KOH SANG-JI

KOH SANG-JI

"Maycgre 1.0"

Label: Private Curve

Genre: World

The bandoneon was one of the least appealing musical instruments to me, and certainly one of the last I thought would inspire me to pick out an album based on it. For me, it was just a famous Argentine instrument that accompanies the tango.

But the animated music video for "Sortie" drew me to bandoneon player and composer Koh Sang-ji's debut album "Maycgre 1.0". The music video looked more like the opening of a Japanese animated television series. Indeed, Koh says she's a big fan of the Japanese anime "Evangelion", and the album's name is a reference to some of the characters in the show.

Thanks to accompaniment by classical instruments like the piano, violin, viola, cello and guitar, the album will be familiar even to those new to the bandoneon's sound.

Starting with the title track, "Sortie", Koh's music starts off with bright and light tunes and gradually becomes darker and gloomier, ending with a track named after the Chinese character that signifies "darkness". And maybe due to the exposure of the music video or Koh's attempt to make it somewhat dramatic, the whole album is very adventurous.

By Yim Seung-hye