Music Notes
June 5, 2008 – 6:58 pmThanks a lot to Shawn for adding so many gigs to the concert calendar. No way I could keep on the scene on my own.
I have been picking up a lot of CDs lately, as well as listening to albums that I bought a while ago but never got around to listening to before now. Such as the 5TH PASTEL MUSIC ANNIVERSARY album. This collection features 15 songs by a variety of Pastel’s artists, most of which sound like something you might hear in an Apgujeong coffee shop or chillout lounge (as is the Pastel Music style). Some of the songs are a little slow, but overall the collection is quite good, especially the Humming Urban Stereo, Sweetpea and Bulssazo songs. Jileun’s song is pretty good, too.
As usual, I have been checking out all the older Korean music I can find. Recently I ran across a Kim Choo-ja retrospective called Kim Choo-ja Best 20 (Yejeon Media). It originally came out in 1987 and features 20 songs (no surprise there). Although the sound quality is not always the best, the songs are a pretty interesting range (like Kim’s versions of “Geojitmaliya” and “Aniya,” which I had not heard before). It also includes a complete lyrics sheet (good for practicing my Korean). Best of all, the album was less than $10. Totally worth it.
When it comes to older music Riverman Music is one of the most active label at rereleasing this type of music (with Dreambeat distributing). A couple of weeks ago I picked up albums by April & May and The Locusts, both of which are worthwhile. April & May is the group that Lee Soo-man (founder of SM Entertainment) belonged to when he was attending Seoul National University in the 1970s. Hard to believe that the man who gave us H.O.T and Super Junior used to be in a big folk-rock band.
But I like the Locusts more. First song is kind of cheesy, but most of the album has a nice ’70s psychedelic sound. Not as good as Shin Joong-hyun’s best, but not bad.