The Turning Gate

The Korean soundWave, Part V

New music from The Melody, Fortune Cookie and Windy City; old music from ZzzAaM

Korean music sucks. That’s what I’d think listening to most of Korea’s major musical exports. After all, does the world really need more underage pop idols shaking their countdown-until-they’re-legal asse(t)s?

Because there’s no use plucking bananas until they’re yellow, and because Korea’s under-exposed indie music scene is much more interesting and varied than its over-exploded pop scene, I present you this fifth entry in The Korean soundWave.

The Melody / Coffee Prince O.S.T.

The Melody has scored a big hit recently with 랄랄라, It’s Love! (LaLaLa, It’s Love!), featured in the new hit television drama 커피프린스 (Coffee Prince), about a girl working in a coffee shop, pretending to be a man. The songs leads off the recently released soundtrack for the show, which also features songs by Humming Urban Stereo, Casker and Tearliner, with guest vocals on several tracks by Sogyumo Acacia Band’s Yozoh. Need I say more?

As the album’s first single, 랄랄라, It’s Love! has become The Melody’s biggest hit to date. In the last few weeks, I’ve heard it on the radio in taxis and in shops all over Seoul. The album has lately been in high rotation in Hongdae area cafes and restaurants as well. This bodes well for the band. The Melody’s other contribution to the album is Polly, which plays over the end-credits to the show. The Melody’s two songs comprise the album’s high points.

Other album highlights are Humming Urban Stereo’s 커피 한잔 어때? and Tearliner’s Go Go Chan!!, both of which feature Yozoh on vocals.

Casker makes two instrumental contributions to the record. Television scoring and nothing more, neither track would justify buying the album if you’re only a Casker fan. Still, not bad to have them if you’re a fan of the show or like some of the other artists on the record.

The album rounds out with some additional scoring, balladry and a bit of K-Pop that’s not too bad. A full tracklist and some video clips from the television show can be found here.

Bottom line, the Coffee Prince O.S.T. is one of the best compilation albums to come out in Korea in a long time, and probably the best television soundtrack of the year. If you’re a fan of the music I’ve been writing about here at The Turning Gate, you’ll definitely want to add this one to your record collection.

Furthermore, the album has been listed as a top seller in Seoul record stores for several weeks running!

And now that you know about the music, here’s some additional reading for those curious in the drama. The pretty girl pictured above is Yoon Eun Hye, Coffee Prince’s lead actress and former member of K-Pop group BabyVox; click the image to view full size, PG-rated but sexy.

Right-click to download Lalala, It’s Love!

ZzzAaM 잠

A band long gone and nearly forgotten, 잠 (ZzzAaM), released two albums – Requiem #1 in 2002, and Mirror Game in 2004. ZzzAaM is a band that easily draws comparisons to The Jesus & Mary Chain, My Bloody Valentine and Yo La Tengo, and offer up Korea’s finest shoegazer rock.

As with most shoegazer rock, vocals are mostly drowned out by layer upon layer of distorted guitars and drums. At times, you may not even realize you’re listening to Korean. Drab as that sounds, ZzzAaM does it well.

Like most things, shoegazer rock isn’t for everyone, and a band like ZzzAaM may have limited appeal. Fans of My Bloody Valentine, The Jesus & Mary Chain and bands of their ilk will find a lot to like about ZzzAaM, though.

I managed to find copies of Mirror Game for sale on eBay. Shop.

Right-click to download Or and Kick & Dash from Requiem #1, and 기우 from Mirror Game.

Fortune Cookie

I discovered Fortune Cookie several weeks ago at a double billing with Sogyumo Acacia Band, promoting their recently released second album, the poetically titled Hills Like White Elephants. Following the set, I happily purchased the album on my way out the door.

Fortune Cookie offers up an alluring concoction of pop, rock and electronica. The album features lush, well produced arrangements. If any flaw be found, the songs are maybe produced too nicely. I preferred the band in concert. The bass and beats hit harder, and the entirety of the sound was flooring, while the album plays out in an easier, more pleasant fashion. Still, the nine-track record spins out a very amiable yarn.

The opening track, Fortune Cookie, makes for a nice opener. It’s the smooth transition into the second, 일요일 아침, however, that really catches the ear – a song with a certain compelling lightness, a smoothness that carries the unsuspecting listener into several 1970s-era funk instrumental sections, before dumping them headlong into the various stylings of electronica that follow.

One of my personal favorite tracks is the seventh, Winter Story – an absolute stunner performed live, with heavier drums and room rumbling bass lines, more subdued but only slightly less compelling on album. The drum and bass sections of the song are something you might expect to hear from Lamb, while the soft guitar bits would be right at home on a lounge or bossa nova album.

The only disappointment on the album is Lonely Heart Club, a song I’d at first thought might be some sort of tribute to the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. It’s not. Instead, we get a song with recurrent Frampton Comes Alive (ugh) digitized vocals singing “Fortune Cookie’s Lonely Hearts Club Band / Everybody will like you / Everybody will like you, like you.” It’s bad. Really bad. So bad, I couldn’t believe the band was able to perform the song with straight faces during the concert. But that’s one man’s opinion. My friend, Zach, argued in the song’s defense that it might not be good, but it’s fun. Maybe for some; not for me. The song is cheese enough to feed a planet of mice for years.

Lonely Heart Club notwithstanding, Hills Like White Elephants is a great album and definitely worth checking out.

Right-click to download Winter Story.

Windy City

I’ll resist becoming long winded here. If reggae is your bag, and you’re looking for evidence that Asian peninsulas can crank it out as well as Caribbean islands, then Windy City is the best proof you’re likely to find. Their second album, Countryman’s Vibration is at least as good as their first.

But don’t take my word for it. I know jack shit about reggae.

Right-click to download Silky Silky Love Song.

Coda

Not Korean, but noteworthy and coming soon, Nine Inch Nails will be performing at Olympic Park on September 11. Get tickets now in the usual places; ask one of your Korean friends for help. Tickets are pricey, but it’s going rock. I’m already there.

Saturday, September 15 Swedish jazz duo, Koop, will be performing for the first time in Seoul at the Hotel Walkerhill Kayagumhall. The show begins at 11 p.m. and opening acts include The Melody, Casker and Humming Urban Stereo. Tickets are available from Interpark.

October sixth and seventh brings the first annual Grand Mint Festival, a two-day musical event feature close to a billion Korean bands and also taking place in Olympic Park. Sogyumo Acacia Band, The Melody, Humming Urban Stereo, Casker and Sweater are among the many scheduled performers. It’s going to be stellar. I’ll be posting more information closer to the event – whatever I can dig up. Stay tuned.

And, of course, every third Friday is Sound Day in Hongdae. Keep your finger on the pulse at the Sound Day website. There’s almost always something worth seeing, regardless of your taste in music.

And that concludes another edition of The Korean soundWave, bringing you the best sounds I’ve found on this humble peninsula. Be sure to check out my previous entries if you haven’t already done so, and look out for more to come. Until then, happy listening!

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