Articles

Recent Developments at Layabozi

March 4th, 2009 by

In the spirit of the (now not so new) New Year and new beginnings, there have been some recent and exciting developments here at Layabozi Towers we’d like to share with you. First up, the team has grown, with the addition of Ed and Peter, who should help to no end in keeping content moving [...]

Noise Doesn’t Have To Be Annoying

February 25th, 2009 by

Since the first RESO (Reconstruct the Experimental Soundscapes of Ourselves) concert in April of last year, this collective has managed to bring in a number of experimental artists from around China and the globe to educate the relatively naive ears of Shanghai denizens on non-conventional music. The most recent gathering was at YuYinTang on Sunday night and it opened with Montreal-based Dirty Beaches, a lo-fi ‘call-it-pop’ project of Alex Zhang Hungtai.

When Pop And Punk Collide

February 16th, 2009 by

Recycle, composed of vocalist/bassist Wang Yan, vocalist/guitarist Guo Feng, drummer Liu Zhong and vocalist/guitarist Zhao Lijie, is an example of what can happen when you mix musical genres. First of all, they are a punk band that advocates peace, love, equality, animal rights and, as their name suggests, environmental awareness. These values are somewhat inconsistent with the early years of punk that were developed in the 1960s when the pioneers of the genre—The Fugs and The Stooges—set the punk precedent of anti-social, anti-establishment behavior that has come to define punk.

The Buddha Machine in your iPhone

February 14th, 2009 by

The Buddha Machine or Buddha Box was described as a beautifully useless gadget by the New York Times. (To me it is useless only if you consider meaningless the profound pleasure of sound and music). The Buddha Box is a strange magical gadget living where electronic music meets mantras, and where nerd music lovers meet technology. It has been used by Brian Eno and Gorillaz among many other musicians. Now, you can have this curious instrument in your iPhone. Read more about the Buddha Machine and its world here.

Further Update on Daft Punk Hoax: Have You Seen This Man?

February 10th, 2009 by

It’s been a difficult day for many people because of the news about Daft Punk. Some people out there lost more than 500 RMB, one of whom was Julien. He was one of the five unlucky guys working for Andy, the organizer of the so called secret Daft Punk gig.

Daft Punk Tells Secret to Millions of People.

February 7th, 2009 by

Daft Punk announces ‘secret’ gig in Shanghai by telling everyone on Facebook! If you are one of the unlucky ones who has thus far evaded this slick marketing machine, we have all the details for you here…

Pause:Music, a Record Label for Shanghai

February 6th, 2009 by

Pause:Music is the new record label for Shanghai’s musicians. It’s the result of the good work done by Gareth Williams (The Shelter), Michael Michael (Antidote) and B6 (Antidote and NeoCha). Layabozi talked with Gareth about Pause:Music projects and ideas, as a preparation to get ready for tonight launch of the label at Shelter. Read all about it here.

Remembering the Rat

January 26th, 2009 by

It’s 2009! The Year of The Ox! Happy New Year! Looking back at 2008 aka the rat year, no one would say it’s in contention for Best Year Ever on a macro-level, but musically it was pretty decent. We started Layabozi which is Totally Awesome as you well know, and we dug good music. The heat also increased around the rock/indie rock/Yuyintang scene and The Shelter became the place for electronic dance music. I don’t understand the “underground” designation for those places except in the interior decorating sense, but it’s frequently applied to those places, so bravo for 2008: The Rise of Underground Music.