LBM Flashback: Zuoxiao Zuzhou

The other day I posted about The Last Three Minute’s performance at XP – the sum of which whereas I admired their talent and was more so intrigued by their offbeat singing. And then it hit me – it completely reminded me of Zuoxiao Zuzhou – who’s almost emotionless off key singing has always fascinated me to no end. It’s almost Zen-like. Here’s him singing “正宗” at the 2010 Tanglewood Music Festival outside of the city – you’ll get my meaning.

Just one of many festivals that year that tried to come out on top – beautiful setting, but beyond that (and stalking Damon Dash all day) not much else to write home about compared to the big three. But Zuoxiao Zuzhou, whom I’ve seen twice or trice times is a constant wonderment to me. The man is really an artist in the fullest sense – starting his career in the early nineties as a punk rock leader for NO, jumping back and forth from novelist, poet, sculptor, photography, and pioneer of an avant-grade art collective in Beijing’s East Village, where he became good friends with Ai Weiwei. There’s a whole backstory to the cult-hero like figure that I had no idea about before I started doing a little research. Here’s a fighter for sure, not minding stepping on toes here and there, and an ironic, sharp, clever, deeply intimate wordsmith on stage. Oh, and here’s what his latest album art looked like – yup, this guy is pretty ace.

Read more about the legend here, here, and here – that last piece from Norient.com is especially insightful, providing lots of translations of his lyrics and commentary. Some intriguing stuff. Or jump over to his homepage. Here’s a music video for “像孩子似的倾听”

Knows how to wear a hat too.