Various Artists
Radio Pyongyang: Commie Funk and Agit Pop from the Hermit Kingdom
CD Sublime Frequencies SF023 (USA, 2005)
01. Unknown Artist - Motherland Megamix
02. Unknown Artist - New Model Army
03. Unknown Artist - Numbers Game
04. Unknown Artist - Pride Of The Nation
05. Unknown Artist - Start 'Em Young
06. Unknown Artist - Arirang
07. Unknown Artist - Commie Funk
08. Unknown Artist - Motherland Redux
Note : Schmaltzy synthpop, Revolutionary rock, Cheeky child rap, and a healthy dose of hagiography for Dear Leader Kim Jong-il, this is the now NOW sound of North Korea! A hermit kingdom with a rich folk history and an even richer tradition in over-the-top praise for the ruling House of Kim, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea remains a diplomatic thorn and a culture never Neverland. Boasting a heady mix of Stalin opera, Tokyo karaoke and brooding impressionism, the sound of present-day Pyongyang distills into warped agit-pop and lost-in-time commie funk. If you’ve ever wondered what goes on in North Korean music, this is your vehicle for exploration. Christiaan Virant has visited this mysterious land and has assembled this amazing audio collage. Captured within are rare live recordings from various performances and mass games demonstrations, sounds lifted from People’s Army television dramas, samples from hard-to-find CD releases obtained in the capital, and of course, news reports from the "real" Radio Pyongyang, which continues to broadcast to this day, albeit under the new, strikingly anodyne moniker "Voice of Korea".
[old link is in prison, new link later, maybe]
I can't wait to hear these. I'm hoping to hear any news or political dogma but since I don't speak or unnerstand Korean, I'll just have to do my best...
RépondreSupprimerI'll let you know more after I've had a chance to listen.
Cheers!
This was verrry entertaining! A listener doesn't need to understand the language (although it would help) because radio, jingles, PSAs and Top 40 music is virtually the same no matter what the source.
RépondreSupprimerOnly complaint: I do wish there were more continuity to the snippets of broadcast and I wouldn't like the recording for that reason...HOWEVER, one must remember that these are radio and short wave recordings and the signals tend to fade in and out, making the recordings choppy and static-sounding.
Best thing to do when that happens is to edit/cut the tape and start another recording at a later time which is what Sublime Frequencies did, which would explain the overall recording.
Overall, I liked it immensely. It was fascinating and left me wanting more. Tonight I'm downloading Radio Algeria.
I tried to download Radio Palestine, but the Megaupload link hasn't been replaced yet, so...
I'll let y'all know about Radio Algeria when I get around to listening. Until then, Cheers!
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200 Megaupload links have gone, so it will take time to replace all of them, and I have NEW things to post first...
RépondreSupprimerBut I have planed more from Sublime Frequencies in the (near) future, so I might re-up Radio Palestine at the same time.