Laibach

Share ‘Arirang’, A Korean Folk Tune

LISTEN TO ‘ARIRANG’, THE BAND’S INTERPRETATION OF THE TRADITIONAL KOREAN FOLK SONG

RELEASED TO MARK THE HISTORIC SUMMIT BETWEEN DONALD TRUMP AND KIM JONG-UN

“We’ll go in springtime, we’ll go in winter too, we’ll go in our dreams”

LAIBACH have marked the historic summit in Singapore between President Donald Trump and the leader of North Korea, Kim Jong-un, by sharing a track dedicated to Korean reunification process.

‘Arirang’ is a Laibachian interpretation of a traditional Korean folk song, often considered the unofficial national anthem of both North and South Korea. The song was originally performed in Pyongyang during Laibach’s infamous North Korean tour (in 2015, on the anniversary of the DPRK’s liberation from Japan). In support of reunification, Laibach later performed in Jeonju, making them the first band to play both North and South Korea.

Laibach’s ‘Arirang’ is combined here with ‘We Will Go To Mount Paektu’, a well-known North Korean song. The track features Boris Benko on vocals with backing from the North Korean Kum Song Music School Choir from Pyongyang, who appear in the Liberation Day documentary.

The North Korean tour was documented by director, artist and cultural diplomat, Morten Traavik, and Liberation Day (described by MOJO as “a humorous, disturbing, illuminating and sometimes moving immersion into an anomalous communist mirror-world …”) is out now via ITunes following its screening for Storyville on BBC4. Future screenings of the film include the Japanese premiere in Tokyo on 14 July, followed by screenings in Hokkaido, Sendai, Yokohama, Nagoya, Osaka and Kobe – further details available from here.

An exhibition of images from Laibach’s journey to the DPRK, featuring street photography by Mute’s founder, Daniel Miller, will open in Vienna on 28 June. Further details here.

Over 35 years on from their genesis in the then-Yugoslavian industrial town Trbovlje, Laibach are still the most internationally acclaimed band to have come out of the former Communist countries of Eastern and Central Europe. Founded in the death year of the country’s founding father Tito, and rising to fame as Yugoslavia steered towards self-destruction, Laibach can make you think, dance and march to the same music.

A documentary film about the first five years of Laibach and the band’s first album release in former Yugoslavia, featuring interviews with members of the band, their colleagues and contemporaries, will premiere in Ljubljana on 12 June.

Laibach play several festival dates in Europe, including a performance of The Sound of Music at the opening of Steireischer Herbst festival in Austria, ahead of a performance in Ljubljana with a Philharmonic Orchestra and two dates in Russia in October, further dates to be added – full details here.

LAIBACH LIVE

22 June – Murska Sobota, Festival Soboški dnevi – SI
24 June – Škofja Loka, Škofjeloški grad – SI
29 June – Celje, Festival Celjski grad – SI
3 Aug – Fara, Castle Kolpa Music Festival – SI
9 Aug – Jaromer, Brutal Assault festival (Fortress Josefov) – CZ
7 Sep – Ljubljana, Križanke – SI (Laibach with Philharmonic Orchestra)

20 Sep – Graz, Steireischer Herbst festival – AT (The Sound of Music)

11 Oct – Moscow, Glav Club – RU (Also Sprach Zarathustra & The Sound of Music)
13 Oct – St. Petersburg, Erarata – RU (Also Sprach Zarathustra & The Sound of Music)

Laibach’s 2017 album, Also Sprach Zarathustra, is available here

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