tenzenmen

great defence!

stream it at yr work....

Formed at the end of 2005 Hedgehog - Zo (vocal/guitar), Atom (vocal/drum) and Fun (bass) is now leading a new generation of Chinese bands and breaking onto the international music scene. Having recently just returned from a tour of the East Coast with Xiu Xiu ,Hedgehog are primed for international exposure with fresh dynamic music that wonderfully showcases the Chinese rock scene. tenzenmen proudly presents all 4 Hedgehog releases to Australian audiences! Noise Hit World (2007 - Modern Sky) http://tenzenmen.bandcamp.com/album/noise-hit-world Hedgehog’s debut album “Noise Hit World” was released in 2007. Primitive hard-driving rock & roll is mixed with synthesizers to create a fresh and original sound. Sweet female and male vocal harmonies complement this mixture of sound perfectly. If you ever went to school in China you could recognize that the album artwork is a replica of a Chinese primary school diploma with Modern Sky’s staff as the pupils and the boss of Modern Sky as the teacher. Some highlights of “Noise Hit World” are ''Toy&61Festival'' ''Noise Hit World'' ''Our Last Word'' and ''love tosh''. Blue Daydreaming (2009 - Modern Sky)
http://tenzenmen.bandcamp.com/album/blue-day-dreaming
Hedgehog’s second album was released in March 2009. Unlike “Noise Hit World” which had all English lyrics, “Blue Daydreaming” features seven Chinese songs. Covering such themes as puzzled and nervous youth, and looking towards the future. Crystal clear bright guitars and violent stormy drum rhythms make Blue Daydreaming an impressive album. However what makes it really stand out from the crowd is how these elements converge with the actual lyrical meaning and content of the songs. Tracks that embody this songwriting craftsmanship are ''Blue Daydreaming'' ''In Spring'' ''24 Hours Rock Party'' and ''Golden Age, Infinite Sadness'', which were all big hits and expanded their fan base in China dramatically. The track ''Waiting For The Last Bus'' is an unexpectedly sweet moment in the album with singer Atom vocals expertly communicating this hymn to love. Honeyed And Killed (2011 - Modern Sky)
http://tenzenmen.bandcamp.com/album/honeyed-and-killed
After “Noise Hit World” and “Blue Daydreaming”, it was time for Hedgehog to say goodbye to youth. The title of the album Honeyed And Killed sums up the album’s concept. All the songs are about love and death, drugs and politics, credibility and integrity, and the lack of value and respect in China. The result is a big contrast between dreams and reality. Covering the meaning of life, youth, love and death. Tracks that really encapsulate the albums feeling and message are ''Kill Your Age'' ''Honeyed And Killed'' ''Paper Airplane'' ''Wet White Doll'' “Sparklehorse” and '' The End'' DEstroy meMOries (2011 - Self-Released)
http://tenzenmen.bandcamp.com/album/destroyed-memories
Hedgehog’s March 2011 Self-Released album “2011 DEstroy meMOries” was taken from their underground issue demo of the same title. Consisting of 9 tracks, many of which are incomplete versions of new songs, they have been showcased in a lo-fi and gritty way, which sounds more like their live shows. Only 500 limited copes were made.

http://www.tenzenmen.com/artists/hedgehog/

from the au review:

I came to this gig armed with little more than the assumption that I would be seeing three punk bands from the Beijing alternative music scene. The reality though was that this was more about the punk ethos than a particular genre. Taking place at CarriageWorks, Sound Kapital aimed to showcase a movement of musicians from Beijing rebelling against the dominance of Cantonese pop and the cultural controls of the government. Going by the offerings tonight it seems like an exciting scene.

The first act was a solo performance from the cheeky and unassuming Xiao He. Missing the his first song, I walked in as He treated us to a very stilted and awkwardly hilarious story about two “white men” in his hostel bar wanting to fight him “the yellow man” for some reason, before informing us that he was already a bit drunk but could control himself. His playfulness clearly shines through in his amazing music which can only be described as very idiosyncratic experimental electronic folk.

The captivating song he slides straight into lasts easily ten minutes and runs through so many changes, sound effects, and vocal loops and acrobatics that it’s hard to keep track of how he’s doing it all. I should mention that this is one man with a microphone and an acoustic guitar. Running the guitar through a laptop, He draws the most otherworldly and mechanical sounds from his instrument to accompany cartoon voice yelps, didgeridoo-like warbles and auto-tuned vocals in no particular language. It’s not until his final track – a cover of a love song – that he settles into a conventional performance and this too he carries off with aplomb.

Next up was Nova Heart, the latest project of singer/MTV VJ Helen Feng. With their minimal indie disco this was a move back towards a more mainstream sound. Feng, along with her guitarist and bassist, was accompanied by a drum machine providing tight, clipped beats giving them the feel of a more electronic but just as danceable Blondie or The Gossip. Feng screeches and murmurs oddball lyrics awkwardly prowling the stage. It’s hard to tell whether she’s crazy, affecting weirdness, or just plain drunk. Whatever she’s pulling the trio is fun and has those in the front dancing. Their final song bounces around a simple dance beat and keys formula on top of which the hip-thrusting front-woman sings “Turn up the oven and we start to fry/ burn myself in an opium field”. As though pausing herself in the bridge to contemplate these lines but becoming frustrated with her own lack of clarity, Feng suddenly starts laying into a nearby floor tom and cymbals and the song bursts into a satisfyingly raucous smash-fest.

The final act of the night, AV Okubo, brought us a bit closer to a punk sound turning up the volume, speeding up the beats and blasting us with noise. They even managed to bring a circle, pit of sorts, to CarriageWorks – top marks! This was more like an epic synth rock ‘n’ roll version of punk though as the guitarist shredded Hendrix-like riffs, the lead singer shot Daft Punk style robot vocals, and the drummer dropped in a few four-four dance beats. While there wasn’t much smiling on stage the band clearly have a sense of humour. Their “only love song”, the front man explained, went like this:

“I wanted to laugh with you, I wanted to cry with you, I wanted to have sex with you until we died. But I couldn’t laugh and I couldn’t cry, the sex didn’t work and I couldn’t die!”

From the dashes of unpronounced silliness – the megaphone in the encore – to the catchy hooks and infectious energy, it was just fun, irreverent, fast, loud music, and the crowd loved it. Oddly enough it fit the cavernous space of CarriageWorks’ industrial hall well, probably helped by a good setup and Matthew Niederhauser’s very cool documentary photography of the Beijing punk scene projected side of stage throughout the night.

If you came with a preconceived idea about Chinese alternative music or some kind of pretentious desire to experience some “genuine Chinese culture” – as I’m sure many in the crowd did given the overheard dismissals of the more mainstream bands – then you would’ve been severely disappointed. This was mostly music that would fit comfortably on a Laneway or Big Day Out bill.

To me these criticisms just reflect a kind of ignorance of countries like China as though anything vaguely Western does not genuinely constitute Chinese culture. I was reliably informed by friends who’ve lived in Beijing for years that a lot of Chinese kids dig their punk music and get pretty violent in the mosh. Without wanting to give away too much of my China-Australia Friendship Society presidential nomination speech, this night, if anything, showcased the great similarities between popular music in both our countries. And after all, what’s wrong with jumping around a circle pit to some epic synth rock straight outta Beijing on a Friday night?

an argument from one side.
everyone is talking about teenage mothers.
publicist gets paid.

when does this start? the weather in sydney makes me wish it was next week!

stacks of pix from the show here

Sound Kapital is tonight!

Helen Feng from Nova Heart answers some questions here

friday night