Extra Noir brings musical texture to Euljiro's alleys

A colorful corner of Euljiro in downtown Seoul / Courtesy of Extra Noir

By Jon Dunbar

A walk through the alleys of central Seoul's Euljiro neighborhood led a foreign professor on a musical journey.

Andrew Wilbur, an associate professor at Seoul National University originally from the U.S., found his way to some of the area's older record shops, where he picked up a number of mysterious vinyl records from several decades in Korea's past.

"Some of them had little information about the artists, and while a number were full of instrumental covers of pop hits of the 60s and 70s, others seemed to feature original compositions on electric organs," Wilbur, who together with his wife Laura Francescangeli runs an indie record label and hosts a podcast, both named "Extra Noir," told The Korea Times. "I fell in love with these and used a few tracks on the podcast but decided that I wanted to do something more with them."

Andrew Wilbur and Laura Francescangeli / Courtesy of Extra Noir

So under the artist name The Blue Lady, he put together "Euljiro," a whole album featuring samples and remixes of the tracks on the records, reinterpreting the area through instrumentals that are simultaneously both eerie and nostalgic, with titles like "Golmok" (alley), "Motel," "Goyangi" (cat) and "LED" based on what one sees on a typical walk through the aging area's labyrinthine alleys.

"When it comes to making music, I'm more productive if I have some kind of concept to guide the project, and having sampled some of these records for some undefined use in future projects, I decided to build a whole album around them," he said. "I also wanted to say something about the changes occurring in Euljiro without being too explicitly political or angry. It's a tribute to the neighborhood rather than a simple statement against the redevelopment occurring there now."

The 13-track album came out on Nov. 6, with artwork by Francescangeli, and is available for listening and purchase at thebluelady.bandcamp.com.

The two of them started "Extra Noir" in 2016 in Austin, Texas. They moved to Korea shortly after that, bringing the podcast and label here with them and continuing to explore, produce and distribute music.

Using the podcast as a "vehicle" for the label, they've continued to release episodes monthly, which are broadcast on Internet Public Radio and then uploaded to Soundcloud. Episodes range between hour-long playlists, live recordings and various shorter projects. The songs included range from old to new, including post-punk, synth-pop, Belgian new beat and EBM. Wilbur, an ex-skater, also said they love re-editing skateboarding videos with music from their label, creating a very different vibe.

Before "Euljiro," they put out "Extra Noir Presents: Mulgwishin (An Imaginary Soundtrack)" in time for Halloween. Mulgwishin is a type of ghost common in Korean folklore.

"Every year we take Halloween as an opportunity to experiment with our format and do something out of the ordinary," he said. "This year was definitely our most ambitious undertaking. It was a bit of a crazy idea but I think we pulled it off. We created a plot for a 1960s Korean horror movie, based on standard noir and thriller tropes of the era, then localized to a Korean context. Then we created a soundtrack for the film. I think it was pretty successful in the end, but it was a rather complicated idea for what was supposed to be a fun Halloween episode."

He added that he will be doing a tribute on Seoul Community Radio to the Cramps lead singer Lux Interior, Feb. 4, playing songs by the punk band as well as mixing in garage punk, rockabilly, surf, lounge and exotica.

As well as keeping the podcast going, they've put out a handful of recordings by musicians from Austin, Scotland and Japan, as well as Korea. They released their first vinyl compilation in 2017, featuring acts from Korea, Scotland and the U.S., with Korea represented by Tengger and Airy Textile. After that, they reissued Tengger's album "Spiritual" in collaboration with Euljiro club Seendosi. They also put out an album by Yetsuby.

"We have a little bit of an Extra Noir family built from our releases ― Tengger, Airy Textile, Yetsuby ― but hopefully that family will grow," Wilbur said.

Currently, they're planning to release another Tengger reissue, this time of their self-produced, Korea-only 2013 CD "Electric Earth Creation."

After that, they'll release a cassette/digital album by Tengger's youngest member, eight-year-old RAAI.

"While separated from his father because of COVID travel restrictions, RAAI and his mother, Itta, have been recording songs with lyrics written by RAAI," Wilbur explained.

They're also working on their next compilation, with intentions to feature musicians exclusively based in Korea.

An LED lighting shop in Euljiro / Courtesy of Extra Noir

"A lot of the Korean music we've discovered has appeared through a kind of natural chain reaction ― just meeting or making contact with people whose music we like, then paying attention to who they share a bill with at live events, DJ gigs, etc.," Wilbur said. "We've always tried to pay attention to who's playing at venues like Senggi Studio, Channel 1969, Seendosi and Strange Fruit to make sure that we don't miss any good Korean acts with whom we might be able to form a relationship. We absolutely do want to release more Korean artists in the future, so anyone wishing to send us a demo is more than welcome to do so."

Visit https://linktr.ee/extranoir for more information about Extra Noir and to listen to their podcasts and music. .