# Is North Korean progressive rock discussion allowed on this forum?



## The Deacon (Jan 14, 2018)

Or would it be deemed "unpatriotic" by the moderators?


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## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

Any discussion of music is OK. Just avoid the politics.


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## Capeditiea (Feb 23, 2018)

I am curious... i didn't think they had music there... it is like the only country that i know of that has no music... 

i mean Myanmar has very little. but North Korea... none that i know of...


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## chill782002 (Jan 12, 2017)

The only North Korean music I've ever heard seems to be massed-choir and accordion based threats against the US. I would have assumed that producing music that did not adequately reflect the struggles of the toiling proletarian masses would result in a lengthy stretch in a labour camp. Surely they don't have any prog? Perhaps The Deacon can enlighten us...


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## Simon Moon (Oct 10, 2013)

The Deacon said:


> Or would it be deemed "unpatriotic" by the moderators?


I sincerely doubt that there is any North Korean prog in existence.

There is a smattering of prog and prog-metal in South Korea, but rock of any sort, I'm sure would be, lets just say, frowned upon by the North Korean government.

Not to mention, that Talkclassical is not USA based site. It is Danish. The Danes have a different idea of patriotism than the US.

If you


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## joen_cph (Jan 17, 2010)

Capeditiea said:


> I am curious... i didn't think they had music there... it is like the only country that i know of that has no music...
> 
> i mean Myanmar has very little. but North Korea... none that i know of...


Of course, there's plenty of music in North Korea, like even the simplest googling will reveal, plus the standard TV documentaries presenting official guided tours of the country, with extremely disciplined, virtuoso quasifolkish music and karaoke sessions in hotel lobbies. There is a symphony orchestra who officially has about 30% Western repertoire and also recorded Shosty and Isang Yun, though it's probably only a tiny niche in such a thoroughly censored state.

BTW youtube has examples of what is called North-Korean ~rock'n'roll.


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## The Deacon (Jan 14, 2018)

Deacon only knows South Korean prog/psych.


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## chill782002 (Jan 12, 2017)

Actually, I'm sure I picked up a recording a while back of some North Korean exiles who had ended up in Germany via China and South Korea jamming on a version of Can's "Yoo Doo Right". I'm not sure I'd describe it as prog though, except in the loosest stoned-out kosmische sense of the word. God knows where I've put it though. Perhaps they didn't have any material of their own and it does not prove that they had heard the track before they arrived in Germany.

To have rock music of any kind, a country needs to be either western or to have had cultural exchange with the west post the 1940s. North Korea fulfils neither criterion. However, rumour has it that Kim Jong Un is a big fan of Eric Clapton. Presumably a result of his having received at least part of his education in the west. Nonetheless, he does not appear to subscribe to a policy of making rock music accessible to the people he rules.

I like to think that a group of North Korean teenagers have somehow gained unfettered access to the internet, discovered YouTube and are now in a garage in Pyongyang trying to recreate "Gloria" and "Satisfaction" on Chinese copies of Fender Stratocasters.


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## The Deacon (Jan 14, 2018)

chill782002 said:


> Actually, I'm sure I picked up a recording a while back of some North Korean exiles who had ended up in Germany via China and South Korea jamming on a version of Can's "Yoo Doo Right".


Only one with Asiatics I know is East German band ,Bayon. Two Cambodians in the group.


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

I for one much prefer Easter Island Prog rock, at least it has monumental cover art.


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## Capeditiea (Feb 23, 2018)

EddieRUKiddingVarese said:


> I for one much prefer Easter Island Prog rock, at least it has monumental cover art.


I love their environmentalist song, "we used all the trees here."


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

Capeditiea said:


> I love their environmentalist song, "we used all the trees here."


But made great tone from the wood


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## Room2201974 (Jan 23, 2018)

EddieRUKiddingVarese said:


> But made great tone from the wood


http://www.rainsong.com


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## Guest (Mar 1, 2018)

I wish that I was North korean:


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## Casebearer (Jan 19, 2016)

The Deacon said:


> Deacon only knows South Korean prog/psych.


Well, you should immediately visit North Korea then, shouldn't you?


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## The Deacon (Jan 14, 2018)

Here are decent South Korea lps.
Most of these the Deacon has in the collection.

Please note that I got these in pre-internet days when there was not much info and when I needs must dig thru LOTS of cack to get to the better ones.

SO I'M DOING YOUSE A BIG FAVOUR HERE.


Most are late 70s/early 80s lps.

Also note that many of these have (usually the last track) as non-band/artist but propaganda marching/glorify-the-leader-type dross track.


FEVERS light poppsych

HE5/HE6 heavy garage psych

SANDPEBBLES

MAGMA (yes, not THAT Magma. Good guitar psych)

No Go Ji Ri
KIN SOO CHUL
LITTLE BIG MAN (only the second lp is good)
SON GOL MEH
RUN WAY
SHIN JUNS HYUN & DONKEYS
& MEN
& YUP JUNS

SAN UL LIM must be 20 different lps. First 10 or so have similar overart. Later on they do childrens songs, but the first 5 or 6 are good psych. 2nd lp , san Ul Lim 2, is the best, with sidelong track. Man those Korean vaccuum tubes must have been something else cos this is some of the grittiest fuzz you will ever hear.

Shin Joong Hyun - Beautiful Rivers and Mountains ("best of" out on cd) Korea's best electric guitarist


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## chill782002 (Jan 12, 2017)

I will check out San Ul Lim 2 as a priority. Thanks for the recommendation.


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## The Deacon (Jan 14, 2018)

Waver on the Shin Joong Hyun - Beautiful Rivers and Mountains cd :

Just listened to it.

Front says "psychedelic rock" but it isn't. 
Mainly pop.With male/female vocals.

I only enjoyed four tracks - one being a 10 minute bluesy instrumental.


(Like I said - you gotta be careful with Korean "psych" scene.)


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## The Deacon (Jan 14, 2018)

Lee Su Man & 365 Days


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