047TZM
After a short break Joyside have released their final e.p. – a double disk with 6 new songs and a dvd – a documentary of their 2007 Europe tour.
Beer, cigarettes, hormones, pogo, restless, out of control, sorry…these words have appeared more and more often in the dictionary of cult youths. Vintage guys are everywhere in Gulou street and the girls who come to watch the show keep changing but Joyside still cannot be copied.
Neon, polka dot, gorgeous peony, aurora over the city – the design of the new e.p. shows perfectly the temperament of the new Joyside – romantic, psychedelic, enchanting, beautiful with sorrow. Joyside desperately prays for the nice things in this new e.p. but sometimes, the dreams are disillusionment.
Joyside has really changed. Their music is no longer the weapon for resistance but the media to convey emotions. As a result, the melody is more fluent and the composing is more fruitful.
Singer Bian Yuan keeps saying that life is meaningless. Humanity is meaningless. No light, no hope, cold, hard…..these are his usual expressions. But on the other hand, maybe these mean he has a shy and anxious desire for the warmth, light and love! The philosophy of Joyside is contradictory and repeating. They express love by chaos and break, or express despair by sweet and romantic. ‘The Last Song for the Endless Party’ will make you consider what a scene it could be? The last song for the endless party, the last kiss for the endless love. Life is short. We don’t know whether to live happily or to die sadly.
Tag: rock
Joyside – Booze at Neptune’s Dawn – 1st February 2011
Cat #: 044TZM
Considered by many to be China’s greatest underground band, Joyside was formed by Xinzhiang refugee Bian Yuan in 2001, in a dark dank basement in the north of Beijing. After three years of playing small clubs in Beijing, literally for beer and cigarette money, they lazily released their debut album, Drunk is Beautiful, whose name comes as close to expressing Joyside’s ferociously decadent aesthetic as any three words can – they consider themselves to be bitches of rock ‘n’ roll, addicted to the music and the mad posturing of the pre-punk New York scene.
The band consists of Bian Yuan on lead vocals, Liu Hao on Bass, Guan Zheng on percussion, and on guitar an astonishing young guitarist, Hong Wei, who was featured in a 2007 Rolling Stone article as one of the four most important guitarists in China. Along with their work in Joyside, the band members are actively involved in other projects. Both Bian Yuan and Liu Hao are members of Johnny’s Teeth, and Liu Hao also plays for Dog 13. Guan Zheng performs regularly with Linga and Believers, while Hong Wei has performed in number of one-off and experimental shows throughout Beijing. Bian Yuan’s acoustic performances are a mainstay at the famous Wednesday night Punk on Wood series at Beijing’s D22 club.
It is hard to go to a Joyside show without ending up drenched in sweat – they rock ferociously and in the great tradition of outlaw rock they turn every audience into frenzy, especially as Hong Wei’s intelligent, subtle guitar playing suddenly breaks into a nasty, ugly crunch and twists around Bian Yuan’s singing. There are influenced by the full gamut of rock and roll history, completely at home with the early American rockers, the Mods, or the seventies punk scene, with particular influences being the Dead Boys, New York Dolls, Johnny Thunders, Sex Pistols, and the Stooges.
Wifey – Salt Sugar Fat – 1st June 2009
Cat #: 023TZM
Wifey were unsure about the suitability of tenzenmen as a label as I’d been working with mostly DIY punk bands but ultimately they were perfect. Keep them guessing.
Always keep an open mind – 22nd August 2005
Here’s a short online interview with a cool webzine, foxy digitalis + there’s a few things in the pipeline release wise so be patient.
Who started the label and why?
I, Shaun, started the label around the end of 2003.
I was working with Jochen as a part of Hinterlandt, which was essentially an anything goes live improv unit of between 3 and 23 musicians (and on recordings just as Jochen solo!). Jochen and I shared some similar musical interests and we were both European immigrants, he from Germany me from England, to Sydney. He was on his way back to Germany and I felt that I couldn’t really contribute much to anything else here not being a particularly talented musician in any shape or form but I still wanted to be involved with music somehow.
Being a big fan of file sharing and always on the lookout for new, interesting and exciting music I decided I could give something back myself and hopefully expose others to some of the music I was discovering.
What’s the story behind the name?
Hmmm…it came about a long time ago – I used to write a lot of lyrics and would enjoy playing with language – it’s really just a by-product of that. tenzenmen also released an extremely rare and sort after piece of vinyl back in the early 90’s.
Unbelievably someone else had come up with this name for an album later in the 90’s too – the way I found this out was that the domain name http://www.tenzenmen.com was already taken, hence my website being http://www.ten-zen-men.com
What keeps you inspired to continue doing the label?
Simply – music. The internet has made it so easy to discover fantastic new exciting underground music from people just strumming guitars in their garages in the USA to whacked out craziness in the colds of Finland and through the usual bizarreness that comes to be expected from Japan.
I wish I had more money and time to get this music that is so exciting to me out to the rest of the world. I know there are people out there craving more than the mainstream provides, even when the mainstream claims to be providing the alternative as well.
What’s the hardest thing about running an independent label these days?
Distribution is my biggest concern at the moment. I’ve been trying to counter this with the Eccentrics series which is basically a 3 band split CD and trying to get bands from different scenes and parts of the world to be involved so that they each get exposed to the others.
I also offer extra discs to the artists at my cost price because I feel that live shows is where a band will sell more CDs these days and they can control the price and distribution themselves. This has had some success but I would still like to get my CDs to more outlets just so people have different options.
If you could work with any one artist, who would it be and why?
Hmm…no – I don’t think there’s an artist in particular that fits this criteria…probably it would be any new musician or group that strikes me as totally original and interesting and to be able to expose them to a wider audience. I’d love to be able to pioneer music in much the same way John Peel did in his time.
What’s your demo policy?
No policy – people should send me their music! You would do well to check out some of the previous tenzenmen releases so see if you might fit the criteria of music that moves me – I mean I’m not into straight forward straight up music. I’ll check out any genre so long as boundaries are being pushed and I don’t expect everyone to enjoy every band that I work with.
What do you have planned for the future?
I’m continuing on with the Eccentrics series and always approaching bands to contribute to that. I have a few other possibilities on the boil too. Not trying to be vague here but plans are always changing. I’m a very patient person and I know good things will come when they’re ready.
What’s the best record you’ve heard in the past year?
There’s just so much! I mean I’m still discovering bands dating back to the sixties. For new-ish bands there seems to be this kinda odd scene on the west coast (I think) of the US with bands like the Mae Shi, Rapider Than Horsepower, Alarmist and 400 Blows.
I’ve been amazed by some of the music on a Japanese label called Usagi-Chang, especially Plus-Tech Squeeze Box and Eel – it’s a perfect example of what I was talking about before about musicians pushing boundaries within a genre. The genre here is electro-pop I guess and these guys are just going nuts with it!
I also actually listened to all my own releases recently (by choice!) which showed me the power of the music that it could still appeal to me even after hearing it so many times in preparation for release.
Any closing advice?
Always keep an open mind whatever you’re doing. Thanks for your time and this opportunity – it’s really appreciated.
I was mad as hell – 20th May 2005
9pm – mandarin club, sydney – midnight special! (now with naked on the vague onstage at 11pm)
we all surfaced late and chilled out. we took to the streets at the absolute worst time traffic wise and by the time we made the city i was mad as hell and the band were getting nauseous with my erratic driving – we loaded the gear into the mandarin club, with the fine help of the pure evil trio who were lending their equipment for the night and i spent the next 20 minutes looking for somewhere to park only to have a parking meter swallow my money for nothing in return! at least things could only get better!
the band ran through soundcheck quickly as chief soundman tobey had to dash off to another venue to play a show. we headed off for food and relaxation before getting back to the club at about 10 or 10.30 just as more people were coming through the door.
the mandarin club room on level 4 is pretty spacious and i’m not sure how many people were there but naked on the vague had done some table rearranging earlier to help push interested spectators closer to the stage and as they played their short 20 minute set there were a few people up close and i think everyone else paying attention pretty much.
naked on the vague is matthew from vincent over the sink playing bass and lucy on keyboards and most of the vocal duties. while i prefer the quirkier tunes of vincent this band was pretty great too – it’s kinda fucked up new wave – almost no-wave. i want to see more of this band.
we had a shortish break in which time more people came in and the merch stall got busy. limited express (has gone?) took the stage at around 1am in the end and there were many people here ready for special show time! and they certainly got a show!
the sound was a little ropey in places due to the small pa (no fault of tobey’s) but that didn’t detract from the power and energy of an up close and personal experience – in which jj decided once again it would be a good idea to get on my shoulders during one song. the crowd seemed into it and when the set finished there were shouts for more but the dj’s took over after a brief silence.
i went to man the merch stall but as i sat down the dj’s stopped and it looked like an encore was coming – we got a bassless mophin’ fellet, crowned off with a full band free style riding. i desperately wanted them to come back for more but the band felt the energy was spent so sydney – you missed out on the limited express (has gone?) version of bad brains ‘i against i’.
when i told my friend this he promised to drive to newcastle on sunday to see it! people partied on some more to the dj’s and most everyone picked up some merchandise on their way out during the night. unfortunately for us and our tired bodies this meant we had to stay til the 3am finish knowing we had to get up at 8am to get to the airport for limited express (has gone?) to fly to brisbane in the morning. not to worry though – everyone was pumped and happy and excited.
load out, drive home and once again i went straight to sleep as the band refuelled and koji watched ping pong club!
Tomato ketchup and mayonnaise – 15th May 2005
8pm – bar open, melbourne – with the stabs, twitch of the death nerve and vincent over the sink
everyone stirs themselves slowly and we sort ourselves out with coffee and bread before loading gear out to the car and taking the quick trip to bar open. we’re all a little bit disorgansed and not sure how to arrange tonight’s show – finally we agree to set gold coin donation as entry.
there’s people milling about everywhere and suddenly show time arrives starting with vincent over the sink – these guys are so quirkily cool – their tunes are simple, arrangements odd and style bizarre and uncomfortable – just what interests me in a band. i’m so happy that they had this opportunity to play to a bunch more people than they might usually do and nao-san has tweaked a perfect sound for them.
twitch of the death nerve and the room is getting packed with just a little space in front of stage which singer dan soon takes the opportunity to stomp around. twitch are awesome in their complex and dynamic structure and dan is more than just a capable frontman – he has a great voice too. things get a little bizarre mid way through the set as dan covers himself in tomato ketchup and mayonnaise and then continues to throw himself around the room – crashing into me one time, i give him a big shove which splatters him across the floor but he gets up without missing a beat and continues on his merry way. needless to say the crowd loved the craziness.
next the stabs performed their fucked up aural sonic bliss – they take some standard rock elements and pound them out and the crowd appreciated it greatly. i was kinda distracted trying to organise everything during the stabs set though – hopefully they’ll make it up to sydney one day and i can get a proper dose.
bar open is now packed to the gills and there is anticipation in the air. after a nice introduction from mark (who really does believe limited express (has gone?) are the greatest band in the world!) they unusually kick off the set with tiger rock and we’re treated to yukari bouncing around the stage and floor space and some almost silent subtlety during the bridge section with breathy whispers of tiger rock (supposedly a dedication to yukari’s favourite baseball team).
yukari straps the bass on and here comes special show time in full force with the beginning refrain of aloha! i skip this song on the cd having heard it so many times but there’s something new and fresh about it every time they play it live because the band and audience both respond with big smiles and big bounces and everyone is caught up in the moment – from here on out the audience is captivated – totally sucked in to the experience!
the band are happy enough to play in front of just a few people but when they have the attention of a couple of hundred people up close and personal they turn into pure magic. i’m anticipating jinichiro craziness during stop>go and beckon him into the crowd and he willingly obliges and i soon get the message he wants to go upwards so i squat down and slowly lift jj up on my shoulders, i do my best to stagger and sway to the rhythm! i get a tap on the head and lower jj down and he hops off perfectly in time with the next section of the song. when the song finishes i remind jinichiro that i’m an old man!
the rest of the set maintains the high level of excitement – peaking for me with the new song (possibly titled “ichi ni san shi…”) which is rivetting in it’s typical limited express (has gone?) madness – i’m in heaven right here! talk to me, all right closes out the set with jinichiro throwing his guitar to the audience and performing his almost trademark windmill jump (it’s not like townsend, believe me!). soon the chant of ‘we want more’ is raised and limited express (has gone?) are happy to oblige for a bassless version of mophin’ fellet before finishing off band like with an ass kicking run through free style ridin’ – yukari overcome with emotions and happiness runs up to koji behind the kit and falls forward with her bass flailing and the drum are rendered unusable – this is the end – yukari, not sure what’s going on, goes off to the side and curls into a ball before being beckoned back to the stage for a final bow!
everyone is happy, the room is full of joy. my god – that was special show time all right!
it’s a couple of hours before we manage to get out – the merchandise has halved already – after two days! jj calls japan later to get more sent out! everyone is energised and it takes me an hour or so to count out all the donation coins while the others load out and make a trip back to mark’s with equipment before coming back for us.
i was astounded to find over 500 bucks in donations including a couple of 20 dollar notes! this meant we could pay the support bands a hundred bucks or more! (twitch of the death nerve donating all their share to limited express (has gone?)!)
we find some twitch friends outside trying to get their car started – we can’t help them but as we’re driving away dan appears and races up to the car, dives through the front window and shouts ‘aaallllooohhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!’ much to the amusement of us all!
when we get home mark teaches jj some classical spanish guitar – it’s great to watch mark showing jinichiro the song and see him struggle to play it (it’s pretty complex)! i give in to weariness and fall asleep happy and smiling.
pic: andrew watson
After the gig – 14th May 2005
8pm – northcote social club, melbourne – supporting the rogers sisters and love of diagrams
despite numerous phone calls and cat’s crying we wake up well rested and enjoying the sensational sunshine as we, again, lazily head to the city and wander around cafes and stores. there’s a strange tension as i’m sure everyone is thinking about the shows tonight and how important they are.
mark takes us up to the northcote social club and we get acquainted with the setup and introduced to everyone, band members, organisers and staff. limited express (has gone?) do a quick soundcheck and make sure everything is perfect.
the merchandise table is setup and the doors open – it’s great to see a big turn out for a support band – something which has been worrying me about the rogers sisters support slots. it soon becomes obvious that everything will be fine as the band put extra effort into special showtime and the crowd love it. it’s a short fast set and everyone is happy.
the merchandise stall soon becomes very busy and remains that way through the night except when the bands are playing.
love of diagrams, despite worrying about how to follow limited express (has gone?) pull off a nice tight set – the sound in the venue is extremely good.
the rogers sisters put on a good show too and the sold out venue is packed with happy punters. the merchandise stall is still busy for limited express (has gone?) even 30 minutes after the gig has finished and we are trying to pack everything up – occassionally having to run to the car to get more cds for people! amazing!
pic: andrew watson
2am – the pony (late show), melbourne – with the new
but the night is young for us.
mark drives me and the gear to the pony while everyone else gets some food.
at the pony the japanese grind band palm are still playing their show despite it being time for the new to load in and get ready. the pony is packed with people – many who have come from the northcote to see limited express (has gone?) again and after getting all the gear up the stairs and passed all the people myself, dan (singer in twitch) and our friend darius start blowing up balloons in anticipation of extra special show time!
the new play some cool emo punk rock and enjoy themselves in the hot sweaty confines of the pony. a mad scramble to swap out gear ensues and soon people make their way to the front to see what all the fuss is about.
a quiet start with the quirky plinks and plonks of donuts as i hand out party poppers and kick around the balloons before it’s straight ahead into aloha and a set that includes a couple of new songs with yukari taking the mic stand into the crowd to sing right up close and personal. the drunken throng respond and it’s party time at the pony.
yukari finishes off with ‘thank you – i love you’ and dives headfirst into the drumkit while jj’s feedback staggers to a halt. and it’s all smiles for crowd and band. it takes us another hour or so to load out through the mob of drunks – still going at 4am! a few of us wait outside chatting with the new and sipping coffees to keep warm and stay awake.
we eventually get home and to sleep as the sun comes up.
pic: andrew watson
Conquered all – 28th November 2004
builders arms with grey daturas, young prfessionals, bug girl
we get very little sleep as we have to get up early to make an apperance on the japanese program on 3zzz – the host koji being a recent convert to the wonders of the special show time – the band feel very comfortable being able to talk in japanese and all goes well with many laughs.
we split up later as jj and koji go to the city to buy some bits and pieces and yukari heads up to 3cr for a radio interview on the ‘girl’ show (sorry – forgot the name of the show) with another recent convert, larissa. yukari gets to introduce limited express (has gone?) and her other band ni hao! to the listeners and does well for a solo interview in English.
we all converge back at robert’s place and fall asleep for a few hours.
we make our way to the builders arms around 7pm and pretty soon bug girl are up the front bashing out some nifty rock – the small room makes for a nice atmosphere and i have a good feeling about the show tonight (as each band plays the room fills more and more).
next is young professionals who were fantastically amateurish and entertained us all no end – my kind of music!
grey daturas crank the volume with some huge slabs of noise and big pounding beats and most everyone has their fingers in their ears but enjoying it nonetheless.
the room packs full as limited express (has gone?) set up and with a gambatte, break into a familiar start of ‘free style riding’ and ‘aloha’ which has the audience boogying with big smiles. tonight is the culmination of an exciting few days and the band excel themselves (yet again!) with a lot of guitars held high, jazzy craziness and bouncing bass players (‘4-7-3-5-8-1-0-tiger rock!’ (or something!).
the crowd refuse to let them leave after ‘talk to me, all right’ and they rip through one of their high energy, high intensity tracks from the new album with such a ferocity it’s impossible not to just laugh at the absurdity of the amount of pleasure that is being connected and interlinked between everyone in the room. even the landlady and door guy come back with favourable comments and surprise at the size of the crowd for a sunday show.
limited express (has gone?) conquered all tonight and the merchandise box is favourably lighter for the trip to new zealand. we make lots of new friends and contacts yet koji can’t overcome his shyness around pretty girls! packed up and home – the excitement keeps us up until 2am despite having to get up again at 6.30am.
yukari – “i promised myself i will come back to melbourne because so many people enjoyed with us – that was my pleasure too”
koji – “i was happy for many people coming and i could do my best. i appreciate melbourne people”
jj – “thank you melbourne! thank you melbourne’s punk rock! we are rock and roll!”
I am soundcheck! – 26th November 2004
missing link instore
we got up early in an effort to get down to lygon street for breakfast though by the time we were sorted it was lunch time anyway – still, the food was great and we relaxed a little in the 30 degree plus heat. we found the source of jj’s technical problems, so feel confident everything should go well today.
so – load out from the house, load in to missing link, setup and wait – thank god for the air conditioning in the store!
gray daturas play first and churn out some nice sludgey noise – the set is short and sweet and the crowd are digging it.
anticipation mounts as limited express take the stage and play through a more poppy set (if you can call it pop!) with a great rendition of ‘donuts’ and much jj and yukari theatrics. everything goes without hitch and the band are happy and the crowd are happy too!
everyone comments on how happy limited express (has gone?) are on stage and how infectious their smiles become. special show time!
jj – “i did a good show – but we forgot to sell t-shirts – sorry!”
yukari – “in japan we can’t have a show in a record store because they are too mainstream”
koji – “i was a little nervous because i haven’t played many instores. i am soundcheck!!
pony with ai yamamoto & kaigen and twitch of the death nerve
after much chat we finally load out and head up to the pony to load in again! straight onto stage and the band are jamming out and instrumental soundcheck while soundman nao sets up around them. twitch of the death nerve looked impressed as they brought their kit in and were really looking forward to the show.
the room filled up and ai yamamoto and kaigen beat out some laptop noise and curious hip-hopisms which sounded great to me.
a few minutes later and twitch of the death nerve cranked up the pressure some with some very impressive genre bending stop on a dime twists and turns – they were cool and super nice guys too.
there seemed a genuine curiousity about limited express (has gone?) tonight and the crowd eagerly watched and enjoyed the best show of the tour so far.
the pony is a nice intimate venue and nao managed to get a good loud sound cranking. with a little bit of space in front of the stage it was the perfect opportunity for yukari and jj to mix it up with the crowd and the response was very enthusiastic indeed.
it took us a long time to get out of there as we sold a ton of merch and the band were asked to autograph cds and have a chat with near everyone in the place! cool cool – damn cool – tonight was the shit – but i reckon it’s going to get better!
jj – “awesome! awesome people – lots of applause – we had lots of fun together – our music is best enjoyed together – band and audience. australian audience is nice.”
koji – “last night was the best show in australia so far. fucking great show! everyone was nice – i like melbourne people.”
yukari – “now i don’t remember everything because i was too excited. i was glad many people told me ‘fantastic’ and ‘great!'”
mark from twitch of the death nerve had this to say after ‘special show time’:
“bands like limited express (has gone?) are capable of making someone’s year or even changing someone’s life. seeing artists who have delved so deeply and passionately into a world of their own inspires others to fight harder for their art. it reinforces peoples belief in the things that they already know, universal truths which reside in the minds and hearts of all people who truly believe in the significance of art. it is clear that touring a band like limited express (no matter how mind blowing) is a low profit venture. the fact that someone was prepared to lose money on them warms my heart.”
Good Day! – 21st November 2004
good day! green square hotel with terrapin, triangle, vincent over the sink, faux furs, kiosk
after getting to sleep at 4.30am it was difficult to get up at midday and we were running a bit late but still managed to be first to arrive at the show only half an hour before it started!
luckily everyone turned up soon and kiosk blasted out 15 minutes of superb sonic chaos to a small but enthralled audience.
faux furs were up next – they play a cool minimal fall-type music that made me happy – again quite chaotic and fun. i think these young bands are great – they seem to have a complete disregard for any normal rock conventions and the attitude of ‘fuck it if you don’t like it’. and then…
vincent over the sink! boy, these guys were amazing! and just their 3rd show – this two-piece take structure from ruins, sounds from indie types yummy fur and quirk out like the minutemen – bands which they’ve never even heard of!
triangle psyched us all out with distortion-drenched rhythmics and swirling acid patterns.
at this stage i went in search of the missing yukari to find her curled up asleep under a table at the side of the stage – how she slept through the noise i don’t know – but she seems to fall asleep anywhere (as did jj and koji at various stages of the day) – samurai-koala is becoming an ever more appropriate name for this tour.
terrapin, now a 5 piece, threw out a quick set of their ever-improving rock and tonight some quieter and poppier moments – very nice and jj liked them a lot.
anticipation mounted and temperatures rose as limited express took the stage and once again amazed a reasonable-sized crowd – i don’t know how they do it but they seem to be getting better each show, jj’s stage theatrics playing a bigger part tonight with yukari bouncing around as usual and eventually, during tiger rock, into the audience and with jj breaking a string yet again – that was it, to much rapturous applause and the sale of many CDs.
big thanks must go out to all the bands, especially those prepared to lend equipment and to toby who did the sound for the cost of two beers. good day? it was a fucking great day!
koji “this show had a great sound and was easy to play”
jj “i loved terrapin – i was excited”
yukari “i couldn’t see the audience faces because of the lights but i could feel their vibrations – so nice”
1994ever 