Tens of thousands of people in London have Samsung phones but apart from Gangnam Style, how many people have heard any Korean music? Not only one of the best bands from South Korea but one of the most interesting bands in Asia was playing in London last night, thanks to K-Music 2013.
Geomungo Factory — on their first trip to the UK — fuse ancient and modern like nothing we have here. The geomungo is a 1,000-year-old Korean zither, plucked with a stick. It is both melodic and percussive, with lots of tapping on the body of the instrument.
Sonically, it’s something from another world, like plucking a big elastic band — with lots of vibrato. That might sound unpromising — and the traditional music played in the first half is an acquired taste — but the new music that Geomungo Factory create is sensational. It is deeply Korean but it rocks, with the Californian overtones of Steve Reich or Captain Beefheart. Three of the musicians — Yoo, Jung and Lee — play geomungo and the fourth, Kim, plays gayageum, a more delicate plucked zither that adds something softer and more delicate to the texture.
But Geomungo Factory also bring in bowed geomungo, electric geomungo, glockenspiel and a musical saw to create a whole tapestry of sounds.
It might be world music, avant garde or heavy metal — but whatever you call it, it is original, powerful and thrilling. And certainly like nothing you have ever heard before.
K-Music 2013 continues June 20-21, serious.org.uk/K-Music