Park Jiyoung, better known as Shubostar, is an emerging South Korean artist we are going to hear more and more about every day. A DJ and producer, she has been behind the decks for almost a decade now, and since 2018 she has also been at the helm of Uju Records, the record label she founded to serve as a means of releasing her work.
And this is not because she hasn’t had other labels to release on, as, without going any further, she has already placed some of her tracks on a compilation on Permanent Vacation, Benjamin Frohlich’s label, and this month on Internasjonal, the label co-founded by Prins Thomas. And he also has important milestones to his credit, such as having played at Burning Man.
Park Jiyoung started making music when he was in high school, where he was studying video game programming, but he wasn’t too keen on programming and coding, so he started making soundtracks for video games. He later studied chemistry before turning to music for good, spending a couple of years in Thailand and three years in Mexico playing in local clubs. In 2018 he founded Uju Records, which in Korean means universe, cosmo, and there is nothing better than that word to define the music Shubostar plays and produces. The label has been the vehicle to release his EP’s. With the collaboration of the painter Daryung Kim who is in charge of the covers of the releases.
With the pandemic, Shubostar returned to South Korea and with much of the live music and clubbing business shut down, he has turned his attention to production. And 2022 sees her debut on her label with Space Racer, an EP consisting of two original tracks from the label owner, who brings her Italian-disco influenced synth music via Gundagai and the title track Space Racer. Both are packed with narcotic, cosmic basslines and huge beats complemented by beautiful atmospheric moments.
Mexican duo Zombies In Miami remix Gundagai with a powerful rhythm section and a careful reworking of the magical arpeggios. They combine this selection of sounds with contrasting synth pads and soft melodic lines. Panthera Krause returns the remix to Shubostar (she remixed him last year’s J’ai Envie De Toi to the Leipzig producer) tackles Space Racer with an arsenal of new sounds, rambunctious percussion loops and harmonious synth accompaniments. A whole artifact destined for the dancefloor with a certain Italo aroma.
The album artwork has been done by Korean painter Daryung Kim, a regular artist at Uju Records, combining a mix of traditional Korean and western style painting in a fusion of colours that is her usual style.
Space Racer EP release date: January 28th, pre order available here
