Another music post!

Okay, I know, I missed a week. This happens.

Fact is, I had a fairly boring stretch recently- a combination of crappy weather and generic summer slothfulness made for a fairly quiet stretch of time there. I kind of doubt 'I read some P.G. Wodehouse, wrote a little, and then watched The Supersizers on Youtube' would make for a very interesting blog entry, at least.

But! Don't worry, I finally overcame my laziness to go out and DO THINGS. Exciting.

For one, last week, I went out exploring. I meandered out past Ilsan's Lake Park, and found...this. It's pretty interesting, to go from an urban area to a (heavily developed) agricultural area in the span of a 25 minute walk. I would've gone farther, but it was a little warm, and the place wasn't very pedestrian friendly (seriously, tiny little roads). So I went back to Ilsan proper before too long. Was interesting, however, as Ilsan is pretty much a grid of urban development that's a couple blocks wide, a few miles long...and it's surrounded by farmland. Odd little juxtaposition, but that's Korea for you.

Also, there were giant frog statues out in the country for some reason. 

Thankfully, this past weekend has been much more interesting! Saturday night, I went back to Hongdae to catch another punk rock show. It's a thing they do the second Saturday of every month, so I guess I'll always have ONE show to each month. Woo. Forgot to bring my camera, however, but what can ya do?

Anyway, Hongdae! It was as bustling and crowded as one would expect it to be on a Saturday night, not to mention pretty warm. I probably could've gone a little later, when it'd theoretically be cooler, but eh. Hindsight and all that.

So most of the acts were perfectly serviceable punk-rock trios- Korean and expat both. Definitely more interesting than most dance music some clubs play, but that's just my own personal tastes. However, out of the bunch of bands on the bill that night, two really stood out in particular.

The first? Nacho Pupa. I want to link to their website here, but I can't seem to find it. Shoot.

In any case, the first thing that got my attention was when they were setting up. I watch them fiddling around, bringing instruments out of cases and so on, and I had to do a doubletake and ask myself: "Is that an accordion?"

Intrigued, I looked closer, and found it was. At which point I asked myself another question: "Is that a banjo?" (It was). Not exactly common instruments in the US, much less on the other side of the world. So I'm curious, and eagerly wait to see just what they've got to offer.

So they started to play, and not only did they have an accordion and a banjo, but they also had a guy playing one of those tiny celtic flutes. And they started their set with "Johnny I Hardly Knew Ya."

That's right, it was a Korean-Irish-Punk band. And they were AWESOME. I wasn't the only one who was impressed, either- that was the point in the night that folks started moshing and/or skanking. Good times! Nothing like Celtic punk to get you nice and rowdy (in the best possible way, of course). I picked up their CD in a heartbeat, but I fear it's not nearly as good as their live show. Ah well!

The other notable band of the night was SKASUCKS. (For the record, they don't suck). I'd actually heard of them before, but this was the first time I've seen them live. In any case, seeing them play brought up an academic (read, music nerdy) and arguably existential question. Namely, is it possible to be a ska band without a horn section? As they've got everything else- pork pie hats, a rockin' keyboard, the two-tone beat, they even did a Specials cover!...just no trumpets or trombones in sight.

Regardless, they were really damn good, and I had a great time at the show! I'm gonna have to hit up this Second Saturday thing more often.

Sunday went a little slower, but no less fun. As my cousin and some friends of mine invited me down to go hang out with them, which was quite fun. It was a lot slower paced than going out on a Saturday night, but there's nothing like whiling away a Sunday afternoon drinking beer and just lazing around.

We also hit up a really tasty galbi joint- one of those resturants where there's a grill in the center of the table, and you pretty much roast your own food. Which can be a little offputting in hot & humid weather, but you soon get used to it. It's really no different from grilling outside, except you're just sitting down.

In any case, it's Monday now, and so it's back to the workaday grind. Things are going to be pretty crazy busy at work for the next two weeks, but it's nothing I can't handle (I hope). And in three weeks, it's vacation time! Quite excited, as I'm going to meet my folks in Hawaii and have all sorts of crazy tropical adventures.

 I've got some other stuff I'm planning on checking out before the big trip, however. I'll even try to remember to bring my camera. Stay tuned!