The Yaogun Diaries, part 4

Part of a series dealing with rock music in China, mostly Beijing because that's what I know. 摇滚 (yáogǔn) is the Chinese word for rock music, the two characters literally meaning "shake" and "roll".

Supermarket (超级市场, chāojíshìchǎng)

In the interests of variety, this time I’ll talk about Supermarket. Unlike the previous bands I’ve talked about, this one has very little relation with punk music – probably the closest comparison I can make would be Depeche Mode. I came to this band rather late – in fact, it was only as I was planning my departure from China and making a list of CDs to buy before leaving that I discovered them. The band was founded in 1996, and the following year signed up with Modern Sky Records.

Their first album came out in 1998, called in Chinese 模样 (múyàng), and in English usually The Look (that’s “look” as in “appearance” or “style”).
Their sound is high-tech and heavy on keyboards, with dreamy vocals and atmospheric guitar; drums are both real and electronic, programmed and played by human hands. In general, they aim more towards middle tempos and simple tunes lushly produced rather than energy and aggression.

“Sad Hallucination”

That’s a tune called 悲伤的幻觉 (bēishāng de huànjué) which should give you a good idea of what they’re about. They also tend to take their time about things, with most of the tracks in the six to seven minute range, which can be a good or bad thing depending on your mood. At times, the music gets quite abstract, leaning towards experimental electronic music.

On their second album, the slight experimental tendencies of the debut are brought to the forefront. It’s called 七种武器 (qī zhǒng wǔqì – Seven Kinds of Weapon), and the ten tracks are named simply “S1” through “S10.”
I really commend Modern Sky for sticking with them with such a non-commercial effort.

It’s a little on the long side, but here’s the opening track, which is a good example of what they’re up to.

“S1”

It starts off with odd percussive noises and bass notes from a synthesizer, building in intensity for a minute or so before an IDM style programmed drum part comes in. Then it suddenly cuts the tempo in half with a hypnotic guitar part, which is eventually combines with the double-time drums. Then you get voices, electronic ones and seriously distorted human ones. Well, listen for yourself.

To be fair, this is not obnoxious experimentation, and is often tuneful, though even in melodic moments there are distorted sounds in the background and unusual touches that set it apart from stock electronic pop. Many tracks feature oddly treated vocals, sometimes sounding very childlike (maybe actually a child singing). Two tracks stretch to over ten minutes. In one case a five minute techno song drifts off into outer space for a couple minutes, then is reborn with a harder edged guitar part for a while, then, after a brief break filled with vocal samples, builds slowly up to a big finish.

The Rock in China entry mentions a 2002 release called Laser Age – Laser Time, but I’ve found no information about it. It’s not listed on the Modern Sky site, and my searches have turned up nothing about it.

Modern Sky lists 繁荣的 (fánróngde – Prosperous) as their third album. It came out in 2004. It does include a song called 激光时代, which translates as “Laser Age,” so maybe the mystery release is a single.
While still quite experimental in places, in general this album is catchier, and in fact I’ve chosen its poppiest track as a sample.

“Beautiful Girl”

It’s maybe not completely representative of the album, but it just makes me smile every time I hear it.

There are still some weird touches, with sound effects, spoken voice samples, manipulated sounds, and so on, often combined with dancy beats.

Their fourth album is 音乐会 (yīnyuèhuì – Concert), though honestly I can’t tell if it’s a live recording or that’s just the title – I can’t hear any crowd noise. I don’t have a physical copy of the CD to check the credits. If anyone knows for sure, let me know and I’ll update this entry.
This one continues the basic trend of the previous albums, with catchy electronic pop songs interspersed with experimental sounds. Female vocals appear on several tracks, including this one:

“TV 84”

That’s 电视八十四 (diànshì bāshísì). The female vocalist is apparently a guest performer, since the band is still a trio. All of the tracks are original, no versions of previously released music.

This band doesn’t seem to play live very often (though if Concert is an example, they do it well), and I never saw them perform, so these four CDs are all I have to go on. They’re an example of a different facet of Chinese music, a far cry from the loud guitars of The P.K 14 or Hedgehog (see my previous posts if you missed those).

Rock in China: http://wiki.rockinchina.com/index.php?title=Supermarket
MySpace (Chinese): http://www.myspace.cn/chaojishichang
Modern Sky: http://www.modernsky.com/

Note: All images and audio files presented here are in the interest of increasing awareness of Chinese rock in the English-speaking world. If you are the owner of the copyright in any of them and object to this free promotion, let me know and I'll remove the offending media.

The Yaogun Diaries, part 3

Part of a series dealing with rock music in China, mostly Beijing because that's what I know. 摇滚 (yáogǔn) is the Chinese word for rock music, the two characters literally meaning "shake" and "roll".

Hedgehog

This band was the subject of frequent notices in the English-language publications around Beijing from the time I started reading them, and the descriptions were enticing enough for me to buy their second CD Noise Hit World (Badhead/Modern Sky, 2007) without hearing any of it first.
It’s a really engaging pop-punk sound with some elements of both British and Japanese rock to it. Like many Beijing bands, Hedgehog is a trio, in this case guitar/bass/drums, and also like many Beijing bands, at least one member is female, in this case drummer 阿童木 (Atom, as in Astroboy, because she is small in size but very powerful just like the robot boy in the cartoon). Their modus operandi is to establish a catchy rock groove and add somewhat sing-song vocals over it, sometimes punctuated by enthusiastic shouts. Guitarist 子健 (ZO) does most of the singing, though Atom helps out with backing, occasional lead, and shouting. The lyrics are mostly in English, unabashedly sung with Chinese accents. The bassist also goes by a nickname, 博宣 (Box).

Here’s the opening track for you to get the idea.

“Toy & 61 Festival”

It wasn’t long before I got a chance to see them live (covered here originally). They were part of a four-band bill at Yugong Yishan for the two-band album release party of Carsick Cars and Snapline on November 10, 2007.
That was a great night of music, and Hedgehog were outstanding – noisy and rowdy without being out of control.
I ended up seeing them live the following weekend at 2 Kolegas as part of a different four-band bill. This time they were the final band after RandomK(e), Subs, and Re-TROS.
Most of the decent pictures I got appear in my original post over here.
2 Kolegas is a very different environment from Yugong Yishan, closer to classic “dive” status and proud of it. The smaller, more intimate show was looser and ended with a real Rock and Roll Moment, as I described in my original post.

The band has remained active since then, though I haven’t seen them again. Their third CD, Blue Daydreaming (白日梦蓝 – báirìmèng lán), came out in 2009 on Modern Sky, and, like Noise Hit World, is much more subtle and melodic than their live persona would indicate, thought it’s full of vitality and charm. This time the lyrics are split about halfway between English and Chinese, but I don’t think that’s an indication of them giving up on international recognition.
As much as I like Noise Hit World, I think this one is better. Here’s one of many great selections.

“Pseudomorph”

I said it’s more subtle, but that doesn’t mean it’s wimpy. It’s more muscular sounding in many places, though there are passages of acoustic guitar with dreamy vocals.

There’s also a 2006 CD called Happy Idle Kid which I’ve never seen in stores or at a gig.

Here’s a fun video which is from the album:




Haven’t been able to find a download anywhere either, though I’ve searched all over. For some reason when you try searching with this band’s name (or the Chinese equivalent 刺猬 – cìwèi which they don’t use very conspicuously), you find a bunch of video-game related stuff.

Rock in China: http://wiki.rockinchina.com/index.php?title=Hedgehog
MySpace (Chinese, but with audio): http://www.myspace.cn/hedgehog
AMP interview (in English): http://amp.channelv.com/seenandheard/2007/07/24/1185244713938.html

Note: All images and audio files presented here are in the interest of increasing awareness of Chinese rock in the English-speaking world. If you are the owner of the copyright in any of them and object to this free promotion, let me know and I'll remove the offending media.

The Yaogun Diaries, part 2

Part of a series dealing with rock music in China, mostly Beijing because that's what I know. 摇滚 (yáogǔn) is the Chinese word for rock music, the two characters literally meaning "shake" and "roll".

The P.K.14

Like Re-TROS in my last installment, this band has its roots in Nanjing. They have continually played with their name, claiming it stands for various different things at different times. They have also been listed at times as P.K.14 (The Chinese language has no articles, so this is pretty common with band names). Their newest release uses The, so I’ll call that the preferred form.

Way back in the spring of 2007, the P.K.14 was one of the first Chinese bands I saw play live (read about it here). They opened for the Soundtrack of Our Lives at Star Live. At that time, their third album 白皮书 (Báipíshū – White Paper), while more than a year old, was still getting positive reviews in the Chinese English-language press, so I went to their MySpace page and checked out the music. For some reason it didn’t really grab me, though I didn’t dislike it.

The two most notable things about their sound were the lead vocals of Yang Haisong (杨海崧), which are not terribly melodic, mixing yelping, yelling, and overwrought semi-spoken Chinese, and the guitar of Xu Bo (许波) , which generally stays away from rhythmic playing like you expect in punkish rock, kind of like the Edge in a less anthemic setting than U2.
This leaves the bass and guitar to push the rhythms. They also have a tendency to wander off into moody grooves with atmospheric guitar (which U2 also did in their early days). Other good comparisons include Television and Joy Division.
I think it was probably the vocals that prevented me from enjoying this band right off the bat. It wasn’t until I had much more experience listening to Chinese rock that I came to appreciate them. A few months after seeing them live, I reread some of the CD reviews and decided to give it another go. I bought the album and listened to it a few times, gradually coming to the realization that it really was quite good. It’s on the Badhead division of Modern Sky, China’s premier independent rock label.

As an aside, on the CD spine, the band’s name is given as Pent Kilowatt One More Than Thirteen. On the opposite spine, they have the Chinese name 青春公共王国 (qīngchūn gōnggòng wángguó), which means Public Kingdom for Teens – get it? P.K. 14. As you can see, the front cover just says P.K. 14.
The album has worn well for me, and I still like listening to it a lot.

“They”

As you can hear on this song, 他们 (Tāmen – “They”), the band is not averse to including embellishments to their guitar-bass-drums core. Other tracks include glockenspiel and synthesizer. The credits are all in Chinese, but according to the Rock in China bio, the album was recorded in Sweden with producer Hernik Oja. The band’s long-time (though not original) drummer is of Swedish ancestry, though he’s lived most of his life in China and Hong Kong.

“Saga”

I can’t resist giving you another sample of this record. The energy and passion in this track are obvious even if you know nothing of the words. I love the way the guitar is at times pounding out the eighth notes and then breaks off to soar melodically, and the climax of the tune, which finishes off the album, is positively cathartic. It’s called 故事 (Gùshi), which means “Story” or “Saga.”

In June of 2008, just before the Olympics, the band released their fourth album, 城市天气的航行 (chéngshì tiānqì de hángxíng), which translates rather cryptically as City Weather Sailing. It’s on the Maybe Mars label, which has been putting out a lot of good stuff lately. The artwork is just as cryptic, with a blurry cityscape on the front...
and a rather strange photo of performance art or modern dance on the back:
As soon as I pressed Play on the first of its 18 tracks, I knew I was in for something special. The sparse keyboard touches of the previous album have been enhanced to the point of having their own voice, though still without overpowering the post-punk core of the band. This is music that is both sophisticated and visceral. Six of the tracks are interludes under a minute long, brief improvisations that set up the mood without seeming indulgent or unnecessary.

Here is the second cut, 穿過河堤(chuānguò hédī – “Wade the River”), which features an excellent string arrangement.

“Wade the River”

Now that I’ve covered their third and fourth albums, what about the earlier ones? Rock in China lists a 2001 CD called 上楼就往左拐 (shànglóu jiù wǎng zuǒguǎi – Upstairs on the Left), released on Subjam in China and Empty Egg, a Canadian label, but I have never seen this available for purchase or download anywhere.
There is also a demo collection called 烂掉吧 (làndiào ba – Rotting, or maybe Rotten) which is available for download (with the exception of track 5) from here along with RealMedia of some other demos. All of the tracks listed for the Upstairs CD also appear on the demo collection – I don’t know if the Subjam/Empty Egg release featured exactly the same recordings or new versions of the same songs.
Aside from the demo’s production quality, which is not so bad, the music, while it does contain the seeds of the band’s style, is less interesting. There are no credits to go on, but it sounds like they’re using a drum machine. The mood is more subdued, completely lacking the intense energy shown on later recordings. All in all, it reminds me much more of Joy Division than their later material. Incidentally, the file I downloaded for track 6 seems to consist of 5:35 of silence.

“Invested in the Break of an Embrace”

Check out 投向分裂的怀抱 (tóu xiàng fēnliè de huáibào), which might or might not translate as “Invested in the Break of an Embrace.” It’s one of a few of the demo tracks that really give the sense of what the band would later grow into.

Their second album came out in 2004, and it is where the band came into their own stylistically. The improved production and drumming really fill out the sound, and we’re starting to see touches of the sophistication. The album is called 谁谁谁和谁谁谁 (shéishéishéi hé shéishéishéi – Who Who Who and Who Who Who, which is maybe some kind of expression I’m not familiar with).
The song I’ve chosen for you to sample is 第二十八个影子 (dì'èrshíbāgè yǐngzi – “The 28th Shadow”).

“The 28th Shadow”

Just a few days before I left China, I got the chance to see The P.K.14 live again. This time the show was at Yugong Yishan. They had the middle spot on a bill with Offset: Spectacles before them and the American band These Are Powers after.
One thing’s for sure: they were a lot louder this time.
In fact, it was one of those shows where the music was so loud that any nuances were completely overwhelmed by volume.
Yugong Yishan has an excellent sound system, and most of the time even loud bands sound good, but this one was way over the top.
Still, they really had the crowd going.
The material off the newest album sounded very different than it did in the studio.
And a little crowd surfing never hurts.

Rock in China entry: http://wiki.rockinchina.com/index.php?title=P.K.14
MySpace: http://www.myspace.com/pk14
Modern Sky Records: http://www.modernsky.com/
Maybe Mars Records: http://www.bingmasi.com/
Tenzenmen: http://www.tenzenmen.com/ (an Australian distributor)

Note: All images and audio files presented here are in the interest of increasing awareness of Chinese rock in the English-speaking world. If you are the owner of the copyright in any of them and object to this free promotion, let me know and I'll remove the offending media.