New Music: Silly Function, Mimik Banka, Zhu Wenbo, The Upside Down

Silly Function – Youthless

Rising noise pop act Silly Function, out of Wuhan, strut their valor on the crisp, lean, and agile EP, aptly named YOUTHLESS (a combination of useless and youthful). While in no shape or form are they reinventing the wheel here, there’s a simple pleasure to the band’s directness, finding fulfillment in tightly wound melodies that feel as rash as the emotions spearheading them. A bit reckless, a bit melodramatic, and a heck ton of fun. 

冉冉升起的噪音流行乐队Silly Function，来自于武汉，新近发行了一张EP，恰如其分地命名为《YOUTHLESS》（颓废与活力的完美结合），鲜活轻松的音乐展示了他们的努力和勇气。虽然在形式上，他们没有过多的颠覆以往，但乐队的坦率却带来了简单纯真的美，在萦绕的旋律中找到满足，深深感染着他们的情绪。一点突然，一点夸张，确是无限乐趣。

• Bandcamp: https://sillyfunction.bandcamp.com/album/youthless
• Netease: https://music.163.com/#/album?id=89917757
• Xiami: https://www.xiami.com/album/qy7vXg9307f

Mimik Banka 表情银行- Vitamin D 维他命D

Beijing’s Mimik Banka are back with an irresistible four-track EP that complements their genre-sprawling LP from last year, while even hinting at the further possibilities of where they could take their sound. Gracefully waltzing between bombastic synth pop to ethereal downtempo mood-setters without ever losing sight of the band’s core strengths, mainly their acute sense of melody, the band has never felt more in control (and enjoying themselves while they’re at it). A surprise that proves Mimik Banka have plenty of tricks up their sleeves. 

北京的表情银行乐队带着令人期待的四首歌新EP回归乐迷视野，这是对他们去年推出的那张风格多样的全长专辑的一种补充，同时预示了乐队在未来创作发展的某些可能性。在华丽的合成器流行乐和飘逸的缓拍情绪电子乐之间优雅流畅地旋转变幻如同翩翩而起的华尔兹，乐队未曾忘记自己的核心优势，对旋律的敏感性，也从未感到如此的收放自如(同时也乐在其中享受这种控制力)。这张专辑是一个惊喜，它向我展示了这支乐队是身怀绝技的，

• Netease: https://music.163.com/#/album?id=90008943
• Xiami: https://www.xiami.com/album/CodtK818dd3
• Bandcamp: https://mimikbanka.bandcamp.com/album/d-vitamin-d

Zhu Wenbo – 30 Minutes on Earth

Experimental Beijing musician Zhu Wenbo finds sociological pleasures in his latest release on his label Zoomin’ Night, 30 Minutes on Earth. A sound collage of sorts, the concept revolves around eight musicians from around the world (most active organizers in their respective scenes) who each contributed and recorded thirty minutes of themselves performing in an open space. From there, Wenbo layered four tracks onto each side of the cassette tape, blending these diverse settings into a seamless ‘globalized’ stage. Soothing in both concept and execution. 

北京实验音乐人朱文博在由他个人厂牌燥眠夜新近发行的专辑《地球上的30分钟》中找到了志同道合的社交的乐趣。这是一组音乐的合辑，邀请八位来自世界各地的音乐人（都是各自领域中最活跃的代表），每一位都提供一段自己在某个开放空间的30分钟的演奏素材。通过这些素材，文博将它们叠混为两支音乐作品，灌入磁带的两面，将不同的音乐奇思融合为“全球化”的音乐表达。这张专辑从创作理念上到灌制发行都令人为之欣喜动容。

• Bandcamp: https://zoominnight.bandcamp.com/album/30-minutes-on-earth

The Upside Down 完美倒立 – Dream Tide 曳梦潮汐

Indie rockers The Upside Down, who hail from the hot pot capital of Chongqing, shed their noisier rock and roll skin and emerge with a softer more finely tuned electro-pop skin on their sophomore LP Dream Tide. While the hushed ethereal voice of singer Huang Jing remains, the dream pop angle they rode previously has been reformatted to make way for a disco-led electro sheen straight out of the 80s (or Daft Punk’s new trajectory). It goes down nice and smooth nevertheless, even if you yearn for some of their heavier, reverb-friendly sensibilities to appear (ala ‘Vanished Song’). 

来自火锅之都重庆的独立摇滚乐队完美倒立发行了第二张大碟《曳梦潮汐》，磨去了首张专辑喧闹的摇滚表层，这批新歌呈现了精致的电子流行内层。主唱黄晶寂静飘渺的嗓音还在，但其梦幻流行的风格已然被八十年代迪斯科（或者说Daft Punk的new trajectory）取代。专辑整体不坏，尽管你可能想再听到《海滩上的无人钢琴》那样更摇滚的作品。

• Netease: https://music.163.com/#/album?id=87076106
• Xiami: https://www.xiami.com/album/yimzR1b86e5
• QQ: https://y.qq.com/n/yqq/album/000rN3IY0WqOYW.html