Krock 4: Chang Ki-ha and Faces

Another group I need to get some records from!

Chang Kiha & Faces (장기하와 얼굴들), "싸구려 커피" (Ssaguryeo Keopi/"Cheap Coffee")

From the Youtube post:

The song is about the "880000 Won generation", or the Korean people in their 20~30s right now who, thanks to some pretty terrible labor law practices, can only get part time jobs or internship that, if lucky, pays about 880000 won ($880) a month. So they live in terrible apartments (with damp flooring made out of vinyl) and can only afford to drink 'cheap coffee' while having nothing to do all day.

KPOP SUBCATEGORY
there are many other genres of music in korea, simply kpop may refer to the idol musics bands like snsd, bigbang, wondergirls etc,,, but these types of korean music is called korean indie or K-INDIE

I've heard the term "880,000won Generation" before. It refers to the amount of money that many twenty-something Koreans earn per month.

Jang's lyrics ring true in my experience. I haven't known too many Koreans who are in this spot, but his lyrics can apply to plenty of people I knew back home in Milwaukee. He's right to note the damn vinyl floor coverings in the apartments here. They can get sticky at times. Most apartments have vinyl flooring that's made to look like wood paneling. My place has it too. The song's about more than cheap coffee--it's about the loneliness and the frustration of having nothing to do but sit around. I've been there a few times in the past, especially in Milwaukee. I wasn't poor or anything, but there were times when there wasn't any money to spend that day because I needed to buy groceries or needed to pay the bills.

Also, I've written before about coffee in Korea. Cheap coffee does indeed taste cheap, and though I enjoy coffee every morning, I couldn't tell you too much about this blend or that blend. Most of it tastes similar, but the French roasts and the breakfast blends tend to go down quite well.

Note the excellent recurring descending guitar lick!

Chang Kiha & Faces, 별일 없이 산다 – 장("I live in peace"/Byeolil Eobsi Sanda)

A good driving rock song with some snaking bass lines. I bet it’d be even better live because the clean production saps away some of the song’s power. It sounds good and clear, but sometimes more grit is needed. Another one to look up the words for.

"그렇고 그런 사" / "A Twosome"

Awesome retro surf guitar here! Bouncy and fun to play. Call it a rock and roll cousin to Secret's "Move."

To end the post on a funny note, here's "I've Watched TV," a funny number about--you guessed it!--watching TV. It has a catchy piano melody and some slow ringing guitar in it. Enjoy!

Cover of 1st album. This is a good look at the clustered and compressed neighborhoods typical of Seoul.

Cover of 2nd album

More info here:

Taipei Times article about 880,000 won generation

D-voice's editorial

Dong-a Daily's "The lie of the 880,000 won generation"

HanCinema feature and interview

CNN: Three South Korean Indie Bands to Watch

Krock: Shin Joong-hyun and Yup Juns - Volume 2

This one’s much shorter and not as adventurous as its predecessor. As the story goes, Shin was approached by the Park Chung-hee administration about writing a song that praised the regime and he declined to do it. He instead wrote the song “Beautiful Mountains and Rivers,” (“아름다운 강산”) a loping psychedelic ode to the Korea’s beautiful landscapes. As The Shame Threshold blog writes,

The song is pretty epic. The version on this album is one of the shorter ones I have come across, clocking in at 7:56. Most versions of the song seem to hover around 8-10 minutes long.  While the version on Vol. 2 is probably my least favorite and most straight forward, it is still an amazing accomplishment and it is no wonder SJH continued to rework and revisit this song throughout his career. The song is punctuated by long, groovy psychout guitar solos, beautiful vocals, and a wonderfully circular song structure.  The song conjures images of Korean hippies spinning around atop a beautiful pastoral hillside until they fall down only to stay on the ground and stare at shape shifting clouds.”

“Beautiful Mountains and Rivers” is indeed an expansive and pretty number. The ending of it is particularly interesting because it sounds as though the track’s skipping, but it’s just the group grooving on the closing riffs. The rest of the album can’t measure up though. Aside from the closing song, the closing ballad “I” (“나”) the other six songs sound uninspired and lack the rhythmic twists and turns of the earlier songs. It’s as if the group was under pressure to deliver tone down their delivery. The songs aren’t necessarily bad, but they’re perfunctory. Maybe Shin and his crew lacked ideas? Maybe they were too spent after crafting “Beautiful Mountains and Rivers”? Since G-Market sells this cheap, the ~$6 cost makes up for the brevity and the dip in quality. The opening and closing songs make up for the lackluster inner tracks.

As a side note, Shin later rerecorded an expanded version “Beautiful Mountains” with the group Music Power (뮤직 파워). It has a lusher sound with horns and pianos. The background vocals add a nice touch of warmth as well. Shin plays a driving rhythm guitar on it and leaves the soloing to the other instruments and singers.

I’m not sure which is the better version, for both have their merits. The rocker in me tends to go for the stripped down original version, but the pop fan likes the revised Music Power take on it.

아름다운 강산 Areum Daun Gangsan /"Beautiful Mountains and Rivers" 

"뭉치자" / Mungchija

Source: http://shamethreshold.blogspot.kr/2008/12/shin-jung-hyun-yup-yuns-vol2.html