Books, blog and other blather
I just noticed over on Goodreads that my publisher has set up a little giveaway for Young-Hee & the Pullocho. If you head over to The Pullocho‘s page on Goodreads, you can enter the contest for a chance to win one of two copies. You have until June 5 to sign up.
And a bit thanks to everyone who took the time to enter the contest so far!
Ppi Ppi Band was one of the biggest indie acts of Korea in the 1990s, with a very weird sound and Lee Yoonjung’s weirder vocals. The band broke up and went in a bunch of different directions — Park Hyun-joon was in Wonderbirds and other bands (and spent time abroad) and is now in Honey Moss, Dalparan got more into film scores and producing, and Lee Yoonjung is half of the group EE.
But these days, everything ’90s is big again, plenty of older groups are having comebacks, including Ppi Ppi Band. Here’s their first single and video, “ㅈㄱ ㅈㄱ” (or “J G J G”), as strange as always:
Big Bang just released a couple of songs and music videos, “Loser” and “Bae Bae”, which instantly showed the group is still miles ahead of the rest of K-pop. Just wow.
“Loser” is okay, but the real gem to me is “Bae Bae,” with its organic, trippy vibe. Fascinating stuff, totally unlike the rest of pop music in Korea.
Actually, this is almost too interesting. It makes it way too clear how “meh” the rest of K-pop has been for the past year or two.
Here’s the video for “Loser,” too. It’s actually doing better on the Melon song chart, but I don’t think it is as interesting as “Bae Bae”:
Pop Goes Korea: Behind the Revolution in Movies, Music and Internet Culture (2nd edition) is the only English-language book to examine the whole of Korea's entertainment industry and how it became such a powerhouse over the past 20 years. With profiles of many of Korea's top stars (including Lee Byung-hun and Rain), Pop Goes Korea features chapters on movies, music, television, comic books, the Internet, and more.
On sale now at:
Amazon.com
Kobo eBooks
And hopefully more ebooks stores very soon.
The original edition of Pop Goes Korea is now out of print.
K-Pop Now! takes a fun look at Korea’s high-energy pop music, and is written for its growing legions of fans. It features all the famous groups and singers, and takes an insider’s look at how they have made it to the top.
You can buy at:
Amazon.com
Chapters Indigo
Tuttle (my publisher)
Kyobo Books (in Korea)
Goodreads (not for buying, but still a good link)
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