North Korea

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jonetsu
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North Korea

Post by jonetsu »

The only rock band that played in North Korea, invited by Kim Jong-Un. Slovenia's Laibach.

This clip is live in Slovenia:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8JZbjh10Ng

What about local talent ? Here's the all female Moranbong band, playing for the completion of a project/launch of a satellite. Snowmen, rockets and chicks. Ah yes, and the Earth exploding.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADN0H6MREHA
Lyberta
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Re: North Korea

Post by Lyberta »

jonetsu
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Re: North Korea

Post by jonetsu »

My intent is certainly not to start talking politics and propaganda on both sides. It was about music. :)
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matlo
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Re: North Korea

Post by matlo »

In this video is music too.

https://youtu.be/TrS0uNBuG9c?t=24m36s

And I think not really bad. ;-)
jonetsu
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Re: North Korea

Post by jonetsu »

matlo wrote:In this video is music too.

https://youtu.be/TrS0uNBuG9c?t=24m36s

And I think not really bad. ;-)
I said, no politics. But if there's insistance, and it seems there is since the song is a political statement regarding another country.

In Weird Al's song it is said, about North Korea: "We're not exactly sure why you're upset"

Is the killing of 20% (minimum) of the population of North Korea by the USA not enough ? As General Curtis LeMay, Strategic Air Force Command describes it in a Washington Post article (1). "Although the ferocity of the bombing was criticized as racist and unjustified elsewhere in the world, it was never a big story back home"

Add to this that the country lived thereafter in a vacuum, nourished in part with sanctions, in which the gouvernement constantly remembers this, and then Weird Al has his answer. Thing is, he should've done the research before making the song.

Now you might easily say, come on, forget about that, turn the page, move on. Fair enough. Tell the same to the Jewish, forget the Shoah. You won't. So why should the North Korean forget so easily ? Why should Irak be suddenly a nice peaceful country after being "bombed to the stone age" because of a little vial of white powder agitated at the U.N. ?

You see. You insinuate politics so you have some politics. On the other hand, if you have any comments on Laibach and/or Moranbong music, then go ahead ! They are musical acts linked to the subject of a current affair.

(1) https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions ... story.html
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matlo
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Re: North Korea

Post by matlo »

> My intent is certainly not to start talking politics and propaganda on both sides. It was about music. :)

I also did not have to talk about politics.
I only wanted to refer to the well done music. :)

PS: The name "Leibach" is already politics. Of song content times quite apart.
PPS: Musically, all this is well done. And certainly taste.
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Re: North Korea

Post by jonetsu »

Well, Laibach is the German name for the city of Ljubljana in Slovenia.

It is certainly a matter of taste for the Weird Al Yankovic song ! :D It is after all a support for the words he sings.

The 'well done' part is interesting. Recently I'm wondering about music that is too well done. That song certainly falls in this 'very clean' range of welldoneness. There is a threshold where when a song does not have noise, does not have errors maybe, does not have that 'human' dirtyness, it becomes only but a demonstration devoid of feelings. Can be a damn good demonstration, very flashy, but does not have the nitty gritty that can make it encompassing.

z.B. this one has some noise : :mrgreen:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wpv428XCtF0
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Re: North Korea

Post by GMaq »

jonetsu wrote: What about local talent ? Here's the all female Moranbong band, playing for the completion of a project/launch of a satellite. Snowmen, rockets and chicks. Ah yes, and the Earth exploding.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ADN0H6MREHA
Perfectly executed, but I didn't see anything close to joy in any of their eyes, including much of the audience. To have to be so contrived and self-aware especially when making music must be suffocating. Just an observation, not a judgement :wink:
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matlo
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Re: North Korea

Post by matlo »

@42low I agree with you.

I would argue that this contribution by jonetsu should trigger a political discussion.

Unfortunately, my attempt to dissuade this with irony didn't work out.

Sometimes you lose, sometimes the others win.
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Re: North Korea

Post by jonetsu »

It is no suprise that when North Korea is mentioned in a music context that politics would cram in. After all, we all are exposed to media, propaganda or not, and the game at play with the big orange clown and its peer on the other side can raise some 'concerns'.

This said, it's not because we are influenced by media that we have to react like Pavlov's dog. The two tunes were put here to show two aspects certainly not covered by popular mainstream media (although one can find aticles abut them) : that there's one 'rock' band that played there and, that they also have their own bands playing modern instruments and modern music (in a general sense). They also have beer festivals and there's a certain expat community living there which groups people from different countries and religions.

The reply with John Oliver's piece was not a comment about the music.

When talking to people at work and elsewhere, sometimes irony cannot be perceived clearly. Knowing the people helps, as well as the gestures and looks. Now imagine shooting some irony across a text-based media where you do not know the people. This is why the Weird Al Yankovic song came across not as irony but as an additional statement supporting mainstream media. Which it is, after all. This is why I replied to that including the Helge Schneider funny song.

When one sees 'North Korea' and one immediately thinks it cannot be but politics, then I suspect there's a problem underlying regarding the infuence of mainstream media in one's life. Taking a step back from the MM is often a good thing.
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Re: North Korea

Post by dormirj »

jonetsu wrote:When one sees 'North Korea' and one immediately thinks it cannot be but politics, then I suspect there's a problem underlying regarding the infuence of mainstream media in one's life.
You might have a general point here, but on the other hand bringing up Laibach and trying to make an argument for "art being only an aspect of culture divorced from politics" is kind of ridiculous.

If you study the groups history, aesthetics and possible intent (at least in the early days of their work) then it is incredibly hard not to read it as a really strange act of political commentary that the "one" rock group from outside playing in North Korea should be Laibach, since their act is basically build upon exposing fascist imagery through over-identification with it.

greetings;;
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matlo
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Re: North Korea

Post by matlo »

@jonetsu submitted the youtube video to Lyberta. I have only provided the reference to the music contained in it.

I am well aware of the "influence" of the media. Just because I personally witnessed the end of a dictatorship. And yes, I lived "not badly" in this dictatorship and old enough to understand the problems.

PS: I'm sure John Oliver is not a friend of Donald Trump.
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matlo
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Re: North Korea

Post by matlo »

I am out of this topic too.
jonetsu
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Re: North Korea

Post by jonetsu »

42low wrote:Here a very interesting tip for you....
http://tinyurl.com/y9xchomr
You post a song because you like it. Like the words.

The guy posted the Weird Al Yankovic song as a reply.

Says was irony. My eye.

Songs says "We're not exactly sure why you're upset" in a jolly tone. That's a statement backed-up by the comment " I think not really bad".

I replied once "no politics" but by the 'Yankovic' reply that made a statement, that was enough.

That was the only political reply I made to what's considered political comments.

Only one person commented creatively on the actual music. Only one person is strong enough to keep focus and context.

(Lines properly spaced for easier reading, sentences conveniently made short) :)
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Re: North Korea

Post by asbak »

jonetsu wrote:The only rock band that played in North Korea, invited by Kim Jong-Un. Slovenia's Laibach.
Great band, hugely ironical in much of what they do. Most people just don't get it. Laibach's brand of faux-fascism transcends both "right" and "left" wing varieties. (Leftwing anti-fascists are themselves fascists... that's the irony that none of them can see nor understand.)

Rammstein more or less copied much of Laibach's format and went on to become hugely popular.
Some Focal / 20.04 audio packages and resources https://midistudio.groups.io/g/linuxaudio
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