Korean Job Discussion Forums

[pkim]

Not in Korea yet, but will be there in the next month. I was wondering is there a culture or a scene in seoul for electronic music??

[RACETRAITOR]

No, Korea is totally shut off from the outside world. All you'll find is bbongjak and maybe a bit of rock and roll oldies.

[death from above]

bring cd's..

[Qinella]

What do you mean by electronic music? Like IDM, or dance music, or experimental... I think there is some dance music, but most of what I hear is imported. As far as anything like Autechre or Boards of Canada... don't think so.

[Nowhere Man]

Armand Van Helden came here.

So did the Mad Professor.

And Afrika Bambataa.

I think I saw a sign for the Chrystal Method once.

The one bad factor is that a lot of the electronica is centered around Apkujeong, which is like the most expensive place to go out in Seoul. $15 drinks. Ouch.

[re:cursive]

I posted a similar query a couple of months back you may want to check out.

http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/korea/viewtopic.php?t=55057&highlight=electronic+underground

From my experience it really depends on what your looking for. If you just want to find some clubs playing electronic music then yes they are here and they do draw decent crowds. Last weekend for example I checked out 'que club' (not sure of the spelling) and 'M2' in Hongdae both of which were packed until sunrise and had a relatively good setup and vibe. That said the music wasn't exactly awe inspiring. Party hip hop upstairs and fairly middle of the road dancefloor based house and techno dowstairs. One guy in M2 played a fairly good technoish set with some nice wobbly subs but unfortunately no wonk. The other guy bored me. But yeah...the crowd was good, they had plenty of Jagermeister and I had a fun night.

It seems to me the 'culture' here is generally commercial and expensive. I'm yet to find any kind of event with anything resembling a DIY aesthetic and the scene to me seems quite unapproachable. Please note that this is largely an uneducated comment as I'm sure there is more going on here than I am aware of.

I've had a few conversations with people out and about and the majority have been quite clueless when it comes to electronic music (at least at the ends of the spectrum I tend to get enthusiastic about). I have met a couple of people that have been into what I consider interesting electronic music including a foreign DJ in Sinchon who was into quote: "IDM" even though his job required him to play rock and pop stuff.

Compared to what you may be used to it's likely you will find the 'scene' somewhat lacking in some obvious and not so obvious ways. Still it is possible to have fun so I guess make the most of what's available.

[Lizzie]

my idea for this is i brought asout 100 discs with and although it isn't vinyl-it will have to do-i am brand new to the Daegu area and as soon as i get my bearings i'm gonna see if i can find a place that might agree to one electronic night a wee, a month whatever- 2 cd players and a good sense of what flows together and bob yer uncle-beats korean pop. hook-up to limewire burn your own discs and you can probably find someone in seoul that is agreeable too. if it doesn't exist create it. good luck.

[re:cursive]

[tiger fancini]

Club Cargo at Hongdae does a monthly drum and bass session if thats your bag. Last month London Electricity guy DJ'd, and this month (this Saturday I think) DJ Patife will be on the one's and two's.