en http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/uk/ Thu, 1 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 Thu, 1 Jan 1970 00:00:00 +0000 60 http://www.audioscrobbler.net/data/webservices http://www.last.fm/user/helikoppter/journal The Last.fm journal for helikoppter. Last.fm journals are a place to talk about all things music. http://www.last.fm/user/helikoppter/journal/2010/02/23/3fveyz_vidulgi_ooyoo_%2526_dmst_%2540_v-hall Tue, 23 Feb 2010 17:24:54 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/helikoppter/journal/2010/02/23/3fveyz_vidulgi_ooyoo_%2526_dmst_%2540_v-hall When the time came for Sun 21 Feb – DO-MAKE-SAY-THINK, I was still far too tired from the previous night and sat down in the back as soon as I got in. Expat band One Sparrow Hill opened and did a good job, although I wasn't really able to appreciate it as much as I should've.

After a bit of waiting, Vidulgi OoyoO came out.... Although I kinda enjoyed their album I couldn't quite get into them before, but I had heard that they were pretty awesome live. I had no idea just how much though - that was some wonderful shoegazing throughout their entire set! A couple of times they were doing the drone thing so magically I wouldn't have mind if they'd kept going for hours. Definitely a band I'd recommend catching live, if given the chance.

More waiting and then Canadian band Do Make Say Think came on stage. I've never really listened to them myself, but had decided to come to the show anyway since I heard they were great and figured it'd be a good chance to meet up with icq4ever, that I didn't get around to see during my first visit here.

To be honest DMST didn't impress me that much. Sure they had their moments of perfection, but more often than not their melodies just didn't have enough appeal to live up to their hype and I sometimes felt like they were just playing all at the same time because they could rather than because it made things sound better.

Thanks to Vidulgi OoyoO and the nice company it was worthwhile anyway, though the event could've definitely done without the long time between sets. I was rather happy when it ended, even more so for the delicious chicken that followed.]]> http://www.last.fm/user/helikoppter/journal/2010/02/23/3fvecr_national_pigeon_unity%252C_donawhale_%2526_apollo_18_%2540_spot Tue, 23 Feb 2010 17:19:43 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/helikoppter/journal/2010/02/23/3fvecr_national_pigeon_unity%252C_donawhale_%2526_apollo_18_%2540_spot Saturday was awesome, as far as I can remember.

After having settled in a guesthouse near Hongdae, I met up with rpgshine to go to some kind of musician flea market she had head about. It seemed like a really nice gathering, and to my surprise I found Amature Amplifier sitting on the floor, offering several interesting CDs.... I said hi and learned that the Stretching Journey vocalist is currently studying abroad so that's why it's been kinda quiet from them lately. Also met "the 5th Stretching Journey member" and was happy to find Cabinet singalongs sitting at the next blanket, since I had thought they'd disappeared already a couple of years ago.

Later that evening time had come for the event I used as an excuse to come to Korea this time: Sat 20 Feb – Apollo18 - VIOLET EP Release Show! National Pigeon Unity opened and were even slightly better than I remembered them to be. They had lots and lots of energy throughout the entire set, with the second last song even giving me the chills. They've just finished recording their first full length album and I can't wait to hear it!

With NPU out of the way, Apollo 18 entered the stage. They had prepared some kind of video, but playing it didn't turn out so well. I might've mentioned before that I haven't been listening all that much to Apollo 18's Blue album, but hearing so many songs from it live makes me think I ought to give it some repeated listening as soon as I get back to Sweden. The audience was unusually enthusiastic and became even more so when Eshe, in spite of long hours practicing for the Bellydance Evolution show, showed up with her enthralling dance to Orbis and Lucy.

Letting Apollo 18 get some rest before continuing, Donawhale entered the stage. A lot of the audience disappeared and I heard somebody comment that they were too girly to be playing at Spot that night. Although I'm very fond of Donawhale myself and was happy to see them, they did seem kinda out of place albeit less so than I had expected. They didn't play any of my favorites, but did get around to covering Can't Get You Out of My Head pretty nicely before ending with Doremi.

Another couple of shots at showing the Apollo 18 video, and finally they managed. I should probably have realized sooner, but it wasn't till I saw it in the video that it dawned on me how the covers of the three A18 releases so far go together - put the red on top, the violet in the middle and the blue at the bottom and you get the alien on the poster! In their second set the rest of the Violet songs were performed and there was a bit from Red as well - although I sadly did not get to hear Time, Warm was far, far beyond awesome. Later on Dokyo from 13Steps showed up for some screaming and towards the end of the NPU run unto the stage and hijacked Apollo 18's instruments. Last song NPU were playing, which didn't really do the song justice, but it was great watching them all having such a great time on stage.

I had been asked to stick around after the show to join the bands for some food and drinks - naturally an offer I couldn't refuse. Although conversation was a bit difficult in the beginning with the language barriers and all, after a while it became much easier and I had so much fun. The guy from Misty Blue showed up after a while too and I got some lovely art from his girlfriend. Unfortunately I cannot remember anything from the last part of the evening - a first for me - but something tells me makgeolli is to blame for this...]]> http://www.last.fm/user/helikoppter/journal/2009/04/27/2omb2d_especially_when_interview%21 Mon, 27 Apr 2009 20:14:11 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/helikoppter/journal/2009/04/27/2omb2d_especially_when_interview%21 Especially When (이스페셜리 웬) is an old favorite of mine, and so I was very excited that the vocalist and genius songwriter of the band, Kyoungmo Kim (now active in Sunkyul), accepted a small interview with me for Indieful ROK. Another exciting thing that comes with that interview is a set of links for legal downloads for a bunch of Especially When songs, including Clare - which just happens to be one of the best songs ever. Read!]]> http://www.last.fm/user/helikoppter/journal/2009/04/19/2ntunu_more_indieful_rok_mini-interviews%21 Sun, 19 Apr 2009 14:54:41 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/helikoppter/journal/2009/04/19/2ntunu_more_indieful_rok_mini-interviews%21 Over the past few weeks I've been doing a bunch of mini-interviews for Indieful ROK. Though I have forgotten to mention them here till now...

- Frenzy (프렌지) makes some very nice shoegazer-esque music and they provided very nice answers to short questions. Them wanting to be called "'elegantly pathetic' fellows" makes me adore them even more. Read!

- Prompted by mrkwang I had a brief interview with Lim Jae Yeon of Toxicbiasfleurivy (톡식바이어스플뤠르아이비). They're also the South Korean artist featured in the April edition of Music Alliance Pact, should you feel that just streaming Parallel Assembly through last.fm is not enough for you. Read!

- amatureamp gracefully agreed to answer a few questions on Stretching Journey (스트레칭져니), where he's a bassist. Lots of fun stuff in those long answers - for instance, did you know that Kim Nam-yoon of 3rd Line Butterfly was a drummer in the band's original line-up? Read!]]> http://www.last.fm/user/helikoppter/journal/2009/01/18/2epnaz_2008_events_recap Sun, 18 Jan 2009 10:56:20 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/helikoppter/journal/2009/01/18/2epnaz_2008_events_recap Many thanks to jennyukari for reminding me how much fun it's been to write about events I've visited. Reading what I've written years later provides a great way for me to reminisce things in the past. So I should try to take that up again. Not that I have much time for writing on my hands nowadays, and not that I go to concerts and stuff as often anymore. But I'll try. So before I get on with the events of 2009, here's a brief recap of what I can remember from 2008 and have yet to write anything on:

Sun 30 Mar – Versailles x Matenrou Opera Coupling Tour 2008
The review from Mrs_Darcy (that'd be my preferred company for concerts around here) already captured the key parts: Versailles xMatenrou Opera. Though I did go there for the music. And I'd like to add a couple of things more: I had a great time experiencing JRock live when it sounded like JRock should - Matenrou Opera much reminded me of when and why I got into this kind of music at all. And with LAREINE being one of the bands that got me into this kind of music, I got a thrill out of seeing Kamijo on stage in Versailles - if my memory serves me right his God complex wasn't as annoying as that ofMana anyway.

Fri 8 Aug – White Lion, Crimes Of Passion
Not quite my type of band, but for pretty much all of my teenage years When The Children Cry was my very favorite song so when my sister asked if I'd like to go see White Lion I accepted. After waiting in line for roughly an hour, we got into the pub and got ourselves a table. A bit of waiting to hear Crimes Of Passion but apparently they were not so memorable as I can not recall my opinion of them. A bit of waiting more and there they were. I hadn't expected much, but White Lion was pretty good. Due to unfortunate circumstances I left before the end and so did not get to hear the song that got me there, but my sister assured me that it had been performed in such a poor way (new version, or something) that it was actually ruined so I suppose it was for the better.

Thu 6 Nov – 3 Doors Down, Plan Three
Many years ago I thought Kryptonite was an awesome song, and I quite liked Here Without You when I first heard it too. The rest of what 3 Doors Down has to offer I've never really cared much for. So when Mrs_Darcy asked if I'd like to join her it took me quite some time before I accepted. We arrived when Plan Three was playing, and not only did they mention Takida (for reasons lost) but they were sorta making similar music themselves. Pretty good stuff and something I will need to remind my sisters to have a listen to. Lots of lots of waiting for the main act followed, with plenty of time for observation of the audience. To begin with most of them appeared to be my age or older, which I had not expected at all. Also I was quite surprised to see so many people like that in Stockholm! A major part of the audience came off as the kind and warm people one would usually have to go further up north in this country to find. Very alien, but strangely comforting. When 3 Doors Down finally begun to play, they were quite disappointing. Of course I realized there must've been a reason why I never got into them considering how much I used to like Kryptonite, but I suppose I hadn't quite understood what kind of music they usually make. Mrs_Darcy held roughly the same opinion and so we left as soon we'd heard the few songs we did like. The rest of the audience seemed to have a great time though, so it was probably just us.]]> http://www.last.fm/user/helikoppter/journal/2008/12/02/2ba1bz_the_black_skirts_interview%21 Tue, 2 Dec 2008 19:03:21 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/helikoppter/journal/2008/12/02/2ba1bz_the_black_skirts_interview%21 It would seem that 검정치마 (The Black Skirts) is the next big thing in Korean indie. Actually they're pretty big already, and since the guy behind the band - Castel Prayon - is such a nice guy I got to ask him a few questions for Indieful ROK: Mini-interview with 검정치마.]]> http://www.last.fm/user/helikoppter/journal/2008/12/02/2ba0ti_yeongene_%3C3 Tue, 2 Dec 2008 18:58:24 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/helikoppter/journal/2008/12/02/2ba0ti_yeongene_%3C3 In the "Hot Links" section of London Korean Links there is currently one saying "The ever-adorable YeonGene (연진) ". If that link is clicked, one will end up at an article called A meeting with Yeongene - written by myself after an interview with Linus' Blanket's lovely vocalist. So if you feel like learning more on Yeongene and her upcoming European releases, Linus' Blanket (라이너스의 담요) or even BMX Bandits I'd like to advise you to read it ^^]]> http://www.last.fm/user/helikoppter/journal/2008/07/05/22015t_sunflower_%3C3 Sat, 5 Jul 2008 17:20:49 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/helikoppter/journal/2008/07/05/22015t_sunflower_%3C3 Long at last I wrote an article based on the interview I had with Lee Joo Ho (through his nephew) in the beginning of the year. Lee Joo Ho is the leader of my very favorite Korean folk act, 해바라기 (Sunflower), that has been going for more than 30 years by now. A meeting with Sunflower.

From what I've been told they're pretty much "Korea's answer to Simon & Garfunkel" and their music is indeed as lovely. If you haven't heard Sunflower yourself, you might very well have heard a song of theirs covered by somebody else. For instance, my favorite SG Wannabe song, 내 마음의 보석상자, is a cover of the very song that made me fall in love with the music of Sunflower ^^]]> http://www.last.fm/user/helikoppter/journal/2008/06/25/21hsnl_i%2526i_djangdan_interview%2521 Wed, 25 Jun 2008 20:17:30 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/helikoppter/journal/2008/06/25/21hsnl_i%2526i_djangdan_interview%2521 When I do interviews it's usually for London Korean Links but I'm just too busy right now (and have been so for several months) to actually produce something akin to an article from the one interview I have waiting. There are so many interviews I want to do, but they will have to wait. But...

This past weekend I found out about this new band (from the leader of Windy City) that blends dub and reggae while adding traditional Korean style vocals from Janggoon. Very awesome stuff. So I promptly set up a mini interview with I&I Djangdan for this Korean indie music news blog I run with orienkorean, Indieful ROK. Have a read! Mini interview with I&I Djangdan]]> http://www.last.fm/user/helikoppter/journal/2008/05/18/24rg_the_invisible_fish_%3C3 Sun, 18 May 2008 18:07:25 +0000 http://www.last.fm/user/helikoppter/journal/2008/05/18/24rg_the_invisible_fish_%3C3 I can't believe I forgot to post this here! With plenty of help from mrkwang I did an interview with ex-Bluedawn (푸른새벽) member The Invisible Fish (투명물고기) last month and a couple of weeks ago the resulting article was posted at London Korean Links: A meeting with The Invisible Fish. In case you missed it.]]>