If Korea couldn’t export electronics, cars, appliances and kimchi, it would probably continue to make lots of money exporting K-Pop.
If you know absolutely nothing about Korean Pop Music, too bad, I’m not going to explain it to you. But I will give you some links.
Anyway, some of the Korean friends I have made while out here have turned me onto some bands from the past. These aren’t auto-tuned to hell models, but rather artists who actually sing, write and play their own music. The most influential band is SanUlLim (산울림), meaning the Mountain Echo.
According to Wikipedia and a fan-made Homestead page (I didn’t realize those still existed), the band is made up of a trio of brothers and got their start in 1977.
The band’s music could be best described as psychedelic rock. Supposedly, they distinguished themselves from other Korean pop groups/bands, as many artists during this era simply copied music from the the West.
In all honesty, I’m not going to pretend I know a lot about the band. I know they’ve been around a while, and had a big impact on the music landscape as the country was developing.
Most of the information I’ve come across has been from sites by hobbyists who have good, but not perfect, grasps of English. All I can tell you is that I really like their music.
Their most well-known song is “Perhaps, It Was A Late Summer” from their first album Oh, Already, (they produced 10 in the first their seven years together). Their second, Laying Silks and Satins on My Heart, made them “rock stars in Korea.”
[audio:/02PerhapsItWasaLateSummer.mp3|titles=SanUlLim – Perhaps, It Was A Late Summer]
