Good news for people who enjoy their DIY served with a side of sax: Shanghai rock and roll dudes Round Eye are bringing their raucous sideshow to eight cities across China later this month as the support act for American garage punk legends MOTO. Dates after the jump.
Meet Yang Haisong, man of many talents. In addition to his role as half of the Beijing noise-pop duo Dear Eloise, the Nanjing native is also a DJ, a DIY label helmsman, the vocalist and guitarist for under-the-radar “poetic political music” outfit After Argument and a highly sought-after producer who has recorded several Genjing releases, most recently the Dyne’s new seven-inch, Swim. Fly Roots, and Dear Eloise’s Vanishing Winter, the band’s fourth release on Genjing Records.
We caught up with Haisong in the studio and peppered him with rapid stream of questions about his view from the control room.
Meet Li Daiguo, the skilled improvisational artist and dynamic live performer who is held in high esteem for his eclectic collaborations with a rich roster of characters and ensembles, including Japanese butoh dancers, fellow all-star experimental artists and other fringe characters.
Ahead of the two Beijing release parties for this debut seven-inch Music for Advertisements—we’re hosting an event on Fri, Apr 26 at Temple and capital city creative hub pangbianr is holding another on Sat, Apr 27 at Zajia Lab—we’d like to introduce you to Daiguo’s arsenal of traditional Chinese instruments: there are seven of them, one for each song—one for each inch.
We joined him at his home in tranquil Dali, Yunnan Province to learn more.
photo by Dickson Dee
Experimental and world music fans with their ears cocked towards China are likely familiar with Li Daiguo, the acclaimed boundary-pushing musical polymath known as much for his complex compositions performed on a wide spectrum of traditional instruments as his often-bewildering live performances that have seen the American-born Chinese cavort with gypsies, tramps and other self-described lunatics alongside some of the country’s most respected avant-garde and experimental musicians, including boldface names like Wu Na, Xiao He and Yan Jun.
His latest effort, the seven-inch vinyl release Music for Advertisements, sees Li presenting a series of sonic advertisements for seven locations that the 32-year-old appreciated during his six years in Chengdu, the southwestern regional hotspot, creative hub and capital of the country’s infamous Sichuan Province.
Mining both the traditional Chinese and global music canon for instrumentation that incorporates everything from his signature pipa and erhu to the beatbox, clarinet, cello and a flotilla of flutes, Li skillfully brings the 2300-year-old city to life with his dynamic series of self-produced sonic snapshots that run the gamut from a tuberculosis hospital to lush bird and plant markets to the secretive fleshpeddlers who congregate around the city’s Old South Gate Bridge angling for lucrative tricks.
We sat down with Li between tours and thrust and parried our way through several sprawling discussions. Read on to listen to the deconstructionist zero in on a slew of topics, including the trappings of genre identification, spirituality and meditation, the concepts behind the new record and what to expect at the Beijing and Hong Kong release parties.
Meet the Dyne, the Beijing duo known for invigorating capital city crowds with their laconic brand of minimal surf rock cool. Much like the crashing waves that the pair recalls though their unique tremolo-heavy riffs, the duo excel at duality, offering bold sonic statements unique in their ability to be forceful yet restrained, brimming with tension and smooth as a stealth hot rod cruise on a starless night.
Their debut release on Genjing Records, the seven-inch Swim. Fly Roots, hits shops on Sat, Apr 20 as part of our Record Store Day bozanza. Get to know guitarist Si Yunge after the jump.
As part of Genjing Records’ engineering of China’s debut participation in Record Store Day, the annual event designed to celebrate independent music retailers, labels and supporters like you, we will screen the daylong festival’s official film, Last Shop Standing: The Rise, Fall and Rebirth of the Independent Record Shop, at XP Beijing on Sat, Apr 20 with our film-loving pals Wooozy. Director Pip Piper chimes in after the jump.
Spring is here and we’re pleased to announce a release date for our latest record, the seasonably-appropriate “Vanishing Winter,” the new seven-inch from acclaimed Beijing-based experimental noise-pop duo Dear Eloise:
Our DIY standard-bearers are regrouping and hitting the road for their first Chinese tour in four years, bringing their ferocious brand of turbocharged hardcore punk to 13 cities across the country starting with Wuhan on Fri, Mar 1.
In the run-up to the release of their split 12” with China’s Wang Wen (罔聞), the guitarist for the Swedish experimental instrumentalists takes us through the band’s experiences in China, the state of Sweden’s DIY scene, why vinyl is their preferred medium of choice and what their Chinese fans can expect in the future.
New Noise Music is a Sichuan-based promotional agency and independent record label that is doing some great things in that fiery province deep in southwest China. In addition to coordinating Dalian post-rock outfit Wang Wen’s Fall 2012 European Tour—a major step forward in cementing musical bonds between China and the international community—New Noise has brought numerous international recording artists to both China and the surrounding region, including post-rock superpowers pg.lost, Mogwai and MONO.
They’re our partners in the upcoming split 12” between pg.lost and Wang Wen and we’re excited to be working with them. We caught up with founder Jef Vreys to discuss the label’s origin, how to strengthen the bonds between China and Europe, Chengdu’s growing community of vinyl lovers and much more.
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The Dyne
Swim. Fly Roots
Li Daiguo
Music for Advertisements
Dear Eloise
Vanishing Winter
