Inner Mongolian grassland psych + extreme metal
+ an Audrey Hepburn song like you've never heard it before + reimagined Kazakh folk
Hello and welcome to Concrete Avalanche, a newsletter about music from China. Thanks very much for reading.
If you’d like to listen to lots of great music from China for free, all in one place, check out the Concrete Avalanche playlists here. Please support the artists if you can. I also put last time’s ambient playlist on BNDCMPR — let me know if you prefer it there.
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In this issue: psych-ish Mongolian folk, a whole album of feedback, high concept electronic music, re-imagined Kazakh folk, anti-ambient extreme metal, and Shanghai jazz.
Super grasslands: Hugjiltu puts a psych-ish spin on Mongolian folk with new band HuuG
Since leaving stomp-along Inner Mongolian act Hanggai and further helping define the traditional Mongolian folk-meets-rock ’n’ roll landscape through Ajinai, Beijing-based musician Hugjiltu has become increasingly interested in more psychedelic textures, most notably with GAAL, a multi-national group who released a series of glorious horsehead fiddle-imbued jams at the turn of the decade.
Now he’s back with a new four letter multi-national group: HuuG. Their DIY debut features four tracks that in some regards pick up where GAAL left off, with the record blending “ancient rhythmic traditions with elements of psychedelia and improvisation, creating fluid compositions that are rich with the energy of nature and life,” as they put it.
If you’re familiar with any of the acts mentioned above, or with Hugjiltu’s solo work, or if you just like the idea of psych-ish jam music laced with traditional folk instruments and steeped in steppes imagery, give this a whirl — either via Bandcamp (above) or through this series of vibrant animated videos:
Zebra Live is out now.
Seeking feedback: a who’s who of Chinese experimental music collides on a new compilation
What a line-up this is. The new release from Shanghai imprint Where is the Zeitgeist?Editing Office is very much a who’s who of contemporary Chinese noise. Compiled by Jun-Y Ciao, who appears on the record as well, Feedbacking: a number of Feedback practices in China features Li Jianhong, Yan Jun, Zhu Wenbo, Sun Yizhou, Xu Cheng, Li Qing, Li Weisi, gogoj, Mai Mai… and on and on — it’s full of important names from the experimental field in China. If you’ve ever taken the time to read one of the sections on noise or experimental music in this newsletter, chances are you will have come across at least one of these names.
As the title suggests, the record’s focus is feedback.
“The principle of feedback is simple, but its presentation in the musical context is varied,” Ciao explains. “Whether it is Jimi Hendrix or Alvin Lucier, David Lee Myers or Toshimaru Nakamura, these are all aspects of feedback that are presented in the context of individual concepts. That's probably what makes feedback so interesting, and you'll certainly find many different sides on this album. The simplicity of feedback is complicated by the complexity of its creator.”
The idea that there are “many different sides” to this record is not as hyperbolic as it might seem, given that this is essentially an album about a singular type of noise — there are some surprisingly melodic and varied moments found throughout, even if the opening track is toward the more combative end of the spectrum. There’s even a cover of ‘Moon River’ from Breakfast at Tiffany’s — not something you particularly expect to find on a noise album.
Be bold and hit that play button.
Feedbacking is out now.
A couple of noise post-scripts: new Li Jianhong + 26-artist strong compilation
There’s lots more music below, including some not-so-noisy stuff, but if you’re into that Feedbacking record, you might also be into these:
“Is there such a thing as a guitar antihero? Li Jianhong might be it. A pillar of the Chinese experimental music community, Jianhong’s solo guitar explorations run the gamut from drone, noise and spontaneous responses to the world around him (what he calls Environment Improvisation) to brain-altering psychedelic dreamscapes.”
This is Milwaukee-based Utech Records’ introduction to a new three-track release from Li Jianhong, Shuttle Raven of the Dream. As they suggest, Li’s material is diverse and while his focus on the record above is feedback, here he traverses gentle drones, slabs of noise, and psych-rock guitar parts.
Meanwhile, German label L.White Records has produced a three CD, 26 artist compilation of noise and industrial spanning acts from mainland China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. gogoj, Ghostmass, and (of course) Torturing Nurse all feature. Eternal — A Chinese Noise and Industrial Music Compilation is available here.
Beats from “the East”: Beijing-HK label examines the Other on electronic music compilation
The launch party for Beijing-Hong Kong electronic label NU-S3RVO’s new compilation included an academic discussion “about the ‘Voice of the East’”, while the introductory blurb on Bandcamp expounds on the othering of “the East”. These important discussions are a sign of how seriously the collective — founded by producers Kousei and Heiyuen — take what they’re doing and how aware they are of its context, but there’s still plenty of playfulness on an album that “integrates Eastern elements into contemporary electronic music genres, including leftfield techno, IDM, and bass.”
“Each track on the album seeks to construct a delicate balance: rooted in the foundations of Eastern culture yet imbued with new possibilities through modern musical technologies and emotional expression. This is a sonic exploration of dialogue between the East and the contemporary—a blend of personal interpretation and responses to collective memory. Through this musical extension, we hope to evoke a sense of resonance and a carefully measured sense of distance.”
On a shallower level, there’s also just some well-crafted, uplifting electronic music here from producers such as GUAN — the co-founder of Hangzhou electronic label Function Lab — plus a host of newer names.
NU-S3RVO Vol. 1 is out now.
IZ on tour: get acquainted with this fascinating experimental folk group via a special new release
IZ, the shape-shifting experimental folk band led by Kazakh genius Mamer, are heading out on tour and have released a special album for the merch tables, one which has fortunately also made its way to Bandcamp. It’s comprised of tracks from a previous tour in 2023 and from a session recorded in 2010 for the BBC.
There’s a lot more background on Mamer and IZ here for the uninitiated, but the album — entitled Memory — is both a great introduction to their work and a pleasing run-down of reinterpretations of classic tracks for those more familiar with their back catalogue. At their heart are the kind of traditional Kazakh folk rhythms that brought Mamer international attention via Peter Gabriel’s Real World Records back in 2009, but which he has continued to radically reimagine ever since, both through IZ and his various other musical projects.
In particular, near 10-minute closer ‘Aynala Bulaⱪ Base-Têng’ is an extraordinary piece, beginning gently and taking a hypnotic detour part-way through with Mamer’s customary throatsinging-like growl before building to a glorious, glittering finale.
Memory is out now. Read more about IZ and Mamer here:
‘I am the broken generation’: one-man extreme metal musician behind Hoplites returns
There was a point a couple of years ago where we were getting new albums from the artist behind Smiqra every few months. What made this productivity all the more remarkable was the quality of the output and the fact that it was all coming from just one person. As Ὁπλίτης (Hoplites) and Vitriolic Sage, one-man metal machine “JL” released wave after wave of exciting, often brutal music.
The 14 months since the last release on his Bandcamp page have therefore felt like an eternity. But fortunately, the enigma is back and just as intense as ever, this time under the name Smiqra.
The new release is essentially the antithesis of the ambient playlist I put out last time around. But, as much as I’ve felt the need for soothing tracks lately, I definitely feel there’s a role for something angrier as well given the state of the world at the moment. This certainly scratches that itch.
Even if this record isn’t to your liking, it’s worth following that page on Bandcamp, with JL teasing, “I do have some other projects going on like from synthpunk to dnb to raw crustpunk”. Watch this space then.
Rɡyaɡ̇dźé! is out now.
Exit music
Shanghai jazz singer Voision Xi, who put out her second album Queen and Elf to widespread acclaim last year, has unveiled a short documentary about the tour she undertook to accompany the LP’s release.
“My longtime friend Panda Lee, whom I’ve known for over a decade, edited this Tour Documentary for me, allowing us to revisit these fragments of memories gathered from all corners, reflect on everyone’s hard work, and relive the beautiful moments that unfolded.”