Mono 'Nostalgia' live @ Hidden Agenda

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Eatliz China tour at Hidden Agenda Hong Kong

EATLIZ Chinese tour dates

IDIOTEQ MARCH 12, 2012 0

EATLIZ, a progressive/art rock band from Tel Aviv, will be touring China later this month.
Coming to Hidden Agenda on Sunday 18th!!

Tour Dates:

17.3 Guangzhou @ 191space, with: Turtle Giant (Macau)

18.3 Hong Kong @ Hidden Agenda, with: Turtle Giant (Macau)

19.3 Changsha @ Freedom House 20.3 Wuhan @ Vox 21.3 Nanjing @ 61House

22.3 Hangzhou @ 9-Club 23.3 Shanghai @ JUE | Music + Art Festival, Yuyintang, with: Yourboyfriendsucks! (Guangzhou), Battle Cattle (Shanghai)

24.3 Beijing Music Video and Animation Screening and Q&A @ The Hutong

25.3 Beijing @ JUE | Music + Art Festival, Tango, with: Devil Music Ensemble (USA)

EATLIZ is one of the biggest alternative acts in Israel, performing internationally for the past 3 years, including spots at major festivals as SXSW (Austin, TX), Primavera sound (Spain), Exit (Serbia) and more. So far the band released 3 album, and it is signed at Anova Music, Israel’s biggest Indie label. EATLIZ will perform at JUE | Music+ Art festiva, the biggest urban festival in China, along acts like THE PAINS OF BEING PURE AT HEART and DEATH CAB FOR CUTIE.

Tel Aviv’s most innovative act, Eatliz, will bring its spectacular visual performances and outstanding genre-crossing music to China for the first time in March 2012, performing at the JUE Music + Art Festival in Beijing and Shanghai, China’s biggest urban festival and in additional shows in Hong Kong, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Nanjing, Wuhan and Changsha. Eatliz’s astounding creative vision has already been recognized with multiple awards in China.

Israel’s hottest Art Rock group, Eatliz, have been causing quite a stir in the world of alternative rock for some time now, earning them an ever-growing cult following across North America, Europe and Israel.

With a discography of critically acclaimed albums spanning half a decade, the band’s penchant for mixing sonic pounding with delicate meandering has struck a chord with listeners worldwide who appreciate unconventional song structure. Playing what’s been termed “Art Rock”, Eatliz creates music with elements ranging from pop with a Middle Eastern edge to hard rock. The result is a sound that calls to mind artists like Faith No More, The Cranberries and Blonde Redhead.

Eatliz has gained a reputation for their eye-popping animated music videos – for songs such as “Hey”, “Lose This Child” and “Attractive” – which have been seen by millions in 200 domestic and international film festivals, where they received dozens of awards, including the Babelgum Online Film Festival’s “Spike Lee Award”, granted by the renowned director at the New York Tribeca Film Festival, “Best Foreign Video” at the 11th Sichuan TV Festival “Gold Panda” Awards, “Best Experimental Foreign Short Film” at the China Xiamen International Animation Festival and the Special Jury Prize for TV Animation at the China International Animation and Digital Arts Festival Golden Dinosaur Awards, plus screenings before the film “Avatar” at cinemas across America. These unique music videos have earned the band a great deal of press attention worldwide, along with performances on TV shows and at major music festivals.

“Eatliz makes dreamy, atmospheric songs and imbues them with complex and ornate arrangements and haunting vocals.” MTV Buzzworthy [USA]

Kowloon live 'New Innocence' @ Hidden Agenda

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Mono live in Hong Kong 'Ashes in the Snow' @ HITEC

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The Whitest Boy Alive-You Say Party We Say Party!

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Erlend Oye's electro outfit The Whitest Boy Alive leans more to the indie pop style than his better known Kings of Convenience alter ego but his charm and ability to communicate with the audience are a constant factor.This may not have been one of the most challenging of indie shows for the audience but it was definitely one of the most fun.as one comment on my video said 'A wonderful night....all people dance high' and the band did give the crowd a natural high in their 2 hour set.
I couldn't really make up my mind whether to go to this show but a friend had got some good seats so we decided to see if  Whitest Boy were as good or better live than Erlend Oye's other band, Kings Of Convenience.
First off,minus marks to Untitled Asia ,the organisers for having no crowd control.It's very annoying to find that late comers could just wander around at will when the show has started looking for their seats and blocking everyone else's view.Couldn't they at least let people wait till a break in the songs?
Also what's the point of having reserved seating if everyone can just rush to the front?Next time just say free seating and everyone will know what to expect.Don't get me wrong.It was hilarious the way everyone just charged forward but if only I'd known I coulda got to there first!
Ok how about the bands?The support act featured Analog Girl from Singapore,an electronic experimental artist who was given a warm reception for her electrodance beats. 
The Whitest Boy are one of the best live acts I've seen in Hong Kong but I still had a nagging feeling that the singalong ,arms waving,handclapping show backed by synthesised dance beats as well as a live drummer  was more pop than indie fare.Sure,the atmosphere was great and Erlend is such a charismatic performer nd lovl guy that it seems churlish to complain with a show full of big songs,geeky dancing and the rest but it still felt to .me like something was missing although most of he ecstatic crowd didn't agree.Party n dudes!

EF-Nordic postrock in Hong Kong

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A bunch of Hong Kong indie fans turned out in numbers for the first of this week's Scandinavian visitors ,Swedish band EF at The Hangout.Like most rock venues in the city it's quite small but the proximity of audience to performers can generate an intimate atmosphere that at times is electric.
The other plus point is that thereis none of the intrusive security measures seen at larger venues with security guards blocking your view of the band.
First on were Whyoceans ,a local outfit from whose melodic ,intricate guitar lines and ghostly vocals set the postrock mood for the main band.
If your only experience of Sweden so far has been Ikea or Stig Larsson then you missed a chance to check out on its more euphoric sid at this show..
Headliners EF are  on the less heavy side of the postrock spectrum,more aethereal Sigur Ros than earblasting Mogwai.They played a noisy,rhythmic but fairly melodic set full of crashing harmonies and intricate guitar figures which soon had the audience jumping around,clapping hands and generally enjoying some moody but uplifting Swedish postrock.
the band's latest offering should be available from local record store whitenoiserecords   


Hong Kong's next visiting postrockers the Besnard lakes are at Hidden Agenda  on the 17th March or alternatively head on over to HITEC to see the Berlin based electro outfit The Whitest Boy Alive if there are still any tickets left!

Big in Japan(and elsewhere)

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One of the many advantages of living in Hong Kong is picking up on the many Asian bands who make a visit here mainly through the influence of local bands.Last week   Elf Fatima gave us a 2 day event with Pg.lost.This week The Lovesong and  alternative music lover  Gary Ieong of Whitenoise records are presenting 2 highly popular Japanese outfits:instrumental/mathrock virtuosos Toe and Buddhistson.
The buzz of excitement surrounding the first show was evident when we arrived at the venue to join a very long line waiting at least an hour before the doors opened for a prime spot  near the stage at The Hangout.
The central stage provided us with an intimate close up view of the performers and created great rapport between band and audience.First on was Shima, lead vocalist of Buddhistson who are appearing in Hong Kong, next wekgiving us a gentle ,acoustic introduction to next  week's electric show.


 Shima (Buddhistson) acoustic set





Headliners Toe last played in Hong Kong two years ago in a legendary set which is still remembered with awe and affection.This set was just as awesome but with a much more intimate.feelingSound was also perfect with a stack of Orange amps specially hired for the show and instruments tuned to perfection by the band's awesome sound technician as the band conjured up intricate,shimmering soundscapes with versions of material from their recent album'For Long Tomorrow' for our pleasure.There are not too many times that Hong Kong audiences beg for 3 encores but this was one of them as they brought one of Asia's best shows this year to a close.


 Japanese band Toe 'Long Tomorrow'

Buddhistson will be appearing live @ M1 on 27/10/10

Asian postrocktoberfest in Hong Kong

Sometimes the best and most exciting new bands have to wait a while for their indie fanbase to catch up with their sound like Radiohead,Arcade Fire .That's just a fact of the indie scene in Hong Kong as elsewhere where the music is promoted by a few dedicated  friends or fans rather than the commercial machine.This problem is accentuated for bands in less mainstream genres like postrock and bands like Explosions in the Sky,Sigur Ros were inevitably slow to build their current fanbase.
Two of Asia's best instrumental bands,Hua Lun from China and Ovum from Japan, seemed to be suffering from that syndrome  at The Hangout last night,a venue which was packed the night before for local band Fragile's farewell gig along with Swedish postrockers Pg.Lost but which lacked the atmosphere that bands of this calibre merit.In fact members of the supporting band paul and Eddie agreed with me that Ovum were technically and idea-wise miles ahead of any bands they'd seen for a while.
Hua Lun opened the show in an uptempo mood before shifting to a more downbeat tempo that seemed to have influences from bands like  Caspian and Explosions in the Sky.



Next on were local postrock heroes Elf Fatima who helped to organise the show  and  have also played legendary sets with Mogwai and Mono among others. The band have been one of the pioneers of the postrock sound and were responsible for getting this two-day show organised and this was another of their trademark sets ,full of melodic invention and sonic explosions.

Elf fatima @ myspace
I was highly impressed by the set from Japanese band Ovum whose sound is more mathrock than postrock ,reminiscent of their compatriots Te .
If you agree that Japanese postrock bands add something unique to the genre,taking into account bands as diverse as Mono and World's End Girlfriend,then fairly soon Ovum will be rated amomgst their more well known compatriots.I advise anyone interested in the genre to catch this band live or at least check them out online.
Check out this band on myspace