July 7, apls (site currently down) will release a digital single called new apls. Three songs will be included, all of which can be sampled at Happy Robot's album page - either through short wma snippets or in full through Naver video. The first track - 중한 이 노래, or This Song is Precious - is also playing in Happy Robot's MySpace player. For every song apls features a different artist: Heo helps out on This Song is Precious, Jang Sei Yong participates on Not Simple Epilogue, and Kim Ji Eun (whose name I think I've seen in connection with one or a few songs on sixmini>sexbig) sings on 생활편집. 소

giantroot introduced the Indieful ROK last.fm group to Yalgaedul a month ago, so I was pleasantly surprised to find that a demo recording of their 청춘만만세 was added to Beatball Records' MySpace player the other day. Does this mean we'll be able to hear more from them soon?

Jazz pop quartet Winterplay released a "special summer album" called Hot Summerplay July 2. The title track, Gypsy Girl, is used in the promotion of Ogamdo/Five Senses of Eros (오감도) that opens on Korean theaters July 9 [teaser vid]. The 11 track album also includes a cover of Roy Orbison's You Got It, and a jazz take on the Michael Jackson classic Billie Jean.

Come July 22, Winterplay will make their album debut in Japan with the release of Songs of Colored Love. The album primarily contains tracks previously released in Korea on the Choco Snowball and Happy Snow Bubble releases of 2008, though three titles seem new: Songs of Colored Love, Moon Over Bourbon Street and I Need To Be In Love. To hear some of the older titles also on the album, check out the Winterplay MySpace.

Speaking of last.fm, while listening to the Fiddle Bambi similar artists radio the other day all of a sudden I heard a couple of He 6 songs that were all new to me. Turns out Le Smoke Disque released a Sly Stone tribute album called Messin' With Sly in October last year, upon which the Korean psych rock act had three songs featured: Dance to the Music, Stand! and Sing A Simple Song - all originally from He6 Vol. 2 (1971). The entire tribute album can be streamed from here.

While listening to the same radio station, I also realized that E.G.G. Music has joined last.fm with three albums: The Mu:n's first EP, Launchin' To The Moon (2005), and first album, The Big Step On The Moon (2006), as well as ironic HUE's debut album Into The Mirror (2007). Check out the former for Led Zeppelin influenced rock'n'roll and the latter for Radiohead influenced modern rock.

Took me long enough, but I finally set up a twitter account for Indieful ROK: https://twitter.com/indiefulrok. Expect music related tweets (that may not always relate to Korean indie) on a more personal level.

And as a small reminder: Indieful ROK is also present on last.fm (where I add the "indieful rok" tag to any Korean indie I come across) and on MySpace.

The rock band with a vocalist playing morin khuur, Hanumpa, will release an album called 독감(獨感) on July 9. While formed 10 years ago, this is the band's first full length album. The title track features Yona of Nastyona and nine titles more can be found on the tracklist. Two songs from Hanumpa's self-titled 2001 EP have made it to the album: 초대 and 매미; and one song from last year's 5th Plan single, 200만 광년으로 부터의 5호 계획, was included in an album version. Visit YouTube for samples, and make sure not to miss 무중력.

Three member band SwingChair debuted with a single called Step on June 30. Light, acoustic summery music with sweet female vocals. Juice Media currently keeps a video showing SwingChair covering several songs in different styles on the front page, but if you want to know what Step sounds like you're better off heading to Hyang Music for a set of brief samples.

Five member band Romantic Punch debuted with a mini-album called Romantic Punch on July 1. Two tracks from the release can be sampled from the band page on SSamzie Sound Festival 11th: Fake with something of a funk rock sound, and 내일로 Jump! which is better placed in the catchy pop/rock category. If you want to watch the band in action, a visit to balanceTV could prove a good idea.

A couple of days ago, news regarding Clazziquai's upcoming 4th full length album showed up on various blogs prompted by the teaser vid for Kiss Kiss Kiss - which not only features underwear and swimwear model Jarah Mariano in the video but also for vocals. More on that at allkpop.

Regarding that 4th album then. As you may recall it was previously said to be released on July 1 - and it was. In Japan. The fourth Japanese full length album from Clazziquai Project, Mucho Musica, was preceded by a digital single on June 10: Tell Yourself (Daishi Dance remix). The fourth Korean full length album from Clazziquai Project, on the other hand, is instead called Mucho Punk and will get a release on July 14.

Comparing tracklists, the two albums both list 12 songs each and contain largely the same titles. Though while Mucho Musica includes Affection, Back to Mind and Flea (the last title familiar from last year's Metrotronics release), Mucho Punk instead includes 사랑끝에, Lazy Sunday Morning and 라푼젤.

선결 - the new band of Especially When leader Kyoungmo Kim - has shut down its previous Sunkyul MySpace page and opened a new one for Sunkyeol. Currently it plays demo versions of 마음을 둘 곳, 행인 and 흔들거리는 그네 for visitors looking to hear some good music.

I'd say 마음을 둘 곳 has an airy Especially When feeling to it; 행인 reminds me of early Grizzly Bear, though with more of an acoustic sound; and 흔들거리는 그네 is something closer to lo-fi singer/songwriter material. It's all good. Check them out!

Liner posted a guide of a Triple related piano tune on his blog yesterday: tearliner - Hence the Human Drama [트리플삽입곡]

Found a couple of upcoming .5 releases when browsing Hyang's pre-order section this morning:

Former ska-punk act Lazybone will release 4.5 album Dance Dance on July 2 - more than two years after the release of fourth album 나는 새. I can't really say I've kept up with their releases for the past few years, but apparently they turned into a "mellow punk" band with emocore and nu-metal influences with the release of 3.5 Leave Behind Emotion in 2006 (the entire digital EP can currently be sampled in full at MySpace). Though if they've stuck to that sound or not I have no idea...

Electronica act House Rulez will release 2.5 album Pool Party, on July 7. 9 tracks in total, including Aftermoon Corea which may or may not be a new version of After Moon from second album Star House City released last December.

A couple of weeks ago, while trying to find some more info on Dringe Augh and his Individually Wrapped EP, I found myself welcomed in Swedish when entering the peprermEnt site, which Dringe Augh was clearly an associate of. As a Swede interested in Korea, it's always fun to find a Korean interested in Sweden so I set out to listening through all of the demos posted there. I found myself enjoying his acoustic guitar play - and of course the delightful sound of his songs too - and eventually set out to ask him a few questions for Indieful ROK that he kindly agreed to answer:

Who is Dringe Augh?
I'm from South Korea and live in a small town near Seoul. I've been playing guitar in clubs since 1997. My name is Sangsu Augh in Korean, but I want to be called "Dringe" in my music career. It means that Dringe is a kind of borderline between 'as musician' and 'as a person'.

How would you describe your music?
My songs are talking about my recalls and my yesterday's dream. It is very private and my lyrics are very unclear & ambiguous. So, when people listen to my songs, I hope that they feel their own somethings. I hate to explain my songs and lyrics. I want people not to understand but to listen easily. I want to describe my songs as life-background music. Simple sound is my motto.

From what I can hear, you're quite skilled with the guitar. How did you first learn to play and are there any guitarists in particular that you feel have influenced your style?
I remember when I was 13 old years, I bought my first nylon classical guitar. And I learned to play by myself, and wrote my first song 2 weeks later. I think I'm not skilled :-).

After of all, I'm beatlemania. The Beatles is a big part in my songs. Also I love British folk. In my iPod, there are Nick Drake, Bert Jansch, John Renbourn, Marc Brierley, Jackson C. Frank, Jackie McAuley, Roy Harper, Heron, Spirogyra, Forest, Fairport Convention.

Recently I got to know Sibylle Baier from my girlfriend, and I'm interested in female singer-songwriters. Oh, I love The Clientele and Stereolab so madly.

When entering the peprermEnt site one is greeted in Swedish; Frisyr i London is a band with a name and several song titles in Swedish; and even as Dringe Augh one of the songs on your demos has the name of a Swedish soccer player. What is your relationship to Sweden?
It's just that I like Sweden and Swedish winter. That's all. When I was a teenager, I hoped to go to Sweden for a studies, and I learned Swedish by myself for 4 years :-). But I don't have any relationship to Sverige.

In details: Sweden held myself tightly after I watched the movie "Bear's Kiss", with Rebecca Liljeberg.
Marcus Allbäck was my favorite player in the PSP game "Winning Eleven".
Frisyr i London came from a headline in Stockholm Metro online.
In Frisyr i London, All the songs are in Swedish, but my female singer cannot read Swedish. So you can not hear Swedish but English words in the demos of F.I.L..

---

As previously mentioned, Dringe Augh has several demos available for online streaming, right here. For a taste of his guitar play I highly recommend Drem (occasionally reminds me of Tunng), and for the singer part Younger is an excellent example. Though as good as those demos are, Dringe Augh has really outdone himself on Individually Wrapped - expect a sample here in a couple of weeks!

Irish act So Cow has been mentioned on this blog a few times in the past because of his connection to Korea, and now it seems his name is getting better known in Korea too. The Chosun Ilbo has made news out of So Cow song Moon Geun Young from the So Cow LP, and allkpop offers a similar piece in English. However, as So Cow points out on his MySpace blog (and as was hinted by the Pitchfork reviewer) the song isn't really about the actress herself but concerns ads featuring Moon Geun Young.

K.O.A. Zine has finally graced the world with another fine interview - this time one with Jowall. They talk about Underwear Band, byul, Things You Are Going To See Here and more: Jowall: Balance and Imbalance.

I never got around to posting on Stylish Korea when it was released last year, so now that I was reminded of its existence again I'll try to make that up by also telling you how to get it cheaper, or something.

September 10, 2008, Japanese label freedom record put out a compilation called Stylish Korea, gathering songs from 12 more or less electronic Korean artists. The complete artist list (in alphabetical order) includes Aquibird, Beautiful Days, Blue 'Sorbet, Casker, DOT, Elena, HourmeltS, Portable Groove 09, Roller Coaster, Star Love Fish, The Smiles and Vistee. Sample songs from all but Casker and Vistee from the album page at Victor Entertainment

If you feel like picking it up you might be interested to learn that the price has dropped from 1886¥ to 1320¥ (excl. tax) at CDJapan. And that the same retailer currently offers a 500¥ coupon for orders totaling over 3000¥ in the 2009 Summer Coupon Offer. (And no, I'm not affiliated with CDJapan in any way - I just thought it was a good deal [not only will I get a copy of Stylish Korea, but those Higashikawa Akiko singles will finally be mine too!] and wanted to share.)

Liner has posted what appears to be the tracklist for the upcoming Triple OST on his blog. In addition to three of the songs from the already released digital single OST (the neons song has been excluded) as expected, there are several songs from Tearliner - including another song featuring Yeongene called We Quit Us - and Zitten as well as another couple of songs from neons, a Low-end project track called 사랑은 지고 달빛은 빛나고, and a Taru track called 초콜릿.

Also, it turns out that 서브 - or SUB - from the digital single is actually the vocalist and guitarist of Starry-Eyed, and so I'm assuming that 몬구 is Mongu - bassist of the same band. Both of them also have a number of songs on Liner's list.

Apparently there has been some stir in the world of K-pop because of new singer U and the teaser for the music video of her song 울컥. It seems this U is supposed to be a "faceless" singer, but a Popseoul writer has reached the conclusion that U is in fact May.

May made quite the anonymous debut with a couple of songs featured in the Banjun dramas back in 2004, starting with 기적 which was soon followed by 리디아 - a beautiful cover of Taiwanese pop/rock band F.I.R's Lydia. (The latter usually seen credited to Jang Nara when discussed in forums at the time.) In 2006 she finally released her first EP, Wonderland, in Korea and also started her career in Japan with a bunch of singles. Seems her label thought she did better in Japan than in Korea as Korea only got another EP, Smile, whereas Japan got a full album called a Little Happiness in 2007. Looking at maniadb, it seems she tried to revive her Korean career with a release of digital single 못된 나 (including 기적 as a B-side) a year ago, but evidently it didn't accomplish much.

Personally I have something of a soft spot for May, whose music I'd put in the same guitar pop/rock category of music as Japan's YUI. Now I haven't heard enough of U myself, but I do hope there is some truth to this rumor and that (if so) May will be able to reach a wider audience under this new name. Check out the video for Lydia here.

The very fine Norwegian blog Eardrums has released several very fine compilations in the past (you remember Birdsongs, Beesongs featuring Yeongene & BMX Bandits' take on Rod McKuen's Ally Ally Oxen Free, right?) and is currently preparing for a new exciting collaborations project currently named The Handshake. Basically bands/artists should pair up two and two, come up with a new band name and make a song together. Details here. The result is planned for release late 2009, and it'll be free and only available in digital format.

So, if you make melodic music and feel like trying something new while eventually having your music heard by lots of people (at the very least I know that writers of "Sweden's leading music magazine" appreciate these compilations) why not let Eardrums know? And if you don't already know who you'd like to collaborate with for this project, that's ok too.

boonga Boonga Record's bulnabangstarsausage club released its first full lenght album, 고질적 신파, on June 23. The tracklist holds 13 titles, including the title track and a couple of songs more from the 악어떼 EP released in January.

KoME posted an interview with PIA today: In an exclusive interview, rock band PIA gives us an in-depth look about their style, the music scene in Korea, their alliance with Seo Taiji and their future.

Shawn Despers of the Korea Gig Guide has had a short interview with Bulssazo, talking about the upcoming gig with Nosaj Thing and sighborg as well as feature gigs plans: Bulssazo's Brief Return.

Liner posted a guide version of Triple song 사람은 섬이다 on his blog today - an altogether lovely tune with full instrumentation and all: tearliner - 사람은 섬이다[Guide-2] [트리플 삽입곡] . Looking forward to the CD release of the Triple OST more and more here...

Another song from No Reply's Road album has been connected to the Korean release of an international movie. This time it's Violet Suit that appears in a music video with clips from Indian director Tarsem Singh's movie The Fall. Watch the video from the Happy Robot blog.

Updating the "special features" section in the side-bar with a few older entries I realized it's been almost a year since I kicked off a feature called The Meaning of Fish here at Indieful ROK without proceeding further. Basically it stems from a curiosity both orienkorean and I share regarding the frequent use of "fish" in Korean band names. When given the opportunity I've tried to investigate the matter, and this feature is a way for me to present my results to the public. If any of you know anything that could shine some additional light on the subject, please feel free to step forward. For Part I we covered The Invisible Fish. Here's Part II:

The Meaning of Fish, Part II: Swimmin' Fish
A couple of years ago I interviewed The Swimmin' Fish for London Korean Links and this was their answer to a question relating to their band name:

Actually, there is no meaning.
Just when fish born, of cause that fish will swimming. Yeah it's us.
Like fish, we are plying music when we born?
And it have some our hope, like naver get a lost in the ocean, we hope don't get a lost our road in ocean, named music.

Forgot or never knew what they sound like? Try 떠나가 버려 on YouTube, check out the songs on their profile page at SSamnet, or listen to short samples of most of what they've recorded in the soft music section at Red House Studio & Entertainment.

Punk band Rux will release its third full length album, 영원한 아이들 (Eternal Kids), on June 26. The album holds 12 tracks and features members of bands such as Hollow Jan and The Moonshiners.

According to a MySpace blog entry from the band, a digital EP called On The War featuring four tracks from the album should've been released on June 15 through outlets such as iTunes and Amazon, but I have yet to find it myself.

Seems like Popseoul's bi-monthly feature "Indie Spotlight" will actually be a monthly feature - It's only been a month since they covered Loveholic, and today there's a feature on The Melody (and consequently Taru): Have a read!

Sean of sssighborgg has got a couple of interesting concert series going with more interesting ideas just waiting to get out. We've already addressed the Round Robin series here at Indieful ROK, and Mark posted on the Nosaj Thing mini-Korea tour (through booking company Super Color Super) at Korea Gig Guide a few days ago. Since I've been curious to learn more on what the live scenes of Korea are actually like, when given the opportunity I thought Sean would be just the guy to ask:

What sets the live scene in Seoul apart from that of other large cities in the world?
Seoul is bigger than San Francisco, but the scene is staggeringly underdeveloped, especially for all the technology and access to the internet at Korean's fingertips. The resultant live scene is like a Of Mice and Men- brain-stunted, man-child brute who tips over a strawberry stand to get a breakfast snack. I just mean to say it's a little paralyzed despite all the people and resources at hand.

What's your impression of the live scene in the rest of Korea?
As crazed for vivid new music Seoul is, people elsewhere in Korea are 10 times worse/better. When ssighborggg gets out to Daegu and Busan or other bands get out there, people seem really interested and stoked on music. More bands should go outside of Seoul to see it.

What are some typical concert goer stereotypes in Korea?
This is a really good question for me to make an ass of myself:

* Camera dude who leaves his blog to go take pictures to add to his blog
* Wooooooo Guy (found worldwide)
* Sensitive brooding dude/lady who doesn't say a word to anyone, occasionally discretely sends a text message every now and again in the corner.
* Scarf couple: they are older, know tons about music, like to chill out and wear scarves
* ESL Teacher Scenester- He's seen it all back home, he's an aspring X artist- never really made at that but still claims it as identity/means of ego broadcasting/security.
*Elf Girls- really pretty foreign/korean girls who look like elves and also play harps and piano more proficiently than the band on stage but are too humble to admit it.
*Party People!!! "This is the hot party Im not sure what we are hearing or watching but PartyPartyPartyBARRRRRFF (sadness)"

You actively work to make non-Korean bands and musicians meet and play with Korean acts. What would be your favorite combo?
I kind of don't think of Korean versus foreign. I like good bands, like the better Korean acts and the international touring bands, I'm just a slave to my tastes. Logistically, I like it when international touring bands share a line-up with Korean acts.

The most ideal situation would be real connection between outside/inside projects, bands of mixed memberships or like a collaborative album/performance, with like both bands following in on their own aeshetics sound and not just following the lead of the others'. That type of creation will lead to more Korean bands leaving Korea.

Former Peppermint Onanism and Frisyr i London member Dringe Augh has after a series of demos gotten an EP scheduled for release through Fargo Music on June 23. The singer-songwriter's latest effort is called Individually Wrapped. ready4d has several clips up on YouTube where Dringe Augh gets to show off his acoustic guitar playing skills.

Rock band Dusty Blue released its second full length album, Lost Room, on June 19 - only 3 days short of the four year anniversary of the release of debut album Unknown Artist. The tracklist holds 11 tracks, including a remastered version of previous album title track 이젠 그녀를 놓아주세요. Also on the album are 오늘까지만 and 길 위에서 from last year's digital single, the former also in a radio edit version.

Korean composer Yang Bang Ean might be more familiar to some under his Japanese name, Ryo Kunihiko. He composed the soundtrack behind MMORPG Aion - The Tower of Eternity, which was released last October, and has now been the subject of one of Original Sound Version's fine interviews: Exclusive Interview With Ryo Kunihiko, Regarding NCsoft’s “Aion”.

Sample parts of the OST at MySpace, including the English version of Forgotten Sorrow, which is sung by Yozoh.

Another digital single released June 19 came from pop/rock act Rumble Fish. The title is Encore, and it seems to be part of preparations for a full album comeback.

Through a blog post, Liner let his readers know that a digital single for MBC drama Triple was released yesterday, June 19. The single holds 4 tracks, starting with Little Tiny Baby - where Zitten has featured Taru - followed by 넌 혼자가 아냐 - where Tearliner has featured Yeongene. Also on the single are tracks from Neons and 서브 that I have yet to learn more on.

Though I do enjoy a fair share of his music I don't usually post on the activities of Kim Kyung Ho, but this time I'll make an exception. On June 17, the old rock star released a digital single called 비와 당신의 이야기. It's a cover of Boohwal's song from 1986, and to help out Kim Kyung Ho has featured former Boohwal member Park Wan Kyu.

For those of you not yet familiar with this - one of Korea's finest - rock ballad, here's a clip from YouTube. And those of you that appreciate delicate female vocals in a metal setting might get an even bigger thrill out of this painstakingly beautiful version from traditional Korean music/rock fusion act Gaia: Rain And Your Story.

Once again, Mardi09 has found a new artist Under The Radar for Soompi. This time it's Happy Robot's EZ Hyoung.

And in case you missed the Under The Radar entry on Sprinkler in May, Not Another K-Blog has a summary.

When Youn Sun Nah performed in Münich, KoME was not just there to catch her performance, but they also took the opportunity to have an interview with her: Jazz artist Youn Sun Nah talks about her career, her influences and the past, and openly shares her love of jazz.

As you may recall, Casker will re-release their first album, 철갑혹성, on June 25. I came across the tracklist at Hyang, and comparing it to the old there were a few differences:
- Crispy is missing. Instead there's a new title as the final track: 47.
- The Discoid remix from Gazaebal has been replaced by one from Astro Bits.
- There's no longer a the verdue mix of Luna, but a soul nu eva remix of 8월의 일요일들.
How much the 2009 remastering has changed the other tracks I suppose we'll find out only after release.

News about an unusually interesting release surfaced at the 360 Sounds blog today. Limited to 500 copies, a mix CD going by Radio Seoul Session.1 has been made available through UNFACT - that means a total of 44 minutes and 6 seconds full of "rare korean rock, soul, funk, disco, boogaloo, jazz". DJ Soulscape's trip to New York last autumn is mentioned in the info, so I think it's fair to assume he's somehow involved in all of this.

The music of Irelander So Cow has been mentioned on this blog previously, when he gave away an EP including a couple of covers on Korean songs. Late March he released a self-titled LP that while (to my best knowledge) not containing any Korean covers does contain a few songs in Korean. Last week one of the tracks from the LP, Halcyon Days, was reviewed by Pitchfork, and yesterday the entire album was awarded 7.7 by another Pitchfork reviewer.

The Korean language tracks are only mentioned briefly as something of a weak spot, though the reviewer objected to the tracks because they didn't let So Cow's sharp lyrics shine through. I had sorta hoped those tracks in particular would've been embraced to somehow encourage Korean music reviews on Pitchfork (there's certainly no lack of Korean albums that could do very well if only introduced to a wider audience), but at least this is a start.

Several tracks from the album are available for streaming at the So Cow MySpace.

MBC drama Triple begun to air last week and from what I've read about the first couple of episodes it seems as though the music is as great as could be expected. Those that, like myself, have not yet had the pleasure of actually watching the show can still experience some of the music through Liner's blog. Tearliner track 슬프지만 현실 was posted last week, and a theme song was posted yesterday: tearliner - 하루 안아주기. [MBC트리플 삽입곡]

mrkwang launched his indie game webzine Pig-Min in an English version a couple of days ago. Unlike the Korean counterpart, however, the English version will also have posts on Korean indie music. So far he's posted on Toxicbiasfleurivy (here), Hellking (here) and Baekdoosan (here). Check it out!

Music Alliance Pact day is here! This month we're down to 24 participating countries with Spain on a temporary break, but there's still plenty of awesome music to download and sample from all over the world below.

Representing Korea this month is The Plastic Day. Once settling on the band it was a tough decision - Storm (which is not just awesome but a better sample of their regular songs) or I Miss Me Myself (which became an instant favorite, somehow reminding me of all the time I spent listening to Silverchair's Neon Ballroom 10 years ago). If you scroll further down you will find that I chose the latter, but those of you that still haven't done so can listen to Storm at MySpace.

Oh, and this month there's more. I don't understand German that well, but if I got blogpartei right some Thursday (in the past or future I don't know) will have a show aired on on3-radio featuring some MAP stuff. I was interviewed for it which was quite the disaster (I'm generally uncomfortable around phones and to make it worse I pretty much made a fool of myself answering those questions), but yeah... It seems to have gotten something about Korean music on European radio anyway. German readers can get more info here.

AMERICA: I Guess I'm Floating
Janelle Monae - Sincerely, Jane
The name Janelle Monae might ring a bell - she has guested on several OutKast songs and recently signed to Diddy's Bad Boy label. After seeing her energetic performance at Bonnaroo a few days ago I can say that she'll be one to keep a close eye on. Even if Sincerely, Jane doesn't do much for you, check out some live clips on YouTube to get the whole picture.

ARGENTINA: Zonaindie
Le Microkosmos - Es Un Hermoso Verano Lunar
Guillermo Beresñak and Pablo Retamero got together in January 2008 in Buenos Aires. From this union came Le Microkosmos, an electronic ensemble in constant search for new musical experiences with synths, programming, instruments, vocals and orchestral sampling. This quest led them to create their own cosmos from each sound, such as this acoustic-electronic ballad taken from their brand new album, Y Vas Donde Sonrisas Te Dan Esos Encapuchados De Un Mundo Nuevo.

AUSTRALIA: Who The Bloody Hell Are They?
Dappled Cities - The Price
One of Australia's, if not the world's, most exciting indie-rock bands, Dappled Cities are back with their third album, Zounds. It was written and recorded after an extensive period of touring their previous offering Granddance, a classic album in the minds of many critics. The Price is a fantastic taster for old and new fans alike, worthy of immediate playlisting.

BRAZIL: Meio Desligado
Júlia Says - Cá
Júlia Says have just released their second independent EP, Menos é Mais ("Less Is More"), in which the duo go deep inside electronica with some strong influences of dance-rock. The name of the band was taken from a children's story and it's a thing that helps us to connect to the fragile melancholy and beauty of Cá.

CANADA: I(Heart)Music
Wildlife - Sea Dreamer
How awesome is this song? So much so that when I saw them perform it during a soundcheck at a show in Ottawa recently, everyone in the room just watched in stunned silence and then exploded in wild cheers when it was done. To put that in context, that kind of thing never happens. But Sea Dreamer, in all its pounding, pulsing, marching-gleefully-into-the-apocalypse glory, is amazing enough to be the exception.

CHILE: Super 45
Valentina Fel - Circo Podrido
Full of aggressive beats, explosive sampling and social protest lyrics, Valentina Fel is the most logical evolution of a riot girl - punk almost in the realm of grime, do-it-yourself attitude with dancehall as a commodity and flamenco-injected defiance. Her long-awaited upcoming debut -to be release in the next few months - promises to be a massive earthquake in the dancefloor that nobody could anticipate.

DENMARK: All Scandinavian
Vomit Supreme - Versus Love
A new project by Mattis Jakobsen and Malte Hill of Straight To Your Face, Rock Hard Power Spray guitarist Frederik Valentin and recently joined by bassist Karsten D. Johansen (Strawberry Slaughterhouse), Vomit Supreme have long been an All Scandinavian favorite. Punk aggression spoon with pop hooks and with the mighty Versus Love spearheading their campaign, world domination should be nigh.

ENGLAND: The Daily Growl
Fanfarlo - I'm A Pilot
I'm A Pilot, the opening track on Fanfarlo's debut album Reservoir, sets the scene for what's to follow. It's a rich, heady brew of heavily orchestrated indie-pop which at times even feels like it's pulling its punches. It's the sound of a young band comfortable in their own grandiosity and as Reservoir carefully unfolds, it's impossible not to be swept along. From now until July 4 you can download the album from the Fanfarlo website for just $1, so you've no excuse for not owning it.

FINLAND: Glue
TV OFF - Car Is On Fire
What a summer hit song! Cool and sexy! Singer Sara delivers delicious pop melodies over Markku's electro bits and sounds. This duo from Helsinki are putting the final touches to their debut album, but they have already gained attention around the world, playing in London and Tokyo. Soon TV OFF will take over the world.

FRANCE: ZikNation
Phoenix - 1901
For too long Phoenix have been overshadowed by Daft Punk and Air, but no more. Even though Phoenix are four albums into an increasingly fruitful career, 1901 is possibly the most immediate and loveable thing they've ever created. An anthem for indie kids, a dancefloor filler for disco dwellers. It's for everyone really.

GERMANY: Blogpartei
High Voltage Humans - Laser Symphony (Catastrophy)
High Voltage Humans are a Munich-based electronic duo. The featured song is heavily energetic and balances guitar riffs with synth melodies sounding a bit like 80s space electro. It's a concrete four-to-the-floor flour-dust explosion.

ICELAND: I Love Icelandic Music
For A Minor Reflection - Óhljóð
For A Minor Reflection are a quartet from Reykjavík who play energetic, melodious, instrumental post-rock. They have earned comparisons to Explosions In The Sky and Godspeed You! Black Emperor. Óhljóð, which means "discordant noise", is taken from their 2007 debut album Reistu Þig Við, Sólin Er Komin Á Loft... ("Rise and shine, the sun's up...") on Blippr.com. Guitarist Kjartan Holm's older brother Georg plays bass in Sigur Rós, whom they supported on tour last year.

IRELAND: Nialler9
Sleep Thieves - Osumi
Taken from It Was Only A Satellite, the debut EP from this Dublin three-piece, Osumi showcases the bleep-assisted electronic edge of their sound before diverting into heady post-rock guitar progressions, while singer Sorcha repeats a mantra atop like a prototype Natasha Khan. Their yearning indie-electronic-pop sound is reminiscent of Lali Puna, Broadcast and The Notwist.

ITALY: Polaroid
My Awesome Mixtape - Me & The Washing Machine
I would have never expected to listen to an Italian band mix diverse sounds such as Anticon and The Postal Service, but when I heard My Awesome Mixtape I just had to change my mind. Infectious melodies and tight grooves, these young kids just seem to be unstoppable.

MEXICO: Club Fonograma
Los Amparito - Por Medio De La Lectura
Los Amparito is the mind-blowing, eccentric and absolutely sublime project of Carlos Pensina. He is relatively well known in Mexico's indie scene for his more electronic act Pepepe, but Los Amparito have enormous potential to break into international boundaries. This sound is like a distorted Mexican mirror of traditional music mashed with its own repetition, flourishing vocals and colorful sequences resulting in something between Animal Collective, Amparo Ochoa and El Guincho.

NEW ZEALAND: Counting The Beat
Lisa Crawley - Brother
Lisa Crawley is a multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter who stands out from the crowd because of her voice and the playful arrangements of her folk-pop songs. Brother, from her second independently released EP Hello, Goodbye And Everything Inbetween, would be great on the basis of its plinky-plonk piano alone, but it's the trombone that lifts it to another level.

NORWAY: Eardrums
Firetop Mountain - How Can You Dance At A Time Like This?
Firetop Mountain are four boys and a girl from the Oslo area, who play indie-rock with a strong melodic focus. Just last week they released their debut album Indians Aren't Afraid Of Heights on their own label. Their music is sometimes powerful and energetic - songs you want to jump around to - and other times more laid-back and sensitive. Good songwriting all the way.

PERU: SoTB
Mi Jardín Secreto - Yo No Quiero Bailar Esta Noche
Mi Jardín Secreto's debut album, La Ciencia Y El Arte De La Falsificación, contains 11 songs that flit between new wave, alternative rock and the sound of modern bands. The theme of the lyrics is a mixture of the warmth and coldness of the city of Lima, with characters who have adventures in a place and climate familiar to us all.

PORTUGAL: Posso Ouvir Um Disco?
:papercutz - A Secret Search
What started as Bruno Miguel's music project is now a trio with female vocalist Marcela Freitas and multi-instrumentalist Francisco Bernardo. After appearances on various international compilations :papercutz are now signed to Montreal's Apegenine label, who released their debut album Lylac in February. In April, they were winners of the 'off the beaten track' category in The People's Music Awards in London.

ROMANIA: Babylon Noise
Luna Amara - Floodmoses
Luna Amara have been around for almost 10 years, during which they've managed to create an image and a name for themselves in Romania. From mellow alternative to angry metal sounds, their music is powerful and never fails to deliver its message. Floodmoses is taken from their recently released third album Don't Let Your Dreams Fall Asleep.

SCOTLAND: The Pop Cop
The Seventeenth Century - Traffic
If Arcade Fire's Wake Up moved you to your core then get ready to fall in love with Traffic. It has that soaring choral majesty, that sprawling orchestration and The Seventeenth Century clearly possess ambitions that are no less lofty. Having had a listen to the young Glasgow band's forthcoming In The Place EP, we can say without hesitation that you're looking at the best new band in Scotland.

SINGAPORE: I'm Waking Up To...
Concave Scream - Fiction
We visit one of Singapore's finest indie bands of the 90s with Concave Scream. Fiction, taken from their third album Three, hints at the flavors of DJ Shadow, The Cure, U2 and Butler-era Suede. It is a fine tune that could sum up the entire record with its use of ethereal vocals, otherworldly chorus-effected guitar lines and a blistering rhythm section. These days, Concave Scream are pushing the envelope of their musical whimsicality by releasing an instrumental fifth album that can be found on their website.

SOUTH KOREA: Indieful ROK
The Plastic Day - I Miss Me Myself
Post-punk/grunge trio The Plastic Day released their first full-length album, 30 Seconds Between The Dreamer And The Realist, only last month but already they've gotten unusually high coverage in Korea-related English language media online. With an intense rock sound paired with English lyrics, there's no reason why they won't get even further. I Miss Me Myself might be one of the softer songs on the album, but it's one that instantly spawns an impulse to hit the repeat button.

SWEDEN: Swedesplease
Chuck Morgan - The Best Of You
I don't know if there's a term for the sound of Chuck Morgan. The last post I did on this Gothenburg-based troubadour tried to peg him as "romantic indie-pop". His new song, The Best Of You, continues that sound but adds even more electronic beeps and blips to the mix.

To download all 24 songs in one file click here

Following the release of Acoustic Diary in March, pop/rock band Sang Sang Band released a three track digital single called Melody Picnic on June 11. The main track is called 오늘은 맑음 and it appears to somehow relate to some CF with Lee Young Ae. What for remains unclear to me.

On June 4, goofy rock band Super Kidd released a "special album" called Music Show. The tracklist holds 12 tracks in total, of which four are remakes of their older songs. The only reviewer at Hyang so far has awarded it 1 star out of 5, but personally I'm gonna check the album out anyway as the "origin" for one of the remakes - Hello "Good Bye" - can be found in my own Super Kidd favorite 어쩌라고.

This is several weeks old already and I really, really should've gotten around to post about it sooner seeing as the deadline probably is this weekend (at least that's what I was told two weeks ago). I first heard about it from icq4ever, and via ourtown I found this Flickr image that explains more.

Basically, for the love of Underwear Band (a.k.a Sokot band, We've got underwear and lots of girls) fans are asked to participate in a project to create a zine to the memory of the now disbanded post-rock act. When completed, the zine will be sold at printing cost, though distribution has yet to be solved. Hopefully those of you that are interested will not have been reached by this message too late...

Via fellow MAP member Eardrums I found out about Merci Magazine. The first number of this new Japanese magazine/cd bundle release from abcdefg*record will be out on June 24, limited to 500 copies. How does this pertain to Korean music then? Well, it doesn't - not yet anyway. The CD that comes with the magazine is a "World wide indiepop Compilation CD" and it seems like they actually want music from every country of the world to be featured on those CDs eventually. So if you (or your friends) make music that fits the profile, why not send a demo to the address at the abcdefg*record MySpace and see what happens?

As mentioned previously, Jisun has recorded a song called 사랑에 미쳐서 for SBS drama Brilliant Legacy (찬란한 유산). While first released as a digital single on May 1, the song will also be included on the full OST that will get a release on June 18.

This morning, Pastel Music posted something about "Sweet-diary" on the Pastel blog, mentioning a bunch of indie bands. mrkwang was kind enough to translate the important pieces for me so I could share with you: Apparently Sweet Diary is a project for the new LG Cyon Lollipop brand, and they're working closely with Pastel (we've already seen some LG/Pastel CF stuff here, here and here). Targeting the 1723 generation (that'd be people between 17-23 years of age), Yozoh, Taru, Han Hee Jung, Merry Clave, Lucite Tokki and Zitten have all contributed with ringtones and/or sound effects.

The artists all have their profiles in the Sweet Diary section of the Lollipop site and the sounds are all in the "Sound List" sub section (where Sentimental Scenery too is represented). If streaming from the Lollipop site isn't working for you, a collection of selected short mp3 samples can be heard from the LG blog instead.

KoME has posted a lengthy live review from Youn Sun Nah's recent performance in Münich: Youn Sun Nah in Munich.

In related news, one of Sweden's biggest newspapers - Svenska Dagbladet (SvD) - published a brief review of her Voyage album today. Writing about clarity, purity and etheral beauty, the reviewer seems quite impressed, ultimately awarding it a 5/6 grade. If you understand Swedish you can read it all here.

I was just browsing the upcoming releases section at Hyang and one release in particular caught my interest (there were a few others, but more on those later): Shingaram (or River Shin, as might be the international name) will release an album called =cptr0kxv on June 16. Now it wasn't the title that got me, but I found a couple of interesting names in the tracklist: There's former Crash guitarist Yoon Doo Byoong featured on the first track, 너만, and Hollow Jan's vocalist Lim Hwan Taek featured on Run Away and Twinkling Cold Eyes - should make for some pretty hardcore music. I read a bit further and found that the final track is a cover of The Classic's 마법의성 (remember DBSK/TVXQ's Magic Castle?). And then I found myself at YouTube watching the music video for 슬픈라디오 (Sad Radio). Regular (teenage) rock stuff was not quite what I had expected but it was definitely good enough to be interesting. And that doesn't mean there won't be some heavy guitars and high quality screaming and all that comes with on that album anyway. Quite intriguing, this potential mix, I think. In a week we'll find out.

Ynot? is a band that always surprises me by being much better than I remembered them to be. It happens every time I listen to their 2003 cover of Spitz's Cherry as well as whenever I hear their own material. May 28 they released their second full length album, 아지랑이 리듬 (The Haze Rhythm). If I'm reading the album info right it says something about this being "hard funky band Ynot's new acoustic album", but listening to the two songs they've put up on MySpace it doesn't sound entirely acoustic to me. Either way, they managed to surprise me again.