After I had mentioned Bomb&Tree, I was contacted by S.E. that offered samples from the new single. I had a few listens, but it was unlike anything I usually listen to and not something I favored right away – it reminded me of the kind of indie type soul inspired music (Swedish) critics will praise although I can rarely hear why. A few listens more and I suddenly heard all of these wonderfully surprising and generally awesome passages in both songs, coming to think it’s definitely something more people ought to hear. Making that happen, fortunately Bomb&Tree’s Lee Seong Rock didn’t mind answering a few questions, and he also agreed to let me upload a sample:

Can you please introduce Bomb&Tree?
Bomb&Tree is a kind of vocal band that I started in 2008. When I was in the instrumental band Superstring I decided that I really wanted to make music with good lyrics and singing, so I asked my friend Ye-eun to make some songs together. We released the first Bomb&Tree CD single, City ‘N Lights, in Feb 2009 and then Ye-eun went to France to study music more. I wanted to continue working on the project, so I released another CD single, Sooner or Later, alone as Bomb&Tree a few weeks ago.

Since the first single you have taken over the vocalist role. How would you say this has affected your music?
Bomb&Tree’s original vocalist, Ye-eun, has a really cute vocal tone, but I think my voice is a little bit more aggressive than hers. I think it gives my new music a more rocking sound than the first CD single.

You’ve been working with Planet Shiver’s DJ Friz and members from The Plastic Day on both singles so far. What are the biggest benefits from working with this group of people?
They are all really good musicians and I have a lot of respect for them.

DJ Friz is a good trance music producer and a legendary turntablist in Korea. I’ve known him since 2001. We were in university together. We usually spent time together even though we had different musical tastes.

The Plastic Day is the most powerful and dynamic live band that I have seen perform in Korea. I met Ho-Seong (The Plastic Day’s bassist) when I was in the psychedelic noise band Marijuana (who would later become The Mustangs) in 2003 in Seoul’s Hongdae area. I met Yun-Beom when he joined The Plastic Day as their drummer.

Working with all of these guys makes my songs more alive and energetic.

What will Bomb & Tree do next?
I will release the third Bomb&Tree CD single and the first Bomb&Tree EP in 2010. I will play a live showcase when the EP is released. After that I would like to play more gigs and make the first Bomb&Tree full-length album or a second EP. To make these recordings I want to have many musical relationships with all my talented friends.

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Deciding which song to upload was difficult, because I like them both for different reasons. Eventually I settled on the one favored by Bugs users so here you go: Bomb&Tree – 오 그대여 (feat. DJ Friz)

오 그대여 is an interesting mix of laidback light indie rock and turntablism. The random “biatch” in the middle of it all is what first caught my interest and it makes me highly amused every time I listen, but I also love the Soul-ish organ/vocal interaction towards the end.

이곳의 조명은 너무나 눈이 부셔 appeals to me on a whole different level. Although the song appears to be mostly about something that could’ve been inspired by Christian Walz at his best, my favorite parts are those with the dreamy/airy element otherwise commonly associated with Donawhale. The two styles are quite different, yet alternating between them isn’t just fresh but somehow comes off as the natural thing to do.