One of the hazards of teaching teenagers is that you have to deal with bored, unchallenged, spoiled children whose interests are base and crude at best. However, a few students are willing to stray out of their comfort zone and go exploring. The topic of reggae came up with one Continue Reading
China
Mamer 马木尔 – Awlaⱪta / Afar 离
Mamer 马木尔 is perhaps my favorite underground artists operating in China today. His work fuses Kazakh folk music with avant-garde music, bordering on experimental, even though he has a pedigree in working with record labels like Peter Gabriel’s Real World Records. It’s rare to see an authentic musician dig into Continue Reading
Various Artists – Ayo Ke Disco: Boogie, Pop & Funk from the South China Sea (1974-88)
An absolutely crucial release from Soundway Records covering Southeast Asian Pop Music from the mid-to-late 1970s: “Soundway Records delivers an exciting new compilation, diving ever deeper into South-East Asia. Ayo Ke Disco celebrates the musical identities emerging during the 1970s and 80s from the newly independent countries nestled around the Continue Reading
No Reviews Today – Travel Day
I will be traveling from Tokyo to Beijing today. What an experience that was!
Remembering China’s ‘Godfather of Jazz’
Read the original article by Cai Yiwen from Sixth Tone here. I occasionally run into some great articles on Chinese social media, mainly WeChat. If you aren’t afraid of being allegedly ‘bugged’ by the Chinese government (and you shouldn’t be, since the CIA go through your calls if you use Continue Reading
Science Noodles – Soothe Me
From an article in TimeOut Magazine: “Science Noodles is a self-described “Hong Kong-Taiwan mixed baby” that formed in the most 21st century way possible. While on a trip to Taiwan, vocalist/guitarist Yuet matched with vocalist Qing on Tinder, and the two bonded over their mutual love for Taiwanese indie band, Continue Reading
Various Artists – WEEDIAN: Trip to China
“As genres, Stoner, Sludge, Doom, and Heavy Psych are still new to the Chinese audience, but it has become a niche music scene that thrives on their uniqueness.” So quotes WEEDIAN, the record label who scours the globe looking for the most unique bands in the world who play doom Continue Reading
高妮妮 (Gāo nī nī) – 红蜻蜓 (1984)
This is a peculiar release. Electronic music does not have a deep history in China, but composers have been active since at least the mid-1980’s. Composer Gāo Nī Nī collaborated with the Yangtze River Light Music Band to produce something that, while not comparable to, say, Vangelis or Tangerine Dream, Continue Reading
马木尔 Mamer – 沙漠 Desert：为开盘带录音而演奏的电吉他曲 Guitar Solo For Reel-to-reel Tape Recording
The near-legendary Old Heaven Books presents another fabulously bizarre album (also available as a CD and reel-to-reel tape) of Chinese guitarist (of Kazakh extraction) Mamer. From the release’s Bandcamp site: “Mamer first became known as a dombra virtuoso and a modern master of Kazakh folk music. Over the years, he Continue Reading
巴亚宛 Bayawan – 麦盖提刀郎木卡姆乐队 Mekit Dolan Muqam Group
巴亚宛 Bayawan are heavy psychedelic muqam music from Xinjiang. From Old Heaven Books’ Bandcamp site: “”Bayawan” is the common name for Muqam music used by the Dolan people. Bayawan, or Dolan Muqam, is a unique form of folk music and one of the most important cultural heritages of the Uyghurs Continue Reading