[album reviews] Loro's, Epitone Project, Kim Dong Ryul, Paloalto, and More.

It's been a while since I last posted any type of music review on this blog, but tonight's one of those nights! I'm feelin it! In the last few years, whenever I actually talked about any kind of album/singles it was through my "Best of the Year" posts, which meant that I only ever got around to blogging about music that I really enjoyed. But there are other music that I think is just okay, or that I really dislike! So here we go! Brief reviews (with star ratings out of five, as always) though, because it seems like I have lost the ability to write extensively about anything...

Loro's | W.A.N.D.Y
2014.10.02 | ORM Ent | Mirrorball Music

Oh boy. Loro's finally released their much-anticipated second album after five years of nothing (their last EP, Dream(s), was released in 2009) and the wait was most definitely worth it. I wish I could talk more about this album because there's just so much, so much sounds and words and beautiful things happening, but I probably won't be able to put into words how I feel about this album. How I felt about this album when I listened to it for the first time ever. In its vast sounds, this album reaches out, breaking free of what Loro's was initially known for. There's darkness ("Homo Separatus"), there's light ("여기가 우리 만나는곳"), and ultimately, there's hope ("송가"). What a beautiful album.

★★★★☆

Epitone Project | 각자의 밤 (Each One's Night)
2014.09.16 | Pastel Music | Neowiz Internet

If you've been around for a while, or if you've poked around this blog a lot, you might remember that I wasn't the biggest fan of Epitone Project (Cha Se Jung)'s last album, A Day in a Foreign City. I'm glad that I can say that his latest album is an improvement from that album. There's more variety in this album, and the various female featurings definitely help his music stand out. I also appreciate how he seems to be exploring more genres. This is a solid, easy-listening type of music, well-suited for a sleepless night.

★★★

Wutan & Buggy | Hol!day
2014.09.03 | Stoneship / VMC | CJ E&M

I didn't know much about Wutan or Buggy coming into this but I thoroughly enjoyed it nonetheless! I'm not too familiar with either artists' previous track records (except that Wutan was on the second season of Show Me the Money, also known as that season that I didn't even bother with), but I am definitely looking forward to what they do next. "Blue Lemonade" is a total jam, and although "Watermelon Juice" is questionable (and it features Kimchi Homie Park - are you for real?), this is an addicting album with some really stylish and trendy beats.

★★★☆

Paloalto | Cheers
2014.09.23 | Hi-Lite Records | Neowiz Internet

As expected from Paloalto, a solid, classy album. From the opening track "Forrest Gump" featuring the amazing Mayson the Soul, to the last track "Footprint," this album screams classy all-over with its clean-cut flow and hooks. Paloalto's been around forever but it's admirable how he constantly puts out solid works - his album from last year, Chief Life, was also another notable piece of work. I especially appreciate how he never seems to give in to current trends - he seems to always maintain his style. I don't have any other words for him than classy. He's classy all over.

★★★★

퓨어킴(Puer Kim) | Purifier
2014.09.02 | MYSTIC89 | Loen Entertainment

I've had a lot to say about this album but I've talked so much about it to everyone who ever brought up Puer Kim, I don't want to go too much into it here. I'm not trying to purposefully hate on the album, but as someone who very enjoyed Puer Kim's previous independent releases Mom & Sex and O, this album was a disappointment. On one hand, I'm glad that she's getting the exposure she is getting now with MYSTIC89, but at the same time, I really wish they'd just let her write her own damn songs. She's fully capable of writing captivating music, we've all seen her do that. How MYSTIC89 (/Yoon Jong Shin) seems to be restraining her from writing her own songs is a mystery to me. This EP is not bad - her voice is lovely, and her lyrics are interesting enough. It's just a shame that we can't witness her (original) unique sound on her mainstream debut album, that's all.

★★

김동률(Kim Dong Ryul) | 동행 (Companion)
2014.10.01 | Music Farm | Loen Entertainment

It's amazing what just a simple voice can do. And how after all these years since Kim Dong Ryul debuted in 1993, he maintains the sentimentality that makes his music so attractive. He is one of the most consistent singer-songwriters in the scene, and I find it truly admirable how his music always seem so timeless. There are definitely some weaker songs on this album, but then there are other songs that really get to your heart, like the title track "How I Am," or "청춘 (feat. Lee Sang Soon)," and my personal favourite, "동행," the last track that also shares the title with the album.

★★★

김사월x김해원(Kim Sawol x Kim Haewon) | 비밀 (Secret)
2014.10.10 | Kim Sawol x Kim Haewon | Mirrorball Music

Where have these two been all this time? The duo's first EP together, Secret, is phenomenal. From the very first track "비밀" I knew right away that I was in for a treat. It's a dark chocolate kind of music, at times bitter, at times sweet in a gloomy but sexy kind of a way. The way the two voices come in and out of songs just at the perfect moment is so artfully done, I am floored. Fatal in its simplistic charm, Kim Sawol x Kim Haewon's Secret is definitely one of my greatest finds this year.

★★★★☆

윤덕원(Yoon Dukwon) | 흐린 길 (Faded Path) 
2014. 09.30 | Studio Broccoli | Mirrorball Music

Yoon Dukwon of Broccoli You Too's solo album is at times very different from Broccoli You Too's music, and at times it's not. It seems more concerned with a 90's ballad sentimentality (which becomes blatantly obvious in "신기루") which is a departure from the usual Broccoli You Too music one might be familiar with. But it's refreshing, and definitely fascinating how this is the type of music Yoon Dukwon wanted to make as a solo artist. The sincerity shows, and it's much appreciated.

★★★









Enjoyed/hated any of these albums? Want me to review any other albums? Leave a comment below. 

[translation] Interview with Hitchhiker - from Solo Artist to SM Entertainment Composer. 10Asia, September 2014

Again, instead of doing a myriad of other things I should be doing, I came across a very interesting interview that 10Asia did with SM Entertainment's resident composer, Hitchhiker. I already knew that he was formerly known as Jinu of modern rock band Roller Coaster (with the lovely Jo Won Sun and enigmatic Lee Sang Soon - perhaps most well-known now as the husband of Lee Hyori), but I didn't know much else about him. Then, when he dropped the puzzling video for his "Eleven" few days ago, I was completely, utterly fascinated by the whole deal. What is this disturbing sound? What is this modern art gallery art video aesthetic of the music video? What was this song that people were claiming as the Illuminati's trap? In the interview below which I have translated, he explains and makes sense of a lot of things behind the bizarre project. Among other things, like how Brown Eyed Girls' "Abracadabra" came to be, or how he became an SM composer.

Some highlights from the interview include: how he created the music video for "Eleven" by himself; the disturbing ababa sound in the song being his 3 year-old daughter's voice; how if Krystal, or any other SM artists, weren't so busy, we wouldn't have this gem of a track...

Check out the interview below the cut.



Oh! Hitchhiker! Who are You?
Hitchhiker interviewed by Kwon Suk Jung for 10Asia, September 19 2014

[translation] "I'm Not Drunk" E-Sens, GQ Korea, September 2014

Despite being behind on all the other things I could be doing right now, I got really into this recent interview E-Sens did with GQ Korea and decided to translate it for all the E-Sens fans out there. Or any international Korean hip-hop fans, really. He brings up a lot of interesting points - from Show Me The Money 3 to what he thought of Swings' comments on him. (Spoiler: E-Sens pretty much tells Swings to shut the hell up and mind his own fucking business.)

I also learned a lot about E-Sens as an artist and a person - definitely surprised me to find out that he actually doesn't like his hit "Poison" at all. (Ironic, because I think it's one of his best.)

He offers a lot more insight into his upcoming first official solo album, Anecdote, which does not have a set release date yet. But he's said that it'll be out by the end of the year. I'm just praying that it'll live up to the expectations, because through what he's said from this interview, it sounds like the best thing he'll ever put out.

This is a long interview, and a rather rambling one at that, so it may not make sense at times. Please do let me know if you want clarification on certain parts.

“I’m Not Drunk”
E-Sens, interviewed by Yoo Ji Sung for GQ Korea, September 2014

E-Sens has returned solo. He may like alcohol, but he isn’t planning on getting drunk on fame.

Rest in Peace, EunB

Go Eunbi. 1992-2014. 

I don't know how to word this post - I've never been good at these things. But I just wanted to take this moment to mourn the death of EunB of Ladies' Code.

EunB, along with her Ladies' Code groupmates Rise, Sojung, Zuny, and Ashley, and staff members, were in a tragic car accident. Rise is in critical condition. Sojung has also been very injured, with the other members and staff with minor injuries.

This was a really hard blow to me as I've been rooting for EunB and Ladies' Code since their beginning. Although EunB wasn't my immediate favourite member in the beginning, I loved the group as a whole very dearly, and I greatly appreciated her shining presence in the group. In my memories, she will always be the adorable, hardworking, bright individual who showed tremendous improvement with every release. I loved watching their music videos as they came out - anticipating EunB's scenes the most because her facial expressions got exponentially better with each video. She was a joy to watch on tv with her bright personality; she wasn't called Eunvitamin for nothing. She had a beautiful voice. Sojung and Ashley seemed to have more lines most of the time but EunB always stood her ground. It felt like she was just beginning to get more lines, too. I wanted to hear more from her. And for some odd reason, I've always pictured EunB to be the one to go into acting. Even now I can picture her acting in dramas - she could've been that really terrible idol actor, initially. But as EunB has always shown, she'd get better and better.

Ladies' Code's "Hate You" was one of my favourite songs from last year and I still listen to it frequently. And EunB's bridge in that song was what made it so great for me. EunB was the charming point of "Pretty Pretty".

Ladies' Code easily makes my top 5 favourite girl groups... Every comeback got me extremely excited because I knew they had the potential to gradually get bigger and bigger to be one of the top girl groups one day. Even with their latest comeback with "Kiss Kiss" - I enjoyed the song and was disappointed that it didn't get as much attention as it could have, but that only got me more excited for their next release, because I had utter faith in them to come back stronger. They always have. They've never had a absolutely terrible release.

I'm praying that the remaining members make it through this hardship. It's so difficult to believe what has happened. I don't know what's going to happen from here, and I am terrified. I hope and hope that Rise will hang on and persevere, because I want to see her smile, to hear her awkward but incredibly cute accent again. I don't know how hurt Sojung is but I desperately want her to continue singing with her phenomenal voice. I want to see Zuny's beautiful eyes when she smiles and to hear her improve with each song. I want to see Ashley's outgoing personality shine on TV. But then, I'm probably being selfish and greedy. I don't know if any of this will be possible anymore. But for now, I can only hope, and believe that these ladies will pull through.

My deepest condolences go out to the girls and the staff members, and their friends and families. And I want to give a huge hug to the other Ladies' Code fans out there. Let's keep on believing in them, like we always have.

And - to Eunbi. Thank you so much for all you've done for us. This is painful to say goodbye to you but I hope you're in a better place. Rest in peace.

[Recap] Show Me The Money 3 Episode 3

Sorry for the late update! A couple of you have voiced your frustration about how slow we are with the recap series and I swear we're not doing this on purpose. Anyway...

Once again, Ranya (@itsRanya) will be joining us in our uptake of this farce. Still tryna catch up! We’ll get there soon. Or maybe not. Does it really matter? This show is better second time around, when you let the shit sink in. Also Ranya made a blog of her own recently, it's empty for now but keep an eye out for this one.

Ranya: I would like to take this opportunity to shamelessly plug @dok2plzexplain

Sangha: Y'all know how we look up to Dok2 for his infinite wisdom.

Episode 3 picks up where it left off in the last episode. 46 contestants moved up from the solo rounds. We’re in the 1:1 battle rounds now, where contestants will be randomly picked out of a hat, and the picked contestant can choose their own opponent. At the end of the last episode, we saw Bobby pick Kim Sung Hee as his opponent. From a glimpse of the 1:1 performance we got in episode 2, we saw that Bobby forgot his lyrics big time. 

[Recap] Show Me The Money 3 Episode 2

And we're back with episode 2! Episode 2 added onto the drama that made episode 1 so much fun. In the last episode, we saw the show end up on a cliffhanger with the Tymee and Jolly.V's second round performances being cut. We'll get to see the two ladies' solo performances today, and then some!

Like the last recap, my dear friend Ranya (@itsRanya) will be joining me. We're trying our best to catch up to the show at the moment, so please be patient! (I do understand that episode 5 aired last night and caused the biggest shit tornado. Feel free to discuss this in the comments but have spoiler alerts!)

[Recap] Show Me The Money 3 Episode 1

Mnet’s notorious hip-hop show Show Me The Money has returned with season 3, boasting a star-studded producer line-up. After the first season that seemed to focus on finding new stars and the second season that seemed more occupied with rediscovering known talents, the details of how season three will go still seem unclear. Although hesitant to watch this series after being largely unimpressed by the first few episodes of Show Me The Money 2, I nonetheless decided to give this season a go. And boy, am I glad! Show Me The Money 3 is already proving to be the best season yet, with so much unbelievable shit and drama. The first few episodes were so fucking good, I’ve decided to start a recap series so I could have a chance to talk about how hilariously awesome SMTM3 is turning out to be.

To help me Olltii-smirk my way through recapping the show, I’ve asked my dear friend Ranya (@itsRanya) to join me in this madness. Since we're behind, we'll try our best to catch up as soon as possible. But for now - and I’m saying this wholly ironically here - leggo!

[mixtape liner notes] 빛과 용기를. Light, Courage.

빛과 용기를. listen to it here. 

It's been a while since the Sewol Ferry sank, yet there are still families still waiting for their loved ones to return to them.

"제가 제 딸을 이렇게 억울하게 잃었는데 어떻게 견딥니까, 어떻게 잊습니까. 이겨낼 수 있겠습니까? 이겨낼 수 없습니다. 적응해야죠. 제 딸이 없는 세상을 살아갈 수 있도록 스스로 적응하고 최면을 걸어야 합니다. 어떤 말도 위로가 될 수 없습니다. 다만 이렇게 이야기해주십시오. 

“한 달 뒤에도 잊지 않겠습니다. 1년 뒤에도, 10년 뒤에도, 평생 잊지 않겠습니다.” 

그것이 저희에게는 가장 큰 힘이 됩니다. 저희가 가장 두려워하는 것은 잊혀지는 것입니다. 우리 아이들이 잊혀지고 우리가 잊혀지는 것입니다. 그러면 대한민국이 잊혀질 수밖에 없기 때문입니다. 잊지 않겠다고 위로해주십시오."

"I lost my daughter like this, how am I supposed to endure, how am I supposed to forget. Will I be able to win over it? I can't. I need to adapt. I must adapt, and tell myself to go on living in a world without my daughter. No words can comfort us. But please, say these words. 

"I won't forget after a month. After a year, after 10 years, I won't ever forget."  

That will be the biggest support for us. Our biggest fear is being forgotten. Our children being forgotten, us being forgotten. Because then, Korea will be forgotten. Comfort us by telling us you will not forget." 

- Yoo Kyung Geun, Father of Yoo Ye Eun & Spokesperson of the families of the deceased 

This is a reminder for those whose duty is to remember. To remember to always have hope, and to move forward for a brighter world.

01) "Try" - Zitten

The pestering gestures of desire / the voice of oppression forcing you to bow down / they could not close your shining eyes / you held my key / oh, try

02) "See The Light" - Dear Cloud 

The times of sadness, and the times of happiness / revolve around you, shining / I can see the light 

03) "The Song Being Sung By The World" - Daybreak

This beautiful chorus / the song created by the world / chorus 

04) "Healing Song" - Casker

My path will always / my heart will always / my life will always / my dream will always / be the power that will lead me to walk forward 

05) "Different Sky (Follow)" - The Ratios

 Father, all the truth / follow, the path you take / Mother, all the love / follow, like your wish
Love is just another sky / tough, but brilliantly / it shines, like that star / it shines brilliantly

06) "Tree of Life" - Park Ji Yoon

The songs we have build up / grow into a forest / they will build a life of peace, and sing 

07) "To Me, All Your Burden" - Toy feat. Yoonsang 

 The weight of the world / A harsh world / I'm here so / your heavy burden / ...to me
Give all of them to me

08)  "Going Home" - Kim Yoon Ah

To you and me / this world is a cruel and a scary place / so come back to this place any time / you have a home, you have me. / I really hope tomorrow / something good is waiting for us / that a new sun will rise / that the thing we want the most will happen / I pray. 

09) "Way To The Light" - TwoMyung feat. Siwa 

 God, guide us to the light 

10)  "Mother's Sea" - Yoo Hee Yeol feat. Kim Yoon Ah

Piece written by Yoo Hee Yeol in tribute to the lives lost in the Sewol Ferry Incident. 

+++

Some songs on this mixtape are from the playlists I've played on my internet radio show after the accident.Others were largely inspired by the May 23, 2014 broadcast of Yoo Hee Yeol's Sketchbook, which can be streamed here in North America. Kim Yoon Ah performed "Going Home" on the show, and Yoo Hee Yeol performed "Mother's Sea" as well. This mix took months for me to compile, mainly because I was very uncertain about posting it. But on the other side of the globe, there wasn't much for me to do, and this was one of the few things I could do. So here it is.

Half-way Check Point: 2014 in Korean Music So Far.

I wasn't planning on writing this post, but since a commentor asked for it in my previous update post and I was in a blogging mood lately, I thought I would give it a go. But first! I've been posting a lot over at my new film blog Cinematriarchy, so if you are into movies at all, please do check it out, and if you've seen the movies I've talked about, please do let me know what you thought about them, I'd love to hear.

This is going to be a simple, but messy post because I usually don't keep a good track of all the music I check out during the first half of the year. But I do keep a general annual 'liked tracks' playlist on iTunes. And although I really slacked off on it in 2013, I've been better with it so far in 2014. I'll base this post off of that playlist, and just kind of freestyle my way through some notable songs and albums that caught my attention, along with debuts, comebacks, etc.

Then, just some music and musicians of January - May 2014 I want to talk about!

REPLY 2013: Top 20 Korean Albums of 2013

After weeks and months of pushing off on it, I've finally decided to just go ahead with it and post it: the Top 20 Korean Albums of 2013. Unfortunately, I was terrible at keeping track of everything I listened to in 2013, but from what I could remember, I listened to just over 100 albums released between December 1, 2012 ~ November 30, 2013. Which is probably a dozen or so fewer than what I listened to from 2012 for that year's round-up post. Which isn't bad, but still, it probably could've been better. Also, I was terribly uninspired in 2013 (as you could see from the dire lack of updates on this wee blog) which ultimately resulted in these awfully late round-up posts. I am not proud of myself. But let's get this over with and move on. Few important notes about this post:

• This list includes albums released between December 1, 2012 and November 30, 2013.
• Unlike my previous round-up lists, this list is not ranked. The list is in alphabet order.
• This is a subjective list.

One interesting thing to note about this year's list is that it's unranked. It was really difficult to rank the albums, hence, alphabetical.

Update!

Hi all,
It's been a while! I don't exactly know what to say, the last few months - 2014 so far, really - have been crazy. So much stuff happened in life and blogging naturally took the back seat. I haven't forgotten about this space though, and I have plans and ideas for it, we'll see how it'll go, though. In the meanwhile, I thought I would write a brief update.

Chicken Broadcast. I've posted about it here once before, and I've been regularly posting about it on tumblr and other spaces, but I started an internet radio show this semester for my college internet radio station. I had previously worked at my school's commercial radio station (so FM, commercials, pretty legit, all that) as a photographer, but that job has since become extremely boring to me, so I quit and started as a radio DJ at a much smaller, free-form non-commercial radio station on campus. It's only online, which makes it more comfortable, and I get to play whatever I want, which is awesome. I've had over 10 shows now, and every time it's been a blast. I won't be doing it over the summer, but I'll definitely be back next semester.

Soompi. Ah, why the hell not. I've started writing for Soompi. I've never kept up with k-pop news sites or big k-pop sites in general, but a friend of mine told me that they were hiring writers, and I happened to be looking for a part-time job to make extra money to pay for food and stuff. It's actually been pretty fun so far. The pay is pretty good, and since I genuinely enjoy translating it's all really good. I won't tell you my pen name on the site, but it might be obvious.

Lyrical Movement. This is really old news but I realized I never posted about it here? Anyway, I had a Livejournal community I ran for a couple of years called Lyrical Movement where along with a couple of other translators, I translated Korean lyrics into English. But Livejournal has since been headed towards the gutters, and I thought I should revamp it, so I started Lyrical Movement 2.0 on wordpress. And along with three other really amazing translators, we update pretty regularly (so far) and it's really fantastic, because Lyrical Movement has always been my precious baby project. I'm quite proud of what it was, and what it is now. If any of you need lyrics translated, hit us up! We mainly focus on Korean indie songs.

Music. I've been catching up with a lot of recent releases lately! I wish I could write proper reviews for everything I have been listening to but we all know that probably won't happen. But to keep things short, heavy rotation, in Korean: Small o's first full-length album Temper of Water, The Solutions' 2nd studio album Movements, The Lads' first LP The Lads on the Street. In English: The Horrors' Luminous, Damon Albarn's solo album Everyday Robots, and Blood Orange's Cupid Deluxe. Have a good feeling about St. Vincent's latest self-titled album as well, although I've only listened through it once.

Movies. I tentatively started a movie blog months ago, called Cinematriarchy, which I thought (still think?) is so clever, but I haven't really done much with it yet. I've been watching more movies lately though, and I'm really hoping to regularly write about movies, because I love talking about movies. I've been in a Korean movie binge lately, so I've been catching up with all the movies I have been meaning to watch. Finally got around to watching Park Chan Wook's Vengeance Trilogy, which lived up to its fame. The Man From Nowhere was fucking brilliant. Moss fulfilled my mediocre Korean thriller need so it was an alright experience. The King and the Clown was not as good as I expected but still solid. Still got a bunch of movies to watch, and hopefully I'll write about them... hopefully... fingers crossed.

Television. Television is also something I want to start talking more about, but that will probably be over at Cinematriarchy as well, unless it's Korean or a general commentary post which I might post here. Honestly, still not sure what I'm going to do with this space. Anyway, I've been extremely behind on television, even with some of my favourite shows returning this past season. Haven't even touched the latest season of Shameless or Game of Thrones. The only show I've been pretty up-to-date with this season was Hannibal, which was terrifying, to say the least. I have no idea where this show is going. I also started watching Secret Love Affair, but incredibly behind on that as well. I'll get to it, eventually. Speaking of TV though......

Haru is literally the prettiest little child I've ever seen. Such great facial features. And EYEBROWS!!! Her eyebrows give me LIFE

Minyul from Dad Where Are We Going is my little overlord. He is such a cutie. 

Another thing about these shows are how funny the dads are. Look at Yoon Minsoo. What the hell is he wearing. 

... Baby Hell. If you follow me on twitter you might already be aware of my ongoing struggle with what I call "Baby Hell". Baby Hell = two Korean variety shows that air on Sunday called Return of Superman and Dad Where Are You Going. At one point, when I had it real bad the Chinese version of Dad Where Are You Going also haunted me. These damn shows feature adorable children who run around doing things and I just can't simply get enough of it. I was planning on writing posts about these baby hell shows but I'd probably end up being incoherent and I'll just end up writing worships for these children. Each episode of both shows is 100 minutes long, which means I dedicate 200 minutes of my time watching children play on television every Sunday. I'm pretty sure this is the government's ploy to get more people to have children. (I don't want any still, but if it was someone like Joon from season 1 of Dad Where Are You Going or Haru from Return of Superman....)

Reading. Been reading a lot of comics lately. Working my way through Alison Bechdel's Are You My Mother?, which, so far, is not as good as Fun Home, but I am only 50ish pages into it, so I will put off my verdict on it for now. Online I have been catching up to various Korean webtoons, so many of which I wish were translated into English so I can share my excitement for them with more people. I know Naver Webtoon is the webtoon service most people are familiar with, but Daum Webtoon is where it's at. All my current favourite webtoons are at Daum. (For those who can read Korean - I strongly recommend 묘진전 on Daum Webtoon. Made me cry at least twice. Seriously one of the most beautifully told comics I've read.) Other than that, my reading list for this summer is heavy, I've got so many books I want to read.

That's it for now. I'll try to update more regularly from now on but. We shall see about that.

[interview] 장기하와 얼굴들 (Kiha And The Faces) talks 3rd album

With critically acclaimed first and second album, a mega-hit tune part of the soundtrack for 2012's Nameless Gangsters, and with fantastic collaboration with Infinity Challenge in 2013 - Kiha & The Faces are probably the hottest band in Korea right now. I posted about their upcoming American tour earlier this month which I was really excited about (along with many others who were planning on attending, I'm sure), but I am deeply sorry to announce that all their American shows have been cancelled due to visa issues. Shaking my fist at America and its immigration! 

Initially I interviewed the band mostly about their American shows, which I was planning on posting last week. However, as with each cancellation update I had to push off on posting the interview because a lot of it had to do with their American tour. Now that it's completely cancelled, I thought about not posting it at all because it was too damn sad. But I still wanted to share some more information about the band with the international fans out there and decided to post parts of the interview that has to do with their music and their upcoming third album in particular. 

Check out the interview below for some information on their upcoming third album, Kiha's side activities, and their plans for the future. 

2014 SEOULSONIC USA TOUR

Some more exciting news! Seoulsonic will be kicking off their 2014 USA Tour soon! This year, the tour features Glen Check, Rock'n'Roll Radio, and Love X Stereo. Starting with sxsw, they will be hitting San Francisco, Detroit, New York, Washington DC and L.A. If you can make it to any of the shows, I suggest that you do! I have seen Glen Check and Rock'n'Roll Radio and they are not to be missed - probably two of the most fun bands I've seen live. Love X Stereo's music is pretty awesome as well, so this is a great package here :) I'm sort of bummed that they're not dropping by Chicago but I might just be able to make it to the NYC show. Fingers crossed!

Here's the full tour schedule:

AUSTIN, TX
SXSW Official Show presented by Seoulsonic
Date : March 13th (Thu), 12am-12:40am
Venue : Icenhauer's (83 Rainey Street)
Lineup : Love X Stereo, No Brain, Glen Check, Big Phony, Hwang Boryung=SmackSoft
Badges : Music Badge, Platinum Badge, Music Festival Wristband, Artist Wristband
Link: Here

SAN FRANCISCO, CA
CAAMFest 2014 'DIRECTIONS IN SOUND: KOREAN SHOWCASE'
Date : March 20th (Thu), 9:30pm
Venue : Brick & Mortar Music Hall (1710 Mission St)
Lineup : Love X Stereo, Rock 'N' Roll Radio, Glen Check, No Brain. Hosted by Kero One & DJ Relic
Cover : $20
Link: Here

DETROIT (PONTIAC), MI 
LOVE X STEREO with GLEN CHECK!, ROCK N' ROLL RADIO and THE RECKLESS SCAMPS at The Pike Room
Date : March 25th (Tue), 6pm
Venue : Pike Room @ Crofoot (1 South Saginaw, Pontiac, MI)
Lineup : Love X Stereo, Rock 'N' Roll Radio, Glen Check, Reckless Scamps
Cover: $10 in advance / $12 at the door
Link: Here

NEW YORK, NY
2K14 Seoulsonic @ NYC
Date : March 29th (Sat), 7pm
Venue : Marlin Room @ Webster Hall (125 E 11th St)
Line Up : Love X Stereo, Rock 'N' Roll Radio, Glen Check, Big Phony
Cover: $12 (19+ event)
Link: Here

WASHINGTON D.C. 

2K14 Seoulsonic @ DC

Date : March 31st (Mon), 7pm

Venue : Dorothy Betts Marvin Theatre @ George Washington Univ. (800 21st Street NW)

Line Up : Love X Stereo, Rock 'N' Roll Radio, Glen Check, Big Phony

Cover : $9.99

Link: Here 

LOS ANGELES, CA

2K14 Seoulsonic @ Los Angeles

Date : April 6th (Sun), TBA

Venue : SEED Center (1917 Bay St)

Line Up : Love X Stereo, Rock 'N' Roll Radio, Glen Check

Cover : TBA

Link: Here 

Rock'n'Roll Radio just won the Best New Artist of the Year award at the 2014 Korean Music Awards, while Glen Check won Best Electronic Album of the Year at the KMAs. 

Here are some videos of the three bands, if you have yet to listen to their awesome music: 

Original images provided by Seoulsonic. Images edited by Sangha. All information regarding the shows are provided by Seoulsonic.

Seoulsonic website | twitter | facebook 

장기하와 얼굴들 (Kiha & The Faces) NYC Tour!

Be excited! Critically acclaimed and famed Korean band Kiha & The Faces (장기하와 얼굴들) is coming State side in March! They will be performing at sxsw on March 11 at the K-Pop Night Out event, and then will head to New York City for two shows. One is already sold out, but there are still tickets available for their second show, so if you are in the area and can make it, I strongly recommend that you do! A fabulous band, with some really, really great music. Their first album is one of my all-time favourites, and although I wasn't the biggest fan of their 2nd album initially, it's really grown on me as well. Everything they've released so far has been awesome, awesome! 

Their NYC show at Rockwood Music Hall is already sold out, but you can still grab tickets to their show at Knitting Factory. Information below.

Bulgogi Beast

Facebook event page 

Venue: Knitting Factory (361 Metropolitan Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11211)

March 19, Wednesday

Doors 7:30 PM / Show 8:00 PM

$15 online, $18 at the door 

Buy ticket online 

This show will also feature two Brooklyn bands, high-energy Southern rock & roll band Jumbo Brown, and rising new indie rock band Sheep Psyche. 

Check out Kiha & The Faces' music video for "그렇고 그런 사이 (A Sort of Relationship)" for a taste of their music:

Chicken Broadcast!

This Saturday (Feb 8... tomorrow!) I will be kicking off a weekly 2-hour radio show on my college’s internet radio (8pm-10pm CST / 6pm-8pm PST / 9pm-11pm EST; Sunday 11am-1pm KST,  for other time zones please check google!). It’ll be all about Korean music, and it’s called Chicken Broadcast. Although I say ‘Korean music’ it’ll mostly be the non-mainstream music, mainly music from the Korean indie scene, with some hip-hop. But I’ll be casually venturing into mainstream from time to time. I’m actually planning on having a theme every week - the first show this week will be all about my favourite korean indie songs. Next week I’ll play sad love songs (because valentine’s and all). Hip-hop special is a thing I’m already working on, along with a Korean cinema/soundtrack special and a girl group special too! I really want this to be an interactive thing - I’ll be taking song requests and I could definitely do shout-outs or answer any questions on air.

Every week I'll post something after the show with some blurbs about how the show went, why I played certain songs, etc. but most of the updates and questions/song requests will be over at the program twitter here. If you don't have a twitter but still want to request songs or have something to say in more than 140 characters, feel free to shoot me an e-mail via: chickenbroadcast[at]gmail.com!

In short -

• tune in here on Saturdays 8-10pm CST (6-8pm PST/9-11pm EST/ Sun 11am-1pm KST etc.) when you have nothing better to do or need some great background music/noise. 
• follow/tweet @radiochicken for updates on the show, foodporn chicken pics, to send song requests, ask questions during the show, etc. 
• you can also reach me regarding the show via e-mail (chickenbroadcast[at]gmail.com).

Thanks!

REPLY 2013: Top 30 Korean Songs of 2013

It is finally here: Sangha's top 30 Korean songs of 2013. These are the best songs of 2013 as decided by me. If you haven't seen my post for 2012, feel free to check that out here. I'm gonna go ahead and say this now, but I'm not too confident on the list this year. There were tons of decent songs, but it was really difficult to pick songs that really stood out for me. But! Still some good music in this post.

As for the rules, same rules from last year. This is a relatively subjective list, although I did consider extra-musical elements more this time around. This list encompasses songs released from December 1, 2012 to November 31, 2013. No same artist is listed more than once, unless they are featuring on a track. 8tracks playlist is at the bottom as well. It's been such a long time since I last reviewed or anything, this is probably gonna be awkward, but let's move forth!