Various Artists : THE POST-ROCK

I’ve heard of Hippytokki the venue a lot, but never got the chance to visit. It was surprising to see it release different compliation albuns. But with THE POST-ROCK, Hippytokki offer an essential post rock sampler. Featuring PAKK, Zeonpasa, Nier, Wings of the ISANG, Desert Flower, cotoba, Echo and The Machine, Tierpark, Moskva Surfing Club, and Gerda, THE POST-ROCK highlights currently active bands.

South Korea has a lot of bands crossing genres with shoegaze, post rock, and math rock all kind of lumped together. THE POST-ROCK offers a slice of different bands and you will find one that peaks your interest. Some of these tracks are a Hippytokki version meaning they’re not direct cuts from official releases. Some of them sound like they’re live recordings too.

PAKK and Zeonpasa are more standard post rock, meaning its filling soundscapes of audio. Every instrument is pulsing with the tempo. Nier follow that up with a slightly heavier and brooding instrumental. Wings of the ISANG pull back to go more ambient and wander before crashing down into its cresendo.

Desert Flower could be post rock-lite. “Escape From Reality” carries a lot of post rock elements, but vocals are in front of the instrumentals. It’s defintely a rock track first that borrows the post rock signatures in the arrangements. “Love&Art” by cotoba falls more into math rock. It’s technical and precise instead of the wandering heard commonly on post rock or shoegaze songs. Echo and The Machine also fall more into shoegaze adding a slower burn from the earlier harder songs.

Tierpark go into shoegaze and rock with “Full of Empty Things.” It’s a journey that moves from verse to verse. Moskva Surfing Club is the outlier among all the bands because I wouldn’t consider them a post rock band. It’s more like beach and psychedelic rock. “Deep sea fish” is still a great song though. Closing THE POST-ROCK, Gerda presents something very different. It’s a mixture of genre elements while coming forward as a more indie rock mixed with ballad style. Since it’s so unexpected, I like this track to close the compliation.

The POST-ROCK is an essential primer for Korean music. It presents 10 bands that all have some level of post rock inclusion while still being unique. This album is a must listen for anyone.

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