Guangzhou’s The Swamp have released a new single as a pre-listening to their upcoming new full-length album, which unfortunately is delayed at the moment. But therefore The Swamp allowed us to publish their single “The Boat” and upload their song for free downloading and distribution.
Download “The Boat (憧憬之船)”
(17 MB, 12 minutes)
Want to know more about The Swamp? Rock in China has recently added information to their demo EPs, their full-length albums and their history. Check it out…
CHINESE AND EAST ASIAN MUSIC: THE FUTURE OF THE PAST
14th International CHIME Conference
Musical Instruments Museum (MIM), Brussels
18-22 November 2009
The magic border has been breached: 1 million visitors have taken a look at Rock in China.
What words can say …
– Azchael
Today we added a few new bands from the emo rock genre to our wiki. First of all the Tookoo-drive King-Size China 2 compilation and its related band Flip Side, From Next In and Psycho Candy. Surprise surprise, one of the bands on the compilation is Xi’an-originated new metal / emo rock band Pulse.
I came across Pulse at the end of 2003 in the Bella Bar in Xi’an after a show which blew me away (my first rock show in China). Afterwards we drank a little, talked, played drinking games and joined the whole underground scene towards the Muslim Street of Xi’an, eating till late nite. Pulse drummer at that time, Hao Yi Yang (Allen) became a friend of mine that time and I still have their demo record in the Rock in China collection…
Further additions are related to those bands, such as Flip Side’ record Never ending journey.
And, we updated the Band Forming Timeline and went through our artists list to make sure we have all bands added that have a forming date verified.
– Azchael
The compilation “Poptastic Conversation” was released in 2008 by German record label Fly Fast Records, which is basically consisting of the people behind the documentary Beijing Bubbles, and therefore it should not astonish anyone that Beijing Bubbles heroes Joyside and Sand, besides The Honeys, The Pancakes, My Little Airport, PK 14 and Car-sick Cars, sing their songs on the record (in German!). A good selection of underground bands from China and Hongkong. What is more astonishing is the selection of German bands participating: Die Ärzte, Wir sind Helden and Die Sterne are singing in their songs in Chinese.
In total 19 songs plus an additional CD with a German and a Chinese language course by respectable publishing house PONS and the Goethe Institute surplus a informative booklet / book with German/Chinese texts, explanations, photos and lyrics are offering not just a pleasent experience for one’s ears, but also an hour worthwile of information about the German-Chinese cultural experiences of exchange students, the Chinese underground music scene and the German one. Most songs can be categorized to punk, pop rock or pop music. There are no experimental songs or heavy metal songs on the record, which is certainly due to the fact that a criterium for the band and song selection had been the clearness of vocals and lyrics, as the CD definitely can be seen as an approach to foster the intercultural and interlanguage exchange (with the Goethe Institute as a sponsor of the record). An approach which has been also taken when Fly Fast Records introduced Joyside to the German punk audience and toured with them.
The quality of the songs is overall excellent and the lyrics, both Chinese and German, well recorded and understandable (which as both German songs and Chinese songs are not sung by native speakers, is quite an effort sometimes). Due to the nature of the songs, it is perfectly applicable for being listened to in the background (e.g. office or at home) or to push up the volume and bring the tune up on a party (e.g. “Junge / Er Zi” by Die Ärzte). There are no major rhythm breaks or style breaks on the record, so that you can go from one song to the next without having to fear to destroy the atmosphere. A well balanced record and a must for every German student and Chinese student, for it offers lyrics in both languages and thereby a well-sound (listening) experience to get a grasp of how the other culture is thinking.
– Azchael
With the approval of author Yan Jun, we have on the one hand made the book “UnderGroundGround” (2002) available for download and also added it online for direct reading in its Original Chinese language.
A few articles I’d like to point out:
In the words of Yan Jun:
1+ is a series aimed at identifying talented young artists and bringing their work to wider attention, both in Beijing and internationally. It will focus mainly on showcasing the work of local artists from the underground rock, experimental, electronica, impovisation and other genres. The series will also include artists from other cities and countries who, whether they are just visiting or plan to spend an extended period of time in Beijing, are part of our music ecology.The 1+ format is designed to take advantage of the fast growing new music scene in Beijing and the willingness of local artists to experiment with and mix genres. As Beijing continues its rapid development as an international new music experiment factory, various backgrounds and influences meet in the Beijing music scenes to generate new sounds and vibrations that are often difficult to categorize and hard to define…
Start since June of 2006.
Ended in 2007’s Spring.
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