Mark James Russell

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Category: Music (Page 7 of 7)

Jisan Valley, Korea Times, Woodstock — The Good, the Bad and the Ugly

August 2, 2010 / / 0 Comments

Three separate little stories for you, using the old The Good, the Bad and the Ugly theme.

First, the Good, which was the Jisan Valley Rock Festival. I was there on Friday and had quite a good time. The concert site is pretty far from Seoul, but it is a very picturesque location, nestled between the hills at a ski resort.

3rd Line Butterfly played soon after I got there, and were their usual solid selves (although 3:40pm and in sunshine is not really their ideal slot). Martina Topley-Bird was really good — a wonderful voice and delightful stage presence.

After enjoying the excellent Belle & Sebastian, I found a good seat at the back, by the food stalls but with a good view of the stage, and basically sat there for the rest of the evening. But I am old, so unapologetic about being lazy.

Anyhow, Jisan is clearly the top music festival in Korea now, in term of acts, professionalism, turnout and general ambiance. There is a decent write-up about how Jisan went over here.

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The Bad would be the Korea Times, for adding two paragraphs to my big feature on the Korean entertainment industry without asking or informing me (the third-last and last graphs in the main story). Thanks a lot. Is basic courtesy too much to ask for from an editor?

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As for the Ugly, that would be the unsurprising demise of the Peace in the DMZ concert. Just days before it was to start, organizers announced it was being canceled. The only thing I find surprising is that it took the organizers so long to announce what everyone had long suspected.

Peace in the DMZ had faced a lot of troubles from the beginning. They lost a couple of big investors when Artie Kornfeld told them they could not use “Woodstock” in the name of the festival (which, given that the organizer called itself Woodstock Korea and used the Woodstock URL, they apparently really wanted to use). The lineup of bands was a strange jumble that did not really make sense together. But I do find it amazing that in 2010, we are still having this basic, ugly concert problems in Korea.

Now the big question is, will Kanye West really be performing at the Summer Week&T concert in Naksan Beach this weekend? He is still listed on the posters and website, but there is no signs of any mention on Kanye West’s websites, Myspace page, Facebook page, etc. Hopefully it is just an oversight. I find it hard to believe that SK Telecom (a cosponsor of Summer Week&T) would attach their name to an event that misleads about its lineup.

From PiFan to Pentaport — a Week of Festivals

July 26, 2010 / / 0 Comments

Last week was surprisingly busy, but mostly in a fun way. Starting the 16th, I was over in Bucheon for the Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival, or PiFan. It was the first time in three years I had spent that much time at the festival, and it was a lot of fun to get reacquainted with its rhythms and style.

The general pattern was: go to an early movie at 11am, then do my interviews and writing (I was contributing to the festival’s dailies), then there was usually some kind of reception or event starting around 7, which would be followed by some informal drinking, which would be followed by more fun (or a noraebang), finally wrapping up some time around 3-4am. Repeat. Some days you have more movies, some days more work, some days more fun, but that was the basic outline. But with plenty of interesting guests in town, it was quite fun.

The Festival now has an industry section called the Network of Asian Fantastic Films (NAFF), with a country spotlight, film education events, film pitch sessions for filmmakers and investors and things like that. It really contributes to the number of film professionals at the festival and makes everything feel more official.

But it also creates a bit of a cocoon effect, where you spend a lot of time hanging out in this big group, and the movie part of the festival gets a little sidelined. Especially now that almost all the movies are in two big multiplexes down the road from the industry hotel, PiFan has lost a lot of the festival mood it once had. Festival director Kim Young Bin said as much to me, and he really wants to get the city more involved next year.

One of the things I really liked about PiFan the first time I went, around 2000 or so, was how integrated with the community it felt. You could sit outside at a chicken restaurant (when it was not raining), and in one big group you might have some directors and actors, some press, some volunteers and some local film fans. The city seemed a lot more excited about the festival. It would be nice to get a little of that vibe back.

The short film winner was my friend David Kaplan, who made the very good movie PLAY. And you can actually see it online. It is a lot of fun and even has some thinky bits.

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Then on Thursday, I traveled a little further west to Incheon, where I was a participant at the first Pentaport Music Conference. Obviously, this event is a spinoff of the Pentaport Rock Festival (held last weekend), and this year, for the first time, they invited some big music professionals from the United States and around Asia to network with the local music scene.

And I do not mean SM Entertainment or the big pop labels. Korea actually has a few dozen small rock and indie labels, and they came out to meet some experts from other countries.

Among the speakers was me, which was a little strange — as a writer, my only audience is usually cats. But it was fun (and scary) speaking before a big room of music industry professionals. And it was great to meet so many new people in the music biz.

Saturday, a few of us went to Pentaport for the actual music. No way was there 27,000 people there, as reported, but it was a decent turnout. The highlight was seeing LCD Soundsystem, who were as bouncy and dancy as I had hoped — although I think their new album is kind of dull compared to their earlier stuff. The Korean band Ynot had a pretty good turnout. Vassline was WAY TOO LOUD, but from a distance it seemed solid. A surprising good diversity of food in the food area, and lines were all reasonable. All in all, a good time.

Great Korean Music

June 20, 2010 / / 1 Comment

One of my favorite things about Korea has always been the music, old and new. So now that I am back in the country for a bit, it is fun reconnecting to the music scene here.

First and best of all, I managed to get a copy of DJ Soulscape‘s More Sound of Seoul –40 short tracks, sampling a wide range of great Korean music from the 1970s. In a way, it is like the Korean version of Danger Mouse’s Grey Album. I like to think I know a bit about old Korean music, but this disc is full of cool tunes that I had never heard of before. As the liner notes state:

The postwar Korean Peninsula was a melting pot where different cultures from the east and west collide. The music business grew significantly as clubs were founded around the US military bases and many musicians playing for the clubs had interpreted and localized rock, jass, soul and boogaloo in various styles. However, such unique music was suppressed and vanished for the political interests of the military regime in the mid-70s and it still remains discontinued and underestimated. The Sound of Seoul project was conceived in order to revisit the Korean music of the ’70s.

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There is a good interview with Soulscape here, along with a bunch of videos and other goodies. If you want a copy of More Sound of Seoul, you can apparently purchase it on this website.

I also picked up a reissue of the Kim Trio, a more disco-like ground from the 1970s. Have not had a chance to listen to it yet, but am looking forward to it much.

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Oh, and I found a little interview with the weird electro duo EE over here. I did not know that Yunjung and Hyunjoon were married – neat. In addition to the interview, the link also has a bunch of videos of their music and performances. Fun stuff.

Just too bad about the King Khan and BBQ show going off the rails. Apparently the two performers’ relationship had been on the decline for quite some time, but it ended for good in the middle of their show in Daegu on Thursday evening. Made for some amusing chaos last night in Hongdae, as Sean (the promoter) tried to salvage the situation. Tough luck for Sean and the people at Supercolorsuper, who have been trying so hard at building up the music scene.

Motivations — More Than Money

June 8, 2010 / / 0 Comments

There is a great video about motivation and what makes people produce the best ideas making the rounds, by Daniel Pink, author of the book Drive. He talks about scientific studies that say money is not a good motivator for most behaviors, and instead recommends Autonoyy, Mastery, and Purpose.

Although Pink is mostly talking about corporate environments and IT, this is also very interesting for the arts, like music and movies. It helps explain why, even though online file sharing has devastated music markets all over the world, it has not reduced the number of great bands and great music being made.

Of course, as Pink points out in his video, for motivation to move away from money to these other factors, basic subsistence is needed first. So for struggling artists, the picture is more murky.

Anyhow, it is a very fun video, just someone drawing on a white board, but very engaging.

Random Entertainment Thoughts

April 18, 2010 / / 0 Comments

– Patrick Frater has a solid rundown of the Asian films going to the Cannes Film Festival next month. The list features mostly festival regulars (like Hong Sangsoo and Im Sangsoo), but looks pretty good.

– An article about Korean comic books in the United States (although I am pretty sure the much ballyhooed Sam Raimi movie of PRIEST is dead now). Mostly about the new-ish company Net Comics. You can go to the company’s website for some free comics and other goodies, too.

– Korea hiphop group Epik High will be featured on CNN’s Talk Asia program this week. Tune in on Wednesday (9:30pm), Thursday (12:30pm), Saturday (8pm) or Sunday (4:30am and 5:30pm) to catch the program.

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Music, Movies, Aliens and More

March 24, 2010 / / 0 Comments

So far, 2010 has been unusually strong for Korean movies in the United States. Surprising, considering how poor the export market for films has been for quite a while. First MOTHER gets released (and has made over $100,000 in its first 10 days, on just a few screens). And now, Kim Jee-woon’s 2008 hit THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE WEIRD is about to come to American theaters, too — you can see the pretty new trailer here.

In addition, there is a fun story in the Dallas Morning News about Paul Shin, a Korean-American who is bringing Korean films to AMC theaters in the United States — not just New York and LA, but Chicago, Long Island, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Seattle and Dallas-Fort Worth.

I think this is yet another sign of broader changes happening to global culture. I can still remember the first time I went to a random multiplex just west of Toronto, and discovering two Indian movies playing there. I could not believe it, especially remembering the lack of diversity the Toronto suburbs had when I was growing up. But now, people take movies, restaurants, just about everything cultural for granted. They just accept it. It is normal now.

Which is one of the big points I was trying to get at in POP GOES KOREA. Yes, it is amazing how Korean culture has bounced back and become so influential, but this is about more than just Korea. It is a worldwide trend. Korea is in many ways leading this trend, but more and more we are going to see cultures from around the world claiming a space at the table.

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Music has long been one of my biggest interests. It comprises a good chunk of my book POP GOES KOREA, and another website of mine is the Korea Gig Guide (about live indie music in Korea).

So I have been poking around on the various live music websites that are scattered across the Internet. I had no idea there were so many these days. I had been struggling with near-useless, last-generation sites like Pollstar, so was amazed how much things have changed. Now there are a multitude of websites that are trying to combine social media, data harvesting, and whatever the media 2.0 flavor of the month.

These include:

  • Hearwhere – a gig listing site that is flashy but hard to use, and not good for Asia
  • Songkick – nice interface, but geared toward big shows, and very little information on Korea
  • Iggli – another attempt at media 2.0 and live music (and other live events). This site’s hook is the “invite” – it is all about people inviting each other to events; claims this is not social networking. Dubious. Not much on Asia.
  • Bands in Town – big artists, not for Asia
  • Jambase – ugly, just big Western acts, incomplete, basically another Pollstar
  • Madlounge – only the US
  • Superglued – social networking plus concerts; not sure how useful this could be if it takes off, but not much yet.
  • Gigzee – specializes in local music, but buggy, and nothing for Korea yet
  • Gig Junkie – not much in Asia, not very complete
  • Gig Listing – trying to be the Google for live music. Still in beta, and it shows
  • Gig Freaks – I think I like this one the best. Nothing for Korea yet, but its Japan and China listings show some promise. I like the interface (despite the big, ugly Google ad banner in the middle), which is easy to use and informative. Seems to be a one-man operation, though, so I am not sure how much it will develop in the future.

As you can see, I am biased toward sites that focus on local and indie music. Really, how much help do people need finding the next Lady Gaga concert? Hopefully these services will find a way to make it easier to find local and more unusual bands, all over the world. But honestly, I really prefer music websites that have more input from real, live human being — like you see on Barcelona Rocks, Tokyo Gig Guide, or, of course, the Korea Gig Guide.

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And now for something completely different. Pooh Bear vs. Aliens. What a great little comic.

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