Yu Quan
This is proof that Cfensi is increasingly not the best place to keep up with alternatives to Cpop. I came to this sad sad realization when I discovered that these guys had released new albums, and I didn’t know about it even though they’re all mainstream. Instead I entreat you to join More CMusic at livejournal to keep more up-to-date.
Yang Kun -Kong Cheng
First up are the guys under Hua Yi entertainment. The duo Yuan Quan is going strong still after 10 years, releasing a new album, their first in three years. Hua Yi’s new singer-songwriter Yang Kun‘s album was released a month ago, and I kept seeing all these news articles about him promoting it, and still didn’t realize that it had been released. Hua Yi seems to be pumping out the albums one per month. I wonder who’s next. *coughs*
Wang Xiaokun‘s album also came out a short while ago. He’s used to be more mainstream and now I think he’s turned indie. Listen to his album, Those girls you like or don’t like, I like them all.
Wang Feng who used to be under Warner Music, and has a discography bigger than as Yuan Quan, released his new album on the 25th. It’s called Belief flies in the Wind. He is supposedly dubbed, “godfather of the new generation of Chinese rock music” (I guess Cui Jian’s been replaced), a tidbit also from More Chinese Music, which you really should join.
List to it here.
Oh, and because I think they’re cool:
Thirteen Month Record’s Folk Group Shan Ren Yue Dui is joining Jie Jie Gao Sheng, the show that gives a platform to new artists! I think Thirteen Month Record has some sort of hook-up with that show.
@idarklight
Oh yeah…I forgot about Age of Water and Wood too. I totally suck. Their MV was very pretty.
@Suzy…
thanks for keeping More Cmusic pretty ‘
…although I wish more people viewed this post…there really weren’t as for the pop posts. It makes me sad.
Waha, what a plug! Thanks cfensi.
@A. The 2 techno type songs on Wang Xiao Kun’s album are the 1st I’ve heard him do. He does so many styles well and has no major label trying to pin him to a genre or target market so I think he tries to do what interests him. Before his album came out he got a little hassle for releasing 2 ballads back to back from fans of his more indie rock style songs.
Actually, I’ve read that the title of his new album, Those Girls You Like or Don’t Like, I Like Them All is a kind of metaphor for his view towards music. While people like this or that type of girl or this or that type of music, he simply likes music… without qualifications.
@cfensi: Actually, they do have some indie on YesAsia, but not much. I got Milk@Coffee’s latest album (which is not in stock anymore), and they’re under Modern Sky. I’ve also gotten sodagreen and Mrs. This albums from them. It seems that the ones that make it on YesAsia are the ones that have been nominated for/won awards and are relatively popular, but under indie labels.
Yeah, LOL, I haven’t really kept up with Chinese music for a while [I used to, but it succumbed back to dramas recently with me racing through to like episode 34 already on CP 3]. But, I did downoad Wang Xiaokun’s new album – I just haven’t had time to really listen to it all through in a sit-down. Though I did know about Yu Quan releasing a new album – I checked 1ting.com regularly but it’s difficult to download off of there and I have to wait till the stuff is uploaded onto chinamp3.com.
Even though I haven’t listened to all of Wang Xiaokun’s album, I’ve heard some tracks of it, and while there are some tracks that lean more indie, but some are like… electronically influenced-ish. Not familiar with his other albums [I’m still in the middle of trying out new artists, and Wang Xiaokun was one that I found recently], but does he usually do that kind of stuff?
@shoups
Shui Mu Nian Hua has recently released an EP/album, too. They’re a bit more indie since they they releases their albums themselves…but not really. They released Wang Zheng’s last album, and did some really nice composing in it.
love yuquan
水木年华(shui mu nian hua) are also very good to listen to too
Focus isn’t a bad thing, haha, especially when dealing with a place as huge as China. It’s great enough that you throw the occasional nod to the not-pop scene, for those of us that aren’t all that fond of LiveJournal.
Yu Quan and Yang Kun are pretty much alt-rock from what I’ve heard, and I think Wang Feng is more accurately just rock or perhaps indie-rock, but I’d say Wang Xiaokun now qualifies as indie, even if he did start on a major label. And yeah, Cui Jian is just the father of rock in China (and a grumpy one at that, apparently? I don’t keep up with his interviews or such), and is definitely now oldschool.
What with all this rock, I just realized that I totally missed Carsick Cars’ second album way back a month ago. I’m such a moron…
Well, none of these are really indie, just not pop. Yu Quan and Yang Kun are both under Hua Yi; there is no way they can be called indie.
Shan Ren Band is under Thirteenth Month Record, which isn’t as big as Hua Yi, but they have a lot of pull, and I wouldn’t call them indie either. They’ve even managed to put out their artists on YesAsia. (thanks for the tip hobielover! I did not know I could buy Xie Tian Xiao from there! Heh…what else do I not know???).
Wang Feng and Wang Xiaokun used to be on major labels…and their releases got a lot of buzz. Apart from Shan Ren Band which is really new, all of them got a lot of press when they released their albums, which is why I’m so shocked that I didn’t realize Yang Kun released something a month ago, especially since he’s been promoting non-stop since….what is wrong with me? He’s not really a fav or anything though.
There’s a lot more real indie bands, unsigned indie and indie signed to indie labels. Check the More CMusic link…you have to join to see all the posts though. Much more up-to-date than me, especially when I can’t even keep track of anything that’s not pop anymore. *sigh*
This is why i love this blog, haha! I’m a little more educated in Taiwanese indie music than China Mainland. These guys are really good<3
Shan Ren Yue Dui sounds really interesting. Is that a yueqin? And they have an album on YesAsia, which was apparently released this month. I wish I’d known about this before I ordered stuff, but I’m adding it to my wishlist for next time.
I would say the label sounds about right. Cui Jian definitely seems as if from another generation, and his grumpy insults towards the new generation of artists highlight that fact…he does it so often. He was a bit quieter during the directing of Chengdu I love you, but then right after he finished filming, there was a new article with some statement he made. They amuse me though.
Wang Feng isn’t quite new either, but anyone newer probably doesn’t deserve such a title just yet.
This post is SO MUCH LOVE. The folk group pretty awesome; I’ll be looking them up.
Vaguely annoyed that they called Wang Feng the godfather of newgen, but I guess Cui Jian is starting to seem a bit oldschool? But Wang Feng isn’t exactly “newgen” either…
I was pretty happy to hear Wang Xiaokun go indie back a few months ago, though I wondered if he was doing it for money or something. His new sound is a good show that it probably was creative differences, so good for him.