Musical Interlude

Thanks to an epic plumbing fail in my condo’s only bathroom, I’ve spent the past week with relatives who have spotty Internet access. This means no drama, no Tumblr, and no blog. My withdrawal symptoms, as you can imagine, have been nightmarish.

To tide us over until I can make a real post again, I thought I’d share some of the Korean music that I’ve been listening to lately. I’m no fan of the slick, rap-influenced K-pop mainstream, but K-indie is a good fit with the indie-folk and chill music I usually prefer. (Although if you asked me to define either K-pop or K-indie, I would literally have no idea how to go about it. Maybe K-pop = song with choreographed dance; K-indie = danceless song?)

My primary source for Korean music is the website 8tracks, a free streaming service full of user-created and curated playlists. It’s much more international than competing sites like Pandora, and it has a bigger, more varied library of songs.

Here are a few of the playlists I’ve loved lately.

My café in Seoul from tokkichaaan on 8tracks Radio.

My cafe in Seoul
Mellow and jazzy. An ideal soundtrack for reading on a rainy afternoon.

40 k-indie songs from chloreen on 8tracks Radio.

40 k-indie songs
There’s a lot of variety here, but it tends toward the up-tempo. Excellent background music for writing.

10cm from whereseden on 8tracks Radio.

10cm
A collection of mostly gentle, low-key tracks from the band 10cm.

intro to k-indie from 123123q on 8tracks Radio.

Intro to k-indie
Just what I always needed! This mix includes lots of lovely songs from the go-to artists in the genre, including Standing Egg, J Rabbit, and Urban Zakapa.

mellow korean indie from maptheseoul on 8tracks Radio.

Mellow korean indie
Warm, cozy songs that are mostly acoustic. (Good luck deciphering their titles and artist information, though—most of them are actually in Korean.)

sweet time from mioindreamland on 8tracks Radio.

Sweet time
Delicate, gorgeous, and just a little sleepy.

just a little bit from simpatie on 8tracks Radio.

Just a little bit
A playlist devoted to the band Urban Zakapa, a group I love for their fabulous, Backstreet Boys-esque harmonies and smooth production.

YIRUMA [music~for~the~soul] from AutumnSerenade on 8tracks Radio.

Yiruma
This prominent contributor to the Spring Waltz soundtrack is perfect for all your cheesy instrumental needs.


Check out the complete list of my liked mixes here.