Experience the sound of "Seoul Music" in 2022!

Carmina Formosa #6

새해 복 많이 받으세요!

(We wish you a happy new year in Korean for reasons that will soon become obvious. Read on to learn more!)

A new musical genre for a new international age

With the release of “Ji-Woo Says,” [ai] have singlehandedly created a new musical genre: SEOUL MUSIC. Not to be confused with “K-Pop”—heaven forfend!—“Seoul Music” is a form of “expat rock” (see Carmina Formosa #5) which features elements of Anglo-American rock, Korean cultural themes, and lyrics in both English and Korean. Tune in to “TV [ai]” for a taste:

Hangeul is a beautiful thing

The video, as you can see, features white Korean words on a black background. The Korean writing system, known as Hangeul, was developed by yangban scholars under the direction of King Sejong the Great of the Joseon Dynasty. It’s an easy script to learn and the syllabic characters have an undeniable aesthetic charm. All of the Hangeul words featured in the video for “Ji-Woo Says” relate in some way to the lyrics and the overall thematic intent of the song. How many of the words can you decode?

Princess Ji-Woo

One of the words that appears several times in the video is 공주병. This is a Korean cultural concept often translated into English as “Princess Disease,” the symptoms of which include appalling immaturity, outrageous narcissism, and an excessive concern for wealth and status—in short, the kind of character traits exhibited by an entitled princess. (Although the term is generally applied to females, in our experience it may apply equally to males.) In what way does the eponymous Ji-Woo suffer from the disorder and what is the new [ai] album No Cure for the Princess Disease trying to say about this phenomenon? Decide for yourself, dear listener!

“Lou Says”

Of course, “Ji-Woo Says” is also a kind of homage to Lou Reed, who wrote a number of songs with the formulaic title “___________ Says.” Before there was Ji-Woo, there was Candy, Stephanie, Lisa . . .

Another mystery explained

In Carmina Formosa #5, [ai] mentioned that fans of Iggy Pop would understand why the [ai] YouTube channel is called “TV [ai].” For the rest of you, [ai] present the following:

Can you feel the Love?

And as you may recall from Carmina Formosa #1, one of the other meanings of [ai] is 愛, the Chinese/Japanese word for “love.” We are thus proud to share a name (in a way) with the great American psychedelic band whose classic album Forever Changes has been an important influence on what we have been trying to accomplish musically. Arthur Lee, you are not forgotten!

Coming next month . . .

Sometime in February, [ai] plan to release a new video for the country/rockabilly tune “I Don’t Belong To You.” Until then, dear listener, remember:

[ai] 愛 you!

Or as we say in Korean . . .

사랑 해!