Welcome to the brand new feature that is our Korean Indie DisKovery. In this segment, much like our Best Korean Releases of the month, we’re featuring our favorite Korean Indie releases of said month.
The reason that I felt we needed this new segment is because our Weekly K-Indie Reports feel more like a listing of everything that came out. It tends to be a lot so it makes it easier to miss out on the best ones. Here we’ll take a closer look at our favorites of the month.
So for this monthly feature, it’s going to be a more personalized approach. It’s also going to be more exclusive. There’s also a big chance that I might feature these artists as Indie Picks because when I tend to like something, I like to dig a little deeper.
Let’s take a look back at the first week of March.
Week 1
The debut single ‘Happiness or Sadness’ by PARKJIWOO feels so soft. The track was both written and composed by her and talks about the imperfection of love. The guitar works so well with her vocals and the harmonic layering towards the end is fabulous.
ZanHyang is such an interesting discovery for me. This is only the second release by the female group but it is so unbelievably good. I love all the traditional instruments.
The vocals of TANG THE AWESOME give me the same vibe of Irish singer James Vincent McMorrow mixed with some James Blake. BLURRYCHORDS arranged the wonderful instrumentals and this entire song is an electronic R&B masterpiece.
Cimona came out with a single album that has two incredibly groovy R&B singles. ‘Backpack’ is lovely, but my favorite is ‘Cloth’ because of that dope bassline and that stunning outro.
Paiik really outdid himself with his new EP ‘experiment no.1’. This is the soft indie pop with brilliant storytelling that will blow up in no time. That saxophone solo in the title track is legit awesome.
Week 2
The new rock EP ‘Lost Time’ by BUZZ is absolutely lovely. It feels oldschool but in a new jacket. They really went off in ‘Because it’s you’.
‘What if’ by EUNWOO featuring Taessl is such a lovely song. I’ve been properly obsessed by it. There’s a little bit of magic in the combination of their voices, the cello, that soft acoustic guitar and the strings.
Instagram / Spotify
The band GRAPHY released the full album ‘Lies Are Relative’ and I was immediately drawn to their alt rock sound. I listened to the full album and it is such a cool blend. I particularly liked ‘Human Romance’ and the somewhat softer ‘Here Comes spring’.
I am in love with the jazzy lightness of the vocals of Sonak Moon. The brass mixed with the synths are super lovely and just overall, this feels like a 10/10. It’s easy listening with just the right amount of substance to be catchy as hell.
Week 3
Because of their debut EP ‘OOcarpet’ I have very high hopes for the band OOcarpet. It’s another alternative rock album, but with a slight bit more electronic effects. It’s a really cool sound and I hope they keep it up. My personal favorite is ‘Relay / Heart Rate’.
I thoroughly enjoyed listening to ‘ultraviolet!’ by WESTERN KITE. It was such an interesting listen. There are a variety of sounds and genres while you still get the red thread of Western Kite’s great vocals. The third title track ‘Larry’ is a wild ride but I loved it.
Gonne Choi has been steadily rising on my list of potential Indie Picks. Her last two releases have been nothing but stunning. I was very intrigued by this single ‘The evening lovers’. Maybe I’m just a sucker for the violin. The second single on the single album starts off with spoken text and it’s such a goosebump inducing effect.
Byul.org is a rather interesting collection of artists. It is a band and a design company at the same time. Here’s the design company’s website. The artists are Seo Hyun-Jung, So!YoON, Lee Sun-joo, Jowall and Cho Tae-sang. Their album ‘Bean Tales & Trash Dance’ is a really interesting electronic rock music album. The track ‘Beware of Spring & God’ is dope.
Week 4
The band ESEGYE has been on replay on my Spotify since I found it. The entire EP is just wonderful, solid indie soft rock. I love the vocals and the mixing.
Sojeso X WDRW is a lovely collab. Their EP ‘DIZZY DAY’ is an amazing lo-fi electronic piece of work that is such a mood. I particularly enjoyed ‘Imminent’.
This collaboration between Jflow and Jeebanoff is brilliant. We have the stunning R&B vocals of Jeebanoff and Jflow’s cool composing. There’s a real saxophone in the track and it’s a treat for the ear. I’ve been playing this one a lot.
Honestly, it was a great month for electronic music. The trio Eobchae, consisting of HWI, nahee.app and Oh Cheonseok came out with the full album ‘The Decider’s Chamber’ and it’s such a dope listen.
If you prefer listening to some more indie folk with a touch of jazz, I really recommend the album ‘Lament’ by Jung Sumin. He’s absolutely wonderful. Everything apart from the last track featuring Kim Ildu is instrumental.
That’s it for March Korean Indie DisKovery. I hope you discovered some new Indie songs or artists. It’s been a wonderful month and I couldn’t be happier with the quality of music we’ve been able to listen to this March.
Let us know who your favorite is!
