Six months ago it was girl bands. Now Trot music is supposed to be S.Korea’s best propaganda weapon against the North http://bit.ly/gsmfZf # “Pop music can be a powerful psychological weapon targeting the oppressed in the North. We should immediately resume tannoy broadcasts in response to the North’s recent provocations,” declared a South Korean lawmaker. … [Read More]
Musician: Park Hyun-bin
According to Gallup, my favourite singer should be Jang Yoon Jeong
At least, that’s if I’m a Korean conforming to the profile of the sample selected by Gallup Korea for their 2008 K-pop poll. OK, I’m reasonably happy listening to her first album, but there are other albums I’d much prefer to have in my CD player. Jang Yoon Jeong (장윤정 – right) is the younger … [Read More]
Park Hyun Bin #1: Gondre Mandre
(Released August 2006) Possibly my most disappointing speculative purchase ever, this is the second stop in my journey through the younger generation of artists who appear to be involved with the Trot revival. As with my first encounter, I can’t make the connection between what I’m hearing and what I’m told Trot is all about. … [Read More]
Trot makes a comeback
To be perfectly accurate, I don’t think Trot ever really went away. Rather, like many trends in popular culture, its fanbase was getting older and there would come a point when no-one was listening to it any more. But when Trot compilations are selling millions through street vendors (see chapter 7 of Keith Howard’s book), … [Read More]