New Releases: The Flyx, Huzi, Zoomin\’ Night, Pinball City

Beijing punk stalwarts release their debut; electronic producer gathers some of the scene’s top collaborators, Zoomin’ Night gets down and dirty, and Shanghai’s latest garage rock outfit – it’s the hottest batch of new releases including the latest from The Flyx, Huzi, Zoomin’ Night, and Pinball City.

One of Beijing’s most consistent, prominent, and vastly underrated punk outfits The Flyx lay it all bare on their full-length debut Find Myself, a masterful assured piece of DIY Chinese punk manifesto. Kicking off with a punk rendition of Ennio Morricone’s ‘The Ecstasy of Gold’, the eleven-track album turns into a journey of social commentary on urban hardship, money worship, and other contemporary woes. What stands out is how well all the elements come together – the gritty riffs, the exacting vocals and accompanying anthemic back and forth, and most of all, the charged melodies. It may not have the slap dash dirt and grime of other punk names out there (the vocals can sound a bit overproduced at times) but they more than make for it with their relentless energy and enthusiasm and sheer musicianship. It’s downright infectious. Shake your soul loose and tear into one of the year’s best punk releases over at xiami and douban (email them at theflyxpunks1@sina.cn if like me you’re dying for a copy).

In 2014, long time producer (and Pet Conspiracy guitarist) Huzi gathered some of the electronic scene’s top-notch artists for Island. Recorded in Phuket, Thailand over forty days with artists such as Edo (Pet Conspiracy drummer), Tian Peng (Supermarket), Liu Min (Re-TROS), DJ Diva (who also provides her ethereal voice on her track), Kino, and Yige (Huzi’s one-year-old son) the six-track album is a collaborative project in the truest sense. And a damn fine one too. Some serious tropical vibes filtered through Modern Sky’s elite electronic forerunners. An album to soak in and let wash over you, it’s a wavelength that you’re either ready to ride out or not. Count me in. Dig into the lush soundscapes over at xiami and pick up the album over at Modernsky.

We may not have seen a Zoomin’ Night, the experimental night series that became a safe haven for many of Beijing’s more offbeat artists, in some while now, but that doesn’t mean the team behind it, including Zhu Wenbo, have thrown the towel in yet. After a successful run of sessions held in an underpass (which received some love recently) the brand has been sneakily putting out cassette tapes. Their latest comes from a live XP (RIP) recording back in May featuring a host of regulars collaborating (if that’s what you can call this) including Wang Ziheng on tenor sax, Zhu Wenbo on alt sax and ‘metal tube’, Ding Chenchen and Yu Yiyi on electronics and more ‘metal’, and finally Josh Feola on drums and percussion. It’s a hefty improv session, one that surprisingly doesn’t spiral completely out of control in its fifty minute marathon (at least by Zoomin Night standards). Impressive feat there —- join in on the madness over at bandcamp.

Shanghai is playing host to a horde of new comers on the scene including Pinball City, a bluesy garage rock outfit whose been working the rock circuit for the past year. The result: a 10’’ EP vinyl entitled Drunken Boats, chock full of aggressive, rugged rock and roll that, while not reinventing the wheel, wields plenty of attitude and talent. From the harmonica-infused blues punk of ‘Tecumseh’ to the down and out blitz of the title track, there’s a brash bone in these lads that’s dying to be heard. Check out the band’s debut EP over at bandcamp.