The 16th Floor 16层乐队 – Enjoy Eating 大快朵颐 Soundtracking urban life across seven emotionally fraught canvases, post rock outfit The 16th Floor packs quite the punch on their sophomore LP, Enjoy Eating, released with Modern Sky. With each track acting essential as a story (even cult film favorite Leon The Professional gets its own soundtrack) there’s a narrative thrust to how their songs build, crescendoing into moments of cathartic release that you’d be hard-pressed not to be moved by. While remnants of the post rock forefathers are still sewn into The 16th Floor’s sonic palette, the pote ..read more

YADAE 鸭打鹅 – Night Gloss 夜光 Shanghai indie outfit YADAE, led by Han Han and Wu Shanmin returns with their latest cosmic jam Night Gloss. The long-standing band continues their descent into the lush world of funk, soul, and electro jazz —adding a simmering psychedelic edge and an elegant classical touch. While the tonal shifts in their previous outing were jarring, Night Gloss finds the band on steadier footing, more assured in their cosmic tapestry of nocturnal grooves, deft instrumentation, and futuristic jazz, even giving air to some of their indie rock roots. Geeky in the best possible way ..read more

Schnellertollermeier, LYSOMA – Yuyintang 育音堂/Yuyintang Park 育音堂音乐公园 2024.3.28 Swiss trio Schnellertollermeier came through Yuyintang Park last Thursday courtesy of emerging promoters SoundFact – churning out heady mix of krautrock, math rock, and ambient noise for well over an hour. Truly invigorating music – simple in its framework but endlessly imaginative in its assembly – a magic trick of sorts with multiple layers that slowly reveal themselves. Every riff and grove seems to generate surprise and wonder – and I think the dead silent crowd was simply in too much awe to really get moving ..read more

The Grinding Ear 逆耳 – Endless Dream Tide 无尽梦潮  Beijing’s The Grinding Ear has floating around the capital for well over a decade – often cited as one of the unsung heroes of the post rock scene. And while the band called it quits for a bit, they came back stronger than ever in the past few years, a reawakening that has resulted in one of the best new albums in the genre. From the propulsive drive tethered to ‘Time Diver’ to narrative charge; the musical heft of ‘Escape Scene 逃亡景’; and the evocative and resonating ‘最后一个邮递员’ – the band has no issue steering the ship across multiple canvass ..read more

SHOT, Dizzy Dizzy Yellow Puppy, UNTERWASSER 在水下 – SYSTEM系统 2024.3.22 While normally considered an electronic club, SYSTEM has in the past put on plenty of live events. And from the sound of it, they’re looking to get back into the habit. Which I’m all for – cause as far as atmosphere goes SYSTEM is one of the best nightlife spots to visit – a concrete utopia that always seems up for some fun. And what better acts to bring through there than an assortment of post punk, electronic and cold wave acts. This was my debut with synth rock trio SHOT – who use their minimal set-up to great degree – c ..read more

Incentive Dry 干诱因 – Noonday Demon Incentive Dry from Beijing, a fever dream of brooding alt rock, experimental electronica, bookish post punk, theatrical cold wave, and then some paints a dystopian future in their MV for single ‘Noonday Demon’. Like a steampunk version of A Clockwork Orange, the video directed in stark black and white by Wang Haonan follows our protagonist, who lives and seemingly works via a special contraption that blurs reality and dreams – a blur of subconscious memories and embedded images turning our human vessels into mindless drones. Great stuff. LATENINE6 雷玖陆 – Spec ..read more

Basement Queen地下室女王, AIRSFX, Chimera Cult, NAVeL 幻痛区 at – Harley’s Back Room 2024.03.16 The 8 Hour Rock n’ Roll Club returned last weekend to none other than Harley’s Back Room – which of course meant that I was in for a whirlwind night of head-banging tunes, wily personalities on stage, and debauchery of the highest order.  Was great to catch Navel in their element – and despite trying to high behind metric tons of gear, there is something most satisfying about their gothic new wave – especially when their tracks hit third gear and really get moving.  It’s been too long since I’v ..read more

Li Jianhong 李劍鴻 – Soul Solitary 魂靈獨居者  If there was any question the esteemed air that surrounds experimental scene figure and noise guitar legend Li Jianhong, just soak in the exquisite artwork (by Du Kun) for the artist’s latest release, Soul Solitary, released under Ramble Records (AU), WV Sorcerer Productions (FR/CN), and Echodelick Records (US). Amassed from two live recordings in France and China from 2018-2019 – it features the artist at his most aggressive and mystifying – as throaty bawls, chants-like musings and the shrieks and plucking guitar punctuate its gloomy yet alluring ..read more

Tation 天声, Psoralen 补骨脂, Li Zenghui 李增辉 at Yuyintang Park 育音堂音乐公园 2024.3.13 Hard-edged rock and roll not afraid to go off into the deep end – last Friday at Yuyintang Park has a gut punch of a show featuring an act I’ve been dying to catch for some time (天声), an act that I was coming into blind to (补骨脂), and a rabble rouser of the highest caliber (李增辉). So yeah, definitely a gig that’ll stick with me for some time. Qinghai-based instrumental rock troupe Tation, known for their exploratory sound that blends in Chinese traditional folk, Tibetan, and Mongolian music and experimental music into ..read more

Silent Speech 沉默演讲 at Mao Livehouse 2024.3.13 It has been a while since I caught up with Silent Speech – the Beijing alt rockers whose 2021 double-LP Law of Instability/Orderly Chaos ended up at the top of many ‘Best Of’ lists. Crafting melodic, swelling, and instrumentally lush music that’s grandiose in every which way, the band, who were in the midst of a nationwide tour, is a full course meal — beaming with ideas and stylish choices that take each song on its own separate journey. Utilizing that balance between the band’s lean musicality and lead singer Wu Xiaoran’s siren-like voice, it c ..read more