朋友们好
早在五月，我收到朋友一笑的微信说她带着“喜儿”在成都和重庆演出的想法。“喜儿”是三位女巫般的姑娘的合成器电子乐队南方酸性咪咪的朋克根源乐队。
What up fam
Back in May, I got a message from my friend Yixiao about coming to play in Chengdu and Chongqing with XI’ER, the predecessor punk band to electronic witch-synth trio South Acid MiMi.
When I first met Yixiao, Shishi and Weilin in 2015, I’d already been indoctrinated into the cult of South Acid Mimi, having experienced their intoxicated psychedelic dance masquerade at Kunming dive bar earlier that year. As one of the weirdest shows I’d seen so far in China, I was ecstatic when they agreed to play support for the mothership of acid freakery, Orchestra of Spheres during their China Tour.
我在2015年认识一笑、施施和魏琳，那年1月在昆明如痴如醉地体验了一次她们的迷幻化妆舞会，可以说已经成为了南方酸性咪咪的狂热追捧分子。那是我在中国看过最怪异的演出之一，当她们表示乐意为星迹乐团(Orchestra of Spheres)的中国巡演昆明站做嘉宾的时候，我简直欣喜若狂。
在昆明见到她们，一下就知道这群人是个狠角色。花臂姑娘们带大家去了她们在昆明市区的据点：一个亮黄色的工作室，布满了复古家具、玩偶和古怪的装饰品，墙上贴满了Bowie和Sonic Youth海报，纸伞倒挂在天花板上，一个Microbrute合成器放在一个老式电话的旁边。大家一起喝梅子酒、抽烟、畅谈，她们的可爱、大方和才华让她们显得与外面的世界—媚俗和卡哇伊、硬边和软芯、成瘾和烦躁的青春期、并置和过剩的…那么的不同。
Upon meeting them in Kunming, it was immediately clear they were super badass. Arms covered with tattoos, they led us to their hangout in downtown Kunming – a bright yellow studio full of retro furniture, glitter, toy figurines and kooky decorations. Bowie and Sonic Youth adorned the walls. Paper umbrellas hung upside down from the ceiling. A MicroBrute synth sat next to a vintage telephone.
Meizijiu, cigarettes and conversation flowed freely. Incredibly lovely, generous and talented, everything about them was so different to the world outside – a bizarre amalgam of kitsch and kawaii, hard-edge and soft core, addiction and adolescence, juxtaposition and excess…
喜儿是她们的雏形。最早十年前的一个昆明酒吧open mic的晚上，16岁的吉他手施施遇到了喝酒跟喝水一样、醉了后会像karen O一样尖叫的魏琳和留着波浪长发 、穿着高跟鞋打鼓的大美女杨杨。三个人合租了一个排练室——“里面有粉红色的灯和塑料珠帘 、毛绒玩具 、自制的话筒架。” 喜儿开始写自己的歌，在本地的各种酒吧音乐节演出。后来，施施和同学一笑从艺术实验学校的高二退学了，杨杨去了大理，魏琳回了怒江，“喜儿”暂时分散了。
XI’ER is where it all started. Flashback ten years ago to an open mic night in Kunming: 16-year-old guitarist Shishi met Weilin, a girl who could sink liquor and scream like Karen O and Yang Yang, a long haired hottie who played the drums in high heels. They rented a practice space and kitted it out with pink lights, plastic beads, plush toys and homemade microphone racks, soon scoring gigs at local bars and music festivals. Shishi and Yixiao eventually dropped out of high school, Yang Yang moved to Dali, Weilin went back to Nujiang, and Xi’er was disbanded.
再后来，她们又凑一起组成了“南方酸性咪咪”，这个迷幻电子舞曲三人乐队被Vice和i-D报道了。她们用神秘混响的和声、电脑、键盘和合成器创作了几首独特的电子歌曲并且在豆瓣上发布，接着开始在几大城市演出，包括一些大型音乐节和地下演出派对。咪咪备受期待的首张专辑已经完成了录音，正在后期混音阶段 。该专辑将在北京独立厂牌Ruby Eyes 。（site.douban.com/southacidmimi/）
Later, they went on to form South Acid Mimi, a psychedelic electronic dance trio who have since been covered by VICE and i-D. Using a reverb soaked vocal harmonies, a laptop and keyboards, the band uploaded a bunch of tracks to Douban and have since performed in most major cities across the country, including large music festivals and underground parties. South Acid Mimi are in the mixing stage of releasing their highly anticipated debut record with Beijing based label Ruby Eyes.
Back in 2015, with nothing else better to do, they reformed the band XI’ER. With the original bassist in Shanghai, Xiaohei has joined as the only male band member, despite not knowing how to play bass. Since Weilin moved to Beijing, Yixiao took up lead vocals.
2015年，闲来无事的几位重新演绎了“喜儿”。因为原来的贝斯手搬到上海去，小黑作为贝斯手加入了乐队，不会弹贝斯的他成为了乐队的唯一的男孩。“他是个喜欢音乐的魔术师，”说施施，“却不会弹贝斯哈哈哈，但他已经在学了” 魏林搬去北京后，一笑担任了主场。
XI’ER aren’t interested in punk clichés or traditional understandings of the genre. Their music sounds as likely to take queues from The Stooges as it is from rockabilly or synth pop. Much like South Acid Mimi, XI’ER experiment by fusing influences from punk and electronica – synth noise emerges alongside oddball guitar riffs and pounding drum lines, while the vocals are full of grit and attitude, equal parts aggression and sensuality.
“喜儿”对朋克的陈腔滥调或者传统意义上的风格不大感兴趣。更多像是“南方酸性咪咪”，“喜儿”融合了朋克和电子元素，正如The Stooges 有着rockabilly或者 synth pop的影响：合成器噪音和古怪的吉他riff出现在一起，人声都喊出来的，充满勇气和精神，同时又有着些许的暴力和感官的满足。
Always moving to their own beat, XI’ER tear down conventions and mix them into a highly potent cocktail – the kind your friend makes for you that has waaaay too much rum in it. Always down to party, XI’ER have been busy touring the southern provinces and are set to bring the ruckus to Chengdu and Chongqing this weekend.
他们总是跟着自己的节拍，“喜儿” 经常破坏惯例，像是把它调成一种烈性鸡尾酒—那种朋友给你加了太多朗姆酒的。不错过任何派对的“喜儿”一直忙着在南方巡演，这个周末，他们准备好了把属于自己的喧嚣带给成都和重庆。
你说哪里比成都的耍宫殿和酒鬼中心蒸汽旅舍更适合这场陶醉的演出，我已经闻到了宿醉的气息。。。
What better location for this intoxicating anti-soiree than Chengdu’s high temple of indulgence and general shit-facery, Steam Hostel.
…I can feel the hangover already.
XI’ER play at STEAM HOSTEL on 2017.8.6
Tickets: 50RMB (40adv www.showstart.com/event/30919)
Support: Kaishandao
