KOREAN ACID FOLK

A RADIOSHOW : 2006-7-8

(with a few reviews near the end of more Korean psych-rock/psych/prog)

?    Han Dae Su : (KO,19?)*°

Han Dae Su sings slightly bluesy/raw Dylanesque protest folk / folkpop songs. For foreigners not understanding the words, I think the music of this album isn't convincing enough to stands on its own. Therefore the wordy expressions are too important.

http://www.sogang.ac.kr/~glasstm/Music/hds.html : "Han Dae-su is one of the elder statesmen of the Korean underground scene. Active in the seventies (and perhaps before), his songs were banned by the government at the time for their popularity among student disidents who sang them at demonstration rallies to draw patriotic support. The songs were not overtly anti-goverment but suffiently abstract for the paranoid government of the time to scapegoat them. His recordings became available during the 80s and the first widely available album I am aware of was a greatest hits package that has been released at different times with different names and covers. It is a collection of songs played on a variety of acoustic instuments giving a raw folky, almost amateur feel. It reminds me of Bob Dylan in the mid to late 60s, particularly Dylan's John Wesley Harding album. It features the famous Haengbok ae Nara Ro [Towards the land of happiness] and a song that stands as the great Korean garage band song Mool Jom Jooso"

Music Research       Bi Haen Sung ? (KO,1974)*°°

Tr.2, ? 4 min

Also this album sound like from a protest singer to me, accompanied often by a rather progressive band. Track 2 has beautiful analogue synths with acoustic guitar and sad singing. Iit is an ok to good album with a few better tracks.

Music Research           ? : (KO,1970?)**

Tr.1, 5 min, (Tr.3, 3 min) 9/12

Song pop interpreted into folk interpretations succeeds now and then to create sometimes beautiful, often it is slightly naive and mellow. With female and male singer.

Music Research    Eun He : ? (KO,1971)**°°

Tr.8, "Scarborough Fair" 3 min,

Tr.10, "Beautiful Brown Eyes" 5 min 17

Charming, sweet and innocent girl folk refering to the early '60's naive and innocent pop period in the west (Marian Faithful,..) with lots of covers. Solo or duo vocals, accompanied by acoustic guitar mostly (and some oscilating banjo-like aproach of a second guitar). Many songs are in English ("Knock on your door", "Melodidamour",..), one in Spanish. For those who like this period and approach, this is a very good album. I very much like the interpretation of "Scarborough Fair" and the romantic and beautiful "Beautiful Brown Eyes", sung both in English and Korean.

Music Research    ? : 1 (KO,197?)**°°

Tr.1, 3 min -20

First few tracks are somewhat similar in style as previous item, perhaps even nicer, with beautiful arrangements, full of subtle romance ; the voice of the singer here is very beautiful too, making the music as a finished product to some unforgetable moments. Some other tracks are sung by male voice, a bit more in direction of taverne song entertainment. Most tracks I must say are into mainstream song inspiration of 50's and early '60's, with that kind of romantic feeling, less heartfelt compared to the best moments on the album. Info in Korean here

Music Research   Chang-Shik and Yoon Hyong-Jo : 2 (KO,197?)****'

Tr.1, 3 min,

(Tr.2, "Let it be me" 3 min),

Tr.3, "Edelweis" 4 min

Tr.4, "Without of love" 4 min

Tr.8, "Sunday Morning" 3 min 14 -37

Highly recommended folk duo, and a very pleasant, succesful release. Also the covers are very good (sung in Korean). I could easily airplay each track. There is no weak second.

Very beautiful !! "Sunday Morning" is convincingly romantic.

Music Research    Chang-Shik and Yoon Hyong-Jo : 3 (KO,197?)***°'

Tr.4, "Bookends Theme" 3 min

Tr.8, "I (who have nothing)" 3 min 6 -43

Very similar third album by the duo. The albums are supposed to be the first folkpop items.

RhythmOn    Yoon Youn Sun : Wing of Peace (KO,1972)*°°°

Tr.4, 3 min, Tr.12, 4 min -24

This Pop folk singer (with second, male voice) with acoustic guitar, has a slightly "different" voice. With nice calm rock band arrangements (drums, bass, organ, some oboe, piano, strings,..). These are my favourite tracks.

The album has been reissued lately by World psychedelia.

Their description : "Another Korean folk classic, that also features "best production and trip vocal." Yoon Youn Sun's beautiful, brooding vocals breathe hope where before there was despair; there are retro-'60s touches that are reminiscent of French yé-yé music of the François Hardy, France Gall type -- sultry, yet nurturing a languid innocence; this album by Yoon Youn Sun was released in Korea in 1972, which makes Yoon Youn Sun a contemporary of Kim Jung Mi, which is a good reference point; the record has several modes: there are duets with a male singer; the songs that groove the best (tracks 5 & 6) occur when the Farfisa organ gets involved; the second half of the record features complex arrangements (a few strings find their way into the mix). Full-color discography included."

Dusty Groove description : "Sultry post folk psychedelia from Korea's Yoon Youn Sun -- with sweet female vocals and a fairly moody overall groove! Wing Of Peace is really melodic take on the post folk and psychedelic singer/songwriter sound of the early 70s -- a set that recalls both the warmth of the California scene as well as the dreamy pop late 60s pop of other climes -- especially the lovely ladies of the French scene. There are lovely female vocals at the forefront of the songs, and stripped down backing of the drums, guitar, bass and Farfisa! 12 tracks in all: Korean titles that we can't translate, but love to listen!"

Other Music description : "Originally released in 1972, this album from Korea's Yoon Youn Sun features the dualities of every great folk record -- some lighthearted elements mixed with the dark and depressive. On Wing of Peace, Yoon's austere vocals ground the mostly buoyant arrangements like a balloon-clutching child. At times reminiscent of France Gall, and others Judy Collins, her clear voice is beautifully serene. The highlight of the album is track 7, where bluesy piano, harpsichord and flute bring out the feel-good in ye-ye (e.g. the la-las in the chorus) and wrap it around some catchy British folk-inspired melodies. Strings kick in on track 8 in a Bacharach flourish, but really get their moment in the (ahem) sun on tracks 9 and 11 with an instrumental break, karaoke style. Other standouts include the flute-led male/female duet (track 3) and the sad, guitar-picked balladry (track 12 -- the lone song with English words uttered, "I Love You"). It's also one of the only songs where the arrangement takes a gloomy turn, conjuring a tale of heartache and loss. Recommended for Kim Jung Mi (the Korean Francoise Hardy) fans looking for a more leisurely vibe. [LG]"

Audio : track 4, track 7, track, track

Music Research    ? : (KO,1971?)*°

Acoustic Popfolk/singer. Good voice but I hear little succesful efforts that create much of originality (track 9 is such an effort). Korean info here

?        Shin Yung-Hyun : 356 days (KO,1979)°°

This the least interesting SJH album I've heard. Singing is mostly uninteresting mainstream rock and early rock. Only third track is more interesting, and the 7th instrumental.

Sohtdea        Kim Eu Chul : (KO,1974,re.2003)**°°°

Tr.6, "The cloud of.." 5 min

Tr.8, "Peaceful River" 5 min

Tr.9, "Lover" (instrumental) 3 min 13 -56 audio here (not in same order)

Very good folk s/sw album. Track 4, "Island Child" has (slightly forced) very emotional & sad female vocals. The same vocalist sings on the 8th track which continues in a beautiful instrumental (2 clarinets and piano). The dual vocals on "the cloud of.." with acoustic guitar and clarinet and harmony vocals are very beautiful too. A very fine album.

OasisLittle Big Man with Kim Soo Chul (KO,1981)*°°

(Tr.2, 5 min)

Varied rock and poprock album with a few more funky and a few more hard rock tracks. This is a good guitar driven rock track. A few tracks are better than others, especially the first 2/3rd of the album which are enjoyable, but still it's not a really incredible album.

Kim Soo Chul : Chol Il Min (KO,198?)*

This is a real rock effort in western styles. Half of the tracks are hard rock driven, in a pompuous and teenage hardrock way, often on simplistic rhythms. Other half are uninteresting poprock song efforts, occasionally with English lyrics. Fourth track is a calm moody guitar track. Not really succesful.

Sohtdea    Kim Soo Chul  : Hit Album (KO,1986)°

First two tracks are Poprock songs, with some funky guitar, disco,..(Little Big Man ?), also following tracks are mostly rather mainstream poprock, except for the 5th, 9th and 14th track which are acoustic tracks.

Kim Soo Chuel : The Road to Hwang Chon / Hwang Chon Gil (KO,198?)**°°'

(Tr.2, "Han" 5 min),

Tr.5, "The Lonely Road" 7 min -112

This is more like it. This is original filmusic with a personal style : Korean traditional elements and instruments (flute, whistle instrument, some string instrument, percussion, vocals) are combined with some (New Age like) keyboards or orchestrated keyboards and with acoustic guitar. The Korean instruments have an incredibly melancholic and sad sound. The music has a certain essential slow movement and simplicity and is very moody. 5th track has Korean percussion mixed with keyboard ideas, and funky electric guitar mixed with a traditional string instrument. An original combination of tradition with the modern world. Best work I've heard from Kim Soo-Chul so far.

* Kim Soo Chul - The Road to Hwang Chon : 1. The Road to Hwang-Chon (5:27), 2. "Han" (4:03), 3. The Vagabond (3:54), 4. A Sad Sound (7:15), 5. The Lonely Road (5:50), 6. Longing for Home (5:10), 7. Conflict (5:06), 8. Poongmul (6:23)

Kim Soo Chul : Bul Lim So Ri (KO,198?)**°

Slowly evolving moody filmic music with ethno-gothic keyboards combined with some Korean instruments. This music has similarities in idea with the 'Road to Hwang Chon', but this is much more like real filmmusic.

Kim Soo Chul : Pal man dae jang kyong / 80,000 great words (KO,1988)-

First track is keyboard driven gothic-rock filmmusic. Like the previous albums this is another attempt to make Korean folkmusic more modern. Here the keyboard sound a bit too gothic and home-recorded neo-melodic to convince me even slightly.

* Kim Soo Chul - Pal Man Dae Jang Kyung : 1. The gathering storm (07:03), 2. The tides of battle (11:42), 3. Journey to valhalla (05:56), 4. At st. peter's gate (16:12)

Mr.Kwang : "He started music career as Rock Band, late of 1970's. His rock band was good enough, did also some Pop-Rock which made him even a TV Star. His outfit is not very good for entertainer, anyway his music was good & he did several works. He has done several OSTs for TV drama & Movie. He released too many albums, over 30, and all of them are over average to great. But his best work & life object is, "Let Korean Traditional Music be Modernized." He made it fusion with Rock / New Age / Ambient, and much more. You might think about Oathean or Kim Do Kyun, if we talk about Korean Traditional Music & Rock fusion. But believe me. Kim Soo Chul did it much earlier, and did it much better. He released over 30 albums, and now, his own company re-releases it. Re-released CDs are only 10, not all of his past works."

Early discography : http://www.kimsoochul.com/library.htm

& history : http://www.kimsoochul.com/history.htm

Biography : http://www.answers.com/topic/kim-soo-chul

Available albums : http://www.livingsound.com/

?    Song Gol Meh : Jugu (KO,1979) ?

?      Song Gol Meh : II (KO,198?)°°

There are hard rock passages which are slightly interesting on this album, but some mainstream rhythms and now and the a certain mellow character does not make this album so incredible. First track is slightly influenced by disco and funk. Didn't hear the first album yet.

?    Yunjo : Moebius strip (KO,200?)*°'

Nice and calm and moody partly instrumental Gothic-progressive/neo-symphonic, with some calm sung parts (female vocals), accompanied by various moody guitars. The music has a certain sweetness.

?Horizon : Dreamer's Island : Pioneer Ship (KO,2002)**°°

(Tr.2, 14 min, Tr.4, 5 min)

First track is good melodic-(neo-) progressive (with drums,bass,keyboards). Second track with heavenly female vocals (her voice is similar to some singers of some gothic-metal groups), evolves to an instrumental rather dark moody fusing experimental passage using echoes and improvisations. Third also interesting track starts very moody with birdsounds and slowly builds up. Fourth track is more chamber music-like orchestrated (with strings and oboe) additionally to the rock band, and flute and more operatic female vocals. Nice. Last track is also a slowly building up progressive track.

?          Sagitta : Hello World (CD + dvd) (KO,2004)**°

Tr.2, "Antarctic Night" 4 min -99

I wanted to try this new group because their style was entirely based upon ‘60’s folkpsych and acid folk from that area. And the elements are all there, in a rather clean way: like the “pa-pa-paa” harmony vocals on “Hello World”, some sitar on “Antarctic Night”, and overall duo harmony vocals with an acoustic guitar fundament. Simple and sweet-friendly. Nice.

Mr.Kwang : "This is Ssagita 1st. album [Hello World], released by Beatball. Ssagita is Korean Folk project group, which has Leader of Cocore. They are playing 1960-70's style Modern Folk, but recorded w/ recent engineering technique, so it's very good for all Folk Fans. And furthermore, this album has 2nd. disc, as Music Video DVD. It's made by Independent - low budget style, but very good one made by director of [Into the Mirror]! And it has even English Subtitles, which you could see the meaning of lyrics! Music is good, M/V is good, and director of M/V is good. Must have item for whom like to enter different side of K-music, and Modern Folk Fans."

CD 1. Hello World, 2. Night of Antarctic, 3. Your Stories, 4. Jelly Fish, 5. A Long Long Time Ago, 6. Let's go, 7. Mr. Nobody, 8. Papapa, 9. Your Stories (alt. ver) DVD (Music Video for every songs, w/ English Subtitle!) : 1. Hello World version 1, 2. Hello World version 2, 3. Night Of Antarctic, 4. Your Stories full version, 5. Your Stories short version, 6. Jellyfish, 7. A Long Long Time Ago, 8. Let’s Go, 9. Mr. Nobody, 10. Papapa

Daedo Rec.               Sand Pebbles : same / 6th (KO,1979)**°'

Tr.8, 6 min -118:end

(Tr.5, 5 min, Tr.7, 4 min)

Enjoyable Psych-(pop)rock with rather nice organ, some fuzz. Eight track is (psych-) rock ('n roll) based upon a Korean traditional, a rather original interpretation, and a more original track too.

?    No Go Ji Ri : 2 (KO,1979)*°

   (Tr.2, 5 min)

The album was described to me as "similar to San Ul Lim and Great fuzzy power trio, savage guitar parts". But it takes from the San Ul Lim assiociation especially the amateur-garage-like 'schoolgroup' kind of playing, resulting in an often lazy singing and a rather unadventurous kind of psych-rock playing and rhythms, no matter some simple fuzz guitars solos (like on track 1,3). The second soft mellow track I is rather nice between the rather just ok tracks. Last track I think is a government song, in an almost communist style.

Jisu Rec.Run Way / Whal Ju Loh (KO,1978)*°'

(Tr.4, 4 min)

This album is good, somewhat simple, early psych-rock, somewhat comparable to San Ul Rim, but more focused and moody. For a few tracks really enjoyable, but also a bit tame with no surprises.

?   Poet and a Village Chief (KO,198?)*°'

Tr.5, "Ice Rainbow" 5 min -104

Good new folkpop/singer/songwriter album with an attractive post-Beatles harmony vocals driven sound. While often more pop, there's often a certain subtle/slightly pastoral approach to the arrangements. But also here we miss the understanding of the texts, which seem to have a big importance. 5th track has some small improvised-freaky -rocking electric guitar part into the more acoustic song.

Riverman Music       Kim Doo Soo : 4 Free Spirit (KO,2002)***°°

Tr.1,"Wild Flower" 5 min

Tr.11, "Abstraction" 8 min

bonus track : Tr.14, "Dandelion" 6 min 19 -95

A mostly very good acid-folk singer-songwriter album, with beautiful singing, more often with layers of acoustic guitar. Here he found even more his own style, with simple and strong expressions.  Some tracks are really unique. Also the bonus tracks are in his unique and delicate guitar with voice style, with some sparse touches of other arrangements.

Mr.Kwang : "Kim Doo Soo is Korean Folk (Modern one) musician, who was only famous in deep underground scene. But in recent years, his 4th. album [Free Spirit] gained high expectation, and became more & more famous. His vocal & music style are very unique, not comparable to any other Folk Music. Highly recommendable for Modern Folk fans, and who wants to listen to real good Korean music."

Titles : 1. Wild Flower, 2. Boat to the Edge, 3. Butterfly, 4. Wild Rose, 5. Bohemian, 6. Rain at Dawn, 7. Blues of 19th. street, 8. Mountain, 9. As time goes by, 10. Romantic Horizon, 11. Abstraction, 12. Evening River, 13. Wandering, 14. Dandelion

Earlier radioshow on Kim Doo Soo : http://psychedelicfolk.homestead.com/KIMDOOSOO.html

SMALL REVIEWS OF OTHER NOT YET LISTED ITEMS :

TRACKS WHICH WILL BE USED IN THIS RADIOSHOW FROM EARLIER SUBMISSIONS :

Lee Seung-Won (from '2') : Tr.1, 5 min, Tr.4, 4 min, Tr.9, 4 min 9 -65

Two folk singer-songwriter interpretated tracks based upon traditionals and sung with powerful-emotional voice and accompanied by acoustic guitar. Splendid !!

Han young Ae :  Tr.9, 4 min, Tr.15, 3 min, Tr.17, 4 min 11 -76

First chosen track is a very beautiful melancholic acid folk song, with acoustic guitar, flute and orchestrations. Second track is more happy-sad.

See menu of Korean music webpages

OUTRO (ROCK AND KOREAN FOLK MIXED) :

World PsychedeliaLee Jang Hee : Meet me in a room (SK,1973, re.2007)**°

not used in this show (only got this later). You can find a review on http://singersong.homestead.com/reissue4.html#anchor_163

NOT FOUND YET, BUT POSSIBLY INTERESTING ITEMS (with nice front covers too) :

if anyone still has a copy of these, or other Korean psych items, please e-mail me

On Si-Wan : SRMK 0001   KIM BYOUNG DUK : POT CONCERTO (1994)

SRMK 0002   DUK PROJECT : OLD IS FUNNY (1995)

Jazzrock/fusion project ; review : http://myhome.naver.com/dukpro/dukproma.html

Info : http://www.siwan.co.kr/album/album_list.asp?code=C08&page=1

homepage : http://myhome.naver.com/dukpro/

I am also still looking for lots of Korean acidfolk/psych reissues ; currently I have no address to order any more ; if you can help me, please e-mail me

More LP's listed ? see http://windbird.pe.kr (LP section)