The Korean Underground

[Guest Hazuki86]

CD : Invisible Fish 1st. EP - Through the Glass Wall

Invisible Fish is solo project of 'Jung Sang Hoon', who was Leader of Bluedawn, Korean famous legendary Folk duo group. Inivisible Fish will release 3 EPs total, and this is 1st. of them. This EP has Noise / Lo-fi / Folk music inside.

I heard the sample of the musics and it sounds really good!

[Guest helikoppter]

CD : Invisible Fish 1st. EP - Through the Glass Wall

Invisible Fish is solo project of 'Jung Sang Hoon', who was Leader of Bluedawn, Korean famous legendary Folk duo group. Inivisible Fish will release 3 EPs total, and this is 1st. of them. This EP has Noise / Lo-fi / Folk music inside.

I heard the sample of the musics and it sounds really good!

Yeah, it's great! I got the whole thing on CD last week and I love it. Check out the k-indie news link in my signature for a chance to get a free copy

[Guest rinkymoon]

.

[Guest indieROK]

Check out the k-indie news link in my signature for a chance to get a free copy

You guys should pimp your site/blog more directly... as if you guys weren't already doing enough via youtube, lastfm, etc., the new site is becoming one of the most useful English-language sites for Korean indie info!

Hey y'all, if you didn't already, you should check out helikoppter and orienkorean's new site: Indieful ROK...

Lots of up to date news on Korean indie bands and releases!

[Guest Hazuki86]

Yeah, it's great! I got the whole thing on CD last week and I love it. Check out the k-indie news link in my signature for a chance to get a free copy

Hey Thanks. I'll go check it out.

Edit: Love the site. I really enjoy reading it.

[Guest Lanhai]

Please someone tell me where i can find x-clan cd/music cause i looked evrywhere and i couldnt find.......................please, please

[Guest apwish]

WOW THANKS!

its damn great!

[Guest WanMinBin]

does anybody know anything about a band called "Monni" or 몽니?

i randomly watched one of their mvs on youtube and want to know more about them but their wiki page isn't of help and they don't have a thread here.

anybody know of them?

and here's the link to the mv i watched if anybody's curious:

[Guest understanding_fiction]

^

members: 김신의(보컬), 이인경(베이스), 정훈태(드럼)

First album: 첫째 날, 빛

2005-12-01

title song was '소나기'

First single: Monni : and,

2008-06-19

title song is 눈물이 나 (rearranged) -> a song from their first album

NELL_____NELL

NELLNELLNELLNELL

NELLNELLNELLNELL

NELLNELLNELL

NELLNELL

NELL

[Guest suzic87]

Don't know if he is underground or just not well known, but I was wondering if anyone has any info about 이지형 (EZ Hyung)

[Guest pris716]

yay korea!!!luhv taemin!!!!wonder boys<3

[Guest Miewvy1332]

Thanks for re-posting it!

[Guest mylove_isyou]

Wowww

Thanks you

[Guest kromy]

Here's A.Tract thread

http://www.soompi.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=309566

[ladolcevita.]

Heyyy guys, I need your help! I've been getting into a few Korean indie bands and I'm beginning to love it.

Umm I'm not into techno, electric or rock, I would like something similar to Taru, Jisun and No Reply.

Something easy to listen to with great instrumentals and vocals + where to download previous and current

albums/singles/OST participations/etc. Thanks in advance.

[simpledays]

Recommending Vodka Rain (보드카 레인), don't see their name anywhere around. ^^

From their first album: Wonder Years

첫사랑의 결혼을 듣는 나이

Second album: Flavour

지와타네호 [Live]

For those who like My Aunt Mary, you should check out Vodka Rain.

[musicbox.]

does anyone know Yellow Puffer? I can't seem to find anything about them, just the fact that they've disbanded two years ago. I was browsing around their daum cafe and I think they've started performing again - doing lives here and there.

[Guest Lally]

I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post this here but I've found a pretty awesome site that has loads of hard-to-find korean music available for downloading.

here

[Guest unordinarymom]

I'm not sure if I'm allowed to post this here but I've found a pretty awesome site that has loads of hard-to-find korean music available for downloading.

here

i can't open it, it says i need to be invited to open the blog...

i wanna ask something, does Mongo an indie/underground band? or they're in the major label? i like their songs in Triple OST.. i wanna know more about them...

[Guest kholdstare]

IndieRok, I'm glad you know the type of society korea is when you say their TV shows are "manufactured producer (entertainment company) driven" and that their music scene has "relatively little history." But more key then these two points is their blatant opposition to (and obvious distaste for!) rock music. My whole point of questioning and explaining is that rock music in this particular country is discouraged, and when I check out what they do have to offer, the quality of the bands are reflected in this bottled-up attitude. I don't think a lot of them are talented, (or know how to play the guitar at all!), let alone experimental enough. And a lot of them are just copies of other bands. What's worse is their preferred sound of soft pop, so that they think punk or metal are the only other alternative. Well, there's a lot more to rock than that - alternative, hard, industrial, nu-metal, progressive, retro (and I don't mean oldies folk music retro-retro, I mean the new type of retro that's been churning since The Strokes), reggae, country... god there are so many.

Do you really think other countries are that shallow about rock? Just to name a few big commercial names: Ireland has U2, The Cranberries; Canada had Bryan Adams, Alanis Morisette, Sum 41, Avril Lavigne, Arcade Fire; Wales has Bullet For My Valentine, (and Lostprophets); Germany had Rammstein; Colombia had Shakira and Juanes; Australia had Silverchair and Jet (and if you want to go even further back in time, there's ACDC). (I'm just talking about people who have crossed over here to the US, and there are a lot more I'm pretty sure.) So it's not only the English and Swedish! The Japanese have also had their Jrock bands fighting with their Jpop acts forever in the Oricon charts. And it is pure common sense to have rock bands competing with pop acts for commercial success in the music charts. You can't have an entire country being run by Justin Timberlakes, Christina Aguileras, Fergies, Miley Cyruses, and Kanye Wests alone. People are always seeking different flavors, and rock is actually one of the more popular (and longlasting careerwise!) genres in music history.

As for underground versus mainstream, this is where it all boils down to the attitude of the individual. From as far back as I can remember, all the rock bands I ever got into were interested in success, because they wanted to be heard. You don't ever want to stay indie forever (indie is actually an unfavorable label/term), you wanted to become major and to be number 1 in the chart. Because duh! You wanted to sell your records. (This is actually common sense!) [Hint: Even better in a country like Korea, I would imagine, with all the missing competition (or hidden ones), why not bend the rules and create something totally different and become famous for it? There's even more incentive in a country that's so ignorant - educate the people. Show them there's some "new" kind of music you can try and actually enjoy.]

But the problem here is the country and its intolerance. And no 2-year military service can even prevent a good band from developing. Being a rock band, creating good rock music, is all up to an individual's interest, (and persistence!) in making music, as well as talent. Traits I still find lacking in many of Korea's youth or even current "indie" bands. The catch-22 is they're only a reflection of their country's own biased agenda towards rock music.

And before I answer your mainstream pop vs. non-mainstream pop argument, can you please explain to me what you mean by "ironic pop"?

i second everthing you said. i don't get why korean people seems to ignore completely other style of music besides rap and pop. its such an idol-centered society, they need someone to look up to. i mean, if a fat chick or a guy/girl that doesnt follow the korean standard for beauty sang the exact same song as, for example, some Girl's Generation hit, people wouldnt give a mini cooper.

but, i have a feeling that the k-pop industry bubble will explode some time soon. there's so much corruption and dirty job behind all those skinny girls and androginous boy bands that is almost inefable. i think there's gonna be a point that the system itself wont be able to hold itself. just take a look at the wave of suicides of actors and singers these recent years in korea!