Trekking: K-Indie

(by Dawn Reed) Digging into a glorious pile of bulgogi at a local K-BBQ joint, you might hear the usual K-Pop bands dominating Korean radio over the speakersystem.  And on a recent outing to kill a spicy pork belly craving at my fav- the Honey Pig, I heard fuzzed out lo-fi guitars instead of bubblegum boy bands. Most call it K-Indie, and it has been sweeping the underground of South Korea for years now, especially in the Hongdae clubs.  But those clubs apparently have been taken over by the increasingly trendy hip-hop (not K-Hop) scene. Nevertheless, with Korean indie labels like Pastel Music and Happy Robot Records still churning them out, we trekked for some of the raddest K-indie band videos to post via the interwebs. So take that PIPA/SOPA.

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Making a debut appearance at SxSW last year was the atmospheric shoegaze band Vidulgi OoyoO (Korean for "pigeon milk") who formed back in 2003.  After their debut release Aero came out (US release 2008), they had a brief hiatus when some members left for call of duty and other reasons, and then resumed with the line-up of Jong Suk Lee (guitarist), Ki Hoon Sung (bassist), Jihye Ham (vocals/guitar), and Yongjun Lee (drummer) completing their latest EP Good Night Shining.  They've been compared to other shoegaze greats, such as Slowdive, and have performed with the greats too- such as Mogwai just this past month!  Check out the video above for "Elephant" off of Aero.

Apollo 18 is another great atmospheric/post punk rock band based out of Seoul Korea that toured North America early last year with a stop at SxSW. Formed in the summer of 2008, Kim Dae Inn (bass), Choi Hyun Seok (guitar), and Lee Sang Yun (drums) released their first EP Red shortly after in early 2009 and then their album Blue that summer. Check out the above live clip of Apollo 18 performing "Trampoline" and you'll hear why they've won both the grand prize at 2009's Hello Rookie Awards and "Best New Artist" at 2010's Korean Music Awards! 

Donawhale is an indie rock band that mixes elements of eletronica and soft pop with whispery vocals from Yu Jeon Young that gives them a real college radio appeal.  At least I feel that with the track "Echo" off their 2007 self-titled release. Their debut was followed by their 2009 release Dive In Blue, and as of now- that was there last album. Check out the fan created video for "Echo" above set to the film Oliver & Company with lyrics translated into English.


For some more in depth coverage of the amazing K-Indie scene, I suggest you check out the blog: www.koreagigguide.com/