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

Pg.Lost live @ Hangout

PG.Lost live in Hong Kong with Fragile was not the apocalyptic,earshattering event I expected but an evening full of beautiful postrock melodies which left us all with warm,fuzzy feelings.

In fact the band are much closer in a melodic sense to Explosions in the Sky than to Mogwai and in this show they were perfectly matched in melodic intent with local band Fragile,who were playing a farewell gig before disbanding or at least taking a long break..

For those of us who think there are far too many bands in every indie genre and not enough postrock bands that's a loss.In fact the band played with a kind of passion and intensity that made their aethereal  postrock harmonies  linger in the memory  like a dazzling sonic pyrotechnic display.
Fragile's unique debut and farewell album 'White Shadows' is available from whitenoise records.whitenoiserecords hong kong 
Ode to Joy
PG.Lost may not be as well known as more established postrock bands like Mogwai or Explosions in the Sky but they are fast gaining admirers outside of their native Sweden on the strength of their two albums and great live sets.In fact they seemed overwhelmed by the reaction of the crowd who refused to leave until they had played 3 encores.This postrock band from Sweden should soon have a worldwide following on the strength of their live shows. 


Pg.lost on myspace

PG.lost album 'in Never Out' is also available from whitenoiserecords.

Hong Kong post rock : keep the fragile flame burning brightly

Hidden Agenda :Fragile Album Release Party

Performing bands

Fragile (Hong Kong) Post Rock

No One Remains Virgin (Hong Kong) Indie Alternative

LasDawn (Guangzhou) Post Rock

Just like beautiful diamonds shining brightly in the dark....
Hidden Agenda was more packed on Saturday than I've seen the venue for a long time.
Why?
It was the release party for local postrock heroes Fragile's debut album and the band are one of Hong Kong's best live bands in that genre.
I reached the mysteriously inaccessible venue and ascended by its Victorian lift just in time  to catch  the end of Lasdawn's set which had some great tunes of the kind popularised by bands like God is an Astronaut. and then settled down to decipher the more opaque sounds of No One Remains Virgin,a style of post rock more like Canadian postrockers GodSpeedYouBlackEmperor.


There was a real buzz of excitement when headliners Fragile took to the stage to debut songs from their album 'White Shadows'
Fragile is a 6-piece post-rock outfit who  create atmospheric postrock  music that moves and elevates  you with its epic ,cinematic beauty. Formed in Hong Kong in the summer of 2006, as a dreampop outfit, Fragile has since changed lineup and played numerous regional shows as well as some shows in other cities in China including Guangzhou, Shanghai, Suzhou and Macau
The band are Jacqueline, Sing (guitars), Tat (bass), Ho (drums), Kimberley (keyboard) and (intriguingly) Mono (laptop).
The band's sound is based around the delicate,shimmering guitars of Jacqueline and Sing and haunting keyboard melodies of Kimberley playing classic postrock with songs building slowly from keyboard and guitar based melodies spiralling into full power ,ear-splitting climaxes conveying emotions ranging from deep melancholy to exstatic joy.
Fragile are also playing support for Swedish postrock outfit PG Lost on 1st Oct @ Hidden Agenda.Postrock fans can buy a special price ticket for this show and local postrockers Elf fatima in support of mainland bands Ovum and Hualun on 2/10 

Fragile on Myspace

Manchester comes to Hong Kong-Two Door Cinema Club and Delphic live

Indie music fans in Hong Kong had a chance to check out two of the newest and hottest upcoming indie bands when Two Door Cinema Club and Delphic played a show @ the Rotunda Hong Kong and it's another sign that the city is slowly becoming a stage for new as well as more established indie acts.
In fact  the evening began in avery low -key fashion.having arrived at least 2 hours early,we were surprised to see that so few fans had turned out to see the bands ,voted among the best of new UK acts by NME, in comparison to the crowds  for Kings of Convenience, the last  indie international act to play this venue and we looked around dispiritedly at the empty spaces as we waited for the show,wondering what the band would make of such a lukewarm reception.
Of course we didn't need to worry.By the end of the evening the small quiet crowd had grown and erupted into a mass of noisy Two Door Cinema Club fans loudly demanding at least one more encore from the band.
The evening had a distinctly retro feel with both bands indebted to both the Manchester sound of bands like The Stone Roses and Happy Mondays who blended indie,psychedelia and dance fusing dance beats with jangly guitars and this was compounded by local outfit Pixeltoy's set which included a dancedup version of Joy Division's 'Love Will Tear Us Apart' and intensifying with TDCC's compatriots Delphic,who've been compared to  New Order as well as The Chemical Brothers.
Both UK bands are creating a great buzz and it's easy to see why with their accessible beats,catchy hooks and great live sets.
Delphic overcome some sound problems to deliver an energetic set with songs from their debut 'Acolyte' including the show stopping 'Counterpoint' and an 8 minute plus version of the title track 'Acolyte' from their debut album out now.


Delphic 'This Momentary' live in Hong Kong



Two Door Cinema Club adroitly bridge the gap between pop,artrock and dance in instantly memorable tunes like 'Cigarettes in the Theatre' ,'Do You Want it All ' and 'This is the Life'.
If you only buy (or download) one new UK album this year 'Tourist History ' is a must and the band's live shows are also excepional.TDCC  are a bunch of thoroughly nice,down-to-earth and hugely talented guys who seemed to be overwhelmed by the reception from the crowd but they shouldn't have been.They are that good.
      Two Door Cinema Club 'Undercover Martyn'

Hong Kong's indie music scene-10 (Itta +Marqido) @ Videotage

Videotage is one of Hong Kong's main locales for experimental,cutting-edge  indie music and 10 (Itta x Marqido) are a perfect band for the venue with their quirky soundscapes and hitec-lowtec mix.
The Japanese/Korean duo were invited back to Hong Kong by Videotage to celebrate their Open Jams series ,open to anyone who is interested in experimental music and what they gave us was well,experimental,crazy and also quite a lot of fun.Maqido is a Japanese experimental artist who is more at home with a laptop than a guitar while Itta is more fascinated by noise whether it's created by melodica,keytar,children's toys or simply the human voice.

Itta the Korean vocalist takes the lead here with her stage moves and keytar and kids' toys playing but it's her vocals that really make an impression ,ranging from aethereal harmony to elemental yell.The effect is a bit like listening to 'Tomorrow Never Knows' recorded by Syd Barrett era Pink Floyd with a bit of My Bloody Valentine thrown into the mix.Unsurprisingly,the band have been described as both 'alluring' and 'bizarre'.Ok bizarre but never boring and the small crowd who turned out were rewarded with an unforgettable evening of intriguing ,noisy fun.Thank you Videotage,Paul Yip and all who helped give us this much joy on a weekday evening.



http://www.myspace.com/weare10

Hong Kong indie music's Hidden Agenda-Unixx ,Fragile ,An IdSignal

Hong Kong's alternative music scene has a Hidden Agenda.Well away from the bright lights and expat-friendly areas like Central and Wanchai and surrounded by industrial buildings in the heart of Kowloon ,you can find this venue, a great place for local music fans and visitors alike to check out the authentic Hong Kong scene.
Last week we had Lonely China Day, a Beijing post rock outfit who've played at SXSW and other US festivals.This week it was the venue for the last gig in local shoegaze band Unixx's album release tour for their new album,'Seven Deadly Sins'.
Opening act was one of Hong Kong's most distinctive indie bands, an IdSignal.The band are
Leung Wing Lai (vocals), Chan Ho Nam (guitar), So Wai Ting (Bass) and Yu Sing Yin (drums),
The sound is like a crazy mixture of retro cantonese pop and garage with a unique delivery from  laid -back frontman Wing Lai.If you haven't yet seen this band you can still check out their album (with English translation handily provided).  
The bad news for Hong Kong postrock fans is that there are not enough bands playing in that style compared to other genres like metal, emo, britpop etc but the few bands here are excellent including Fragile.The band are Jacqueline, Sing (guitars), Tat (bass), Ho (drums), Kimberley (keyboard) and (intriguingly) software from Mono @ No One Remains Virgin (?).
Some classic postrock with songs building slowly from keyboard and guitar based melodies spiralling into full power ,ear-splitting climaxes.

The production and songwriting on Unixx second albums see them confidently expanding the garagey shoegaze sound of their first album into a format that owes more to postpunk and Noisepop and is much richer and more satisfying.on songs like 'Perfect Betrayer', 'Wasted' and the title track 'Seven Deadly Sins'.
On this showing the band have improved dramatically over the last year and are well worth checking out live with their full on wall of guitar shoegazey sound.There's a heavy ,introverted edge to the sound which reminds me of bands like Joy Division and Bauhaus.The new album 'Seven Deadly Sins ' is available in Whitenoiserecords,Causeway Bay.
Unixx (encore)'I Wanna Be Adored'




Hidden Agenda's next show  on 13th June will feature The Medullary Paralysis.

Asian beat-Kashiwa Daisuke, Desktop Error and Evade live in Hong Kong

Link to this blog

The Hong Kong indie music scene is healthy and just keeps growing in terms of new bands, venues and promoters.On Saturday we had at least 5 great shows to choose from (and even some others that were not as well publicised). Ok, Timeout looked good as did the Harbour records show.On the other hand there was Hidden Agenda with Reflector and The Lovesong and an Underground show in Rockschool.
Passing by all these very tempting but more obvious attractions, I headed for what looked like the most intriguing show, the Whitenoiserecords 'Movie-tone' with melodic local electro beat outfit Evade, Desktop Error, a shoegazy postrock outfit from Thailand and experimental but highly danceable Japanese electronica from the incredibly talented Kashiwa Daisuke.
First on stage @ HKICC were local band Evade with a mix of beautiful vocals and chilled out beats.The band are Sonia, Brandon, Yu Faye Jason and Miguel.
They formed in Macau on August 2004 and have been building their reputation since then, blending great tunes and beautiful vocals with complex dance beats.
http://myspace.com/evademacau
Desktop Error are a bright and energetic young band who grabbed the audience 's attention as soon as guitarist Bird struck up the opening chords of' Ticket to Home 'on his thai styled guitar.The band are inventive, energetic and fun and it was easy to see why they are hard to categorize but great to watch live.The sound is a mixtureof heavy, fuzzy guitar and beautiful melodies on songs like 'Tuk Tuk Wan', 'To Dream' and 'Illusionary Image', all played with high energy, and at the end of their set a more intimate moment when vocalist Lek invited us all to set in a circle with the band for some acoustic versions.
The band's sound is difficult to describe having influences from thai folk music, shoegaze and postrock but well worth checking out live.Sounds like M83 meets God is an Astronaut.
http://www.myspace.com/desktoperror
Kashiwa Daisuke may be influenced by progressive rock, but on '5 Dec 'and' Program Music 'the sounds are more experimental than that tag suggests. In any case he obviously decided to air his more danceable side, playing with a VJ and syncopating his mesmerisingly convolutesd electro beats with a psychedelic backdrop.
Despite my aversion to programmed beats (keep percussion live!) I must admit his set was pretty special. Thanks to Gary Ieong and Whitenoiserecords for bringing us an amazing show!
http://www.myspace.com/kashiwadaisuke




If you didn't make it to this show you can find all the bands' albums @ whitenoiserecords, Causeway Bay.
http://www.whitenoiserecords.org/

Desktop Error ' Ticket To Home ' live in Hong Kong

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