Mogwai & Vidulgi Ooyoo (비둘기 우유) at AX-Korea, Seoul, November 30

Ahh.  Very hungover today, which definitely wasn't the case the next day after seeing Mogwai.  No booze at the show.  I've been meaning to write this since the show, but it seems convalescing after a night of drinking is an excellent time to write.  This Mogwai show was a bit more than I wanted to spend for a show (about $60 U.S.) but it is Korea, and it's pretty damn hard to get halfway decent bands here unless you shell out for them.  Unfortunately, I had forgetten that I am actually NOT a Mogwai fan.  That was a very expensive "mistake".  If you can call it that.  I really don't feel bad about giving the SuperColorSuper folks money to get bands here, and having a band like Mogwai play here is an excellent next step for more bands to want to come here.  That said, Mogwai are boring.

The show was on a work night (Wednesday), and then there was the ticket price, but it did start early enough (at 7) and there was a decent Korean band opening, so at the last minute, I bought the ticket, and took the bus out of Suwon and into Seoul.  AX-Korea is a fairly big hall (maybe it holds 500?  maybe more), and the place was pretty damn full.  I had to wait in line to get my tickets, so I actually missed most of Vidulgi Ooyoo's set except for the last song.  The last song was pretty good, and I wish I could have seen more.  Very noisy, and more than a bit shoegazey, and a good opening band for Mogwai.

As I mentioned above, there was no booze sold at the show, and you could not bring any in, so perhaps that affected my enjoyment of the show.  Or maybe it was the earplugs I decided to wear, which can take away from the visceral impact of a show.  Perhaps I was too tired because I had only got 5 hours of sleep the previous night.  I went through all of these things in my mind while they were playing, but frankly, that band is ALL volume, and very little substance.  This band has made a career out of being a notoriously loud band, and for being influential to indie and metal bands.  However, they just can't write melodies that stick to me, and they never have.  Even back in the day when "Young Team" came out.  It's a decent record, but I never had any of those songs melodies come into my mind while doing stuff.  In some ways, I like "Come on Die Young" a little better, which could be blasphemy in some quarters.  I definitely remember listening to it more, but can't remember a song.  I stood there watching them for nearly an hour before I left, and the only dude on the stage that looked as if he might be enjoying himself is the short guitar player dude.  Everyone else looked bored to tears.  And who could blame 'em.  I WAS BORED TO TEARS MYSELF! 

Vidulgi Ooyoo

Their set started off exciting enough with the opening song to their latest record "Hardcore will Never Die, but You Will." Which isn't a bad song, but after that, it fell into monotony, and if they played any songs from their first 2 records, I sure didn't recognize them.  Song after song started gently and came to a crashing roar.  Which sounds bad ass.  I mean, it should've ruled, but the tedious melodies (or lack thereof), and the lack of any visibile enthusiasm (sometimes that can work, but not in this case) just did not equal a good time.  If anything, it just looked like they were going through the motions.  To sum up, if you're suffering from insomnia, do yourself a favor and go see Mogwai.

Geez, I sound like a bitter old man.  Yikes.  I will try to be more poitive the next time I see an "influential" band come through.  Judas Priest in February!  I am definitely a fan of those guys.

The above and below photos are my own from the actual show.  Not the best, but it was very crowded at the front.

Mogwai

Old Partner (워낭 소리) - 2008

The first Korean documentary I've ever seen, and a pretty good one.  Nearly even dragged a couple of tears out of me at the end.  Old Partner is about an old man (Choe Won-gun 최원균), his wife (Lee Sam-sun 이삼순), and one very old cow.  I think the cow is like 40 years old, and near its death, but the cow and the old man still go out into the field to work and farm.  All the while the wife is bitching at him for working too much, and working the cow too much.

There's some charming moments in the film, like when he goes out into the city of Bonghwa (봉화) in North Gyeongsang Province (경상북도) to visit a doctor, while being pulled by the old cow in a rickety old wagon.  During the clip, they pass by some folks protesting in front of the Bonghwa market about the FTA agreement to allow imported American beef to come to Korea.  Interesting.  There were times like that when I wondered if the film makers staged it.  There is one scene when the old man is trying to sell the cow off and no one wants the old thing.  At that moment they start in with the dramatic piano music and the slowed down film and A GODDAMN TEAR IS COMING OUT OF THE COW'S EYE!  Now, I'm sure that was happening for a variety of reasons, but not that the cow was sad because no one would buy him.  A little manipulation there on the filmmakers part.  Thankfully, most of the film isn't like that, and tells a pretty straight story.  Even the soundtrack is pretty minimal and most of it is supplied by environmental sounds and the persistent, but comforting, sound of the cow bell (the Korean title is actually The Sound of the Cow Bell). 

It's a good film and it won awards and was the highest grossing independent film in Korean film history.  A good start for first time director Lee Chung-ryoul (이충렬).  Check it out.

Bitch Magnet, 3rd Line Butterfly, Hellivisions, Angry Bear (11/05 at Club FF, Seoul)

Originally I was just going to write about this show right after it occurred but I got extremely lazy (depressed? lonely?  isolated?) and didn't get around to it until just now.  What inspired me to finally do it, was the depressingly average show that came this past Wednesday when Mogwai took the stage here in Seoul.  THAT review will be on the next post.

First, the Bitch Magnet show at the (pretty cool) Club FF.  I actually DID NOT have high expectations for this show because of the following reasons: 1) I was never a fan.  2) It was a reunion show.  So, maybe that was good because it turns out that they were fantastic live.  This was the first show of their reunion, and you might wonder why the fuck they picked Korea.  Well, the answer is that Korean-American Sooyoung Park is the "leader" of the group.  I said above that I was never a fan of Bitch Magnet, but I was a fan of Seam who also had Park in the band.  Back in my early twenties, "The Problem with Me" was one of my favorite records from that period, and I still listen to it.  So, why not?  Go to the show; see what happens.  

Before B.M. there were a couple of opening bands.  The first I saw was Hellivisions which was kind of an improvised power trio.  If I can use those words.  They were not bad.  Actually the drummer and guitarist were great, and really got into the playing.  The bass player (with dreads) didn't seem to know what he was doing.  His basslines just really fell flat.  I think he was trying to go for a dub/reggae approach but he wasn't skilled enough to pull it off.  The rest of the band was playing some kind of noisy, chaotic jazz...fuck, I don't know.  It wasn't bad, though.  When they finished, I went to meet up with a friend for a beer before (I thought) 3rd Line Butterfly came out.  Basically I was expecting this band called Angry Bear featuring a bunch of foreigners (as in, they live here, they're not touring or anything) to play next, and then I could get back in time for 3rd Line.  Turns out, this Angry Bear band HEADLINED THE DAMN SHOW!  What the fuck kind of booking arrangement was that?  I kinda like 3rd Line, and I was looking forward to seeing them for the first time, but instead, THEY played next, meaning I missed them.  And, of course, after B.M. people started clearing out, and who knows how many people were remaining to see Angry Bear, cuz I sure wasn't one of them to stick around.  

But, before that, there's B.M. and I could really hear the Big Black/Albini influence watching them live.  Their sound really came open to me.  There was tension, aggression, and they played hard like they were really enjoying themselves.  Those guys are in their early forties or so, but they played like they still had something to prove.  I'm not good about going track by track here, I'll just say that the first song they played is this one below, and it was a doozy.  Just tight as fuck, and it felt like it was going to explode in chaos at any minute, but never fully did.  They finished with a Dicks song (I think) sung by the guitarist, and the bass player from Hellivisions came on to play with them.  Well, I guess somebody liked his playing.  Anyway, that was quite fun.  Did I mention the drummer?  Because that dude is built like a tank and played like he was trying to destroy his kit.  Awesome show.  I need to pick up those reissues that just came out of their entire discography.

Afterwards, I saw Sooyoung outside and tried to talk to him for a minute but turned into a retarded fanboy and couldn't get my words to come out properly.  Damn it.  Next time.

Another thing, I forgot my camera (again) so I didn't get any pics, however I found a good pic from the Bitch Magnet Facebook page.  So here you go:

And the song I mentioned above:

Banran (반란) "Stop Kor" ep (2010)

STOP KOR!  I'm not exactly sure what Banran wants to stop.  Maybe it's Lee Myung Bak, Korea's president that seems to do whatever he feels like doing, and fuck everyone else (example: importing U.S. beef and the four rivers project, both of which were opposed by an overwhelming majority of Koreans, but President Lee did them - or is doing them - anyway).  Well, whatever their message is, I'm not entirely sure of.  I'm almost certain that they probably lean heavily on the left side of politics, though.

This ep (released as a split release 7" on Way Back When / Even Worse last year) is a short, but somewhat effective introduction to the band.  I witnessed the band live early last year (which I posted right here), but, unfortunately, this record doesn't quite live up to the visceral impact of their live set.  Their live show was fast, vicious, and heavy.  Dropdead seemed to be an obvious influence (the singer even sported that band's shirt).  On record, it feels more like a throwback to 80s hardcore, with a slightly less powerful Dropdead influence (meaning, they aren't heavy on record like Dropdead were).  The record is most definitely tight, but you really need to see them tear it up live.  Unfortunately, most folks won't witness one of their sets, but who knows.  I'd like to really see where they go next with this, but they seemed young, and maybe will enter the military soon (mandatory in Korea), which might not only end the band, but end anything interesting they might do in the future musically.  I hope not.

Here's a link to the ep: Stop Kor ep.  However, if you can get a hold of it still, I highly recommend you do that.  Also, I updated the link for the Bamseom Pirates record (which might be even harder to find for folks outside of Korea) which you can find here.

Shin Joong Hyun (신중현) "Beautiful Rivers & Mountains" & "From Where to Where"

South Korea's "godfather of rock" finally gets some reissue treatment love in the west.  These two compilations ("Beautiful Rivers..." gets the whole vinyl/cd treatment, while "From Where..." is a digital only 7 song release) were released in the U.S. by Light in the Attic, and are long overdue.  Shin Joong Hyun is pretty much THE dude for Korean guitar rock in the 60s and early 70s before his imprisonment by the Park Chung Hee administration/dictatorship (more info on that is on the interweb).  He was featured (along with his backing band) on a bunch of different singers albums.  Some of these singers are not even on these compilations (no Pearl Sisters, but I have one of their albums anyway), and it also doesn't feature any Add 4 which was Shin's first band from around '64.  I'm really curious about that band, and I hope Light in the Attic will reissue that stuff someday, as well.

The music is really quite great, although it sounds dated in comparison to what was going on during the time that most of this was released (1969-1974).  Don't let that stop you from hearing this stuff.  Shin's guitar playing is quite great and carries a kind of eastern melodic edge that maybe you won't hear on first listens.  He can also rip shit up, and fry your brain with acid drenched guitar solos.  For proof of that, listen to Kim Sun's "The Man Who Must Leave" which sounds like a cross between The Doors and Bauhaus (listen to the bass) with Shin ripping out some twisted acid guitar at the beginning and the end.  In between is some very heartfelt singing from Kim Sun, whom I've never heard of before.  A very passionate man, apparently.

Other highlights is, of course, the controversial title track which was the root cause of Shin's eventual imprisonment.  Apparently there's an 18 minute version of this song somewhere, but I've never heard it.  Also, my favorite Korean singer, Kim Jung Mi (김정미), from this era is featured here.  The fantastic "The Sun" (also on Kim Jung Mi's "Now", which is a great psych/folk record by any standards) on "Beautiful Rivers..." and the title track from the digital release are excellent songs that really showcase what a great singer Kim was.  Some really nice strings on "The Sun" as well.  Might bring a tear to your eye, so be careful.

There's also highlights that you're probably not going to find anywhere else even if you live in Korea.  For example, a very funky live cover of "Funky Broadway" which sounds like it features an American singer, but gives no credit to him in the liner notes.  And "I've got Nothing to Say" which is a too short live & raw recording for a movie called The Beauty (미인 - good luck finding that one).  Seriously, that song could've kept going for another 5 to 10 minutes and I wouldn't be complaining.  A studio version of it is featured on "From Where..." but it's not quite the same.

Seriously great stuff.  You can get this stuff from the Light in the Attic website, which I highly recommend cuz it'll be cheaper.  This includes digital downloads if, like myself, you would love to have the vinyl, but have a hard time justifying shipping it over to a country that you may not stay in for much longer.  Got to keep it sparse in the material possessions category.  Then again, it's probably at one of the record stores I go to from time to time in Seoul.  I'll write about those stores later.  Right now, enjoy this shit.

Here's the actual clip from the movie The Beauty that I wrote about above:

Welcome to the "New Blog"

Alright, I decided to import all of my blogs related to Korea over on this one.  I guess the other one (at hardworlders.blogspot.com) is pretty much dead, unfortunately.  C'est la vie, as the French, or something, would say.  Anyway, I will try to continue posting stuff about Korea and some of my travels for the one or two people that might actually read it on this new one.  And, of course, listen to Slough Feg.  The awesome metal band that coined the term Hardworlders in song.

Sokcho (속초), Inje (인제), food, beach...

Here's a quick preface:  Most of this was written in late August, and I just now got around to finishing it.  Lazy.

I'm back in Korea after a month in the states.  Not really ready to teach students yet.  Not even ready to do a post right now, but I need to get one in for August.  I don't want this thing to be all passe cuz I missed a month.  Right?  Well, after a grueling 25 hour trip back to Korea with only 30 minutes of sleep before I had to wake up and board, I decided that I should probably take a trip out to the northeast coast of Korea to a coastal city called Seokcho.  The route went something like this:

Friday, directly after work, I had planned to take a 2 and 1/2 hour bus to Injae.  Injae is where my buddy Jason temporary lived until his flight back to the states.  Injae is in Gangwon-do, the most beautiful province in Korea.  Seriously!  Check the pics below.  Before I made it to the bus station to head out there, I decided it would be a grand idea to sit on my glasses.  Broken.  No...a run to the eyeglass store and they were good as...almost new.  So, I had to rush to the bus stop.  Made it!  Get on the bus.  Relax.  Tried to sleep, but couldn't.  Hopped off in Injae and I'm eating bbq with his boss and drinking soju.  Here's what we were eating below:

Here is some makchang (막창) which is the....large intestine I believe.  Of a pig....I believe.  Very good here.  This is the bbq place in the building of the bus station.

And here's the whole spread:

And below is pork meat with the bone cartilidge in it (find out the name later).  Quite crunchy and very good.  This is a pic of it before it was cooked:

Drinking and hell raising occurred on this night, and the next day Jason's girl came by and we headed out to Sokcho.  Before we got there I got a great picture of Seoraksan right here:

Beautiful, eh?  I've hiked that thing before.  Took me 12 hours, and I thought I was going to die but I did it.  And that's what's important...maybe.  Hard.  Very hard.

Not long after that shot, we ate what might have been the best meal I've ever had in my life.  Below are the pictures of what we ate and I will have to ask my friend what they were again because I've never had this meal before.

Here's the spread.  There's a type of jeon (전) in the middle next to the kimchi.  All of these side dishes were pretty great.

Below are some kind of tofu cakes.  They're in the above picture too.  Really great.

This was not featured in the above picture, but this was kind of the main course.  It's a tofu soup type of thing, and you could add some soy sauce to it if you liked.  Personally, I thought it was great without anything added to it.  Fantastic lunch.

Of course, you need some booze at the dinner table if you're gonna eat in this country, otherwise it's just not a fucking meal.  Welcome to makolli world.  Love this stuff.

After this, we headed to the beach, of which I don't have any pictures of, but that night we painted the town polka dots.  Here is some amazing amazing food we ate, and a pic of the Sokcho bridge which featured a swarm of seagulls flying above.  Really quite beautiful.  It must have been the lights that attracted them.  Unfortunately, I don't have a good picture of the seagulls, but I do have some video I posted at the bottom of the post.

Okay, here's a bottle of makolli, which I think was the Gangwon-do variety.  Each province of Korea has their own particular kinds of soju and makolli.  This was Inje makolli (인제 막걸리).

Ahh!!!!  Delicious.  What we have in the middle is squid soondae (오징어 순대) which is basically stuffed squid, and it is fucking awesome.  Above it is regular soondae which is basically a Korean sausage using pig intestines that they stuff.  Sometimes it's not that great at the street stands, but here it was great.  Below both is kimchi.  Where would a Korean meal be without it.

The main course?  Maybe, but it was some fantastic grilled fish.  A definite variety, and I don't know the names of all of 'em.  Maybe I can add that later.  Sokcho is awesome.  Everyone should go there RIGHT NOW!

And here's the finale.  A video of the seagulls flying overhead: