SXSW Round 2!

Not only is it Round 2 of announcements for SXSW today, but also, my second time attending. I'm very excited to be going again to cover all of the excellent bands that they've selected. I was already pretty excited, but an addition to the list today pushed me into another level of excitement.

SXSW Day 2: MU:CON & YB

SXSW Day 2 - March 12, 2014

Wednesday was a little more chill. I got my bearings downtown a little better. So I headed downtown again to mingle at the MU:CON party hosted by KOCCA and Mandoo Entertainment. This was a networking party between the Korean acts and the press. It wasn't open to the general public, so it was a smaller event and it was a good opportunity to meet some of the acts and get to know them better. Rock 'N Roll Radio were performing when I got there, but had already left the stage when I'd had time to settle in and try to take some pictures.

Video: YB - Cigarette Girl

YB has released their video onto the world, and boy what a doozy!

YB Official US Debut!

It's finally the day! February 18th, 2014. The day that YB debuted in the United States. I'm very happy for the band. This is something that they've been working towards for a long time, and it's a new milestone for Korean rock music. As far as I'm aware, it's the first time any Korean band has released a single here in the States and readied to enter the market as a mainstream artist.

SXSW 2014 Schedule Released!

Hi all! The official Showcase dates and times are up for this year's South By Southwest Music Festival, and I have the line-ups for all the Korean acts coming this year.

YB Concert Update: Atlanta

YB Has released ticket information for their Atlanta tour date. Check out pricing info after the jump:

YB to Debut in the U.S. and U.K.!

I'm very excited to be able to announce that YB is going to debut right here, in the United States! AND over in the United Kingdom! I've been a fan for so long, I'm looking forward to being a part in the next chapter in their great journey! They released the following statement on their English site today:

Announcement: YB Tour Dates

I am happy to be able to present you, my dear readers with the news that YB has announced two additional tour dates to their time here in the US, outside of the SXSW dates in Austin.

SXSW 2014 OR BUST

Hi there! Long time no see!

Life has gotten away with me for awhile, and I've been neglecting my poor blog. But I have BIG NEWS. This girl, right here? She has officially been approved for press credentials for SXSW 2014~! And why-oh-why did I apply? BECAUSE YB IS COMING. I flipped a few lids over that news when they announced it. Since then I've been budgeting, plotting and prepping and I'm still working out details, but I'm gonna make it to see them no matter what!

I've got a full list of bands from the lovely land of Korea here:

YAM Review: YB - Blue Whale

In case you don't follow me there, I also write for YAM. And I just did a review of  YB's latest EP - Blue Whale, go check it out and leave a comment or two. Then stick around and see what everyone else at YAM is up to! ^_^

I'm working on lots of stuff right now, so hopefully this will tide people over tell I can get it all written up and posted. ;)

Asian UnderDog Radio Week 4 - Rock/Indie Show :)

Hi everyone! Thanks for your patience. I had a lot of stuff going on this week and every time I settled in to record I got sidetracked by something or someone. This week is a fun mix of rock and indie groups that was refreshing for me to put together. I hope you enjoy it. :) As always, comments are love!

News Tip: YB

Last week, I mentioned that Yoon Do-Hyun was being featured on Survival: I Am A Singer.  And I managed to find a YT link of just their performance for everyone.  If you watch the entire episode, you'll notice that YB gets the best reaction of all the singers. I love that even the ahjumma's stand up and clap happily along:

News Tip: YB

YB were on Sunday, March 6th's episode of Survival!  I Am a Singer. A new variety/reality tv show on MBC that pits 7 well established singers against one another, being judged by real, ordinary people. It stars Yoon Do-Hyun, Baek Ji-Young, Kim Bum-Soo, Jung Yeop, Kim Gun-Mo, Park Jung-Hyun, and Lee So-Ra
You can check it out here on DramaAir - hurry before it disappears! :)

K-RoK 101: Yoon Do-Hyun Band

News Tip: YB

In my excitement, I may have forgotten to tell the good people here on K-RoK Rocks!!! that I confirmed with the band, that YB will be coming to the U.S. for another round with the Vans Warped Tour. The tour itself is still announcing artists, and YB has yet to be among them, but I have it on good authority that they are coming. Probably in early August to only the California shows, maaabye a show in Washington. (Since we all sadly know, that to Korea, The United States=The West Coast) I'm crossing my fingers and planning my first trip to California to see them. If only they would tell me when and where, I could start booking flights and the such. Anyone out in California want a visitor for a couple days? haha.

Also, starting March 20th through April 10th Yoon Do-Hyun will be starring in the musical Gwanghwamun Scandal. 

K-RoK Song of the Day: YB - 그것만이 내 세상 (It's Only In My World)

Every time I listen to this song I get a huge chill run through me at about the 4 minute 11 second mark. This is taken from their 15 Years, Live Best! album that came out late last year. I adore it. It's got some of the tracks from previous live albums and some new ones from performances last year. If you're a new or old YB fan it's a great album because it either lets you re-live their glory or just get a good taste of what they can do and who they are as a band. Buy it here. Also - YesAsia just re-released all of YB's albums so you should get your hands on them while you can! Supporting Korean rock artists is even more important because they don't get all the endorsement deals and acting jobs like idols do. 


YB-그것만이 내 세상(live) by K-RoKer

K-RoK Song of the Day: YB

Tonight is gonna be a double whammy. I actually couldn't decide between these two. I had a rough night tonight and these two songs helped me through. The first song; Dream Girl two (꿈꾸는 소녀 two) is off of their last full-length album Co-Existence.  Something about this song just puts me at ease.

YB - 꿈꾸는 소녀 two by K-RoKer

The next song. Flying Butterfly is composed by Tae-Hee, the bassist and is one of my favorite YB songs of all time. It's been released in an English version, but that version is mixed by RRM, and as much as I love them and that version, I want to share the original form of it. The lyrics inspire me every time I hear it.

In a video!


I hope this cheered anyone up who was having a rough time. I know a little YB always helps me out!

I'm so HYPED!

I know I have little chance of seeing this in theaters, as I'm sure it won't reach even independent theaters here in the United States, but I have high hopes that it will release on DVD eventually. (Hopefully with subtitles) For those of you who didn't know, YB is releasing a documentary on December 1st. The film is centered on their VANS Warped Tour stint from last year. (If I had known in time/had the money I would have gone. Now, I'm kicking myself and crying for not being able to see them live.) I'm really happy they decided to do this and are working towards putting Korean rock into the spotlight where it belongs. I just hope enough people go see it. I'll be interested to know the sales numbers. Here are the teaser trailers so far:




When the one above released, I hadn't heard anything about it before and I squeeled like a little girl and danced around and cried. Hahaha. I'm such a YB nerd!

Number 2: (Main)


Full Flying Butterfly song version. (I love that they mixed the Korean and English lyrics in this version)

K-RoK Song of the Day: YB - Oh Pilseung Korea

In honor of the lives lost in the skirmish with North Korea November 22, 2010. I post "Oh Pil Seung Korea." YB released this song in 2002 for the World Cup and it skyrocketed them into fame.  They had been pretty well known in Korea previous to this, but they became a household name after this. "Oh! Pil Seung Korea" roughly translates into Go! Korea! And is one of my many happy Dae Han Min Guk songs. The video I found for it has poor audio quality and has "dong-hae??" instead of Pil-Seung in the chorus. Not sure what it means, as I'm sadly not fluent in Korean yet, but you get the gist of the song.




And here is the audio version. It's a shortened version - but really the song get's a little repetitive with it's OH!!! Pil-Seung KO RE A!!! anyway!~
YB - 오! 필승 봉순영 by K-RoKer

HEHE! Just found this version of it too, on YT from the 2006 World Cup in France:

This just in: (insert tv news bulletin music here)

YB (Yoon Do-Hyun Band) is releasing a 15 years "Best Of" album...THIS WEEK. What? They sure haven't promoted this AT ALL. I mean, I follow the web site, the blog, the facebook fan page and all of them on twitter and still..NOTHING. I was looking on YesAsia for something completely different and saw this:

And I was like this:

This was JUST THIS MORNING mind you. I'm on my way to pre-order it now. It's a 2 disc collection of their best hits in live performances. I assume it's because they have the documentary coming out in a couple of weeks. Go get it! :D