The Korean music year of 2017 was off to an excellent start with the release of 3rd Line Butterfly’s fifth full-length album Divided By Zero already on January 6th. As the year progressed I found my attention gravitating more towards singles and EPs than full-length releases, but the last couple of months of 2017 illustrated… Continue reading
Since a few years ago, I’ve reached the age by which I’ve had to realize that listening to old favorites is generally more rewarding for me personally than seeking out new music. Nevertheless, I can’t really stop looking for new music to check out–much like how I will usually order my way through a menu… Continue reading
Catching up on Twitter yesterday I came across a retweet from kumichan that really caught my attention: Choi Jae Hyuk announcing a new band, H a lot. Choi Jae Hyuk has been one of my favorite drummers for well over a decade so that alone had me intrigued. The names of the other members further… Continue reading
Although buying physical media is still how I add to my music collection, as circumstances would have it most of my actual music listening during 2017 turned out to be streaming via Spotify. One benefit to this is that for once I have somewhat reliable statistics of what I’ve actually listened to throughout the year… Continue reading
A few weeks into 2018 Korea’s national music chart Gaon published the top 100 charts for 2017. While the idol side of Korean music is still what is more popular internationally, going through all of the charts I found much more diversity than I’ve registered in previous years. Gaon Korean Album Chart Given the emphasis… Continue reading
It’s now been 10 years since Indieful ROK was first launched. So much has changed since then and I could never have anticipated even half of it. While I’m not usually keen on celebrating my own birthday I have taken the habit of acknowledging IROK’s anniversaries. This being a big one I had planned a… Continue reading
Seoul-based showcase festival Zandari Festa consistently attracts both great Korean and international acts as well as other attendees, making it easy to catch up with old and new friends alike. As such, for the past couple of years has been one of the highlights of my annual Korea trips. So also this year. Zandari Thursday,… Continue reading
Although it was clear from first listen that Secret Asian Men‘s Secrets Beyond The Room was a great album it really wasn’t until I was compiling my ten favorite Electric Muse releases that I realized fully just what a perfect indie pop gem it is. After playing the entire album on repeat for a couple… Continue reading
In a few hours the first official showcases during Zandari Festa 2017 will start. As noted when I listed 5 favorite live bands that I absolutely have to see again during the festival, what makes a showcase festival especially fun is the possibility to check out something new that one perhaps wouldn’t otherwise be able… Continue reading
Korea’s foremost showcase festival, Zandari Festa will kick off in Seoul on September 28. So many fantastic bands will be playing that it’ll be impossible to catch them all. Although part of the fun with a showcase festival is to check out artists one isn’t necessarily all that familiar with yet, there’s a bunch of… Continue reading