一无所有(Yi Fu Suo You) - 崔健(Cuijian) (by osieriver)
Here is a rock legend from China, Cui Jian (崔健). The song is called 一无所有 (Nothing To My Name). Originally released in the late 80s, this powerful performance is from 1992. There is a fascinating wikipedia article about the song, and how it became something of an anthem during the Tiananmen Square student protests of 1989. If you notice a few of the people in the audience waving red cloth, I think it has something to do with those protests.
No Money No Honey just announced on their Facebook that they are about to start recording their album. Sweet!
Just got a recommendation for a band we should check out: The Offset: Spectacles, originally from Hong Kong, now ‘exiled’ to Beijing. Their facebook describes them as ‘Canto Psych’. The band members are all named ‘Spectator’ (Spectator:V / Spectator:K / Spectator:O / Spectator:*) o.0
Musically, it’s kinda dark, I imagine the lyrics are tinged with humor, if only I understood the language.
You can stream their whole 2011 album over at bandcamp, and keep up with them on Facebook
J Rabbit - All you need is love (Cover) (by friendznet)
Lovely Beatles cover from the duo J Rabbit. Check out the little inset windows to get an idea of their instrumental talents. =)
Morrie - In My Pockets (by hummingwaltz)
Morrie is just too adorable. From her 2010 album Don’t Listen To This Music If You Are happy (당신이 행복하다면 이 음악은 듣지마세요)
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
After Asako Toki’s band Cymbals broke up, she did a few albums of mostly jazz/pop standards. This is one of my favorites, from Debut. (and if anyone can tell me who wrote it, I would be very grateful)
Lyrics over here.
丁丁與西西 - Beautiful (by svcollectionTV)
This is folk pop quartet Ding Ding & Shi Shi (丁丁與西西) from Taiwan, with a bouncy song in English.
Keep up with them on facebook, and hear more tunes at their streetvoice site.
We have posted about this before, but for the benefit of the more recent followers, you can hear full versions of every song from Skip Skip Ben Ben’s 2010 album, No-Fi, No-Fiction over at Indievox (http://www.indievox.com/disc/2571)
It is quite stark, and occasionally very beautiful. Most of the tunes are fairly short. You can purchase the album or individual songs.
Ben Ben used to be the singer for the Taiwan band Freckle. More recently she has been with Boyz & Girl, and doing solo recordings and shows. For a brief time, she even played drums with Carsick Cars.(!)
Yesterday’s Heroes - Up ‘n’ Down (Pogo-a-Gogo)
via Comatonse
Kangaroo Paw - Osusowake
Japanese Independent Music
