Inbox: Kafka - The Most Beautiful Thing

New for me

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The buzzing guitars and the drum machine that opens up The Most Beautiful Thing on "Cipher Key", especially once you add Chaeyeong's angry vocals, immediately brings to mind a crossing of industrial electronica and industrial rock and it wouldn't be wrong to suggest that part of The Most Beautiful Thing is underlined by the kind of sounds that you can hear in groups like The Prodigy, Gravity Kills or Lords of Acid. However, the short EP ventures into other genres like ambient, drifting closer to what you might hear from Björk in a blend that actually makes for a coherent listening experience.

Despite their self-professed label of making experimental music, Kafka's sound is grounded in electronica, industrial, rock, and a light brushing of pop. "Cipher Key" is an appropriately noisy intro that channels a sense of hurt into anger that helps set up the overall tone of the album, which sits at the border of disillusionment, hurt, and depression. The distinct switch to a more pop-touched electronica on the following title track, with Chaeyeong affecting a child-like tone and innocence in the lyrics helps create a contrast, while the continued use of buzzing guitars and drum machine keeps the track a meaningful progression from its predecessor.

The duo then drop into a spacey ambient stream on "Silence" with Chaeyeong moving to a more breathy Björk-like expression, keeping the sense of hurt among the thumping and clacking of the production. "When You Wake Me Up" moves the duo back more towards industrial rock with some of the production being reminiscent of some of Nine Inch Nails' work, while Chaeyeong's vocals began to resemble a darker relative of I Yunjeong of Pipi Band and EE, with plenty of "f!@# you"'s thrown around. The following "Miss World (remix)" starts with more electronic bleeps and bloods before getting very aggressive with the guitars and Chaeyeong's vocals blurring into an instrument. Despite the aggression from the arrangement, the actual track demonstrates a progression away from the hurt of the past few tracks.

This leads well into the final track, "Fail to Love", which takes the duo into dream pop territory, with a spare arrangement and quiet vocals that go into whispering. A fittingly nearly resigned end to an EP that's arranged around a sense of hurt. And that focus on an overall theme really helps tie the different sounds on the EP together. However, while the listen is very well put together conceptually and has interesting ideas built into each of the songs, the songs mostly only work piecemeal and don't really manage to sustain as well throughout the individual listens. Furthermore, despite the changeovers from aggressive to soft and back again, the EP still ends up feeling a touch flat, possibly because the individual tracks feel more like aural canvases than pointed experiences.

All this makes The Most Beautiful Thing actually feel longer than its twenty-two minutes suggest and that might be because of the almost droning nature of each track in itself. The denseness of the production on the more aggressive tracks as well as the spareness of the more ambient ones leave the tracks often feeling murky and without a strong pop of dynamism. Still, the cohesiveness of the tracks together help give the EP enough glue to be a decent listening experience and those who have an appreciation for industrial leaning music might particularly find The Most Beautiful Thing interesting. On the other hand, Kafka doesn't have a particularly high dynamic ceiling or broad range of expression for The Most Beautiful Thing and the EP seems almost exhausting as a result. It's well put together, but a little short of inspiring. 6/10.

Tracklist:

1. Cipher Key
   
2. The Most Beautiful Thing
   
3. Silence
   
4. When You Wake Me Up
   
5. Miss World (remix)
6. Fail to Love

Links:

• Artist | MySpace |
• More Reviews: Korean Indie, wakesidevision
• Available at iTunes and YesAsia (CD)

Inbox: Verbal Jint - Go Easy

New for me

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The acoustic guitar that opens "원숭이띠 미혼남" on Go Easy instantly signals that Verbal Jint is doing something a little different with this album. Not having heard his third album, Good Die Young, the change in sound between 누명 and Go Easy is as distinct as the difference in tone of titles. Verbal Jint, made a mark especially early in his career with sometimes incisive and biting lyrics and the title Go Easy suggests that he's relaxing a little now, both in terms of how hard he hits his hip hop production as well as in his lyrical content.

Although Verbal Jint never really goes full on pop or R&B on Go Easy, there are several tracks, like the slow jam "우아한 년 2012", where you hear him singing more than rapping, the track anchored in hip hop more thanks to his guest emcees, San-E and Okasian, than Verbal Jint as a performer. The track that actually boasts the most attitude from VJ would appropriately be "넌 내게 모욕감을 줬어", featuring a great title hook from Koonta and even the edges on this track are mitigated by the funky reggae production a bit. And even when he ventures into more typical hip hop materialism, like on "My Audi", an ode to his car, there seems to be awareness of the mundane in it, describing searching for parking spots and eating fast food in his car.

And yet, I'd have to say that Go Easy is so successful because it seems like VJ is really taking the title to heart and exploring a variety of sounds and songwriting that is genuine to where he is at the moment, rather than forcing a hip hop template into his music. If I wanted to point to the heart of this album, I think it lies in two tracks, "긍정의 힘" and "우리존재 화이팅", both are incredibly positive and encouraging track that are the peak of the album's sunny, relaxed vibe. Even the album's main single, "좋아보여", directed at an ex, is full of release, rather than angst-ridden longing and brings in 검정치마 from the indie rock world in atypical collaboration.

Following moodier tracks slow jams like "Luv Songz" with upbeat, sunny tracks like the more acoustic revisit of "Promise Me Promise Me", this time with Jo Hyeona of Urban Zakapa, means that Go Easy keeps the album's tone varied and consistently shifts towards the positive. And the overall sequencing of the album lends well to the thematic cohesion of the album, especially given how the album's production drifts closer to crossover friendly sounds.

Fans are Verbal Jint's more intense sounds from the early phases of his career might not take well to his singer-songwriter oriented branching, but Go Easy is perhaps his most coherent album on the whole. 너명 itself hinted at VJ's interest in creating complete album statements as well as his interest in exploring outside the genre boundaries of core hip hop in his songwriting and Go Easy appears to be the result of this freedom. In many ways, VJ's songwriting, detours into singing, and adoption of a variety of styles, from acoustic pop to electronic R&B into Go Easy not only ties the album to the title, but makes it a surprisingly genuine work, given his hip hop fan base and thanks to the clearly personalized production and songwriting, the more mainstream friendly sounds here never feel like a grab for crossover success.

And yet, because of this outreach to sounds outside the core hip hop genre to inform his songwriting, Go Easy is also probably the most accessible album that he has written, easily one that might interest a more pop-oriented music listener even at the risk of ostracizing his more hardcore fan base. So, for those who never have had an appreciation for the harder side of hip hop, they will probably find Go Easy to be the best starting place to investigate VJ's discography, but Go Easy will likely appeal to a broad spectrum of hip-hop friendly music lovers thanks to the strong thematic and artistically developed focus of this highly enjoyable album. Well done, Verbal Jint. Much respect for going easy. 9/10.

Tracklist:

1. 원숭이띠 미혼남 (feat. ZICO of Block.B)
2. 좋아보여 (feat. 좋아보여)
   
3. 넌 내게 모욕감을 줬어 (feat. Koonta)
4. 우아한 년 2012 (feat. San-E & Okasian)
5. 긍정의 힘
6. Want You Back (feat. NODO)
7. Luv Songz (feat. 태완 a.k.a. C-LUV)
8. Promise Me Promise Me 2012 (feat. 조현아 of 어반 자카파)
9. 어베일러블 (feat. Lady Jane)
   
10. 깨알같아
    
11. My Audi (feat. The Quiett)
12. 우리존재 화이팅

Links:

• Artist | MySpace |
• More Reviews: Korean Indie, wakesidevision
• Available at Amazon (MP3), iTunes, and YesAsia (CD)

Inbox: Eluphant - Eluphant Bakery

New for me

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Eluphant's second album, Man on the Earth, was such an enjoyable listen that I picked up their debut album, Eluphant Bakery, released during the early days of the collaborative and label that was Soul Company, hoping for another great time. Well, it doesn't quite live up to that description, in part due to the choice to sequence the album such that there is a lengthy lull near the top of the album. That's not to say that Eluphant Bakery isn't fun, but half the album goes by before it really goes anywhere and by the time one reaches the album's strongest tracks, it's possible to have already become exhausted.

The album opens a bit softly with the children's skit, "Ladies and Gentleman", which wouldn't be a problem except that it's a touch long as is followed by "그날 밤, 셋이서, 그곳에 서서", which feels like a bit of a skit itself, with the three emcees joking around before Kebee and Minos rap to RHYME -A-'s beatboxing. This makes the introduction to the album seem a little drawn out and doesn't really establish what we're in for, which is why the next three tracks make the album such a hard swallow. Each of these three tracks, "공명 - 共鳴", "Mr. 심드렁", and "Ophilia, Please Show Me Your Smile" are all quite lengthy and slow, featuring a similar jazzy tone and given the fact that album started off slow, they really drown the listen early on. By the time you get a break with "귀 빠진 날 : 생일 축하해", it feels like the album is coming to an end.

Strangely enough, it's only once you pass this molasses of a hurdle, you reach the catchy indie electronica instrumental of "당신이 점점 궁금해집니다", which even if skit-like, immediately grabs the ear and follows up with a similarly pop-grounded "Pink Polaroid" where both Kebee and Minos seem to come alive before guest vocalist Itta drops her heavenly avante-garde touched overdubbed vocals, taking the track to another level. Even the intervening jazzy hip-hop of "꿈의 터널" doesn't faze the album at this point which runs into the driving, energetic hip hop of "꿈의 터널". This six-track stretch is so engaging and enjoyable, both for its diversity of energy and sound that it's actually quite surprising that the album wasn't flipped to start with the apparent B-side and end with the slower tracks, which might have helped close out the album better or even spread out the trio of slow tracks.

So, while Eluphant's Eluphant Bakery has a number of really strong tracks, it's also a clear example of what weak sequencing can do to a listen. Loading up the front of an album with your slower and longer tracks can really put a damper on a total listening experience, even if the latter half of the album is more varied and snappier. That's not even to say that the tracks on the first half of Eluphant Bakery are bad, but simply that placed back to back, they bog down the listen to the point where the album can't fully recover from it. If you start listening to Eluphant Bakery from "당신이 점점 궁금해집니다", it becomes a rather strong listen, even though the three-block of slower tracks can still be a bit of a momentum killer. Yet, what works still does make Eluphant Bakery worth a listen for fans of Eluphant's rather accessible hip hop sound. 7/10.

Tracklist:

1. Ladies and Gentleman
2. 그날 밤, 셋이서, 그곳에 서서 (feat. RHYME -A-)
3. 공명 - 共鳴
4. Mr. 심드렁
5. Ophilia, Please Show Me Your Smile (feat. Paloalto, 샛별)
6. 귀 빠진 날 : 생일 축하해
   
7. 당신이 점점 궁금해집니다
8. Pink Polaroid (feat. 있다)
9. 꿈의 터널 (feat. Soulman)
10. 원님비방전 (feat. IF, The Quiett)
11. 코끼리공장의 해피엔드 : 졸업식 (feat. junggigo aka Cubic)
12. Mr. 심드렁 (remix)
13. 봄날의 곰 mix

Links:

• Available at YesAsia (CD)

Inbox: 장기하와 덜굴들 - 별일없이 산다

New for me

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A few years ago, in 2009, Jang Giha & the Faces had become such a bit hit that the indie band managed to crawl its way deep into the Korean mainstream, displacing pop acts in the process. And perhaps because Jang Giha & the Faces got so big, I felt that their music doesn't run of the risk of going out of print and didn't hurry to pick up their album in favor of so many lesser known bands, although I was charmed by some of the band's music and even liked the tracks I heard enough that their name was almost as much of a draw as Gim Changwan when I attended their joint concert in Los Angeles a couple years ago. They put on such a good show that I told myself I had to buy their album, but I somehow lost track of it and only recently picked it up. And I honestly regret failing to get this album earlier, because it's a fantastic mix of a classic Korean folk, rock, and even funk along with a dry and observational sense of lyricism that's frequently amusing and interesting.

In composition and arrangement, Jang Giha & the Faces genuinely reach back to the sounds of the 70's in particular, strongly grabbing onto folk music in particular, which ends up having a tremendous effect on the arrangements and especially Jang Giha's melodies. If you had heard a track like "삼거리에서 만난 사람" out of context and ignoring the clean modern production, you could easily mistake it for being a track from that past era. But the band largely fuses this retro-folk sensibility with a rock sound that is sometimes jagged and modern, like the modern production flips on "아무것도 없잖어" that you could never mistake the whole album for being from the era, especially given Jang Giha's blankness in his delivery, neither attaching his lyrics or his delivery with particular emotionalism, preferring ordinary observation and a subtle sense of humor. This style is further enhanced by Jang's frequent use of speak-song, in a manner that's as distinct as Dylan's, with sometimes synchopated or chunky burst delivery like on the closing title track.

There is something utterly refreshing about the band's unabashedly retro sound as they open with the rocking "나와", quickly demonstrating their broad sonic template with Beatles-esque choruses on the driving mid-tempo rock track. The whole album plays across different mixes of these kinds of sounds and while folk and rock are the dominant roots in collaboration, Living Without Incident does boast a funk track in "그 남자 왜" with official band dancers (at the time), the Mimi Sisters providing background vocals and the hook and then reaching into a driving acoustic rock track on "달이 차오른다, 가자" with an addictive "Whoa"-based chorus and Jang fashioning his sing-speak into a percussive instrument itself. Adding further to the diversity is the reggae-meets-doo-wop pop of "느리게 걷자" with laugh-inducing lyrics as Jang claims that the target of the song's lyrics is running too fast to the point that it might kill after he sings the title chorus line "let's walk slowly".

With variations in the levels of folk and rock and the occasional diversions to other genres, the album never gets stale and Jang's diverse vocal renderings which range from his distinct speak-song to his genuine retro-fueled singing tied together with his observant and often funny lyrics is enough to capture the ears. However, the album is filled with fantastically composed and inspired folk-rock hybrids that capture the feel of a past era of music without ever sounding like a tribute band thanks to the bands unique character and willingness leak out of the boundaries of normal folk-rock songwriting. Jang might be writing about living without incident on his first album, but after the success of his song "싸구려 커피", I imagine that the band itself wouldn't go on with its title track. Jang Giha & the Faces clearly deserve their acclaim and popularity with an uncompromising, diverse retro-meets modern folk-rock and more album. You simply won't hear a sound like this anywhere else and it's a sound that music lovers should at least try listening to at least a few times, because although it might not be immediately accessible, this is fantastic music that will grow on you. 10/10.

Tracklist:

1. 나와
2. 아무것도 없잖어
3. 오늘도 무사히
4. 정말 없었는지
5. 삼거리에서 만난 사람
6. 말하러 가는 길
7. 나를 받아주오
8. 그 남자 왜
9. 멱살 한번 잡히십시다
10. 싸구려 커피
11. 달이 차오른다, 가자
12. 느리게 걷자
13. 별일 없이 산다

Links:

• Artist website | |
• Available at MrKwang (CD) and YesAsia (CD)

Inbox: The White Stripes - Icky Thump

New for me

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With Get Behind Me Satan, it was clear that The White Stripes felt limited by the strings of their original format and, still staying true to their minimalist restrictions, reached far beyond their original sound. The band seemed to possibly be done with Jack White moving onto The Raconteurs and then several other projects thereafter. But, interestingly enough, freed from the self-imposed restrictions of The White Stripes' sound, the Raconteurs' Broken Boy Soldiers ended up sounding a bit ho-hum.

When the White Stripes broke news that they would get back together for another album I was curious where else their sound could go given that Get Behind Me Satan really seemed to push the limits, but for Icky Thump, the duo decided to return to their roots, settling in a space somewhere close to their work on De Stijl and ending up with a pretty solid album as a result of it. It's a lot more loose in its overall tone, indicating that the band is a bit more weathered and the return to an older sound for the band, while not tired, does find the duo becoming a bit comfortable at times. A bit more fun oriented, the album has a bit of the playfulness and genre shifting of White Blood Cells and De Stijl, but largely keeps to the guitar and drums base that the duo started with.

Of course, being a bit more goofy and loose, the duo does add some help here and there, like on the cover of "Conquest", bringing Regulo Aldama on the trumpet to duel Jack White's guitar, flavoring the song with mariachi trumpets and then bringing in Jim Drury to play bagpipes on the folk-tinged workout on "Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn" and "St. Andrew (The Battle Is in the Air)", bringing the White Stripes near Led Zeppelin territory with their sound, a comparison that has been apt since their first album. White is pretty playful, if not outright silly, in his lyrics like on the chugging hard rock runner "Rag and Bone" with the duo ad-libbing some goofy banter about yard sale shopping, eventually with Jack White going on to list a number of places they could go, rambling into "...Middle East / rich house / dog house / cat house..."

In between all these goofier tracks are the blistering riff-showcasing rockers like "Bone Broke" and "Little Cream Soda", which would find themselves at home on their self-titled debut. These might not be noticeably unique within their discography, but as home as they are in the music, they still make solid grounding for the album, highlighting the contrast with their more fun-oriented tracks. If there is any somewhat low point on the album, it actually happens early with the Ranconteurs-like country pop of "You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do as You're Told)", which fortunately finds some crunch on the instrumental bridge. The Stripes find a much stronger country voice on the album closer "Effect and Cause" while playing with the title concept.

Interestingly enough, Icky Thump actually boasts the Stripes' first mainstream radio hit with their title track, a crunchy classic White Stripes sounding rocker with Jack White going off on immigration of all things in his high-pitched holler, which is surprising considering that they've been making this kind of music their entire career together. Sadly, Icky Thump also proved to be the band's swan song as the Whites would decide that they had no more music between them after this album. However, they are ending on a pretty high note here with an album that returns them to their roots, continues to stretch into a couple new sounds and finds them at their most easygoing. The range of the album keeps it an interesting listen throughout and while the more relaxed attitude of the duo keeps Icky Thump from being as compelling as any of their previous albums, the ease with which they produce their music also displays a high degree of craftsmanship and self-understanding of what they're able to make together.

Icky Thump certainly isn't going to be an album that will make doubters like The White Stripes any more, but for those that already appreciate them, especially those that liked their music before the expansion of their sound on Elephant, will find much to appreciate on this fun last hurrah from the White Stripes. 8/10.

Tracklist:

1. Icky Thump
   
2. You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do as You're Told)
   
3. 300 M.P.H. Torrential Outpour Blues
4. Conquest
   
5. Bone Broke
6. Prickly Thorn, But Sweetly Worn
7. St. Andrew (This Battle Is in the Air)
8. Little Cream Soda
9. Rag and Bone
10. I'm Slowly Turning Into You
11. A Martyr for My Love for You
12. Catch Hell Blues
13. Effect and Cause

Links:

• Artist website | | MySpace |
• Available at Amazon (CD) / (MP3) and iTunes

Inbox: 2011 들국화 리메이크

New for me

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Anyone who spends any considerable amount of time listening to Korean musicians perform live, either in person or televised, will inevitably hear a cover or two of an influential, classic Korean song. The once mega-hit show "나는 가수다" built an entire show around having potent singers perform covers of Korean classics. An among these classics, the 80's rock band, Deulgukhwa (Wild Chrysanthemum), found themselves covered a few times, with their first covered song on the show, "그것만이 내 세상", netting its singer, Bak Jeonghyeon a first place win in a genre outside of her normal comfort boundaries with a soaring rock to gospel transformation. While the band only managed three proper albums, the echo of their music reverberates throughout Korean music, having a significant influence on Korean rockers and pop artists alike.

While I had some surface level awareness of some of Deulgukhwa's hits due to their ubiquity, it's only recently that I really started to take in their music and have since been quickly converted to into an admirer. So, when I noticed a tribute album to the band featuring a number of Korean rockers and indie artists that I liked, it was a given that I'd also pick it up and give it a spin. The tricky part of tribute albums is that the covers will inevitably be compared to the original recordings and an ill-conceived cover can really put a bullet in the overall listening experience, whereas if the covers are played too straight then you also raise the question of why the cover was even recorded on such an album in the first place. A listen of the 2011 Deulgukhwa Remake overall assuaged many of those concerns, although I found the experience a little mixed.

At nine tracks, the compilation actually covers songs that are mostly in the four-minute-plus range, leading to a still substantial listen, although I did feel like it could have used just one more song to round out the listen. The included performers vary in genre, from rock stalwarts like Gim Bada and Huckleberry Finn to mainstream reaching pop artists like Handsome People and W&Whale and yet despite the sonic range of the resulting covers, the tribute album ends up highlighting the enduring masterworks that are the original songs. Some artists only need to play their covers straight in their style, like Gim Bada's opening "행진", which puts a harder rock crunch on the classic, growling on the chorus. Monni also don't need to transform too much with "그것만이 내 세상" fitting pretty well into their more modern rock sound, a few electronic flourishes distinguishing the arrangement while Gim Sinui's vocals don't go quite for the original's pyrotechnics, smoothing according to Monni's sound.

The most transformative interpretations include MOT heartbroken take on "매일 그대와", which is so deeply entrenched in the duo's arrangement that they'd almost lose the original song if it weren't for the memorability of the title melody, Guckkasten's "사랑일뿐이야", which manages to throw in their trademark neo-psychedelia, diverging into a different experience on a long instrumental bridge, and I Janghyeok's dream pop version of "제발", which is probably my favorite take on the album, capturing the original's pleading and transforming it into a melancholy retrospective, using a touch of Deulgukhwa's own tendency for Beatles-esque vocal harmonies and flipping from the wild unrestrained cry of the original to a carefully restrained resigned reflection, but still holding tight to that personal desperation that drives the song. And Handsome People actually manages a really snappy pop iteration of "세계로 가는 기차" except that the rendition is nearly ruined by being too cloying with their barbershop rounds.

Fans of both the included artists and Deulgukhwa are the clear targets for this compilation. Most of the covers do a good job of capturing the compelling songwriting within the framework of their respective styles, but few really contextualize the songs in as nearly a compelling way as Deulgukhwa originally found, although, for me, Janghyeok's inclusion here made the disc's purchase worthwhile. It's a decent attempt and, thanks to the strength of the original songwriting, the tribute album remains very listenable, but I do think it's a bit short of compelling as most of the covers aren't particularly inspired. But if you think you might really like hearing Deulgukhwa taken on by any of these artists, it's certainly worth checking it out as it's still a decent listen overall. 7/10.

Tracklist: ( Playlist of Original Songs)

1. 김바다 with 소년 - 행진
2. 몽니 - 그것만이 내 세상
3. 핸섬피플 - 세계로 가는 기차
4. 못 - 매일 그대와
5. 허클베리 핀 - 아침이 밝아올 때까지
6. 국카스텐 - 사랑일뿐이야
7. 이장혁 - 제발
8. 한음파 - 머리에 꽃을
9. W&Whale - 사랑한 후에

Links:

• Available at YesAsia (CD)

Inbox: Showmust

New for me

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I always have mixed feelings about label sampler compilations. On one hand, it's a really nice way to get acquainted with a label's artists and their overall sound. On the other hand, the moment I buy an album from one of the featured artists, I'm doubling up on a song I already have and it's not like the label sampler is providing any exclusives. Furthermore, many of these kind of samplers are given away, leaving the value proposition a big question. So when Peterpan Complex's new Showmust label released a sampler, I was hesitant to get it, but liking the band's music and being curious about the other artists they would congregate with eventually convinced me.

Upon giving the compilation a listen, I have to admit that I was surprised. Knowing Peterpan Complex for their Radiohead influenced alt-rock sound, I was not prepared for a predominantly electronica and synthpop oriented sound from Showmust and yet, just as Peterpan Complex has turned even more electric in their arrangements, they've gathering a number of similarly minded artists for their label and while the sound ranges between ambient electronica and rock, the overall presentation is pretty coherent resulting in a rather enjoyable listen. The two groups to get two songs on the album, Roll Sp!ke and Peterpan Complex provide songs of different kinds to present a greater diversity to their sound without ever feeling like it's pushing out of the genre borders of the compilation. Roll Sp!ke opens with a New Order inspired guitar lick into a synthpop song with "A Second" and closes the album with a more poptronica reprise of that track with "Half a Second". Meanwhile, Peterpan Complex starts with the smooth and catchy synthpop piece "자꾸만 눈이 마주쳐" and finds themselves learning towards a folktronica sound on "어제". And Peterpan Complex's drummer, Locomotive, presents the moody "After Time", with gurgling synths underlining her plaintive vocals.

Sixthfinger travels to an ambient almost post-rock world with "Lullaby for Monica" while Blac + Blak's "Dopamine" a nice slice of electronically produced pop with a catchy melody line pushed through autotune. Fromm's "마중가는 길" is the only non-electronic piece on the album, being a low-key rock number and this works well to create a break between the more electronic sounds and leads well into Peterpan Complex folktronica. Monoid provides some seriously glitchy atmospheric electronica with "Blew" before the more bedroom electronic punk of Mormoto's "Dot Dot Dot". And despite being forty minutes long, the album feels quite compact, thanks to a well sequenced tracklist that switches between tracks without jarring, most of the tracks rooted in some degree of eletronic production and the single track that isn't providing a nice moment of relief.

Showmust has assembled a pretty strong field of low-intensity Korean electronic-tinged artists. The brightest, most accessible track on the album is Peterpan Complex's own "자꾸만 눈이 마주쳐", but those who like more indie-sounding electronic music would probably do well to check out what Showmust has to offer. And while it's not necessarily a great value for those who will eventually want to dig deeper, Showmust proves that the sampler compilation can actually work pretty well as a listen on its own when the tracks are thoughtfully chosen and sequenced. The compilation even comes with a nice large booklet introducing the represented artists and more. 7/10.

Tracklist:

1. Roll Sp!ke - A Second
   
2. Peterpan Complex - 자꾸만 눈이 마주쳐
   
3. Locomotive - After Time
4. Sixthfinger - Lullaby for Monica
5. Blac + Blak - Dopamine
6. Fromm - 마중가는 길
7. Peterpan Complex - 어제
8. Monoid - Blew
9. Mormoto - Dot Dot Dot
10. Roll Sp!ke - Half a Second

Links:

• Available at YesAsia (CD)