Words cannot describe my giddiness at discovering DJ Soulscape and his revival of rare 70s Korean soul and funk music from the 1970s via a random haunt on BuzzFeed this morning.
Excuse me if I’m late on the DJ Soulscape bandwagon. It is patently clear that I am no Korean music expert, though at times I wish it affected me as greatly as it affects so many people across the globe. A lot of the pop music from Korea tends to go over my head and has never had the impact on me that other genres — particularly American soul music — have.
So you can imagine how excited I was to hear about More Sounds of Seoul, a continuation of the Sound of Seoul project which “features rare 70s Korean grooves mixed into something verging on the sublime,” music which flourished in post-war Korea but was suppressed by the military regime in power at the time.
I’ve seen photos of my parents in their flared pants and big perms; were they gettin’ down to soul and funk before they left Korea in the 70s? What was up with all the Bette Midler and Freddy Fender in the house while we were growing up? Oh well, no matter. I’m just glad I’ve finally found a musical thread back to the motherland.
