EDITORIAL: A little bit of K-rock
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omonatheydidWhen you mention Korean music to someone, they most likely come up with names as TVXQ, SNSD, Super Junior, Big Bang, and other big stars. When you mention Korean Rock, they'll give you FTIsland, CNBlue, and most likely Seo Taiji. But do they know of rock groups Pia, Guyz, Aile, Mate, Vanilla Unity, metalcore group Vassline, and even soloist Kim Sarang?
While the Korean showbiz is mainly about looks, addictive beats, and synchronized dancing these days, people seem to be forgetting that Korea has a pretty decent indie and underground rock scene. From soft rock to punk and music influenced by Japanese Visual Kei and metal, it's all there. There just aren't many people who know about it.
Just for fun, we'll be lining up a few of those rock stars in a few different genres for you to discover.
Guyz
Guyz was created in 1998 and put out its first real single "Get Away" in 2003. Another two singles followed and made way for their debut album "Diary" in 2006. After just one other single titled "You mean everything to me," they released their sophomore album "Like a Movie" in 2008. They then disappeared for a while and took their time to write for their next record, a special mini album which would come out in December 2009.
More recently, the four member group released their single "New Stage." This song was released in both Japanese and Korean as they're constantly either touring in Japan or Korea.
Their style can be best described as a mix of pop rock and alternative rock, with one release being a lot more mature than the other one.
Kim Sarang
Kim Sarang is a 29-year-old rocker who shares his name with one of Korea's most known models. He started off with music in the line of Seo Taiji's earliest solo work, and surprises his audience every now and then with his raw voice and occasional screams. He has become softer over the years, but he started his career at the age of 18 with his first album "I'm 18 years old," which had traces of nu-metal influence. He received a lot of attention for writing, composing, and producing his whole album. He also recorded all instruments by himself.
He has three albums up-to-date and a mini album called "Behind the Melody." His last release "Goodbye" was a single that came out in July of last year.
Moon Heejun
Most people are familiar with Moon Heejun as the variety show host or as the ex-H.O.T leader. Besides that, all that Heejun does kind of falls of the radar. Not many people even know he was in the sitcom "Taehee, Hyegyo, Jihyun" next to SHINee’s Taemin.
Ever since his previous band H.O.T stopped making music, he went for a completely different style. By writing and composing his own music and lyrics, he became a rock artist. A rather special one at that, with changing his style from pop music to a vocalist that occasionally screamed his lyrics. His first solo album "Alone" was released in 2001. He released four full length albums, a special album, a best of, and a mini album up to this date. His last mini album dates back to June 2009 and featured the soft rock song "Toy" as its title track.
Pia
Pia started out as a post-hardcore band which was very active in the underground rock scene. Over the years, they've become more experimental but they've still kept their own touch. Pia, which has a meaning of "Universe and I" or "You and I," was first set up in Busan in 1998. They became pretty popular with the release of their first album "[pia@Arrogant Empire]" in 2001 and even got the chance to warm up the crowd for Linkin Park's South Korean concert. They've released four full length albums and one mini album "Urban Explorer" over the past 10 years. It is said that they're working on new material.
They've worked together with many different artists such as Epik High, with whom they have performed a live version of Seo Taiji's track "Classroom Idea."
Vassline
For the people who like to have their occasional hardcore or metalcore music, there is Vassline. This group is a little harder than all of the other K-rock bands on this page, but it doesn’t mean they’re not good. They’re your typical Western metalcore band, only in Korean.
They have been playing since 1996. In 2005, the band won the Best Rock prize at the Korean Music Awards for their 2004 release, "Blood of Immortality." Their discography includes a demo, an EP, three full lengths, and a split-album.
Source: koreaboo, GUYZ, ComeAndHaveACoffee, yaminifurukiseki, nellhouse & orienkorean
If your looking for some more K-rock/metal then let me list some bands here: Schizo [rock], Blackhole [power metal], Dead Point [death metal], The Nuts [rock], Ares [black-metal]. And for a whole list of Korean metal bands go there
While the Korean showbiz is mainly about looks, addictive beats, and synchronized dancing these days, people seem to be forgetting that Korea has a pretty decent indie and underground rock scene. From soft rock to punk and music influenced by Japanese Visual Kei and metal, it's all there. There just aren't many people who know about it.
Just for fun, we'll be lining up a few of those rock stars in a few different genres for you to discover.
Guyz
Guyz was created in 1998 and put out its first real single "Get Away" in 2003. Another two singles followed and made way for their debut album "Diary" in 2006. After just one other single titled "You mean everything to me," they released their sophomore album "Like a Movie" in 2008. They then disappeared for a while and took their time to write for their next record, a special mini album which would come out in December 2009.
More recently, the four member group released their single "New Stage." This song was released in both Japanese and Korean as they're constantly either touring in Japan or Korea.
Their style can be best described as a mix of pop rock and alternative rock, with one release being a lot more mature than the other one.
Kim Sarang
Kim Sarang is a 29-year-old rocker who shares his name with one of Korea's most known models. He started off with music in the line of Seo Taiji's earliest solo work, and surprises his audience every now and then with his raw voice and occasional screams. He has become softer over the years, but he started his career at the age of 18 with his first album "I'm 18 years old," which had traces of nu-metal influence. He received a lot of attention for writing, composing, and producing his whole album. He also recorded all instruments by himself.
He has three albums up-to-date and a mini album called "Behind the Melody." His last release "Goodbye" was a single that came out in July of last year.
Moon Heejun
Most people are familiar with Moon Heejun as the variety show host or as the ex-H.O.T leader. Besides that, all that Heejun does kind of falls of the radar. Not many people even know he was in the sitcom "Taehee, Hyegyo, Jihyun" next to SHINee’s Taemin.
Ever since his previous band H.O.T stopped making music, he went for a completely different style. By writing and composing his own music and lyrics, he became a rock artist. A rather special one at that, with changing his style from pop music to a vocalist that occasionally screamed his lyrics. His first solo album "Alone" was released in 2001. He released four full length albums, a special album, a best of, and a mini album up to this date. His last mini album dates back to June 2009 and featured the soft rock song "Toy" as its title track.
Pia
Pia started out as a post-hardcore band which was very active in the underground rock scene. Over the years, they've become more experimental but they've still kept their own touch. Pia, which has a meaning of "Universe and I" or "You and I," was first set up in Busan in 1998. They became pretty popular with the release of their first album "[pia@Arrogant Empire]" in 2001 and even got the chance to warm up the crowd for Linkin Park's South Korean concert. They've released four full length albums and one mini album "Urban Explorer" over the past 10 years. It is said that they're working on new material.
They've worked together with many different artists such as Epik High, with whom they have performed a live version of Seo Taiji's track "Classroom Idea."
Vassline
For the people who like to have their occasional hardcore or metalcore music, there is Vassline. This group is a little harder than all of the other K-rock bands on this page, but it doesn’t mean they’re not good. They’re your typical Western metalcore band, only in Korean.
They have been playing since 1996. In 2005, the band won the Best Rock prize at the Korean Music Awards for their 2004 release, "Blood of Immortality." Their discography includes a demo, an EP, three full lengths, and a split-album.
Source: koreaboo, GUYZ, ComeAndHaveACoffee, yaminifurukiseki, nellhouse & orienkorean
If your looking for some more K-rock/metal then let me list some bands here: Schizo [rock], Blackhole [power metal], Dead Point [death metal], The Nuts [rock], Ares [black-metal]. And for a whole list of Korean metal bands go there
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Date: 2011-05-29 02:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-05-29 10:17 pm (UTC)