2025 In Review: Day 9 – Folk and Country

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2024 In Review

1. Introduction + Best Album Art
2. Song of the Year
3. Album of the Year
4. R&B and Soul
5. Rock and Alternative
6. Rap and Hip-hop
7. Dance and Electronic
8. Pop and Ballad
9. Folk and Country
10. Jazz, Crossover and World (Jan. 23)
11. Best Collaborative Work (Jan. 24)
12. Rookie Artist of the Year (Jan. 25)
13. Artist of the Year (Jan. 26)
14. Other Recognition (Jan. 27)
15. Concluding Remarks (Jan. 28)

2024 was an interesting year for folk, as we had an influx of left-field excellence from new faces like Kimbanourke and Kim Livingstone while the established names like Kim Sawol and Susan were also trying all kinds of experimentation. It all made for a folk and country field that looked quite eclectic and different from years past.

Given our series rules, Susan – Alive, which was named our Runner-up Album of the Year on Day 3, is not eligible to reappear in this category.

The “Next 10” and honorable mention lists are sorted by artist name. Bolded honorable mentions received particularly serious consideration for the Next 10.

Best Folk and Country Album 2024

Jo Dong-hee – 꽃차례 (Blooming Point)

Blooming Point may well be the best-written album of 2024. Freely blending prose and poetry, Jo Dong-hee weaved shining stories of nostalgia and growth. At her best moments, like the strikingly illustrative “Blooming Point”, thematically narrated “Season’s Dictionary” and beautifully compact “The Time an Angel Stays”, there was no rival. These words were wrapped in the lush ambience and energetic acoustics that have often characterized the work of her siblings and sister-in-law, and in melodies that felt comfortable yet defied predictability.

The Runner-up

Moher – 만화경 (Kaleidoscope)

Kaleidoscope burned with intriguing ideas and sounds. The tempo pickup of “Aside” that shows off the busy racket of a clamorous world, the adventurous whistles and acoustics of “Sand Grave”, the swaying rhythmic humming of “Woman Running Barefoot”. The album’s mysterious aura never broke character, persisting through these inventive melodies and soundscapes; the joy of exploring such a strange yet well-articulated world doesn’t come around too often, and the one envisioned by Cho Min-kyu and e_so was such a rare treat.

The Next 10

Kang Asol – 아무도 없는 곳에서, 모두가 있는 곳으로 (From Where No One Is, to Where Everyone Is)

Kimbanourke – 빈자리 (Absence)

Kim Livingstone – 춘천의 밤 (A Night of Chuncheon)

Kim Na-eun – 낙원 (Paradise)

Kim Sawol – 디폴트 (Default)

Meeroo Choi – nEwCHAt

Park Yeondu – 가끔 내 방에는 바다가 밀려온다 (The Sea Comes into My Room from Time to Time)

Saram tto Saram – 어른의 세계 (The Adult World)

Seolim – 화전농업 上 (Slash-and-Burn Part 1)

Summer of Thoughts – 시냇가 (Streams)

Best Folk and Country Song 2024

Kim Livingstone – 춘천의 밤 (A Night of Chuncheon)
Lyrics, composition, and arrangement by Kim Livingstone

Both of Kim Livingstone’s first two EPs were strongly rooted in place and location in a way that’s increasingly rare, and “A Night of Chuncheon” headlined the debut EP that spotlighted Kim’s adopted home of Chuncheon, the city of lakes in mountainous country. In it, Kim observantly captures a quiet moment as darkness settles over town, with the narrator seeing his own longing in the forlorn Soyanggang Girl Statue. The arrangement grows more layered and emotional, the beautiful strings and enveloping vocals reminiscent of Lee Gwon-hyeong’s work in its ethereal quality.

The Runner-up

Susan – 아무도 죽이지 않는 불 (Bool)
Lyrics and composition by Susan
Arrangement by Susan and Song Min-seob

The mystic undercurrent of Alive was perhaps most explicit in “Bool” (more fully “The Fire That Kills No One”), awash as it is in pounding percussion and chanting rhythm. In that enchanted space, Susan sings of a fire that thaws hearts and creates joy. The rich detail of her vocals carves grooves into the forlorn melody, and the defiant chorus shines like fire rising into a starless night. May the flames burn bright, indeed.

The Next 10

Hayoon – 모닥불 (Bonfire)

Kang Asol – 누구도 미워하지 않는 (Anyone But Me)

Kimbanourke – 단상: 불나방 (Thoughts: Moths)

Kim Sawol – 디폴트 (Default)

Meeroo Choi (Tug of War)

Min Cloudia – 재가 되기 전에 (Ashes)

Moher – 방백 (Aside)

Sannie – 울타리 (Weeping Meadow)

Shin Jandy – 사람에게 (To a Person)

Susan – 나를 부르는 것은 (The Valley)

Albums

FireMoth – 분기점 (Bifurcation)
Go Yoon-seul – 윤이 나는 슬픔 (Shining Sorrow)
Hayoon – 혼잣말 (Monologue)
Hebron – The Fool
Kim Dahye – 바람 부는 날 (Windy Days)
Kim Livingstone – 탕유관동록 (The Bittersweet Wanderings in Gangwon)
Lee Koyo – 사랑으로, 사라 (With Love, Sara)
Sagong – 30
Shin Jandy – 사람에게 (To a Person)
Soon – 인사 (Greetings)
Yang Jin-han – 호적부 (Livret de Famille)
Yang Ju-eun – 마음과는 반대로 (Beyond the Mind)

Songs

Bae Yuna – 아주 낯선 산책 (Strange Stroll
Betti Blue – !Peek at Someone’s Diary!
Byeon Jeong-a – 기다렸어요 (Waiting for October)
E.heh – Everything Goes Fine
Eundohee – 밤 (Night) (Feat. Damons Year)
FireMoth – 언젠가는 그렇게 되리라 (It Will Happen One Day) (feat. Sun Kim)
Hebron – 바보 (The Fool)
Hebron – 외투 (Coat)
Heo Hoy-kyung – 한참을 울겠지만 (Although in Tears)
Hwang Puha – 아인슈패너 (Einspanner)
Ije – 방아깨비 (Acrida Cinerea)
Jo Dong-hee – 꽃차례 (Blooming Point)
Jo Dong-hee – 너는 (You Are)
Jo Dong-hee – 시간에게 (To the Time)
Ju Seong – Flashback
Kim Livingstone – 대룡산 (Mount Daeryong)
Kim Livingstone – 사구 (Dune)
Kim Livingstone – 소양호 (Soyang Lake)
Kim Livingstone – 장성별곡 (The Ballad of Jangseong)
Kim Livingstone – 장절 (Jangjeol)
Kim Na-eun – 낙원 (Paradise)
Kim Na-eun – 막차 (Last Train)
Kim Na-eun – 엔지니어에게 (To My Engineer)
Kim Sawol – 가을 장미 (Autumn Roses)
Kim Sawol – 독약 (Poison)
Kim Sawol – 외로워 말아요 눈물을 닦아요 (Don’t Cry a River)
Lee Gwon-hyeong – 선택과 책임 (An Alternative Question) (Feat. Haepa)
Lee Koyo – 멀어진 섬 (Distant Island)
Lee Koyo – 사라 (Sara)
Lee Koyo – 우리 (Us)
Lee Koyo – 프리허그 (Free Hug)
Meeroo Choi – 물수제비 (Dap)
Meeroo Choi – 아몬드나무 (Almond Tree)
Meeroo Choi – 인간은 딥 러닝의 꿈을 꾸는가 (Do Humans Dream of Deep Learning)
Min Cloudia – 노인과 구름 (The Old Man and the Cloud)
Min Soo-hong – 하얀눈 (White Snow)
Minhye J – 종이꽃 (Paperflower)
Moher – 만화경 (Kaleidoscope)
Moher – 맨발로 뛰는 여자 (Woman Running Barefoot)
Moher – 모래 무덤 (Sand Grave)
Mulgwaumm – 편서풍 (Westerlies)
Park Yeondu – 그렇게 바다가 된다 (Like Sea)
Sagong – 버드나무 (Willow Tree)
Saram tto Saram – 거리감 (Embarrassment)
Saram tto Saram – 병원 (Hospital)
Saram tto Saram – 산너머 산 (Unrelenting)
Seolim – 화전민 (Slash-and-Burn)
Summer of Thoughts – 눈사람 속으로 (Into a Snowman)
Summer of Thoughts – 모르는 노래 (An Unknown Song)
Summer of Thoughts – 이어달리기 (Relay-Running)
Summer of Thoughts – 잃기 (Losing)
Susan – 마음 심(心) (Soul)
Susan – 비밀의 겨우살이 (Secret Mistletoe)
Susan – 수신여신 (Oui Oui)
Yang Jin-han – 하얀 마음 푸른 꿈 (Innocent White Shaky Blue)
Yang Ju-eun – 얼룩 (Stains)
Ye Ram – Christmas Night
Young Oh – 만년 (The Final Years)