K-rock review: Sanulrim Vol. 1

Sanulrim's 1st LP (1978)

Sanulrim should've been written about sooner because I've played them more than any other Korean rock group as of late. Their swirling organs and fuzz guitar make an excellent combo. And what's above is true: Play track 1 side 1 of their 1st album, "Ah! Already?" below and hear for yourself:

The groove and melody attack immediately, eh? To me, the groups genius lies in how they took what would have been two-and-a-half minute singles and stretched them into longer '70s-style jams. What sounds like senseless indulgence and repetition isn't: The songs breathe. Maybe the band felt the same way because all of the songs on their debut run past the three minute mark. The tempos vary between ballad and uptempo, but the organs prevail.

Anyone who likes older pop and rock would enjoy these guys. Their first three albums got reissued as a combo package of CDs and SACDs recently, but I think it's gone out of print because it was a limited edition. Youtube has many of their songs though.

Despite the 1978 recording date, the production veers closer to 1966 due to the limitations of Korea's recording studios at the time. It sounds out of time because of

My Korean isn't good enough to understand everything in the lyrics, but most songs deal with pop topic mainstays like summer romances and unrequited love.

The blog Ghost Capital wrote about the group here.
A biography and review of their albums here.

An unintended absence, some tunes, and a big piece of news

Taking over a month off from blogging here was never part of the plan. It simply happened because the activities of the day precluded writing anything. Not that I didn't want to write anything, or that there wasn't anything to write about, there was no time to write it. Or there wasn't time enough to write it well. So it goes.

As I type this, it's the evening of Easter Sunday. Sanulrim's (산울림 ) rocking  3rd LP has concluded and I'm wondering which song of theirs to play again. I played all their first three albums today and have been deliberating on which of them is the best. But I digress--Sanulrim and other K-rock will grace a future post. I brought them up because every post here should have something of use to the world, and goodness knows that my saying "Yeah, life's busy" is too prosaic to go up here by itself. So there's that.

Sanulrim's grooving music also keeps me from thinking too much about the recent Jeju ferry disaster and the high school students who drowned. Those kids are in my thoughts. The poor souls, they were undoubtedly on their way to great things.

New York Times: Divers Begin Bringing Bodies Out of Capsized Ferry

CNN: As anger grows, prosecutor says captain not at helm when South Korea ferry sank