【Other
Artists】
☆ Nam June Paik《Works 1958.1979》(Sub Rosa)(2001)
Paik Nam June, he
was born in 1932. In 1950 he moved to Japan. In 1956 he graduated Tokyo
University. In 1956 he went to Germany to study. In 1964 he moved to NY.
He joined Fluxus and published many marvelous works that we could not
imagine. Then he paid attention to video quickly, and became the pioneer
of video artists.
In 1996 he fell on apoplexy and became a partial paralysis. But he did
sexual harassment to beautiful blonde nurses much, and he recovered miraculously!
He is the most famous and the most broken Korean artist in the world.
Great!
All of here are very precious works, his early tape music in Germany,
recordings of LP released in private, etc. Live performance by piano,
and absurd tape collage…. Very good! Excellent!
☆ Park Je Chun《Mol-e Mori 2》(Sang-Joong-Ha music)(2000)
Percussionist Park
Je Chun, he is a musician of second generation of Korean free music. But
in second generation there are no one but he and his wife Mi Yeon, pianist.
He plays his original drum set including toms, symbols, Korean traditional
drums, and plays sitting cross-legged on a stage. When he started free
music, he played as duo with Kang Tae Hwan. At first Kang Tae Hwan asked
him to play free style. His sitting style might be influenced by Kang
Tae Hwan.
This CD has recordings from 1996 to 1999 with Sato Masahiko(p), Kang Tae
Hwan and Wadada Leo Smith(tp). We can listen to his dynamic and powerful
drumming.(photo)
☆Byung Ki Hwang《The Labyrinth》(C＆L)(1983)
Hwang Byung Ki,
he was born in 1936. He is a great master of Kayaguem, a kind of Korean
traditional harp. So he made many songs and he made contemporary music.
This <The Labyrinth> is one of that.
The first public performance was in 1975. This is very famous work as
it gave big shock to Korean music world. It begins from weird sound by
bowing, and echoes women’s laughing, screaming, talking indistinctly,
and harp is played biting and scrubbing. It ends silently as chanting
Heart Sutra melodiously. Of cause, they were too surprised and said that
they could not understand!
Recently it reissued as deluxe edition with guide of four countries’ languages,
Korean, English, French and Japanese. This is vol.3 of Hwang Byung Ki’s
Kayaguem Masterpieces. Others are orthodox tunes composed based on a traditional
technique.
☆ Hong Sin-cha《Arirang》(Laughing Stone)(1996)
In Korea performance
art is very activity. Its history is also old. Hong Shin Ja, she is the
authority of avant-garde dance and pioneer of Korean performance art,
born in 1940. She is the woman that laughs and murmurs in Hwang Byung
Ki’s <The Labyrinth>. Now she holds Chooksan Art Festival every
year inviting many kinds of artists from domestic and international.
This CD is live recorded in Hawaii in 1994. Musicians (violin, wind instruments,
percussion, etc) were all foreigners. But it smells Korea. It might be
because of her aura…? At last they played Arirang, Korean traditional
tune. When we listen to Arirang, we must remember Korea. But the last
track Arirang does not smell Korea. It is very strange.
☆ Jin Hi Kim《Komungo ’round the World》(Seoul)(1994)
Mrs. Kim Jin Hi,
she is a composer and Komungo player living in USA. Komungo is Korean
traditional instrument. She teaches at university in Korea, and she goes
round the world busily. Maybe so… she released this CD. Komungo around
the World! Good title, good picture! We must buy. She is just like female
samurai with a sword wandering the world. I cannot stand it. Kill Bill!!
It has four tracks of improvisation duo with worldwide instrumentals.
Let’s go on travel! At first we went to Australia, she did with didjeridu!
Fantastic and strange! Next we went to India, she turned on with sitar.
Oh, India, India, India…mysterious and exotic. And then we came to Japan.
Japanese koto VS Korean koto, it is the battle! Spark! Thrilling and exciting!
At last we went to Africa. She is riding on and flying away with djambe.
Let’s get high, get high, get higher and higher! (more, more, more, more,…)
☆ Shin Joong Hyun《Mu Ui Ja Yeon》(E&E Media)(1994)
Why is here CD
of Shin Joong Hyun, the godfather of Korean rock?
This is his own remake album in 1994, recorded by himself. This is the
rough collection of works like which grains of sweat which flows from
his forehead gathered and crystallized. Although this does not come out
of the region of a study, this is hot album with which "a feeling
to want to do" spouts.
The reason which is here is the last track <Electric Guitar Sanjo>.
That’s it. This monotone sound is a present-day drawing in India ink.
So his brush (guitar) is also clear. Listen to the only one music that
Shin Joong Hyun plays, Korean style rock improvisation guitar sound!
☆ V.A.《Sanjo performed by Western musical instruments》(KBS)(2003)
“Sanjo” is a kind
of forms of Korean tradition music. It is a music style played by solo
musical instrument while making full use of technical skill including
improvisations. This album was planned by KBS-FM to performed sanjo by
the Western musical instruments. This has new sanjo tunes recorded by
cello, piano, flute and electric bass.
Every track tastes deeply and excites interest. Of course, because of
Western musical instruments, it is a little strange. But we can listen
to them interestingly including this strange feeling. The best track of
this CD is the last one played by electric fretless bass. It is by Kim
Young Jin who has played in Bulgasari. Improvised bass sound by simple
tone makes us good feeling.
☆ Kim Young Jin《Fretless Bass Rock Sanjo》(synnara)(2004)
Well! New album
of Kim Young Jin is <Rock Sanjo>. All right, this album is just
as the title. It is bass improvised Sanjo.
Possibly this was done alone at home, only one person recording. We can
see the endless land of Korea, when we listen to this bass sound that
density increased gradually as if the kimchi soaked in the bottle fermented.
And then we feel deep Korean special feeling called Han, when we see the
track titles, virtue, humanity, duty, living and mother. Last two tracks
are rock and blues numbers with deep expressive vocal. (photo)(photo)(photo)
☆ Choi SoRi《Dudlim 1》(Shilla)(1997)
Choi Sori was a
drummer of the third period “Baekdoosan”, very famous Korean heavy metal
group in 1980’s. But he quitted commercial music and shut himself up in
the mountain for five years. After that he has known that every materials
and energy in the world has own sound. Then he came back from the mountain
and he released this CD, his first solo album.
It is very simple sound. Coming to his senses, light sound of drums is
flying silently with primitive power. On track 3 he plays open tuned guitar
with beating sticks and plain melody comes alive. There is not anything
wicked, nothing but easy idea and simple sound.
Now Choi Sori has made up his own music world that is fusion of Korean
traditional and western music. But that is the restarting of commercial
music, I think. Don’t you think so?