2011년 10월 29일 토요일

Songolmae / Songolmae II (1982)


Songolmae 송골매
Songolmae II

1982. 01. 15



Side A 
1. 어쩌다 마주친 그대 / Happened to Meet You
2. 우리들 / Us
3. 그대는 나는 / You, I4. 다시한번 / Once Again
5. 세상만사 / All the Things Around the World


Side B
1. 하다 못해 이 가슴을 / At Last to This Heart
2. 모두 다 사랑하리 / Love All Together
3. 빨리 빨리 / Quickly Quickly
4. 내 마음의 꽃 / 길지 않는 시간이었네 / The Flower in My Hear / It was not long time
5. 바람 / Wind



We have talked about one of the most famous hard rock bands in Korea, Sinawe here. From that review, one might ask a question : then is Sinawe the first band that introduced hard rock music in Korea? The answer is of course, it's not. In fact, there was a huge boom in the early 80s music industry in Korea. There might be various factors, such as better standards of living, but probably the most prime reason is that the new president of Korea, Chun Doo-hwan tried to justify dictatorship by cultural policy as he rose in power from the coup detat in 1980.


Songolmae, the band we are going to talk about in this post, was also one of the bands that lead the music boom in early 1980s. Especially, the reason why Songolmae lead the rock music industry at that time was probably their members had a lot of talents. Chul-Soo Bae, who is the leader of Songolmae, made a debut from the TBC beach music contest and the MBC university music contest in 1978 with his band Hwaljuro (Airstrip in English), and formed Songolmae after a few members of Hwaljuro quit. After the publication of the first album, Songolmae introduced a few members from Black Tetra, another famous rock band at that time which also performed and was awarded at the MBC university music contest. As a result, Songolmae was able to have the rock stars in the band altogether.


As their history shows, this album presents highly-polished hard rock music. One of the most interesting features in this album is that the two styles of Hwaljuro and Songolmae create distinctive harmony throughout the album. Especially, 어쩌다 마주친 그대(Happened to Meet You) and 모두 다 사랑하리 (Love All Together) are still regarded as best 80s rock songs in Korea.


Still, the legacy that Songolmae left is present in the modern Korean rock music. Chul-Soo Bae, who is the leader of Songolmae, has been continuing his music career as a musician and pop columnist, who has been a DJ of one of the most famous music radio program, Chul-Soo Bae's Music Camp for over twenty years.




  
(Songolmae - 어쩌다 마주친 그대 / Happened to Meet You)

Album Cover
Maniadb (http://www.maniadb.com/)

References
Maniadb (http://www.maniadb.com/album.asp?a=121522)
Songolmae Official Website (http://www.songolmae.co.kr/)

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2011년 9월 26일 월요일

Sinawe / Heavy Metal Sinawe (1986)


Sinawe 시나위
Heavy Metal Sinawe
1986. 03. 01


Side A
1. 크게 라디오를 켜고 / Turn on the Radio Aloud
2. 그대 앞에 난 촛불이여라 / I Would Be a Candle in Front of You
3. 남사당패 / Namsadang
4. 젊음의 록큰롤 / Rock'n Roll of outh
5. 아! 대한민국 / Ah! The Republic of Korea


Side B
1. 잃어버린 환상 / Lost Dream
2. 아틸란티스의 꿈 / Dream of Atlantis
3. 1월 (January) / January
4. 하루해 마냥 떠가고 / Sun Goes Down All the Way 




Some might have heard of Sinawe before, as it is a form of traditional Korean music based on improvisation. Indeed, the leader of Sinawe, Shin Dae-cheol said that he came up with the band name from his music textbook when he was in middle school. Regarding that there is a lot of similarities between metal music and the traditional Korean music, this name probably explains their music style very well.

Actually, we have talked about the albums related to Sinawe a few times before. The second album that we introduced was the first debut album of Add 4, which was lead by the "godfather" of the Korean rock music, Shin Jung-hyeon here. Also, we have mentioned his another legendary album, Shin Jung-hyeon & Yeopjeons 1st Album here. Probably, Shin Jung-hyeon is the most closest person to Sinawe, and that's because he is in fact, the father of Shin Dae-cheol, who is the leader of Sinawe. Not only that, in the review for Seo Taiji's first debut album here, we actually mentioned that Seo Taiji was the former bassist of Sinawe but soon quit and founded the group Seo Taiji and Boys.



In fact, hard rock genre was not the odd one in late 1980s, as various hard rock bands were active in 80s such as Song Gol Mae, which is another important figure in the Korean pop music history that we are going to talk about later. That's why this album wouldn't be called the first heavy metal album in Korea. However, nobody would argue about the fact that this album became the milestone of heavy metal genre in Korea, blooming metal boom in late 80s. As the phrase "heavy metal" is shown on their first album cover, Sinawe introduced themselves as "heavy metal" band showing that they are going to be renowned as "heavy metal band".

The songs featured in this album, despite that they were recorded in poor quality, show that they deserve their fame as a heavy metal band. Especially, the unique vocal sound of Yim Jae-beom and the alternative solo of Shin Dae-cheol make this album especially distinctive. That's why this album is regarded as one of the best heavy metal albums in Korea with the album Too Fast! Too Loud! Too Heavy! from Baekdusan, which is the band we are going to talk about later again.

  
(Sinawe - 크게 라디오를 켜고 / Turn on the Radio Aloud)

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2011년 8월 7일 일요일

Seo Taiji and Boys / Seo Taiji and Boys 1 (1992)

Seo Taiji and Boys 서태지와 아이들
Seo Taiji and Boys 1 서태지와 아이들 I
1992. 03. 23


Side A
1. Yo! Taiji!
2. 난 알아요 (Club Mix) / I Know
3. 환상속의 그대 / Thou in Fantasy
4. 너와 함께한 시간속에서 / In the Time When We Were Together
5. 이밤이 깊어가지만 / Though the Night Goes on

Side B
1. 내 모든 것 (Live Mix) / My Everything
2. 이제는 / Now
3. Blind Love (English Version)
4. Rock'N Roll Dance ('92 Heavy Mix)
5. Missing


Who is the most controversial artist in Korea? There would be various answers, but probably some might say it's Seo Taiji. 


Seo Taiji is an artist who started his music career as a bassist in the band called Sinawe from 1989. Sinawe is a traditional metal band formed by Shin Dae-cheol, who is the son of Shin Jung-hyeon whose album is introduced here. Due to the difference in their music styles, Seo Taiji soon quit and founded the group called Seo Taiji and Boys with his fellows such as Yang Hyun-Seok, who is now the owner of YG Entertainment.


This album, which is the debut album of Seo Taiji and Boys, introduced various genres of music in Korea. One of the most distinct features in this album is that he tried to combine rock music with hip hop which was a very odd genre in Korea at that time. Some people claim that Seo Taiji made it very banal, but anyway it is also true that this album was the first to make this experiment national-widely popular. Especially, the most famous track in this album, "I Know" made so-called "Seo Taiji syndrom" which prevailed in Korea until he abruptly announced the dissolution of Seo Taiji and Boys.  As a result, this album has been sold for 1.6 million copies. 


Regardless of the current criticisms on this album, it is evident that this album made enormous social influences. First, hip-hop, which was very unpopular genre in Korea at that time, became prevalent in the Korean music industry after the publication of this album; however, some people blame on him that he undermined the settlement of the traditional hip-hop genre in Korea. Also, dance became one of the most important features in Korean pop music as Seo Taiji and Boys led their popularity with their distinct dance and fashion styles. Soon, Seo Taiji and Boys became kind of cultural icon in early 90s which represented youth culture of Korea at that time. And that's why Kim Daejoong, who was the president of the Republic of Korea, called him "culture president"; besides a few others including No Brain (one of their albums was introduced here) also claim that he is a "culture tyranny".

  
(Seo Taiji and Boys - 난 알아요 / I Know)


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2011년 7월 25일 월요일

Kim, Jung Mi / Now (1973)


Kim, Jung Mi 김정미
Now

1973. 11. 2?

Disc 1
1. 봄 / Spring
2. 햇님 / Sun
3. 바람 / Wind
4. 불어라 봄바람 / Blow on, Spring Wind
5. 당신의 꿈 / Your Dream

Disc 2
1. 비가 오네 / It Is Raining
2. 나도 몰래 / Without Even Knowing
3. 아름다운 강산 / Beautiful Land
4. 고독한 마음 / Lonely Heart
5. 가나다라마바 / Ga Na Da Ra Ma Ba







"Where flowers bloom redly
When spring wind blows on
Sulfur butterflies would fly
and fold their wings there"
(Kim, Jung Mi / Spring)

When this album, which was the fourth album of Jung Mi Kim, was published, the Republic of Korea was under dictatorship by Chung-hee Park. It was just after the announcement of Yushin Constitution, which abolished direct elections and allowed no limits on reelection. As a result, songs considered as harmful to national securities started to be censored by the government, and most of Shin Jung-hyeon's songs including her music got abolished. Actually, two of her albums stopped publishing due to this "expurgation". Shin Jung-hyeon, who lead Jung Mi Kim, challenged this problem by creating much more number of music so that a few of his songs would be remained. Eventually, he had come to create another greatest album, Shin Jung-hyeon & Yeopjeons 1st Album in 1974 (more details here).


As noticed by the names of the featured songs, the main theme of the album is focused on the nature. Sun, Spring, Wind, Land... with Shin's distinct psych-folk music style, these songs visualize the true nature that he wanted to show(Actually Shin participated in the creation of this album by playing his instrument with his band, The Men), which was the opposed image against the dictatorship. Especially, one of the most distinctive features in this album is the use of strings. Beyond his traditional rock music style, he introduced such new features in this album which is why this album is also regarded as one of the most progressive albums in this era.

This album, which is one of the most rarest albums in Korea, is the masterpiece of Korean psychedelic music that is rediscovered nowadays. That's why the reissued version of this album got sold out just after it was published as a limited version of 1,000 copies.

  
(Kim, Jung Mi - 봄 / Spring)


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2011년 5월 29일 일요일

Kim Kwang-Seok / Kim Kwang-Seok Forth (1994)


Kim Kwang-Seok 김광석

Kim Kwang-Seok Fourth 김광석 네번째
1994. 06. 25




Side A
1. 일어나 / Stand Up
2. 바람이 불어오는 곳 / Where Wind Comes from
3. 너무 깊이 생각하지 마 / Don't Think Too Deeply
4. 회귀 / Recurrence
5. 너무 아픈 사랑은 사랑이 아니었음을 / Too Painful Love Is Not a Love

Side B
1. 서른 즈음에 / Near Thirties
2. 혼자 남은 밤 / The Night Alone
3. 끊어진 길 / Broken Road
4. 맑고 향기롭게 / Purely and Fragrantly
5. 자유롭게 / Freely








Kim Kwang-Seok was a folk singer-songwriter who was born in Daegu, Korea. Kim Kwang-Seok started his first music career with participating in recording for a musical album called "개똥이"by Mingi Kim (We'll talk about him later). Soon, he became much more famous as he became a member of "노래를 찾는 사람들" (Song-seekers) singing protest songs, and later he found a band called "동물원" (Zoo) which is also regarded as an important figurine in the Korean pop music history.


This album, Kim Kwang-Seok Forth, was his last solo studio album. Even though this album was published quite a long time ago, still many people claim that his works are some of the best folk songs that represent Korean songs. That is mainly because it is still believed that this album contains pure messages about our lives, not mannerist techniques. Different from his prior works, he tried to talk about life issues rather than social problems through his songs in this album. This made his album embrace much more figurines of our lives. As a result, compared to other albums, his songs could contain lots of discussions about our daily lives, rather than throwing sharp messages or biting sarcasms. 


Another thing that makes his album much more special is that he tried to compromise pessimistic attitudes towards our society and our free will. Most of his songs acknowledge our cruel reality; however, he did not end his songs with despair. Instead, he tried to show our hopes and free wills which would change our lives. Especially, through probably one of his best songs, "일어나" (Stand Up), he claims that even though "[he is] standing alone in darkness," he would "Stand up, stand up, like a sprout in spring." These messages of hopes are represented in much more dramatic ways through a contrast with our cruel realities.


Unfortunately, his journey of music ended in 1996 as he was found in a small apartment committed suicide. However, his songs are still alive in millions of people with hopes for our lives, and the fact that still many people visit his memorial stone with Soju in 대학로 (Daehangno) proves it.


  
(김광석 - Stand Up / 일어나)




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2011년 5월 14일 토요일

No Brain / Strenuous Marching Songs of Youth Rebels (2000)


No Brain 노브레인

Strenuous Marching Songs of Youth Rebels 청년폭도맹진가
2000. 07. 07



Disc A (난투편 / Scuffle Series)
1. 날이 저문다 / Getting Dark
2. 애국가 / The National Anthem 
3. 청년폭도맹진가 / Strenuous Marching Songs of Youth Rebels
4. 티브이파티 / T.V. Party 
5. 호로 자식들 / Assholes
6. 십대 정치 / Teenaged Politics
7. VIVA 대한민국 / VIVA the Republic of Korea
8. 잡놈 패거리 / Be the Ills
9. 98년 서울 / 98 Seoul
10. 정열의 펑크 라이더 / Punk Rider of Passion


Disk B (청춘예찬편 / Ode to Youth Series)
1. 성난 젊음 / Raged Youth
2. 제발나를 / Please Let me
3. 생기없는 모습 / Lifeless
4. 너 자신을 알라 / Know Yourself
5. 이땅 어디엔들 / Nowhere
6. 바다 사나이 / Man of Sea
7. 청춘은 불꽃이어라 / Youth is Aflame
8. 전자 펑크 리믹스 메들리 / Electro Punk Remix Medley





The late 90s was the dark age of Korean history due to the financial crisis in 1997. The exchange rates of Won (Korean currency) to dollar dropped from around 800 to 2000. As a result, GDP of the Republic of Korea continued to shrink quarterly at an average rate of -6.65% throughout 1998. Rampant inflation, high unemployment rates seemed to be too devastating for "youths" to find their futures. No Brain, who started their music career as an underground punk band in clubs near Hongik University, confronted these problems with their punk music armed with furies.


Thus, regarding the historical background, their punk music, aka "Joseon Punk" (Joseon is the name of the medieval Korean dynasty), was not just derived from the western punk genres. Started from 1997 with their collaboration album with Crying Nut, they have continuously kept producing their own Joseon punk music. In 1999, with other punk artists such as Tearbomb99(지랄탄99), Punk Killer, No Brain established the album label called "Cultural Deceptive Assembly" (문화사기단) to confront the Korean pop music which had become too commercial because of Seo Tae ji, according to them.


This album, Strenuous Marching Songs of Youth Rebels was perhaps the most influential punk album in the history of Korean pop music. With their 'rage' towards powerless youth (98 Seoul) and stupid politics (Be the Ills), No Brain represented their own true punk styles through this album successfully. One of the most interesting things featured in this album was the variety of genres. Punk, ska, rock-and-roll, even reggae, No Brain did not limit themselves as punk rockers. Beyond that, they have shown their own music styles which were not only creative but also experimental. In fact, this album signaled the boom of underground music, which has been passed by these days.




  
(노브레인 - Strenuous Marching Songs of Youth Rebels / 청년폭도맹진가)




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