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Monday, October 20, 2008

Listen Up! @ The Fringe Club


















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Another Hong Live show but with an unexpected twist.Taiwan band Hair City couldn't come because one of the band had visa problems so the Amazing Koya of Mark 1 who does so much on the local scene stepped up with one of his bands,Sea Monsters.Searing jazz punk style guitar,amp-shredding bass and crashing drums.Follow that if you can.




Hula with a punk ethic could describe the literate songs of Harry,Angus and June,collectively known as Born to Hula and becoming increasingly poular on the local Hong Kong indie scene.Harry's almost art-rock vocals always have a sense of fun that is nicely balanced by the driving punk backing of June on drums and Angus on bass.This band's gigs just keep getting better with some new songs to their set of favourites like 'Goner','Satellites' and 'We Tigers'.Even after playing their set,it wasn't enough for the crowd so the band had to find one more song to please the crowd.
Yanyan Pang and Chochuckmo got the biggest cheers of the night with their melodic pop punk ,tearing through songs like Number One and 'Head To Toe' and finishing their set in such an ecstatic uproar that an encore was mandatory.









Saturday, October 4, 2008

White Noise:Hong Kong Indie Heaven




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For indie music fans White Noise is the best thing in Hong Kong.While there's no doubt about the talent of the local music scene.The release of a double album compilation by the Underground shows that this city has upcoming indie bands by the score but if we want to see world-class new indie bands at a reasonable cost in an intimate setting then the White Noise gigs organised by Gary Ieong are a must.The label's last event ,the New Sentimentality Asia Tour set the bar pretty high with blistering postrock from local favourites The Lovesong and the awesome Japanese instrumental band Toe but for
the National Day event,Notch08,at Hitec you really had to reach for superlatives,especially for the headliners,Efertklang from Denmark.
The festival is a celebration of music and art from Scandinavia and China with the emphasis on experimental indie.As well as some video and art display we had some leftfield indie. The first act may have got off to a slow start but after that things got a lot more interesting with local act Kung Chi Shing ,folowed by the intricate electronica of Swedish band Tape.

Tape Live @ Notch 08
Headliners Efertklang really do stand comparison with indie bands like the Arcade Fire in their dynamic,multi-instrumental live sets and composers like Sufjan Stevens in their super-complex melodies..
From their album 'Parades'it was obvious that they had outstanding compositional skills but it was an electric experience to see their live performance of songs like'Mirador' where the gentle keyboard intro and solo vocals give way to crashing drums ,strings and heavenly harmonies to send the song to stratospheric levels and an exultant climax.By the close of their set when they boldly strode offstage into the audience still playing they had shown Hong Kong that experimental indie can be full of harmonies and still rock.A small venue but it was love at first sight for the Asian audience and the Nordic indie band.A magical night full of  the inspirational sounds of  Europe and Asia.
Efertklang @ Notch08 'Mirador'


Sunday, September 7, 2008

Hong Kong Live!




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Hong Kong Live @ the Fringe Club was a crazy,exhilirating mix of postpunk,electro and powerpop from local band The Lovesong,Dr Eggs and Manila's The Dorques.



Local favourites The Lovesong kicked the show to life with their agitated postpunk set in a blizzard of energized drumming,pounding bass and thundering guitars with punk style shouty vocals reminiscent of the 80s.The band are Nic and Ben Tse(guitar,bass and Ephraim(vocals,guitar )and Lee Yat Ding (drums).They stormed their way through a great set with 'Eastern Moments,Western Skies''Worlds Collided','Holding on is Losing' from their debut 'Deux Mille Sept'.


The Lovesong @ HK LIVE!


Dr Eggs played high-energy,playful rock with a touch of electro,with the help of Ng Ka Wing (bass,vocals) and Yanyan Pang of Hard Candy ,(guitar,vocals) with lots of leaping about from Joul.A fun set but a little ragged at the edges with covers of Ah Ha and The Doors.Check them out live or look out for their Cds 'Chinese Democracy' or 'Peepshow'.



Dr Eggs @ The Fringe Club



The Dorques @ HK LIVE!




Manila band The Dorques were headliners with a set that showed influences of hip hop,punk and French pop.With songs like 'Sparks','Le Metronome' and 'Lovin'n'Pumpin' they play guitar and synth-based indie pop -not exactly perfect harmonious pop but the Fringe Club seemed to enjoy their style.


http://myspace.com/thedorques

Sunday, June 29, 2008

Underground 62 at The Cavern






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Underground 62.
Lots of new music for Hong Kong and a guest appearance by promoter Chris B's band.As well as organising all these great gigs for local indie fans Chris also takes time out to play in her own band,Thinking Out Loud.
Monogel play catchy,Cantonese indie-rock with a bluesy feel but it looks like they need to work on their material to create a more distinctive sound.It's great to see so many new bands on the hk scene but it also means that the standard has to be higher to attract attention.
Monogel live at Club Cixi



Commanches(Commanchas?) were a revelation with their original take on folk rock..They have a big sound and are even (a little) like the Arcade Fire with their intense vocal style and switching of instruments and the massive line-up of three guitarists,keyboards and tambourine gives the band an epic, distinctive sound.and they also have a slightly improvisatory feel .The songs 'Darling' and 'Eliza' and 'Boats' were about relationships and families and had a gentle,catchy jangle rock appeal.I really enjoyed watching this band with their modern,country rock sound.

Commanches live at The Underground



F.T.T. is one of the best new bands in Hong Kong with their blend of fast-paced garage rock popularised in the last few years by American new wave bands like The Strokes.They kicked off their set with 'Sunday Morning' a fast-paced rocker with lively bass and guitar riffs.continued with tyhe uptempo 'KFS' and only slowed down a little mid-set on their new song 'Standing Where I Belong '.As vocalist Keith gets most of the attention but Jonathan on lead guitar and Donald on bass deserve a lot of the credit for the band's tight,rocking sound.The band really came together on the remaining songs of their set 'I Feel Fine' and 'Ride with Me'with their driving riffs and catchy hooks.

F.T.T. live at Club Cixi



Everyone should try Thinking Out Loud.It's quite a noisy activity that may make you get up and dance or at least move your body rhythmically.The band is fronted by Chris B(formerly of Sisters of Sharon) and they play in an easygoing ,slightly retro style that may remind you of The Pretenders or Blondie or some of the early New York punk bands.They eased into their set with 'People',then got progressively rockier with''Stranger',the tongue-in-cheek 'Gonna Be Famous' before slowing the pace and darkening the tone with 'Moving On',before picking up pace.The band switched vocals for The Fratelli's 'Whistle for the Choir',giving the bass player a chance to grab the spotlight.Chris was back on vocals for 'Song For Lovers',a mainly guitar and sax- based bluesy rock number (whose image of 'the bride walking down the aisle' inexplicably made me think of the bloodbath wedding scene in 'Kill Bill)'before bringing the set to a suitably rocking conclusion with 'Rock'n'roll Machine'.







Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Underground 61


                                                                                      






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Underground 61 show featured Harry Hula,Spodac,Tai Tai Alibi,Spodac,and an epic Battle of the bands betwen Ignite the Hope and Innisfallen.
Harry Hula is the singer /songwriter of the better known local trio Born to Hula.I enjoyed the set but it's difficult not to compare this folk rock set to his more uptempo incarnation as the frontman for BTH.The songs are reflective,introspective and more Nick Drake than Nick Cave. I think the material just needs a lighter touch in song structure.Still a great set despite some sound difficulties at Club Cixi.My favourite song?'Satellites'.

Spodac tried to fool us in their intro into thinking that they play some kind of gentle ,jangly indiepop but their sound is really more like the Foo Fighters or Stone Temple Pilots,classic rock played at volume.The band blasted their way through a hard rock set which included crowd favourites 'Gravity','Scaffold' 'madam I'm adam','Breathtaker' and 'WTF?".
So what is a Tai tai Alibi?Apparently it's a blues-based Hong Kong indie band with some good songs and an excellent lead guitarist that seemed to go down well with the local crowd,although the sound was a little too generic to make a great impact.
Headlining were Ignite the Hope and Innisfallen.Both bands have deservedly large fanbases in Hong Kong on the strength of their material and live performances.Ignite the Hope began their set with Nicky the vocalist in gentle fashion before building their songs with crashing drums ,bass ,excellent guitar into post punk discords that blew away the audience.It's easy to see that the band have great audience rapport.It's great to see local bands like this that keep alive the DIY spirit of punk and taking music to the fans.Plus they also have great song titles like'We Thrive on Your Nonsense'!



Innnisfallen kicked off their set gently with Eric on keyboards and with a new song but next song was a rocking version of 'Hours of Rain',another new song with a Radioheadish feel ,then a great version of 'Beautiful Soul','No Reply','Sounds Behind the Wall',before closing the set with 'Butterfly Effect'.This band just keeps getting better.So who is best live,Ignite the Hope or Innisfallen?Go and see them both ,together if you can and make up your mind.



Thursday, June 5, 2008

Take Back The Noise

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If you're a hong kong indie fan and bored with indie bands that all sound the same then check out Take Back the Noise. Kissing on the Dancefloor started their set in fairly britpop style with an edgy guitar sound and a good vocal range a little like Brett of Suede and then gave us some jangly pop before the effects-laden guitar took over and on the next song the band were more downbeat and angsty almost shoegaze in tone.
Kissing on the Dancefloor



Next up were The Fragile who play a delicate,haunting postrock that's closer to Sigur Ros than Explosions in the Sky.In their set they included 'Venus' and 'Glacier' from their debut EP as well as some new songs which I liked a lot.Hopefully the band will be seen a lot more frequently on the Hong Kong indie scene.
The Fragile live at take Back the Noise




Sea Monsters are a phenomenon powered mainly by the Bjork- on- adrenaline vocals and stage performance of the female vocalist and crazily chaotic rhythm section.Sounds like?A jam between Captain Beefheart and Youi Say Party!We Say Die!Very experimental and freestyle!I guess it's hard to compare this type of band since it's a mix of funk,prog and jazz.


Headliners were The Yours,a local band who have already built a big fanbase ,recorded an great debut album and are already recording their eagerly awaited follow-up.Hopefully it will capture some of the energy of the band live.There's always a sense of excitement in their sets and this was another good one with new songs like 'Artpiece' along with favourites from the first album like 'Tasteless' and 'Missed Call'.
Hong Kong shoegaze band The Yours



          
     

Sunday, May 25, 2008

Rock for Sichuan







Helter Skelter (with HK's youngest rocker!)



My little airport .The Pancakes...










Edmond Tong
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Hong Kong Fringe Club was packed on Sunday 25th May to be part of a special concert organised to raise funds for the victims of the Sichuan. earthquake.In this city we're normally so time -conscious but today everyone freely gave their time and support.

The gig was a six-hour marathon event and in that space of time there were no less than 10 local artists playing all shades of music from cool jazz to postpunk rock.First band on at the early hour of 4.00 p.m. were A For with some jazz grooves,our blissful Sunday afternoon calm then shattered by the arrival of Gong Wu with their 'in-your-face'rock.Next up were Consent ,a young hip hop band,who are starting to gig regularly on the local scene,followed by So What with some medium tempo rock.

On a day when most people's thoughts were with the families in Sichuan,it seemed appropriate that Helter Skelter not only morphed from the wild blues rockers that they usually appear as into a gentler,acoustic sound and provided the evening with its most cute and youngest rocker (something to share with his kindergarten classmates-My First Gig!).

Edmond Tong maintained the chilled-out vibe of the afternoon with his gentle rock covers of classic songs like 'You've Got a Friend'.

Next on was The amazing Dejay Choi or The Pancakes.The innocent,tweepop style of this DIY performer just fitted the mood of the gig and showed another facet of the Hong Kong indie scene.

For serious indie addicts ,though,the evening was just getting into a rockier groove with the arrival of My Liitle Airport who opened their set with a track from their last album'J'ai Peur'The band played a set of refreshingly downbeat songs in their own eclectic style with a version of 'Stephanie Says' by The Velvet Underground and their own material including great versions of 'Victor ,Fly Me To Stafford','Dee,It may All End Tomorrow'.
Mylittleairport

Born To Hula are a great new britpop style outfit with lots of passion,energy and some great upbeat songs in the style of Vampire Weekend and other new wave bands.The sound is an intriguing blend of the passionate vocals of Harry Thompson,the pounding double bass of Angus leung and the crashing drums of June Ng.They played a blistering set rounded off with a great version of 'We Tigers'.
Born To Hula

Next on were The lovesong.Don't let the name fool you..the band are a torrent of energized drumming,pounding bass and thundering guitars with punk style vocals.The band are Nic and Ben Tse(guitar,bass and backing vocals),Ibraihim(vocals,guitar )and Stephen Suhail (drums).They stormed their way through a great set with'Worlds Collided','Eastern Moments,Western Skies','Starlight Shine Us So Bright'and 'Take Another Year To Rise'.
The lovesong live at The Fringe

Just when we thought it couldn't get much louder,onto the stage stormed the phenomenon that is DP.Just two guys but they can really rock! paul the drummer is well known for his sessions with local shoegazers The Yours.
The Fringe Club should be thanked for their generosity in supporting the event.Lets have more gigs like this where we can see good indie bands and help others!











Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Underground 58 at Club Cixi

The Fragile...Hungry Ghosts ...Gong Wu...Consent...Killersoap.....TheSinister Left....all at the Underground .....review with videos...




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The show powered up with Killersoap,a young band who kicked off with an upbeat number before slowing the pace with their next song.By the next song which was an upbeat rock pop song with a big and catchy chorus,everyone seemed to be relaxing more and they finished their set on a high.The vocalist has an expressive voice and the band played well but look as if they're still finding their sound.

http://myspace.com/killersoap

Killersoap at Club Cixi





The Fragile have definitely found their own unique sound.it's a haunting post rock that shows influences of shoegaze,especially the aetherial vocals and fuzzy guitar sounds of My Bloody Valentine and Slowdive.They are a 5 piece outfit who play emotionally expressive indie that takes you far away.It's wistful,dreamy and beautifully played.You must check out their EP listen on myspace.http://www.myspace.com/hkfragile
The Fragile at underground 58




Gong Wu 's arrival ensured that we would all leave our sheltered postrock haven with a bang as they set about deranging our senses with some rhythnic,intense crashing tunes.http://myspace.com/gongwu
http://myspace.com/hungryghosts
Hungry Ghosts live at Club Cixi



Consent sound like their influences are more from the USA,hip hop and R&B.http://myspace.com/consenthk

The Sinister Left are an experimental indie band.their sound is a little like the heavier rock we associate with The Editors and Interpol.http://myspace.com/thesinisterleft

The Sinister Left at the Underground show