First, I’d like to say that I know having lots of ads can be distracting on blogs. I’ve deliberated a lot on which ad blocks to use or not, and I’m never perfectly satisfied. But the ads are also why I’m able to give away free stuff like this, so there’s that silver lining.

Since the last free CD giveaway (and artist profile) went over pretty well — hey, what free stuff doesn’t, right? — I thought I’d continue with another great but overlooked artist, singer-songwriter Yi Sung Yol. (Also spelled Lee Seung Yeol/이승열.)

The Rules: Like last time, leave a comment with your email address so I can contact winners. I’ll give away FOUR CDs — winner gets his/her choice of CD, either Yi’s first album “이날, 이때, 이즈음에…” or his second, “In Exchange.”

Giveaway closes: A week from today, noon PST on Friday, June 20 27. I’ll close entries then and post winners later that day.

SONG OF THE DAY

Yi Sung Yol - “우리는” (Us) from the soundtrack of Que Sera Sera (reposted from an earlier post).
[ Download ]

 
More about YI SUNG YOL >>

Filed under: Giveaways by javabeans - 145 Comments →

Isn’t this adorable? Rocker, songwriter and Jaurim frontwoman Kim Yoon-ah poses with husband Kim Hyung-kyu and their eight-month-old baby son for July’s issue of Marie Claire. The article notes how Kim Yoon-ah displayed a different side at the photo shoot, ditching her glamorous onstage image to spend some simple, quality bonding time with her son.

Husband Kim Hyung-kyu got his start as a VJ and is now (is this right?) a dentist educated at Seoul University’s dental school; the couple married in June of 2006 after meeting in 2002. Their son Min-jae was born last October.

Jaurim recently released their seventh album, “Ruby Sapphire Diamond,” and are currently busy promoting it. Together nearly eleven years, the group is still going strong, although Kim Yoon-ah explains that she’d rather not take on the burden of drawing attention to their longevity; it’s easier to continue on as they have: “I’ve never felt the need to assume that responsibility or meet that expectation.”

Via Segye.com

SONG OF THE DAY

Jaurim - “27″ from their most recent (seventh) album. [ Download ]

Filed under: Kpop News by javabeans - 9 Comments →

All right, new Dramabeans game! Based on several suggestions made in my recent song repost thread, I’m trying out the idea of profiling some indie/underrated Korean musicians outside the sphere of general kpop music, with songs and background information and such as. I don’t know how often I’ll do these, but hopefully I can manage a semi-regular system.

But how to make it more fun? Add FREE STUFF, of course.

So today I’m picking one of my favorite indie artists, Oldfish, and throwing in a FREE GIVEAWAY. I’m giving away FOUR FREE CDs of the Acoustic Movement album. You can listen to a few tracks below the cut.

The rules?

Leave a comment. Be sure to leave your email address (won’t be visible to the public) so I can contact winners. You can comment as many times as you like, but you’ll only be entered once to win.

I’ll post up the winners next Friday (is a week too long?), and keep an easy-peasy link/notice up at the right sidebar.

SONG OF THE DAY

Oldfish - “뚜뚜뚜” (Dot dot dot) [ Download ]

 
OLDFISH profile, songs, other miscellany >>

Filed under: Giveaways by javabeans - 186 Comments →

I just finished going through all my song posts and re-uploading all the expired links. Bejeebus!, I have a lot of songs posted. Since re-uploading is a daunting task, I’m not quite sure what I’m going to do about expired links in the future — they go dead if they haven’t been downloaded in 60 days, and I don’t have the patience to scour through them on a bimonthly basis. I should probably be surprised that most of the links were still alive. (Although someone actually went through and reported all my Shinhwa links specifically! Grr. Thanks a lot for making my job harder.)

But I saw some links that went dead or were less-downloaded, and figured I’d highlight some — songs I particularly like or which may have gone overlooked initially.

(If I put up too many of those audio players, my browser tends to freeze, unfortunately. So if I don’t put up the audio player for the song, I’m putting up a link to the page where you can listen to it.)

For instance:

INDIE ROCK/POP

Bluedawn - “Tabula Rasa”
The Bluedawn duo (Han Hee Jung aka Dawn on vocals, Jung Sang Hoon aka Ssoro on guitar) released their debut album in 2003 and has since put out a second full-length album and a dual EP album. They broke up in 2006; I believe Dawn is continuing on with the new group Invisible Fish. [ Download ]

SONGS and LINKS beneath the cut >>

Filed under: Off Topic/Blog Stuff by javabeans - 23 Comments →

• On the April 4 broadcast of MBC’s Section TV, Lee Da Hae listed Taiwanese actor-singer-producer Jay Chou as an actor she’d like to work with. Asked why she chose him, she explained, “The first thing is personality. I wonder if we’d be a good match.” I’m sure she means that strictly professionally.
• Duo Mighty Mouth shot to fame with some help from Yoon Eun Hye with their debut song “I Love You” (listen here), and now they’re featuring the much-hyped new singer and JYP protégé JOO. I guess they have a thing for pretty girls with weak vocals?
• Popular comedian and Infinity Challenge regular Park Myung Soo is getting married tomorrow (April 6) and spent the week leading up to the big day undergoing wedding prep — on the air. The other four hosts (Yoo Jae Seok, Jung Hyung Don, Noh Hong Chul, Jung Joon Ha) carried out the “Making Park Myung Soo the No. 1 Bridegroom Project” — massages, makeovers — in its full gag-laden glory on the variety show.
• Speaking of weddings, Andy and Solbi, who act as a married couple in the “We Got Married” segment on MBC’s Sunday, Sunday Night, are attracting notice for their onstage duet performing his new “Love Song” on MBC’s Music Core.
• Kang Ta, who just began his military service, revealed in a recent interview that he’d considered a nose job, even going so far as to have a doctor’s consultation, but decided against it thinking even minor nose work would lead everyone to believe he’d had his whole face plasticized. He acknowledges that some people still believe he’s had work done, but affirms he’s never laid a knife to his face.



• And here’s something especially interesting! Rock/pop singer Lee Juck’s short story is being produced as a full-length animated film by the Korea Film Academy. The source material, “Jeh Bool Chal’s Story” [제불찰 씨 이야기], was included in Lee Juck’s short-story collection (pic at right) Fingerprint Hunter [지문사냥꾼], and is described as a satirical piece about a man (Jeh Bool Chal) who is so ignored by people that he shrinks to a small enough size to enter a person’s ear. I love surreal fiction like this — reminds me of Haruki Murakami’s metaphysical short story “The Elephant Vanishes.” And I love literate musicians — first it’s Horan, and now Lee Juck — combining two of my mostest favoritest things in the world.

 
SONG OF THE DAY

Lee Juck - “장난감 전쟁” (War of the Toys) [ Download ]

RELATED POSTS

• News bites: March 10, 2008
• News bites: March 4, 2008
• Mighty Mouth, featuring Yoon Eun Hye

Filed under: Celebrity News by javabeans - 29 Comments →