Jaurim

Korean pop music is generally characterized by ballady shlock or idol-fronted bubblegum pop.  Less common on the airwaves or music TV here in Korea are pure rock acts, which is unfortunate as there is some real talent there.  My favorite is Jaurim.  Not only does the band have a good pop rock sound, but it is fronted by a female vocalist, Kim Yoon-ah.  The first of their songs that I heard was the Ha Ha Ha Song, but their best, in my opinion, is Magic Carpet Ride, which appears in my 25 most played songs in iTunes.  Jaurim does occassionaly fall into the depressing ballads that mare so much of the Korean music scene, and when Kim Yoon-ah tries to sing in English, it's not great.  I haven't been to many concerts here, so I don't know how common this is, but when I saw Jaurim live at Olympic Stadium for their latest album, Yoon-ah spent almost as much time talking as she did singing. Overall, though, Jaurim is a great act and if you are curious about Korean pop music, I highly recommend checking them out.