eitisga 一天世界 – Great Moon Hoax 月球骗局

Beijing instrumental groove stirrers eitisga – fresh off the release of their debut EP – with SpaceFruity Records – bring forth their latest music video for the track ‘Great Moon Hoax. Courtesy of eitisga guitarist (as well as known independent director/photographer) Wang Haonan and animation director Cassie Shao – it’s a fun riff on the myth of the fabricated moon landing – as well as the notion of ‘having the entire universe in your pocket’. A great melding of styles that captures the song’s rhythmic pleasures and shifts perfectly.

Life Awaits – Butterflies

Beijing melodic hardcore band Life Awaits – known for delivering one sonic catharsis after another via earnest, gut-wrenching vocals, guitar-darting breakdowns, and tranquil, synth-laden waves of ambience return with a new music video for single ‘Butterflies’. Exploring the anatomy of butterflies and humans – how they are entwined – and the perverse ways we try to shape those around us. It’s that later idea where the video veers into Silence of the Lambs territory – with darkened laboratories, dreamlike visions of horror and nefarious surgeries being conducted. Expertly crafted.

The God of Henan Rap 河南说唱之神 – Factory 工厂

Blue-collar emo rap that cuts deep – you may not be a fan of the rap stylings of Henan rapper 河南说唱之神 but there’s no denying its potent message – “I don’t love this place. I was just born here.” Set against the backdrop of rural China and the communities built around factories, it tackles many’s desperate pleas to escape the lower class and avoid following the footsteps left by their families. A much-welcomed relief from the glossier more vapid rappers from about China, it’s clear The God of Henan Rap has struck a chord.

The post MV Weekly: Life Awaits, eitisga , God of Henan Rap first appeared on .

Von Citizen – Outlier

Guangzhou’s Von Citizen come out of the gate swinging on their soaring, innovative sophomore LP Outlier. A fluid bubbly fusion of progressive metal, jazz, funk, and djent – there’s something wonderfully subversive in the way they’ve taken these face-melting riffs and breakdowns and have filtered them through what I would call Sega Genesis ambience, topped off with a jazz elasticity whose grooves provide both relief and elation. In many ways, it gives the band permission to geek out and cast the genre in a different light altogether, and in many ways find the fervor within.

广州的 Von Citizen 乐队在他们的第二张专辑 Outlier 中大放异彩。他们将前卫金属、爵士、放克和 Djent 融合在一起，带来一种奇妙的颠覆性，他们将这些能令人融化的 riff 和 breakdowns，通过我称之为 Sega Genesis 的氛围进行过滤，再加上爵士乐的弹性，他们的节奏既能令人放送又让人兴奋。它让乐队得以从不同角度出发，以极客的方式来演绎这个流派，并在许多方面找到了内心的激情。

• https://music.163.com/#/album?id=136225873
• https://voncitizen.bandcamp.com/album/outlier

Dashengun 大神棍 – People’s Artist 人民艺术家

Eclectic extreme metal with musical scales that would make grandma weep, there’s a manic obsessive-compulsive perfection to what Dashengun, the project from music a Tong Lou, has pulled off with his latest 人民艺术家. A relentless mile-a-minute fever dream of thrash metal, folklore, progressive metal, and hyper-active Europop – there’s a carnivalesque audacity to the musical chaos spilling forth from Dashengun, with Liu as the delirious ringleader, leading listeners into the mouth of madness. It’s a twisted roller coaster ride, whose twists and turns are both jarring and exhilarating.

兼收并蓄的极端金属，加上会让你奶奶都流泪的音阶，这就是来自音乐人六筒的项目，在他的最新作品《人民艺术家》中表现出一种狂躁的强迫性的完美。一场无情的以每分钟一英里前进的热梦，包含了激进金属、民间传说、前卫金属和超活跃的欧洲流行音乐：大神棍的混乱音乐中有一种狂欢式的大胆，六筒作为精神亢奋的头目，带领听众进入疯狂之口。这会是一次扭曲的过山车之旅，其蜿蜒曲折将会既刺耳又令你振奋。

• https://music.163.com/#/album?id=136410168

What A Beautiful Day – Love Won’t Wait

Shenzhen-based melodic hardcore band What a Beautiful Day known for their candid emotionally stirring music return to the fray on their newest EP Love Won’t Wait. Tapping into some of the scene’s most eclectic characters, including Hyperslash and Li You of Unregenerate Blood, the band, who for the most part, sing in Cantonese, showcase how much the genre has evolved over the years whilst keeping the core spirit of hardcore shining bright. With hefty echoes of 90s emo WABD’s true power lies in their ability to find raw strength and catharsis within leaving behind one’s regrets. A bleeding heart rock tour de force.

来自深圳的旋律硬核乐队 What a Beautiful Day 以其直率、激动人心的音乐而闻名，他们将带着最新的 EP Love Won’t Wait 回归。What a Beautiful Day 吸收了一些场景中最不拘一格的人物，包括超级斩和不复之血的李游，这支大部分以粤语演唱的乐队展示了这个类型多年来的发展，同时保持了硬核的核心精神。伴随着 90 年代 emo 的回声，WABD 真正的力量在于他们能够找到原始的力量和宣泄的能力，把自己的遗憾抛在脑后。这将会是一场心碎滴血的摇滚之旅。

• https://music.163.com/#/album?id=134284855

Life Awaits – CALL ME INSANE

Delivering one sonic catharsis after another via earnest, gut-wrenching vocals, guitar-darting breakdowns, and tranquil, synth-laden waves of ambience, melodic hardcore band Life Awaits swing for the fences on their new LP CALL ME INSANE. If realizing the problem is the first step to a better self, the Beijing band’s latest begs the question – what happens when the world itself is the problem? A darker at times journey into the existential struggle many of us are living in, the band is leaning more into the classical stylings of heavy metal whilst introducing contemporary elements like hip-hop into the mix, balancing its need for high-end production and mature song structure with its therapeutic bleeding-heart lyricism. A bone-crunching embrace of the unknown that proves once again the band is tailor-made for the big stage.

通过真诚的、震撼人心的人声、吉他的 breakdown 段落和宁静的、充满合成器的氛围，一个接一个的声音宣泄，旋律硬核乐队 Life Awaits 在他们的新唱片 CALL ME INSANE 中摇身一变成为了一个声音的宣泄者。如果意识到问题是通往更好的自我的第一步，那么这支北京乐队的最新作品提出了一个问题：当世界本身就是问题的时候，会发生什么？这是一次更黑暗的、关于我们许多人所处的生存斗争的旅程，乐队更倾向于重金属的古典风格，同时在混入了像嘻哈这样的现代元素，在其高端的制作、成熟的歌曲结构与令人心碎的疗愈抒情之间取得平衡。这个对未知事物的刻骨铭心的拥抱，再次证明了乐队是为大舞台量身定做的。

• https://music.163.com/#/album?id=136229220

The post New Music: Von Citizen, Dashengun, What A Beautiful Day, Life Awaits first appeared on .

Dashengun 大神棍 – 世界上最快的人

Sexy Oldguys 老头乐 – カゴメカゴメ 笼中鸟

Ego-Fall 颠覆M – 醒

ACGANG無端械斗 – 北方十万亿死仇颂歌

Four Five 肆伍 – 惩戒褪色

Benetnasch 摇光- Daze

Life Awaits – New World Sanity

Lost in Space 迷失太空乐队,周赫朗·P猪 – ATMOSPHERE 大气层

Human Instrumentality Project – 私のこと、好き？ [I Need You]

天际旅人 (Traveler of Skyline) – 童话王国

The post Mixtape No. 327 first appeared on .

Life Awaits – Unchained (Beijing/智慧小狗)

Holy Mercy – SHH（Ft.DXKMUXE）(Chengdu/Self-Released)

Red Storm 暴风赤红 – 幽灵船 (Guiyang/IndieWorks)

Scarlet Horizon – Love Letter (Beijing/Modern Sky)

Hallucination 幻视 – 三途川 (Chengdu/Self-Released)

RTP GANG,ASTP叁眼怪獣,Rampage Time 猖獗一时 – 02 +愛の屠夫+ (Shanghai/畅觉音乐)

Horror Of Pestilence – Iconic Morta (Guangzhou/Chaser Records)

NAMHOKWAI 南鹤卫 – 线 (Guangzhou/Self-Released)

MODELER – Whale Fall (Shenzhen/Self-Released)

管制（U.S.C.R） – Undead（feat.张引）(Wuhan/Self-Released) 

The post Mixtape No. 320 first appeared on .

Music that’s made for the biggest stage possible, Beijing’s Life Awaits and INXU delivered some mammoth thrills last Friday night as they kicked off their China tour at Mao Livehouse. Besides clearly striking a chord with audiences, particularly with Life Await’s frank emotional lyrics, there’s a level of professionalism with these acts – one that’s built on muscular musicality that’s refined and surgical in its precision.

It’s been a hot minute since I’ve seen INXU, a band I have fond memories of back in Beijing when I booked them for one of my many bashes at DDC. And holy shit, have they beefed up considerably since them. Straight up prog rock with a sharpened metal edge, it’s soundtrack music that comes at you hard, grips you, and doesn’t let go. And like most good prog rock acts, it’s not afraid to cheese it up a bit – when the stakes are this high it’s important to remember it’s alright to have some fun. 

Life Awaits continues to be one of the scene’s most visceral bands out there – seamlessly blending in intense guitar-charging breakdowns with soul-bearing vocals, with an electronically-infused atmosphere that’s calls to mind everyone from Bring Me The Horizon to The Weeknd. It’s amazing how quickly one is wrapped in the swirl of emotions and hard-hitting instrumentation – riding one musical catharsis to the next. Whatever you wanna call it – metalcore, post-hardcore, emo rock – Life Awaits are the real deal.

The post Gig Recap: Life Awaits, INXU (2020.11.06) first appeared on .