Soviet Pop + a compilation of music for cats
+ a big Bandcamp blower-upper
Hello and welcome to Concrete Avalanche, a Substack about music from China. Thanks very much for reading.
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In this edition: the links between China and Jamaican reggae, music for cats, a “fiercely earthy, anti-pop act” from Guangdong goes to Harvard, two-thirds of Carsick Cars release experimental compositions, and more.
Concrete Avalanche does playlists now, so you can listen to lots of the music discussed below and more all in one place.
Greece is the word: new Ancient Greece-inspired metal out of, err, Ningbo
Three-and-a-bit months after Ὁπλίτης (pronounced “that Ancient Greece-inspired Chinese metal band”) released nine track album Ψευδομένη, they’re back with a whole new ten track record, Τρωθησομένη.
As a reminder, the former was “Ancient Greece-themed brutal death metal from a mysterious solo artist based out of Ningbo”, music that label Pest Productions likened to the sound of Serpent Column. Stereogum picked up on it (thanks Ian for the shout out), calling the record “the first big Bandcamp blower-upper of the year” and accurately describing Ὁπλίτης (or Hoplites, if you prefer) as “a deathly black metal band with chaotic inclinations”.
Those chaotic inclinations seemingly extend to their release schedule: Ψευδομένη was their first record in over a year. Now, we’ve got a second full album in less than four months. It, too, has blown up on Bandcamp.
There’s no messing around here — the record goes full throttle right from the off. Once again, those “chaotic inclinations” are front and centre in an exhilarating assault on the ears. ‘Epic’ doesn’t really seem to capture it, but… well, it is epic.
We don’t get any more information about who’s really behind this music. The artist is variously referred to by aliases such as Liu Zhenyang, J.L, Λοιδορία, and Vitriolic Sage, but no one seems to know much about them. The ‘liner notes’ (in Greek, naturally) here don’t shed much light on the matter, instead noting “all odes poemed in an organic laboratory” (according to Google Translate).
But I’m not sure I’d have it any other way. Again, I find it hard to disagree with Ian Chainey’s assessment that “the lack of info works”. It’s a bit mysterious, as a Chinese metal band making Ancient Greece-themed albums probably ought to be. And, frankly, the music more than speaks for itself.
Τρωθησομένη is out now. Somewhat unbelievably, it’s available as a pay-what-you-want download on Bandcamp (at time of writing).
Cool for cats: Modern Sky have released another compilation of music for felines (and their humans)
Yep. Back in December 2021, Modern Sky released a special compilation of music for cats, and their servants:
Cute. So cute in fact, they’ve decided to do it again. The Beijing-based record label unveiled volume two on 4.20, which seems appropriate given it’s aimed squarely at the 吸猫 crowd (xī māo being a term that likens having a cat to being addicted to drugs).
This time around the compilation comprises three tracks of around ten minutes each from electronic producers L+R, Janjee Wang, and mafmadmaf. (mafmadmaf is also heavily involved with interesting Guangdong label Jyugam, incidentally.)
One for the super furry animal in your life.
Maodeng Tiankong Vol 2: Stretch is out now on Spotify.
It’s just about the weather: the Animal Crossing music video you didn’t know you needed
Speaking of cuteness, Eating Music sibling label Delivery Music have made a video in Animal Crossing for rapper LateNine6’s track ‘Weather Forecast (Spring Version)’, so here’s that:
Soviet Pop, formed by Carsick Cars founders, return with two small works
It’s Bandcamp Friday again on May 5, when the music site waives its share of revenue enabling more of your money go straight to artists and labels. There’s usually a lot of new music dropped on and around the date and an early one out the gates for this month is a new release from Soviet Pop, their first in a few years (I think?). Entitled two small works: continuous and discrete, it’s available now for pre-order on Sun Yizhou’s new label Aloe Records.
Once self-described as “a sound-based oscillator duo”, Soviet Pop is Li Weisi and Li Qing, two of three founding members in Carsick Cars, one of China’s biggest bands during the late ’00s. Carsick Cars toured Europe with Sonic Youth, became one of the earliest Chinese acts to play SXSW, and built a fan base across the country before the two Lis left the band, though they would eventually return in 2017, seven years after their initial departure. The duo were also two-thirds of revered post-punk act Snapline.
Soviet Pop was a more experimental outlet for the pair, dealing in dark synth-driven noise and lo-fi sketches. This new record, composed of two 20-ish minute pieces, is more interested in acoustic sounds. The band describe the tracks as,
“Two small works, both starting with the ideas of 'two parts interfering with each other' and 'continuous/discrete'.
”The first piece is more about frequencies, overtones and resonances. It is a bit like the modulation between oscillators in sound synthesis or the transmission of signals in radio: the snare part corresponds to the modulated signal/base wave and the harmonics, while the long tones are the modulated signal/carrier. The different overtones of the snare drum resonate with a simple long tone of variable frequency to produce the playing process and the sound result. Want to acoustically test the results of resonance, discrete vs continuous/and also continuous vs continuous sound.
”Op. 2 is more about pitch and rhythm, like an orchestra in a very simplified but classical way... with just the concertmaster and the rest. The main idea is to see what happens when a noisy/non-continuous sounding instrument like the pedal cymbal is used as a "lead instrument". So we arranged 4 metronomes of different pitches and rates to play together with variable pedal cymbal.”
So what does that sound like in practice? Well, like this…
two small works: continuous and discrete is available for pre-order now and will be released on May 5.
Some other scenery: “anti-pop act” Wutiaoren go to Harvard
Back at the end of February, Ren Ke, the frontman for Guangdong folk-rock contrarians Wutiaoren, was treading the red carpet at the Berlinale. A few weeks later and he’s popped up at Harvard. Not bad for someone who until his band’s appearance on Pop Idol-like TV show The Big Band in 2020 was firmly outside the mainstream.
He was appearing as part of a talk entitled ‘What China’s Coolest Rock Band Can Tell Us About the Nation’s Cultural Shifts’, which organisers the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies trailed thusly:
“Given their fiercely earthy, anti-pop act, what’s surprising is that Wu Tiao Ren have blown up in popularity. Why does Wu Tiao Ren attract such big audiences? Aside from cutting-edge art, do they also reflect the complex new cultural and social mechanics of today’s China?”
You can watch the participants attempt to answer that question by clicking play below:
Click-through: three quick links
Josh Feola has profiled excellent label WV Sorcerer Productions in the latest issue of The Wire and put together an accompanying (non-paywalled) playlist here. “From a humble start in 2010 as a mail order distro specialising in Chinese metal, WV Sorcerer Productions has grown into an esoteric and prolific label with more than 70 releases to date.” You might also remember them as the label who brought Psyche Delta Productions’ compilations of Chinese psychedelia to the wider world.
If you happen to be in Hong Kong this weekend, check out the Hong Kong Art Book Fair and specifically the ‘Sounds Like Print’ exhibition, curated by Ingrid Pui Yee Chu and Dr Edward Sanderson, and co-organised with Daniel Szehin Ho. The project “explores how the visible and the audible overlap” and “launches with a special display of sound art and experimental music primarily from the Mainland.”
Wang Wen’s excellently titled (and excellent) Painful Clown & Ninja Tiger was one of my favourite albums of 2022, an entrancing record that seemed to expand with every listen. The band have been touring the LP across China for the past few months and, as they return home to Dalian for the tour’s final shows this weekend, they’ve released a video of two songs performed live in Shanghai — an old favourite and one from the new record:
Exit music
The latest release from Chinese punk trio Underdog, who have long had ska leanings, is a tribute to Jimmy Cliff. The track, about a boy named Ivan seeking his fortune in Kingston, is loosely based on the 1972 film The Harder They Come in which Cliff starred, and borrows a couple of lines from his titular theme song.
You can listen to the track below, and I also strongly recommend that you check out this outstanding illustrated piece on the links between China and Jamaican reggae from the brilliant Krish Raghav.
The Soviet Pop release is a limited edition of 20 cassettes. That’s beautifully niche.