Other than a Vice video series, a handful of youtube videos, and a really cool blog about an Austrian who took a train there, I don’t know much about North Korea. — and when it comes to music, I know absolutely zilch. Well after stumbling onto this site, now I can raise that 0% figure up a few hundredths of a percentage point.
Presented by the link are a couple of songs played in and around the two-line subway system in Pyongyang. Now I don’t speak North Korean so I can’t say this for sure, but, taking the bloggers words into consideration, these songs certainly sound a lot like old Russian propaganda tunes. Grandiose and bombastic, the track entitled “No Motherland Without You” chronicles the alleged superpowers of Supreme Leader Kim John Il. However, the track “Reunification Rainbow” is entirely different — more Rainbow Bright than military march music.
Unfortunately, the site discourages the hosting of the mp3 files (and I’m one for not doing anything that pisses off the North Koreans), so you’ll have to go directly to their site to check out the entertaining tunes. To whet your appetite, here is a youtube video of “The Ode to Kim Il Sung” performed by North Korean Army Choir (duh!):
Tags: mp3, North Korea