New Releases: The Chinos, Damacha, Chinese Football Compilation, Yue Xuan

Beautiful piano arrangements to get lost in, an ethereal electronic journey, britpop schmaltz via Wuhan, and a band’s righteous thank you by way of compilation – it’s the latest batch of releases to dip into. Here’s the newest from Yue Xuan, Damacha, The Chinos, and Chinese Football.

Born and raised in Changsha, Hunan, Yue Xuan began playing the piano at age 6. Since then Yue Xuan has become one of the most well known composers in both the TV and film industry as well as the underground electronic music scene. In & Out, her release from the end of 2015, finds the artist in her element, creating lush, delicate, and emotionally charged compositions that cleanses the palette. Melancholic and bittersweet, with a sincere fluidity fostering over the fourteen tracks, it’s the perfect soul purifier. Highly recommend. Spin it over on xiami and douban.

In the last quarter of 2015, Wuhan indie emo rock quartet and indie darlings of the year, Chinese Football, went on their first national tour to promote their much acclaimed debut album. And being the swell lads they are, they’ve found a way to thank the host of bands they met and played with along the way, with a raging, kick ass compilation entitled Come Together!. Fourteen bands as well as a cover of the Beatles hit from Chinese Football themselves – it’s a hell of a comprehensive listen of the indie musical landscape through the eyes of one of last year’s biggest surprises. Lots of new names, lots of new sounds that I’m certain we’ll be hearing from in the upcoming year. Bandcamp it up.

Shanghai-based electronic producer Damacha continues impressing on his latest release, 3E3240, supposedly inspired by the his travels and the ‘death of a young black labrador named purple.’ Muses aside, the six track album once again finds the artist, known for his inventive, sophisticated, and most importantly, subtle incorporation of Chinese samples and experimental hip hop instrumentals, finding new ground, creating a lavish, layered, transfixing piece of electronica that is chock full of sentiment. The type of album that spreads good vibes up and down your body. Dope indeed. Can’t wait to see where Damacha takes his sound to next. Bandcamp it up.

Britpop continues manifesting itself across China’s musical landscape in the sophomore release from Wuhan indie pop outfit The Chincos. The band, which emerged eight years ago, recently resurfaced under Modern Sky and the result of that union is Until the Break of Dawn, a showy, overstuffed, ultimately unsatisfying mixed bag of tricks. While the band claims that their album was influenced by classical Western literature, lyrically there isn’t much to offer. And while there are elements of neo-folk and psychedelia that manages to separate the band’s sound from most britpop outfits, these features and the array of ‘exotic’ instruments on hand never quite elevate the material and instead fells out of place. Granted, I’m not the audience here, and there’s no denying the talent displayed here, but as the singer tosses aside in ‘Maniac’s Lullaby’, ‘We are all so pretentious’. Couldn’t have said it better. Rip into it on xiami.