The Yaogun Diaries, part 3.5

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 (Revisited)

When I wrote about this band a few weeks ago, I mentioned that I had never heard, let alone seen, their first album, Happy Idle Kid. Well, due to the help of some readers who commented on that post, I managed to track it down. At one point the band had made it available for a free download, and as we all know, once something is out on the internet, it’s there forever. This one took a lot of searching to find, but it paid off.
I was expecting this to be rather primitive sounding, but aside from the minimal production (which actually works in the music’s favor), this is a good solid effort, and shows the band knew what they were doing even less than a year into their existence.

“Buffer”

Here’s a track to check out. It starts somewhat quietly with an odd bass riff, only later adding in louder rhythm guitar. It is representative of the album as a whole, though of course there is some variety, with a slow song (柏油公路 – “Asphalt Road”) for a change of pace. I have no trouble recommending this set of tunes to anyone who likes the band’s later, more well-known, material.

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.