Mostly falling for the k-indie names spotted on the latest Korean digital chart from Gaon, but at least there is that marvelous new song!

k-indie @ Gaon Digital Chart - January 28, 2012
5. 10cm - 애상 [MV]
82. Kim Ji Soo & Taru - 더 좋아 [Bugs Interview]
103. Verbal Jint - 좋아보여 (feat. The Black Skirts) [MV]
116. OK Punk! - Ugly
127. Chang Kiha & The Faces - 풍문으로 들었소 [MV]
149. Sentimental Scenery - View [MV]
173. Clazzi - Love & Hate (with Yi Sung Yol, MYK) [MV]
182. Leessang - TV를 껐네... (feat. Yoon Mirae, Kwon Jung Yeol of 10cm) [MV]

There were plenty of indie artists high up on Indieful ROK's last.fm group artist chart this week with the 10th k-indie entry found occupying spot 42.

Indieful ROK TOP10 - week 4, 2012

1. Clazziquai (-) [Lazy Sunday Morning TV live]
2. Nell (-) [멀어지다 2nd MV]
3. Monni (re) [영원한 여름 live]
4. 10cm (-) [안아줘요 MV]
5. The Black Skirts (-) [International Love Song MV]
6. Sentimental Scenery (re) [View MV]
7. Clazzi (-4) [우리 변한거잖아 MV]
8. Casker (re) [향 MV]
9. Humming Urban Stereo (-) [Abuse Girl YT audio]
10. Misty Blue (new) [Daisy YT audio]

Don't feel like the chart reflects your taste in music well enough? Join Indieful ROK's last.fm group and maybe next week it'll look a little better!

It looks like the impending Nell comeback is making people excited about their older material!

Bugs Indie TOP10 - January 28, 2012
1. Nell - Stay [MV]
2. 10cm - 새벽 4시 [live]
3. 10cm - 죽겠네 (Album ver.) [@ Space 공감]
4. 10cm - 사랑은 은하수 다방에서 [@ Sketchbook]
5. 10cm - 안아줘요 [MV]
6. Broccoli, you too - 울지마 [@ Sketchbook]
7. Lucid Fall - 어디인지 몰라요
8. Broccoli, you too - 사랑한다는 말로도 위로가 되지 않는 [@ Sketchbook]
9. Lee Younghoon - 비 내리던 날 [MV]
10. Lucid Fall - 그리고 눈이 내린다 [@ Sketchbook]

The new additions to the TOP100 list are the following:
19. Super Kidd - 기분 좋아 (feat. Chung Hee Joo) [MV]
48. Monkeyz - 허수아비 [@ Club FF]
69. Sister's Barbershop - 안녕 (inst.)
70. Moon - 눈의 로망스
71. Achime - 커피는 싫어요 [The Bridge]
80. Monkeyz - 널 위해
84. J Rabbit - Part Of Your World [friendz.net]
94. Super Kidd - Let's Party!

See the full top 100 list here.

And we’re back with the results of Indieful ROK’s “I Am a Singer” Indie Daydream Reader’s Choice Poll!

On “I Am a Singer”, the audience of five hundred normally votes for their three favorite performances of the night. On Indieful ROK, our humble audience of seven voted for their three favorite indie artists they wanted to see take the “I Am a Singer” stage.

Due to the low voter turnout, the results ended up with many ties in the rankings, but there was a clear first place winner among the bunch, although only by one vote.

For our final commentary, Anna has joined me in looking at the results.

The Results

Without further ado, here are the results of your Reader’s Choice Poll for “I Am a Singer” Indie Daydream:

   [read more ...]

More climbing than falling for the k-indie names spotted on the latest Korean digital chart from Gaon. And a few newcomers to that.

k-indie @ Gaon Digital Chart - January 21, 2012
3. 10cm - 애상 [MV]
60. Kim Ji Soo & Taru - 더 좋아 [Bugs Interview]
61. Chang Kiha & The Faces - 풍문으로 들었소 [MV]
91. Clazzi - Love & Hate (with Yi Sung Yol, MYK) [MV]
106. Verbal Jint - 좋아보여 (feat. The Black Skirts)
115. Eye To Eye - 창문 너머 어렴풋이 옛 생각이 나겠지요
163. Acoustic Collabo - 그대와 나, 설레임 [MV]
165. Jaurim - 하루
183. Leessang - TV를 껐네... (feat. Yoon Mirae, Kwon Jung Yeol of 10cm) [MV]
197. OK Punk! - Ugly

Going through Indieful ROK's last.fm group artist chart the 10th indie entry could be found on spot 39. Not as good as the first week of the year, but much better than last! This is a day late, but only because my ISP had some issues yesterday forcing all of their customers in my area to find other entertinament offline half the afternoon and all evening (I finally arranged all the recipes I'd written down/cut out of papers during the past seven years, or so so in the end I didn't mind as much as I did initially).

Indieful ROK TOP10 - week 3, 2012

1. Clazziquai Project (-) [Tell Yourself MV]
2. Nell (-) [Comeback Trailer]
3. Clazzi (new) [Love&Hate MV]
4. 10cm (+1) [오늘밤은 어둠이 무서워요 MV]
5. The Black Skirts (+5) [International Love Song MV]
6. Loveholic (new) [Loveholic MV]
7. W&Whale (+1) [C'mon Yo TV live]
8. Taru (new) [Night Flying TV live]
9. Humming Urban Stereo (new) [Rainbow YT audio]
10. Han Hee Jung (re) [Acoustic Breath live]

Don't feel like the chart reflects your taste in music well enough? Join Indieful ROK's last.fm group and maybe next week it'll look a little better!

Bugs has a new indie chart, and while I was surprised by the many old entries last time now I'm even more so. Most of the new tracks were released on Pastel Music though, so I suspect they've been somehow involved in reviving these old songs.

Bugs Indie TOP10 - January 21, 2012
1. Lee Younghoon - 비 내리던 날 [MV]
2. Lucid Fall - 어디인지 몰라요
3. 10cm - 사랑은 은하수 다방에서 [@ Sketchbook]
4. 10cm - 죽겠네 (Album ver.) [@ Space 공감]
5. Jaeju Boys - Peace!
6 10cm - 안아줘요 [MV]
7. VOY - 바람의 노래 (feat. Oh Ji Eun) [sample video]
8. Jung Joonil - 안아줘 [@ Sketchbook]
9. Lucite Tokki - In My Tin Case
10. Autumn Vacation - 속아도 꿈결 [@ Space 공감]

The new additions to the TOP100 list are the following:
34. Dear Cloud - 아침
38. VOY - 마지막 부탁 (feat. Ahn Sinae) [MV]
43. Bimilie - 비가와요 [live]
44. Su Jeong Sun - 내가 바라는 내 모습 [live]
62. Acoustic Collabo - Sweet Love (Jazz ver.)
72. Lucid Fall - 걸어가자
74. Nangman Band - 무릎베개 [live]
77. 3rd Story - The Star
91. Taru - 여기서 끝내자 (Solo ver.) [live]

See the full top 100 list here.

Now that we're seen what the panelists had to say, it's time to debut who you, the readers, want to see representing the Korean indie scene on "I Am a Singer", following Jaurim's winning performances on the show!

But first, I have to provide a disclaimer about the results below. Due to a limited response to our call for your suggestions, we ended up with a large tie for your Reader's Choice Vote. Consequently, I'm going to weigh in the panelists picks as well, although greater weight will be given to your suggestions. Finally, the result still led to multiple ties, meaning that we will debut nine artists for the Reader Choice Vote.

Indie Daydream Reader's Choice Vote

Once we debut the nine artists, we'll open the comments section to this post for your voting. Please choose your top three of the nine artists and write them in the comments section of this post by midnight of 25 January, Pacific Standard Time. We will then count the votes and determine the top seven artists in order of most votes and also reveal the two artists who were eliminated from our "I Am a Singer" Indie Daydream. For a refresher on the listed artists, check out our panelists' picks for our thoughts and a video of their performances.

Your Reader's Choice Suggestions

With no further ado, here are the singers and bands suggested for the Reader's Choice Vote, in alphabetical order (Latin script):

• 3rd Line Butterfly
• Cherry Filter
• Han Heejung
• Huckleberry Finn
• Kim Sarang
• MOT
• Nell
• Thomas Cook
• Yi Sung Yol

---

Okay, everyone! You have until 25 January, midnight Pacific Standard Time to vote for your top three in the comments. (Panelists will also be permitted to vote here too, for their top three.) We will debut the final results on 27 January!

Series Index:

• Part 1: Intro, Rules, and Reader's Choice Suggestions
• Part 2: Widhi's Picks
• Part 3: The Korean's Picks
• Part 4: Anna's Picks
• Part 5: refresh_daemon's Picks
• Part 6: Reader's Choice Vote
• Part 7: Reader's Choice Results and Conclusion

In spite of the lunar new year holiday a fresh episode of I Am A Singer (나는 가수다) aired today, January 22. The theme was soundtracks and Tei had opted for Can's 내 생에 봄날은, used in 2001/2002 SBS drama Piano (피아노). In the mid-round performance he offered a bossa nova version, that didn't suit the tastes of his comedian manager or co-competitors so for the actual performance the arrangement had been reworked into more of a rock/synth number.

The arrangement was done by Tei's fellow Handsome People member Choi Youngho, who also played keyboard on stage. Backing him further were Bae Youngjoon and Han Jaewon of Whale alongside Funky Brown's Uhm Joo Hyuk.

Providing the final set of picks for Indieful ROK’s “I Am a Singer” Indie Daydream is refresh_daemon, who frequently writes Korean music reviews on his blog: Init_Music.

---

Having the final pick has proved quick difficult as Widhi, The Korean and Anna all selected all but one of the singers I’d originally planned picking and wanting to add some diversity of choices, I’m going to highlight a few alternatives. I generally picked my singers by what I thought they would provide to the show in terms of interesting or powerful vocal performances.

Pick #1: Baik Hyunjin (백현진)

UhUhBoo Project’s wily frontman is no stranger to the show, having previously performed a duet with Jaurim on the show to audience applause. His vocal style is particularly unique and powerful, capable of performing manic fast paced angular indie rock as well as handling slow songs with immense power, and at times can come across as what a drunken Tom Waits might sound like. He will no doubt impress the audience with his prowess and will challenge them with his atypical vocal and musical style.

   [read more ...]

With the most recent episode of Star Audition 2 (위대한탄생2) aired on January 20 it was once again opportunity to do some indie spotting (via proxy). This time Jung Seo Kyung (정서경) could be seen singing Dear--a Mad Soul Child song featured in popular movie The Man From Nowhere (아저씨).

The first album sales chart of the year from Hyang Music was published this week.

Hyang Chart - 1st week of January, 2012
1. Lucid Fall - 아름다운 날들
2. IU - Last Fantasy
3. Idiotape - 11111101
4. Zitten - 백야
5. Apollo 18 - The Black Album
6. Number Nine - TV를 끄면 좋겠어
7. Lim Ji Hoon - Organ Orgasm
8. Siwa - Down To Earth
9 Dynamic Duo - Digilog 2/2
10. Kim Mokin - 음악가 자신의 노래

The new k-indie oriented additions to the TOP100 list were the following:
72. Story Seller - XX
82. VOY - VOY meet girl
83. Hermin - Melody
85. Blue Near Mother - Mexico
89. Shin Hye Sung - Embrace

See the full top 100 list here.

In Part 4 of our "I Am a Singer" Indie Daydream, Indieful ROK and Korean Indie founder, Anna, provides her top five picks for "I Am a Singer".

---

Sitting down trying to pick good names for this exercise I realized that most of my favorite artists do not possess the kind of vocal skills that would warrant a chance to compete on "I Am A Singer", something which is part of the charm that made them my favorites to begin with. As such, much like The Korean's suggestions, my picks are not intended to reflect the best Korean indie music have to offer, but rather my own expectations as to which artists would be more interesting to see on the show also considering that they should be able to stay on for more than one round.

Pick #1: Cherry Filter (체리 필터)

I learned about Cherry Filter at the very same time I first learned of Jaurim, both being successful enough to at least have been heard of in the mainstream already a decade back. Because of this I've always considered the two bands to be at the same level. Perhaps they would not be able to provide the same diversity as Jaurim, but the band can put on a good show and Youjeen has the powerful vocals to boost. The band also has a cover album behind them that seemed to go over fairly well among fans.

   [read more ...]

It may not look like much, but out of the k-indie acts on the latest Korean digital chart from Gaon half are newcomers.

k-indie @ Gaon Digital Chart - January 14, 2012
4. 10cm - 애상 [MV]
97. Chang Kiha & The Faces - 풍문으로 들었소 [MV]
118. Verbal Jint - 좋아보여 (feat. The Black Skirts)
121. Jaurim - 하루
169. Acoustic Collabo - 그대와 나, 설레임 [MV]
174. Goodmorning Heaven - Goodmorning Heaven (feat. Hareem) [MV]

Here is the second Indieful ROK chart of the year! This time I had to look all the way down to spot 61 to find the 10 Korean indie band on Indieful ROK's last.fm group artist chart compared to just 27 last week. The samples for each artist is the song ranked highest on the group's song chart.

Indieful ROK TOP10 - week 2, 2012

1. Clazziquai (+3) [Love Again MV]
2. Nell (-1) [Empty YT audio]
3. Dear Cloud (+2) [널 위해서라고 MV]
4. Casker (-2) [야간비행 random video]
5. 10cm (+1) [Hey Billy live]
6. Lucid Fall (new) [불 YT audio]
7. Standing Egg (new) [사랑한다는말 MV]
8. W&Whale (new) [소녀 곡예사 MV]
9. Sentimental Scenery (new) [True Romance YT audio]
10. The Black Skirts (-) [아침식사 live]

Don't feel like the chart reflects your taste in music well enough? Join Indieful ROK's last.fm group and maybe next week it'll look a little better!

In Part 3 of our "I Am a Singer" Indie Daydream, The Korean of Ask a Korean!, who has been writing a series on the 50 most influential K-Pop artists, provides his top five indie picks for "I Am a Singer".

---

With my picks, I tried to make the most compelling show possible. That is to say: this is not a list of whom I consider to be the five best indie artists. Rather, this is a group of artists who would create the same kind of excitement and buzz that "I Am a Singer" created when the show first launched, not only through their talents but also through their personalities and diversity of styles.

Having said that, here are some of the people who did not make the list for some reason or another:

Jang Kiha (장기하)

Jang is omitted because he debuted in 2005. This omission kills me, because in terms of pure talent few can match up with Jang Kiha.

   [read more ...]

It's the second week of the new year and there's plenty of newcomers on the chart since last week. Some of them quite old, for some reason.

Bugs Indie TOP10 - January 14, 2012
1. Goodmorning Heaven - Goodmorning Heaven (feat. Hareem) [@ Love Shake Radio]
2. Lucid Fall - 어디인지 몰라요
3. Lee Younghoon - 비 내리던 날 [MV]
4. VOY - 바람의 노래 (feat. Oh Ji Eun)
5. Zitten - 백야 [MV]
6. 10cm - 사랑은 은하수 다방에서 [@ Sketchbook]
7. Lucid Fall - 그리고 눈이 내린다 [@ Sketchbook]
8. 10cm - 안아줘요 [MV]
9. Lucid Fall - 어부가(漁父歌) [@ Sketchbook]
10. 10cm - Good Night [@ Space 공감]

The new additions to the TOP100 list are the following:
30. eAeon - 슬픈 마네킹 [live]
40. Goodmorning Heaven - 아프고 아팠던
50. Lucid Fall - 레미제라블 Part 2
55. Chang Kiha & The Faces - 마냥 걷는다 [@ Space 공감]
60. Eniac - 눈사람
67. Bluedawn - 빵
68. Lee Younghoon - 나를 기억할까 (feat. Cho Yejin of Lucite Tokki)
78. Lee Younghoon - 봄이 오면 (feat. Kim Yoon Ju of Dalmoon)
93. Kangil Leehyung Band - 내복그녀 [MV]

See the full top 100 list here.

Providing her top five picks first for "I Am a Singer" Indie Daydream series is Widhi, guest contributor both on Indieful ROK and with the Indieful ROK Spot on Indie Afternoon. She also has a blog at widhiarini.blogspot.com.

---

Having the opportunity to be the first picking the list was not very easy for me when I realized that my favorite indie musicians mostly debuted after 2004. However, I managed to come up with those who also became my favorite in the past years.

Pick #1: 3rd Line Butterfly

I discovered 3rd Line Butterfly for the first time after I watched their live show when I met Anna for the first time in Korea back in 2009. Almost instantly, I fell in love with the band. The husky voice of the vocalist became the main reason why I took interest at first. However, as I learned more about the band, I found that I like their musical style as well. Somehow, the vocalist voice reminds me of Juckwoo these days.

   [read more ...]

Save for I Am A Singer I don't follow any Korean TV shows myself, but it is definitely so that there is an increasing interest in Korean indie music which can be traced through--and perhaps even more so thanks to--all of the audition/survival shows out there. Since the idea of "indie spotting" was suggested as a new feature of this blog I figured I'd finally get started with a little something I've had planned since first coming across brand essential special albums compiled by Bugs Music.

The most recent episode of the second season of Star Audition (위대한탄생2) was aired on January 13 and focused on the contestants mentored by Lee Sun Hee. Bae Su Jung (배수정) performed a rendition of 봄날은 간다--originally a Japanese song composed by Matsutoya Yumi to which Kim Yuna wrote Korean lyrics for the movie with the same name, One Fine Spring Day. Also on the show was Jang Yi Jung (장이정) who sang 10cm's 죽겠네.

This month for the first time Music Alliance Pact a member introducing the best music Austria has to offer in Walzerkönig. Another change is that Indieful ROK has transferred the Music Alliance Pact membership to Korean Indie. For now I'll still be posting my selections here too, so without further ado, here's the first MAP edition of the year including one of my favorite recordings of last year, 지나고 나면 언제나 좋았어.

Right-click on the song title to download an mp3, or grab a .zip file of the whole 36-track compilation here.

SOUTH KOREA: Korean Indie
Galaxy Express - As Time Passes, Always Been Good
Galaxy Express is one of the best rock bands in Korea and have been for quite some time. During their Wild 30 project in 2010, a 30-day quest during which they recorded a piece of music for their Wild Days album every day, they showed that they put on the best of performances, even just going to karaoke. In late 2011, Galaxy Express released split EP Naughty Boy with Korean punk pioneers Crying Nut, which contained a re-recording of the somewhat atypical but gorgeous and engaging As Time Passes, Always Been Good from those wild days. Look out for more from Galaxy Express in 2012 as they're heading for a US tour in March and playing SXSW for the second time.

   [read more ...]

Hello everyone! refresh_daemon here! It was a lot of fun watching indie representative Jaurim on “I Am a Singer” and while we might be done recapping the show for now, in the absence of indie presence on the show now, we thought it would be fun to put forward our suggestions for which indie artist or band we’d like to see on the show next. Joined again by Widhi, The Korean, and Anna, in the coming installments, each commentator will provide five indie artists or bands they would like to see on the show and explain why they made their selections.

But that's not all!

Reader’s Choice Poll!

We'd like to hear from you too!

During this series, we will ask you to submit your top choices from the indie world and tally your votes for a reader’s choice vote, where the top seven indie singers or bands voted on will compete to see who you want to represent the Korean indie scene next on “I Am a Singer”. Once the voting is complete, we will debut the rankings for the top seven artists, just like the show!

All you need to do to participate in the poll is to leave a comment on this post with your top three choices (order doesn't matter). The initial vote will close on the 22nd of January, midnight Pacific Standard Time and we will debut the seven Reader's Choice singers and bands on the 23rd for your vote.

Ground Rules

Since this is for “I Am a Singer”, we are going to establish some limits to who is eligible for our picks based on the precedents set by the show. The commentators should keep these basic rules in mind when selecting their artists for the show. Likewise, for your votes and suggestions, you should also keep these rules in mind.

Click behind the jump to see the rules:

   [read more ...]

Thursday means chart update day for Gaon. Here are the k-indie picks found on the latest Korean digital chart:

k-indie @ Gaon Digital Chart - January 7, 2011
9. 10cm - 애상 [MV]
32. Jaurim - 하루
111. Verbal Jint - 좋아보여 (feat. The Black Skirts)
145. Acoustic Collabo - 그대와 나, 설레임 [MV]
151. Lucid Fall - 어디인지 몰라요
195. Jaurim - 정신차려

A lot thinner than half a year ago, but still a few names up there.

Superstar K3 contestants were not included this time since I haven't really figured them out myself yet. What do you think? Do you want to see Busker Busker included? Two Months? Ulala Session?

Not just the Bugs Indie Chart, but the Indieful ROK last.fm group chart too makes a return this year. However, in the interest of continuity, seeing as the unique chart wouldn't always be updated weekly, unlike last year I've decided to just go through the group's artist chart and single out the indie names. The samples for each artist is the song ranked highest on the group's song chart. Here we go!

Indieful ROK TOP10 - week 1, 2012

1. Nell [Thank You MV]
2. Casker [야간비행 random video]
3. Monni [망설이지 마요 TV live]
4. Clazziquai [핑 MV]
5. Dear Cloud [너에겐 위로가 되지 않을 live]
6. 10cm [그게아니고 TV live]
7. Han Hee Jung [솜사탕 손에 핀 아이 TV live]
8. Zitten [곁에 MV]
9. adultchild [Make Up YT audio]
10. The Black Skirts [Love Shine TV live]

Don't feel like the chart reflects your taste in music well enough? Join Indieful ROK's last.fm group and maybe next week it'll look a little better!

The date is currently January 10, 2012 and that means it's Indieful ROK's 4th anniversary! It's been another great year for the blog - it's been fantastic to see the number of readers, subscribers, Facebook fans, Twitter followers and last.fm group members grow and I cannot thank you enough for your support.

Since February Indieful ROK has also gotten on the radio with regular segment Indieful ROK Spot on tbs eFM's Indie Afternoon where Widhi has done a fabulous job helping me out. I'm more than a little grateful to refresh_daemon for all his work with the I Am A Singer commentary series, also inviting Widhi and The Korean to share their opinions, keeping the blog from complete silence when I was otherwise occupied.

Speaking of which, it's been another great year for me personally as well. I got married to the most awesome guy I ever met, not just once but twice (photos!). After the second time there was also the glorious wedding show and fantastic after party, with friends and family from Sweden and US making it all the more special. And a honeymoon to the little known but very friendly island of Nauru, where my husband and I suddenly ended up on national TV, being celebrity spotted the next day while swimming.

Another milestone of the year was getting my master's degree, which meant I could finally allow myself to move on with the plans for a full site dedicated to Korean indie music. Korea Gig Guide was launched approximately at the same time as Indieful ROK, and Mark Russell and I have vaguely discussed a joint project since. As those last few pages of my thesis that had remained unwritten for the last three years got some worthwhile contents I happened to mention the idea of a Korean indie music portal to Chris Park of wakesidevision. He pushed us to actually made something out of all of those ideas and early October Korean Indie saw the light of the day.



And Korean Indie is where I'll be focusing most of my efforts from now on. You'll be able to find the usual mini interviews and the occasional feature post from me on the main site alongside reviews and more provided by Mark and Chris. For the more news related contents, there's Korean Indie News that I'll be updating whenever I have the time - make sure not to miss the continuously updated page with upcoming releases! For the outgoing links that were always meant to be the core contents of this blog, we now have Pinterest. Oh, and we're on Facebook and Twitter too. It may seem a bit shattered, but I'm confident this will lead to higher quality contents throughout. And to top it off we've got the best trick up our sleeve yet to be revealed!

This does not mean that I'll let go of Indieful ROK. It's been some truly remarkable years, with the last one in particular bringing plenty of unexpected but much appreciated attention from random sources - one of my proudest moments being Indieful ROK named blog of the month by 10 Magazine in December. What I'll do is I'll keep posting the charts regularly, albeit without the new release information that'll instead be posted on the news blog when applicable. I'll also turn the blog more personal, offering regular posts summarizing what's going elsewhere and offering a bit of commentary.

Again, thank you so much for your support during the years that have passed. As Indieful ROK now readies itself to transition into a new format I hope you will still want to drop by every now and then to see what's happening here, all the while not being shy to turn to Korean Indie for an even more dedicated coverage of the Korean indie music scene.

A new year is a good time to start fresh. Here's the first indie music chart of the year from Bugs!

Bugs Indie TOP10 - January 7, 2012
1. Lucid Fall - 어디인지 몰라요
2. VOY - 바람의 노래 (feat. Oh Ji Eun)
3. Zitten - 백야 [MV]
4. Lucid Fall - 그리고 눈이 내린다 [@ Sketchbook]
5. Lucid Fall - 어부가(漁父歌) [@ Sketchbook]
6. 10cm - 사랑은 은하수 다방에서 [@ Sketchbook]
7. 10cm - 안아줘요 [live]
8. Acoustic Collabo - 그대와 나, 설레임 (feat. Soulman) [MV]
9. 10cm - 아메리카노 [recandplay.net]
10. Moonlight Nymph - 어디서 어떻게 언제쯤 얼마나

See the full top 100 list here.

Newcomers will be tracked starting next week and any album information on the respective new releases is likely to end up on news.koreanindie.com this week or so if it's not already there.

Anyone curious as to why 10cm isn't topping the chart with their 애상 cover should know that it has been classified as classic music by Bugs and consequently tops Bugs' classic music chart instead.

As Jaurim did not have a graduation stage to celebrate graduating from I Am A Singer (나는 가수다) we've run out of excuses to offer commentary on the show on this blog for now. At least for me, however, that does not mean I'll stop watching the show which means there is still the opportunity for some indie spotting while watching.

Just like in the previous round, Park Wan Gyu saw fit to bring Jo Pilsung of Christian power metal band Jeremy on stage for extra guitar effects while performing Shin Sung Woo's 내일을 향해. Surprising all the more was Yoon Min Soo who in his performance of Lee Chi Hyun & But Nim Dul's 집시여인 brought in Jang Hak, vocalist of alternative metal band Crow, for a bit of screaming. Anybody finding either of these reason enough to purchase a digital single should seek out <나는 가수다> 경연 14-1, release on January 8.

What a way to start a New Year... with Jaurim’s final episode on “I Am a Singer”, barring a special stage on the following show. It's a dramatic episode for the singers as not only will Jaurim be leaving the show, but another singer might as well and now the new singers are introduced as well!

This is also a significant moment for this recap series on Indieful ROK as it started to cover Jaurim's performances on the show, being a Korean indie representative. Now that Jaurim will be departing the show, this will be our final recap here at Indieful ROK, unless Jaurim performs a special stage on the next episode or a new Korean indie performer joins the program. Joining us for this final recap commentary are Anna, The Korean, and Widhi.

Click behind the jump to see what we have to say about the show and leave your thoughts and picks in the comments!

All performances can be watched from Bugs Music's special 나는 가수다 site. Click the tab saying "1월 1일 방송" to find the performances discussed below.

   [read more ...]

The mid-round episode is a congratulatory one as the show celebrates its success with its theme for the episode's song assignments. As it's not a critical episode, I will be quickly recapping and commenting on this episode. But it's a noteworthy episode, because we will discover what Jaurim's final performance will be!

Click behind the jump to see what we have to say about the show and leave your thoughts and picks in the comments!

All performances can be watched from Bugs Music's special 나는 가수다 site. Click the tab saying "12월 15일 방송" to find the performances discussed below.

   [read more ...]

The eleventh round will be the last set of episodes that Jaurim will be in, so we watch wondering if they will be able to graduate from the show like Kim Bumsoo and Park Junghyun or if they will just barely make it, like YB and Jang Hyejin. Plus, we get to see the first performance from former Boohwal singer, now contestant on the show Park Wangyu. On the commentary panel this week are: myself, Anna, and Widhi.

Click behind the jump to see what we have to say about the show and leave your thoughts and picks in the comments!

All performances can be watched from Bugs Music's special 나는 가수다 site. Click the tab saying "12월 18일 방송" to find the performances discussed below.

   [read more ...]

This is the big Sanullim special episode. There were some impressive performances here, but they did split our commentators: Indieful ROK/Korean Indie originator, Anna; Ask a Korean!'s expert, The Korean; and site friend and music enthusiast, Widhi.

Click behind the jump to see what we have to say about the show and leave your thoughts and picks in the comments!

All performances can be watched from Bugs Music's special 나는 가수다 site. Click the tab saying "12월 11일 방송" to find the performances discussed below.

   [read more ...]

Time has come for the final Music Alliance Pact post of 2011. India is out, but we sew new blogs representing Iceland and Turkey - welcome!

The South Korean artist of the month is Kim Mo Kin, who released his first solo album on December 1st. It's an altogether lovely effort, reminiscent of the music he's made previously with Cabinet Singalongs, including not just the standard singer/songwriter tunes, but a bit of jazz, a touch of variety show music, and plenty of other interesting influences. Check out his 씬 below and visit Electric Muse's Soundcloud to also hear songs 꿈의 가로수길 and 뮤즈가 다녀가다.

Right-click on the song title to download an mp3, or grab a .zip file of the whole 36-track compilation via MediaFire.

SOUTH KOREA: Indieful ROK
Kim Mok In - Scene
Kim Mok In started out as the guitarist of playful lo-fi folk quartet Cabinet Singalongs over a decade ago. This month he released his first solo album, Song Of Musician's-self, with an updated sound and better production that still shouldn't leave any old fan disappointed. Scene is a song about the Korean music scene which finds Kim Mok In's voice and guitar accompanied by a sturdy piano.

   [read more ...]

The December 4th episode of "I Am a Singer" is especially dear to me because it's the first episode of the Sanullim special. Sanullim is a classic Korean rock band that originated in the 1970's, with psychedelic and folk rock elements. As this commentary was written in haste, I'll be the only one commenting on it.

Click behind the jump to see what I have to say about the show and leave your thoughts and picks in the comments!

All performances can be watched from Bugs Music's special 나는 가수다 site. Click the tab saying "12월 4일 방송" to find the performances discussed below.

   [read more ...]

And we return yet again to cover a new round of "I Am a Singer", featuring a new singer to take the spot of Jang Hyejin, who we saw cut from the show in the previous round, just short of graduating. In our commentary panel for this episode are The Korean and Widhi with Anna dropping in briefly.

Click behind the jump to see what we have to say about the show and leave your thoughts and picks in the comments!

All performances can be watched from Bugs Music's special 나는 가수다 site. Click the tab saying "11월 27일 방송" to find the performances discussed below.

   [read more ...]

Hello! We continue catching up with "I Am a Singer" with our commentary for the 20 November episode where the singers debut their performances of each others songs. Returning to comment this week are Anna, The Korean of Ask a Korean!, and Widhi. It was a momentous episode in that it was Jang Hyejin's final performance on the show and the result would see her graduate from the show to join Kim Bumsoo and Park Junghyun or be eliminated in the final round like YB.

Click behind the jump to see what we have to say about the show and leave your thoughts and picks in the comments!

All performances can be watched from Bugs Music's special 나는 가수다 site. Click the tab saying "11월 20일 방송" to find the performances discussed below.

   [read more ...]

Hello, everyone. refresh_daemon here. I’m back after a life-mandated hiatus. As we’ve missed three weeks worth of episodes of “I Am a Singer”, instead of providing a full recaps, instead we will provide a summary of the past weeks, with our commentary, until we catch up to the current episode. This episode, we are joined by Anna, back from her globetrotting nuptial adventures. So let’s dig into the 13 November episode, the second part of the ninth round, where the singers received their assigned cover songs!

Click behind the jump to see what we have to say about the show and leave your thoughts and picks in the comments!

All performances can be watched from Bugs Music's special 나는 가수다 site. Click the tab saying "11월 13일 방송" to find the performances discussed below.

   [read more ...]

Another month with the Music Alliance Pact! This is the 36th MAP in which Indieful ROK has participated making it 3 years! Enjoy the songs below and pay special attention to the Korean pick of the month, Coedwig.

Right-click on the song title to download an mp3, or grab a .zip file of the whole 35-track compilation via MediaFire.

SOUTH KOREA: Indieful ROK
Coedwig - Let Her Go
Street folk artist Neofolk has gotten himself a band member and formed the unit Coedwig. Let Her Go is one of the indie rock numbers on the recently self-released first EP, which also contains a couple of acoustic tracks - a sound that is very popular in Korea at the moment.

   [read more ...]

Hello, refresh_daemon here for your next recap and review of "I Am a Singer". This week I am again joined by our esteemed commentators, The Korean of Ask a Korean! and widhi. After several weeks of special episodes with special themes or events, this week returns to the regular format of the show, with the singers selecting a song of their choice to perform for the audience of five hundred. In addition, since we saw Cho Kyuchan eliminated last round, we have a new singer joining this round.

Click behind the jump to see what we have to say about the show and leave your thoughts and picks in the comments!

All performances can be watched from Bugs Music's special 나는 가수다 site. Click the tab saying "11월 6일 방송" to find the performances discussed below.

   [read more ...]

Apologies for the slow updates would've been in order for quite a while, but I hope you'll have patience with me for another while. I'm visiting Korea at the moment, and today I'm getting married to by husband again - traditional Korean wedding style! Making it all the more special, we've lined up some of our favorite bands - Dringe Augh, Achime, Jambinai, National Pigeon Unity, Vassline - to play at Club Spot after the wedding and if you too wish to come by you are more than welcome to do so: Wedding Celebration Show.

Next week I'll be guiding my family and friends from Sweden around Seoul and after that time has finally come for the honeymoon. Meanwhile refresh_daemon will keep the I Am A Singer posts coming, now supported by my dear Widhi and none other than The Korean (of Ask A Korean fame) himself! When I'm back there'll be some pretty big changes related to my involvement with new site koreanindie.com, but Indieful ROK will continue to live on albeit in a slightly different format. See you later!

This recap of an extra special episode of "I Am a Singer" is extra special itself! With Anna away in Korea for the time being, today we feature two guest commentators, widhi, who contributes to Indieful ROK as well as the Indieful ROK Spot on TBS eFM's radio show Indieful Afternoon in Korea, as well as, none other than, The Korean of Ask a Korean!, both who are regular viewers of the show. The episode itself takes a break from the main competition and features past performers from "I Am a Singer" performing for the Melbourne audience of two thousand and having a competition among themselves, too.

Click behind the jump to see what we have to say about the show and leave your thoughts and picks in the comments!

All performances can be watched from Bugs Music's special 나는 가수다 site. Click the tab saying "10월 30일 방송" to find the performances discussed below.

   [read more ...]

This episode was the big performance in Melbourne for the large crowd of 2000. There were some high energy performances and with the singers given the freedom to choose what they would sing, it was an evening of mostly unsurprising, but entertaining performances. And, at the end of the evening, we would sadly see one of the singers get eliminated from the show.

Click behind the jump to see what Anna and I have to say about the show and leave your thoughts and picks in the comments!

All performances can be watched from Bugs Music's special 나는 가수다 site. Click the tab saying "10월 23일 방송" to find the performances discussed below.

   [read more ...]

Seems like DJ Soulscape is currently in New York and tomorrow, October 25, he'll be playing a free set at Turntable Lab NY. More information at egotripland.com: DJ Soulscape in NYC This Week.

In further DJ Soulscape/New York related news, Mark Russell's recent article in The New York Times while dealing primarily with Shin Joong Hyun also contained some DJ Soulscape quotes: Korea Rediscovers Its Rock 'N' Roll Soul. Read more about when Mark Russell first met the rock legend over at new site koreanindie.com: Old Is New Again


Continuing on the DJ Soulscape/Korean oldies theme, Beatball Records will put out another Hee Sisters release on October 27, 디스코 걸스: 안타 레코드 이어즈 앤쏠로지 1978 ~ 1980. It's a three disc release with CD3 holding mixes "inspired" by Hee Sisters songs. DJ Soulscape has contributed with a mix inspired by 뜬소문.

In yet another surprise, "I Am a Singer"'s second part of its eighth round will take place in Melbourne, Australia! As usual, the second episode follows the singers in their song selection and development process, including some snapshots of the singers in their personal lives, culminating with a mid-week performance where the singers demonstrate what they've done so far.

Click behind the jump to see what Anna and I have to say about the show and leave your thoughts and picks in the comments!

All performances can be watched from Bugs Music's special 나는 가수다 site. Click the tab saying "10월 16일 방송" to find the performances discussed below.

   [read more ...]

Another special event for the eight round of "I Am a Singer" as the singers now have to perform duets! Although I think both Anna and I agree that the result wasn't quite what we were hoping for, I still think that a lot of good performances came out of these collaborations.

Click behind the jump to see what Anna and I have to say about the show and leave your thoughts and picks in the comments!

All performances can be watched from Bugs Music's special 나는 가수다 site. Click the tab saying "10월 9일 방송" to find the performances discussed below.

   [read more ...]

A lot of the songs we've been keeping track of on Gaon's digital chart fell off this week. Only one 10cm left!

k-indie @ Gaon Digital Chart - October 15, 2011
29. Jaurim - 사랑밖엔 난 몰라 (심수봉) (with Hyunjhin Baik)
36. Leessang - TV를 껐네... (feat. Yoon Mirae, Kwon Jung Yeol of 10cm) [MV]
41. Verbal Jint - 좋아보여 (feat.The Black Skirts) [MV]
73. Acoustic Collabo - 그대와 나, 설레임
77. Jaurim - 꿈
79. Simon D - 에헤이 (Eh Hey) (feat. The Black Skirts)
102. Kim Ji Soo - 가을이 오네요 [MV clip]
123. 10cm - 안아줘요
132. Jaurim - 가시나무
142. Ibadi - 아빠를 닮은 소녀 [MV]
191. Leessang - Serenade (feat. Gaeko of Dynamic Duo, Windy City)

I'm sorry about keeping the updates slow like this, but with a bit of luck I can finally get through my much too long todo list before the weekend. For now, here's the latest unique chart from Indieful ROK's last.fm listener group.

Indieful ROK TOP10 - week 41, 2011

1. Monni (-) [너 떠나버린 그 집 앞 MV]
2. Clazziquai (+2) [I Will Give You Everything YT audio]
3. Nell (+2) [어차피 그런거 MV]
4. The Black Skirts (+6) [Love Shine TV live]
5. Leessang (-2) [나란 놈은 답은 너다 YT audio]
6. Mate (+3) [Run TV live]
7. Taru (+1) [Night Flying TV live]
8. 10cm re) [눈이 오네 recandplay.net]
9. Jaurim (re) [Something Good TV live]
10. Humming Urban Stereo (re) [Hawaiian Couple MV]

Don't feel like the chart reflects your taste in music well enough? Join Indieful ROK's last.fm group and maybe next week it'll look a little better!

And so we see yet another week with the Top Band contestants doing well on the chart. Although in a way I would've had even more hope for the future of indie music in Korea had they dominated the top I Am A Singer style, it's great to see that the show at least has some impact.

Bugs Indie TOP10 - October 15, 2011
1. Acoustic Collabo - 그대와 나, 설레임 [MV]
2. Ibadi - 아빠를 닮은 소녀 [MV]
3. Delispice - 무지개는 없었다
4. AshGray - 이별의 그늘 [Tribute90]
5. Gate Flowers - 불편한 진실 [Top Band]
6. Hyunjhin Baik - 여기까지 [recandplay.net]
7. 10cm - 안아줘요 [live]
8. Toxic - Into The Night [Top Band]
9. Peterpan Complex - 자꾸만 눈이 마주쳐 [MV]
10. J Power - We Are The Champions [Top Band]

The new additions to the TOP100 list are the following:
12. Poe - Paper Cup [Top Band]
21. Ibadi - Voyage
23. Ibadi - Morning Call (remix ver.)
25. Acoustic Collabo - Waiting For U [MV]
27. Acoustic Collabo - 사진
37. J Power - Confess [Top Band]
43. Kim Jae Hee - 캐신의 전설
49. Lee YounHyuk Band - 할라피뇨 [solo live]
65. Sweetpea - 섬

See the full top 100 list here.

Acoustic duo Acoustic Collabo released first album Unplugged on October 10. It gathers all the songs from the duo's previous releases: Love Is The Key, Makes Sweet Love and 한여름 밤의. To hear more of their sound, check out the old music videos: Promise, Love Valentine.

On October 13 Ibadi released second full length album Voyage. It's been three and a half years since the album debut, but fans have continuously been treated to new songs from the modern folk/acoustic pop band fronted by Clazziquai's Horan since. The new album includes an album version of the three year old Listen Campaign track 두근두근, a steel guitar version of Songs for Ophelia track Curtain Call as well as a classic version of 탄야 from the same EP, a remix version of Morning Call from the 지금 사랑하지 않는 자, 모두 유죄 single, and a remix version of 산책 from the single with the same name.

Boohwal's 4th album vocalist Kim Jae Hee has been releasing a number of solo albums over the past decade and a half, but on October 12 came his first digital single, aptly titled 김재희 싱글 Vol.1.

Singer/songwriter Lee YounHyuk has gotten himself a band and together released the first single, Debut, on October 7.