Happy New Year everyone. Chinese New Year feels like a grace period, a second shot at beginning again. All the shops are closed, the streets are empty. It’s as if the past hazy month since New Year’s was actually just a gaping hole in the space time continuum which gets miraculously gobbled up into theContinueContinue reading “From Dog to Pig”
Tag Archives: stolen
The Rise and Demise of Morning Bar 早上好
Rumours have been circulating for months now, but the demolition of Morning Bar 早上好 on Minzhu Lu has finally become a reality. Kiwese looks back on the old venue and forward to the new, ahead of Chunyou 春游 2016 this weekend. When people ask where I learned to speak Chinese, there are two truths – I studied at Victoria University of Wellington, BeijingContinueContinue reading “The Rise and Demise of Morning Bar 早上好”
Favourite Releases 2015
From Wellington stoner country to Beijing glitch hop, 2015 was packed with awesome releases from both New Zealand and China. Here are fifteen Kiwese favourites! Illustration by Ali Pang. With Knees of Honey in Goodbye Canyon by So Laid Back Country China (Wellington, NZ) So Laid Back Country China (or 很放松乡村中国) is a four-piece band fronted by Harriet Ferry andContinueContinue reading “Favourite Releases 2015”
Favourite Shows 2015
What makes a ‘good show’? The artist? The venue? The crowd? Here is a list of ten shows in chronological order that left an impression on Kiwese this year. “Music, in performance, is a type of sculpture. The air in the performance is sculpted into something.” – Frank Zappa To me, live music is a symbiotic relationshipContinueContinue reading “Favourite Shows 2015”
Put down your screens: Interview with Liang Yi from Stolen
Ever find yourself wasting time by mindlessly scrolling through an endless stream of images ? Disillusioned by the modern obsession with digital documentation, Chengdu post-punk/cold-wave band Stolen 秘密行动 are touring their new EP Stealing Our Lenses《我们遗失的视角》, which might make you think twice about updating your Instagram in the middle of a gig. Kiwese caught up with frontman Liang Yi 梁艺 earlier this week for aContinueContinue reading “Put down your screens: Interview with Liang Yi from Stolen”
Zaomengshe Turns 1: Interview with Lydia McAulay
While the Chinese Government plaster the streets with images of the ‘Chinese Dream’ 中国梦, there are quite different dreams being conjured in the belly of the Chengdu underground. Zaomengshe.com 造梦社 is crowd funding website that provides a platform for the local creative community. Co-founder and Marmite enthusiast Lydia McAulay came over for a cuppa to talk about the website’s one year anniversary. The music scene in Chengdu is probably the mainContinueContinue reading “Zaomengshe Turns 1: Interview with Lydia McAulay”
KIWESE 