Today I come with an introduction (or a thorough dissection, as the title suggests) to Lucid Fall, one of my favorite musicians. On music I never really had any particular taste nor thought I would have one, but now, when people ask me who's your favorite artist, this guy is at the top of my list. There isn't a single song I don't like from his five albums I own. Though talking about this artist seems totally unrelated to my stay here in Lausanne, there are reasons to why I am making this post, and I'll bring them up later.
Lucid Fall. I was first introduced to this singer-songwriter in 2009. When I first heard his songs I thought they are "too mild" for my taste. That was my very first impression: music without any kinds of personality. Nothing more, nothing less. Those kinds of music were impossible to be appreciated by a girl in her senior year of high school who was still very easily intrigued by provocative tunes, strong/fast beats, and handsome boy bands. To me in those days, Lucid Fall was a man from an older generation, looking far from good-looking, whose songs all sounded like constant lullabies. Near the beginning of autumn when the weather was getting only colder day by day, his music only made me feel even more droopy and melancholy. His voice sounded like that of an old man who just woke up, so rough and unrefined that I couldn't even catch the lyrics at once. Unsurprisingly I quickly lost interest and returned to mainstream music scenes.
However, things changed after getting to know a song named 바람, 어디에서 부는지 sung by Kim Yeon Woo. For a while this song was pretty much on infinite repeat for me, and then I discovered it was actually written by Lucid Fall. At first I was like, wait it's made by that boring guy? But eventually it made me rediscover his ability to attend to the most subtle emotions and amplify them into longer ideas, his gentle affection for the littlest things in the world, and his thoughtful yet moderate lyrics that convey sincerity but avoid being artificial or typical. He was a man who knew how to freeze fleeting moments into everlasting impressions. At first his music sounds somewhat banal, but as I keep listening to the seemingly ordinary melodies and the droopy voice over and over, I can feel the mere power of emotions hidden behind them. Okay here's an analogy; when you chew on cooked rice, at first it tastes like nothing. But when you keep chewing and chewing, you can taste the subtle sweetness in it. It was an experience just like that. Once I knew how to understand his music, I could uncover every single existing emotion in it. Now I even love his unrefined voice; its rawness makes me comfortable and allows his songs to contain everything he wishes to convey.
This guy is also known for his rather unusual and elite academic career. I won't explain in full because pretty much every detail of his biography can be found on Wikipedia. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucid_fall) I always wondered why a man like this, who makes music with so much sensibility, had chosen to study such dry (=boring) subjects for ten years of his life. Music and bioengineering - are they even compatible? Oh no, not to me. I was also curious why he decided to be a full-time musician rather than continue his successful research. What made him choose to do so?
The most interesting thing of all, however, was that he got his Ph.D in Lausanne. When it was decided I am coming to this place, I immediately thought of this guy, thinking "Hey, that's where he studied!" For what reasons did he decide to live here? What things did he experience and discover? What ideas did this city provide him and how did he channel them into his music? I always admired his tranquil sentimentality and was excited to be here because, in part, I get to experience the exact same emotions that this guy has gone through. The hope. The despair. The loneliness. The peacefulness. The struggles. The love. Everything. Could they provide me a way to further appreciate his music and the emotions behind? Would they equal the ones I am going to experience? Or, could his music allow me a broader understanding of this city? These are the reasons why I thought I should make this post: to remind myself to view his music in a different light, since I am in this very place where he must have acquired a bunch of ideas/inspirations from. The chance to understand my favorite artist.
I often ponder why he named himself Lucid Fall as a musician. I think it is supposed to contain multiple meanings. Fall would equal the literal falling action, or autumn. Once I used to put more weight on the former interpretation, but now I think it's closer to the latter meaning because his songs often contain special affection for autumn (especially in his second & third albums.) One time I also imagined that Lucid Fall might actually be Lucy de Paul; he himself refers to Paul and his lover to Lucy! Maybe he had a lover named Lucy before, and wanted to embed it into his name somehow. Plausible much?
Let's go on to his discography now. His first album is titled Lucid Fall (2001); it's actually the last album I acquired and listened to, after getting used to his "mature" styles in second to fifth albums. Because it is the only album produced in his 20's, most of the tracks are on the verge of either being young and fresh, or in a sense, immature. For instance, track #1 새 (Band Version) and #11 그대 손으로 (Main Theme) give off fresh charm with minimum arrangements, while #8 Take 1 contains raps that complain about social injustice. I gotta tell you, the lyrics are just horrible I literally laughed out loud when I first heard it. Raps and Lucid Fall? Please. Totally incompatible. Anyways, in many ways this album gave me an impression that in 2001, Lucid Fall was still experimenting with many genres and finding the ones he can really digest as his own. I could say, listening to this album felt like biting into a small unripe, green apple. I know it's an apple and it looks like one, but doesn't really taste like it.
Next, the second album 오, 사랑 (Oh, Love) (2005). It contains probably the most renown song of his music career - #9 보이나요?. The album as a whole gives off a very dreamy vibe, sometimes due to using multiple layers of voices (listen to track #1 물이 되는 꿈 and #5 들꽃을 보라) or incorporating sounds from nature (#11 몽유도원). I think starting from this album Lucid Fall has found his strength: guitar-based acoustics. He also begins to write deeper lyrics, based on the most basic and universal emotion: love, just as the album title suggests. He stretches out to many categories of love, including that of his grandmother (#2 할머니의 마음은 바다처럼 넓어라). Actually, when I listen to this guy's music (I usually listen to the album as a whole, not to individual tracks on random order) I can't readily reach out to this album at first. It is after finishing the third or fourth album I can start listening to this one. I don't know why, but that's what happens.
Third album, 국경의 밤 (A Night at Border) (2007). This album, actually, was written during his time in Lausanne and contains (I think) the most contemplative songs from his discography. But that doesn't mean the songs' backgrounds are entirely based on Europe, as one can find out from #10 라오스에서 온 편지 feat. My Aunt Mary or #11 사람이었네. As the track list makes it apparent, the theme throughout this album is autumn and the feeling of loneliness the season gives. (#1 마음은 노을이 되어 feat. 전제덕, #4 가을인사 feat. 이적) Also this album contains his own version of 바람, 어디에서 부는지 (track #8). It is more of an acoustic version compared to Kim Yeon Woo's cover, and I think both have its own feel to it. Every song in this album really has its unique characteristics and conveys the according sentiments very well. The lyrics are almost poem-like, with incomplete sentences and repetitions of certain phrases/structures (#5 노래할게, #7 날개). Also, this album's cover art is my favorite among all five.
Definitely my favorite among all five: Les Misérables (2009). I remember buying this album in December 2009, just after it had been released. It was one or two days I received my big-C mail for college early admission and I was really excited. I skipped school that day, went to Hottracks, and bought this album. After coming home I lay on the sofa in the living room and listened to this from the beginning to the end. I love this album the most not only because of the happy memories it has for me, but also because it has the best lyrics. It is really hard to choose but I suggest listening to #2 걸어가자,#7 그대 슬픔이 보일 때면, #9 그대는 나지막히, #13 봄눈. If I could say the third album's theme is autumn, the theme for this one would be winter; it's not because the songs are "cold," but because they are for the cold. The seemingly ordinary tunes contain the most gentle and warm solaces beneath them. According to himself, he has been thinking for about two years about producing an album like this, but finally made it happen after he permanently moved back to Korea from Switzerland. Also starting from this album Lucid Fall begins to experiment on Bossa Nova, which I think is a nice sexy twist.
Okay, we've come a long way. The fifth and the latest album: 아름다운 날들 (Beautiful Days) (2011). The theme of this album is, undoubtedly, summer. The only missing season now is spring, and I wonder how he is going to deal with it. Lucid Fall released this album at the beginning of autumn in 2011, just after he broke up with his girlfriend whom he had spent two years together. Track #11 여름의 꽃 conveys his feelings after the break-up (though he insists it is a song from the salt's perspective in the salt pond). I think he experimented a lot of different genres for this album, and unlike the first album, he has done the job successfully and proves his versatility to some degree. Track #2 그리고 눈이 내린다 is a well made track of Bossa Nova style, and #9 노래의 불빛, with its fast/loud beats and cheerfulness, is an unusual diversion from his normal course. Although I welcome his varied efforts, deep inside of me I think I liked it better when he was more meditative and serious. But I will not deny that his skilled use of acoustic guitar (#1 외줄타기 and #6 꿈꾸는 나무) and this album's overall "completeness" cannot be compared with any other albums.
...I feel like I have just written a thesis or something about this guy. Just wanted to make my thoughts straight before I really dive into exploring his world here in Switzerland and discovering the inspirations, and I think this post will do. I always wished to write about my impressions about his albums anyway. I feel like I have poured out what I had been only containing in myself. Pheww!
If you want to find more about Lucid Fall, he has his own website running: http://www.mulgogi.net. Mulgogi means fish in Korean and he named the website mulgogi because he is a big fan of... fish. He posts random things that come up in his everyday life and reading them makes me think I should stop hurrying and chasing for my own life, read more books and poems, listen to more music, and pay more attention to smaller things I might have just passed by.
Anyways, it's already past midnight. I'm already starting to get bored of my playlist so I might change them to different ones in few days. But, before that, good night :)
