Scatterbrain, one of Korea’s best indie music websites, is running an online survey to determine the top acts and festivals of the summer. All the questions are in Korean and English, and Scatterbrain’s programmer-in-chief tells me that he would love to have as many expats participate as possible. Personally, I am happy for anything that brings the local music scene and international music lovers a little closer together, so big thanks to Scatterbrain for this.

Anyhow, you can take the survey here.

Hard to believe, but just a couple of years ago, kids in Korea were still going to jail for tattooing and getting tattooed. But when things change in Korea, they do change quickly.

If you want to check out the state of the ink scene, this weekend features a two-day conference for the tattoo arts, going on at Platoon Kunsthalle in Gangnam. Here is what the organizers have to say:

Date: Friday, July 16, 2010 – 13:00 – Saturday, July 17, 2010 – 22:00
Ink Bomb International Tattoo Convention is the biggest tattoo convention in Korea, bringing in artists from Japan and the U.S., as well many from the peninsula. Now in its second year, 2010′s event promises to be bigger and better than last year, having upgraded to a larger venue and with a huge roster of tattooists coming to participate.

From 1 pm until 9 pm on July 16th, and 1 pm until the party ends on the 17th, Platoon Kunsthalle in Nonhyeon-dong, Gangnam-gu (near Dosan 4-geori) will be the place to be to meet tattooists, check out their portfolios, and even get ink done on-site!

Other attractions include a barbecue, live music on Saturday night, a live graffiti demonstration, a custom chopper show, merchandise and apparel booths, tattoo supplies and much, much more. This is the best place to come see and experience subculture in Korea!

Tickets are 30,000 at the door/25,000 in advance for a single day pass and 50,000 at the door/45,000 in advance for a two-day pass. For ticketing information, check out our facebook event page here or email us at inkbomb2010@gmail.com.

We look forward to seeing you all there!

FYI, if you are interested in the concert, Rock Tigers, Kwon Oooyoo and Atom Returns are scheduled to play, beginning at 7pm.

Hi all. Sorry, I was trying to update some software on this website and run into a few problems. Need to try to sort them out. Hopefully I can get things working again before too long.

If there are any coders out there who feel like helping out, I would appreciate it.

Yesterday I wrote “Despite news stories circulating last week about their possible break up, The King Khan & BBQ Show are still together and their concerts scheduled for this week in South Korea are 100% happening.”

Turns out I spoke too soon.  Apparently monsieurs Khan and BBQ got in another arguement in Daegu last night so now only Mark “BBQ” Sultan will be performing.

From Super Color Super:

“Due to last-minute collisions and circumstances in Daegu, including: a wrecked-up apartment, injuries sustained from slipping in beer and a 3-hour talk with a monk, King Khan will NOT be appearing with the band, and “The King Khan and BBQ Show” is officially finished!  BBQ will now be headlining solo for the rest of the Korea Tour! ”

Major Lazer, a very cool collaborative project between the renowned Diplo and Switch is headlining the Milk Festival at Seoul’s Korea-AX tonight. Only Diplo will be at the show, but hype man Skerrit Bwoy will be by his side to keep the crowd, um, hyped.

Diplo will be playing the great dancehall hybrid cuts from Major Lazer’s 2009 heralded “Guns Don’t Kill People… Lazers Do” and showcasing material from the duo’s upcoming “Lazers Never Die” EP.

Here’s the music video for “Hold the Line,” the lead track on “Guns Don’t Kill People… Lazers Do”

Risque Rhythm Machine, Starsheeps, DJ Jinmoo, Andow, Sonyeon, Hwangbaxa, VJ the Maze, and VJ Vakki are also on the bill. The set times for the main stage performances are below:

22:00~23:30 DJ Ffan
23:30~01:00 Risque Rhythm Machine
1:00~2:30 Major Lazer
2:30~4:00 Starsheeps

Tickets for the event can be bought at the door amazingly low price of only 10,000 won. Korea-AX is a short walk away from Gwangnaru Station (line 5) exit 2. There’s a Korean map here.

Some fun news for one of the biggest bands in Hongdae, Galaxy Express — their new album Wild Days is getting launched at the big Music Matters conference (the biggest music industry event in Asia) in Hong Kong this week.

Galaxy’s international sales agent, DFSB Kollective, just issued a press release about the big Hong Kong shows. It says, in part:

According to DFSB Kollective President, Bernie Cho, “With the who’s who of music industry influencers from across the region and around the world attending Music Matters, we could not think of a more perfect time and place to launch the international premiere of Galaxy Express’s amazing new album.”

The recipient of Best Rock Album of the Year accolades at the 2009 Korean Music Awards, Galaxy Express will be showcasing the latest tracks from their sensational sophomore release, ‘Wild Days’. After producing, mixing, and recording the entire album in a blistering 30 days, the band will be performing for 3 straight nights at Music Matters Live (5/27 Hotel LKF, 5/28 Backstage, 5/29 Beer Bar).

The press release also says that Galaxy Express will have a North American tour this fall, so even if you are not in Korea or Music Matters, you could have the chance to see Galaxy Express soon.

Wild Days will also be available internationally on iTunes, beginning May 25. And, of course, there is always Youtube and Facebook and Soundcloud. Big congratulations to Galaxy Express.

If you think bringing a band to Korea is hard work, try bringing two at once. With US hardcore bands Bane and Ceremony landing in Incheon Airport tonight, Korea’s hardcore promoter collective Open Your Eyes is prepared to go all-in on this round.

The two visiting bands will be playing in Daegu (Friday) and Seoul (Saturday), following dates in China, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, and the Philippines. Unfortunately Bane had serious issues with a promoter and got screwed out of a lot of money in Medan, Indonesia so getting as many people out to support is more important than ever.

This tour is 100% DIY paid for in full out of the pockets of Open Your Eyes and the people who were kind enough to donate to them. Everyone working at OYE puts their jobs and lives on hold for a few weeks when a show rolls through to try and make these as seamless and epic as possible. So please do your best to come out and support some genuinely honest hardcore from Bane, Ceremony, and numerous other unforgettable local acts.

For fans of hardcore, DIY music, and supporting the scene, this tour is a don’t-miss event.

Click here to RSVP and get up-to-date information.

Steven Kim, the founder of the Jisan Valley Rock Festival, has lived in the middle of Korea’s live music scene since 1997. He attempted to launch the first summer music festival way back in 1999 with the Triport Rock Festival, but unfortunately a typhoon rained out the fun that year (well, I had fun anyway, but the rain did not help the concert). Seven years later, he tried again with Pentaport (same location, but two more ports, apparently), and once again he was met by torrential rains, but this time the festival survived.

Over the next couple of years, Pentaport flourished, but a conflict with his partners last year led Steven and his company Nine Factory to create the Jisan Valley Rock Festival instead. Despite being crazy-busy, Steven took the time to answer a few questions about Jisan Valley and the local music scene for the Gig Guide. Enjoy.

* * *

Mark: How has the Korean music scene changed the most since Triport?

Steven Kim: Yes, I think the music scene changed quite a lot after Triport and the late-90s, and changed further in the early and mid 2000s. I think the changes are now going on every year.

The biggest change in Korea is that the retail music market has downsized drastically. For example, [a few years ago] there were over 1,000 music record retails shops in Korea, but now there are only about 50 stores around the whole of Korea, waiting to be closed.

Younger Koreans are the most advanced users in getting and downloading digital music online. Although many do purchase those downloads, the overall market is not very significant.

The concert market has increased over the last 10 years, but it has been a very slow and gradual increase. However, the markets have become diversified, with many different genres of music and concerts, which is a good thing and it shows some potential for growth in the future.

Any increase in the market share of concerts is probably due to the growing number of female audiences and their ever-growing purchasing power. Whether it be rock or pop or pop idols or musicals, nowadays most of the tickets sold are snatched up by female fans, who represent about 80% of the market. Similar female dominance in the market share is happening throughout the entertainment industry, like for movies, art galleries and even some sports like baseball.

Mark: How would you compare the live music scene in Korea to other countries around Asia? Japan? South Asia?

Steven: Comparing any Asian countries’ music or live industry to Japan is very futile. Japan now is officially #1 music market in the world (the United States dropped to #2 last year) and it is a top-5 market in the world for live music. The rest of the Southeast Asian countries’ live music industry is still in an early stage.

Mark: What has been the biggest challenge for you as a concert promoter? Was it Triport? The first Pentaport? Some other concert?

Steven: Dealing with a fragile, weak market every day. Whether it is multi-day festival or weekday concert, it is work for us — but our work doesn’t make us tired and we welcome any work-related challenges.

Mark: What was the best concert you’ve put on so far?

Steven: For the sheer content of the concert itself and for the quality of the show, it would be Roger Waters’ “In the Flesh Tour” in 2002 and Sting’s last tour in Korea in 2007. While Roger Waters’ show was a mind-bending experience, with a 360-degree surround-sound system, Waters’ musical perfectionism and the high-tech show production, Sting’s show was a stripped-down, minimal production, with no video screens, no fancy lighting or special effects, just him and his music – and great music at that.

Those two concerts showed the meaning of true craftsmanship in music and innovative creativity in concert. It was a kick in the butt and a wake up call to the current music industry in general, as well, where either manufactured pop or an “oh, I can play that, too” kind of indie spirit prevails.

I saw Roger Waters again at Coachella a couple of years ago, when he took the stage after My Morning Jacket. It was a very symbolic event of how craftsmanship still plays such a big part in music. I believe My Morning Jacket wished they never played the show under him.

Where are the Stings and Pink Floyds of the new millennium? It feels like all the great music all came out around mid-90s, then stopped. Except some electronica dance music.

Mark: Who are the international acts that you most want to bring to Korea, but have not yet?

Steven: It is always changing, but nowadays for us, it is not about U2 or some Led Zeppelin reunion tour. U2’s current tour cost $750,000 daily on the road, whether they do a show or not on that particular night of the week. If U2 were to come to Korea for a show, it would take their crew and equipment at least seven days to travel back and forth, plus the money that they would’ve made if they had stayed in Europe or the US.
So it is simple math.

We want to bring in and introduce artists that we can grow together, and make something of the scene, build the market together in due time. Oasis’ first gig in Japan was at these 300-400-person small club shows, and then they went on to selling 30,000-stadium shows there in less than 10 years. Oasis was a scene maker and part of the ongoing legacy now.

So we are in search of the right band to build this market together. However, there’s a time factor to coordinate, that “nail on the head” moment, and you can’t bring anyone too early or too late. Finding the right act and fine-tuning the right time is always hard. Spin magazine is still haunted by the fact that they chose Teenage Fan Club’s debut album “Bandwagonesque” as the best record of the year in 1991, the year that Nirvana released “Nevermind”. So it’s hard.

Mark: What does Korea need for local indie rock bands to become more popular in Korea? Abroad?

Steven: They need to learn to play well and listen to more music. And they need to get out of the whole indie system, with the feel good factor of doing it myself. There’s nothing wrong with DIY, but you have to do it right.

The Sex Pistols only had one album in their entire short-lived career (although it seems like people talked about them forever), and the rest was an attitude. The Clash lived on for many years, with six great albums, and they influenced millions of bands around the world — they even had a song on the new Iron Man movie soundtrack.

The Korean indie scene still lives in Anarchy in the UK phase, in an us-or-them kind of sentiment. The word “indie” has became a cover, an excuse for “I don’t play that good, but have spirit.” “Indie” doesn’t mean anything unless you’re playing and making good music, which is what fans need and spend more money for.

Korean pop idols and the mainstream are doing very, very well abroad with their gorgeous good-looks, equipped with killer tunes that are produced by legions of Motown-type writers and producers. Their tracks don’t come out hastily, but only after carefully done, professional sound mixing at the studio, not in some underground basement, where even the Sex Pistols would have stayed away from.

Mark: Who are your favorite Korean bands these days?

Steven: Apollo 18, hands down. And The Black Skirts and Guckkasten. Girl Generations and Afterschool.

Mark: What should people expect at Jisan Valley this year? Anything different? More music? Anything besides music?

Steven: Load of good music, good people from around the world, without strangers. More trees and camping facilities, and a bigger swimming pool with poolside party.

* * *

Note: This year’s Jisan Valley Rock Festival runs July 29-Aug. 1. More acts should be announced mid-May. You can buy tickets for this year’s Jisan Valley Rock Festival in English online here, or by calling 02-3443-9969.

The timetable for the 4th Seoul World DJ Festival at the Nanji Area of the Han River has been released. Featuring four stages of music, the event starts at 2 pm on Saturday, May 8 and will finish some 16 hours later at around 6 am in the morning on Sunday, May 9. Tickets are 55,000 won at the door.

After appearances at Austria’s Donaufestival (where they teamed up with Deerhoof to perform Joy Division’s “Unknown Pleasures” in its entirety) and China’s Strawberry Festival, American art pop act Xiu Xiu are visiting South Korea for a trio of concerts in Busan, Daegu, and Seoul this week.

At every show on their current tour Xiu Xiu will be giving a special gift to the first attendee who brings them a lock of hair taped to a card with the person’s name scrawled on it. The present will fittingly include a Xiu Xiu comb and stickers. When the group finishes their current batch of dates in mid-June they plan to light each lock of hair on fire, say its owner’s name, and inhale the smoke. All of this will be filmed and released as a future video.

Xiu Xiu are gigging in supports of their seventh studio full-length effort, “Dear God, I Hate Myself.” Issued in February by renowned American indie imprint Kill Rock Stars, the album has received solid reviews from the likes of Pitchfork and Spin. Here’s the video for the lead track from “Dear God, I Hate Myself,” “Gray Death.”

Xiu Xiu live in South Korea:
May 6 Busan @ Basement with 10, Lhasa (10:30 p.m. start; tickets 20,000 won in advance and 24,000 won at the door)

May 7 Daegu @ Club Guess with 10, Sssighborggg (10:30 p.m. start; tickets 13,000 won in advance and 20,000 won at the door)

May 8 Seoul @ Rolling Hall with 10, Sssighborggg (10:30 p.m. start; tickets 35,000 won in advance and 40,000 won at the door)

For more information, visit http://supercolorsuper.com.