|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2LP
|
|
N 066LP
|
The demons of night are out again: Seoul's one-stop shop creative collective Byul.org returns with its third international album, Nobody's Gold. Comprising 14 new songs, it's a dizzying, haunting affair that channels the group's manifold influences and references points (from post-punk to Stockhausen and back via club culture) and yet sounds intriguingly coherent. Moving in and out of the shadows, Nobody's Gold breaks forth as pure sonic landscape, a universe of its own, folding and unfolding into both more experimental patterns, yet also with occasional hooks and dark catchy structures, gracious build-ups flickering among the hazy roar and thunder. After the screak and squeal of "Lamb With A Wolf Mask," the foreboding sounds of "The Museum Of The Two Of Us" segue into a synthesized party tune about a missing friend being chased by police ("Nari Yuko Yin"), one of several vocal tracks with a sinister edge. Taking things up another notch, "Friendly Enemies" is probably the closest this group will ever get to creating a stadium-ready anthem. On the other end of the spectrum, "The Place Where Designers Go To Die" is a magnificent void with an immense and irresistible undertow. Never too jolly (not even while "Day Drinking At A Seaside Town" or during takeoff via epic pop tune "Bats We Are"), Nobody's Gold compiles soundscapes with a very tangible, corporeal presence. Inspired by everyday life, half-remembered drug/club experiences, Pascal Quignard's disturbing La Haine De La Musique (1996), Stockhausen and Bill Evans, Nobody's Gold sees the collective remain true to its DIY foundations while repeatedly questioning our listening habits and "the exaggerated love for the concept of love," as they put it. Founded around the dawn of the millennium as a group of poetry-loving friends who'd occasionally meet for drinks, Byul.org has long become an extremely prolific and versatile collective within Seoul's scene. Main song-writer TaeSang Cho and his mates Yu Hur, Jowall, YunYi Yi, SuhnJoo Yi, HyunJung Suh, and SoYoon Hwang went from publishing to recording, from releasing tunes to design, art direction and more. Although their list of clients includes Atelier Hermes and the Venice Biennale (they did the Korean Pavilion twice), the group still remains a drinking circle of close friends at its core: Pals who simply like to create and carouse and dream and live and perform and play tunes together.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
LP
|
|
N 055LP
|
LP version. Includes download code. Selected Tracks For Nacht Dämonen compiles rare and early recordings of Seoul's Byul.org, an influential creative collective known for its multidisciplinary/one-stop shop approach, and post-punk-inspired DIY aesthetics. The album was carefully compiled by the collective's director TaeSang Cho and The Notwist's Markus Acher. What started out in 2000 as a group of friends who'd meet for drinks (and for sharing the occasional poem), has long established itself as a shape-shifting key player of Seoul's thriving scene. With a huge amount of both commercial and non-commercial projects under their collective belt, Byul.org's members - TaeSang Cho, Yu Hur, Jowall, YunYi Yi, and SuhnJoo YI - went from publishing to recording, from releasing tunes to doing art shows, offering everything from branding to consulting and art direction, from naming and design to software development along the way. Accordingly, for Byul.org's members, music has always been one outlet among many, one mode of expression to accompany and soundtrack others. Most of the songs on Selected Tracks For Nacht Dämonen were originally released on CDs that came with the collective's own Monthly Vampire, A Magazine, while others were self-published via the group's own label Club Bidanbaem. Featuring sonic diary entries recorded between 2000 and 2007, the album is a nod to personal favorites such as Eno and Aphex Twin, Joy Division and Kraftwerk, personal hero Robert Smith, as well as Korean stalwarts such as Jae Ha Yoo and Min Ki Kim - and yet there's hardly any daylight around, to be precise - hence the title: "Traditionally in Korea a "BamDokkebi" (Nacht Dämonen) is a kind of ghost or monster of the night, but it has also come to mean people who spend their nights out instead of sleeping. We've always been a group of 'BamDokkebi' - drinking, DJing, doing stupid things." Far from polished and often sparse, the 13 tracks all share a rather dark and haunting vibe that's partly inspired by drug culture, dancefloor scenes, the LGBT scene, and the hippie culture in Korea. Ranging from fairly straightforward synth/electro tracks ("Friday Night") to hazy pop ("20thcenturyofmeandyou"), from more experimental textures ("Job") to minimalist bangers ("A Customer"), it's difficult to escape the soothing, cinematic pull of this nocturnal "Secret Show". These 13 tracks offer a peak into a hidden but vibrant Korean music scene: Nocturnal soundscapes, brooding electronics, ambient layers, and occasional hooks.
|
|
|
Artist |
Title |
Format |
Label |
Catalog # |
|
|
CD
|
|
N 055CD
|
Selected Tracks For Nacht Dämonen compiles rare and early recordings of Seoul's Byul.org, an influential creative collective known for its multidisciplinary/one-stop shop approach, and post-punk-inspired DIY aesthetics. The album was carefully compiled by the collective's director TaeSang Cho and The Notwist's Markus Acher. What started out in 2000 as a group of friends who'd meet for drinks (and for sharing the occasional poem), has long established itself as a shape-shifting key player of Seoul's thriving scene. With a huge amount of both commercial and non-commercial projects under their collective belt, Byul.org's members - TaeSang Cho, Yu Hur, Jowall, YunYi Yi, and SuhnJoo YI - went from publishing to recording, from releasing tunes to doing art shows, offering everything from branding to consulting and art direction, from naming and design to software development along the way. Accordingly, for Byul.org's members, music has always been one outlet among many, one mode of expression to accompany and soundtrack others. Most of the songs on Selected Tracks For Nacht Dämonen were originally released on CDs that came with the collective's own Monthly Vampire, A Magazine, while others were self-published via the group's own label Club Bidanbaem. Featuring sonic diary entries recorded between 2000 and 2007, the album is a nod to personal favorites such as Eno and Aphex Twin, Joy Division and Kraftwerk, personal hero Robert Smith, as well as Korean stalwarts such as Jae Ha Yoo and Min Ki Kim - and yet there's hardly any daylight around, to be precise - hence the title: "Traditionally in Korea a "BamDokkebi" (Nacht Dämonen) is a kind of ghost or monster of the night, but it has also come to mean people who spend their nights out instead of sleeping. We've always been a group of 'BamDokkebi' - drinking, DJing, doing stupid things." Far from polished and often sparse, the 13 tracks all share a rather dark and haunting vibe that's partly inspired by drug culture, dancefloor scenes, the LGBT scene, and the hippie culture in Korea. Ranging from fairly straightforward synth/electro tracks ("Friday Night") to hazy pop ("20thcenturyofmeandyou"), from more experimental textures ("Job") to minimalist bangers ("A Customer"), it's difficult to escape the soothing, cinematic pull of this nocturnal "Secret Show". These 13 tracks offer a peak into a hidden but vibrant Korean music scene: Nocturnal soundscapes, brooding electronics, ambient layers, and occasional hooks.
|
|
|
|