Month: January 2015

The Yours – Teenagarten – 27th January 2015

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Cat #: 168TZM

Hong Kong noise rock outfit The Yours return with their second full-length album, entitled “Teenagarten”. Recorded by Yang Haisong of P.K.14 at Psychic Kong in Beijing, the second album is rawer, darker and more intense than its predecessor, yet maintains the bandʼs rich melodic structures and teenage angst.

The album opens with its title track, which reveals the bandʼs attempt to explore its heavier roots and sets the tone for the remaining tracks. “Winonaʼs Tattoo”, “Distorted Kross” and “K” form the backbone of the album, delivering colossal dissonances and sprawling soundscape. Dynamic vocal interplay continues to be one of the most distinguishing characteristics of the band, most notably with “Bad JuJu” , featuring guest vocals by Fuhan from Beijing dance rockers Queen Sea Big Shark. “Valley Kids” , a nostalgic ballad filled with layers of shimmering distortion, sees a softer side of the album. But the occasional calm canʼt hide the rage underneath, the last three-song section, consisting of “Spunk”, “Death Rat” and “Pink Snoopy”, finds the band experimenting with more complex rhythms and structures.

The Yoursʼ sophomore release sees another linear step in their evolution; nevertheless, “Teenagarten” is by no means a progressive, sophisticated album. As the title suggests, the eleven-track album is meant to horrify adults and please teenagers. It is still very much a lo-fi collage dedicated to youth culture.

GuiGuiSuiSui – The Court of King Nitro – 8th January 2015

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Cat #: 167TZM

Originally from Dartford, England (spiritual home of, ahem, minor blues appropriators such as Mick Jagger and Keith Richards), one man DIY punk/blues/horror artist, GUIGUISUISUI, aka Dann Gaymer, started making dark garage blues on a variety of instruments including a one stringed skateboard guitar (The Diddly Board) in the freezing cold of Changchun, Northeast China in 2012. While working with a variety of side men including beatboxers, various percussionists and drummers, as well as a punk rock rhythm section dubbed The Electric Shadows, GUIGUISUISUI settled on a one man band format after relocating to Beijing in the summer of 2013. That same year, Gaymer headed out on a rather unrepresented, borderline masochistic 40+ date Asian Tour which shocked, confused and at times, downright befuddled punters across the entirety of the Far East.

Not one to rest on his laurels, Gaymer began hastily demoing a brand spanking new batch of evil tinged, garage inflected GUIGUISUISUI material immediately upon returning to his home base deep within the confines of the Red Capital.

Engineered, mixed and co-produced by luminary Beijing producer/sonic journeyman extraordinaire, Yan Haisong (P.K.14, Dear Eloise) at Psychic Kong, The Court of King Necro 7″ finds Gaymer delving into four tracks of lo-fi, psychedelic scuzz rock lined with a healthy dose of Delta Blues. Think spiritual/musical mentors, The Rolling Stones, at their most avant garde, stripped down and devoid of overt glam pretense. Yet, when it comes to art rock, GUIGUISUISUI, has forged his own peculiar brand that exists on the dirtier more wanton side of the experimental blues rock stratosphere.

Strictly limited to a run of 500 copies on high quality, weighted black vinyl, The Court of Necro 7″ features hand silk screened/assembled cover art by infamous British punk rock fixture The Craw. If that’s not enough we’re throwing in a hand made badge and a couple of individually pressed buttons which tie in with GUIGUISUISUI’s overall artistic vision for this one of a kind, highly collectible piece of 33 RPM sonic ephemera. Get ’em while they’re hot folks…hot as the visage of hell which inspired this assemblage of wicked passion! 

GUIGUISUISUI is
Dann Gaymer – vocals, guitar, harmonica and percussion
King Necro – The Diddlly Board

Drums on ‘Eighteen Shakes’ and ‘Lamp Post Blues’ by Michael Cupoli

All songs by GUIGUISUISUI except ‘Preaching Blues’ by Son House and ‘Eighteen Shakes’ by Pairs.

Artwork by The Craw

Recorded, mixed and mastered by Yang Haisong at Psychic Kong, Beijing CHINA.

GR034
genjingrecords.com

After Argument – This Is Not Your Game – 4th January 2015

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Cat #: 165TZM

Following in the footsteps of their critically acclaimed 2013 debut LP Furs of Time [Share the Obstacles], After Argument continue further down an even more refined sonic path, combining avant-garde experimentalism and post punk sensibilities that hint at the gut-level thrust, heft and swing of Television as much as the restless, hook laden fury of early Fugazi, Slint and Mexican psych band Los Dug Dug’s. The band, comprised of legendary P.K.14 vocalist/poet Yang Haisong and Beijing musical luminary Zaza [Eyes Behind] have quickly established themselves as one of China’s foremost punk rooted explorers, filling venues of all shapes and sizes throughout the PRC with a sound, arguably unrivaled and most certainly celebrated by their peers behind the Bamboo Curtain and beyond.

This Is Not Your Game, After Argument’s debut full length for Genjing Records, finds the duo capturing the explosive rush and emotional power of their live shows, where they range from mathy arpeggious interludes through headlong, thunderous charges. Recorded and produced by Yang Haisong at Psychic Kong Studios deep in the heart of the Chinese capital, This Is Not Your Game is an immediate, visceral record. On it, After Argument use riff, repetition, incremental layerings of distortion, bursts of noise and sudden changes in pace and volume – all shot through with a strong sense of poetic melody to provide new ways of seeing and feeling guitar-based rock.

But, more importantly than all that, After Argument manage to infuse emotionally complicated music with a sense of fun. What they offer and the source of their appeal is more a full-bore sensory thrill-ride than anything else. After Argument want to take you to faraway places and show you exciting things through musical algorithms both foreign and familiar to the listener. And This Is Not Your Game is just the key you’ll need to get started on that adventure. So, buckle up, strap on some headphones and enjoy the ride – it’s a one of a kind. 

All songs written by After Argument
Recorded at Psychic Kong, Beijing
Mastered by Garrett Haines at Treelady Studio, Pittsburgh, PA, United States

After Argument are:
Zaza and Yang Haisong

Visit them at www.afterargument.com, and also at storecords.bandcamp.com

Cover photo taken by Tanara Stuermer in Tavares Bastos, Rio, Brazil
www.tanarastuermer.com

Artwork by NOHOHONO

Fanzui Xiangfa – Discography 2006-2014 – 3rd January 2015

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Cat #: 164TZM

Coming at ya fast & heavy from Beijing (via Wuhan, Umea, Bonn, wherever else): FANZUI XIANGFA. First of all: you have to respect the grind (literally) of a band whose eight-year discography spins from start to finish in 35 minutes. That’s a lot of months per one-minute track. Recommended for fans of: late ‘80s American hardcore, very fast tempos, RIGHTEOUS FURY. Multinational corporations, racism, nuclear proliferation, the state apparatus, fitting in… these guys hate it all! I’m pretty mellow but these four have a knack for rekindling the angry fires of my youth. I can’t listen to this discography while walking down the street without sorta moshing and non-verbally daring everyone I see to confront me for being me so I can “Use [My] Fists” (gotta keep a lid on it though, ‘cause I’d lose). I swear I’ve listened to “I Am Not Like You!” so many times, my brain has blisters that will never heal. In a country just now getting into the whole mindless consumerism trip (and on a much, much more massive scale than ever before in human history), FZXF has been one of the loudest voices to say, “Fuck You”, “Fuck Your Flag!”, “Kill Your Television” and — here’s the real lesson, kids — “Destroy!”

FANZUI XIANGFA: polluting the Red Dream from within since 2006 with an alternative nightmare blacker than the guitarist’s t-shirt collection. Keep raging, boys. The New China and its smiling criminal minds are far too kind.

FANZUI XIANGFA is

狂骂 / Kuang Ma – Drums
逆反 / Ni Fan – Guitar
毛病 / Mao Bing – Bass / Vocals
冲撞 / Chong Zhuang – Guitar
六六 / Liu Liu – Lead Vocals

*活闹 / Huo Nao – Lead Vocals
**傻蛋 / Sha Dan – Lead Vocals

split 7” with Bad Nerve [2014]

Recorded and mixed by Hou Likao at Jishengchong Studio. Vocals recorded by Deng Chenglong and Tan Hang.

Fanzui Xiangfa 7” [2011]

Additional vocals by Robin. Backing vocals by Fanzui Xiangfa & Robin. Recorded and mixed by Huo Likao at Jishengchong Studio. Vocals recorded by Wang Meng.

split 7” with SS20 [2010]

Additional vocals by Fen Lie & Torbjöm. Backing vocals by Fanzui Xiangfa & Torbjöm. Recorded and mixed by Huo Likao in the summer and fall of 2009 at Jishengcheong Studio. Vocals recorded by Wang Meng & Jan Hansson.

split 7” with Daighila [2010]*

Additional guitar and bass by Kuang Ma and Huo Likao. Backing vocals by Jan Hansson, Mark and Fanzui Xiangfa. Recorded, mixed and mastered by Huo Likao at Jishengchong Studio in the summer and fall 2009.

Criminal Minds CD [2006]**

Recorded in Beijing, China. Additional guitar by Kuang Ma. Mixed and mastered by Huo Likao at Jishengchong Studio.

All music and lyrics by Fanzui Xiangfa.
Discography LP mastered by Fredrik Lyxzen.
Artwork by 猴子xvx

Thanks to: Fredrik, Hou Likao, Glenn, Bibi, Rico, SS20, Daighila, Bad Nerve, D-22, Mark, Alice, our friends and families, Genjing Records and all the other labels that have released us, everyone that has helped and supported us along the way and our previous singers Hou Nao and Sha Dan. Tack som fan! 真他妈的谢谢!

GR039
genjingrecords.com

Wang Wen – Eight Horses – 3rd January 2015

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Cat #: 163TZM

Wistful, dreamy, romantic, visceral and truly eclectic, Wang Wen, is the diamond in the rough. If there was ever a Chinese language inflected band that proves western-influenced post-rock is spreading throughout the world like wild fire, it is this quintet from the unlikeliest of locals, the heart of PRC shipping mecca, Dalian. Led by singer/ principal songwriter/ guitarist/ laptop maestro/ antiquated electronics aficionado Xie Yugang, Wang Wen formed in 1999. Six albums and one EP later, they haven’t looked back since.

The Eight Horses double LP, Wang Wen’s first for Genjing Records, runs like thick melancholic molasses peppered with progressive indie-rock sensibilities, while consistently flowing and soaring with the beauty of a dream. “There is a Chinese saying, which goes, ‘When I start to move, I can be faster than a rabbit: when I come to a rest I am like a sleeping baby,” elaborates Xie Yugang. “Our music is like this. We want to make fast music that wakes people up, that moves people. Yet again, we want to make calm music that makes people dream like a newborn child.” Sung in contemporary Mandarin with an extremely modern twist, Xie Yugang is true to his word. Check out the drawn-out, melancholic rock eruption that is “Escape From Mother Earth ” and the cathartically concise melancholy of opener “Northern North”.

Is it odd that a band from China could appeal to western audiences? Not according to Xie Yugang, “We all have the same longings and desires,” he says. “Music is the one thing that transcends cultural boundaries. It’s a language that can be understood all over the world.” 

Written and Performed by Wang Wen

Recorded by An Jiguo at Echo Library, Dalian, China in March 2014

Mixed by
Wouter Vlaeminck (The Last Journey, Welcome to Utopia)
Yang Haisong (Sky of Dalian, Ten Thousand Buddhas, Dionysus)
Wang Yanan (Northern North, Escape from Mother Universe)
An Jiguo (The Eight Layer of Hell)

Wang Wen are
Xie Yugang – Guitar & Vocals
Geng Xin – Guitar
Xu Zengzheng – Bass
Zhang Yanfeng – Piano, Strings Arrangement, Melodica
Zhou Lianjiang – Drums
Huang Kai – Trumpet & Alto Horn

Additional Musicians
Qu Ruining and Wang Yanan from Which Park