Is that a piano, or feedback?
Shanghai artist Susuxx opens Dine Together with 7 People with "Southbridge Fuck", an eerie piece with a staccato high end tone. The effect is slightly disturbing; it keeps the track from ever fully settling into a groove. I think that's the intention, though—to keep the music from becoming a soundtrack. Dine Together..., like its companion, Green Pepper & Cacti, collects four tracks from three artists. Like that collection, it's highly successful.
Susuxx continues with "D Glich." Insectoid chirps and buzzes rise and fall, and the beat stays hidden just below the noise through most of the track. "Wlwlwl" features pleasantly dense synth lines, rattles, and tones.
The second third is taken by Beijing's Me:mo. While Me:mo works with many of the same tools as the others, his music has a distinctively lighter tone. Echoes of glass taps and samples cut off from recognition bounce against each other. "Some Other Things" is highlight here; a softly played acoustic guitar is stretched, diced, and cropped into pieces. The music has shades of Four Tet and Keith Fullerton Whitman, but without the well defined beats of the former or the ambiance of the latter. The music feels permanently in a state of transition. "One Two" contains more glitches and drills, held together by a distorted beat count off; it's a robotic punk band that can't get started. This is music that deserves deep listening.
Saw Test finishes the compilation. Fans of Max Tundra or the Tigerbeat6 gang will feel right at home. "Styuoo" combines ping pong beats with buzzing melodies, rounded off with vocal samples so heavily distorted they sound like pillow talk from Alvin and the Chipmunks. "Zxcc" takes Game Boy melodies out on the town with some fine breakbeats. Your Commodore 64 listens to this music while you're asleep.
Once again, samples from each artist are at the Shanshui web site. Highly recommended.
Filed Under: Beijing | Reviews | Shanghai | Shenyang
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