Randomness #29

So, it was only a couple of weeks ago that I wrote that I was gonna take more control over my free-time. Little did I know that already the next Monday that would turn significantly harder. Then came Midsummer during which I took the boat over to Åland with a group of friends for a couple of days of just hanging out and having a good time. At least that was very successful so I have hope that this week will be easier to manage. Although now I kinda wish I always had the option to start my morning by taking a swim in a cold lake. And then another week just passed by without me really noticing.

Recent Listening

Although I may not have been blogging as planned, I have done a better job on the music listening front. No CDs yet, but at least some of the more recent stuff to have shown up on Spotify. I even made a playlist to make it easier to listen to and share my favorites.

The first album I got around to listening to was Bye Bye Badman‘s second full-length album Authentic, released earlier this month. The sounds was quite different from what I had expected with a lot more electro stuff, but I became very fond of “Stranger” and it’s Goonam-esque groove. I proceeded to listen through the band’s 2011 album Light Beside You and now I suspect that it was for the first time–it’d be a real shame if I had somehow forgotten about so many awesome songs!

 
I let WHOwho‘s first full-length album Oh Yeah, released mid-May, follow next and this time the dance rock was expected. Although something I don’t usually care for, it was an entertaining listen throughout with several highlights that I keep returning to. DoIndie posted a fun interview with the guys last week, well worth a read.

 
And then I came across something on Facebook that seemed so interesting I had to give it a listen right away: Gus Benevolent singing 99anger! Which of course makes a lot of sense considering that he used to be the leader & vocalist of the band in question. Turns out that during a gig in Daegu last weekend, Gus Benevolent performed acoustic versions of select 99anger songs and, as they were well received, proceeded to record them. Personally I’m particularly fond of this new take on “Music Brings Me Here“:

 

Random News

The last couple of weeks have offered several interesting comebacks. As recently as yesterday, June 26th, Jowall and Kuang Program‘s Choi Taehyun saw joint effort 거울과 시체 Mirror and Corpse released via Club Bidanbaem. The CD is limited to 500 numbered copies. I’m always interested in whatever Jowall is up to, and need to pay more attention to Choi Taehyun and Kuang Program ahead of Modern Sky Helsinki, so will definitely need to check this out. Sounds mighty interesting just from the trailer.

 
Earlier this week, June 23rd, Poe released new EP Whiteout, following 2010 debut effort Burnout. Poe was my favorite act on the first season of Top Band, but the band turned silent not too long after. Poe’s front-woman Moollonkyen pursued some solo-activities meanwhile, but in spring 2015 the band returned with a somewhat changed line-up and a series of digital singles.

 
No doubt one of the most notable comebacks of the year, quirky 90’s band PiPi Band is back with the original line-up including both Dalpalan and EE‘s Lee Yunjoung. Although nowadays the trio wants to be known as PPPB–short for Pippi Band. According to a recent Joongang Daily interview PPPB’s former manager reminded the members of the coming 20th anniversary and suggested getting back together. A digital single and music video for “ㅈㄱㅈㄱ“ came out end of April and mid-June followed 4-track EP pppb. To get a better idea about why this comeback is so exciting, check out what The Korean had to say for his 50 Most Influential K-Pop Artists series.

 

Blog Related

I’m really hoping to be able to do get some more blogging done this weekend–as tempted as I am to head to the office and finish off just a few more things that have been nagging me I just won’t. At the very least I should be going through my e-mails before Monday… The IROK inbox has been severely neglected in recent months and I know I should be better than that. Let’s see how it goes.

1 Comment Randomness #29

Leave a Reply to placidian Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.