Łabandzi Śpiew: South Korea

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czwartek, 27 listopada 2025

Hand to Earth - Ŋurru Wäŋa (2025)

This is a special project, you can see it in the album title in Wáglilak language, you can see it in the multi-ethnic line-up and the music itself. The latter can be only described as world music meeting dark ambient and this thought alone would make me very excited to try these sounds.

There is a lot to read about the album (and I recommend doing so on the project's Bandcamp page), but the main things are that sense of belonging and the notion of home are the main themes here. This cannot be a surprise since the members of the projects come from very different places. However, whenever this happens, people very soon discover that it doesn't matter at all as their home can easily encompass entire planet.

There are Korean poems and singing in one of the native Australian tongues that represent the folk/world music part and the minimalist, dark but also quite surprisingly uplifting and soothing backgrounds that add up to the ambient part of the music. The effects are mesmerizing, especially that they are fueled by the use of various (and so different from each other) instrument as the music here is "written in the scribble of electronics, in the sighs of the clarinet and trumpet, in the broad brush strokes of the yidaki, and the snap of the bilma" (kudos to those of you who know what those are, I didn't).

Ŋurru Wäŋa costs 9 USD.

Check: Gaḏayka

Country: Australia, South Korea

Genre: dark world music

Label: Room40

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Syupeo Jenjang - 이런 젠장 (2021)

wtorek, 12 sierpnia 2025

신윤수 - Wherever (2025)

Another proof that shoegaze music fits so well into the Asian scene that serves as a real hub for the beautiful, noisy music. For Korean artist 신윤수, Wherever is the third short EP in her discography filled with the perfect balance between the soft and airy and the loud and heavy.

"Crafting emotionally textured soundscapes rooted in solitude, memory, and motion", the Korean musician is deeply rooted in the genre's 90s original sound, but adds the contemporary sound quality and the overall good flow. Like in the fantastic old table and its flowing backing vocals that drive the whole composition. It's melodic enough but the artist doesn't over do it: it's not twee, it's not indie pop, it's a real guitar banger of an EP with airiness and ethereality woven inside.

Especially when the album looses all the breaks when it comes to the guitar noise. It's not a coincidence that there's post-rock mentioned in the description. I just wish it was longer: the album and the tracks themselves, I feel like they don't reach the whole potential before they're cut short.

Wherever costs 10 USD.

Check: old table

Country: South Korea

Genre: melodic shoegaze

Label: THE VAULT

środa, 5 lutego 2025

FOG - fogesque II & III

I feel like recently, shoegaze from South Korea is defined by solo acts who are more into the bedroom pop-side of the noisy genre than the fully fleshed-out bands. FOG is the latter so I had to check them out (I remember their first album, but it was soo long ago! (I mean five years)). And the level of pure noisy guitars is just fantastic.

The band released two full-length albums pretty much at the same time, so I will post about both. fogesque II and fogesque III have pretty much the same vibes and can be treated as one, long and loud whole. The first thing you notice is that it's not your hi-fi, high-brow, "let's make the tiniest notes audible" kind of music. It is extremely noisy with this lo-fi guitar noise that can easily overwhelm you if you listen loud enough. The notion of the garage music can probably be applied here.

But the noise is definitely the only appealing aspect of the releases. The band is very fluent at creating particularly airy segments (like the end of Facade, probably my favourite track here), but it probably shouldn't be surprising given the band's name. Overall, I'd say that the first album of the two is better, the songs are more compelling and involving. Still, both are worth trying, that's for sure.

fogesque II costs 7 USD, fogesque III costs 7 USD.

Check: Facade

Country: South Korea

Genre: garage shoegaze

czwartek, 1 czerwca 2023

BrokenTeeth - 추락은 천천히 (How to Sink Slowly) (2023)

The lo-fi Korean noise pop/shoegaze music seems to be a genre on its own recently. With many artists and albums well-received by the worldwide deep alternative music society, it's a force to be aware of. One of its representatives is 김민하, better known as BrokenTeeth who comes back with his second album called 추락은 천천히 (How to Sink Slowly).

And BrokenTeeth offers something I appreciate more than the other artists like Parannoul: it's less noisy and nerve-wracking in the lo-fi way and more flawlessly melodic and melancholic. The flow of his compositions is unbelievable and so the not-so-short album feels like a short minute of pure ethereal beauty. The non-overwhelming music feels like an accompaniment to the extremely soft vocals in most places, but there is certain rock-like guitar-fueled energy within this sea of ethereal haze.

추락은 천천히 (How to Sink Slowly) costs whatever you want to pay.

Check: Sunset Strike

Country: South Korea

Genre: Korean dream pop

Label: POCLANOS

środa, 30 listopada 2022

Syupeo Jenjang - LP (2022)

The mysterious artist from South Korea but residing in Germany (I think) is back. He makes his music systematically and it always is a good quality noise rock and shoegaze blend. It's no different on his September album simply called LP.

The sound the artist creates is clearly established: it's noisy in the backgrounds, the guitars sound is clear and loud and the vocals dispersed and mysterious. The compositions are also particularly melodic while not of a standard length in places: Mother Earth is over 20 minutes long but it still easy to hum. I love how spacious the noise he generates feels. Listening to For a Better Life, for example, makes you think the guitar loudness creeps on you from every directions and it's so easy to get drowned in this beautiful and airy loudness.

LP costs 4 EUR.

Syupeo Jenjang - 슈퍼 젠장 (2021)

Check: For a Better Life

Country: South Korea/Germany

Genre: noise rock

czwartek, 24 listopada 2022

푸른 산 - 님의 침묵 (2022)

Coming from the Korean city of Incheon, 푸른 산 (Puleun San) is a post-rock band who released "an album from the heart" which is supposed to "celebrate beauty, peace and nostalgia". And 님의 침묵 presents an interesting take on instrumental music.

I feel it may be the Korean specialty as 푸른 산is not the first artist here who makes post-rock music as if it was supposed to be a shoegaze background, just waiting for some airy vocals. The overall structure of the fast and not that long compositions as well as their effect-heavy and dense nature, suggest some kind of influence coming from the shoegaze icons of the 90s. Still, I can't say that the band's music feels deficient without the vocals, I'm saying that this post-rock's flavour hits different than usually and I must say it is a compliment.

The interesting fact is that the album's title translates to "silence" while its content is everything but quiet music. The most impressive example of the loud music the Koreans create is the album's longest track 님의 침묵 that uses its whole length to overwhelm the audience in the best possible way.

님의 침묵 costs whatever you want to pay.

Check: 님의 침묵

Country: South Korea

Genre: shoegaze-like post-rock

Isahi - Nisahilism (2016)

piątek, 4 marca 2022

Isahi - extromantic (2022)

6 years after I posted about his debut album Nisahilism and fours years after Diluted Self-portrait, the South Korean artist known as Isahi is back with another exciting album. Extromantic follows the path of the neoclassicism-induced heavy post-rock/post-metal music that is as beautiful as it is destructive.

Isahi's music is clearly guitar-oriented but what makes it extremely attractive is the heavy use of synths - this combination situates him somewhere around Heave a Nice Life and the blackgaze community with Unreqvited as a perfect example. Especially that, although the artist's music is mainly instrumental, there are post-metal's withdrawn and distorted screams audible, giving some of the desperate violence to the overall synthy and smooth compositions. The artist uses those and many more means to create diverse and attention-grabbing songs with Anorexia as perfect example: loud and tear-jerking synthy passages, post-metal screaming and sudden changes of pace ornamented with piano-like sounds and samples make it a track that is difficult to be indifferent to. The fact that it is followed by almost exclusively piano-based For Those Who Drown in Me makes it only more stunning. The album goes on and on, it's almost an hour long, but the artist made sure that the audience is not bored even for a second and this is probably the most important thing.

Extromantic costs whatever you want to pay.

Check: Anorexia

Country: South Korea

Genre: synth-heavy blackgaze

czwartek, 10 lutego 2022

Syupeo Jenjang - 이런 젠장 (2021)

The mysterious Korean artist is back at it! The Syupeo Jenjang project released their debut album 슈퍼 젠장 in June last year only to proceed with another two well-crafted noise-filled releases in autumn and winter. If this means that every season we get a new dose of noise from them, I'm in! Especially that이런 젠장 doesn't disappoint in the slightest.

Apparently, the title translates to "Damn It" and i have to say, damn, is this album noisy. The guitars feel absolutely overwhelming, turning the dispersed vocals into some kind of irrelevant ornamentation. The main thing is always about the instrumental noise. It is raw and coarse for the most part, the lo-fi vibes are all over the place and make listening to this album like a trip to the artist's garage for an unscheduled rehearsal. It's so loud and textured that you can almost touch the sound that appears all over you. This is complimented by the long passage of drones that very fittingly closes the album in The End. End that mischievously turn into a fine post scriptum with a hidden, melodic song afterwards. As said before, I'm up to anything the Korean project offers, but judging from the track titles and the companion single called ., this may be the last time we hear from them sadly.

이런 젠장 costs 4 EUR.

Syupeo Jenjang - 슈퍼 젠장 (2021)

Check: The End

Country: South Korea

Genre: noise rock

środa, 3 listopada 2021

Wings of the ISANG - The Borderline Between Hope and Despair (2021)

There is something in the Korean/Japanese heavy music that makes it very recognizable. It's no different for Wings of the ISANG, the Seoul-based quartet who create some very atmospheric and pretty heavy post-rock music. For their debut release they were awarded with the Korea Music Awards for Best Modern Rock Album. Their second album is called The Borderline Between Hope and Despair and can be admired since September.

The album makes a "story about the inner side of 'I(Ego)', who cannot belong anywhere" with all of the introvert themes and contemplation moments there should be. This is achieved, however, mostly with loud and heavy guitars sounds that create the thick and dark atmosphere that is only strengthen by the vocals that can be both super ethereal and emotional at the same time (especially the female vocals provided by Aseul). This makes me think of Crippled Black Phoenix or Blanket - a clearly post-rock outfit but with very prog/rock-like vocals. Wings of the ISANG add to this an unbelievable level of emotions (like in Home), from time to time sounding almost like in classic singing.

I love the way this album seems to go on endlessly. The compositions are long and they take their time to develop from subtle guitar tunes into raging post-rock passages. Especially in the longest tracks like the classically heavy metal-like mesmerizing bits of No Longer Human and the super epic finish in Eternity. Coming back to the Far East heavy music's uniqueness - on this album, you can find some of MONO's massiveness and World's End Girlfriend's darkness, but in truth, the band's work feels very unique on its own.

The Borderline Between Hope and Despair costs 12 USD.

Check: One day, the sky that I stood still and looked at while walking on the crosswalk in front of Dunchon-dong Station

Country: South Korea

Genre: vocal dark post-rock

Label: LOCH Arts & Music

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wtorek, 26 października 2021

WatchCamp September-October'21 with Lumari, Midsommar, The Never Not, stars on fire, XIX

Lumari - Doors and Corners

A Minnesota-based debut; the noisy pop band shows that they know how to create melodic and loud music with their first single delivering some interesting airy and atmospheric pop with super fun chorus and angelic-like vocals. The single costs 1 USD.

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Midsommar - Summer's Over

This new Polish band released two singles so far and one thing is certain: the capital city-based band already enriches the fairly narrow dream pop scene here, with the extremely ethereal compositions with thick atmosphere and Alia Fay's beautiful vocals. The debut EP is coming very, very soon. The single costs whatever you want to pay.

The Never Not - Thorn Resistance

A well-crafted guitar post-rock music, this is what the audience can find on the Russian project's third single ever. Artiom Kurylow shows here some interesting instrumental sounds with particularly mighty guitar and a good piece of noisy finish. The single costs whatever you want to pay.

stars on fire - Ready, Steady, Go!

Lo-fi bedroom gaze without much of the twee-like happiness but with tons of atmosphere enchanted in the whisper-like vocals and lively but non-overwhelmingly noisy instruments. Listeners will find the melodies very charming and that alone can be the best point about the South Korean artist's music. The two tracks cost 5 USD.

XIX - Arcobaleni / Neve

The young Italian electronic music artist Marco Anulli gives us his new single with two tracks created with the experimental and noisy vibes in mind. They both feel fresh and curiously complex and at the same time present moody, almost ethereal, atmosphere. The two tracks cost whatever you want to pay.

poniedziałek, 23 sierpnia 2021

Syupeo Jenjang - 슈퍼 젠장 (2021)

This album is such a mystery. A short album available only on Bandcamp, released by an unknown artist from Korea but at the same time surprising with the quality of music inside, it is something that has to be mentioned on the blog. Syupeo Jenjang's debut EP called 슈퍼 젠장 shows everything the fans of noisy music may want.

The album's title translates to... "Super Damn" if you want to believe online translators. But yes, this exactly reflects my feelings after listening to the release. It is amazing how noisy in the best way possible it is. The light and airy vocals are sparse and almost instantly get lost within the storms of guitar noise that dominate the EP. You can easily hear inspirations from My Bloody Valentine (especially in the album's opening in 슈퍼 젠장) but in general, the artist is more into heavier, more poignant guitar music (just listen to the finish of Day and its drums) with very much rock-like vibes while it doesn't mean they give up on the airy feeling around it.

It is particularly impressive in the last track. Enough Performance to Educate makes an almost-15-minutes-long passage of noise rock soundscape with long, satisfying solos but also quite surprising changes of pace and melody. What a great debut it is.

슈퍼 젠장 costs whatever you want to pay.

Check: Enough Performance to Educate

Country: South Korea

Genre: noise rock

poniedziałek, 28 grudnia 2020

WatchCamp November-December'20 with Ashkan Beheshti, IMKORPO & DEATH TRASHER, Mr. Lazy, Obelia Waxwing, Pelts EN

Ashkan Beheshti - The Message

What a beautiful music! On one hand, quite a handful of ingredients: dark ambient mixed with samples, sacral choirs and neoclassical keys, on the other, the whole thing is put together so tastefully you can't say it's chaotic, quite the contrary: dark and minimal. The two tracks cost whatever you want to pay.

IMKORPO & DEATH TRASHER - TIRO

IMKORPO is a multimedia artist out of California, known for cooperation with Pussy Riots, DEATH TRASHER is a producer from Argentina. Together they created a single that makes me think one thing: good trap with Ghostemane and Scarlxrd's vibes is always welcome. The single costs 1 USD.

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Mr. Lazy - The Savichevs Are Dead

Project from a Korean artist Jimi Kim and this post-rock track inspired by Tanya Savicheva, the author of a diary depicting the horror of the siege of Stalingrad. The atmosphere and the gloomy music together with a similar topics make me think of this year's album from Besides.The single costs whatever you want to pay.

Obelia Waxwing - Morae Rally / Island on Fire

Project created as a response to "discrimination, inequality and the continuation of failing systems"w in Australia. The Rebecca Williams - Dermot Seller duo creates an uneasy experimental pop filled with deformed, spine-thrilling sounds but also industrial, mesmerizing atmosphere. Two songs cost 4 USD.

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Pelts - London Runner

Indie rock band from Glasgow and their lively though not super loud music. Very engaging single, mesmerizing and slightly unnerving. The band that you should have on your radars. Two tracks cost 1 GBP.

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czwartek, 25 czerwca 2020

Desert Flower - 사막꽃 (Desert Flower) (2020) EN

Korean band Desert Flower, who up for now had only a not so great demo released, now shows their real debut EP called 사막꽃 (Desert Flower). And it was worth waiting for them as the raw post-rock there is admirable.

"We talk about love, dream about the future, and embrace the universe", that's what the artists have to say abouth themselves. And indeed, this ecstasy towards the reality around them is heard in the enthusiastic, energetic and expressive post-rock. Quite raw-sounding guitars and some imperfections producing-wise are skillfully turned into mesmerizing dose of noise and feelings. The guitar sounds attack the audience in waves and the rawness and lack of refinement make us feel as if during an explosive live gig and in this way can be considered great advantages.

All that I said doesn't mean that the Koreans can't build up atmosphere in their music, one of the wonderfully created compositions can be found in the album's finish in The Universe Part ii (Unsaid) with an impressive ending. Full of potential.

사막꽃 (Desert Flower) costs 5 USD.

Check: Time Traveler (From Desert To Grasslands)

Country: South Korea

Genre: raw post-rock

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wtorek, 21 stycznia 2020

Monotheism - Reveal (2019) EN

It's not MONO although geographically and musically speaking it's not far. Monotheism is a trio hailing from South Korea that play exceptionally guitar and impressive post-rock. As they do on the album released in the final days of the last year and called Reveal.

Their music is supposed to "expresses a special mood which indicates one’s spiritual existence in between light and darkness". To do that, the musicians use mostly whining, and wheezing guitars generating an exceptionally raw noise. Especially in Infinite Wave but to be honest each of their tracks is a huge dose of adrenaline in the post-rock but also heavy-metal/doom-metal/psychedelic style. It sounds probably the best in There Was Nothing in Heaven, perhaps because it has the most post-rock-like composition that keeps the track together. In any case - huge plus.

Reveal costs 7.50 USD.

Check: There Was Nothing in Heaven

Country: South Korea

Genre: raw guitar post-rock

piątek, 2 sierpnia 2019

Eyre Llew / In the Endless Zanhyang We Are - Carrier EP (2019) EN

The British Eyre Llew is known for their frequent tours in the Far East. No wonder then that their last EP is a split with a lesser known Korean In the Endless Zanhyang We Are. Carrier, not only for this reason, is worth checking out.

Another thing the British are famous for is their mix of post-rock and more classic indie rock. And this fantastically melancholic, high-pitched voice of Sam Heaton, that is automatically juxtaposed with Scandinavian music (from Sigur Róś and VAR to Mew). This blend got me during their great gig at Soundrive Festival and listening of their awesome album Atelo. Silo and Bloc, the two tracks on the split album, prove everything they can be liked for.

The third song, recorded together with In the Endless Zanhyang We Are, is lead by the female vocalist of the latter. The Asian band makes more rock music, but there's still a lot of post-rock mood in it, while the delicate and extremely pleasant vocal adds some of the shoegaze vibes. And what they did in the finish of the last song, And So It, makes me think that they even outdid their more famous friends from Europe.

Carrier costs 7 GBP.

Check: And So It

Country: UK/South Korea

Genre: post-rocking art rock

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sobota, 13 lipca 2019

Jambinai - ONDA (2019) EN

The Korean Jambinai made a surprising entrance in Poland thanks to their amazing gig at OFF Festival in 2016. Now the phenomenal Asians are back with one of the candidates for the best post-rock album of the year. While Pillars from the last week's post are front-runners here, ONDA can be the proverbial black horse.

The album is opened by the familiar crying of haegum. Just as in their other works, the post-rockers are again all in with Korean folk instruments that are exotic but also absolutely fitting to the energetic instrumental music they do. As said by Lee Il-woo, playing guitar and p'iri spokesman of the band, "most people expect Asian traditional music to make something smooth for yoga or meditation, we wanted to break all of that.”

The surprising thing here the amount of vocals on the album. While the band never said no to those, ONDA makes the singing/instruments ratio different. Especially when you take a look on Sun. Tears. Red and its... almost rapping fragments. And as there's a ot of emotions in those, you can feel like listening to trap metal played with live instruments. But the vocals are at their best in the title track ONDA with its epically monumental finish closing the whole album.

ONDA costs 7 GBP.

Check: ONDA

Country: South Korea

Genre: folk post-rock

poniedziałek, 25 lutego 2019

WatchCamp February - Brass Box, FOG, Minor Movements, Sirati Dharma, Spark the Forest (2019) EN

Brass Box - Rivers

Quartet lead by Ammo Bankoff and a single with extremely melodic and atmospheric shoegaze. It seems to be more coming, fingers crossed for the Californians. The single costs 1 USD.

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FOG - Shine / DreamingDreamingDreaming

Debutants from South Korea showing some crushingly loud but also very graceful shoegaze. The trio is led by an artist known as Gyungwon who still... attend a high school. Talent to be envied. Two tracks cost 2 USD.

Minor Movements - We Dreamed to Each Other

In March their debut album is going to be released but now we can taste the appetizer in the form of this atmospheric single. The Nebraska band shows their climatic but also pretty march-like track. It costs 1 USD.

Sirati Dharma feat. Ray Marshall - Black Pond

Debutants from Indonesia with music that is so mature and so good that they do't sound like ones. Loud and psychedelic shoegaze with howling vocals and intriguing vocals. The long album should be out soon. The single costs 1 USD.

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Spark the Forest - The Suffering in Erosion

Inspired by both Hans Zimmer and If These Trees Could Talk musicians from Chicago come back with new material after two years since the last minialbum. As could be guessed, it's some cinematic post-rock of the best quality. The single can be yours for whatever you pay.