APPARITION

Korea's gift to mankind released a 26-minute EP in November. Had this not been an EP it would have placed somewhere in my top ten.

1. "Once More from That Frozen Bottom" (4:08) opening (and closing) with Eunyong Sim's geomungo plucking and strumming, this song travels a very surprising arc--one that is more like a mobius strip--and one that contains some absolutely stunning vocals and vocal arrangements. (9.75/10)

2. "From the Place Been Erased" (5:27) pop icon swja (sunwoojunga)'s vocal makes this eerie song quite powerful. Nice (and surprising) match up with Jambinai. (9.5/10)

3. "Until My Wings Turn to Ashes" (9:22) starting off very spaciously, with lots of use of the traditional acoustic Korean instruments, the song eventually weaves in a few more instruments (bass, saenghwang [reed mouth organ] and, later, drums. By the 5:15 mark the Post Rock slow build has made itself fully present as the haegeum and, by the end of the seventh minute, the fully drums, bass, and electric guitar let one know that this is which happens with an explosion of bass at 7:40. What's really cool, here, is how the bowed haegeum remains fully recognizable--how Bomi Kim remains focused yet also feels as if she is giving her all emotionally. I love this about this band and their music: the traditional acoustic instruments are not allowed to get drowned out by the electronic ones; their contributions are always integral and constant, if not fully foundational, to the soundscape. A perfect Post Rock song. (20/20) 4. "Candlelight in Colossal Darkness" (7:39) a live/in concert version of a previously unreleased tune. Piri and geomungo weave within still jungle of sparse bass and cymbal notes until the 3:00 mark when gently picked guitar takes the lead and the acoustic instruments become the sparse, metronomic support. Ilwoo Lee's piri comes back to take the lead in the fifth minute as the haegeum builds a little dynamic tension. Then, at 5:06, everybody ramps up to weave into a rock audio field for the big finish--which ends up sounding like your average Post Rock climax. (13/15)

Total Time 26:36

A/five stars; a masterpiece of progressive rock music. Jambinai can do no wrong!

JAMBINAI ( 잠비나이 ) is a fascinating experimental Korean band that formed in Seoul as far back as 2009. A stealthy mix of post-rock, post-metal and traditional Korean folk music, this quintet of Ilwoo Lee (guitar, vocals, piri, saenghwang), Bomi Kim (haegeum, vocals), Eunyong Sim (geomungo, vocals), Byeongkoo Yu (bass) and Jaehyuk Choi (drums) has crafted some hauntingly original music in the world of post-rock that has earned them comparisons to Explosions In The Sky, Godspeed You! Black Emperor and Sigur Ros.

The band has released three albums so far and one EP in 2010. This latest EP titled APPARITION ( 發顯 ) hosts a collection of four new tracks that perfectly mix Korea's traditional sounds with the explosive fortitude of post-rock along with some heavier metal moments. The band makes use of a great number of homegrown instruments including the stringed geomungo, the double reed flute called a piri, a free reed mouth organ called the saenghwang and a stringed instrument called the haegum.

The results of this collection of Korean instrumentation along with the cyclical rock bravado of the guitar, bass and drums gives JAMINAI a very unique edge in the world of post-rock which has for the most part gotten rather stale in the last decade or so. While many post-rock bands go sans vocals, JAMINAI makes ample use of several vocalists that serve as supplemental instrumentation to add to the ethereal often startling contrasts which the music constructs. The ethereal male vocals will bring Sigur Ros' classic "Ágætis byrjun" to mind and the haunting female vocals offer ghostly APPARITIONs to the soundscapes that evoke disheartening uneasiness.

This is a short EP at only 26 1/2 minutes but what a fantastic collection of four songs with no filler included! Post-rock requires pacing that allows certain elements to percolate into the conscious mind and then slowly ratchet up the tension to satisfying crescendoes. JAMINAI has mastered all those Jedi mind tricks without falling into the trap of boring monotonous stagnation. The use of the Korean musical scales adds an exotic melodic system that most post-rock these days completely lacks. This is definitely a band that will scratch that post-rock itch and with a collection of tracks that perfectly exudes the imagery of the cover art this latest release isn't a bad place at all to start.