Pale Air淡色艾尔, Milk Guard奶盖儿, PussyEyes – Yuyintang 育音堂 2024.1.14
Shoegaze once again worms its way into our hearts last Sunday as we invited a trio of acts to offer soliloquies for this most frustrating winter. There’s something wonderful about the shoegaze and dream pop scene’s hold on the Chinese music scene – they’re genres that seem to strike deep into the hearts of listeners – via their reverb-soaked melodies, ethereal vocals, and psychedelic radiance, plunging us into the recesses of our dreams.
The evening saw the return of Shanghai stalwarts Pale Air – the young band that has been holding the shoegaze torch for over five years now. Deftly delicate one minute and wildly turbulent the next – the band were in great form – ‘Death Valley’ remains one of my favorite tracks. We all need more Pale Air in our lives right now.
PussyEyes might just be LiveChinaMusic’s good luck charm at this point. Besides crafting some of the most lush intoxicatingly beautiful posters for our shows, artist Chuan Xi is a mesmerizing singer – one who taps into a sensual yet empowering groove that follow its own muse.
Last but not least, MilkGuard, out of Nanjing, and made up of university students, put on one of the best (Shanghai) debuts I’ve seen in some time. The amount of ideas weaved into their sound is staggering – with each song bringing something new to the table. Their cover of Kinoko Teikoku’s Ashikubi (蘑菇帝国 ‘足首’) was downright haunting – the perfect footnote to an amazing night that certainly left an impression on audiences. Can’t wait to see where they go from here.
Thanks once again to Yuyintang, to the bands, and the audiences for a spectacular evening.
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