(via Cantilever)
Cantilever is the most recent addition to Malaysia’s post-hardcore scene, getting together just within the past year and making its name around Kuantan. If you enjoy At The Drive In and any band that enjoys getting gritty, both sonically and literally (the band’s interest is “fighting in the store room”), you’ll enjoy this new debut demo collection, The Fall: The Rise.
Cantilever:
(via Beeswax)
Of all the bands on the Emotion, No compilation, Indonesia’s Beeswax was, until now, the hardest to track down. Not anymore! Recently, The Display premiered the new song “The Loaded Ashtray” and announced that their third LP is coming out soon.
The Malang four-piece has a great sound very much indebted to the specific emo and alternative bands they cite as influences (Casket Lottery, Braid, Cap’n Jazz, Maggat, Mock Orange, American Football, Title Fight, Pswingset, and Texas Is The Reason, to name a few).
From The Display:
“It has been a long time since the four-piece emo act released any new material. But now the wait is over as Bagas Yudhiswa (guitar/vocal), Iyok (guitar/vocal), Putra (bass/vocal) and Yayan (drum) have unveiled a new single titled “The Loaded Ashtray”. The song which is the first offer from the band’s upcoming third album displays an equally saddening thought as any other tracks. With their signature twinkling guitar sound, [the band opens] up about the memory of those who are gone.”
Beeswax:
(via Tapestry)
When listening to Tapestry, a glorious and heartbreaking band from Singapore, time stops. Take “A Set Distance”, for example, the sixth track off their latest full length I Hope You Never Find Me. “The joy of living is gone,” dramatically sings Syed, the band’s vocalist and guitarist as the song starts, while the band weaves a delicate post-rock motif. Not long after, the song erupts in a furious explosion that preserves the same drama. Assisting the main vocals, passionate screams percolate through the rhythm: they sound raw, woolly and ultimately reminiscent of the unpretentious screamo of fifteen years ago.
These screams are a spark in the work of Tapestry, that surely owes a lot to Midwest emo. Bands like American Football or Penfold ongly helped the band define their sound, giving them a point of reference. But Tapestry takes emo very seriously, not as something they copied from the States, but as something to live for. The constancy of their releases is a proof of that. Since their first 2012 EP, the trio has worked hard to perfect their formula, refusing to adhere to new trends and sounds.
Their last songs, released on a split with Michigan-based Coma Regalia, are a further evidence of such enviable coherence. “Strings & Azimuth”, in particular, is one of the best tracks the band has ever released. There, Syed talks about spending two years away from home due to the compulsory military service in Singapore. Even if the song is centered around a very specific theme, there’s a certain universality within it. And also the revelation that at the moment it’s “unconventional places” such as Singapore that offer some of the most interesting emo bands in the world, possibly due to the fact that the issues they cover are more transferable to the defining poignant traits of the genre–while being rather distant from the Western imagery.
Tapestry:
(via Aseul)
According to Korean Indie, “Wake Up” is a preview of Aseul‘s new, somewhat different, sound and that you should check out her first record for a proper introduction. I agree, but there’s also a lot to like in the new song; the song is free of any tight constraints and the melody comes and goes as it pleases over glitchy beats. Very excited for the new record.
Aseul:
(via YOGOHOWSHIAO)
I love the quiet space YOGOHOWSHIAO creates with just a keyboard – like I’m in a Taiwanese sequel to Lost in Translation and I’m looking out at the dark skyline or an endless countryside and thinking of my own reflection that I caught in the elevator mirror. The SoundCloud has more upbeat, frantic electronic music as well, but I’m all here for any music that makes me want to sit still and close my eyes and transport me to some unknown place in my mind.
YOGOHOWSHIAO:
(via Raft)
Raft is (sort of) a j-pop band with a purpose: to establish and promote “Liberal Music,” where music can be made across great distances and overcome any cultural barriers. With members from Japan and Thailand, these self-proclaimed ambassadors of worldly music make sweet and catchy Asian pop.
From Website:
“We are developing a free music concept named ‘LIBERAL MUSIC’ where the music is not limited by boarder, language and style. A music that attracts anyone, anywhere with combination of rock, pop and all other sorts of music.”
Raft:
(via Frequency Asia)
I’m kicking myself for just finding Frequency Asia, a podcast and label that finds the best modern sounds of Asia. Learn more about them here. Its Vol. 1 compilation from two years ago is an excellent introduction to what the podcast covers, from thrilling guitar rock to dreamy ambient jams and everything in between.
From Bandcamp:
“Frequency Asia has been around a year now, so I thought we should do a compilation to celebrate. Frequency Asia Vol. 1 takes 22 songs played on the podcast over the first 30 episodes and brings them to you on tape or via the magic of the internet.
This is some of the best underground music that Asia has to offer, from psychedelia from Thailand to instrumental hip-hop form the Siberian tundra, to Malaysian noise rock and Indian sludge, this compilation should hopefully have a little bit of something for everyone.”
Frequency Asia:
Similar to INFRACom!, Glitterbeat’s Hanoi Masters is a music compilation that aims to preserve and share the sound of Vietnamese music during a specific era. Hanoi Masters is a collection of field recordings of Vietnam War-era songs recorded by Grammy-winning producer Ian Brennan. The songs were recorded live on traditional instruments and capture the mood of a country during and after the devastating war.
From Bandcamp:
“The first volume of Glitterbeat’s new series of releases: Hidden Musics. Each Hidden Musics release will feature un-mediated “field” recordings of lesser-known global music traditions.
“Hanoi Masters: War is a Wound, Peace is a Scar” is a haunting audio document recorded in the summer of 2014 by Grammy-award winning producer Ian Brennan (Tinariwen, Malawi Mouse Boys, The Good Ones). The sepia-tinged songs are sung and played live and direct by elderly Vietnamese musicians using half-forgotten traditional instruments. These musicians all have deep personal connections to the upheavals of the Vietnam War and the album’s mesmerizing mood navigates the blurred line between raw beauty and sadness.
40 years after the end of the Vietnam War, a war these Hanoi musicians still call the “American War”, the wounds and scars of that era are ever-present. “Hanoi Masters” is an album of cautious healing and an unforgettable meditation on conflict, resistance, collective memory, and the longing for what has been lost.
In the liner notes of the album, producer Ian Brennan discusses the experience of making “Hanoi Masters”:
‘We had gone to Hanoi to record veterans from their side. Some were music masters, one of whom had joined the army at age thirteen and whose job it was to sing to the troops to boost morale and provide solace. Another was a former AK-47 issued village leader who had not sung in over forty years, and proved to be the most dead-on vocally. She did not hide or adorn, but quietly revealed muted emotions that a microphone often can detect more easily than face-to-face interaction. Then, immediately afterwards, she withdrew back into a stoic shell.
The streets of Hanoi are an almost direct inversion of western cities, with hordes of scooters displacing and grossly outnumbering cars. The chaotic ballet of riders, sometimes four or five to a single motorcycle, is offset by the reserve of the riders. Many are masked to ward off pollution and only once was there witnessed even the slightest reaction to all the incessant horns and traffic violations by others.
Those who dismiss Asian music as without an edge, may have simply overlooked the intricacy. With a whammy-bar technology that dates back to the 9th century, it is fair to say that Vietnamese traditions had a bit of a head start over the headbangers of the 1980’s. A startling revelation was a plucked instrument (the K’ni) that is clasped between the teeth as the local dialectic language is spoken through the single string. What sounds like an extraterrestrial instrumental to the uninitiated actually contains coded, poetic lyrics. Again, futurist innovators like Theremin, clearly arrived a little later to the party than commonly claimed.
Let it suffice to say that these artists are a far cry from the lip-synching karaoke show that we saw on the local cable, with groups of teenagers cavorting on a soundstage and mouthing the words to K-pop songs—air-Karaoke, if you will—that managed to render something pre-fab even less real.
These elders carry a haunting, but muted sadness that seems only fully revealed through the music that they valiantly keep alive in the face of industrialization, waning regard and interest, and the rapid homogenization and “progress” overtaking their homeland.‘”
Hanoi Masters/Glitterbeat:
(via Okamotonoriaki)
Okamotonoriaki is a Japanese electronic musician and videographer who releases music on Malaysian indie label mü-nest. The original mix of “Our Happy Ending” sounds like the quiet sunrise you find on a long road trip that shares a similar wonder for lonesome peace as Yo La Tengo and Broken Social Scene. This EP includes remixes from recent mü-nest signees Dae Kim, Burnie, and Shuzhen.
From Bandcamp:
“Lonesome can appear to be a tough task to go through in our life. It, sometimes leads us to existence without purpose, find a love one or even death in drastic cases. What comes as a closure from it, can be sometimes harsh or nurture us to be who we are today. And this is what we learnt from okamotonoriaki’s third album, “Happy Ending”.
Our Happy Ending EP consists of three new affiliates of mü-nest, Dae Kim, Burnie and Shuzhen, bringing re-worked versions of the song, expressing different perspective to their happy endings.
Korea-born producer/composer, Dae Kim, captures similar serendipity with the original track. The song is quite susceptible to sappy tendencies and rather pop infused at times. The rhythms are the decorations rather than the element that carries the songs’ momentum, when rather the melodies’ and musical notes create flows and rhythm for the listeners to hold on to. Reminiscing poem subtly lies within the layers of synthesizers.
On the other hand, Burnie, who released his debut album, “Lotus City” last January through 4daz-le Records, offers rather different perspective to the mix. The song introduces itself with a sampled vocals and the poem surrounded by lush synthscapes, collaged narratively. The part that makes this remix comparatively special is when the tastefully constructed beat with well mashed amount of swing emerges into the song. Furthermore, grim yet sentimental distorted ambient guitar shifts its emotion to rather sanguine with xylophones complementing the blend, which shows the Macao producer/DJ’s own closure of the song.
Meanwhile, Shuzhen offers more minimalistic approaches to her epilogue. Classically trained pianist, who arises from Johor Bahru of Malaysia has paved her path to be a composer by collaborating with local artists for variety of different projects. The Johor Bahru composer invigorates her arrangement with subtle soundscapes and the poem. Dramatic tendencies form itself through uplifting yet bittersweet phased chords of piano slowly fading in. When the drums fades out to present contrasting synthscapes, which elaborate themselves to form complex yet sumptuous kaleidoscope of sound which reflects her distinctive feminine sensitivity.
What separates us from one to another is how we define a happy ending. For some, what defines a happy ending would be a success in life, whereas for some, it is simply to get a taste of their favorite meal. Perhaps, the happiest ending possible in our life is in us. To truly understand ourselves and what lies ahead of us.”
(via Nasty Wizard Recordings)
I think I found a new favorite label – Nasty Wizard Recordings is a Beijing-based label that specializes in a range of noisy and out-there underground music (self-described by the label as “mostly evil music”). Last year they put out a release featuring HN favorites Chinese Football, so you know they’ve got great taste.
The label’s latest release is a collection of songs from some of pan-Asia’s most beloved modern shoegaze bands.
From Bandcamp:
“This May the gnarliest tape label in China, Nasty Wizard Recordings, is back with their first epic release of the year, a pan-Asian compilation of Mainland China, Hong Kong, and Japan’s shoegaze scenes. We’re talking ground zero for the blistering, reverb-drenched genre that has taken the continent by storm over the past few years! Featuring tracks from Hangzhou, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Xi’an the Asia Shoegaze Compilation Vol. 1 is a must have for anyone looking to get their head lost in the clouds.
With a love for making destructive noises with their guitars and array of electronic effects, Tokyo’s Oeil has been a constant presence in the Japanese shoegaze scene for over a decade, and while the band has been relatively quiet since their widely popular 2014 EP ‘Myrtle’ we were fortunate enough to have them share two of their latest tracks.
Next up it wouldn’t be a shoegaze comp without a bittersweet farewell. The Pillow Man, a trio out of Hangzhou, otherwise loftily known as ‘Paradise on Earth’ didn’t even make it to two years as a band. However that fleeting, affecting touch is captured brilliantly in the band’s few surviving tunes.
We then head down to the Pearl of the Orient aka. Hong Kong where Sea of Tranquility has been creating dreamy shoegaze pop since 2014. The five-piece, with an abundance of piercing guitar noise and pulsating reverb, continues to convey the starry romance of the genre to ravenous listeners.
Finally, we head to the old Qing Dynasty capital of China where Xi’an’s Endless White resides. The young quartet, fresh off their debut EP, relishes in jangly guitar work, wispy vocals, and sublime walls of sound that engulf the band and enrapture your ears — the perfect closer.
Links below to Hangzhou’s The Pillow Man, Tokyo’s Oeil, Hong Kong’s The Sea of Tranquility, and Xi’an’s Endless White”
Nasty Wizard Recordings: