“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
China
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
Li Yilei – Nonage
Sometimes experimental music can produce either dour listening or tie itself to miserable cover art showing the worst of humanity in some sort of fetishistic way. Not so with this release! London-based Chinese composer Li Yilei’s album concentrates more of a happy, carefree childhood, where, as she puts it, “…learn[ed] Continue Reading
leungarto – 吹耳 Blow My Ear
Here we have a single track by Hong Kong-based urban musician leungarto providing a chilled out, relaxing take on some amalgamation of City Pop and vaporwave, but done in a much more soulful way.
Senyawa – Istana (Live)
Today is a workday for us in Beijing, so there is no review today, but I did want to point you to an Indonesian band called Senyawa, who is featured on Rafaelle Pezzella’s incredible Unexplained Sounds Group‘s digipak retrospective called the Far East Music Collection. It is a reissue of Continue Reading
Saadet Türköz – Urumqi
Saadet Türköz is an international treasure. Born to Kazakh and Turkish parents in Istanbul in 1961, she has developed a style that comfortably blends Central Asian traditional music with free jazz. A very pleasant listen.
Future Orients – Dream Like A Buffalo
Maybe Mars Records out of my new home city of Beijing (I have to meet these guys one day) put out an indie rock album in 2019 that sounds as good as anything the early Cure ever put out. Brilliant work by Future Orients, indeed!
The Fifteenth National Vocal Music Performance of Summer in Harbin-Highlights of the Folk Music Group
One more from Harbin. We will be back to normal posting tomorrow.