They are Lee Eon (vocals, etc.) and Z.EE. (guitars, etc.). This seems to their first album.

Their slow-paced (well, a couple of them were faster) music carries somewhat somber, dreamy ambiance. Musically, I like what they are doing although I am not sure if they did too much with the gritty feel using electronica techniques.

It’s just that often I got annoyed by the singer’s voice which I felt was trying too much (?) a la Rainy Sun (maybe not that much).

o. “First Aid Kit” by Sidérique

Seems to be the first solo project album by Sidérique with AK. Another heavily electronica-inspired pop album, I think.

Some parts of the first track reminded me a bit of Seotaiji in his vocalizing and melodies initially, but the rest seems different. Not that memorable, I thought. The style is so light that even his “heavier” effort (track #5) sounds quite light.

I guess this type of MIDI/drum-machine based solo projects are bound to appear more.

o. “OLaengPiOEui Byeol” by Huckleberry Finn

They are Lee GiYong (guitars, vocals), Lee SoYeong (vocals, guitars), Kim YunTae (drums), and Jang HyeokJo (bass). This is their third album.

I think they are continuing with the direction they went with the previous album with the new lead vocal. Less grunge, grunt. More like folk-rock.

I can’t say I really like their music. It’s not bad and the band seems to be quite solid, but I really couldn’t get excited about it.

On a side note, I thought Ms. Lee sounded sometimes amazingly like the former lead vocal, Ms. Nam.

o. “The Beginning of Fortune” by Fortune Cookie

They are Hong Boram (vocals) and Yoo Heejong (instruments). It seems to be their first album.

Another electronica-inspired pop album (well, mostly) that reminded somewhat of one of Lee YunJeong‘s old efforts, but much “cuter” (?). :p

Anyway, some of the tracks have pretty catchy tunes (e.g., Moonwalker almost like Roller Coaster). But the rest, I thought, was combination of sound fragments from other familiar sources.

Personally, I liked this one better than that of Sidérique. I guess I like female vocals. :p

o. “instant pig” by Clazziquai Project

This is a solo work by Kim Sunghoon with guests (main singers are Horan, Christina and Alex, no last names, whatever :p). It seems to be his first solo album.

I’d say electronica-inspired R&B (probably that’s where “-quai” derives from :p)…

Anyway, I thought it’s a pretty good compilation. I have not seen much, if any, good R&B efforts from Korea, so I was a bit cautious approaching this album. But some of more groove/funk/electronica-oriented tracks (e.g., “Stepping Out”) sound pretty good. But still, the rest, I am not too comfortable. :p

o. “Am I Blue?” by Nam Ye Ji.

This seems to be a rare attempt at producing a solo album for who wants to pass as a blues vocalist. I am not sure it worked that well. I am not saying that Ms. Nam can’t sing, but neither her vocal quality nor the arrangements inspired me in any way about the blues.

o. “SunGanEul MiDeoYo” by EonNiNe IBalGwan

They are Lee SeokWon (vocals, guitars), Lee NeungRyong (guitars), Jeong MuJin (bass, programming) and Jeon DaeSeong (drums). This is their fourth album.

I consider Lee SeokWon‘s voice the fingerprint of the band. That’s why although the music seems to have leaned more toward rock, the album belongs to the band.

And I think that’s the great thing. I thought the last couple of albums were a bit disappointing, but this one has enough of acoustic/sonic (not much of musical) changes that made it dynamic and interesting.

This is one of the bands that lead the Korean indie band movement. I hope this is the album that they can reborn.

o. “Just Pop” by My Aunt Mary

They are Jung Soon Yong (a.k.a. Thomas Cook) (guitars, vocals), Han Jin Young (bass, vocals) and Park Jung Jun (drums, vocals). This is their second album.

I actually was looking forward to their amazing first album. As the title suggest, this is more “pop”, which was a bit disappointing. They are pretty good, but almost all the tracks remind me of some other U.S. pop/rock band in one phrasing or another.

This is definitely good, but maybe, they will try more “Just My Aunt Mary” next time…

o. “Salon de Música” by Bulldog Mansion

They are Cho Jung-Bum (drums), Lee Han-Ju (bass), Seo Chang-Seok (guitars) and Lee Han-Choul (vocals).

I guess they are trying a bit of Latin American flavors in this second album, as the album title suggests. However, as with many of this type of “themed” efforts, I can’t help but feel how superficial their end results come out to be as far as the “theme” goes. For non-themed tracks, they are pretty good.

Anyway, it is a well-produced album as expected from Lee Han-Choul, but, to me, this type of artificial “lightness” is what prevents him from going to the next level. But what do I know…

o. “Details” by frou frou

They are Imogen Heap (vocals, instruments) and Guy Sigsworth (instruments).

I’ve first heard their first title song, “Let Go”, from the previews for the movie, “Garden State”. It was so catchy that I had to buy the album.

Well, the rest was not exactly what I expected, but they are still catchy ambient electronica pop…

o. “Super D” by Ben Folds

This is the last of the trio SPs. Then he went on to work on the album below with William Shatner and, probably, his next album.

I thought this one sounded sonically heavier and maybe a bit rougher than before. I think he might be going back to the roots of his garage/college band years. Not bad, I thought.

o. “Has Been” by William Shatner with Ben Folds

Previously, Mr. Shatner did some tracks for Mr. Folds on “Fear of Pop: Vol. 1″. I guess they liked it so much that they would try a whole album.

Mr. Shatner does not sing that much (maybe in one track). He wrote most of the words and recites them dramatically with the musical accompaniments.

Some of my friends look at me funny when they see “Captain Kirk” on the cover, but it is actually a pretty good collaboration work.

This is her 5th solo album. I think she wanted to write down and sing about what she felt for the past couple of years. All the tracks are slow-paced and moody. Ms. Lee hasn’t been known for her bright personality and voices, but it seems her recent emotional paths have taken that route.

I liked the songs on it although my recent preference seems to be leaning toward lighter pop/rock. Most of the tracks were arranged with “acoustic” feel with unison strings in the background.

I still adore her deep and coarse voice, but her breathing still bothers me. Some seems to still think of her as starting as a “Jazz” singer, but she never was. From an interview she did some time ago, it seems Jazz was never her “thing.”

o. “Funk” by Bulldog Mansion

They had a CD out before, but they call that a “debut EP.” And they are calling this the first album. This is a 4-piece band led by Lee, Hanchul (used to lead a lot of other bands including Zipper which I quite liked) on vocal and some guitar. The other members include Seo, Chang Seok on guitars, Lee, Hanju on bass, and Jo, Jungbum on drums.

I’ve always thought of Lee, Hanchul as a guy with plenty of musical sense and talent that doesn’t seem to get it quite right (just like Jinu whose solo albums I thought came quite short of his musical potentials, until he met Cho, Won Sun to form Roller Coaster). His band ventures quite rather successful (did I mentioned that I really liked Zipper? :p), but for some reason, he can’t keep them together for long.

Anyway, this album, backed by a home-grown (that is, “not imported”) brass section (this seems to be a trend among independent bands, which I welcome wholeheartedly), seems to work well. Some tracks can make you move to the music.

Some gripes. The arrangement for the brass section seems a bit weak although it sounds pretty good, and they were trying to promote “Funk” as their headline, but I think only a handful of them were “funk”-y. And I sometimes liked the idea of several 30-second aural interludes, but I am beginning to get annoyed by them.

o. “Ride on Live” by Roller Coaster

Well, actually, I was quite disappointed by this “Live” album by one of my favorite songwriter, Cho, Won Sun. This album does not convey the “live” concert feel at all. Although the songs are familiar, the whole thing is quite dull. I mean, you can’t avoid being less than perfect acoustically in a live concert, but I could not detect the crowd presence nor much enthusiasm.

o. The 4th Album by Jaurim

This is a bit of a disappointment as well. I am not sure I like the direction they are taking. I mean, I do understand that they would want to try “new” things as artists, but I think they have lost most of their charms from their first album. They seem to be going toward the direction that Kim, Yun-A took with her solo efforts.

I don’t know… I really liked this band. I am just hoping that this is just an experimental stage where they are trying to find something to settle into.

o. “Sae, Byeok” by Boo Hwal

This is their 8th album, I think. The interesting thing is they took Lee, Seung Chul back as the vocal, who used to sing for their first couple of albums. The songs themselves are nothing special, a very typical collection of their ballad rock. I just thought having Mr. Lee back (although it seems he didn’t sing too much on the CD) was quite amusing.

o. “The Portrait of Your Funeral” by Vassline

Thrash-metal? I guess I am out of this type of music these days.

o. “gemini” by t (Tasha)

Baby T is back! Well, I think this album does much better justice to her than her first junk. I thought she (and whoever is managing her) would know better after all that with Uptown to know that you just have to do your thing and worry about “marketing” later.

Tasha (aka. Yun, Mirae) is at her best when she’s showing off her “lyrical prowess”. She might have some difficulty in delivering the stories that the U.S. audience can related to, but given her rhyming skill itself, I think she’s there with just about any other female rappers in the U.S. When I first heard her rap in the Uptown‘s debut album, I knew she was born to rap.

But then, the amazing marketing machine was trying to turn her into an “R&B” singer. I mean, she can sing, but that’s not what she was born to. The effort to market her as such fell short big time, I think.

Anyway, I wish she continues in this path and maybe get some more “meaningful” stories and messages into her rhymes.