Issue 74 / February 2017

DIGGING A LITTLE DEEPER
with Radio Exotica
We’re always interested to hear what waxy gems are lurking in the depths of the record bags of
the city’s DJs, or the kind of music they’re indulging in away from the dancefloor. In the latest in
our series, the guys from RADIO EXOTICA take us on a tour of some of their favourite music from
around the world. This month we celebrate Chinese New Year, with Rory Taylor putting together an
enthralling mix that explores the diverse sounds of China – from the ancient tones of the erhu and
pipa to the roots and dub reggae of the Yunnan Province. Blending the cutting-edge, dub-inflected
rhythms of electronica with traditional Chinese instrumentation and folk melodies, this selection is
an adventurous and wholly original marriage of East and West, as well as the ancient and modern.
JAH WOBBLE AND THE CHINESE DUB ORCHESTRA
HAPPY TIBETAN GIRL
Legendary bass player and contemporary renaissance man, Jah Wobble
is no stranger to music experimentation, but Happy Tibetan Girl and
the album on which it features, Chinese Dub, are on another level. Born
from a commission for the city of Liverpool’s Capital Of Culture year, the
album represents a cross-cultural collaboration between Wobble and
a 22-piece outfit consisting of Mao and Tibetan musicians and dancers, Sichuan opera mask
changers, an Anglo-Chinese dub band, and Pagoda Chinese Youth Orchestra, a Liverpool-based
orchestra who are also the oldest Chinese Youth Orchestra in Europe.
THE FINAL SAY
Words: Tom Bell / @WriterTomBell
Each month we hand over the responsibility of having the final say to a guest columnist. After
waiting in an online queue to buy tickets for Radiohead’s latest arena tour, Tom Bell found himself
questioning the monetary value that can be placed on our loyalty – and whether there’s wisdom
in just accepting it.
SHANREN
30 YEARS
Formed in 2000 in the remote Yunnan province of southwest China,
SHANREN (meaning “mountain men”) have become one of China’s most
celebrated folk rock bands. With members representing some of China’s
56 ethnic groups, including the Wa and Bouyei people from Yunnan and
Guizhou, the four-piece aim to promote and preserve the colourful
and diverse heritage of Yunnan and Guizhou’s many ethnic minority tribes through original
compositions and re-workings of local folk melodies. One such composition is the brilliant 30
Years, in which the singer (a migrant) laments that nothing in the big city is there for his taking –
be it work, money, love or music. The grass isn’t always greener! Be sure to check out the video
which accompanies 30 Years too, it’s ace!
LAO HEI
YUNNAN REGGAE
You don’t usually associate reggae with China or China with reggae,
but over the past 10 years or so, there has been a burgeoning scene.
This is particularly true in the southern provinces of Guangdong and
Yunnan. Leading the way is the superbly talented and prolific LAO HEI.
Since discovering reggae music in 2000, he has gone on to establish
numerous bands, including Yunnan Reggae, The Pu’er Dub All Stars and Kawa, all of whom fuse
traditional Chinese folk music with Jamaican roots and dub. If you can get hold of any Chinese
reggae music (it’s not easy), be sure to check out Jiang Liang Sound System, San Duo Jiao and of
course, Lao Hei and his many bands.
DUB SIZE
CHINESE ROADS
Released in 2013 via the Glasgow-based Squinty Bass Records, Chinese
Roads is a stonkingly beautiful track that blends the hypnotic sounds
of the erhu (Chinese violin) with dub reggae. Despite carrying out some
research, I don’t have any more information on either the label or artist.
Thank God for Spotify – without it, I may not have discovered the track!
Want some more rare cuts from the Chinese underground? RADIO EXOTICA have provided us with a
Year Of The Rooster mix to accompany this column, which you can listen to now at bidolito.co.uk.
@radioexoticaDJ
You know the feeling. It was just after nine
o’clock and tempers were frayed. Radiohead
had announced gigs at Manchester Arena,
I’d been umpteen thousandth in the online
queue, but I’d got through. Glory! What was
the damage? They hadn’t said, and £70 at
the Roundhouse last summer had slightly
taken the piss. The payment page appeared.
Including fees per order, it was about £90 on
average – via Sandbag, Radiohead’s preferred
agent. Would we get to discuss this? For a few
seconds, and it would sell out in that time.
Once you’ve got that far, you kinda have to
suck it up, right?
There followed not euphoria but shock at
being mugged and a sense that this was greed
beyond belief. Sure, it’ll be swept away by a
value-packed Weird Fishes, the goodness of
Myxomatosis and the outstanding customer
service represented by a Karma Police and
Nude encore. And these things are not meant
to be measured in monetary terms. But if
others weren’t relying on my tickets, I’d want
to tell Sandbag: “This is wank, refund me.”
What one-band gig that was genuinely
any good (i.e. not nostalgia or a cash-in) ever
cost £90, or needed to? It can’t be driven by
demand (i.e. excluding people), but, if it is, play
extra dates. I texted my co-giggers venting
feelings of grubbiness. One replied: “If it was
£200, would I pay? When does it become
unacceptable for a diehard?” Ask yourself:
when does it?
I’d owned these tickets mere minutes when
I was intercepted by a charity rep. As fate had
it, we were standing outside Manchester
Arena. Here I was scrambling for why I couldn’t
donate, when they’d ‘caught’ me because I’d
slowed to send that text about torching north
of 300 notes, with more to come on corporate
nachos and lager-water. My hypocrisy stank:
I showed Juliana from Marie Curie the text.
She tried not to seem opportunistic, but we
exchanged a look, acknowledging that I’d
made some questionable life decisions. I had
a charity of choice: Radiohead. Spending habits
needn’t indicate worth, nor worthiness, but we
agreed I’d go away and reflect.
After the Roundhouse – when fanfare
about non-transferable tickets gave way to
anger at touts’ paws still being everywhere –
Radiohead’s Thom Yorke tweeted that he was
pissed off. How pissed off, exactly? They’re
endorsing the system. Yet so am I.
Weeks earlier I’d seen kids leaving Justin
Bieber’s Manchester Arena shows. Radiohead’s
current set-up is not elaborate. I bet Bieber had
pyro-this, virtual-that, dancers, musos and an
entrance by drone, and that those kids can’t
have paid £90 (they paid £45 to £65). Is my dosh
more disposable? Can I afford it? Evidently
yes, albeit by not owning anything of retained
value. But who are the venue, promoter and
band to assume that?
I’ve still no answer for Juliana from Marie
Curie. I’m investigating what set Radiohead’s
price, but it ain’t gonna fall by showtime in July.
As it stands (well, obviously) I’m attending. So,
what shade of idiot am I? And what would you
do?