The Underrated

Donawhale

L-R: Jung Da-young, Yoo Jin-young, Kim Min-joon, Yoon Sung-hoon

Who are they?

     Donawhale is an alternative rock band from South Korea.  They began as a quartet of guitarist Yoon Sung-hoon, bassist Jung Da-young, pianist and vocalist Yoo Jin-young, and drummer Kim Min-joon.  Despite being structured as a typical rock band with “two guitars, keyboards, bass, drums, [and a] girl singer”, Donawhale separates themselves from the masses with their capabilities of “writing layered, textured, beautiful alternative pop rock songs”.

    Four years after the creation of the band, Donawhale released their first self-titled album Donawhale.  It was an exceptional album with songs ranging from “pseudo-ballads to even-tempo pop rock”.  It solidified the band as an exception in the indie scene as they not only use strong acoustic sounds, but also accompanying instrumental samples.  

     In 2009 Donawhale’s drummer, Kim Min-joon , left the band for early retirement due to personal reasons.  The band continued on as a trio and in the same year they released their second album, Dive to Blue.  Unfortunately, after their second album the band has been on an indefinite hiatus that still lingers today.   Guitarist Yoon Sung Hoon has started a “solo project called auhm before recently starting Modsdive”.   However, there has been no other news of the other members on re- entering the music scene, which is quite unfortunate considering their musical talents.

The Music

     Doawhale’s music is often described as soft with a “repertoire [that] masterfully draws the viewer into this dream world full of haze and sounds that feel just right”.  Even though the music seems to “play in the background”, it has the ability to grab the listener’s attention when changes in the “melody are picked up”. With the addition of “Yoo Jin-young’s soft, husky voice”, Donawhale’s tunes leave the listener with a memorable experience.

     So the first song I'd like to introduce is Bye Bye Waltz.  This song is written in the classic 3/4 time signature, the typical beat for a waltz.  However, Donawhale manages to create a whole different atmosphere to the songs.  Unlike the sound of a typical rock band, the song focuses solely on acoustics.  The acoustic guitar keeps the rhythmic 3/4 time beat while a brass instrument comes into fill it out along with a piano.  The vocals further emphasize the lullaby-esque feeling of the song.

     This next song by Donawhale is off of their first album and it's called Echo, which is a very befitting name for it.  The song uses a repetitive pattern of tones.  This is further emphasized around the two and a half minute mark as the song focuses on the repeating melody of the guitar.  And if you listen close enough in the background another repeating tone is present and is a sort of "echo".  Despite the heavy repetition, the song stays interesting and it's hard to pull away.

So what do you think of Donawhale?

Sources

http://seoulbeats.com/2013/03/k-pop-indie-gem-donawhale/

http://www.koreanindie.com/2012/06/29/introduction-donawhale/

http://www.last.fm/music/Donawhale

http://www.thesirenssound.com/2010/03/24/donawhale/
http://indiefulrok.blogspot.ca/2009/08/mini-interview-with-donawhale.html
http://www.sundrypictures.com/2010/11/music-crush-donawhale.html

Love + Addiction = Loveholic

Loveholic

L-R: Jae-hak Lee, Ji-seon, Hyeon-min Kang

Who are they?

     In April of 2002, guitarist Hyeon-min Kang and bassist Jae-hak Lee joined together to form the Korean indie-rock band Loveholic.  The duo later held an audition for a lead vocalist and eventually recruited Ji-seon as their front woman.

     Unfortunately, there isn’t much information on each single member, unless you have a solid comprehension of Hangul (which I don’t).  From what I could find, guitarist Hyeon-min Kang is the composer for the band and is also the ‘second’ vocalist.  He used to part of a, now defunct, male duo called Ilgiyebo (which means weather forecast).  Back in 2001, he attempted a solo album.  Outside of Loveholic, Hyeon-min Kang has produced music for various K-pop artists.  He has also lent his musical expertise for many film scores. 

     And it seems like writing film scores is a popular pastime in Loveholic.  Bassist Jae-hak Lee is the main songwriter and used to be part of a band called The Elephant.  He has also composed many songs for movie soundtracks such as the 2009 film "National Team" aka "Take-Off". 

     Regrettably, I could not find much information on Ji-seon.  She had been singing at clubs in Hongdae, Seoul before joining Loveholic.

     Since then, Loveholic has come to produce four full lengths albums.  Many of their songs have been included in the “official soundtracks of many popular dramas and movies, including Boys Over Flowers, 200 Pounds of Beauty, Coffee Prince, My Name Is Kim Sam Soon, and Spring Waltz with the song ”One Love”.  Lead singer, Ji-seon, has also been featured in the songs of many other artists including Epik High.

     Unfortunately, Loveholic came to an end in 2007 when the lead singer, Ji-seon, parted ways with the band.  Since then, Ji-seon has pursued her own solo career while the guitar duo has decided to keep the Loveholic project alive.  The band has since remained a duo and has been renamed to Loveholics.  They released their first full length album, In the Air, under the Loveholics name in September 2009.

The Music

Loveholic’s music covers a wide range of styles "from the fun and easy going to the serious, and lyrically emotional". It's not hard to see why Loveholic was a popular band, despite being in the indie scene. Hyun-min and Jae-hak are exceptional guitarists with a great talent for music composition and Ji Sun’s voice is "well toned and powerful at times–her vocals compliment the smooth musical compositions of the much of Loveholic’s work". 

     This song is called Superstar.  It's a very mellow yet cheery song.  The harmonious timbre of the guitars compliments nicely with Ji Sun's airy voice.  The song was actually used for the movie, 200 Pound Beauty. It's a pretty interesting Korean comedy about "an overweight girl who undergoes extreme plastic surgeries to become a pop sensation".

    This next song is my favourite one by Loveholic; it's called Shinkirou (meaning Mirage).  In contrast with the first song, it's much slower and very melancholic.  But it exemplifies Loveholic's ability to craft beautiful and emotional songs without any need for extravagance.

Sources

http://seoulbeats.com/2012/01/k-pop-indie-gem-loveholic/

http://blogminor.blogspot.ca/2012/03/loveholic-band-albums-skorea.html

http://asianwiki.com/Loveholic_%28South_Korea%29

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loveholic

A Musical Kalediscope

Guckkasten

L-R: Lee Jung-gil, Ha Hyun-woo, Kim Ki-bum, Jeon Kyu-ho

 

Who are they?

     Guckkasten is a Korean rock band of five members with lead vocalist Ha Hyun-woo, guitarist Jeon Kyu-ho, drummer Lee Jung-gil, and bassist Kim Ki-bum.  Although they are a Korean band, their name Guckkasten is actually a German word.  It means Chinese-style kaleidoscope, which is quite befitting of the bands musical style. 

     Similar to how a kaleidoscope creates abstract patterns with light and perception, their “music and message seem to put pieces of dreams and nightmares together [to create] unexplained feelings and experiences”.   Hyun-woo also stated that “Even though I’m just a band making music, the fact that I can express such psychedelic sounds from analog, basic sounds would be better articulated through this name. “

     Much of their music has a surrealist feel to it, with many song including lyrics (written by Hyun-woo himself) about the reflections on human nature.  Hence, Guckkasten’s music is often described as psychedelic.  Many of them have been inspired by overseas musicians such as Arcade Fire, Joe Satriani, Metallica and Red Hot Chili Peppers.  These influences have had a major impact on the sound of their music.  It tends to be very experimental with hints of “metal, Latin sounds, crazy synths, a slightly jazzy feel and small doses of pop”.

     Here is an unfortunate incident the band experienced.  After releasing their self-titled debut album, Guckkasten finally received a fair amount of money.  However, they actually lost the hard disk drive containing the original album.  But after being appointed Korean culture ambassadors to Japan, they were forced to re-record the album.  This time around though, they decided to record at a better facility.  Sound-wise all the instruments were record much more clearly, but in return renting the studio left a huge dent in their wallets.  Like it was massive.  They were “speechless for about three seconds when [they] got the bill”.  Guckkasten’s passion for music literally emptied their wallets.

     Representing a highly understated genre in Korean music, Guckkasten has helped greatly in the growth of indie music.  They have become a critically acclaimed band and are considered one of Korea’s greatest rock bands.

The Music

     This song by Guckkasten is called Manicure.  The lyrics are here if you want to check them out.  The subject of the song is "an impure love story about his condition".  Although there are seldom lyrics, the singer sings them with a very powerful voice.  There is a slight rasp to his voice and the control of his vocals is evidence of his opera training.  As well, the instrumentals of the song are very multilayered, with a catchy bridge of guitar and bass harmonizations, "with the drums being the final touch".  

     This second song is quite interesting.  Called Red Field, it is about humanity's "
insatiable desire to have it all, from sinful pleasure to pure redemption".  To make this point more clearer, they actually included piece of Hitler's speech.  It sounds really bizarre, but it represents that "an uncompromising power-achiever can fall due to the ideology that got him there in the first place".

      So that was Guckkasten.   Hopefully, you'll check out more from this band.

Sources

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guckkasten

http://seoulbeats.com/2012/09/k-pop-indie-gem-guckkasten/
http://www.asiae.co.kr/news/view.htm?sec=ent9&idxno=2010081811551829571