Hot Chip and CSS headline new 'Electric City' series

As frontwoman for Beijing electro-rockers Nova Heart, Helen Feng has caught audience’s ears home and abroad, aptly blazing a trail for Mainland indie-dance. With her company Fake Music, she’s started a new electronic music series Electric City with Pilot Records that’s bringing in Grammy nominated Hot Chip and Brazilian electro-rockers CSS for a pair of high profile shows.

“We chose them because they have tons of local appeal to test the waters,” explains Feng. “Our ultimate goal is to add a platform for artists to educate, share, create and develop to where they can go onto the world stage. It’s time for music in China to start creating new trends, not just regurgitate old ones.”

Few groups exemplify Feng’s global ambitions like CSS, who plays the QSW Cultural Center on June 28. The group formed in 2003, a mix of graphic designers, film directors, fashionistas and art school students who went to the same Sao Paulo clubs and formed friendships via social networks and online platforms.

They were one of the first groups to use Internet buzz to their advantage, harnessing things like Myspace to drive them towards worldwide success with infectious singles ‘Let’s Make Love (and Listen to Death from Above)’ and ‘Music is my Hot Hot Sex’ – which went on to soundtrack a global iPod advertising campaign.

Their infectious energy, day-glo look and unpretentious party-oriented electro sound saw them lumped in with groups like the Klaxons and New York Pony Club as part of the new rave revolution. The buzz genre came and went joining electro-clash, dance-punk and chillwave as musical memes that failed to take over the world.

“We never consider ourselves inside any movement and we don’t even really know what ‘new rave’ is,” CSS guitarist Ana Rezende says. “I think we have such a long career because we never wanted to adapt to any trend.”

Despite losing founding member, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Adriano Cintra in an acrimonious split, the now quartet has soldiered on and released a fine fourth album, Planta, last year.

Produced by TV on the Radio’s Dave Sitek, the disc mixes retro synths with singer’s Lovefoxxx’s trademark come-ons – she literally roars at the end of ‘The Hangout’ – while retaining the band’s unpretentious punkish charm.

“We are very proud of this record,” Rezende says. “We had to restructure a little but it ended up giving us more space to write songs together. It was by far our most collaborative effort.”

Although Rezende, who is also a film director, admits that – aside from a few shows like this – CSS is taking most of the year off after “going non-stop for five years,” the monolith that is Hot Chip keeps growing. Since scoring a dancefloor hit with 2006’s ‘Over and Over,’ the British quintet expertly straddles the line of indie stalwarts and dancefloor deviants. 

It will be the latter itineration that will rock the house at Arkham on June 12. With members branching off into numerous side projects like the 2 Bears, the group will be represented by their DJ duo of Felix Martin and Al Doyle.

The two released their debut album from their ambient-pop group New Build and play numerous instruments on Hot Chip’s five acclaimed studio albums, with Doyle also acting as a touring guitarist for the much-missed LCD Soundsystem.

For their Mainland debut, they’ve prepped an electro-soul set that’s eagerly anticipated by both locals and foreigner fans. Feng hopes attention to these shows will act as an earworm for Electric City’s larger ambitions.

“We want to build a solid local scene where people don’t always get frustrated and quit or is too niche and exclusive,” she says. “In the future, there’s going to be workshops to encourage people to participate, learn and become a creator. Maybe even a label will come out of this.”

// Hot Chip: June 12, 10pm-late, RMB120-150. Arkham, www.fakemusicmedia.com

// CSS: June 28, 9pm-late, RMB150-240. QSW Culture Center, www.fakemusicmedia.com

********************WIN!!!!**********************************

We have a pairs of tickets to both the Hot Chip and CSS shows to give away. Simply
answer the following question: Which Swiss electro-punk cabaret opened the Electric City series last month? Answers to win@urbanatomy.com with the subject ‘Hot Chip’ by June 9 or ‘CSS’ by June 22