Emmy the Great-From Hong Kong to Glastonbury and back

http://newindiemusichongkong.com/
So,what's your idea of a great indie show?Noisy guitars,pounding basslines,crashing drums and indecipherable lyrics?In this case you're wrong on all counts.

Rave reviews from indie expert Steve Lamacq and the fact that she was also fresh from an appearance at Glastonbury prompted me to check out this gig as my idea of indie is also generally along the lines of noisy electric guitars and shouty lyrics from either sullen or over-energetic performers in great bands like The Arcade Fire,Vampire Weekend ,Radiohead or local versions of those bands,unless it's someone experimental like Deerhunter ,Animal Collective etc.Emmy follows none of these paths but seems content just to let her acoustic guitar,amazing voice and complex,literate songs about relationships stand alone.

Using the set mainly to highlight material from her new 'First Love' album ,she launched into 'We Almost Had a Baby', 'Easter Parade', the hard-hitting 'Dylan' and 'First Love',just taking time out to sing one Faye Wong cover song in Chinese for her Hong Kong fans ,an uptempo version of 'Edward is Deadward ' and a (very brief')Michael Jackson mini-tribute after someone called out on her second encore for 'Billie Jean' finishing with uptempo versions of 'Where is My Mind?'and 'On the Museum Island'.It's the first time in Hong Kong that I and I guess many of the crowd have been so captivated by an acoustic indie performance.Emmy may not have come home to a reception like the wild crowds at Glastonbury last week but by her third encore it was clear that Lamacq knows a great performer when he sees one. Girls with acoustic guitars-indie fans ,it's the new way forward.

Emmy the Great live in Hong Kong

Emmy the Great 'The Easter Parade'

The Storm after The Calm...Witness and Innisfallen live

Two great live bands for Hong Kong indie fans to check out.This gig saw one of Hong Kong's best live bands, Innisfallen, giving a workout to some new material and more familiar favourites from their highly successful debut album'REallusion' and Witness ,the UK lo-fi indie rocksters with two albums that gained great critical acclaim and appearances on MTV’s Five Night Stand and Later With Jools Holland as well as tours supporting bands such as The Charlatans, Doves, Wilco and Embrace in between their own headline shows. The second album, 2001’s Under A Sun,after glowing reviews, led to main stage slots at all the major UK festivals including Glastonbury, Reading and the V Festival.

Innisfallen kicked off the show with lots of material from their excellent 2005 debut 'REallusion',and live versions of 'No Reply','Beautiful Soul','Hairstings'which now have a darker,heavier feel with Cheong Ho's drums more to the forefront as well as some newer songs which see the band exploring new directions.This band 's sets are always worth checking out and this was no exception with a good balance between crowd favourites and newer,more experimental material.
Innisfallen 'Orange'

http://www.myspace.com/innisfallen

Witness arrived trailing clouds of glory from their previous incarnation and look like a welcome addition to the Hong Kong indie scene.On display were some great songs mainly taken from the 'Before the Calm' album' and in frontman Gerard they have a talented,passionate vocalist with equally impressive performances by Ray Chan on lead guitar. You can hear lots of influences in their sound from The Verve (they're both from the same town) through to a Neil Young or REM altcountry sound.Going by the enthusiasm from the audience this band still have a lot to say.
Witness 'Here's One's For You'

http://www.myspace.com/witnessuk

Beijing wonderkids Carsick Cars live in Hong Kong

What a great gig for indie music fans in Hong Kong with two of Beijing's best bands performing at The Hangout.
Highlight of the show was a storming performance by headline act Carsick cars ,the Beijing band who've attracted international interest after performing with Sonic Youth,a moody ,rebellious racket that left our ears ringing.

First on were local band Unixx with some songs from their debut 'Nasty Fantasy' and a taste of some of their newer material which is heavier .In this band you can hear a reinterpretation of the classic,dark ,gothic style mixed with conventional rock. With Ed Poon's emotional guitar lead combining with Sean's vocals UNiXX's sound is melodic post-punk.

A Roller Control ,featuring Lona Records Alok Leung on bass is a heavy,dance-friendly monster which would be a welcome addition to any indie club night.From the moment Alok's heavy ,funky bass lines blasted out,complemented by percussion and all manner of electronica ,it was time to party.

A Roller Control is a 'Disco Punk band' consisting of Alok (programming / bass / guitars), Nerve (programming / keyboard), Nadim (vocals / guitar / keyboard), K (Vocals / keyboard) and Sebastian (drums...)

The Gar were a spectacular surprise.Less well known than the more acclaimed Carsick Cars,their set was full of intricate ,rocking guitar riffs and big songs with anthemic choruses that recalled early british bands like The Stone Roses,mixed with an amazing psychedelic guitar style.What seems at first like a maelstrom of sound has lots of intricate layers and textures.

The Gar live in Hong Kong

http://myspace.cn/the2gar

Carsick Cars gained deserved recognition due to their association with Sonic Youth who nominated them as their favourite Chinese band and their set had all the excitement you could demand of an upcoming indie guitar band.

Their sound is influenced by the Velvet Underground, Suicide and Sonic Youth and is a combination of explosive guitar and stabbing rhythms.

The band consists of Jeff Shou Wang on vocals, guitar, and loops, Li Qing on percussion, and Li Weisi on bass guitar.

Carsick Cars 'Zhong Nan Hai'

http://www.myspace.com/carsickcars

Hedgehog Tour '09 Atomic Rock

Hong Kong indie fans gave the best reception to noise-pop band Hedgehog that I've witnessed on the release of their new album 'Blue Day Dreaming' at The Fringe Club.

Kicking off the show were local indie heroes Born To Hula,with Angus on bass ,Harry on guitars and vocals and June on percussion and it was interesting to see 2 bands in transition with lots of new material to try out and a marked contrast in styles.Born To Hula are still at an experimental stage,trying out new styles and ideas while Hedgehog are perfecting and extending the noise-pop that is their trademark sound.

Born To Hula play in an edgy,agitated postpunk style with angular rhythms and dark lyrics on new songs like 'Hills of Sand','New Money' and 'Stick Figures'.The band have danceable beats,shouty punk style vocals and great hooks. It looks like they have a lot of good new songs that just need to be played live a few more times till they become as danceably addictive as their older material.

Born To Hula live @ The Hedgehog Tour '09

http://myspace.com/borntohula
'Our youth is so perfect/We don't have time to waste'

One of Beijing's best bands,Hedgehog are a noise-pop trio with Z.O. on guitar and vocals,BoX on bass and the amazing Atom on drums.
The band play a spiky,rocking noise -pop ,driven by .Z.O's charismatic vocals, driving bass lines and percussion and just keep getting better in their live shows.In this set as they stormed through songs from the new album'Blue Day Dreaming' like 'In Spring' and 'Pseudomorph 'alongside old favourites like 'Noise Hit World' it was pop perfection and ecstasy for Hong Kong indie fans.

Beijing band Hedgehog Tour '09

http://newindiemusichongkong.com/

http://myspace.com/hedgehogcn

Beijing Band Retros Tour '09

http://newindiemusichongkong.com/

Beijing may have more and better bands than Hong Kong because of the comparative sizes of the two cities but it was still a great chance for local indie fans to enjoy and compare the performances of top Beijing band Retros and local indie band The Yours.Both bands have a liking for the darker side of indie but Retros have a more post-punk Gang of Four sound and The Yours are firmly in the shoegaze style of bands like The Telescopes and My Bloody Valentine.In support were The S.I.G.I.T. an Indonesian metal band playing an impressive set with lots of influences from classic rock bands like Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath. The band are just back from a US tour ,playing in California and LA and having made a strong impression on their debut at the now renowned SXSW music festival.They rocked out the packed venue with a metalcore wig-out on songs like 'Horse' ,'No Hook' and 'Alright'.

The SIGIT live @ ReTROS Tour '09


http://myspace.com/thesigit

The Yours , one of Hong Kong's best and edgiest young bands with a debut album that gained them recognition and praise in indie publications like Drowned in Sound ,their set moved the mood of the evening to a sombre shade of dark with songs like 'Hate You Hate Me'and 'Killer Killed.'This band started out with lots of shoegaze influences but now have a harder sound that's more like a mix between shoegaze,post-punk early Velvet Underground .Their moody noise ,with disaffected vocals and stabbing guitars from Jack and Nic and driving beats from Azia and Ho is the perfect soundtrack for rebellious indie fans.

The Yours live @ Fringe Club ReTROS Tour '09

http://myspace.com/theyours
Rebuilding The Rights Of Statues (Re-Tros) from Beijing see themselves as a return to the basic values from the bygone post-punk era. Hua Dong (Vox & Guitars) credits bands like Bauhaus, Joy Division, Television, and Pere Ubu among his greatest influences and this is in evidence most clearly on songs like 'Bela Lugosi's Back.' Lead vocalist Dong 's menacing,agitated style is perfectly suited to the doomy,dystopian lyrics about modern fractured life in songs like 'Surrender','My Great Location'and 'Boys in Cage' .Dong's vocals with Min's harmonies manage to make the sound both threateniing and aethereal while the songs are filled with addictive hooks and driving,heavy beats from Hui on drums.If Joy Division were reformed in 21st Century Beijing,this how they might sound.Nihilistic post-punk at its best.

ReTROS Tour '09 Hong Kong 'Girl Bye Bye'

Re-Tros has just released their debut full length album Watch Out! The Climate Has Changed Fat Mum Rises…with additional percussion and strings .

http://myspace.com/rebuildingtherightsofstatues

http://newindiemusichongkong.com

Young Knives live in Hong Kong

Go To My Site

Good to see that Hong Kong is now attracting younger indie bands from the UK to smaller,more intimate venues as well as the superstars like Oasis,Coldplay to mega-arenas.

Multi-national band Poubelle International (Trashcan International ),now resident in Hong Kong, kicked off the show with a tight,rocking set that livened up the audience before the main attraction.,UK band Young Knives.

The band,dressed in matching white T-shirts with the numbers '1','2' and '3',have a raucous ,garage band sound with a retro-60's feel and they really had the crowd moving with songs like 'School Reunion' and 'Disaster'.
Poubelle International live @ Grappa's

http://myspace.com/poubelleinternational
After touring the UK and the US,Young Knives made a welcome return to Hong Kong and Asia,having headlined the Clockenflap festival in Hong Kong last year.The band have been steadily gaining fans and critical plaudits on the back of their first two albums with a bunch of great songs and some mentoring by Gang of Four's Andy Gill.The band eschews the intensity of bands like Bloc Party or the nu-rave of Foals for a playfully serious style on favourites like 'Weekdays and Bleak Days (Hot Summer)' and "Turn Tail' and Grappa's is soon a mass of fans grooving or just leaping about wildly to their jagged ,infectious rhythms.It's an impressive set from the trio as they power their way through a set of ridiculously brilliant songs.Hong Kong promoters,more new young bands please from the UK,US,China,Japan!
Young Knives live in Hong Kong



http://theyoungknives.com/

Hong Kong Flash

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Sammy's Kitchen may not yet have the ring of CBGB's in New York but it's a welcome addition to the Hong Kong indie scene scene with just the right amount of grit and character to be a credible rock venue.There was lots of good indie on display and not one clone band in sight.On the down side there were some major problems with the sound system.
Wilson Tsang and Kung Chi Shing opened the marathon show with a fairly low-keyset featuring Tom Waits-style piano blues and violin.
Hungry Ghosts took the stage next with a disappointing set for the band and their many fans due to sound problems which continued to aanoy throughout the night,leading to numerous delays and bands appearing about an hour later than scheduled.To their frustration,the band even had to cut their set before they really got into their stride to the disappointment of the band and their many fans.
Hungry Ghosts'Chinese Families'

One of the first highlights of the night was an appearance by local britpop band Innisfallen who already have a pretty large fan base following the release of their debut album and some awesome live shows.The set showed them getting back to their best live form with some new songs and some material from their debut including 'Beautiful Soul' and 'Butterfly Effect'.
Innisfallen 'Butterfly Effect'

The show gave us a chance to see some Macau-style indie in the shape of Evade,with their cool electronica,a bit like Belle and Sebastian meets Portishead with aetherial vocals from Sonia and aetherial,complex guitar melodies from Brandon.
Evade @ HK Flash


Born to Hula provide punk-style pop which always drives audiences a litle crazy but this was their best gig I've seen ,sending the crowd into a frenzy and pleading with the band to play more and more encores after a set of punkish,hard-edged pop with some favourites like'Goner' and 'The la la song' and some new material in 'Young Pirates' and 'See Me After'. Punk with a sense of fun.
Born To Hula 'We Tigers'

Modern Children.Definitely one of the best young bands playing in Hong Kong with lead vocalist Kenneth's energetic delivery and a set of addictive songs like 'Mongolian Song' (with Mongolian lyrics) and Map dealer.They also have an Arcade Fire like addiction for adding unconventional instruments to a standard rock band set-up of guitars and drums with violin,accordion and rainbow bells.I'd love to see lots more of this unique -sounding band.

Modern Children @ HK Flash

YanYan Pang was the 'mystery guest' with her all-female band Hard Candy with some raucous garage punk and a slightly heavier tribute to Elliot Smith to finish the set.

Hard Candy @ HKFlash


Chochukmo are one of the most sought after live bands in Hong Kong with their catchy garage style indie.They come on about an hour late but with guitars blazing and no one's ready to leave as straightaway the band launch into a freaked out version of 'Caroline' followed by a crazy ,revved up 'Number One' and 'Head to Toe.' It's a kind of punkish dance crossover with lots of sweet riffs.
Chochukmo 'Head to Toe'

Hk Live @ The Fringe Club with Innisfallen,Chochukmo and Empty Tomb

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Another of the Fringe Club's Hong Kong Live events saw some alternative rock from Innisfallen,Chochukmo and Empty Tomb.Empty Tomb play jangly,melodic,wistful indie.Highlights of their set were 'This is You'and 'You'll Be Home.' It looks like they just need more gigging experience to be a very good live band.

http://www.alivenotdead.com/emptytomb

Empty Tomb @ HK Live

Chochukmo are already one of Hong Kong's best and most loved bands.Frontman Jan's vocals are soaring and ecstatic and the songs begin simply but bloom into melodic crescendos of guitar and drums.Fans were interested to see how the departure of bass player Yan Yan Pang would affect the band's sound but new bassist Regina filled that role excellently and any missing vocal harmonies were well filled by Mike Makai as the band played a raucous,exhilirating set featuring "Head to Toe' and blistering versions of 'Number One' ,'Caroline' and 'One,two ,three,four'.

The band's sound is hard to pin down and freestyle might be the best word to cover a sound that ranges from powerpop to indiepunk,songs that begin with simple melodies and then climb to ecstatic choruses ,driven by Jan's soaring vocals.The set ticked all the boxes for a great live indie band:original material played with passion and a sense of fun.Hong Kong indiefans-you must see this band live!

Chochukmo with'Number One' @ HK Live

http://www.alivenotdead.com/Chochukmo
Headlining were Innisfallen,whose well reviewed album debuted only last year but here they were after a few months break with lots of new material and getting ready to release some more new material. The band have a distinctive Britpop sound sometimes compared to Radiohead,although the sound is lighter.They opened with some new material which is a little darker than what we expect of this band and it looks like the new stuff needs to be played a few times before it becomes as addictive as songs like'Butterfly Effect'and 'Beautiful Soul'.
Innisfallen @ HK Live 'Beautiful Soul'

http://www.myspace.com/innisfallen