The Two Koreas

Unrest in the west

Sat, 03 Nov 2012 22:50:48 -0400

After venturing into the exotic wilds of Toronto’s east end last week (a most illuminating experience, as the photo above attests), we will be slingshot back west into the depths of Parkdale next weekend for a reunion with our springtime playmates Dirty Ghosts at Parts & Labour on November 9. Declare your intentions here.

Unleashed in the East!

Wed, 17 Oct 2012 22:12:00 -0400

We’re usually happy to name-drop our favourite Judas Priest live album in casual conversation for no apparent reason but, this time, it’s wholly justified: for the first time in our 8.5-year Korear, we are playing a Toronto show east of Spadina! Like, really east. On Saturday, October 27, we’ll be joining Town Ship and This Mess at The Damnforth Invitational, being held at The Academy (485 Danforth, near Chester).

In spite of our woeful west-end-centrism, The Two Koreas’ earliest practices actually occurred nearby at Donlands and O’Connor, so this gig is like our return to Hamburg, as it were.

In the sage words of David Lee Roth...

Tue, 04 Sep 2012 23:16:36 -0400

…hey, if you missed us, we’re back! September 15 at The Garrison (1197 Dundas St. W.), to be precise. Declare your intentions here.

What's that old saying...

Thu, 05 Jul 2012 21:59:00 -0400

…If you play a North by Northeast showcase for only 10 people, but two of them are music critics, then it was all worth it?

Telescope Media NXNE review

Spill Magazine NXNE review (some scrolling required)

Summer is here, and we are in a slothful mood. But we shall reemerge in good time (i.e., when this goddamn humidity breaks).

Nx2K

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 20:51:59 -0400

We shall be rearing our impeccably groomed heads once again at NXNE this year. Details to come…

Hello 2012

Sun, 11 Mar 2012 23:36:00 -0400

Sorry that it’s taken us so long to make your acquaintance. But we shall make up for our egregious reclusiveness on Saturday, April 14 at The Silver Dollar, where we will be opening for San Francisco’s Dirty Ghosts. Declare your intentions here.

December boys got it bad

Sun, 27 Nov 2011 20:56:27 -0500

Oh, hi! It’s been a while. We apologize for our silence; we’ve been busy doing stuff like waiting for broken bones to heal, perfecting chill recipes (chipotle ketchup—look into it) and, yes, writing new songs.

But we’ll be returning to active duty on December 9 at The Silver Dollar (464 Spadina Av.) to perform alongside Sports, Powers and Planet Creature. A December show at the Dollar is something of an annual Two Koreas holiday tradition, and this one happens to fall on the birthday of Dan Burke (a.k.a. Rock ‘n’ Roll Santa Claus). Needless to say attendance is mandatory; declare your intentions here.

Here is an extremely small photo of the promotional poster:

Thank you...

Tue, 27 Sep 2011 17:23:08 -0400

…to those who came out to our Pop Montreal showcase on Saturday (like Chris Randle of The Toronto Standard, who gave us a shout-out in his festival round-up).

And a big, hearty FUCK YOU to the motorist who knocked our Ian off his bicycle yesterday on Queen Street and fled from the scene, leaving Ian with a broken wrist and elbow, and thereby putting the unceremonious kibosh on our plans to play this Saturday (Oct. 1) with PS I Love You at The Great Hall. We shall keep you posted on Ian’s progress and notify you of our return to action…

Rocktober alert

Thu, 08 Sep 2011 00:01:16 -0400

Our autumnal insurgence continues apace as we’ll follow up our Pop Montreal showcase (see below) with an Oct. 1 date opening for Kingston’s finest, PS I Love You, on Saturday, Oct. 1 at The Great Hall in Toronto. Ticket info and all that jazz is right here.

Pop Montreal showcased announced!

Thu, 01 Sep 2011 14:49:00 -0400

We are exceedingly excited to be joining our friends at Hand Drawn Dracula at their Pop Montreal showcase on Saturday, Sept. 24 at 9pm at Barfly (4062 St Laurent) with Metz, Little Girls, Josh Reichmann/Dopes and Mausoleum. More details can be gleaned here.

Pop Montreal (slight return)

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 17:20:32 -0400

So, as you may have noticed, it’s been a quiet summer for us, because we like to do things like go outside and swim and smell flowers, rather than spend inordinate amounts of time in dark, enclosed bars performing for drunk, ungrateful people.

But in an effort to hold onto that back-to-school feeling several years after we last set foot in an educational facility, we are ramping up our efforts this September, starting with a return visit to our favourite autumnal Quebecois music festival: Pop Montreal! Showcase details are still TBA, but we will let you know as soon as we do.

NXNE SHOWCASE DETAILS!

Sat, 28 May 2011 21:22:00 -0400

We’ll be paying a return visit to the North by Northeast festival on Thursday, June 16 at the Velvet Underground (510 Queen W.). The line-up is as follows:

8pm - Motel English

9pm - The Holiday Crowd

10pm - The Two Koreas

11pm - The Hippy Mafia (featuring Gaz Whelan from the Happy Mondays!)

Admission is free with a NXNE wristband/fancy laminate; $10 for commoners.

BUT WAIT! THERE’S MORE!

We’re also play a day party on Saturday, June 18 at Reposado (136 Ossington) with Chains of Love, Hot Kid and Modern Superstitions. Party goes from 4-7pm; we’re on at 6pm. Express your intentions to attend here.

Just to prove it really did happen...

Sat, 14 May 2011 21:42:00 -0400

Behold: video from our in-store performance at Hot Topic this week!

“Majored in Swimming”

“Cloth Coat Revolution”

Thanks to the store for having us, and for not shutting us down even after the Old Navy store across the hall called in their noise complaint. (Apparently, future Hot Topic in-store performances will now have to be acoustic. Our bad!)

Hot. Hot? Hot!

Thu, 05 May 2011 12:03:23 -0400

Slather on the guyliner and throw on your favourite My Chemical Romance hoodie — we’re doing an in-store performance at the new Hot Topic location at the Eaton Centre (Yonge/Dundas entrance) on Thursday, May 12 at 7pm!

We are number 9! (number 9, number 9, number 9, number 9....)

Sat, 16 Apr 2011 12:13:00 -0400

According to CBC Radio 3, there are only ~~29 26 23 20 18 15~~ 8 songs in the country right now that are better than our “Disco-Slave Songs”! Listen to it on this week’s chart countdown podcast.

Photo

Sat, 26 Mar 2011 11:24:30 -0400

Scrambled eggs, bacon, sausages, tomatoes, toast, coffee, marmalade, I like marmalade

Fri, 25 Mar 2011 18:32:00 -0400

If you missed our appearance yesterday morning on CBC Radio 3’s Breakfast Club, then you’re probably a well-rested individual who doesn’t have to be up before noon. But fortunately, the internet was practically invented to accommodate your slacker lifestyle, so you can hear what you missed on this podcast of the show.

In other CBC Radio 3-related news: “Disco Slave Songs” is now #24 on the national charts with, if not a bullet, then a sling-shot pebble.

And hey, does anyone know anything that’s going on tonight?

YOU LOOK DEATHLY MIXTAPE AND OTHER SELF-CONGRATULATORY LINKS

Thu, 10 Mar 2011 18:28:00 -0500

The kind and exceedingly stylish gentlemen behind Toronto music-cultcha site You Look Deathly recently asked our Stuart to contribute to their curated Mixtape series. The result: “Borrowed Nostalgia for the Unremembered ’90s” (aka “Shit From an Old iBook”), a compendium of unsung evil geniuses from the decade we just can’t get enough of these days, including Phleg Camp, Royal Trux, Brainiac, New Bomb Turks, Earth and many more. Listen now:

(Full tracklist is here)

Also worth flexing your finger muscles for:

UK blog The Devil Has the Best Tuna sent Stuart a questionnaire, and no query went unanswered.

And The Montreal Mirror previews our March 12 show at Il Motore.

The Two Koreas Bandcamp store: now open for business!

Fri, 04 Mar 2011 21:45:00 -0500

With our new album, Science Island, nestling comfortably onto record-store shelves this week, we’re giving newcomers (hi there!) a chance to get caught up on our back catalogue through our just-opened Bandcamp store. Visitors can listen to and/or purchase copies of our long-out-of-print 2005 debut Main Plates & Classic Pies (digital), the widely adored 2007 sophomore effort “Altruists” (CD & digital) and 2008’s Sessions E.P. compilation (vinyl & digital), and also stream tracks from Science Island (but you’ll have to buy that one in a proper store—sorry). Stop by and stay a while.

Science Island is here!

Wed, 02 Mar 2011 00:00:48 -0500

Our new album Science Island was magically transformed from private indulgence into public commodity today, thanks to the fine folks at Last Gang Labels. Our Google Alerts have been lighting up our inbox all day today with kind words about the album from the likes of AllMusic.com, Groovemine, Exclaim! and Magnet, to name just a few publications with excellent taste.

Information on how to purchase Science Island can be gleaned from our merch page or, if you’d like to sample the goods before purchase, Spinner.com is offering a free album stream all week!