Korea Gig Guide

My Bloody Valentine Live in Seoul this Weekend!

Posted by: Shawn ˑ  January 29, 2013 – 4:03 pm

**KOREA GIG GUIDE HAS FREE TICKETS TO GIVE AWAY FOR MY BLOODY VALENTINE’S SEOUL CONCERT. DETAILS ON HOW TO WIN THE TICKETS ARE AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS POST **

Legendary shoegaze band My Bloody Valentine will make their Korean live debut this coming Sunday (February 3) with a concert at Seoul’s Uniqlo-AX.

Formed in 1984 in Dublin, the act’s two fantastic full-lengths, 1988’s “Isn’t Anything” and 1991’s “Loveless,” have both been widely heralded around the globe.  The latter album is pretty much considered one of those “classic” albums that every music lover should own, and was ranked no. 2 on Pitchfork’s “Top 100 Albums of the 1990s” list, right behind Radiohead’s “OK Computer.”

My Bloody Valentine parted ways in the late 1990s.  The act reunited in 2008, and since then fans have been hopeful that a follow-up to “Loveless” will finally surface.  It has now been more than two decades since the release of “Loveless,” but it is looking like the long wait for the next My Bloody Valentine record is nearly over.  On Christmas Day the group posted on their Facebook page “On 21-12-12 we finished mastering the new album!”  And last weekend they debuted a new track during a London warm-up gig they did to get ready for their Asian tour dates.  It has been reported that the song was written on the band’s set list as “Rough Song.”   During the show, band mastermind Kevin Shields told the crowd that the finished album could be released as early as this week.

Regardless of whether Seoul fans are treated to new tracks, Sunday’s My Bloody Valentine concert should be a pretty awesome experience.  One thing to remember is that the group like to play very loud.  The contract for their Korean show says that free earplugs must be made available to all show-goers.  If you’d like to still have your full hearing abilities on Monday morning, I would highly recommend you pick up a pair and use them – especially during set closer “You Made Me Realise.”

My Bloody Valentine perform in Seoul on Sunday night at Uniqlo-AX (formerly AX-Korea).  Uniqlo-AX is located near Gwangnaru Station (Line 5).  Sunday’s concert starts at 7 pm and tickets are 110,000 won.  Advance tickets can be purchased in English here and in Korean here.  There’s a Facebook event page for the show here.

Want to win a pair of free tickets to see My Bloody Valentine play at Uniqlo-AX?  Korea Gig Guide has 5 pairs of tickets to give away for Sunday’s concert courtesy of 9 Entertainment.  To qualify for the tickets, simply share this story on Facebook.  Then email us at koreagigguide@gmail.com to let us know that you’ve posted the link to your Facebook wall, and we’ll add your name to the draw.  The contest closes at 8 am on Friday morning (February 1) and we’ll notify winners by 10 am that day.  Good luck!

Posted in Concert Announcements | 23 Comments »

Upcoming Gigs & Big Shows

Posted by: Dain ˑ  January 29, 2013 – 3:32 pm

Here are some bits and pieces about upcoming tours and gigs.

- Greenplugged & The World DJ Festival are happening at the same time … again! The weekend of May 17-18 sees both of these multi-day events taking place. Stay up to date with Greenplugged here and WDJF here as they are both selling tickets already. WDJF have already announced that Dash Berin, DJ Bl3nd, and  Sven Vath will perform.

- UMF have recently sold a slew of half price tickets (80,000 won) and announced they have moved their date forward six weeks to June 14-15. They have also announced that Carl Cox, Armin Van Buuren, and Avcii will play. Expect more details to be announced shortly.

- The Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival, which usually shares its acts with Japan’s Summer Sonic festival, MIGHT have some big names on board for this year’s fest. Metallica, Muse, Linkin Park, and The Stone Roses have been announced for Summer Sonic — will Pentaport be able to secure any of them?

- Galaxy Express and The Rock Tigers are both touring around Korea right now.  Those outside of Seoul should take this chance to see two of Korea’s busiest and most-entertaining live acts.

Galaxy Express play in Busan (Feb 1),  Daegu (Feb 2) , and Seoul (Feb 17).  The Rock Tigers play in Cheonan (Feb 23), Gwangju (March 1), Seoul (March 2), Busan (March 9), and Daejon (March 23).

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KGG Staff 2012 Live Faves

Posted by: Shawn ˑ  January 16, 2013 – 2:44 pm

This is being posted a bit later than usual, but here’s Korea Gig Guide’s annual “Staff Live Faves” list sharing the 10 shows from the past year that we each enjoyed the most.

If anyone is interested, our 2009 picks are here, our 2010 picks are here, and you can see our 2011 picks here.

Shawn Despres
1. Fucked Up @ Fuji Rock Festival (Japan) on July 29

2. Hellivison (with Myung-soo Hwang) @ Strange Fruit on March 30

3. Mono with The Holy Ground Orchestra @ Fuji Rock Festival (Japan) on July 28

4. Apollo 18 @ Salon Badabie on November 17

5. Moja @ Salon Badabie on May 19

6. Morrissey @ Uniqlo AX on May 6

7. Rux @ Rolling Hall on June 10

8. Underwears Band @ Sangsang Madang (Label Market) on February 17

9. Summit Beatbox @ Yogiga Expression Gallery on October 28

10. (Tie between two concerts) Romantiqua @ Club Freebird on November 16
Toyshop @ Salon Badabie on November 17

Jon Dunbar
1. Heimlich County Gun Club, Mixed Blood, Veggers, Dead Buttons (Punk Rock Toy Drive) @ Alternative Space [Moon] on December 8 (live photos here)

2. Suck Stuff (with Paul Brickey), Skasucks, Captain Bootbois @ DGBD on June 16 (live photos here)

3. Attacking Forces, Chanter’s Alley, Samchung, Captain Bootbois @ Club Spot on July 28 (live photos here)

4. Babylove and the Van Dangos, The Essence, Josh Roy, Kingston Rudieska, Funkafric & Boostdah @ Club Ta on October 11 (live photos here)

5. Find the Spot, Smoking Barrels, Kitsches, Burn My Bridges, Pariah, Last of the Diehards, Seoul Mothers, No Excuse, Animal Anthem, 13 Steps, Things We Say, The Geeks (Townhall Benefit for Hwang Kyusuck) @ Powwow on November 24 (live photos here)

6. Tyler Brown and Sato Yukie, Brothers of the Hole, Mixed Blood, No Control, Something Fierce, Chadburger, Scumraid @ Lowrise on August 4 (live photos here)

7. Shin Jung-hyun at Olympic Park Gymnasium on December 2

8. Mukimukimanmansu, Pavlov, Paryumchiakdan, Bamseom Pirates (Rhee Sung-woong Exhibition) @ Artsonje Center on April 13 (live photos here)

9. Paul Brickey and Al Dunbar @ Danginri Theater on June 23 (live photos here)

10. Shinchonji National Olympiad @ Jamsil Olympic Stadium on September 16 (live photos here)

Dain Leathem
(shows listed by date)
1. Yellow Monsters and Galaxy Express @ Rolling Hall on February 5

2. Crystal Rain @ Club Evans on March 10

3. Harry Big Button @ Strange Fruit on April 6

4. Radiohead @ Jisan Valley Rock Festival on July 27

5. Skrillex @ UMF Festival on August 3

6. T-Bone Ska and Kingston Rudieska @ Incheon Pentaport Rock Festival on August 11

7. Maroon 5 @ Jamsil Sports Complex on September 15

8. Glen Check @ Let’s Rock Festival on September 22

9. Babylove and the Van Dangos @ Club Ta on October 11

10. Apollo 18 @ Club FF on November 16

We hope all of you see countless great gigs in 2013!

Posted in Random crap, concert review | 1 Comment »

Seoul gets Headbutted

Posted by: Jon ˑ  December 21, 2012 – 3:59 pm

This weekend, Daegu punk band Mr. Headbutt (박치기 씨) finishes up their “world tour” across Korea, having bounced back and forth between interior cities Daejeon and Daegu before wrapping the tour in Seoul.

They’re pimping their new CD “Netizens Must Die!” and also delivering a long-overdue message advocating the death of everybody on the Internet. Described as “basic, unpretentious, non-cerebral but immensely enjoyable punk music” in Broke in Korea issue 15, the album will be on sale at Horus Garage in Daegu on Friday and Powwow in Seoul on Saturday. Joining them will be Giant Bear, the Veggers, and Skasucks for a fun night of Winter Solstice punk rock.

Although the members of the band hail from all over the English-speaking world, they apparently are from the future. As they say… “In 2751 Frognark 5 (formerly known as Earth) is a barren wasteland of multi-colored sugar skulls and delicious breakfast cereals. Where did it all go so wrong? The survivors knew that the answer was 2011, when Mr. Headbutt met and began making music. We come from the future to save all of humanity from destruction at the hands of history’s most horrible enemy….US!!!!”

Wait a second, did I read that right? Or did they just caps lock “us”?

Click to RSVP. For an online preview of “Netizens Must Die!” turn off your irony detector and click here.

Posted in Concert Announcements, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »

Six-Band Party Rock Out for Those in Need

Posted by: Dain ˑ  December 14, 2012 – 8:59 am

This Saturday night, there is a great chance to enjoy some live music and help an awesome cause.  An event called the “PSCORE Six-Band charity concert at Club Freebird” is on from 10pm. Obviously, there are six bands involved and it is based at Club Freebird!

PSCORE (People for Successful COrean REunification) is a Seoul- and Washington, DC-based NGO that focuses on a range of issues pertaining to North Korea.  More information about the organization can he found here.  This weekend’s PSCORE concert will include performances from The Essence, Les Sales, The Wasted Johnny’s, Samba Mamba, Love X Stereo, and The Studs Lonigan Experience.  The cover charge is 10,000 won, and all the proceeds will go towards funding for educational activities and social programs for North Korean defectors in South Korea, and activities focusing on information and awareness about human rights in North Korea.

For more information about Saturday night’s fundraiser gig, check out the Facebook event page here.

Posted in Concert Announcements | 2 Comments »

Bulssazo Debut New Drummer and New Tunes at December Gigs

Posted by: Shawn ˑ  December 8, 2012 – 12:44 pm

Things have been very quiet for Bulssazo in 2012.  The fantastic Seoul instrumental rock trio have played only two shows over the past 12 months — opening one of Deerhoof’s Korean dates last December, and teaming up with local post-rock luminaries Underwears Band for an April gig at Sangsang Madang as part of Pastel Music’s 10th anniversary concert series.

Those who have been waiting patiently to see Bulssazo play again are in luck as the group have scheduled two Seoul shows for this month.  They will perform tonight (12/8) at Mudaeruk in Hongdae and will close out the year with a gig on Saturday, December 29 at Lowrise in Mullae.

Bulssazo’s upcoming concerts will be their first with new drummer Kim Sun-yeop.  Kim joined the group in the summer as a replacement for the act’s former drummer, Ko Young-il.  The band will also be sharing all new music with fans at the gigs.

“After we release a record, we never play those songs again,” says guitarist Han Sang-chol.  “When a record is done, those songs are over.  That’s our policy.  So we won’t be playing any old songs.  Instead we’re going to play 10 new songs at our December shows. We’ve never played these songs live before.”

Bulssazo currently have nearly 15 new songs finished and plan to write 30 in total.  There’s no word yet on when they will record the follow-up to 2011’s cassette-only “Banquo: It will be rain tonight. / 1st Murderer: Let it come down.”  And when they do finally get around to releasing their next full-length, Han is unsure of how they will put it out.

“I don’t want to release music on CD or as MP3s,” shares Han.  “I collect vinyl, so I think the best format is vinyl. But it’s expensive to manufacture vinyl in Korea.  We made our last album on cassette just for me.  My car has no CD player.  It only has a radio and cassette player, so putting out music on cassette made it easier for me to listen to it while I drive.

“I don’t know what we’ll do for our music in the future.  If the earth doesn’t end in 2012, I’ll start thinking about music formats again.”

To get people into the holiday spirit, here is Bulssazo’s cover of “Somewhere in My Memory” from the movie Home Alone.  They made the song for Pastel Music’s 2010 “Merry Lonely Christmas and Happy New Year” disc.

Bulssazo play tonight at Mudaeruk with Underwears Band.  The show starts at 7:30 pm and tickets are 25,000 won at the door.

They will also perform on December 29 at Lowrise with Kim Gan-ji X Ha Heon-jin, .59, We Dance, and 404.  The show starts at 8 pm and tickets are 20,000 won.  There’s a Facebook event page for the December 29 gig here.

Posted in Concert Announcements | 1 Comment »

Punk Rock Toy Drive

Posted by: Jon ˑ  December 6, 2012 – 10:42 am

As Hongdae braces for the annual flood of Multiple Santas (my favourite Tick villain), the punk community escapes down to Mullae-dong for a yuletide charity show at Moon.

In classic punk style they kept the door price a low 5000 won for five bands–and you can get free admission if you bring a gift for the orphanage–toys, stationery/art supplies, and books will all be accepted. All donations and profits go to the Sangrok Orphanage.

This will be the debut show of Heimlich County Gun Club, the new band of Paul Bricky, who is also organising the show. You might remember him as the half-Korean guitarist of Suck Stuff, back when they were really good. Now you can get a chance to hear what kind of music he’s come up with in the five years since then.

Rounding out the bill are hardcore bands Mixed Blood and Assassination Squad, and garage punk bands Dead Buttons and the Veggers.

This will show will also mark the release of Broke in Korea 15, Korea’s longest-running underground zine. Pick it up for interviews with Veggers, Mixed Blood, the Essence, Animal Anthem, Yuppie Killers, No Excuse, and Noeazy, as well as information about avoiding cults in Korea, advice for putting on your own concert, a special offer for a free tattoo, and more.

Posted in Concert Announcements | 1 Comment »

Hellivision Sharing Their HellRevision This Weekend in Seoul

Posted by: Shawn ˑ  November 30, 2012 – 2:46 pm

Seoul instrumental rock trio Hellivision will be playing a pair of Hongdae gigs this weekend at Mudaeruk (November 30) and Salon Badabie (December 1).

A local “supergroup” of sorts, the band includes guitarist Lee Tae-hun (from Second Session and Flower Pot), bassist Oh Gun-woong (ex-The Mustangs), and drummer Jung Ji-wan (from Underwears Band, ex-Cocore).  Formed in the summer of 2011, by fall of last year the group were already building a buzz in Seoul’s underground scene.  In November 2011, they were invited to open one of the Korean reunion gigs for American post-hardcore pioneers Bitch Magnet – pretty impressive considering that show was only Hellivision’s third gig.

“I told Gun-woong I wanted to start a gnarly band,” says Lee on the group’s formation.

“Tae-hoon came to my house and said he wanted to play stronger music,” adds Oh.  “He proposed starting a new band together.  I thought about who would be a good a drummer for the band and then asked Ji-wan to join us.”

The group released their debut full-length “HellRevision” in October through the newly formed RCL imprint.  RCL stands for “Reggae Chicken Label,” and was founded by the owner of Hongdae’s popular Reggae Chicken restaurants (and former drummer for The Mustangs), Ryu Kwang-hee.

“We were thinking about making an album and then Kwang-hee asked us about recording and releasing music thought RCL,” says Oh.  “We all said ‘Yes!’ because we love Kwang-hee.”

As the only act on RCL right now, does Hellivision get any perks when they visit either branch of their label boss’ eatery?

“Sometimes Kwang-hee gives us some free beer and rum,” laughs Oh.

Clocking in at over 70 minutes in length, the seven tracks on “HellRevision” were written from June 2011 to January 2012.  The album was recorded from this past February to May at Hongdae’s EFlat-Tracks Studio.  A fantastic mix of noisy breakdowns and trippy psychedelic rhythms that are accented with an occasional bit of dubby goodness, “HellRevision” offers a great glimpse of a talented act that are only beginning to scratch the surface of their potential.

And while Hellivision’s music could easily fall under a number of genre classifications, how does the band like to describe their awesome sound to people?

“I like to call it ‘mess rock,’” says Oh.

“I prefer to think of it is as Korean traditional music,” says Lee with a smile.

Hellivision play tonight at Mudaeruk with Vidulgi Ooyoo and The Quip.  Tickets are 15,000 won and the show starts at 8 pm.

They will also play Saturday night as part of Salon Badabie’s birthday celebrations.  Tickets for tomorrow’s show are 20,000 won and things get started at 6:30 pm.

Posted in Concert Announcements | 1 Comment »

Thee Oops come to Korea

Posted by: Jon ˑ  November 16, 2012 – 11:57 am

How many chances do you get to see a hardcore punk band from Italy? Unless you’re actually from there, you might be in luck this weekend.

Sardinian band The Oops is currently in Asia for a China-Korea-Japan tour, and already they’ve hit Daejeon and Jeonju earlier this week. They’re touring to promote their newest release, a double-7″ EP (for some reason). But don’t worry, because it’s also available on CD.

This weekend, they’ll play two nights in Seoul and one in Busan. For fans of ’80s style hardcore punk, check out this Italian band at any of their next three gigs:

-Friday at Powwow
-Saturday at Club Spot
-Sunday at Vinyl Underground (Busan)

Joined by a who’s who of Korea’s underground music scene, you can expect a weekend of great shows all across the peninsula.

For an amusing interview with Thee Oops, head over to Chincha, where they talk about hairy women and creating a master race of Asian-Sardinians.

Posted in Concert Announcements, Uncategorized | No Comments »

Samara Lubelski Making the Most of Her Time in Seoul

Posted by: Shawn ˑ  November 8, 2012 – 6:59 am

Highly-respected American multi-instrumentalist Samara Lubelski is currently touring as part of Thurston Moore’s (of Sonic Youth fame) band.  Moore and company performed last night in Seoul at the Interpark Art Center Art Hall.  Having a few extra days off in the city, Lubelski has scheduled a pair of solo performances at Mudaeruk in Hongdae.  She’ll headline a show at the venue tonight – Thursday, November 8 – and will also open for 3rd Line Butterfly there tomorrow (November 9).

In June, Lubelski released her sixth album, “Wavelength.”  The follow-up to 2009’s “Future Slip,” “Wavelength” was written in 2009 and recorded mostly in 2010 in the United States and Germany.  The offering features a dozen tracks of excellent hazy psych-pop.

“The songs on ‘Wavelength’ are a little bit tighter, composition wise,” Lubelski says.  “I still indulged in the endless melodic layers, but also tried to focus more on the quality of the sounds.”

And while the album features backing instrumentation from the likes Sonic Youth’s Steve Shelley and Lubelski’s Metal Mountains band mates P.G. Six and Helen Rush, Lubelski will be playing solo at her Mudaeruk concerts.  So what can local music fans expect from her first gigs in South Korea?

“Very soft songs played on guitar.”

Samara Lubelski will play tonight at Mudaeruk in Hongdae. The show starts at 8 pm and tickets are 15,000 won at the door. Mukimukimanmansu, 404, and former Cocore bassist Kim Jae-kwon’s new .59 project are also on the bill.

Lubelski will also open for 3rd Line Butterfly tomorrow night (November 9) at Mudaeruk. The show starts at 8 pm and tickets are 20,000 won at the door.

Posted in Concert Announcements, Uncategorized | 1 Comment »