CD Review, July 2007

[Well, I guess I am not going to work on this for a while... So, I am just going to post my unfinished draft. - Hong.]

o. "Go Your Own Way" by Cool Age [쿨에이지]

First album. They are An JeongHun [안정훈] (guitar, vocal), Jeon HongJun [전홍준] (bass, vocal) and Shin NanDa [신난다] (drums, vocal).

Punk rock. Not bad.

o. "Radio Dayz" by E Z Hyoung / Lee Ji Hyung [이지형]

First solo album. I think he used to be with an indie band Weeper [위퍼]. Unlike some of the recent solo projects, he did not play everything (although he wrote all the songs). Unless you are doing all electronica work, I think it really helps to have creative collaboration to broaden and enrich the music.

Pop/rock. Not bad.

o. "Starbow" by Starbow [스타보우]

First album. They are Jeong JongHyeok [정종혁] (vocal, keyboards), Kim DaeU [김대우] (guitar), Kim YeongSeok [김영석] (bass) and Yun YeongJu [윤영주] (drums).

Rock (Brit-ish, retro-ish). Actually a bit difficult to define the genre. Not bad.

o. "HaengBok [행복]" by Hachi & TJ [하찌와 TJ]

First album together. Hachi [하찌] (a.k.a. HIROHUMI Kasuga [春日 博文]) is a Japanese musician/producer (he is kind of old, in his late 50s) who got interested in Korea in the 80s. TJ [티제이] (a.k.a. Cho TaeJun [조태준]) is a Korean in his 20s. Hachi wrote most of the music and played a lot of the instruments. The singing is done by TJ. He also played some instruments and wrote a couple of the songs. An interesting combination.

Acoustic/folk. Somewhat reminded me of the 80s J-POP... Or it could have been my imagination because of Hachi, but still TJ's style also seems to fit that style.

o. "Little Fanfare" by Cabinet Singalongs [캐비넷 싱얼롱스]

First album. They are Cha JiEun [차지은] (a.k.a. PiMang [피망] (accordion, vocal), Kim MokIn [김목인] (a.k.a. Wood [우드]) (acoustic guitar, vocal, piano) and Lee DongRyeol [이동렬] (a.k.a. HaengRyeol [행렬]) (trumpet, ukulele, vocal).

Folk. Okay.

o. "Fight Against the World" by Schizo [스키조]

Second album. They are Hur Jae Hun [허재훈] (vocal), Ju Sung Min [주성민] (guitar, programming), Lee Hae Lim [이해림] (bass), Bok Nam Kyu [복남규] (drums) and Hayashi Hidehiro (sampling).

Industrial. Okay.

o. "Cloud Cuckoo Land" by Cloud Cuckoo Land [클라우드쿠쿠랜드]

First album. They are Choi JongHun [최종훈] (vocal, guitar), Shim HyeonSeok [심현석] (guitar), Kim JiHun [김지훈] (bass) and Kim ChangHyeon [김창현] (drums).

Modern rock. Okay

o. "GgumEui IlBu [꿈의 일부]" by JaeJuSoNyeon [재주소년]

Third album. They are Park GyeongHwan [박경환] (a.k.a. afternoon) (vocal, guitar) and Yu SangBong [유상봉] (a.k.a. sabo) (guitar, vocal).

Folk/pop/rock. Okay.

o. "Seba" by Seba [세바]

First album. They are Kim Moo Gwon [김무권] (violin), Kim Yeong Hyun [김영헌] (bass), Han Jeung Hee [한정희] (piano), Choi Jung Wook [최정욱] (cello), Heo Hyeon Ju [허현주] (flute), Hahn Woong Won [한웅원] (drums, percussions) and Ma DoWon [마도원] (composition, arrangement, directing).

Jazz, I think. Okay.

o. "Say Hello to Every Summer" by Elena [엘레나]

First album. Her name seems to be Jeong WuMin [정우민] (a bit boy-ish name :p). The album was had a great participation by Espionne (a.k.a. DJ Soulscape, Park MinJun [박민준]). It seems she used to play keyboards for many indie bands (Cosmos, Julia Hart, etc.).

Pop. Okay.