Kim Dong Ryul

Infobox Korean name
hangul=김동률
hanja=金東律
mr=Kim Dong Ryul
rr=Kim Dong Ryul

Kim Dong Ryul (김동률) is a Korean musician, composer and singer. He was born in March 15, 1974 in Seoul. He is a popular artist who composes, arranges, writes lyrics, produces, and performs his own music. He has been active since 1993.

Career

Exhibition era

While majoring in architectural engineering in Yonsei University, he formed a duet 'Exhibition' with his close friend, Seo Dong-Wook. Kim Dong-Ryul composed their songs and played the piano and Seo Dong-Wook played bass guitar.

The duet became famous through an MBC university song festival in 1993. They won first prize and the special prize by the song 'In Dreams' which Seo wrote the lyrics and Kim composed. From those days, Kim started his music career of singing, composing, and writing lyrics.

Kim's first album 'An Essay of Memory', which famous singers, Shin Hae-Cheol produced, was released in 1994. Even though the duet were new figures in the world of popular music, they did the composing, piano, bass, computer programming. The album received positive reviews and climbed into the top ten chart, going on to sell over 600,000 copies.

In 1994, both members of the duet went into army service together in 1994. After finishing their military service, the duet released the second album 'Strangers' in 1996. The album was also produced by Shin Hae-Cheol, and the famous instrument players, Yi, Byeong-Woo, Kim Se-Hwang, Jeong Won-Young participated in their album, too. The second album also had positive reviews from critics but there was a plagiarism row about 'A Testament', one of the famous songs in the album. The song came under suspicion because of its similarity to 'The Girl who fell from the Sky', one of the background songs in the Japanese animation 'Laputa, the Castle in the Sky.' Experts decided that the main melodies, ways of using instruments were similar, so 'A Testament' became a dishonorable song for the duet. [ [http://www.urimalgul.com/?mid=music&document_srl=743&listStyle=list 김동률의 작곡이야기 - 김동률이 씀 ] ]

In 1997, the duet decided to go back to normal school life. Then, they released the third album 'Graduation' with five songs which had special personal meanings for them. Especially, 'First Love' was composed by Kim Dong-Ryul when he was 14 years old and 'In Dreams' was the song that made the duet very popular. [ [http://star.moneytoday.co.kr/view/stview.php?no=2008011912510772195&type=1&SVEC "불화 없었다", 김동률이 말하는 전람회 해체 이유 - 머니투데이:스타뉴스 ] ]

Carnival era

After disbanding, his friend, Seo Dong-Wook became a normal student. But Kim Dong-Ryul said, "The only thing I can do is music." He made the project group 'Carnival' with Yi Jeok with whom he became close through the Jam concert of a popular radio program, 'At Starry Nights.' Both of them were 24, sing and make songs. But their music styles were very different. Kim Dong-Ryul's songs were a bit naive and standard classical ballads but Yi Jeok's songs were poignant and heretical. [ [http://www.mydaily.co.kr/news/read.html?newsid=200706051739161134 ▒ NO1.뉴미디어'마이데일리 ▒ ] ]

There two people got together and made great [ [http://www.izm.co.kr/spac_view.asp?key=1&s_idx=78&page=1 * IZM - New Stream * ] ] songs of funk genre. They brought the world famous brass session team, Jerry Hey team and a Korean singer and jazz pianist, Kim Gwang-Min for funky style jazz ad lib of keyboard. They released the album "Carnival" in 1997. The main theme of the album was retro style. The album was a great success for them. They won the Golden Disc prize of Daily Sports.

Solo era

After the success of "Carnival", Kim composed several popular songs such as 'For a Thousand Days' for Lee Sueng-Hwan and 'Show' for Kim Won-Jun. In 1998 he released first solo album 'The Shadow of Forgetfulness' with a piano-based sound recalling early Elton John. [http://www.izm.co.kr/menu_view.asp?key=1&idx=14077&a_idx=21&view=2 * IZM - New Stream * ] ] About his solo album, critics wrote that he set up the new ballad style which had classical and polished melody and lyrics. After the first album, he held first solo concert on Christmas day in 1998.

Even though he was a million-selling artist with his band Exhibition and Carnival, Kim decided to study music more. He entered Berklee College of Music in 1999 and majored in cinema music. While studying there, he wanted to make real Korean-style music and he became more interested in Korean traditional music and culture.

At the end of the first school year in the college, he made his second solo album 'Hope.' In this album, he used not only the London Symphony Orchestra but also 'Samulnori' which is a Korean traditional percussion quartet. In 2001, he released his third solo album 'Homecoming.' He continued to integrate Korean traditional music and classical sound. The critics commented on this album that it had ample and splendid sound and the atmosphere of all the songs was natural and stable. [ [http://www.izm.co.kr/menu_view.asp?key=1&idx=117&a_idx=21&view=2 * IZM - New Stream * ] ]

After graduating head of his class, he came back to Korea and released his forth solo album 'Exposing' in 2004. His song "At Long Last" (이제서야) from his 4th album 'Exposing' (토로) topped the KBS charts in April, 2004. [http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/enter/music_top.htm?Rank_Date=2004-04-19] He tried to integrate some new style music such as bossa nova, samba, and popera in the album. His music became more comprehensive and mature. Especially, arrangements of the songs were much more refined than before. [ [http://www.izm.co.kr/menu_view.asp?key=1&idx=120&a_idx=21&view=2 * IZM - New Stream * ] ]

He had the second solo concert in Seoul and Busan in August, 2004 and released the live recording album 'Invitation' in 2005. He put his music and experience of the past ten years into the first live recording album.From 2005 to 2007 he hosted the TV music program 'Kim Dong-Ryul's For You' and the radio program 'Kim Dong-Ryul's Music Island.' And he made a "best-of" albumn in 2007.

In 2008, Kim released his fifth album 'Monologue.' The album peaked at number one on the album-selling charts and sold nearly 100,000 copies. This record had a great meaning to Korean music industry because the volume of album sales had been very low. [ [http://star.moneytoday.co.kr/view/stview.php?no=2008021610235752019&type=1&outlink=1 김동률-앤디, 2008년 첫달 음반판매 1, 2위 - 머니투데이:스타뉴스 ] ] Most songs of the album became very popular among all the generations. The critics reviewed that he his lyrics and melody. [ [http://www.izm.co.kr/menu_view.asp?key=1&idx=15324&a_idx=21&view=2 * IZM - New Stream * ] ]

After his big success, Kim held three concerts in 2008. All the advance tickets of the concerts were sold out in less than 20 minutes. The concerts were full-scale in every way. He arranged each song again for the orchestra and designed the stages.

Discography

1) Exhibition
Volume 1 - Exhibition
Released: 1994-05
Tracks:
An Essay of Memory(기억의 습작)
Travel(여행)
Sky High(하늘높이)
Nostalgia(향수)
My Thoughts About You(너에 관한 나의 생각)
A Boy's Tree(소년의 나무)
In Front Of The World(세상의 문앞에서)
Too Many You(그대가 너무 많은)

Volume 2 - Starangers
Released: 1996-05
Tracks:
At The Confessional(고해소에서)
Strangers(이방인)
At The J's Bar(J's Bar에서)
A Testament(유서)
On The Way To Meeting You(마중 가던 길)
A Bird(새)
Blue Christmas
The Truth In Wine(취중진담)
The Promise of Ten Years(10년의 약속)

Volume 3 - Graduation
Released: 1997-01
Tracks:
Graduation(졸업)
First Love(첫사랑)
The Pledge(다짐)
In Dreams(꿈 속에서)
We(우리)

2) Carnival
Volume 1 - Carnival
Released: 1997
Tracks:
Carnival(Prelude)
A Roller coaster(롤러코스터-In Carnival Land)
It Was Like That In Those Days(그땐 그랬지)
A Friend(벗)
A Doll Made Of Soap(비누인형)
A Toast(축배)
Vines(넝쿨)
A Joke(농담)
Seize Her(그녀를 잡아요) Feat. Seo Dong-Wook
Dreams of Geese(거위의 꿈)

3) Solo
Volume 1 - Shadow Of Forgetfulness
Released: 1998-09
Tracks:
The Beginning(시작)
The Consideration(배려)
My Old Friends(내 오랜 친구들)
Shadow(그림자)
Cosmos
Miracle(기적) feat. Yi So-Eun
Worry(걱정)
Moment(잠시)
Lonely Sailing(항해)
A Partner(동반자)

Volume 2 - Hope(희망)
Released: 2000-08
Tracks:
It's Been Two Years(2년만에)
Proposal(프로포즈)
A Wall(벽) Feat. Yangpa
Nightmare(악몽)
Christmas Presents(크리스마스 선물)
A Midsummer Night's Dream(한여름밤의 꿈)
The Transmigration(윤회)
My Cherished Desire(염원)
Dear(님)
The Adventure(모험)
A Letter(편지)
Hope(희망)

Volume 3 - Homecoming(귀향)
Released: 2001-10
Tracks:
The Words Of Loving You(사랑한다는 말)
Shall I Love You Again?(다시 사랑한다 말할까)
An Appeal(하소연)
Where Are Arrows We Shoot?(우리가 쏜 화살은 어디로 갔을까)
Fallen Leaves(낙엽)
Requiem
The Courtship Song(구애가)
A Lullaby(자장가)
Forgetfulness(망각)
Homecoming(귀향)

Volume 4 - Outpouring(토로)
Released: 2004-03
Tracks:
Let you leave again(다시 떠나보내다)
Because you don't love me(사랑하지 않으니까요)
At long last(이제서야)
Grabber(욕심쟁이) Feat. Yi So-Eun
River
Behind incense(잔향)
Compromise(양보) Feat. Wanted
Mirage(신기루)
Deja-Vu
Petition(청원)
Farewell(고별)

Second Concert - Invitation
Released: 2005-02
Tracks:
Overture
Grand Opening
A Bird(새)
Sky High(하늘 높이)
It Was Like That In Those Days(그땐 그랬지) duet with Yi Jeok
A Toast(축배) duet with Yi Jeok
Miracle(기적) feat. Yi So-Eun
An Essay of Memory(기억의 습작)
The Courtship Song(구애가)
Dear(님)
Because you don't love me(사랑하지 않으니까요)
Fallen leaves(낙엽) feat. Ha Rim, Jeong Jae-Il
Petition(청원) feat. Ha Rim, Jeong Jae-Il
The Truth In Wine(취중진담)
At long last(이제서야)
A Partner(동반자)
Hope(희망)
The Promise of Ten Years(10년의 약속)

Thanks(감사)
Released: 2007-03
Tracks:
Thanks(감사)
An Essay of Memory(기억의 습작)
Travel(여행)
Sky High(하늘 높이)
Too Many You(그대가 너무 많은)
Strangers(이방인)
At The J's Bar(J's Bar에서)
A Bird(새)
The Truth In Wine(취중진담)
Graduation(졸업)
First Love(첫사랑)
We(우리)
The Beginning(시작)
The Consideration(배려)
Miracle(기적)
A Partner(동반자)
Hope(희망)
The Words Of Loving You(사랑한다는 말)
Shall I Love You Again?(다시 사랑한다 말할까)
Homecoming(귀향)
At long last(이제서야)
Because you don't love me(사랑하지 않으니까요)
Grabber(욕심쟁이) Feat. Yi So-Eun
Behind incense(잔향)

Volume 5 - Monologue
Released: 2008-01
Tracks:
Departure(출발)
About It(그건 말야)
Old Song(오래된 노래)
Jump
Like A Child(아이처럼) feat. Alex
The Concert
Nobody
The Figure From Behind(뒷모습)
Let's Start Again(다시 시작해보자)
Melody

ee also

* K-Pop

External links

* [http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/enter/music_artists_detail.htm?No=10147 Profile at KBS World Radio]

References

1. About Composers [http://www.urimalgul.com/?mid=music&document_srl=743&listStyle=list]
2. Moneytoday [http://star.moneytoday.co.kr/view/stview.php?no=2008011912510772195&type=1&SVEC]
3. My Daily [http://www.mydaily.co.kr/news/read.html?newsid=200706051739161134]
4. IZM Neo Music Community [http://www.izm.co.kr/spac_view.asp?key=1&s_idx=78&page=1]
5. IZM Neo Music Community [http://www.izm.co.kr/menu_view.asp?key=1&idx=14077&a_idx=21&view=2]
6. IZM Neo Music Community [http://www.izm.co.kr/menu_view.asp?key=1&idx=117&a_idx=21&view=2]
7. KBS [http://world.kbs.co.kr/english/enter/music_top.htm?Rank_Date=2004-04-19]
8. IZM Neo Music Community [http://www.izm.co.kr/menu_view.asp?key=1&idx=120&a_idx=21&view=2]
9. Moneytoday [http://star.moneytoday.co.kr/view/stview.php?no=2008021610235752019&type=1&outlink=1]
10. IZM Neo Music Community [http://www.izm.co.kr/menu_view.asp?key=1&idx=15324&a_idx=21&view=2]