Korean Job Discussion Forums

[re:cursive]

I'm curious as to whether there is any form of 'underground' culture here in Korea (specifically in or around Seoul). I'm primarily interested in finding and making contact with a creative and hopefully at least somewhat forward thinking electronic music community.

Since being here (granted it's only been 2 months) I've only managed to hear about what I would consider fairly mainstream / commercial events eg. Tiesto, Felix the Housecat etc....not really my thing. I hear Richie Hawtin played last year which I imagine would have been good.

The kind of flavours I'm trying to uncover in Seoul (in no particular order):
Electro, Electronica, Microhouse, Minimal, Techno, Mentalism, Experimental, Noise, Dub, Grime, Ambient, Sound Art...etc.etc....anything interesting really.

Ideally I'd like to find some sort of locally based Korean scene as opposed to the bigger international tours....surely there's enough people here and enough focus on technology in the culture to support an interesting local electronic music scene?

So far my conversations with locals thus far have produced some interesting comments eg. "this music is strange", "where are the words?", "this music sounds broken" etc. but next to no leads.

So yeah...can anyone offer any suggestions as to any locally based clubs, venues, events, websites or places where I may be able to either find what I'm looking for or at least make contact with some people who may be in the know.

Cheers.

[itaewonguy]

http://www.worknplay.co.kr/Entertainment/Nightlife.aspx

[Ron Stevens]

[oni]

U should check out www.02pro.com for upcoming electronica gigs and other stuff
Bar Nana plays pretty good music.

THe best music stores are in Japan Korea sucks for buying music although Purple Records in Hongdae is ok the best ive come across so far

[Soul Forest]

I was thinking of posting something similiar. Actually, I would have posted it a lot time ago if I thought anyone else was interested. Bar Nana is good, as the poster Oni suggested -- but of course it depends on the night of the week and the particular DJ. They do have some good dub sets on Thursday, I think.
I like the genres listed in the original post, and the various combinations of the genre. I'm not averse to music that is danceable and it is a bonus if a music can be danced, too. But, it's not necessarily a requirement to me that electronic music is danceable -- here, in Seoul, it seems that only the dance-able varieties get played. When I was in Osaka last Spring, I saw Autechre (from Warp Records in England) -- the show was highly, shockingly overpriced (about 65,000 won -- no drink) -- but given the scarcity of that kind of thing here, I'd probably pay the same price again to see the same show in Korea. When they played, every single light in the venue was turned off, and you could hardly even see your own feet. An ocean of sound enveloped the whole room.
To the poster of this thread, I would say in summary I don't know where to find this stuff in Seoul, but if anybody knows then definitely post something here. I'm curious to know if there's other people out there looking for this.

[Maugrim]

The idea of an "underground" is antithetical to Korean culture, which doesn't make it easy on people, Korean or foreign, who hope to participate in one.

[Satori]

[coffeeman]

Where is Bar Nanas? Skunk Hell (Hondae) is good fun if you like a bit of Hardcore.

I am quite surprised about Korea given its respectable wealth. They really don't import many records or press records of foreign artists here. Maybe too expensive for them. I mean, they have enough trouble making money by selling cds of their own artists. Too much downloading going on in this country. Also, cd players are so uncool with young Koreans.

[oni]

London Elektricity are playing at a HOngdae club on May 25!!

[re:cursive]

@itaewonguy & oni : Thanks for the links...not exactly what I'm looking for but definitely a good start.

@Ron Stevens : I'm curious as to what you mean by "questionable" genres. Are you implying that the genres I listed are any less valid than others? Or, that the genres are effective at stimulating the listener to question? Semantics I know, but I'd be interested to hear your justification either way.

As for places to buy records/ cds...have you considered ordering them online?

@Soul Forest : The danceable/ non-danceable argument is an interesting one and it sucks that there is a relatively small amount of support for artists exploring the non-generic and thus apparently non-danceable styles. To quote an old Coldcut catchphrase : ��*beep* dance. Let��s art��. That said I think there is a place for all music, danceable, non-danceable and everything in between. I've been bored to death by cookie-cutter "dance music" and conceptual "sound art" in equally large doses. At the other extreme I've experienced the total opposite and had my mind ripped to shreds by music at both ends of the spectrum as well.

Autechre would have been wicked last year (total darkness you say? I wonder what VJ/ Lighting crew scored that job?)...I heard a lot of good things about their shows in Europe that tour. They��d have to be one of my favourite acts of all time and I��d have paid 65,000 won without a second thought. In fact I��d consider flying to Japan to see them play if the chance arises while I��m here (I��ve spent more and traveled a lot further for gigs in the past). You don��t want to know how much I would pay to go back in time and see them live in their Amber/ Incunubula/ Tri-Repetae or LP5 days.

@Maugrim : I may come to believe that an ��underground�� as such may not exist in Korean culture, but I am sure that there has to at least be some people operating on the fringes of the culture here and that an ��experimental�� element must exist. I��ve been checking out some Korean Art while I��ve been here and have found a fairly high degree of experimentation evident in a lot of the works. Sure some are slightly derivative but interesting none the less. Look at the video art produced in Korea...Nam June Paik etc. (who incedently also dabbled in some sound art back in the day), fairly experimental for its time if you ask me. The fact that Korean video artists have been embracing/ exploring technology for decades makes me think people must be taking the same attitude and applying it to sound and music. I would have thought that Korean culture/ politics/ history etc. would have triggered some kind of interesting art in all mediums as a response/ reaction / attempt to define etc. Couldn't the fact that Korean culture is antithetical to an "underground" be the exact reason/ catalyst for one to exist?

I'm pretty much straight off the boat here in Korea so perhaps I��m still a little wide eyed and naive to see the reality here. I hope not.

@Satori : When you say "forgettabouditt" do you mean "forgettabouditt" or "forgettabouditt"? I hope you mean "forgettabouditt". (donnie brasco reference)

And yeah, I am very interested in producing electronic music. Back home I was into it a fair bit...had a studio set up...was involved in a community based sound system collective...helped organize a few small events...spun discs at a few gigs/ parties etc. etc. I sold most of my kit to get over here and gave the rest away to mates so don��t have any equipment here at the moment. Hopefully that will change in a week or two. I��m looking at getting a Mac and Logic Pro very soon so I can continue working (unfortunately it��s proving slightly tricky to organize here in Korea).


As for events...I'm still searching...so far i've found two festivals later in the year which look slightly interesting. The first one is a net festival which, if anything like the ones back home may have some interesting music/ events attached to it. The second one is the Seoul International Computer Music Festival which seems to be a mainly electro-acoustic affair. I'll be locking both in my diary.

http://www.senef.net/

http://www.computermusic.or.kr/main_en/

[discostar23]

hey

what i consider to be best record store in korea is purple records. Its in hongdae. The guy who owns it is super nice and he will order anything if he doesn't have it.

There is sometimes electronic experimental shows going on in hongdae. I'll be sure to post next time I get a flyer. Try hanging out at club aura they have the shows there sometimes. Also cargo has some drum n bass everynight and usually the people in the crowd know about the other gigs.

Just hang out at some of the clubs in hongdae and you will meet people. I know thats the way I got to know about most things because it seems unless you know korean its all word of mouth.

[Ron Stevens]

I think it extremely naive to talk about electronica or different ly tagged manifestations of dance music culture as "underground" in 2006.

[0oo0]

i've only been here for 3 weeks and i've been searching high and low for the same kind of stuff.

So far i've come up with the two festivals that you found, plus i've heard of a cafe in Hongdae called IRI that has had some experimental laptop stuff in the past, but i haven't found the place yet.

I also know that Carston Nicoli (aka Noto, Raster Noton) will be in Heyri Art Village for a festival in September ... and that FM3 (the buddha machine people) will be in Seoul in October. So i guess locals who attend these events are going to be active in or at least know about what's going on here. I'm hoping to find something before then though!

i agree that there must be SOMETHING, but remember that Nam June Paik (rip) was mostly active outside of Korea, in the US, especially in the early days before his work became well known. I think Korea is indeed a culture antithetical to experimentation - it's the confucian thing. doesn't mean it's not there though, you just have to look harder.

I've been looking at the schedules of a couple of clubs in Hongdae (Oohoo and MI), they don't look too promising.... but, hopefully something will come up.

I've been to Purple Records, and if that's the best record store in Korea, then we are going to have problems. thank god for online ordering.

I'm surprised you're finding it tricky to get a mac here? i was just on the korean apple website today, seems straightforward enough, and once you have the computer, getting logic pro online shouldn't pose too many problems - especially if you're will ing to pay for it.

And in reply to Ron Stevens: i don't much like the term underground, or the genrefying of music, but if it is so naive to talk about some kinds of electronic music as underground, then why are they so hard to find?????

[Soul Forest]

Good to see that there's enough interest here that this thread hasn't already faded into oblivion.

0oo0 wrote:

[Soul Forest]

Oops, I screwed up the "Quote" function on the last post. I accidentally put what I had just wrote myself into the quote in the mail I just wrote. You should what I mean if you check out the last part of the post I just wrote.
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