Here are three new homegrown albums from musicians around China on our radar this month.
1. Uncertain Worlds by Ttechmak
As a follow-up to Love in the Land of Robots, his acclaimed collaboration with Beijing electronic producer Soulspeak, Shanghai-based jazz trumpeter Ttechmak dropped this cosmic release in January. It continues his exploration of jazz rhythms blended with electronic music, this time featuring cameos from a wide array of Shanghai musicians. JZ Club regulars Lawrence Ku, Alec Haavik and Nick McBride perform on the record, plus a special guest appearance by JZ founder Ren Yuqing on bass in ‘Compassion Dance.’ Producer and hip-hop DJ Wordy lends his turntablism to the especially smooth and groovy track ‘Fantasy Revisited.’ The album starts off with a few fairly standard jazz fusion tracks, but then the dark and haunting interlude ‘Trumpet in a Blender’ transitions into the catchy, melancholy highlight, ‘Self-Delusion in Dark Green.’ The pensive finale tracks ‘Moonflowers’ and ‘Compassion Dance’ are also standouts.
Listen here.
2. Silk Road Sounds Vol. 1 by Yeti Out
After several years as party organizers bringing over solid hip-hop and electronic acts from the West for China tours, Shanghai-based crew Yeti Out are flexing their curation muscles with the launch of Silk Road Sounds, a self-described “compilation series-cum-record label.” They’ve named it after the historic trade route as a nod to making connections between Asia and the rest of the world. The track listing features several notable names in the Chinese hip-hop and electronic music scene, like Zean and Bohan Phoenix (who offered up a loungy new ballad called ‘SOLOW’). Supplementing these are tracks by underground producers based throughout Asia and Europe, including Turkey and Vietnam, who we’ve never heard of but are now keen to learn more about. Overall, the collection delivers a generous helping of sino-grime and future-forward bangers with samples from a wide array of eras, locales and genres. The record kicks off with a bang thanks to opening grime piece ‘PiedPiper’ by Tokyo producer Double Clapperz, and remains infectiously high-energy throughout.
Listen here.
3. White Noise by Muggle
Hunan-based instrumental post-rock group Muggle released their third album, White Noise, at the end of January on 1724 Records, a post-rock and ambient label from Beijing. Wintery and reflective, the album recalls the genre’s most spare and moody camp, with songs like ‘Silence,’ pared down and stylized to an extreme. The band describes the album in their promo material as “serene and pleasant,” which is especially true in its most minimalistic moments, but there are also unsettling noise interludes, most notably during ‘In the Woods,’ that add a bit of neurosis to the calm. The album’s name is a nod to the use of white noise to help people with insomnia sleep, or to stop babies from crying. As a whole, the tracks feel like a practice in meditation, downshifting and introspection. It’s injected with just enough grit and electronic kookiness from synthesizers to give it an edge over the relaxation music you’ll find on sleep aid apps.
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