringing a band so deliberately quirky ― for Saturday’s show in Seoul they wore oversized white shorts, fluorescent beards and jeweled veils ― to a country hostile to alternative music.But the skeptics were proved wrong. After all, the Cassady siste
Costumes and close-ups

Jan 24, 2011

Super Junior wow the fans with drag turns, hilarious mimicry and hit after hit after hit Super Junior's "Super Show 3" at Impact Arena on Saturday was proof that the Korean boy band hasn't let its high standards slip in the least. That concert and the follow-up on Sunday were among 16 on the group's third Asian tour, covering 13 countries.Now down to "just" 10 members following the departures of H
Sting, ‘Cove’ star talk saving dolphins

Jan 20, 2011

TOKYO (AP) ― Sting wants to help save dolphins still being brutally slaughtered in Japan, but says the best way is by starting a debate, not by forcing foreign opinion.The British music star met backstage at a Tokyo concert hall Wednesday with Ric O’Barry, the star of the “The Cove,” the Academy Award-winning documentary that depicts the dolphin hunt in the town of Taiji in southwestern Japan.The
Singer Tim grateful for ‘New Beginnings’

Jan 20, 2011

It’s been quite a while since Korean fans last heard from K-pop singer Tim. After a hiatus of three years, Tim recently got back to the K-pop scene with his fifth album “New Beginnings.” It is his first album with Sony Music Entertainment Korea.The biggest change occurred inside his heart. He said he became more mature and serious in the search for “his” music, after realizing that he was born to
KARA member Gu Ha-ra withdraws contract termination

Jan 19, 2011

Gu Ha-ra, a member of five-member girl group KARA, said she will remain with her agency DSP Media, withdrawing from the earlier announcement that the group will terminate their exclusive contract with the agency.Four members of KARA, excluding the band’s leader, earlier on Wednesday made the announcement through a legal firm. Girl group KARA receives a commendation from the Culture Ministry for pr
KARA terminate contract with agency

Jan 19, 2011

The five-member girl group KARA announced that they will terminate their exclusive contract with their agency DSP Media, Yonhap News reported. Four members of KARA, excluding the band’s leader, made the announcement through a legal firm Wednesday.The four members said that they are deeply distressed by the agency’s misuse of power, which has forced the members to undergo unwanted activities, perso
Beatles museum opens in Argentina

Jan 17, 2011

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) ― A brick from The Cavern Club, a check for 11 pounds signed by Ringo Starr, an “authentic” Beatles wig. These and thousands of other objects related to the “Fab Four” are luring Beatles fans to a new museum in Buenos Aires.The museum is the product of the particular “Beatlemania” obsession of Rodolfo Vazquez, a 53-year-old accountant who became a fan at the age of 10
JYJ keeping their heads held high?

Jan 14, 2011

Trio that struck out independently from idol group seems unfazed by recent controversiesMired in a never-ending string of scandal-driven buzz, JYJ ― the boy band formed by three TVXQ idols-gone-independent ― put in a brief press appearance for their appointment ceremony as goodwill ambassadors for the robot competition, FLL KOREA. A mere eight days had passed since S.M. Entertainment’s three-less
Japanese manga vilifies KARA, Girls’ Generation

Jan 13, 2011

A Japanese manga comic has sparked anger among Korean netizens for its depiction of lewd scenes of women clad in the signature clothes of Girls’ Generation and KARA’s butt dance.Korean fans of the two famous girl groups claimed that the manga titled, “An Analysis on the K-Pop Boom Lies” is intended to vilify the groups who have made successful debuts in Japan.The manga shows former Korean girl gro