keep aLive

Celebrating the tenth year since her official debut, all-round musician Lena Park returns with her Vol. 7 release 10 Ways To Say I Love You. Continuing her musical path as a singer-songwriter and producer, Lena presents nine tracks including her self-composed principal song “A Person Like Me – A Person Like You” (Track 3), a duet with R&B singer Yoon Mi Rae (T). Besides this collaboration of the two divas, the album features other promising songs like “Secret” (Track 5), “Touch” (Track 4), and “Sad Song” (Track 7) also personally composed by Lena.

Release Date: March 2, 2009
Language: Korean
Genre: R&B/Ballad
Artist: Female

Track List:
01. Chika Chika
02. Cheongsungaryeon Lena Park (Innocent Lena Park)
03. Na Gateun Saram Neo Gateun Saram (Person Like Me, Person Like You) (feat. T (Yoon Mi Rae))
04. Manjyeojwoyo (Touch)
05. Bimil (Secret)

06. Sunday Brunch
07. Biga (Sad Song)
08. Sarangeun Ireonge Aninde…(Love Is Not Like This…)
09. Mannareo Ganeun Gil (On The Way To Meet You)

New album release from Joe Hisaishi including “Departure,” “Turandot,” “Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea,” new song “ten end of the world” and more. Limited edition includes bonus DVD featuring recording footage.
Bonus Track: piano theme of the film “Watashi wa Kai ni Naritai,” “I’d rather be a Shellfish” and insert tune of the TV spots, “I will be”

Release Date: February 18, 2009
Language: Japanese
Genre: Instrumental
Artist: Male

Track List:
01. Woman
02. Love Theme of Taiwangsashingi

03. Les Aventuriers
04. Departures: Prologue – Theme
05. Departures: Prayer
06. Departures: Theme of Departures
07. Departures: Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea
08. Departures: Destiny of Us (from Musical Turandot)
09. The End of the World: I. Collapse
10. The End of the World: II. Grace of St. Paul
11. The End of the World: III. Beyond the World
12. The End of the World: IV. The End of the World
13. I’d Rather Be A Shellfish (bonus track)
14. I Will Be (bonus track)

*Track 2 is another version of Sujini’s Theme/Approval from the soundtrack of Korean Drama The Legend.

Without any doubt, the most anticipated Korean drama of 2007 is Four Gods (a.k.a. The Legend) starring Bae Yong Joon (Winter Sonata) as Korea’s legendary Gwanggaeto the Great, the 19th king of the Goguryeo Dynasty whose legacy of territorial expansion extended beyond Manchuria. Four Gods caused a major uproar in the media from the very beginning with its A-list cast of Bae Yong Joon, Moon So Ri (Oasis), Choi Min Soo (Holiday), and Park Sang Won (Sandglass). The 24-episode drama’s staggering $40 billion won production costs are rumored to have even exceeded the budget benchmark of sci-fi blockbuster D-War.
After numerous postponements, Four Gods finally exploded onto small screens nationwide on September 10, 2007. Viewer response has been positive, with some even placing the drama’s CG work in the same league as that of Hollywood film Lord of the Rings. After its airing, radio programs and internet sites were inundated with inquiries about the drama’s soundtrack which features majestic surround sounds that complement the grandiose scale of the drama.
Presiding over the scores of Four Gods is Japanese master composer Hisaishi Joe, best known for his work on Miyazaki Hayao films like Howl’s Moving Castle, Spirited Away, and Princess Mononoke. Hisaishi Joe brings a world-class presence and high esteem to the drama. He also collaborates with K-pop sensation Dong Bang Shin Ki for “Eternal Love” (Track 19), the ending theme to Four Gods.
Four Gods OST includes a 19-track CD and a DVD that contains music videos of “Eternal Love” and “Damdok – MainTheme”.

Release Date: October 22, 2007
Language: Korean
Genre: Instrumental/Ballad
Artist: V.A.

Track List:
01. Opening
02. Sacred War
03. Damdeok’s Theme (Main Theme)
04. Sujini’s Theme (Loneliness)

05. Kiha’s theme (Destined Meeting)
06. Destiny
07. Hwacheon Clan
08. War of the Gods
09. Damdeok’s Theme (Bravery)
10. Geomeul Village
11. Attack from Enemy Force
12. Unity
13. Victory
14. Approval – Jun Suh (DBSK)

15. Time Flows By
16. Unachievable Love

17. First Love
18. Sujini’s Theme (Piano Solo)

19. Thousand Year Love Song – DBSK

* I did not intend to make a post about this OST initially as it is not a recent album. However, I changed my mind since I am going to introduce Joe Hisaishi’s latest album in my next blog entry and there is another version of Sujini’s Theme (Track 4 and 18) / Approval (Track 14) in that album.

Epik High has built their own musical paradigm by experimenting with diverse styles unique to each work. [魂: Map the Soul] (2009) combines music with literature, birthing a new cultural code: the ‘book-album’. The album portion of the work contains raw hip hop music reminiscent of Epik High’s early works, while exhibiting unprecedented poetic lyrics that make the entire sound refreshingly new. Also, the songs on this album are bilingual and showcase collaborations with foreign artists, allowing greater connection with fans worldwide. The book portion of the work, themed around ‘creativity’, documents the entire creative process involved in the making of an album, as well as showing-through essays, pictures and notes-how artists can acquire and use inspiration. The book portion is also bilingual (English and Korean). This work hopes to inspire and encourage aspiring artists all over the world by showing how worthwhile creative work can be, and by whispering these simple words of wisdom: you, too, can do it.

Release Date: March 27, 2009
Language: Korean
Genre: Hip Hop/Rap
Artist: Male Group

Track List:
01. Believe
02. Cipher featuring Beatbox DG
03. Map the Soul featuring MYK
04. Customer Service (Skit)
05. Top Gun
06. Scenario (피해망상 pt. 2) featuring MYK

07. London
08. Free Music Tablo and MYK
09. Map the Soul (Worldwide Version) Tablo, MYK & Kero One

10. 8 by 8, Part 2 (Bonus Track) featuring MYK, Minos, Paloalto, the Quiett, Verbal Jint, 
Kebee, E-Sens, Simon Dominic

Song of The Day
Love – Mary J. Blige feat. Ne Yo

Free Style is a Korean hip hop pop group. The group is most famously known for its hit song Y (Please Tell Me Why) [original song of Wilber Pan's Bu De Bu Ai] and currently has five albums released and two singles. They have collaborated with various artists, such as As One in a remake single.
And now this is 6th album called “Dry & Wet”.

Release Date: March 18, 2009
Language: Korean
Genre: RnB/Hip-Hop
Artist: Male Group

Track List:
01. Dry (Intro)
02. 마음으로하는말
03. Goodbye My Lady
04. 사랑을놓치다
05. 사진
06. 연애
07. 서울이곳은

08. 나란사람
09. 자각몽
10. Vital Sign

11. Wet (Outro)

Utada Hikaru’s first English-language album, Exodus, was an instant hit when initially released in September 2004, ranking no. 1 on the Oricon charts and selling over a million copies. 2009 sees Utada return to the English speaking pop world with the goal to conquer a bigger US market, where she looks to gain a larger share market after Exodus entered the top 160 on U.S. charts. Utada’s second full-length English-language release is scheduled to hit he shelves in March in Japan and May in the U.S. The mid-tempo R&B ballad Come Back To Me, Utada’s recently released spin-off track, is the principal number on this highly anticipated release.

Release Date: March 14, 2009
Language: English
Genre: R&B/Pop
Artist: Female
*Recommended

Track List:
01. On And On
02. Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence – FYI

03. Apple And Cinnamon
04. Taking My Money Back
05. This One (Crying Like A Child)

06. Automatic Part II
07. Dirty Desire
08. Poppin’
09. Come Back To Me
10. Me Muero
Extra Remix Tracks：
・Come Back To Me (Seamus Haji & Paul Emanuel Radio Edit)
・Come Back To Me (Quentin Harris Radio Edit)

Just Go is an album by American Grammy-winning singer/songwriter Lionel Richie. The album’s lead single “Good Morning” was released to Urban AC radio on November 3, 2008. Akon and Ne-Yo share in the writing duties for the new album. Just Go has contributions from songwriter Johnta Austin and The-Dream.

Release Date: March 12, 2009
Language: English
Genre: R&B
Artist: Male

Track List:
01. Forever

02. Just Go (feat Akon)
03. Nothing Left to Give (feat Akon)
04. Forever and a Day
05. I’m Not Okay
06. Good Morning
07. Through My Eyes
08. I’m in Love

09. Think of You
11. Pastime
12. Face in the Crowd (duet with Trijnt Je Oosterhuis)
13. Somewhere in London
14. Eternity

After capturing attention with the 2008 album Infinity, 8eight charms fans with their third album, Golden Age. Once again produced by Bang Shi Hyuk a.k.a. Hitman Bang, Golden Age features 10 tracks including Numbers, “Freedom” (Track 10), and Can’t Stop.

Release Date: March 10, 2009
Language: Korean
Genre: R&B
Artist: Group

Track List:
01. 내삶의빛 (Intro) (Nae Sarmui Bit; The Light Of My Life)
02. 불쌍한해바라기(Bulssanghan Haebaragi; Poor Sunflower)
03. 참지마 (Chamjima; Don’t Endure)
04. 심장이없어 (Shimjangi Eobseo; Without A Heart)
05. 이제슬픈건충분해 (Ije Seulpeungeon Chungbunhae; The Sadness Is Now Enough)
06. Numbers
07. Can’t Stop

08. 사랑한다면서 (Saranghandamyeonseo; You Said You Loved Me)
09. 마중 (Majung, Meeting)
10. 자유 (Jayu; Freedom)