The Best Chinese Albums of 2019 So Far
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As summer heats up it’s time to look back at some of the records and EPs that even the heat can’t melt from our brains. And what a batch we’ve cooked up, with the majority of them being debuts from across the country. Whether it’s breezy indie pop from Xiamen, explosive emo rock out of Wuhan, or Dong minority-inspired adrenaline pumping electronic music, there’s something for all music lovers out there. In fact, I’d imagine some of these tracks might just make it onto your summer playlist. So dig in, find something that tickles your ear lobes, and let’s explore the best releases thus far for 2019!
海湾公园小夜曲
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Cheesemind
With heavy doses of city-pop and 90s era alternative rock (that guitar church on "Out of Focus" slays me every time), there’s no denying that Xiamen-based band Cheesemind is shooting for a wider indie pop audience. But when you do it with as much craft and lyrical elegance as these cats, made up of members of the now defunct The White Tulips (arguably the pioneers of the city-pop/shoegaze resurgence), you can’t help but fall in love. It’s snug, tender, with a keen pop sensibility that sneakily worms its way into your brain whilst making you nostalgic for the breezy small-town beach life that exists only in your mind. Never forceful, but always aware of their ability to move (more like floor) you, Cheesemind is indie pop music made with integrity and a bygone appreciation for the past and, more importantly, the influences of daily life and all the moments that keep us moving along (and as they put it "make your sense of loss a bit lighter"). A gem of a debut.
Listen via Netease:
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33EMYBW
Following up on Gooooose’s DONG1 release last year, Merrie Records returns with their second installment of the project which they say "dives into the sonic dimension of Dong culture (an ethnic minority in southern China), exploring different perspectives and methods of presenting ethnic minority folk music within a 21st-century context." While the framework here is anthropological, there’s no denying the producer’s high-wire, adrenaline pumping, aesthetically captivating production, which finds the dance floor mojo embedded deep within the Dong minority chorus, distorting the samples and essentially spinning them together into a new yarn. Preserving the culture for a brave new world via "arthropod moves in an ethereal, rhythmic sound ritual."
Listen via Xiami:
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RUBUR
Shoegaze is having a hell of a year here in China and RUBUR, the Shanghai band that’s been chipping away at the scene since 2014, bombard the genre with vitality and precision on their long-awaited debut LP Evening Sitdown Vision. Chock full of wispy walls of sound, swirl-inducing guitar dissonance, and emotionally frail vocals, the band hits their target square in the heart before adding upon them layers and layers of surprises – the bridging jangles that propel "Sleepless Dream," the fragmented lyrical heft of "Delilah," and the cool-headed noise rock beat of "Fish Ball" – making it an album that rewards repeated listening. There’s a turbulent, transcendent beauty at play within RUBUR’s palette – a modern-day poetic urban bent beneath the layers of noise and splintered, simmering decay that pierces deep.
Listen via Bandcamp:
新时代，共享未来
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Shanghai Qiutian
上海秋天
Finding the atmospheric and textual beauty within the confines of math and post-rock, Shanghai Qiutian offers a fresh take on the genres that have flooded the earholes of Chinese audiences for decades. Founded in late 2018 by Eñaut Martí Zinkunegi and Florian Rudin in the first-tier city, the duo work their magic on their exquisite debut New Era, Shared Future, out now on Wild Records. While shades of high-wire emo (that put the label on the map) linger, there’s a low-key seductiveness found in the looping chords and an intricate interplay found throughout the production that underlines the five tracks. Two standout songs feature exceptional work from singer Sara Zozaya and Chinese Football. A hell of a calling card for the newly formed duo.
Listen via Xiami:
Gùshì huì
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Wu Tiao Ren
五条人
Guangzhou urban poets Wu Tiao Ren continue their seamless blend of magical realism and rugged charm, and of rustic rock and roll and ramshackle folk, on their fifth studio release. A semi-conceptual album that pays tribute and takes inspiration from China’s cinematic Golden Age and the aesthetics surrounding it, the band, originally from Haifeng county in Guangdong, finds poetry in the turbulent streets and the lives that inhabit them. Infusing their music with bluegrass playfulness, deadly (and slightly unhinged) sexiness, and a frank sense of humor, there’s really no one out there like these cats. And while the production may fall a bit short, it’s hard not to be won over by their unique take on folk-rock.
Listen via Netease:
夜流
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Daytrip Dormancy
Combing wry, playful electronica with gentle avant-garde wit and intrepid krautrock, Xiamen duo Daytrip Dormancy (whose members' previous projects included Scarlet’s Other Parts and Islet) make a huge impression on their debut EP out now on Merrie Records. There’s an adventurous element to the way the music weaves in and out of its winding orchestral synthesizers and dynamic and acute jazz beats, making each song as unpredictable as it is rewarding. And while the intricate rhythms may be mechanical in their demeanor, there’s a warmth to the crackle of the electronic elements as well as the cryptic yet loaded lyricism which makes every word count.
Listen via Xiami:
五
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Cee x YEHAIYAHAN
Underground Shanghai rapper Cee joins fellow rising star YEHAIYAHAN (the artist formerly known as ChaCha) for the timely concept album based around the traditional Chinese elements – earth, wood, water, fire, and metal – blazing together a sly and ear-wormy hip-hop album that feels fresh and invigorating. This pair of dynamic voices strut their stuff over five tracks of wildly diverse stylings and tones. From hard-hitting 80s bangers to champagne-fizzed jazzy dance numbers, from club bumping choruses to more soulful slow jams, the two complement each other impeccably. They're a powerhouse hip-hop duo that’s on equal footing, and one we'll surely be talking about throughout the year.
Listen via Xiami:
春潮
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Orange Ocean
橘子海
Britpop garnished with surf rock, city pop, and laid back psychedelic music, Orange Ocean, from the sleepy third-tier city of Jinan, bring some foot-tapping energy and charisma to their new EP Spring Tide (coming off of their late 2018 EP Wavy Shape). From the moment that guitar hook hits your ears on ‘Summer Cozy Rock’, you know you’re in for something wildly catchy. Instead of leaning into their Britpop foundations and the "try hard" juju that turns many from the genre into light-weight indie pop crooners, Orange Ocean seem to relish in the youthful energy and melodic machinations that went into bands like The Beatles and Oasis. That quality puts them more in line with the wave of city-pop and indie pop bands that have been injecting the young underground scene over the past couple of years. If they can keep that spunk alive, I think we’ll be hearing a lot more from these lads in the near future. The perfect summer EP.
Listen via Bandcamp:
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Thin City
新城
A twangy energetic mix of guitar rock and art punk that’ll leave a big ole smile on your face, Thin City are simply put, a blast. Infectiously catchy, with a heavy dose of C86-era power pop that’ll have you humming their tunes long after you hear them, their new EP off of Shenzhen’s Boring Productions is pure bliss. They tap into rock and roll in its purest form, sparking a sun-soaked party with each of their tracks that delve into everything from working girls to doomed beach trips, riding on the bubbly vocals of Catherine and Graham. There’s an anarchist spirit to the band’s sound, one that values humor, wonder, imagination and, above all else, fun. A killer wave to ride into the summer and an EP that we’ll still be talking about come next year.
Listen via Xiami:
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Swimful
Shanghai-based producer Swimful has done it again on his triumphant Folding Knives, out on SVBKVLT. Drenched in neon-spiked, emotionally-fraught ambiance and luscious futuristic melodies that touch on everything from M83-crossed-with-Final Fantasy world-builders to grime music, Swimful has concocted a world that’s intoxicating in its allure and aesthetics. You'll swim in its Technicolor-buoyancy, and drown in its dense orchestral storytelling as it soundscapes a future you’re already nostalgic about. The seven-track release features guest spots from Yayoyanoh & Organ Tapes on lead single "Agony," as well as producer Chlorine Mist (aka Dylan Reznick of FRIENDZONE) on opener “Plain”. A doozy of an album.
Listen via Bandcamp:
通用计算
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GriffO
鬼否
GriffO takes the framework of math rock and propels it into the future with their kinetic and bubbly debut. It finds the band taking their sound into a digital maze of endless imagination and high-strung rhythm patterns. Based loosely around the concept of an AI-enhanced girlfriend, and the computer-generated emotions swirling inside us all, the band feels like a step in the direction of some of the genre’s more innovative architects such as LITE, Zazen Boys, and Battles, all the while adding their own eccentricities, furiously blending together elements of suave jazz, sugar-coated indietronica, and kawaii punk into a satisfying and intoxicating cocktail. In a genre that’s often overpopulated with monotony, GriffO has wisely veered off course.
Listen via Netease:
游戏继续
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Chinese Football
Chinese Football once again tap into the delicate and bittersweet well of emo-pop for their newest LP entitled Continue? It's the second LP in a perceived "Game Trilogy" which looks to follow it's sensitive yet hot-blooded young adolescent protagonist through life’s various trails. If you needed any reminder that the Wuhan startups are the real deal, look no further – Continue? is full of sprawling, angular, and earnest indie pop that soars and pulls you in close without ever coming off as cheap or trite. As always, there’s a sense of youthful discovery that’s timeless to the band’s sound and they milk it for all it’s worth, one jangled hook and spirited confession after another. An engrossing continuation of Chinese Football’s reign over the indie rock scene here in China.
Listen via Bandcamp:
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Default
缺省
Default don’t so much redefine the shoegaze genre as fully inhabit it and more importantly, take it to higher ground, wielding its full potential. Leaning heavily into the larger-than-life sound that Slowdive, Ride, and various other bands from the 90s built for generations to come, there’s something defiant about how the young Beijing band takes the genre by the horns and commits fully to the transformative power of it. Jam-packed with atmospheric psychedelic-tinted reverb-soaked melodies that demand to be turned up at full volume, it’s an album rich in texture, and visceral in its emotional heft – leaving you shaken and stirred. While by no means a perfect album, Default has shot for the moon on their debut – and in time I think it’ll be considered a watershed moment for shoegaze in China.
Listen via Xiami:
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Joy Ginger
Joy Ginger, who’s been slowly building a fanbase with a catalogue of airborne, suave, and sultry R&B-laced future pop numbers, goes all in on the delightfully fluid Love is Medicine, the Beijing producer’s latest collaboration with Babel Records. Expanding beyond his penchant for dancefloor-ready tunes, the producer seems to be having a ball, roaming through bass-heavy bangers and eschewed industrial chop-shop sounds with gusto, displaying a keen command of atmosphere and texture. It’s here that Joy Ginger shines, though in case anyone was worried he was leaving behind his knack for devilishly poppy hits, fear not, his collaboration with Australian rapper PRINCI is one for the summer charts. Firing on all cylinders we are.
Listen via Bandcamp:
鸟与城市
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Silent Speech
沉默演讲
While it’s common for indie rock bands to pad out their sound over the years to appease the mainstream market, Silent Speech stick to their guns on their versatile and robust debut EP City Bird, out on Ruby Eye Records. Effortlessly maneuvering from one style to another, they’re a melodic, emotional wry, and instrumentally charged blend of 90s alt-rock that’s above all else, genuine and assured. And while lead singer Wu Xiaoran’s voice may lean a bit into Thom Yorke territory at times, there is no denying its power and the layers found within each song that feels essential to the band’s scope. Indie rock that swoons one moment and then explodes the next, Silent Speech leave quite the impression.
Listen via Netease:
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Night Swimmer
One of the richest surprises in the Chinese electronic scene this year has been the debut from Wuhan-based producer Night Swimmer. He dropped his self-titled LP last month – a vibrant, deeply realized piece of work that finds the perfect fusion in retro dance synths, traditional Chinese instrumentation, and 90s Hong Kong movie soundtracks, with traces of synthwave, vapourwave, darkwave, 8-bit, and even world music filling in the gaps. It’s a melding of eastern and western aesthetics – a cheeky, ethereal atmosphere that owes as much to Nicolas Jarr and Michael Cretu as it does to Dou Wei and Future Islands, creating a deep world of sound that’s utterly intoxicating to get lost in.
Listen via Bandcamp:
Now we've covered 2019's best music, it's time to decide the best burger of the year.
Photos: The records' labels
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