24-08-21 Pre-1989 Popular Music in China

開天闢地 – 中國新音樂系列之一 = Chinese New Waves Volume 1 ・ The Window Is Opened, CD (published by Sound Sound Music Publishing Co., Ltd., 1988)

In 1988, a decade into the Reform and Opening Up period, as the local Rock music is asserting itself as an alternative popular music to the ubiquitous gangtai yinyue (‘music from Hong Kong and Taiwan’) or oumei yinyue (‘music from Europe and the US’), and a year before the radical deflection of this emergence by the events of 1989, we find this compilation being published in Hong Kong representing the state of the Mainland’s musical output. Perhaps in a move to broaden its appeal to the Hong Kong market, the material on the CD is at the lighter end things, with vocal-driven soft rock, heavy on the synths, typical of the mainstream music in that period.

However the first track on this CD is《最後一槍》, composed and sung by 崔健 Cui Jian, who in a few years would be the most famous rock musician in China, but at this moment is preparing for the release of his first album which would appear the following year. This track is certainly at the milder end of his material, but—unlike the other, rather mellifluous singers on this CD, maintains Cui’s rough vocal delivery (to be fair, 王廸 Wang Di also sings in a similar fashion on this release).

It’s also interesting to note that the CD’s second track is also a Cui composition:《一無所有》. Reportedly first performed in 1986 in Beijing, this track would later become infamous for the way it spoke to the wider social situation in China. However, that moment is still a year away, and this version is sung by the popular singer 吳小芸 Wu Xiaoyun, the track becoming a sentimental ballad whose future significance would have been impossible to predict.

More information about this release on Discogs.

24-07-16 Archive Display #3:《Exit-Entry 往來》

This is the third in a series of posts recording my efforts to organise and present my research archive of publications related to experimental music and sound art from Mainland China and Hong Kong. Today’s archive display is directly inspired by the next《Exit-Entry 往來》concert, EE04, coming up on Saturday 20 July 2024, and featuring the work of Oishi (Zheng Hao and Ren Shang), Joseph K, K Ying Wong, and 龢wo4 (Brian Chu).

《Exit-Entry 往來》is a series of events which I co-organise with Suze Chan and Brian Chu, bringing together artists from Mainland China and Hong Kong (or with a relation to those places), and inviting them to present their work in (usually) unofficial spaces.

This new display highlights publications by these artists from my archive. The listing below includes links to where they are available to listen to or buy online.

But if you would like to hear them live, then come to《Exit-Entry 往來》on Saturday! NB tickets must be purchased in advance – message our IG account for details.

[24-07-17 UPDATE: added Sun Yizhou/Zheng Hao cassette]

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A space for experimentation in Hong Kong: An interview with Leo and William about SAAL

Date of interview: 14 December 2022

SAAL logo

Introduction

SAAL is a DIY live music venue which opened in its latest location in Hong Kong’s Kwun Tong area in 2016. It was one of the few smaller-scale spaces in Hong Kong in which local experimental musicians could cut their teeth, as well as a destination for like-minded artists visiting from abroad. There aren’t many such small places for experimental performance in Hong Kong, and so SAAL (taken from the German, meaning a small hall, room, or chamber) represented an important part of the underground music scene here. In 2020 the owners, Leo and William, placed SAAL on hiatus due to the COVID-19 situation as well for various other reasons, so in this interview I wanted to ask them about the development of SAAL, what the space represented for them, for the artists that made use of it, and for Hong Kong more generally, and why they closed the space and their plans for the future. Along the way they pay tribute to their colleague Albert Leung who passed away in 2019, and why noise music in particular needs live spaces to be experienced.

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Alternatives for Performance: Interview with Nerve on the development of his performance since COVID in Hong Kong

Date of original interview: 22 October 2021; UPDATED: February 2023

Introduction

This interview with Steve Hui, aka Nerve, originally took place in October 2021, and was part of my PhD research into the live-streaming of experimental music in Hong Kong and Mainland China during the COVID-19 restrictions. Hui is an artist, educator, and co-founder of the Twenty Alpha live venue that has been situated in the Foo Tak Building in Hong Kong’s Wan Chai district since March 2018. Twenty Alpha has become one of the main venues in Hong Kong for non-mainstream music and performance generally, and with the COVID-19 restrictions became a base for broadcasting events when audiences could not be invited in. This interview reviews Hui’s approaches to performance over this period, both the broadcasts from Twenty Alpha, as well as the group and solo performances he took part in the tunnels, walkways, and trams of Hong Kong, some of which were live-streamed.

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