Earlier this year Alexei Perry Cox of the Handsome Furs contacted me out of the blue about using the name of my book, Sound Kapital, as the name of their new album. Since most of the songs were related to their experiences in China, she thought it would be a cool way to pay homage to the alternative music scene and further their connection to the Middle Kingdom. I quickly consented, of course, after which Alexei made a further request to include my photography in the album design. She proposed to juxtapose my blueish Tuanjiehu waterpark series with an orangish nightfall Portland series photographed by Bradley Sellers. The results are quite stunning. Moreover, the music is great and getting solid reviews by Pitchfork and Spin. This is the first time I contributed to album art outside of Chinese bands, and I am proud to have provided the name of my book to their own musical ventures. The Handsome Furs are touring like mad right now in support of their new album. I am lucky enough to catch them on August 18 at the Bowery Ballroom. Rock it out if you can.

Hanggai released their new album He Who Travels Far to a rowdy crowd at Yugong Yishan last month. The highly anticipated sophomore release for the punk-folk-Mongolian sextet hits high marks once again, much like their first album, Introducing Hanggai, which received extensive praise from Pitchfork. Hanggai’s story is rather incredible. Ilchi, the founder of the band, originally played in early punk groups around Beijing where he moved to at the age of twelve before undergoing a bit of a personal crisis and returned to his Mongolian roots in Inner Mongolia. Inspired by the folk music and vanishing traditional life of his homeland, he learned how to throat sing and play the tobshuur, a two-stringed Mongolian banjo. The songs he subsequently began to write on his own, however, moves far beyond customary Mongolian music by incorporating modal structures and beats that draw strongly from his rock and punk background. The new album thus ranges from traditional, hauntingly beautiful tunes to more bawdy, uplifting drinking songs. Like much of modern China and its ongoing synthesis of different cultures, Hanggai is difficult to peg in a very refreshing way. Their unique sound has also lead to many international tours. They are easily one of the most successful “Chinese” alternative music exports, but still unflaggingly represent a new societal hybrid found in Inner Mongolia that identifies strongly with its traditional past while struggling with and incorporating an onslaught of contemporary Han Chinese lifestyles and Mandarin language dominance.

Queen Sea Big Shark / 后海大鲨鱼 released their sophomore album, Wave, to a packed house at Yugong Yishan on the eve of All Hallow’s Eve. The eternally modish band keeps a permanent place in my heart with lead singer Fu Han’s unisuit-cladded-gyrating-stage-presence and lead guitarist Cao Pu’s hard-driving-surf-rock-riffs. Although I might not be the biggest fan of all their dips into electronica, if they are having a good night and hooked into a proper sound system, they will blow the roof off any club in Beijing. Their new album certainly represents a turn into the realm of synthed dance, but you can find their original rock core in tunes like “Back 2 the Future” and “Loop of the Sun”. For now Queen Sea Big Shark continues to move beyond their dive bar roots by headlining major festivals around China and accepting sponsorships from the likes of Converse. Modern Sky have constructed big plans for the band, and they will hopefully help lead a wave of previously underground bands to a larger domestic audience.

Guaili / 怪力 are definitely one of my favorite bands in Beijing. I am secretly obsessed with their lead singer Wen Jun who throws her angular, almost skeletal body around stage during performances all while chain smoking cigarettes and rocking out an incredibly powerful voice. This September they went on a 14-city “Hell Tour” around China in support of their first album, Flight of Delusion, which they released with Maybe Mars. I have listened to it a few times and even though it might not be as wild as their performances in dive bars around the city, there are definitely some gems. You can purchase the CD at the usual suspects around Beijing including D-22 and most music stores around Guloudong Dajie. Hopefully there will be a way to purchase it online soon.