A middle-aged Korean guy rockin’ out to Neil Young’s Heart of Gold in Sandang Station.  Not sure I’ve ever heard anything quite like this before.  (214 – Seoul Metro Rocker)

Recorded 12/16/11, 5:50 PM

The final post from what was taken at the 2011 Seoul Drum Festival in Seoul Plaza.  This is a professional Korean 사물노리 (Samulnori) percussion group playing at the concert’s finale.  Samulnori gets it’s name from the four types of instruments played and was traditionally used in rice-growing villages to celebrate and ensure a good harvest.  Obviously, however, it also works pretty well on a stage.  I’ve already posted one or two other amateur samulnori groups in the earliest Seoul Sounds posts, but this ensemble is head and shoulders better than any of the other recordings I’ve put up.  Also, forgive me that this recording is quite long, but it was just too good to try to cut short.  (213 – Drum Festival Samulnori)

Recorded 9/23/11, 8:40PM (local time)

*P.S.  If you care enough, or if you’re nerd enough, have another listen to 210 – 난타 (NANTA).  I’m sure you’ll notice some of the same characteristic Korean rhythms in both recordings.

A traditional Japanese flute and percussion ensemble playing at  the 2011 Seoul Drum Festival in Seoul Plaza.  Personally, I don’t know anything about Japanese musical styles (so if anyone out there does, please feel free to comment below), but I do know that this is some of the most interesting and silently intense music I’ve ever heard.  (212 – Japan Seoul Drum Festival)

Recorded 9/23/11, 7:54PM (local time)

Click here to see the complete report.

Thanks, everyone, for making 2011 a great year!  Let’s make 2012 even better.

-Steve

East Sea (Sea of Japan) waves rolling into shore near 속초시 강원도 (Sokcho City, Gangwon province).  This was recorded late at night from the window of the beachside condo where we spent a few days after Christmas and where the roar of the ocean could be heard all day, everyday.  (211 – Sokcho Waves)

Recorded 12/28/11, 12:39AM (local time)

NANTA (Cookin’), the popular Korean nonverbal musical show that matches traditional samulnori rhythms with knives, cutting boards, and various other cooking utensils, performing at the 2011 Seoul Drum Festival in Seoul Plaza. (210 – NANTA)

Recorded 9/23/11, 8:03PM (local time)

One of the earliest ‘culture shock moments’ that I experienced shortly after first moving to Korea was how crowded and loud most of the cafés can be.  Among the most crowded and loudest is this Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf café, along the main ‘Gangnam Street’ in Seoul.  Granted, this was recorded during peak hours on a Saturday afternoon, but this is basically what the place (and many, many others like it) sounds like all the time.  So much for a café being a place for study and relaxation. (209 – Gangnam Coffee Bean)

Recorded 9/17/11, 4:16PM (local time)

One of those annoying awesome ‘Laser Tops’ that the middle-aged men set off and try to sell for 3천원(around $3) on the subway trains.  Who can resist spinning lasers and a little Beverly Hills Cop?  (208 – Laser Top)

Recorded 11/26/11, 12:37PM (local time)

*And as a bonus, here’s THREE LASER TOPS all going off at the same time!

A ‘gugak’(traditional music)-themed breakdance crew performing just inside the entrance of the Korean Folk Village in Yongin, South Korea.  The moves were the same as any other group, though the Korean masks and modernized traditional music added a fun little gimmick.  (207 – Gugak Breakdance)

Recorded 10/1/11, 2:02PM (local time)

This is a short excerpt from 이영태 (Young-tae Lee)’s  performance of the Korean Pansori 수궁가  (‘Sugungga’) at the National Theater of Korea last month.  Though it has been dubbed ‘Korean Opera’ by those in the west, pansori is like nothing else on earth.  It is an ancient storytelling artform that typically pairs one singer/storyteller on a stage with one drummer, in a performance that can sometimes last all afternoon.  As you can tell by the recording, audience participation is an important part of the performance, as spectators are welcomed to join in and urge the performers on. (206 – Pansori)

Recorded 10/29/11, 3:35PM (local time)

*For more information on Pansori, check out the sources here and here.

** Obviously, I didn’t take the picture above.  I borrowed it from another website, since it was impossible to take decent photos during the show.  It’s from a different performance, but it is the same singer.