A Chinese Wuthering Heights + Zhang 'Nono' Xingchan returns
+ Fragile Asians + a new compilation for cats + a rare Tuvan tradition gets a modern update
Hello and welcome to Concrete Avalanche, a newsletter about music from China. Thanks very much for reading.
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In this issue: new music from one of the break-out stars of 2024, sunshine-filled indie-pop, a strident noise-meets-traditional Chinese instrumentation album, Kunming coldwave, Sichuanese rock, Tuvan electronic music, and a compilation of tracks for cats.
Fictional film music: Yang Haisong blends noise with traditional Chinese instrumentation
Around about this time last year, PK14 frontman and prolific producer Yang Haisong put out an album with multi-instrumentalist and Dou Wei collaborator Wang Xiaofeng. Entitled The Intangible Tao of Water, it featured Yang creating backdrops of swirling, fuzzy guitars while Wang embroidered them with melodic flourishes from traditional Chinese string instruments (mostly the yangqin, a sort of hammered dulcimer). Yang also added distorted incantations on some tracks.
It was a fantastic record, but one that initially proved frustratingly elusive on international platforms, leading me to resort to a Yang-themed listicle in the newsletter instead:
I bring all this up for two reasons: first, that album is now fully available on iTunes and other platforms outside of China (including Bandcamp; see embed below) — you should listen to it; second, Yang and Wang recently released a follow up of sorts, adding cellist Song Zhao into the mix.
The Rain Falls Into the Movie, released on Yang’s own STO Records imprint rather than through Modern Sky like its predecessor, takes the fundamentals of Intangible Tao, adds Song’s deliberate strings, and cranks up the noise (Yang’s credits for the album are ‘noise, vocals’). Recorded live at Beijing’s UFO Space last summer, the trio of musicians build and build, at times almost as if they’re in competition with each other, yet somehow always finding balance and harmony out of the maelstrom.
The record is less melodic than Intangible Tao, but Song and Wang’s strings still provide tuneful embellishments over Yang’s more abstract textures. It’s noisier, sure, but it’s an appropriately fascinating follow up and a worthwhile listen in its own right.
The Rain Falls Into the Movie is out now.
No limits: Zhang Xingchan returns with a new EP
Wuhan-based artist Zhang Xingchan caused quite the stir last year with her album No, No! Taking her just six months to create, the self-produced LP wrapped rock, jazz, and experimental influences in a pop veneer, garnering widespread critical acclaim and topping a number of ‘Best of 2024’ lists.
Her new EP No, Now! is a post-script of sorts to that break-out album, with five tracks recorded in her home studio. They begin relatively experimentally, with ‘Death of the Girl with Twin Ponytails’ tantalisingly suggesting that Zhang may have shed some of her poppier leanings, before the appropriately titled ‘Turn Around’ sees her relent with safer sounds, which continue for the second half of the record.
It’s another fun listen, and one that proves that there can be more to Chinese pop than saccharine ballads. It also suggests that Zhang has the talent, vision, and bravery to be more than just a flash in the pan. At the very least, the EP should keep her fans sated for a bit while she works on a full-length follow up.
No, Now! is out, well, now. It’s currently name-your-price on Bandcamp.
Related:
Here comes the sun: another summery double bill from Sango Records
Wuhan-Kyoto label Sango Records’ output always seems geared toward warmer weather. Spring brought a bedroom pop double-bill that felt primed for the season and now as we edge toward summer (in the northern hemisphere at least) we get a super sunny double A side single from Cheesemind and a bright, intriguing EP from Fragile Asians.
Cheesemind’s ‘Delulu’ was written by the band’s Zhixin with Zoey from Guangdong DIY heroes yourboyfriendsucks, who also guests on the first version of the song. It’s joined by a second number that has Dizzy Boy as guest vocalist. Both tracks (of which there are two versions each) deal with affairs of the heart, with the first a wistful reflection on being young and having the energy for all-consuming romance, and the latter a guava-sweet song about being in love. A bit cheesy? Sure. But then what did you expect with a band name like that?
For something with a bit more edge to it, you can check out another new release from the Sango stable: Tough! by Fragile Asians. Formed kind of randomly in a student bar in Coventry to take part in a university band competition, Fragile Asians decided to focus on indie-rock and shoegaze sounds rather than tap into that city’s two-tone history. Yet their short, sharp EP — which features “Chinglish song names that barely related to the melodies” — is an entertaining one nevertheless.
Told the stars all about you and Tough! are out now.
Feline good: Modern Sky’s latest compilation for cats is here
This newsletter only brings you the most essential Chinese music news and new releases, so of course there has to be mention of a new compilation of music for cats (and their poop-scooping servants).
This may feel even more random than the mention of Coventry above, but this is not even the first one of these records — what at first seemed like a one-off gimmick is now a three-album-strong series. You can read more about volumes one and two here. And here’s the track ‘I Don’t Need a Girlfriend, I Need My Cats’ by DBZ from volume one:
The latest installment features an impressive cast of Chinese acts, from indie pop outfit Octopus Villain and members of garage rockers Naja Naja and psych group Jimao Big Band, to dark folkies The Swan and Blossoms. All of them contribute one minute-ish compositions, which label Modern Sky has then hired a collection of young Chinese animators to create accompanying videos for. I can’t find those videos on international platforms I’m afraid, but I have tracked down the music:
It’s hard-hitting, fearless avant-garde art. Maybe.
Meowdern Sky Vol 3: Dancing Cat (my translation) is out now.
Just briefly: Kunming coldwave, Sichuan pop-rock, and ambient techno
Kunming, the capital of south China’s Yunnan province, is known as ‘the city of eternal spring’ thanks to its pleasant year-round climate. But not everyone there is feeling the warmth and the sunshine: two-person act Cephalosis have spent the past eight years delivering decidedly chilly coldwave sounds from their home base in the city. Their new LP — their first in three years and their third album to date — doubles down on the dark desolation by taking inspiration from Wuthering Heights. “We sought to construct a paranoid, frenzied world,” the duo say of an album that is perhaps more interesting conceptually than musically. It’s certainly more Cold Cave than Kate Bush.
Chengdu pop-rock band The Hormones have a new EP out, entitled 末日的梦, which loosely translates as Doomsday Dream. The title track might just be some of their best work yet: pulsing beats are matched by driving guitars, with the raw energy of this combination offset by slick vocals. From there, the music leans far more to the pop side of things than the rock, with a string of glossier ballads closing out the record.
Another Sichuanese act here, this one happy to bring their guitars to the fore a bit more. Young five-piece FringeEchoes reference The Strokes, Oasis, and The Stone Roses among their influences and this grab-bag of inspirations is on display on their debut album, which came out earlier this year.
Chinese electronic music stalwart Sun Dawei (aka CTAFAD, Sulumi, and the founder of Shanshui Records) is back with two new four track EPs. The first, released on his own Bandcamp page, starts out as ambient and gradually progresses into downtempo, minimal techno — well worth a listen. The second… well… not sure yet, that one’s out on June 4th via GSXS.
Exit music
Xinjiang-Inner Mongolian electronic duo Taiga (who last year had a notable collaboration with Yehaiyahan) recently released a new album entitled Nomadelic, a portmanteau of nomad and psychedelic which the group says “evokes the sensation of leaping off horseback and soaring again, gaining a fresh perspective over the land that has nurtured them.”
For the lead track, also called ‘Nomadelic’, Taiga have released a music video recorded on a Chengdu rooftop at sunset. You can watch that below, and read a little more about the track from the band’s own words here:
“The title track "Nomadelic" draws upon a fast-paced sample of "Dürgen Chugaa," an ancient and little-known element of Tuva’s oral heritage. This rare vocal tradition has been passed down through the centuries, relying on the purity of oral transmission. The artful play of alliteration and Tuva's unique verb forms creates a rhythmic path to the land itself. Through the recurring cadence of syllables and sounds, one is almost transported to the boundless, eternal steppe of Tuva.”
Nomadelic!!! 🙌
And the cats 💕 thank you
I think Nomadelic is the best thing I've ever heard. Big smiles. Thank you so much for doing this! Would have never found them without your hard work.