Music | Investigations and Research from My China Days

Queen Sea Big Shark / 后海大鲨鱼 Releases Wave

Nov 16, 2010 | Music

Queen Sea Big Shark / 后海大鲨鱼 released their sophomore album, Wave, to a packed house at Yugong Yishan on the eve of All Hallow’s Eve. The eternally modish band keeps a permanent place in my heart with lead singer Fu Han’s unisuit-cladded-gyrating-stage-presence and lead guitarist Cao Pu’s hard-driving-surf-rock-riffs. Although I might not be the biggest fan of all their dips into electronica, if they are having a good night and hooked into a proper sound system, they will blow the roof off any club in Beijing. Their new album certainly represents a turn into the realm of synthed dance, but you can find their original rock core in tunes like “Back 2 the Future” and “Loop of the Sun”. For now Queen Sea Big Shark continues to move beyond their dive bar roots by headlining major festivals around China and accepting sponsorships from the likes of Converse. Modern Sky have constructed big plans for the band, and they will hopefully help lead a wave of previously underground bands to a larger domestic audience.

Gum Bleed Releases Revolutionary EP: No War But Class War

Oct 27, 2010 | Music

Gum Bleed just released a new EP, No War But Class War, on October 15. The evening also celebrated their fifth year anniversary as a band. Gum Bleed are, “the youngest and most revolutionary street punx in People’s Republic of China,” according to their website. The lead singer rocks a hardcore, deep-throated growl as he expounds on the problems of the working class and the socioeconomic excesses of a now globalized China. It’s hard to discern what he is singing on stage, but the lyrics are incendiary to say the least. I don’t usually see punk bands openly publicize such lyrical discontent to this extent. On the website they also post separate links to a host of both international (Myspace, iTunes, YouTube) and domestic (Douban, Youku, Renren) media sites – very savvy. Buy some of their badass t-shirts which are also on sale. Here is to another five years of fighting the system. Onward and upward with Gum Bleed!

“Civilization Crime”

Whoa.. Oh..Whoa Civilization crime
Whoa.. Oh..Whoa Civilization crime

We was born in hate and dark
With this modern slavery
Bank and law has bleed white us
Hey what’s the hell, what’s going on

99 for new colony capital
Get paid 1 from the TNC
World free market brings us endless debt
Hey what’s the hell, what’s going on

Welcome to the brilliant world factory
Full of grandeur industrial parks and top airports
Working class pay the liabilities for the whole country
But die in private property social security system

Globalization imperialism , Civilization crime
Corporatocracy failed us, Civilization crime

Hey! look at the country’s GNP
Hey! why you still in terror n’ disease
Hey! wake up the jobless and tear up the reins
Hey that’s the future, keep going on

Globalization imperialism , Civilization crime
Corporatocracy failed us, Civilization crime

“Economy is Fake Anyway”

Struggle turns to market, Politic’s a business
People on high level said: “That’s not enough!”

Covered by the money, Covered by the profit
Greedy meat eater said: “That’s the human nature!”

Cheaper than the machines, Cheaper than the live stocks
We were betrayed by nation but: “Enough is enough!”

Used to be no words, Used to be no faces
We were zero but: “We won’t be silence!”

We won’t calculate anyway
We won’t produce anyway
We won’t buy you anything
We won’t sell you anything

Expose the truth

Cynicism
Egoism
Deferential to yield
Enough for us

We won’t buy you
We won’t sell you
We won’t buy you
We won’t sell you

Play: Gum Bleed – No War But Class War

Play: Gum Bleed – Liberation Day

Kill Club China Tour 2010: Chiptune Descends on Beijing

Oct 19, 2010 | Music, Youth

The Kill Club China Tour 2010 rolled through Beijing earlier this month and served up an exquisite night of chiptune dance music. Headlined by Sulumi, China’s preeminent electronic artist who also founded Shanshui Records, the tour knocked up six cities around China and featured an international cast of button punchers including USK and Covox. For those of you not in the know, chiptune musicians utilize synthesized sounds created by low-fi sound chips (usually 8-bit) from outdated computers or video game consoles. With special software loaded on cartridges, songs can even be composed live using handheld devices such as the Gameboy. The sound textures and melodies generated produce a unique tone that resonates deeply with anyone who was raised on early terminals such as Atari video game consoles or Commodore personal computers. I am a big fan and even attended the first Blip Festival in New York City back in 2006 which Sulumi also performed at in 2008. Check out the video below for live performances from Sulumi (China), Usk (Japan), and Covox (Sweden).

Guaili / 怪力 Release Their First CD: Flight of Delusion

Oct 11, 2010 | Music, Youth

Guaili / 怪力 are definitely one of my favorite bands in Beijing. I am secretly obsessed with their lead singer Wen Jun who throws her angular, almost skeletal body around stage during performances all while chain smoking cigarettes and rocking out an incredibly powerful voice. This September they went on a 14-city “Hell Tour” around China in support of their first album, Flight of Delusion, which they released with Maybe Mars. I have listened to it a few times and even though it might not be as wild as their performances in dive bars around the city, there are definitely some gems. You can purchase the CD at the usual suspects around Beijing including D-22 and most music stores around Guloudong Dajie. Hopefully there will be a way to purchase it online soon.

Vice in Beijing: The Creators Project Takes 798 by Force

Sep 26, 2010 | Art, Music

The Creators Project organized by Vice finally rolled into Beijing last week with tons of exhibitions and a blowout party in 798. Over the past year I have been meeting people from Vice who shot the short artist profiles that form the core of The Creators Project. Some of my favorites from China include Zhang Shouwang from Carsick Cars, DJ Wordy (see previous post), Ray Lei, Peng Lei from New Pants, and fashionista extraordinaire Vega Wong. They are all very well produced and will surely create an impressive archive of innovators from around the world. After reading up on The Creators Project parties in London and New York, I was quite excited for the main event here in Beijing. Unfortunately CSS canceled last minute and Delorean had troubles getting their equipment through customs (something always goes wrong in China). Nonetheless, the hometown boys held up their part of the bargain with two amazing sets by Rebuilding the Rights of Statues (ReTROS) and New Pants. One of the highlights included Fox Pang grabbing an old iMac on stage and smashing it to bits much to the delight of the audience at the end of their new hit “Sex, Drugs, Internet”. See the attached video for this and more highlights. Otherwise DJ Wordy shined with his short musical interludes while Major Lazer definitely lived up to their reputation and got the entire room riled up into a proper frenzy. The craziest part of this entire venture is that Intel sponsored it all. Hopefully we will see more specialized projects focusing on fringe media and artists with big corporate sponsorship behind it in the future. Gotta pay the bills somehow.

Generation 6: Young Rockers in Beijing

Sep 15, 2010 | Music, Portraits, Youth

The Generation 6 concert at Yugong Yishan featured all the young bucks in Beijing’s rock underground including Residence A, Lazy Camels, Me Guan Me, Mr. Graceless, Rustic, Birdstriking, and Flyx. Musicians in Beijing refer to a wave of new bands from a certain age group as a generation. The first came with China’s godfather of rock, Cui Jian, while the sixth generation is the youngest and still cutting their teeth. This was definitely a culmination point for many of them in so far as they are becoming the defining bands from a fresh crop of performers around the city. Rustic came in with the most momentum after securing the Global Battle of the Bands crown earlier this year – a major triumph for everyone involved in the Beijing rock and punk scene. Otherwise Lazy Camels and Mr. Graceless put on strong sets. The following videos feature outtakes from Lazy Camels, Me Guan Me, Mr. Graceless, and Birdstriking along with a full track from Rustic. Enjoy.

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