SINOTRONICS AT
WORLDTRONICS 2012
Date:
Location:
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SINOTRONICS - MODERN CHINA IS TOO COMPLICATED
CURATED BY MARKUS M SCHNEIDER
WITH WHITE+ (BEIJING), DEAD J & DORA S. (BEIJING/SHANGHAI), DUCK FIGHT GOOSE (SHANGHAI), DEAD J & PHILLIP SOLLMANN (BEIJING/BERLIN), WHITE GOOSE (BEIJING/SHANGHAI), YAN YULONG (BEIJING),
CHOI SAI-HO (HONG KONG)
ABOUT WORLDTRONICS
GERMAN’S DE-BUG MAGAZINE WROTE: “IN RECENT YEARS, THE WORLDTRONICS FESTIVAL HAS BROUGHT DIVERSE AND UNUSUAL STYLES OF ELECTRONIC MUSIC FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD TO BERLIN AND HAS SUCCEEDED IN CREATING A MUCH-SOUGHT-AFTER ALTERNATIVE IN THE DAY-TO-DAY PARTY SCENE.“
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THE SINOTRONICS NIGHT AT THE WORLDTRONICS 2012 FESTIVAL BRINGS CHINESE MUSICIANS FROM DIFFERENT CITIES AND DIFFERENT CONTEXTS, FROM THE LIVE EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC SCENE AND THE STUDIO-BASED ELECTRONIC MUSIC SCENE TO BERLIN.
THE HISTORY OF ELECTRONIC MUSIC CULTURE IN CHINA JUST STARTED. CHINA AND IN PARTICULAR BEIJING HAVE BEEN DOMINATED BY ROCK MUSIC SINCE THE OPENING OF CHINA TOWARDS THE WEST WHICH FOR THE FIRST TIME AFTER 1949 ALLOWED THE IMPORT OF WESTERN MUSIC CULTURE. THE IMPORTANCE OF ROCK AND PUNK MUSI AS AN OPEN SPACE FOR A PERSONAL VOICE REMAINS PRESENT, NEEDED AND DOMINATING. NEVERTHELESS EXACTLY THERE SOME OF THE ESSENTIAL ROOTS OF THE CURRENT ELECTRONIC MUSIC SCENES CAN BE FOUND. WITH SINOTRONICS WE INTEND TO MAKE VISIBLE WHAT THE SMALL SCENE CONSISTS OF: THE BACKGROUND OF POST ROCK, POST PUNK LEADING INTO AN PERFORMANCE ORIENTED EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC AND NOISE SCENE AND THE MORE INDIVIDUALLY OPERATING PROTAGONISTS OF A STUDIO-BASED ELECTRONIC MUSIC SCENE, OFTEN CLOSELY CONNECTED TO OTHER CREATIVE DISCIPLINES, SUCH AS CONTEMPORARY ART, FASHION AND DESIGN OR INVOLVED IN CROSS-DISCIPLINARY WORKS AND PROJECTS.
THE LACK OF VENUES FOR ELECTRONIC MUSIC CULTURE LETS MANY OF THEIR ARTISTS REMAIN HIDDEN AND UNHEARD. ONLY IN RECENT YEARS SPACES LIKE
XP MUSIC CLUB (THE SUCCESSOR OF D-22) AND ZAJIA LAB IN BEIJING OPENED UP, OFFERING ELECTRONIC AND EXPERIMENTAL MUSICIANS TO PERFORM ON A REGULAR BASE AND TO FIND AND DEVELOP THEIR AUDIENCE. DESPITE THE RELATIVELY SMALL SIZE OF THE SCENE, THIS TAKES PLACE IN VERY DIVERSE, DYNAMIC AND VIVID WAYS & FORMATS. METROWAVES AS A INDEPENDENT PLATFORM FOR ELECTRONIC MUSIC, AIMS TO BE PART OF THIS DYNAMIC DEVELOPMENT.
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WHITE+ [ZHANG SHOUWANG (LIVE ELECTRONIC) & WANG XU (DRUMS)] PROBABLY DO REPRESENT BEIJING'S DIVERSE AND VIVID EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC SCENE THE BEST. COMING FROM A POST-ROCK BACKGROUND, WHITE+ ARE GENERATING THE NEW ELECTRIFIED SOUND OF BEIJING'S SUBCULTURAL LIFESTYLE. THEIR MUSIC FLAUNTS SOME BRILLIANT SPARKS AS IT REFLECTS THE DUO'S MINIMALIST TASTE. DELICATE MELODIC AND SONIC STRUCTURES, GENERATED BY SYNTHESIZER SOUNDS, PADS AND ZHANG SHOUWANGS ALIENATED VOICE ARE EMBEDDED INTO THE CLEAR RHYTHMIC STRUCTURE OF THE DRIVING ANALOG DRUMS.
ONE OF THEIR FANS DESCRIBED THEIR LIVE SHOWS AS “A DETAILED AND ACCURATE CELL DIVISION, WHEREAS ANOTHER FAN DESCRIBED THEIR LIVE SHOWS AS "KRAUTROCK ON ACID". THOUGH THEIR CURRENT ALBUM HAS BEEN PRODUCED IN BERLIN THEY NEVER PERFORMED IN EUROPE UNTIL NOW.
ZHANG SHOUWANG OF WHITE+ IS THE FRONTMAN OF ONE OF CHINA'S MOST INFLUENTIAL BANDS, CARSICKCARS.
HTTP://SITE.DOUBAN.COM/WHITEPLUS/
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DEAD J IS THE ALIAS FOR THE BEIJING-BASED MUSICIAN SHAO YANPENG, A KEY FIGURE IN THE CHINESE ELECTRONIC MUSIC SCENE. HE IS A SOUND DESIGNER (PAVILLON OF FUTURE / SHANGHAI EXPO), CREATOR OF AWARD-WINNING ALBUMS AND COMPOSER OF FILM AND THEATER SOUND TRACKS. DEAD J HAS BEEN EXPLORING THE MULTIPLE OPTIONS OF ABSTRACT AND MINIMALIST SOUND FOR NEARLY A DECADE. HIS MUSIC BLENDS TRADITIONAL MINIMALISM WITH SPHERICAL MELODIES AND A MULTIPLICITY OF SOUND FRAGMENTS. DEAD J WILL PERFORM WITH THE VISUAL ARTIST DORA.S.
DEAD J WORKS ON THE PROMOTION OF ELECTRONIC MUSIC CULTURE IN CHINA. HE FILMED AND PRODUCED THE DOCUMENTARY FILM “DATE” BASED ON PROTAGONISTS OF THE ELECTRONIC MUSIC SCENE OF BERLIN DURING 2009. THE FILM IS SHOWCASING PROFOUND CONVERSATIONS WITH 8 MUSICIANS, VISUAL ARTISTS AND LABEL FOUNDERS INCLUDING RENOWN ARTISTS SUCH AS MONOLAKE, JAN JELINEK, MANUEL GÖTSCHING, STEFAN BETKE AND THOMAS FEHLMANN. HIS FILM REMAINS THE ONLY DOCUMENTARY ON GERMAN ELECTRONIC MUSIC CULTURE MADE BY A CHINESE FILMMAKER UP TO NOW.
THE SHANGHAI-BASED BAND PROJECT DUCK FIGHT GOOSE WAS FORMED IN 2009 BY HAN HAN, 33, PANDA AND DA MEN. THEIR MUSIC IS HEAVILY INFLUENCED BY MODERN MATH ROCK AND NEO-PSYCHEDELIC BANDS WITH A VERY STRONG PRESENCE OF ELECTRONIC MUSIC TOOLS AND INSTRUMENTS. HOWEVER IT SEEMS POINTLESS TO TAG THEIR MUSIC INTO A SPECIFIC GENRE. DUCK FIGHT GOOSE TEND TO USE AND PERFORM MULTI‐INSTRUMENTS TO CREATE THE UNIQUE SOUND SPACE OF THEIR OWN, DESCRIBING A DARK IMAGE OF CITIES, SPORTS, FUTURE AND MORE. DUCK FIGHT GOOSE WILL PERFORM FOR THE FIRST TIME WITH LIVE VISUALS FOR THE SINOTRONICS NIGHT AT WORLDTRONICS 2012.
HAN HAN'S IMPROVISED SOLO PERFORMANCES ARE REFLECTING THE SPECIFIC PERFORMANCE CULTURE OF CHINA'S ACTUAL POST ROCK AND EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC SCENE. USING SOLELY A FEW BASIC SAMPLES AND A GUITAR PLUS AN ARRAY OF EFFECT PEDALS, HE TURNS THE TYPICAL INSTRUMENTATION OF A LIVE ROCK PERFORMANCE ENVIRONMENT INTO AN DEEP AND SPHERICAL ELECTRONIC SOUNDSCAPE. IN SO DOING, THE MUSICAL OUTCOME COULD BE CHARACTERIZED AS THE SOUND OF AN IMPROVISED MELODIC NOISE TECHNO, WHO'S TONE IS RATHER DEEP THAN HARSH.
HTTP://SITE.DOUBAN.COM/DUCKFIGHTGOOSE/
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YAN YULONG IS A BEIJING-BASED MULTI-INSTRUMENTALIST. YAN HAS PERFORMED IN MANY INFORMAL BANDS AND ONE-OFF COLLABORATIONS CENTERED AROUND THE WEEKLY "ZOOMIN' NIGHT" EXPERIMENTAL MUSIC SERIES, WHICH BEGAN IN AUGUST 2009 AT BEIJING'S D-22.
YAN'S SOLO ELECTRIC VIOLA WORK CONSISTS OF DENSE, RICHLY TONAL DRONES LAYERED UNDER SPORADIC ARPEGGIOS AND ASYNCHRONOUS BURSTS THAT BETRAY HIS APPRECIATION FOR PHILIP GLASS AND STEVE REICH.
HTTP://SITE.DOUBAN.COM/XIAOLONG/
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NEXT TO ITS GERMAN AND EUROPEAN PREMIERES, SINOTRONICS COMES WITH TWO EXCLUSIVE COLLABORATIVE PROJECTS.
FOR THE FIRST TIME ZHANG SHOUWANG FROM WHITE+, YAN YULONG AND HAN HAN AKA GOOOOOSE FROM DUCK FIGHT GOOSE JOIN TO PERFORM AS 'WHITE GOOSE' LIVE ON STAGE. THREE OF THE KEY FIGURES IN CHINA'S ELECTRONIC AND EXPERIMENTAL LIVE PERFORMANCE MUSIC SCENE FROM BEIJING AND SHANGHAI ARE GOING TO FORM AN AD-HOC SUPERGROUP OF CHINESE LIVE ELECTRONICA.
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A SECOND WORLD PREMIÈRE AT WORLDTRONICS 2012 IS THE COLLABORATION OF DEAD J (SHAO YANPENG) & PHILLIP SOLLMANN (EFDEMIN). SHAO YANPENG AND PHILLIP SOLLMANN MET DURING THE TWO STAYS OF PHILLIP SOLLMANN IN CHINA AND SHAO YANPENG'S STAYS IN BERLIN. FOR THE WORLDTRONICS 2012 FESTIVAL THEY DEVELOPED A MUTUAL A SOUND INSTALLATION.
HTTP://OSTGUT.DE/BOOKING/ARTIST/EFDEMIN
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THE HONG KONG-BASED ARTIST CHOI SAI-HO COMPLETES THE LINE-UP. CHOI SAI HO IS THE MULTIFACETED KEY FIGURE OF THE ELECTRONIC MUSIC SCENE IN HONG KONG, ISOLATED FROM THE MUSIC SCENE IN MAINLAND CHINA. “ELECTRONIC MUSIC ORIGINATED IN WESTERN SOCIETY AND I TRY TO MIX IT WITH MY OWN CULTURAL ROOTS”, EXPLAINS CHOI SAI-HO. THE 29-YEAR-OLD MUSICIAN FROM HONG KONG USES A RANGE OF INSTRUMENTS, FROM THE CLASSIC VIOLIN TO THE NINTENDO GAME BOY. AND THAT’S HOW HIS MUSIC SOUNDS: LOW-FI ELECTRO, WHICH IS SOMETIMES REMINISCENT OF THE METALLIC CLANKING OF BATTLING ROBOTS BUT ALSO AT TIMES RESEMBLES ROMANTIC AMBIENT MUSIC.
AS A VISUAL ARTIST, CHOI SAI-HO HAS CREATED WORKS THAT COUPLE HIS LOW-FI ELECTRONICA WITH DISTINCTLY HONG KONG IMAGES. “I’M INSPIRED BY A PLACE WHERE LOTS OF THINGS ARE HAPPENING AT THE SAME TIME,” HE SAYS OF HIS HOMETOWN’S INFLUENCE ON HIS ARTISTIC IDENTITY.
HTTP://WWW.YOUTUBE.COM/CHOISAIHO
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EXPANDING FROM THE LOCAL PERSPECTIVE, METROWAVES' STRUCTURAL APPROACH AIMS TO ALSO GENERATE NEW LINKS AND BRIDGES BETWEEN PARTS OF THE CHINESE MUSIC SCENE AND MUSICIANS WITH OTHER SCENES, CITIES AND ARTISTS AROUND THE WORLD.
THE SINOTRONICS NIGHT GATHERS SOME OF CHINAS MOST INNOVATIVE & INFLUENTIAL MUSICIANS AND ELECTRONIC MUSIC PROJECTS. WELCOME TO JOIN US!
MARKUS M SCHNEIDER, NOVEMBER 2012
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