After crashing onto the scene with their debut EP SIS (Soft Is Strong) and snagging the No. 1 spot on Billboard’s Emerging Artists and Heatseekers Albums Charts, KATSEYE are back and louder than ever. Enter Gnarly, a no-holds-barred club banger filled with thundering 808s, rave-ready synths, and a swagger that refuses to quit. It’s bold,…
Tag: review
27th Far East Film Festival: In Conversation with E.oni, Director of “Love in the Big City”
In the contemporary Korean cinema, director Lee Eon-hee, known professionally as E. oni, is recognised for her quietly revolutionary voice in telling human stories. E.oni was part of the first graduating class of the Korea National University of Arts, where she majored in film. Her early career was rooted in foundational, behind-the-scenes work: she served…
27th Far East Film Festival: “Love in the Big City” Review
If you never thought a plastic uterus model would make a good plant, prepare yourself for some redecorating. The stolen emblem sitting atop glass marbles as the years tick away is the most profound object you’ll see in the whole of E.oni’s Love in the Big City, a film that, despite the assumed subject matter,…
Inspiring K-Pop Performance by Big Ocean: Overcoming Challenges – Concert Review
It’s no easy task to become a K-pop idol. Now imagine doing that while being hard of hearing. Sounds near impossible? Not for Big Ocean, the world’s first hard-of-hearing K-pop group, who just floored London with a concert full of great choreography and more charisma than Soho on a Saturday night. Comprised of Lee Chan-yeon,…
The Power of Fire and Sound: GEMINI, BLASÉ, Kwaca and DJ Pool Live in London – Concert Review
Before reading it, drop everything! Because this article will need your full attention. GEMINI, BLASÉ, Kwaca and DJ Pool blew my mind at their London show! DJ Pool just took us straight to the disco world, and it felt like stepping into Fabric or Ministry of Sound on a Saturday night, bass in your chest…
wave to earth: Leading Korean Indie Rock onto the Global Stage
In recent years, South Korea’s global musical influence has expanded well beyond the borders of K-pop. Among the acts reshaping what Korean music looks – and sounds – like on the world stage is wave to earth. This Seoul-based indie rock trio, consisting of Kim Daniel (vocals, guitar), Shin Dong-gyu (drums), and Cha Soon-jong (bass),…
82MAJOR Step Up: Bold Sound, Bigger Vision on 3rd Mini-Album “SILENCE SYNDROME”
82MAJOR are on the run. Well, at least they are in their latest music video to TAKEOVER, accompanied by their 3rd mini-album SILENCE SYNDROME. If it’s your day one with 82MAJOR, six prison escapees getting down on a train track while dressed in soft pink pyjamas with bunny motifs will be the first impression you…
“Cloud” Review: Capitalism and Alienation in the Digital Age
Few directors are as skilled as Japanese auteur Kiyoshi Kurosawa when it comes to articulating the alienation and paranoia of the digital age. One of his first international breakouts, already decades deep into his career, was 2001’s Pulse, a distressing ghost story about the gradual supernatural invasion of the online world which managed to accurately…
Introducing HANA: J-Pop’s Fearless New Group Debuts with “ROSE”
The wait is over! HANA, the seven-member girl group formed through the wildly popular audition show No No Girls, officially makes their major-label debut today with the superb single ROSE. A swagger-filled track that depicts themes of survival and self-love leads the way into a fresh, fearless wave of J-pop. ROSE doesn’t just introduce HANA,…
Discover Joh!: The Chaotic Soul of Hyperpop-R&B – Exclusive Interview
If you’re unfamiliar with Joh! – yes, the exclamation point is part of the name, and yes, he earns it – consider this your official introduction to one of the most exciting genre-pushing voices coming out of Korea right now. A former hip-hop kid turned hyperpop-R&B romantic with a chaotic soul, Joh! is the type…
