This blog makes no pretensions really to being out there or particularly risky in terms of its tastes. A reasonable proportion of the music I post on here is pretty conventional I suppose, in that it features guitar, bass, dums, organs and keyboards and vocals and reminds you of stuff you might have heard before. Bits of it would probably pique the interests of the audience and editors of The Wire magazine if they were reading, but not the vast majority I imagine.
This grabbed my interest however when flicking through the latest copy of Uncut Magazine a couple of afternoons back and would definitely be of great interest to the journalists and readers of The Wire. By chance I came upon a half page feature on truly experimental Korean artist Park Jiha wherein she's being heartily endorsed by Iggy Pop of all people, a man who generally has a good ear for these kind of things. So I immediately gave The Gleam, her latest album a listen. And I kept listening.
This is ambient, classical, minimalist music of the most fascinating and innovative kind. Played on a variety of instruments including traditional Korean versions of the dulcimer and glockenspiel. With a great feeling for space, time and flow. Ringing and reverberating,, at times defying conventional descriptions, at others falling into more recognisable musical narratives. It's incredibly liberating and therapeutic music to listen to.
On Park Jiha's website the music is decribed as 'a meditation on the intersection of music and life.'.As good a description of the experience of listening to this as any I suppose. In any case I highly recommend the record. Best experienced at a single sitting, on headphones when you know you're not going to be interrupted. It's something else, and at the moment I'm returning to it day by day. Iggy Pop, as we know, knows.
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