The King Has Lost his Pink-Chochukmo release party

Life in Hong Kong is often stressful and demanding but help is at hand in the shape of one of the city's best young bands Chochukmo.
2009 has been a great year to be a follower of the indie music scene in Hong Kong and on any list of the best upcoming bands Chochukmo would be right up there near the top even at 'Number One'. Just ask Timeout Hong Kong who voted the band as winners of the 'We'll Make Your Album' competition.
It seems just like yesterday when the band won that competition (actually it's about a month ago) and now here already was their new album being unveiled (along with naked portaits of the band) at its release party. So is it and are they really that good?
Ok, as a fan I'm very biased but yes, the band and the album are definitely worth checking out.
Anyone who's followed the band over the last year will not be surprised to find that, as a debut, it's damn good, full of great songs and musical invention.
They kicked off the show with the album's quirky but likable opener 'Child Heights' before launching into the opening bars of' Tell Her (Laura I love Her) 'to raucous cheering from the audience followed by' Number One 'and incendiary versions of' Let Her Go 'and '1, 2,3,4'.
All too soon the band were playing the opening bars of 'Head To Toe' and the release party was over.
The show was also a tribute to the creative energy and love of indie that exists in the hearts of bands and fans all over Hong Kong.After the show Jan Chan Shui-Wing thanked us all for supporting the band, urging everyone to follow their example and do something creative to liven up this dull city.
Chochukmo 'Head To Toe' @ The King Has Lost His Pink

'The King has Lost His Pink' is in record stores now.

Los Campesinos at Clockenflap

Hong Kong indie music fans were out in force on Saturday to see the most ambitious show of 2009 so far with local rising stars Good Fellas and Chochukmo, fan favourites False Alarm and the awesomely talented UK band Los Campesinos.Just add a nice outdoor location with warm weather and sea breezes, film shows, graffiti artists, and a bouncy castle for lots of fun for all ages .....(with lots more on the Sunday which i missed but check out http://www.musixtation.com/ for more info).

I just got there in time to see an energetic set from Good Fellas, one of Hong Kong 's promising young bands playing a set of Britpop-influenced songs.This band have been getting better each time I've seen them and this was their tightest set yet with rocking versions of 'Ride With Me' and ' Nothing About My Way '. With Egg from The Train alongside Po Kei on vocals and Angus from Born To Hula they're now one of Hong Kong's best Britpop style bands and well worth checking out...

http://www.myspace.com/hkgoodfellas

I first saw Joshua Wong, the lead vocalist and songwriter of Noughts and Exxes in January in one of the best attended shows I've seen for his former band Whence He Came and his band were on fire at that show.. He has moved away from the more up-tempo sound of his previous band to something more complex and darker but the great vocals , well written songs and passion are still evident.

http://www.myspace.com/noughtsandexes
Having recently seen the turnout for the 10th Anniversary show of False Alarm it's clear that this band have a big local following.They and Harbour Records were right in the vanguard of today's alternative Hong Kong scene and their energetic, garage-punk set gave us some reasons why they have lasted so long and are still going strong with songs like 'Heavenly' and ' Give Me More. '

http://www.myspace.com/falsealarm.hk
Chochukmo were winners of the recent Time Out Hong Kong 'We'll Make Your Album competition.Wthin the space of their first song they'd won over all of the crowd who weren't fans already with their quirky melodies,jangly guitars and Jan's delicate but passionate vocals.on songs like 'Head To Toe','Carolyn' and the darkly humorous 'Number One.'The band play jangly,latin,jazzy electro-pop.


Pet Conspiracy deliver moody but upbeat Beijing style garage synth rock in the style of Queen Sea Big Shark .The band members have impressive backgrounds in music and media and they created an energetic, dark, sexy, downbeat sound with Helen Feng (lead vocals) transporting the audience to new levels of electro-clash ecstasy. If you missed the excitement of their live show then you should get a copy of their album in White Noise Records

Alexis Taylor DJ set was next up (a bit of an anti-climax after the audience expectations based on albums like 'The Warning' and 'Made in the Dark').

Los Campesinos.This set was the highlight of the show and possibly the whole of 2009 in Hong Kong.The band are talented, write great songs (with crazy but oddly appropriate titles like "Ha Ha We destroyed the hopes and Dreams of a Generation of Faux-Romantics', are generally lauded as one of the most promising of the current contenders and have a sound that's unique among today's indie clone bands with its mix of elation and melancholy of elation and melancholy.

The moment the band launched into 'You'll Need Those Fingers For Crossing', the crowd went wild and just got wilder as the set progressed to an awesome climax in 'You! Me! Dancing! "

A Timeout Hong Kong writer stated recently that this is a highly entrepreneurial city even in musical terms.Yet another characteristic is the city's ability to appreciate and play music that is a little more challenging than that created by platinum-selling indie megabands .

Note for the organisers of Clockenflap.Please bring all these bands back soon!I'm sure that fans will turn out in numbers for big shows with Greenday and the Killers in January but events like Clockenflap display an appetite for indie music that's a a bit more individual and less market driven than the world tours of rock megastars.