2011년 2월 1일 화요일

신중현(Shin Joong-hyeon) 누구인가?(who's the man?) Part4

Shin Joong Hyun & Golden Grapes: Sound vol 3 (KO,1972)


Some late 60's psychpop with nice organ (at times Iron Butterfly-like to give some idea), male voice(s) with Beatlesque harmonic singing and psychrock drive, and some early 70's psychedelic rock. I especially like the fourth track : heavy rock with organ, harmonic vocals, electric guitars improvisation.. Last bluespsych track lasts for 15 minutes. The album starts very, very slowly, with a blues-psych guitar solo and a the psych organ waiting to participate.
It takes an almost 8 minutes before the musical rhythm changes, into a funker mode, which is moulded into a psych repetition too, with some electric guitar, until, I count now 9 minutes, the organ makes it to a (really great) solo too.
When the drum starts its solo the track is (sadly) faded out. Highly recommended album. Perhaps one of the best psychedelic rock albums from Korea.
"Golden grapes debut album/Enjoy the psychedelic party or trip. Ultra Mega rare!  This album is a great and masterpiece of Korean dark psychedelic rock music!!!! You can listen to very rhythmical and powerful psychedelic sounds at this album much more than on any other Korean psychedelic record.
The colours of psychedelic sounds are very deep and dark also the feeling is damply and heavy. In shortly is this a bad trip! ? I think that this is a Korean representative psychedelic record and his forgotten masterpiece!! So you might have a big headache when the trip ended as with smoking marijuana!!! This is really dark and powerful, also hallucinating psychedelia !!!!"
 
 
Shin Joong Hyun & Yup Juns: vol. 1 (KO,1974)
 
 
Very good, fine psych-rock/hard rock album, with here and there some blues-rock elements. Last track on the album is a blues-rock improvisation, with some dirty fuzz touches. Very unique is also the combination of original Korean music with western elements. On first track this can be described as Korean music with some Hendrix influence or so.
 
" First version of this record (Shin Joong Hyun & Yup Juns) was reissued only CD format in 2003. But there are dubbed guitar sounds on the reissue of the CD. It is a Korean psychedelic rock masterpiece!! Only this album released about 500 copies only with a paper sleeve gate fold cover ! ! First pressing has not the A5 and B5 song, but only it just appeared the songs on the cover track list. Members are Shin Joong-Hyun(Guitar and Vocal), Lee Nam-Lee (Bass), Kim Ho-Sik(Drums).
It is a different Musical performance and Drummer compared to the second pressing.
First pressings were only given to a broadcasting station. So it was a very rare and expensive these days. The first pressing is in fact the best combination of styles (of Western rock music combined with Korean traditional rhythms) of all his records. It is a great eastern pyschedelia!! Only I just can say that "He almost completed his hope(to combine Western music with Korean traditional rhythm)at this album." Just you must feel it!! The CD reissue was published in 1994."
"Second pressing (Shin Joong Hyun & Yup Juns) members are Shin Jung-Hyun(Guitar and Vocal), Lee Nam-I (Bass), Kwan Young-Nam (Drums).
It is a different Musical performance and Drummer compared to the second pressing. This album is a Hard rock style of first pressings. But B5 is a great psychedelic instrumental song!!" In general it had hard rock styled musical performances. The reason is that record company wants popular rock sounds, and while the first pressing is not, they wanted to record it again. That's how Shin Joong Hyun had to record it again. This second pressing is not so rare and low price (on CD)."
 
"This record occupies the space between straight funk, psychedelic beat, and guitar shreddery. This is the earliest record I have from the "Godfather" and is a serious departure from his early work with the Add 4 during the 1960's.  The record, which was originally released on Jigu records in 1974 (JLS-120984) is a solid affair, clearing showing SJH's progression from surf rock & roll to funk inspired psychedelia.  The record exhibits solid funk baselines in most of it's songs and really feels inspired by American 70's funk (Think Curtis Mayfield's, Sly and the Family Stone, and a less dramatic Isaac Hayes).  The song lengths have moved from an average of 2.5 minute ditties in the Add 4 to about a minute longer, with that added time being spent less on catchy choruses and more on funked out instrumental solos (mainly drums and bass).  In the pantheon of the "Godfather's" career it would seem that this album is a worthwhile exploration into funk music, showing hints (the last song, easily the longest at just shy of 7 minutes is an unexpected journey through a free jazz/psychrock landscape) into the impending psychedelic boom that would characterize most of SJH's career.  A worthwhile addition to collector's of asian psych rock and world funk.
 
 
Shin Joong Hyun (with The Three Travellers) (KO,1983)


This first track is dirty hardrock-styled with a garage/punk-like straightness, and some additional heavy fuzz-guitar solo elements. In general it continues in this raw (hard) rock style. In some way it has also a very 'eastern' vibe of hard rock. Perhaps also some traditionals or at least something of Korean styles and melodies (especially on track 5) were transformed into this hard rock style? I find it very enjoyable and very original this way. The 6th track has some intro bass/ guitars chords I recognise from Black Sabbath, but perhaps this is completely coincidental. It has convincing emotional vocals too. Last track has more complex electric guitar parts mixed with heavy bluesrock elements).Recommended album. Amongst my favourite Korean albums so far.

 

신중현(Shin Joong-hyeon) 누구인가?(who's the man?) Part3

Kim Jung Mi: Now (KO,1973)

This singer has a beautiful, only slightly breathy voice, with folk-psych and pop-psych group accompaniment. This is considered as her best work. Her voice style is pretty much like English pop-psych. The accompaniment varies a bit, is made for  perfection, and is perfectly fitting for a song oriented record. A very beautiful record. It was a bit more difficult to pick out tracks, because they all sound good. The more I listen to the album, the more I like it even better.
"Musical performance by Yupjeons.
Korean psychedelic folk Masterpiece and her best record!!
This record was reissued LP and CD format in 2003,but it is sold out now.
She was made into a psychedelic singer by Shin Joong Hyun.
Her vocal resemble the Grace slick of Jefferson Airplane was erotic that is a very sexy ?
It is a mega rare Korean psychedelic folk or beat rock album.
It also so rare because of Korea's president's "purge measure of Korean pop music"
In 1970th her record was fired by government employees. You'll see her record listed at the Record Collector Dreams book by Hans Pokora"


 
 
Shin Joong Hyun & Cambo Band : Sound (vol 1) (KO,1971)
 
Here the band is accompanying kind of 60's psych-pop songs, sung by female duo.
It is an instrumental with some fine electric guitar and organ improvisation.
Personally the mainstream female 60's pop songs themselves appeal less to me.
I still preferred to take out the one ballad, with vocals by Lee Jung Hwa.
"Guest female singers are Min A, bunny girls, Ju Hyun.
He started his "Shin Joong-Hyun and his Cambo band" summer 1971. He recorded this record with some guest female singers.
These are (the) bunny girls, a female duo : Ju Hyun, Min A, who were famous Korean pop group in the 70's. (At first they had debuted with Shin Joong Hyun).
Musical features of this album are very psychedelic with some unique Koreanized female garage songs.
Especially Side B3 "ju Hyun" (a space trip) is a great sychedelic
female song and has unique guitar melody with echoed sounds.
Side A has two songs by Min A, two songs by bunny girls, one instrument song by Shin Joong hyun and his Cambo band. and Side B has five songs by Ju Hyun.
I think that this record is a great Korean female psychedelic record!!! Highly recommended!
 
 
Lee Jung Hwa with Shin Joong Hyun & Donkeys (KO,1969)
 
 
Here Shin Joong Hyun & Donkeys were backing band for a basically mainstream song oriented release.
Still, the psych elements are all there (electric guitars, organ,..), especially in some tracks.
The first chosen song ("Petal" possibly means "marijunana") has some orchestration arrangement too. Last 16 minute track is similar and is the complete B-side of the album. Of course here's more room for band improvisation. This means a melodic repetition (drum, electric guitar, bass, organ) with on top a really great electric guitar improvisation on the musical theme (with some wa-wa effects too) by Shin Joong Hyun, followed by a psych organ improvisation (somewhat Iron Butterfly like), a bass solo, and small piece of a rather simple (let's say a garage-like version) of a drum solo. Great!This albums has two versions(First pressing and Second pressing).This is the second pressing. It contain the same songs but with different recordings.
First pressing is more primitive and live gem style but second pressing is more psychedelic pop style of late 1960s.
 
Shin Joong Hyun & Golden Grapes: Sound vol 2 (KO,1971)

The psych-pop songs are sung by quiet nice female voice.. This is accompanied with backing vocals on first track, and with organ, electric bass, drums, and here and there some electric guitar. Most songs are quite simple pop songs.
"Musical performance by Golden Grapes with Shin Joong Hyun Lead guitar. Guest female singer are Kim Jung Mi,and Ju Hyun, Min A,as the Bunny Girls". Kim Jung Mi debut record! Musical performance of this record by Golden Grapes, the group also debuted with supports of shin Joong Hyun. All Group members were mixed blood and orphan guys.
So Shin Joong Hyun wanted to help them. He often played with them and also he gave to play stages for them, too, and he played at this record with Golden Grapes.
In this record also he worked with some guest female singers. These are Kim Jung Mi, Ju Hyun, Bunny Girls, Min A. All Side A songs by Kim Jung-Mi and four songs are same to Kim Jung Mi second album but one song is a different. Side B songs are three songs by Ju Hyun, one song by Min A and Bunny girls. 
Side B songs also included to Shin Joong-Hyun sound vol. 1 album, but the musical performance is different. The reason is that Musical performance of this record is by Golden Grapes, while on Shin Joong-Hyun sound vol. 1 album it was by Shin Joong-Hyun and his Cambo band. All songs are nice Korean psychedelic sounds and you can understand that his great musical composition ability at this album.