Here are three new homegrown albums from musicians around China on our radar this month.
1. Into One Name by Organ Tapes
Formerly based in Shanghai before relocating to London, where he works with Bala Club and is gradually finding notoriety, producer and vocalist Organ Tapes released this record with Genome666MBP during a visit to Shanghai over the winter holidays. With a pop sensibility that approaches romantic balladry, Into One Name is engaging from the first hums of its lovely opener ‘Rust’ to its closing track’s final twang. In between, Organ Tapes overlays dancehall-like beats with a dizzying array of experimental sounds, including Christian choir samples, a burbling brook, spare piano and plenty more. His autotuned vocals, mumbling about broken hearts and missed connections, sound like an emotionally present cyborg. The record is also proof that Genome can embrace an even more diverse range of club music than they have thus far, because despite being poppier and a bit more accessible than their other releases, Into One Name’s sci-fi and avant-garde elements allow it to fit squarely in with the rest of the label’s philosophy.
2. Sprout by Sound & Fury
Shenzhen’s Boring Productions proudly announces on their Bandcamp page that “bedroom pop rules the world,” so it makes sense that they’d end 2017 by releasing the debut of lo-fi pop band Sound & Fury. Hailing from Chengdu, the four-piece group toured and experimented for six years before settling down to record Sprout, an apt album name for a band in its fruitful early stages. Vacillating between sugary pop and brooding shoegaze, but with a lo-fi grittiness throughout, the album notably features both male and female vocals. Several of the best tracks, like the shambling ‘It’s All Ok,’ shine thanks to the mumbling female voice. The album as a whole has a sun-kissed, reflective quality, ending on a strong note with the stirring track ‘Candy Memory’ and seven-minute shoegaze closer ‘Snow Song.’
3. Love is Illusion by Joy Ginger
Beijing producer Joy Ginger offers up an EP of liquid, loungy R&B, managing to be profoundly pared-down and relaxing while still appealing throughout. The album’s name plus the cool blues and neon of its striking cover make the record seem like it will be much more melancholic than it actually is. The songs feel earnest and romantic, with twinkling, future-forward sounds overlaid onto classic R&B grooves that deserve the genre name ‘neo-soul.’ Joy Ginger also braids in the types of ambient sounds that are appearing more and more in downtempo electronic music, with a charcoal pencil scribbling noise at the end of ‘Luv Letter’ and a few plaintive cat meows throughout the effervescent ‘Stay in My Arms.’ On the remixes, fellow producer sususu seamlessly weaves a horn section into ‘Moonbow,’ adding layers of funk to the vocal samples. It’s another solid release to bolster the already intriguing Babel Records.
0 User Comments