NEWMUSIKATTAK: 11100011 by AsianGlow

Korean Shoegaze act Asian Glow cooks once again.

A lot of us were introduced to a wave of South Korea artists who were very much into the shoegaze wave. While Crumbling (2018) by Mid Air Thief did get a bit of buzz among the international audiences, it wasn't until Parannoul's breakthrough hit To See The Next Part Of The Dream that the Korean Shoegaze movement got it's traction.

But before I talk about this album, let me reminisce about the beauty of the latter. It was an album that married one of my most favorite films of all time All About Lily Chou Chou (2001, Shunji Iwai) with shoegaze. The dreamy ether that clouded the film, with it's hyperfixation on an indie darling and a broken teenagehood, the album captures the essence of the film really well. It made sense why the album hit well. It was the dreariness of mbv and Slowdive, but for the Covid generation.

The followup was a collaboration album with sonhas tomam conta and of course Asian Glow. The Downfall of The Neon Youth was pretty good, but it was my first exposure to Asianglow.

And this must be my second one. The record 1100011 is a more peppier take on To See The Next Part Of The Dream. It is melancholic as the former, but there is more exploration in the sounds. And that makes it intriguing. The production and sound mixing also takes the cake, as it is formatively an improvement over the previous records.

Whether it might be the lullaby like Winter's Song or my favorite track Out Of Time, with a very pop rock style that reminds you of Matchbox 20. It is an album, that is easy to approach, with many tunes within it easily catchy.

Verdict: First Class (HIGH)