Pyongyang FM Radio

North Korean folk radio is an odd thing to stumble across, which is exactly why it's worth an hour. The sound grows out of minyo, the old Korean folk-song tradition, and the arrangements don't chase trends. Gayageum plucks. A piri line somewhere between reedy and mournful. A changgo marking time underneath. Arirang shows up in regional variants, and each one carries its own specific ache. There's orchestral folk too, massed strings and big choirs, which some listeners find stiff and others find genuinely moving. I land in the middle: gorgeous when the voices breathe, stodgy when the arrangemen…