HODORI ROCKS: Uncanny New Wave Sound from the 88 Olympic Land (Various Artists) [LP]

The 1980s for Korea began with the words "Seúl, Corea". Even amid the political turmoil, there hung upon the air a note of hopefulness that came from being chosen as the next host of the Olympic Games. The hope of progressing past the 'emerging' stage and reaching the 'developed' nation status spread to Korea's arts and culture scenes as well. The gayo scene had just been through a dark age since the marijuana scandals of 1975 and the repressive 'gayo purification movement', but was beginning to regain it's footing with the arrival of the new decade. We might as well call it by the name 'Korean New Wave - Hodori Rocks'. In HODORI ROCKS, there is yearning, the commonplace, and a newness. That's why it is uncanny.