Indie Band Names' Meaning Part 2

This was quite confusing and at times I thought making a part 2 had been a mistake, some parts turned out quite weird.

This time: Dear Cloud, Yellow Monsters, The KOXX, Galaxy Express, Monni, Guckkasten, Sister's Barbershop, No Reply and Gajami Boys

T/N: Names are again romanised on a whim. Cookies for people who can give me romanised name for 가자미소년단. Sorry for weirdness.

The KOXX, No Reply and 2 new artists at Happy Robot's

Happy Robot posted some news on their blog today, also mentioning a new albums from No Reply and the KOXX. No Reply plans on gather new, unpublished songs and make an album out of them. If I understood it right, it's supposed to be released before their performance at the Olympic Hall in July.

The KOXX will release their first full-length album with the title 'Access OK'. It's supposed to come out in the beginning of June.

Happy Robot has also signed two new bands, Soran and Lala Sweet.

Something small Mintpaper-ish

By chance I stumbled over a blog entry by Sombrero (head of MPMG) about the plans of the 4th Mintpaper project album. He writes that it will maybe be released in September, latest before GMF 2011 in October. There are still no songs, but the participants have been decided to a certain extent. Also, there will be a lot of new faces, he says.

On another small note, No Reply's song '낡은 배낭을 메고' that had been on the digital single '끝나지 않은 노래', has been used for a cuckoo rice cooker advertisment with Won Bin.

Live THEY 2010 Compilation (missed updates)

There have been a lot of updates on the Live THEY 2010 performance and compilation on the Happy Robot Blog, that I've missed.

The compilation will be given first this weekend at the performance itself and be sold then in official stores starting November 30. There will be a limited edition which will contain so called 'heart cards' (not sure if it’s a name or a weird translation, simply cards expressing someone's heart) with signs and new year's greetings of each artist in a random order (one card each CD). As a special, the about 20 original Polaroid that are used for those heart cards will be randomly put into the CDs too.

The track list looks as following:

01. 추억을 머금은 그와 희망을 보듬은 그녀 (He who keeps the memories and she who clasps the hope) – Tearliner
Tearliner provides the opening and ending for the THEY 2010 compilation ‘Night Train’, serving as entrance and outlet
02. 크리스마스 약속 (Christmas promise) – THEY 2010
written and composed by EZ Hyung; The Koxx’ Saron on drums, Daybreak’s Kim Sun Il and Jung Yoo Jong on bass and guitar, Lim Young Jo on keyboard and strings; vocals are No Reply’s Sungwan, Naru, Daybreak’s Lee Won Seok and Jung Yoo Jo (usually guitar, makes his singer debut here.) and EZ Hyung
03. 들었다 놨다 feat. ROBO(apls) (DJ Schedule1 SNS Remix) – Daybreak
the loved track from Daybreak’s 2nd album, remixed with a hip hop rhythm, using a break beat(?) as base; ROBO keeps with his witty rap lyrics the song’s context of a cowardly man’s heart
04. 밤의 열차 (Night Train) – Naru, Oh Ji Eun
to the soft electronic song Naru made (of course all alone, composing, instrument play, arrangement), Oh Ji Eun put the lyrics to it in 10 minutes.
05. 시야 (Shaun Remix) – No Reply
The Koxx’ Shaun remixes No Reply’s at live performances well received song with a strong electro beat and gorgeous synthesizer arrangement
06. 얼음땡 feat. Joe Brown (Toy Rock remix) – The Koxx
Joe Brown adds his essay-like lyrics in a solid rap
07. It’s You – Daybreak, EZ Hyung
composed by Daybreak, lyrics added by EZ Hyung; guitar pop; sung in a duet
08. 누구라도 있어줘 (whoever you are, be with me) – Serengeti, No Reply
Serengeti’s Boss nova track with Sungwan’s loneliness, touching lyrics telling of the everyday life of an insignificant man
09. Arch – LOZIK(apls), Shaun, Naru
reminding of Havard’s works in the latter half of their activities; English lyrics written and sung by Naru, also contains Shaun’s composing abilities
10. Your Body (Shaun remix) – Joe Brown
Shaun changing the Hip Hop House track to a strong rock sound
11. 사랑하는 나의 악사들에게 (To my dear musicians) – THEY 2010
composed by Daybreak’s Lee Won Seok and Kim Jang Won, lyrics added by Oh Ji Eun; Serengeti playing each their respective instruments, Sooryun playing guitar, Shaun on synthesizer and Daybreak’s Kim Jang Won on piano; vocals are Oh Ji Eun, Serengeti’s Yoo Jung Gyun and Jang Dong Jin, Daybreak’s Lee Won Seok and Lee Hyun Song; following Oh Ji Eun’s words, the lyrics are about a fan who sees his/her favorite musician’s performance
12. 너를 보며 (두번째 이야기) - Tearliner

Trailer and such have been uploaded too a lot on youtube.

MPMG to release THEY 2010 compilation

It has been posted on the Happy Robots blog that the Master Plan Music Group* will release a compilation of THEY 2010.

It will contain the songs that have been introduced already through Serengeti Jang Dong Jin's personal radio show 'Night Train', means EZ Hyung and Daybreak's 'It's You', The Koxx Shawn's remix of No Reply's '시야' and Naru and Oh Ji Eun's song with the same title 'Night Train'. The last episode of 'Night Train' guests No Reply and Serengeti, who are also working on a new boss nova styled song. Besides those there will be some new songs and one song featuring all MPMG musicians.

Another interesting point at this year's live THEY is, that Serengeti's Jang Dong Jin and Naru became team leaders and will separate the MPMG musicians. What exactly stands behind that will be seen when the event starts with a video October 18.

The live performance live THEY 2010 will take place November 27 and 28 at Sang Sang Madang.

* Master Plan Music Group (MPMG) consists of Master Plan, Happy Robots, The Park Studio, Mintpaper and Live Paraid.

Han Hyo Joo makes her debut as singer together with No Reply

Currently busy with her Drama ‘Dong Yi’, Han Hyo Joo is the festival lady of this year’s Grand Mint Festival. Despite her murderous schedule, she had the shooting for the poster and the official trailer. She even participated as main vocal in the GMF song ‘Don’t You Know’.
The song has been composed and performed by No Reply, who are currently at their 2nd album activities.

At the recording September 14, she showed skills as good as a singer and did the prepared part flawlessly in a short time. At the drama set, Han Hyo Joo practiced and memorized the lyrics in the car every free time she had for a smooth recording.

No Reply and Han Hyo Joo’s single ‘Don’t You Know’ will be available on online music sites September 28.

src: The Star Chosun

More Infos on No Reply's 2nd Album

News about No Reply's 2nd Album have been posted on the Happy Robot Blog.

The album release has been pushed back to September 15 and the current schedule for the album is a photo shooting on August 30, mixing finishing on August 31 and mastering September 1.

Photo and art direction will be done by Saeng Seon (ifishcamp), design by Hong Hwa Ki and Joe Brown, Song Yoon Ik (balance our eARTh) and Yoo Kyung Woo will be in charge of the video recording.

The album title has been decided to be ‘Dream’ to 70%. It will contain 11 songs (including one instrumental) and the title song is slowly settling for ‘내가 되었으면’.

No Reply did all composing and writing, except the lyrics of one song that was written by a high sunbae artist. Beside the ‘family’ (like Daybreaks Kim Seon Il and Kim Jang Won, Serengeti’s Jang Dong Jin and Jung Soo Wan, The Koxx’ Shaun and Naru) also strings, a choir and a brass band has joined No Reply at the performing of instruments.

There will also be a ‘listening event’ at Yes24 starting August 25. The winners will take part at the ‘listening event’ September 9, which will consist of a full listening of the 2nd album, an explanation by No Reply to their album, a small acoustic live (1~2 songs) and a question-answer session.

Another event will be a fansign at Hot Tracks in the Kangnam Kyobo Store September 18.

They will hold their concert for the 2nd Album September 25/26 at Sang Sang Madang. It will be a standing concert, 2 hours full of No Reply, as there will be no guests.

No Reply's Keyboard Sungwan gets a guitar

During their concert Road 4, No Reply's Sungwan and Wookjae changed instruments on request of the fans. Even though Sungwan said he don't like to play guitar, because his fingers hurt, he just bought his very first electric guitar.
He wanted a guitar for simple recording, but after all his desires grew and he spent more money than he thought he would. Nevertheless he has no regrets about it, he loves his guitar and its icetea color.



No Reply is currently working on their 2nd album that is supposed to have it's release September 9. Besides that Sungwan is appearing in Lee Seung Hwan's music video '완벽한 추억'. He composed the song himself and it is the 2nd(or new?) titlesong from Lee Seung Hwan's 10th album.

Not so new news

I have been away from blogging for a while, I'm sorry for that.
I didn't really kept up on the news that time, so I will just try to summarize what got under my nose.

- Younha and Super Kidd filmed a CF for chicken together. Younha's 'Password 486' lyrics have been remodeled a bit and Super Kidd changed their positions. You can watch it here.

- There have been lots of updates on Mintpaper's LIFE. Mainly about the A-Live Concert, preorder and such stuff. I uploaded the teaser here. I just want to count up some background stuff that has been mentioned and I thought may be (more or less) interesting.
Besides the Artists of the 16 songs on the track list, a lot of performers(playing the background instruments and chorus and such) and 10 labels participated on this compilation. In the case of 10cm, Lala Sweet and Serengeti, the songs have been discovered at performances and decided to be on the compilation. So it was not easy at first to decide on one theme that fits to them all.
Sweet Sorrow's Sung Jin Hwan worked for the very first time together with Serengeti.
No Reply's Wook Jae worked for the first time as a producer for Lala Sweet.
Joa Band was the very first team that got in mind of the organizer when they decided for the compilation LIFE.
Earip's song 'our house singer' are episodes about her all day life with her cat 'Nawa', so the cat sounds in the song are not recorded accidentally.
Omega3's Go Kyung Cheon participates at Lonely H's Band's song playing the keyboard.
For a better feel for the lyrics, Autumn Holiday's song has been simplified compared to the demo.

- 10cm got Model Jung Hye Sun as their stylist. As she liked the band from the very first time, she decided to try out as their stylist. You can watch her 'challenge' on the Elle homepage, here.

- Some Musicians of Happy Robots are currently working on their 2nd album, which includes Naru (who finished his mixing process, bought a new guitar and will have a haircut soon and a profile photo shoot tomorrow), Daybreak (rumor has it that it will come out around July), No Reply (who are at the preparing status) and Tearliner (who also works on his Travel Essay).
Besides that, No Reply's Sungwan also participated with '완벽한 추억' at Lee Seung Hwan’s 10nd album and Joe Brown will be the director for KOXX’ music video ‘Trouble Maker’.

[No Reply] In Interview with Kim Ki Ja

The Kim KiJa Daum Cafe (which revolves around Indie) has a new corner "Alive, Deep Inside", showing other sides of the artists to the fans. Their first artist was No Reply.
At first a video was released with cuts from the interview and a live performance.



Later the full interview has been revealed (click on 'Read More'), followed by snapshots, to look at here and No Reply's favorite music, see here

[No Reply] Narration job from 2008

2nd July 2008 the spanish group La Casa Azul, lead by producer Guille Milkyway, releases their Album 'La Revolucion Sexual'. The title song with the same name is a spanish song with japanese narration. The album contains several versions of this song, also a korean one with Yeongene on vocals. The japanese narration has been replaced by a korean one by No Reply's Jung Wook Jae.


cr:kosymo

His voice can be heard around 1:38 and 2:46.

[No Reply] Fashonista Gwon Sungwan

Now it has been finallyy revealed. Sungwan is a fashion leader.

As fashionista Sungwan points out the importance of the socks. The socks are the main point of every outfit, so he carefully chooses his socks together with No Reply's stylist before every performance, preferably fitting to his jacket for a perfect look.

Fashion Leader Gwon Sungwan!

Fashion's finish: socks?!

socklove. Sungwan!
This day ... fitting to the color of the jacket,
so you chose these socks ^^

(from Sweet Sorrow's Tenten Club)

[No Reply] Little View on 2010

After finsihing their Encore Concert 'Road 4' successful, No Reply will hold a 'Final Road' concert end of February next year. This will be the last performance for their first album, right after that they will go over working on their 2nd album which is planned to be released around May~June.

During that time Sungwan helps one of his Seonbaes with composing for his new album and Wookjae becomes a producer for a newcomer for the new Mintpaper compilation LIFE.

[No Reply] Sungwan's New Hair

Sungwan complained about his hair during No Reply's 3rd concert. His front hair has been cut too short and he said that he will never trust the person who cuted it again. See it in one of the photos that were uploaded in their fancafe here.

A casual remark from Wookjae revealed then that Sungwan's hair wasn't cutted, he cutted it himself. Sungwan's words to Wookjae contained a several hatred from this point on and the talk about hair went through the whole concert.

The concert went successfully and beside No Reply's family and friends also collegues like Jung Soo Wan (Serengeti), Naru, Kim Dong Ryul and others visited the concert. Naru was also added as guest for the upcoming encore performance 'Road 4' that procedes 26~27th December.

[No Reply] Debut

The first time No Reply came officially into the music buisiness was 2006 at the 17th Yoo Jae Ha Music Competition. With their song '뒤돌아 보다' they won the second place. A video of them performing this song as appeared on cyworld.

[No Reply] Smell of Idols?

On 3rd November at 2pm the ticketing for No Reply's Concert through Ticketlink was supposed to open. But a lot of fans had problems with Ticketlink as the side was first down some minutes after 2pm, then for some it was possible to get to the actual pre-sale page and after about 10 people got their tickets, the program showed some error message at the end of the pre-order-procedure that the place chosen was already taken. It was just able to get tickets through an automatic seat-chosing system which held back a lot of fans to get the seats they wanted. A lot of people were complaining about Ticketlink and asked Mintpaper to say good bye to them. After an apolgy-letter by Ticketlink, Happy Robot and Mintpaper, everyone who pre-ordered will get a 1000won discount on the other Mintpaper Winter Specials.

Hundreds of people tried to get tickets for No Reply and even with the Ticketlink chaos 10 seats were left after not even an hour and soon it was sold out. Already the fact that No Reply as a newcomer was performing in such a big hall was a big issue. Tomorrow, on friday, there will be an additional ticket opening, selling the last places out of 500. The incredible ticketing, the masses that filled even the outside of the Loving Forest Garden at the GMF, the uprising questions about girlfriends in the 'ask-what-you-want-corner'; all those happenings leave a certain idol-smell on No Reply.

let me be silly for a moment, but everything there is true (Ticketlink was a real chaos for the first 15 minutes). And the expression 'idol-smell' is made for real by the korean fans.

[No Reply] EBS Space Empathy Hello Rookie 2009

No Reply were one of the winners for the Hello Rookie in October, so they got to perform at EBS Space Empathy. (좋아서하는 밴드 and Gate Flowers were also in this episode.) The Episode was broadcasted 27th October.

그대 걷던 길 (The Way You Walked)
끝나지 않은 노래 (Never Ending Song)
시야 (Visual Field)