London Korean Links

Covering things Korean in London and beyond since 2006

K-indie on BBC World Service

Danpyunsun and the Sailors
Danpyunsun and the Sailors joke with Bernie Cho

Bernie Cho of DFSB Kollective (@DFSB_Kollective) presented a 50-minute programme for BBC World Service Radio this weekend highlighting some of the freshest indie sounds from Korea. Bernie interviews all the musicians and we get a few videos as well on the BBC website. The playlist is as follows:

  • Goonam: Jangdan, from their 2011 album Woojung Motel
  • Neon Bunny: Blue, an upcoming single which combines the sounds of the shamisen with samples of the old-style Korean singer Hyeon-mi, who Neon Bunny describes as a “Korean Ella Fitzgerald or Billie Holliday”
  • Danpyunsun and the Sailors:  High and Low, from their 2016 album Shofar.
  • Jeong Ga Ak Hoe: Yeom’yangchun. As a bonus extra (not broadcast, but available online) the band recorded on camera a performance of Wolsun’s Folding. There’s a video of Yeom’yangchun too.
  • Yoonmirae: JamCome on Baby (2016 single) | MFBTY (Yoonmirae + Tiger JK + Bizzy): Bang Diggy Bang Bang from the 2015 album Wondaland
  • 3rd Line Butterfly: Today the day of Separation from their 2012 album Dreamtalk
  • Jambinai: They Keep Silence (a tribute to the Sewol victims) from their 2016 album A Hermitage
Yoonmirae
Yoonmirae

We’re lucky that all of the acts apart from Yoonmirae have performed in London (though in 3rd Line Butterfly’s case it was only a performance with an audience of one person – but broadcast on Monocle Radio). To make up for it 3rd Line Butterfly recorded their track live for the BBC in their Seoul studio.

3rd Line Butterfly
3rd Line Butterfly recording Today the Day of Separation for the BBC World Service broadcast.

You can tune in to the whole 50 minute broadcast here. Most of the above tracks can be found on iTunes (and I think for this thanks are partly due to Bernie Cho who has championed the release of Korean music on that platform).

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