New Releases: WoGui de HuoChe, Dub Zen Melodist, Alpine Decline, Stand As One Compilation

Lo-fi indie goodness out of Hangzhou, kooky electronica straight out of the Beijing’s flavorful 87Fei87 label, an acoustic farewell from one of Beijing’s best acts, and an expansive punk and hardcore compilation showcasing the best in the country. Here’s the newest releases to make your own including the latest from WoGui de HuoChe, Dub Zen Melodist, Alpine Decline, and Beijing label The Real Deal.

Hangzhou indie trio, WoGui de HuoChe have prepared a hell of a welcoming party for themselves on their debut LP, Aftermath. Intricate, rich in emotion, with plenty of rock and roll gusto to spare, the band manages to avoid the many pratfalls that have caged and hindered many bands of its ilk. There’s a looseness at play here, a genuine appreciation of not only melody, but mood, and often times feels like a lo-fi bittersweet moment caught in time. And where other bands might have taken the easy route, WoGui de Huoche seem to relish those moments of uncertainty. An album I’ll likely be coming back to again and again. Xiami/Douban

Beijing cassette label 87Fei87, known for their highly palatable dance music, release their latest Skittle-flavored blast of electronica from Australian-raised Beijing-based producer Dub Zen Melodist. Combining elements of breakbeat, dub, ambient, and straight up gonzo, Frleep Flormp, is a rush of a LP – fourteen tracks of untethered bubbly electronica that’s honed in, playful, with the charm and meticulous swagger of a tweaker at the peak of his high. It’s the type of music that pop rocks were made for (or its LSD equivalent for those too cool for pop rocks). Bandcamp.

Before Alpine Decline, the euphoric indie fuzz rock outfit, formed by the husband and wife team of Jonathan and Pauline (later joined by none other than Yang Haisong on bass), checked out of Beijing this past summer, the trio gave a special farewell performance at the basement hideaway fRUITYSPACE. If that wasn’t intimate enough, it was a rare acoustic performance from the band, and it was recorded live. Quite the treat. There’s always been a vulnerability beneath all the fuzz and reverb, but here it’s front and center, allowing the lyrics to really shine through. A fitting farewell indeed, though something tells me this won’t be the last we’ll be seeing of Alpine Decline. Bandcamp.

Contrary to belief, punk and hardcore ain’t dead. Far from it. For every poser punk outfit out there, there’s one next door tearing his heart out and getting the word out there. The new compilation from new punk/hardcore label The Real Deal wants to get that point across. Stand As One is an expansive two-CD, twenty-five song ‘lay of the land’. Punk and hardcore bands from all over the country – from Wuhan (SMZB), to GaiWaEr (Chengdu), Changsha (The Last Choice), Beijing (Own Up), Shanghai (Spill Your Guts), Shenzhen (Shoot The Gun) – get their few minutes to shred and join the ranks (check out the full breakdown at UniteAsia) of what the label hopes will be a untied scene. And as you may have guessed, it’s a heck ton of fun. A little bit of something for everyone, if you have any interest in the punk and hardcore scene in China, this is a must have. Bandcamp.