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Top of The Drop
Gwangju News, June 2022
gwangjunewsgic.com
CULTURE & ARTS
By Daniel J. Springer
Each month, Daniel Springer of the Gwangju Foreign Language Network (GFN) picks his favorite newly released tunes that you may not have heard yet, along with some upcoming albums and EPs that you might want to keep on your radar. — Ed.
SAY SUE ME – “THE LAST THING LEFT” This is the title track to the latest LP from the Busan-based indie rock project fronted by Choi Su-mi. Although they had to delay their North American tour a bit until after the release of this brilliant LP, this band is ready for the big time, gathering a very serious following in Western countries of Europe, Australia, and the aforementioned North America. Unlike in most places, this kind of popularity abroad will add to their growing but still nascent popularity here in Korea, and the sky’s the limit right now. The album is out, and Su-mi’s band are ready for their closeup! MONOPHONICS – “SAGE MOTEL” This is the title track to singer-songwriter and multiinstrumentalist Kelly Finnigan and his band’s latest album. As per usual, this latest installment and career sixth for the band is psychedelic and funky as hell. However, the songwriting and arrangements are just that much tighter, with the depth of feeling going right to the core of emotion itself. Don’t miss a check in on this record – it’s a night not to be forgotten.
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JAZZANOVA FEAT SEAN HAEFELI – “FACE AT MY WINDOW” A couple of years ago, DJ Amir put out a compilation of songs from Strata Records, a jazz-funk label based in Detroit in the 1970s. Now, we have the followup to this LP, with Berlin-based Jazzanova putting out that compilation once again, but this time with the collective putting their own reimagining of the originals in order. Strata Records: The Sounds of Detroit Reimagined by Jazzanova is available everywhere, and we’d highly recommend checking both compilations out. JEAN CARNE FEAT ALI SHAHEED MUHAMMAD & ADRIAN YOUNGE – “THE SUMMERTIME” For the last several years, jazz veteran Adrian Younge has teamed up with former A Tribe Called Quest maestro Ali Shaheed Muhammad on a new label project called Jazz Is Dead, based in LA. In their 12th installation for the label, they invited Jean Carne, who’s been around since the 1970s and, even into her 70s now, can still flash that five-octave range that made her a name over the years. PRATEEK KUHAD – “FAVORITE PEEPS” Back in 2018, a relatively unknown Kolkatta-based singersongwriter put out what was probably the best single of the year in “cold/mess,” which caught fire all over the map with the indie heads. “Cold/mess” would also be the title track to that album which came much later. The multilingual Kuhad has since spread his artistic wings, composing for Bollywood and indie films on the subcontinent, and this tune heralded The Way That Lovers Do, which dropped May 20 and is not to be missed. MARK EVICH – “PRIME” You might be amazed to listen to this LA-based artist croon over his extra smooth bars and 90s R&Binspired arrangements and then learn he’s actually from Russia, but it’s true indeed. In a brilliant
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