lockdown : vinyl find #49.

The story started with the label Lion Productions releasing Kim Jung Mi's album "Now" as the first installment of their series dedicated to Shin Joong Hyun's productions. This release got me into a Korean rock mood. I had to know more. As usual, internet provided. And soon enough, in my ear fell the delicate yet fuzzy rock arrangements of San Ul Lim. 

Composed of three brothers, who started their ascent into success while at university, San Ul Lim enjoyed an incredible productive streak between the years 1977 and 1986, with sometimes two or more albums released within a single year, not including the numerous greates hits compilations. 

The sound of the band, based on a classic line-up of bass, guitar, drums, with a few keys provided by the band members' sister, was shaped in 1977 and 1978 across a glorious trilogy that was reissued as a boxset in 2016. 

Although their style may sound pop-ish at times, there's no shortage of psych elements, sometimes confining to hard rock, in their first recordings. 

Today's pick is a compilation of tracks released between 1977 and 1979, gathering songs from San Ul Lim's five first albums. The highlights of the records are no doubt the first and the last song : the first song opens on a long psych instrumental part that sounds like the perfect introduction to the band ; the last one is an even longer display of their skills as musicians and vocalists, with its fuzzy parts and its catchy hook. In between, the mood alternates from hard rock to psych to garage to pop. 

This compilation is the easiest way to get introduced to San Ul Lim's sound. A foot in the door, as it calls for a deeper dig in the universe of San Ul Lim and Korean rock.

San Ul Lim - The psychedelic years, 1977-1979.

    
Here are a few tracks from the compilation.