Category: 2013

Keeping up with tenzenmen – 16th February 2013

~ shaun tenzenmen ~ Leave a comment

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Tough Life
After a six week break around October last year it’s been really tough to get back into the swing of things and it’s only now I’m starting to get back on top of it all. There is a LOT in the pipeline for this year (and as you can see below there’s been quite a few releases already!) so I think this newsletter will probably be quarterly this year to save me a little more time! Keep up with the latest news in all the usual ways – at the website, facebook etc.

Skip Skip Ben Ben – Sacrifice Mountain Hills CD
Out now!
Ben Ben (Boyz & Girl) heads out with her new band, release and familiar dreamy fuzz-pop.

Cartavetro – Here It Comes, Tramontane! LP+CD
Out now!
Italian DIY indie rockers recruited Mike Watt for help on this great slab of vinyl.

Fun – 1/3 7″
Out now!
First of 3 7″s from our fiendish noise rock drinking buddies in Finland.

The Gar – The City of Burning Identities CD
Out now!
The Gar are legends in Beijing and finally produce a new 6 track EP for your listening pleasure.

Chui Wan – White Night CD
Out now!
Experimental psyche rockers from Beijing with their debut release.

Nick Van Breda/zzzounds – Split 7″
Out now!
Two super famous Sydney rockers go acoustic for a clear seven inches. Also available in black.

Noise from China- 2xCD
Out now!
Only the 2nd ever collection of experimental noise from China, compiled by legendary organiser Yan Jun from Subjam.

Dear Eloise – I’ll Be Your Mirror wood backed 7″
This sold out on the day of release but you can still listen and download digital

Daighila/Grinding Halt – Split 7″
Out now!
Malaysian screamo legends Daighila team up with the Netherlands noise monsters Grinding Halt

Birdstriking – CD
Out now!
Debut album from Beijing Indie punks Birdstriking – vinyl soon available thru Anton Newcombe’s A label.

Mr Graceless – The Tree Ever Green CD
Out now!
Dynamic Beijing indie that sold out quickly – now back in stock.

White+ – CD
Out now!
Beijing experimentalists with one of the most appreciated CD releases of 2012 – easily the biggest seller so far!

X is Y – Never Sever/LP CD
Out now!
Double disc from this mathy Shanghai trio – brings to mind Pinback and other Rob Crow genius.

Bamodi – Smell Heaven LP
Out now!
Crazy Japanese influenced Perth punks. FFO: Rudimentary Peni

Quiet Steps – Dying Livers/Secular LP+CD
Out now!
Brisbane’s Quiet Steps come from a long line of Brisbane indie bands wowing Aussie ears over the last 5 years.

Michael Crafter/SMG – split 7″
Out now!
Malaysian grindcore legends meet Aussie semi-legends! Mad thrashing!

Stellarium – CD
Out now!
Debut album from Singapore freak out psychedelic fuzzlords!

Eurpides Berserker – digital discography
Out now!
Made when Dave Drayton (Milhouse, zzzounds etc) was just a baby, banging out ideas quick smart!

Fat City/LuXinPei – Super Split CD
Available now!
Two exciting Chinese experimental groups across 2 discs. FFO: xNOBBQx, Breakdance the Dawn

New photographs
Ted Danson With Wolves at Black Wire
My pictures are pretty much up to date these days!
Check them out and post some comments to let me know what you think.

You can find all my pix here.

Packaging options
Maybe you didn’t know that tenzenmen also stocks Stumptown Arigato packs for CD, tape and 7″!
Plenty of stock available again now!

This month’s special

Hinterlandt – Migration Motion Movement
Get yourself 50% off Hinterlandt’s beautiful CD Migration, Motion, Movement. 3 long pieces that never sit still taking you on the journey of the artist moving from Germany to Australia. Enter the code ‘mmm’ at check out!
Offer valid til 1st April 2013.

Chui Wan – White Night – 12th February 2013

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Cat #: 128TZM

Chui Wan get their name from Daoist philosopher Zhuangzi’s “Qi Wu Lun”, a mystical work on the relationship between nature and human life. The spirit of Zhuangzi’s thought is reflected in the modern Chinese idiom “When the wind blows, every sound may be heard therein.”

Inspired by this concept of seeking the infinite from the mundane, the core of Chui Wan’s sound is formed by the improvisational compositions of multi-instrumentalist Yan Yulong and guitarist Liu Xinyu. Their lush arrangements of guitar, keyboard, viola, other assorted instruments and random sound samples often eschew reliable melodies and vocal harmonies in favour of occasional passages of minimal drone or maximal sonic layerings.

Various Artists – 噪音 Noise – 1st February 2013

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Cat #: 089TZM

In 2004, Sub Jam established it’s sub-label Kwanyin Records. 
In 2010 Kwanyin starts the “Mini Kwanyin” series. 
CDR, limited copies, unified packages, hand produced. 
The value of CD (or CDR, vinyl etc) is not just as the medium of music but how it builds a relationship with people. 
This is a series of guerrilla publishing – it’s awaking more sounds.

Compiled by Yan Jun and co-released with Mini Kwanyin (China) and tenzenmen (Australia)

Alternative China – 1st February 2013

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Alternative China tumblr

Sub Jam, Yan Jun, Jonathan Campbell, The Instigation, No Class, Smart Shanghai, Morgan Short, Howie, Guangzhou, Skip Skip Ben Ben, Blouinartinfo, Layabozi, Birdstriking, Far East Vibes, Pairs, Idiotec, Metal Postcard, Round Eye, Craig England, Dos Kolegas, Temple Bar, Jean-Sebastian Hery, Josh Feola, Muscidish, The Amazing Insurance Salesmen, Pangbianr, Modern Sky, Guo Cheng

Daighila/Grinding Halt – 28th January 2013

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Cat #: 120TZM

Daighila from Malaysia delivers two tracks of early Envy inspired hardcore mixed with some Neil Perry in the mix. You know the stuff when screamo wasn’t a curse word yet and this sort of music was delivered by punks. Well. It’s still around. Hectic, fast, melodic and with passion.

This will be Grinding Halt’s 2nd split 7” this year and here they deliver their longest and heaviest track to date. Three riffs is all it takes really. Think Eyehategod with heavy, distorted vocals. Blunt and without any thrills.

Split label release with Graanrepubliek Records (Netherlands) and Bullwhip Records (Malaysia)

Nick Van Breda/zzzounds – 1st January 2013

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Cat #: 127TZM

Since a teenage Nick van Breda taught a ten-year old Dave Drayton sax at the local primary school, their musical paths have continued to cross. Whether it was their previous bands and other projects (Animal Shapes, Lights Out, Between The Devil & The Deep, Milhouse) sharing bills, or playing together in the sadly too short-lived North Shore HC act Rich Kid$ the two haven’t been far apart.

Finally, after years of plugging away at their solo endeavours – Nick under his own name, and Dave under the zzzounds moniker – the two team up for a split release on 7” vinyl via Tenzenmen Records.

Each contributing one track, both inspired by Dave’s move into the basement of Nick’s house, and recorded by Nick over a weekend in a beach house on the New South Wales south coast, this split shows two unique approaches to the solo songwriter mode with a guitar, a voice, and little more.

Pressing limited to 100 black (with black stamped cover), 100 clear (with red stamp cover), and 5 test presses.
All hand numbered and assembled.

Dave & Nick thank Dylan Adams, Jono Barwick, Annie Walter, Carlc, and Shaun Tenzenmen.

zzzounds.bandcamp.com
nickvanbreda.bandcamp.com

Recorded at Potato Point over a weekend in 2011 by Nick van Breda.
Mixing & mastering by Dylan Adams at Free Energy Device Studios.
Label and stamp design by Annie Walter.