Below you’ll find a smattering of shoegaze, alternatives to pop, funk and experimental rooted in local tradition, and other sounds and ideas you’ve likely never heard before.

Here are some of my favorite full-length albums from artists around Asia released so far in 2026 released as of June 30, 2026. (I’ve limited my choices to only a few from the same location, with a lengthy list of honorable mentions to acknowledge the rest of the best.)

Favorite Albums

Sleep Leaps – Outside Summer 外面是夏天

One of my frontrunners so far for Album of the Year, Sleep Leaps 碎梦飞跃 emerge from a talented Chengdu music scene with a thrilling journey whose destination ends amongst the greats of modern shoegaze and throwback alternative rock.

NONO – 手接我的回旋镖

Surprise sophomore record from Wuhan’s 张醒婵 (a.k.a. Nono) – as much a rollercoaster of genres and ideas as the first. Nono is an artist that leaves us eagerly waiting every next note.

鼠鼠鼠 The Three Mice – where is my mice?

This is the sound of a scene exalting, celebratory shouts of friends having a great time and indulging in their appreciation for 90s alternative rock.

汪川 Wang Chuan - 天使音乐 Hint Notes

Still somewhat of an unknown quantity, although appearing on many favorite albums lists this year so far, Wang Chuan delivers a dreamy collage of sophisti-pop ballads.

Thank you UPEE for this rec!

Lucid Express – Instant Comfort

Hong Kong indie veterans Lucid Express return with a stellar new release that shines through amongst a crowded shoegaze resurgence.

Arches – 4

On their efficient 9-track, 30 minute new release, Arches create a power pack of alluring alternative rock vignettes.

Xiaofan 孫曉凡 – Not Grand Love

Hong Kong based composer Xiaofan creates haunting ambient soundscapes. Interestingly released on Taiwan’s Airhead Records.

Moritasaki in the Pool – KIDCORE SCULPTURE

Dependable shoegaze. Not much else to say but this band is consistently great.

Trooper Salute – 友達がいました Tomodachigaimashita

Brain-breaking tunes from Nagoya, Japan with one of my favorite album covers of the year so far. Just a satisfying blend of math rock, post rock, and more in the spirit of Shibuya-kei.

Shye – The Doves Came Home

Rising rock star Shye pays tribute to the past, reflects the present, and predicts the future of alternative rock with her latest opus.

AKMU – FLOWERING

Korean folk-pop sibling duo AKMU found a social media hit and dance trend with the lead single “Paradise of Rumors”, but the rest of their newest record is just as endearing.

Thank you Nayoung for this rec!

Azikazin Magic World – Memory Overdrive

Electronic for the indie kids. Versatile – fits in at Asian Pop Festival and Primavera Sound, as well as in the clubs of Seoul and Tokyo.

Doorlesshouse – MIRAE COMPLEX Pt. 2

Maybe the album I know the least about on this list, but one that I think about the most. Similar to NONO in their unpredictability and willingness to take creative leaps, even over the course of just one song.

ana – Final Girl

Strong debut – sometimes 00’s indie rock, sometimes hyper-pop – nominated for Best Hakka album at this year’s Golden Melody Awards in Taiwan.

Thank you Boris for this rec!

Manic Sheep – Rewind 2014

The scene veterans are back with an album of songs lost to time, revived and reworked into a cohesive compendium of shoegaze and krautrock.

The FVL. – Land of Siesta 午睡島

Hom-Yu of experimental brother duo Mong Tong and sound designer Chiayu join forces for an instrumental sound bath of “tribal ambient, 4th world melodic atmospheres, and bass-driven psychedelia,” released on U.S.-based PFR Records.

Soft Pine – Life On A Rocket

Undeniably catchy and groovy in all the right ways. Soft Pine continue to be one of the best underrated groups from an exciting indie scene in Thailand.

Khun Narin – III

Khun Narin’s Electric Phin Band return with their first new album in a decade, following a pair of records that have become legendary for their garage folk and funk.

Magnolian – Supermarket Daydreams

My final addition to the list, a true-to-tradition indie folk record from Mongolia.

Honorable Mentions & Other Notable Releases

China: Shanghai Qiutian (released physically in 2025, digitally in 2026), P.K.14 (released physically late 2025, still no worldwide digital release), I’m Fine, Thank You! And You?, Handycam, HANA FUKI, 垃圾场, Lay Lady Lay, Summertime Sadness, Lygort Quartet

Hong Kong: David Boring

Indonesia: Thee Marloes

Japan: Shintaro Sakamoto, Kirinji, Art-School, Yuma Abe, Homecomings, Neighbors Complain, Tokyo Shoegazer, Takuya Nakamura

Singapore: Regina Song, Alicia DC

South Korea: Ghost Bookstore, EJAE, Master Muzik

Taiwan: Cloudriver – 1997; Shallow Levee – Speak in Silence; LICHANG.rar - CIAO; Sarah Chen 陳以諾 – Slow Flower Chronicles; A-Yue Chang – Go With The Flow

What did I miss? Let me know in the comments below –

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Listen to the full playlist of Zach’s 2026 favorites. [Apple Music]

Listen to Zach’s radio show archive for Friend From A Big City.

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There’s something both incredibly exciting and incredibly overwhelming about having everything you could possibly want all in one place at the same time.

Now take a combination of legendary bands, the most hyped up-and-coming groups, and a well-curated showcase of developing artists in nearly twenty concert venues spread across the heart of Shibuya during sakura season in Tokyo, and you can imagine the beautiful chaos of Synchronicity Festival and CUEW.

I was honored to be invited to join the CUEW conference, the first year of their collaboration with fan-favorite alternative music festival Synchronicity. It seemed like a natural fit to invite music industry friends from around the world to engage with this event. As someone who is always actively learning and listening, this was an invaluable opportunity to better understand the Japan music biz and also see what the local audiences are more strongly gravitating towards these days. I definitely left Tokyo not only with a bag full of vinyl (as is tradition) but also an Apple Music playlist full of new artist discoveries and rediscovered classics by Japanese artists.

Here are a few of my favorite Japanese groups that left an impression on me at Synchronicity Festival & CUEW in Tokyo, 2026:

Hammer Head Shark

Maybe the most stunning live performance from the whole weekend came from the young group Hammer Head Shark. With only one full length album under their belt, this felt like a coming out party for the group and a catapult towards bigger opportunities – just a few weeks after this, they sold out their first international headline shows in Taiwan and Hong Kong. Swerving between grunge and shoegaze and J-rock, the band exudes passionate energy and lead singer Hiyu Nagai’s unique vocals feel otherworldly amongst the walls of sweaty sound.

ena mori

CUEW sponsored a handful of international bands to be featured on the festival this year, including a couple I’ve already featured on Sounds of Silva previously (Phoebe Rings, Dabda), but it was my second time seeing ena mori perform and I continue to be impressed. It’s all the best parts of electro-pop (think Gelli Haha), new wave (think Gary Numan), and alternative rock with sincerely top-notch musicality (think St. Vincent), and the cherry on top is a charismatic singer in ena mori herself.

betcover!!!

This was my second time seeing the experimental lounge act of betcover!!!, but my first time in a proper concert venue. I must say that I preferred this over the outdoor afternoon festival slot setting where I saw them last. They’ve helped to usher in a cool scene – part No Wave, part experimental jazz – inspiring great younger bands like aldo van eyck and kanekoayano along the way.

Mass of the Fermenting Dregs

Now if I had a most anticipated act of my entire weekend, I’d have to say Mass of the Fermenting Dregs was at the top of that list. A band that has enjoyed considerable success worldwide, including a sold out North American tour their last time over in 2024, MotFD deserve all the accolades. The songs are infectious, the stage energy is so much fun, and very simply a joyful concert experience.

JYOCHO

And finally, a bittersweet pick for my final featured act - beloved math rock / progressive group JYOCHO took the stage for what would be one of the final times with singer Nekota Netako as they recently announced she would be taking a leave from the group. Nevertheless the performance was stunning and a real full circle moment for me to have the opportunity to see a band I learned about through U.S. label Topshelf Records releasing their last album, despite the band having never set foot in North America before.

Bonus Track: Bertoia

After the festival was all said and done, there was still more fun to be had. I was pleased to present a couple of my artists, Phoebe Rings and xiexie for a headline concert at THREE in Shimokitazawa, but the opening act selected by the local promoter was one I was unfamiliar with prior to the show. Then I learned that they opened for another of my artists (Sobs) on their last Tokyo show. Then I found out that they rarely play live shows and it’s a special occasion when they do. Then I realized that they’ve only released one album, celebrating its 15th year anniversary in 2026, which has become a foundational release for Japanese dream pop. A true joy of music discovery.

Follow the full playlist of Sounds of Silva featured tracks.

Listen to Zach’s radio show archive for Friend From A Big City on Deadbeat Radio.

In preparation for my upcoming return to Seoul, I was reflecting on my last visit in Spring of 2025 – one of my favorite moments was visiting a vinyl library, where one of the records I picked out was Philharmony by Haruomi Hosono. During the peaceful listening session, I flipped the record over to Side B and after the irresistably catchy “Living - Dining - Kitchen”, the thoughtful electro pop was suddenly interrupted by an unexpected clanging and bleeping and blooping, only to be pulled back down to reality by one of Hosono’s most well-beloved songs, “Sports Man”. The guts it takes to do something like that! And the trust that he must have had in his audience to understand and appreciate it (enough, at least).

I had the same reaction watching Cornelius for my first time, performing at Chill Out Festival in Taipei. Seeing this legendary master of his craft do his thing, launching into “Another View Point” and “Count Five or Six” in the first half of the set, only to later cover the aforementioned Hosono with Yellow Magic Orchestra’s “Cue”, it gave me the same feeling – the music may wander different places, but the audience is still 100% invested and ultimately is rewarded.

I was so inspired by the artistry, as well as other concerts I had seen last fall, that I put together what I truly believed was one of my favorite mixes of music of all time. A combination of classic and modern, a true amalgamation of music from across all parts of the world, but all tying into the same frenetic energy, rhythms unraveling and patching themselves back together again over spread-out experimental tapestries.

Then that mix was lost to time, stuck somewhere between Taipei, Guangzhou, New York City, Hanoi, and Tokyo.

But now to also signal my return to a (hopefully) regularly occurring newsletter, I am proud to present the show in its original state for your consideration.

Track List

Cornelius - “Fit Song” - Sensuous

Battles (ft. Jon Anderson & Prarie VVV) - “Sugar Foot” - Juice B Crypts

Deerhoof - “Return of the Return of the Fire Trick Star” - Noble and Godlike in Ruin

Haruomi Hosono - “Living - Dining - Kitchen” - Philharmony

Haruomi Hosono - “Birthday Party” - Philharmony

Mola Oddity - “tatalala” - The Other Side of Hope

Pu Poo Platter - “Ming’s Cafe” - A Chilling Winter Night

elo elo – “Itsy Bitsy Spider” - I Can’t Find My Head

KONOMONO - “Night Drive” - Rebirth EP

Stereolab - “Melodie Is A Wound” - Instant Holograms on Metal Film

Bitter Tea of General Yang - “Polaroid” - Single

Bonus Track:

Check out the mind-bending music video for “Fit Song”

I can already feel it too – rapid change is in the air and challenges have already shown themselves to me, inciting a feeling of excitement, dread, nervousness as I work my way towards them.

My first month of the year was spent in transit. I started in China where calendar new year celebrations were celebrated ominously devoid of fireworks and countdowns for general public safety reasons. Then to Bangkok and Okinawa for work conferences, indulging in the incredible local fares before heading back to China in time for Lunar New Year.

Two nights have already been spent without sleep, because why try to get some rest when you return home from concerts and post-show celebrations by 4am and you have to leave your hotel for the airport at 5:30am to catch an early morning flight?

It’s more efficient to stay awake.

Wishing everyone a healthy and prosperous new year ahead.

Friend From A Big City, Episode #39: 2026, Year of the Horse

Track List

“Year of the Horse” - Sufjan Stevens - Enjoy Your Rabbit

“Ride Your Horse (P.E. Remix)” – Gong Gong Gong – Phantom Rhythm Remixes

“Land” – Patti Smith – Horses [Celebrated 50th anniversary in 2025]

“100 Horses” – Geese – Getting Killed

“My Hometown / Number 1” – Horse Tail – AoMi

“UMA” – xiexie – wellwell

“Sport Meets Sound” – Horsegirl – Phonetics On and On

“The Great Salt Lakes” – Band of Horses – Everything All The Time [Celebrating 20th Anniversary this year]

“Sad and Beautiful World” – Sparklehorse – Vivadixiesubmarinetransmission [Celebrated 30th anniversary last year]

“I’ll Change For You” – Mitski – Nothing’s About To Happen To Me

Listen to more episodes of Friend From A Big City and read my latest Sounds of Silva posts here.

On a free day in June, I found myself at the Hyundai Music Library in Seoul. You sign up for a free membership, after which you are allowed to pick three records – you have a 30 minute time limit with each album to listen at your own leisure.

With tens of thousands of records from across decades available to choose from, it was one of the most difficult decisions I could make, but I landed on Philharmony by Haruomi Hosono, Discreet Music by Brian Eno, and Souvlaki by Slowdive. Three very different albums, but on a quiet morning, they all made sense in their own way.

I realized that the genres these three releases helped define and artists that they have influenced appear quite frequently on my list of favorite music from 2025, showing just how lasting their impact is on the world of music. But each of these new releases reinterprets the source material in creative, and at times mind-bending, new ways.

This brief moment of respite in Seoul serves as a reminder to myself to make sure to take time to do the little things I love. While 2025 was the most I’ve traveled in one calendar year in my entire life, which is a joy and a privilege, the work associated with it also consumed me. I was scrambling. I started reading ten different books but only finished 1. The last three weeks have been spent catching up all of the albums that I somehow missed over the course of the year, when usually I’m on top of things.

This year, I promise to take time for myself and leave more space for the people and the music and the many other little things that warm my heart.

In the end, I listened to over 300 different albums and EPs from across 32 different territories. While I never expect my concert-going frequency to return to the levels of pre-Covid, I still managed to attend a respectable 30 concerts and 12 festivals (the most fests for me in one calendar year).

Check out some of my favorite music from last year, both in grid and nerdy spreadsheet form, as well as a few handpicked releases I’d like to highlight.

Favorite Albums

Full Spreadsheet of Favorite Albums & Concerts From 2025

A Pair of Taiwan Legends

Stigma – Green!Eyes

“Stigma tells a story about the aftermath of a tragedy and how life reformed around it.”

A simple but profound description. My first favorite release of the year came in the form of a comeback from legendary Taiwan indie rock artist Green!Eyes, their first proper release in over a decade.

—

VOOID – VOOID

This album feels like the culmination of years and years of refining – VOOID (the project of scene legend Hom Shenhao 洪申豪) has been playing these songs live for years by this point, but the final polished result is nothing short of an emo masterpiece, every moment so well placed for maximum impact.

—

Singular Albums by Singular Artists

Luminescent Creatures – Ichiko Aoba

A friend in the Japanese music scene once told me outright, “Ichiko Aoba is our country’s best musician.” Her delicate and ethereal approach to performance and storytelling reaches its pinnacle with her latest album.

—

Noble and Godlike in Ruin – Deerhoof

Deerhoof are without question one of my favorite bands of all time. Their latest album is just another notch in their belt of consistency, an album of defiant optimism both thematically in its message of support for marginalized communities and musically in its pushing the boundaries of experimental indie rock.

—

How You Been – SML

Sprawling improvised jazz with krautrock, afrobeat, and electronic influences – ticking all the right boxes and hitting all the right notes with their sophomore record as a collective.

—

Critical Hits

Getting Killed – Geese

Ever since Geese were preemptively crowned the next coming of NYC indie rock with their pre-Covid debut, we’ve all been waiting for the moment the band finally breaks through. While I thought their sophomore record 3D Country was fantastic in its own right, Getting Killed marks their entry into the public consciousness.

—

Phonetics On and On – Horsegirl

Horsegirl creates hypnotic, rhythmic indie rock a la 90s alternative forefathers and does it in a way that’s playful. This young group has already grabbed everyone’s attention by carving this niche for themselves, and they still have a long way to go.

Listen to the full playlist of Zach’s 2025 favorites. [Apple Music]

Listen to Zach’s radio show archive for Friend From A Big City.

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2025 was a whirlwind.

This year brought me to Indonesia (Bali), Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur and Kota Kinabalu), and Vietnam (Hanoi) for the first time, and returned to Japan (Tokyo), South Korea (Seoul), Taiwan (Taipei and Tainan), Hong Kong, and China (Guangzhou). I’m so lucky to be able to travel so freely and be a part of the tight-knit music communities out here.

But hey, at least this year I’m getting my annual music report out the door on time – last year was most certainly an anomaly, but hopefully this is a sign that my life is currently in an organized place right now.

My year, in numbers:

15 – Concert Venues visited for the first time, including some new favorites LIQUIDROOM in Ebisu, Tokyo, Channel 1969 and Morene Sukha in Seoul, South Korea, and SpecTers in Shanghai (right before it closed and moved locations);

11 – cups of teh tarik consumed during my five-day trip to Malaysia in May;

12 – Music Festivals or Showcases attended over the course of the year, starting with Megaport in Kaohsiung, Taiwan and ending with BIKN in Tokyo and Clockenflap in Hong Kong;

6 – Pokemon Centers visited (Shibuya, Yokohama, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Taipei, Kyoto in December 2024);

32 – Countries and Territories, from which my favorite albums of 2025 are comprised (full reveal to be shared in the next newsletter!)

For now, please enjoy some brief recaps of notable moments from my year in travel.

AXEAN Festival, Bali Indonesia

My first year attending AXEAN Festival in scenic Bali was so special. Over the course of the weekend (and a few extra days of a songwriting workshop), I was introduced to so many hard-working artists and folks in the industry doing everything they can to uplift each other and support the cause. This year featured Indonesian artists Morbid Monke, Ministry Of, AVHATH; Singaporean artists Shye and Alicia DC; my friends DOOR PLANT from Thailand and Shanghai Qiutian from China.

More to come on this one in a future newsletter!

—

DMZ Peace Train Festival, Seoul South Korea

DMZ Peace Train is one of the most unique concert-going experiences I’ve ever had, a celebration of both Korean culture and global bands with powerful messages of peace and unity, all nestled in the mountains a mere hour away from the actual DMZ.

Check out more of my experience here.

—

Golden Melody Awards, Taiwan

Anyone who works in the music industry dreams one day of attending the GRAMMYs, if not winning one eventually, but this year I attended my first real awards ceremony for what is widely considered the GRAMMYs of Chinese-language music, the Golden Melody Awards.

Watching these events on TV is nothing compared to seeing the real thing live, the production is extraordinary, it’s impossible to imagine what it takes to manage something of this scale and make sure it all runs smoothly.

Over the four-hour runtime, I saw rising Alternative Hip Hop artist someshiit earn Best New Artist, the late Khalil Fong earn several posthumous awards for his final album, and Siri Lee take home Album of the Year for Sui 水.

—

DJ-ing at No One Else Says Festival, Brooklyn NY

Geared up with my brand new USB stick and my pair of Audio Technica headphones, I stepped behind the decks and delivered an hour of indie rock from Asia for No One Else Says, a day festival focused on highlighting artists and music from the Asian diaspora, organized by my good friend at Sweet Pillow Music.

Check out the full setlist here.

—

My Bloody Valentine at Clockenflap, Hong Kong

I think the above photo, taken by my best bud Kim from the Hong Kong band Lucid Express, sums up my experience witnessing My Bloody Valentine perform at Clockenflap Festival.

My Bloody Valentine has become a band that is so unpredictable to the point where you never really think about when you’ll have the chance to hear new songs from the band or even see them perform live, until they magically appear on your doorstep with a one-off festival set.

Follow the full playlist of Sounds of Silva featured tracks.

Listen to Zach’s radio show archive for Friend From A Big City on Deadbeat Radio.

On my last free Friday morning in Hong Kong back last November, I found myself in the Sham Shui Po neighborhood. First order of business was stopping by a local favorite restaurant for a pineapple bun and noodles, second was vinyl shopping. At one point, I stumbled into an elevator which I had been told would take me to a hidden gem in the Hong Kong record store scene. I exited on the 5th floor and followed the signs to Vinyl Hero – I peered around the corner and at the doorway which was half obscured by boxes of vintage records and knew I was in the right place.

Paul Au is the curator of the shop, caretaking vinyl a lifelong passion that clearly shines as he sifts through boxes of vintage Shanghai-style ballroom records at my request. After about an hour and a half and a head swirling with new knowledge of a long-forgot music genre, I bid adieu but not after complimenting his New York Yankees baseball cap.

Returning to Hong Kong again this year for another edition of Clockenflap, it’s hard not to see a resurgence in the local scene, a resilient community of artists, promoters, creators, record shops, and music fans who are making their voices heard. Whether it’s the return of industrial group David Boring supported by local collective UN.TOMORROW, shops like Desperate Infant Records bringing international bands to Hong Kong and connecting them with local artists, and many other rumblings throughout the music scene, there’s so much to look forward to.

I also want to acknowledge that this year’s visit also came at a time of mourning in Hong Kong, as a fire at Wong Fuk Court in Tai Po took many lives and has devastated the community. Clockenflap will be donating 100% of their official festival merchandise sales to relief efforts for the victims and their families, and even pledged to reduce the volume of their event out of respect. I also feel deeply moved to have the chance to visit and still be welcomed at a time like this. Community matters more than ever in these situations.

If you’d like to make a donation, please visit the following links for more information:

https://www.yanchai.org.hk/en/form_option/once

https://bethunehouse.org/donate

Lucid Express - Lucid Express [2021]

Shoegaze torchbearers Lucid Express just announced their next album titled Instant Comfort due out in February 2026, but until I can get my hands on that release, I have their scene-setting self-titled ready to spin. When I saw them live in August 2023, I was also able to grab the very appropriately complementary sleep mask in case the haze-y tones and dreamy atmospheres should whisk me away to a different consciousness.

Khalil Fong - The Dreamer [2025]

Legendary songwriter Khalil Fong sadly passed away earlier this year, but not before gifting the world with his final release, a grand opus of reflections with as much heart as one could possibly pour into their songs.

N.Y.P.D. - N.Y.P.D. [2020]

N.Y.P.D. (南洋派对）, a fittingly anarchic name for the scene stalwarts making electro-dance-punk with attitude. The translucent green on the vinyl of their 2020 self-titled debut matches the album art, which also has a small picture window overlooking the bay, a familiar sight for anyone visiting Hong Kong.

According to the press release: “The LP is a fluctuation of emotions and reference points to canto film, folk music and freedom. Big city life may put pressure on all hustles of life, but the boys are taking their own stride, one matcha cake at a time.”

Follow the full playlist of Sounds of Silva featured tracks.

Listen to Zach’s radio show archive for Friend From A Big City on Deadbeat Radio.

Submit your questions, recommendations, and any other comments here:

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During Covid, the music marketplace website Bandcamp launched an initiative to help the artists who all of a sudden had their livelihoods threatened with the close of live music due to the pandemic. Bandcamp dedicated the first friday of every month to the artists, pledging 100% of the revenue to them, rather than taking their usual cut per purchase.

It has been a blessing in disguise, an opening up of everyone’s music collection vaults to the internet where word of mouth recommendations are all of a sudden a thing again and many artists (who may not necessarily be on other streaming platforms) have a chance to reach hungry audiences.

Bandcamp Friday also highlights the fact that it is still possible to support artists directly! You can purchase music in a non-physical form, with confirmation that the money is immediately supporting the artist, unlike streaming revenue which has become this convoluted algorithmic mess of a system where all we know is that it takes 300 streams for an artist to earn a single U.S. Dollar (Spotify calculation, as of 2025).

The next edition lands this week, on December 5th.

Own your music, folks!

Here are some of my favorites that I’ve picked up over the course of the last five years of Bandcamp Friday.

Jeff Rosenstock - 2020 Dump

At the very beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, DIY Punk legend Jeff Rosenstock released a compilation of home-recorded tracks. The tracks are decidedly different from what we usually expect from him (piano and acoustic guitar ballads, rather than pop punk anthems), but that’s what makes it so unique and specific to the Bandcamp Friday series.

Les Filles de Illighadad - At Pioneer Works

One of the other benefits of Bandcamp Friday is discovering labels I maybe wouldn’t have found otherwise, had it not been for this brighter spotlight. One of those labels for me was Sahel Sounds – as they describe on their page, Sahel Sounds is a recording project and record label focused on culture in the West African Sahel.

It’s an endlessly fascinating document of sub-Saharan music culture, particularly one of their first releases called Music from Saharan Cellphones, where they gather memory cards from cell phones of artists, in many places the only recording technology available. Another stunning recording is a live recording of Tuareg folk group Les Filles de Illighadad at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn – a incredibly melodic, hypnotically percussive rendering of music inspired by their homes deep in the desert.

King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard

Australian psychedelic rock group King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard recently made headlines when they announced they were removing their catalog from Spotify in protest of the streaming company’s investments in military technology. However, their extensive body of work remains on their Bandcamp page, as well as on an official bootleg page where you can find recordings from most of their concerts at a very generous “Name Your Price” price tag.

Mydreamfever – Blue Lucent Reverie

It was recently announced that the anonymous Korean songwriter would be stepping away from cult-favorite project Parannoul, but instead of completely disappearing they’ve been surprise releasing new albums under the monikor Mydreamfever. Whereas Parannoul’s songs were shoegaze and noise in saccharine pop form, Mydreamfever leans way more into the experimental and ambient.

Others in the same world that I’ve discovered over the course of the Bandcamp Fridays include kinoue64, Asian Glow, and basically everything released through Longinus Recordings.

Rare Vietnamese New Wave 1980s Compilation

Bandcamp has become an important place for digital crate diggers, with classic compilations like this one getting a new life with the support of music-hungry netizens.

A recommendation from my good friend at KEXP’s Eastern Echoes!

Subscribe to her Substack for more treats from East and Southeast Asia.

Follow the full playlist of Sounds of Silva featured tracks.

Listen to Zach’s radio show archive for Friend From A Big City on Deadbeat Radio.

I was standing with a couple friends at Vagabond Music Festival in Tainan listening to the young indie band Blueburn when, all of a sudden, half of the crowd turned away from the stage and started to murmur.

As any curious crowd-goer would, we also turned and laid our eyes upon a purple-pink canvas, a color I never expected of the sky’s palette. It was this fleeting moment and the simultaneous breeze that was so welcome after a day of relentless heat and tired legs that kicked my nostalgia into high gear and ushered in a new Autumn.

On my last night in Taipei this time around, I convinced my friend to replicate a night we had a couple years ago, starting with a late night dinner at my favorite pizza spot in Taipei followed by a visit to pay respects to one of the more infamous dive bars in the whole city.

That final Monday morning, after only a few hours of sleep and with a throbbing headache, I sat on the high speed rail, catapulting our way along its oceanfront route, grateful for that singular sunset, against which all future sunsets in my life will be measured up against. There will be many more.

So in honor of the changing of the leaves, here is a sampler of some of my favorite new releases, as well as one band making a much-heralded comeback after almost a decade of inactivity.

YONLAPA

Chiang Mai’s indie torchbearers YONLAPA recently celebrated the release of their new Velvet Petals EP, and “Saltburn” as the lead single is such a perfect choice – hazy tones, dynamic songwriting and instrumentals, and the desperate shout of the great lyric:

“Let me eat off your plate!”

xiexie

xiexie is your favorite Asia indie band’s favorite Asia indie band.

The Tokyo-based group are set to release a new EP on 12/12 and the lead single is the third installment of their “Alien” song. This one is another undeniable groove from a band that seems to just have catchy jangly indie pop songwriting in their DNA.

野巢 Nosu

One of the most exciting young groups from Taiwan (of which there are currently many) is 野巢 Nosu, a collective who construct collages and soundscapes inspired by R&B, Jazz, and the breezy indie music that has found a home in the Taiwan music scene.

Skip Skip Ben Ben

Ten years since the release of their last record 鏡中鏡 Mirror in Mirror and without any more notice than a simple Instagram post asking if people would want to see a reunion, Skip Skip Ben Ben made their triumphant return at a show in Taipei last week.

The band represents an era of expressive, inventive indie rock that took hold of the underground in this part of the world in the late ‘00’s and early ‘10s. So while I physically missed all of those original shows and never got to visit those legendary venues that served as the foundation for these bands, to be able to witness Skip Skip Ben Ben after so long is a true honor and privilege.

Follow the full playlist of Sounds of Silva featured tracks.

Listen to Zach’s radio show archive for Friend From A Big City on Deadbeat Radio.

KIKI & H3F – “Everybody” – 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐃𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐲 & 𝐁𝐢𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐧 𝐎𝐲𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫

Sakoto Shibata - “Side Step” - Your Favorite Things

CHO CO PA CO CHO CO QUIN QUIN - “Watatsumi” - tradition

Phoebe Rings - “Drifting” - Aseurai

Meaningful Stone – “Beep-Boop, Beep-Boop” – A Call From My Dream

Andr – “Moon River” - Hidden Card EP

Fishmans – “Weather Report” – Uchu Nippon Setagaya

Carsick Cars – “中南海” - Carsick Cars

White+ - “Solid Bond” - II

Very excited for another opportunity to share some of the vinyl in my home collection. Having been abroad since the last edition, I obviously didn’t have the access needed to properly sift through the records and quite literally hand-pick the next batch for this series. But now I’m settled back in my room and placing down that needle on the grooves on a daily basis.

The variety this time maybe is a bit of a whiplash of different genres and sound levels, but two of them are foundational pieces of media in the genres of punk and afrobeat while the other perhaps could be the start of something really special in a burgeoning indie scene in Malaysia.

Speaking of Malaysia, I had one of the most unique record shopping experiences in Kuala Lumpur. My friend and music promoter Jin obliged when I asked about visiting some local shops, and the first one we decided on was Sputnik Rekordz. Little did we know, it was situated on the third floor of a very active wet market, and the aunties selling their veggies only seemed perplexed when a group of youths stormed into the space looking for vinyl. We ended up locating the shop door, plastered with stickers as a good rock establishment should, and browsed for a while.

Wherever I travel, my first stop in a new city is always a record store.

The Stooges – Live at Goose Lake, August 8th 1970 [2020]

While I was busy celebrating turning 33 on August 8th, The Stooges were marking the 55th anniversary of the final performance of their classic lineup, a fiery yet disastrous performance at the Goose Lake Music Festival in Michigan. As the story goes, their original bassist Dave Alexander showed up drunk to the performance and sloshed his way through what was supposed to be a full album play of Fun House. It makes for quite the piece of punk rock history and funny story that is now immortalized in wax by Jack White’s Third Man Records.

The Indestructible Beat of Soweto [Compilation, 1985]

Whenever I’m driving through the Hudson Valley in New York, one of my main rest stops along the way is Darkside Records in Poughkeepsie. I never really am looking for anything, but if I do come across something intriguing, I cave and walk out the door with merchandise under my arm.

This time, I lay my eyes upon a release I’ve had in my wishlist for a while, The Indestructible Beat of Soweto, which landed on Rolling Stone’s Greatest Albums of All Time as an influential compilation of afrobeat. The final song, a solemn hymn from Ladysmith Black Mambazo, is so so special and caps off a really fun and important listen.

Commemorate – Commemorate [2025]

During my visit to Kuala Lumpur this past May, I had lunch with a local promoter friend who also brought along a well-tenured guitarist from the local music scene. The musician had just started a new shoegaze band and thankfully brought me a copy of their just-released debut (so new, it wasn’t in stores yet!).

Commemorate surely isn’t the first shoegaze or dream pop band to come out of Asia recently, as there has been a wave of new groups pop up in recent years, but their self-titled debut is one that stands out, atmospheric and glimmering with classic shoegaze fuzzed out guitars showing up in all the right places.

Follow the full playlist of Sounds of Silva featured tracks.

Listen to Zach’s radio show archive for Friend From A Big City on Deadbeat Radio.

Submit your reactions and recommendations here:

Leave a comment

For two weeks in June, Korea was the perfect place to be.

Not only was I greeted by a beautiful summer week in Seoul, but I was also very graciously invited by music festival organizers to attend their events: first, DMZ Peace Train Festival which takes place at Goseokjeong about half an hour from the border with North Korea (hence the name); secondly, Asian Pop Festival out in Incheon. This year, the two events fell on consecutive weekends in 2025, serendipitous timing for any indie music fan. Both are definitely reflections of the music leading the charge in Asian indie, but also incredibly principled in their missions.

The tag line for DMZ Peace Train is “Dancing for a Borderless World”, and the fans and organizers alike both deeply believe in the festival’s endeavor for peace among peoples through music. The lineup reflected this as well – a combination of anthems and punk jams from both Asia and other parts of the world. This reminds me a lot of Newport Folk Festival in Newport, Rhode Island, a legendary music festival also driven by its values and historically praised for it. The energy of the crowd was a sight to behold – even when a torrential rainstorm arrived and relentlessly showered upon the crowd, circle pits and singalongs never ceased.

And Asian Pop Festival is deeply committed to putting on a display of the best talents across Asia for a local Korean audience, with a strong focus on indie bands. Hiperson (China), Lamp (Japan), SE SO NEON (Korea), Enno Cheng (Taiwan), and many more comprised the strong and diverse lineup at the festival this year. Even though the artists and industry folks came from different places, the festival very much felt like a community, like-minded people all doing their best to support indie music.

The founder of the festival so deeply believes in the musical talent in Asia – hosting a festival like this is a challenge and one I hope is successful so we all get to reap the fruits every year.

Ten days in Seoul proved to be plenty – got my Olive Young and designer sunglasses shopping in, saw a baseball game at the Gocheok Sky Dome, even had many evening strolls around Hongdae. It doesn’t need to be said, but I also ate as many Korean specialties as I possibly could.

But while I spent a lot of time in the proper city center, the two festivals located outside of the hustle and bustle were the highlights for me this time around. Korean concert crowds are devotional and inspirational – these fans were seriously some of the most engaged and hyped I’ve seen in a long time – especially at a time when politics and society in Korea is at an uncertain crossroads.

It’s good to be reminded that people do, in fact, have the power. Nothing can defeat a collective drawn together by the strum of a guitar and an anthemic chorus.

Delispice

When I first visited Korea in 2024, I met Joohee and Yeongjin, incredibly passionate music journalists based in Seoul. Their publication Indiesmoment and studio Supersonic have been very useful resources in my own pursuit of information on K-Indie and Korean culture. But when I asked them to give me the classics, the foundational artists for what is now the modern indie scene in Korea, the first band they mentioned was Delispice.

The lead singer Kim Min-kyu performed at DMZ with his own solo project, but the moment he started performing “Chau Chau”, every single person at the festival dropped what they were doing and ran over to join. There was singing and crying, the friend I was with was speechless with goosebumps. A powerful moment to close out the first night of the festival.

Lang Lee - “There Is A Wolf”

Lang Lee was a special guest at Asian Pop Festival, performing a couple songs with Taiwanese singer/songwriter Enno Cheng, as well as delivering a poignant poem prior to their performance together.

I had the chance to meet Lang Lee and chat with her afterwards and learned about the phenomenon around her track “There Is A Wolf”, which became an anthem to Korean citizens during the intense period of political upheaval last year. Their President abruptly declared martial law, followed by fierce protests – the will of the people ultimately triumphed as he was impeached and removed from office. Lang Lee had been denied the right to perform her music by that government multiple times, but finally took what was hers and performed this song in front of millions at the National Assembly in Seoul on December 14th, 2024.

Meaningful Stone

Meaningful Stone performed at DMZ Peace Train during an absolute downpour storm, but used the chaos of the weather to her advantage, leading the crowd with her indie anthems and shoegaze-y bliss. Her music verges on the ethereal, a blend of rock and folk soundscapes with her dreamy vocals soaring into the skies. Meaningful Stone is a rising star in K-Indie – her recent featured spots at DMZ, Pentaport, and many other events means the ascent is clearly well underway.

Follow the full playlist of Sounds of Silva featured tracks.

Listen to Zach’s radio show archive for Friend From A Big City on Deadbeat Radio.

[Zach Travel Log #9]

Eva and Lucci stood in front of a full moon, the backdrop at venue Moon Romantic in Taipei, and got ready for their soundcheck for their first ever headline show in East Asia.

The duo comprises mui zyu, an ethereal alternative pop band whose music winds its way through David Lynch tributes (“Sparky”) and Cantonese mother language reclamation (“Mother’s Tongue”). The melodies are unusual and sublime, samples and production unique; the performances prompted many fans on this tour to tell the duo afterwards, “I’ve never heard anything like your music before.” I urged them that this was, in fact, a compliment.

I was glad to organize an East Asia tour for mui zyu, starting at the festival Clockenflap in Hong Kong, stopping to my adopted home of Taipei, and finishing with an adventure from Tokyo to Nagoya and finally Kyoto in Japan. I remember coming across their debut single “Ghost With A Peach Skin” a mere two or three years ago and becoming a fan almost immediately.

Now here I was with the duo: taking them to my favorite record shop White Rabbit Records in Taipei, followed by a tea ceremony at Wistaria Tea House (which we learned we visited in its last week of operation before a lengthy restoration).

Unfortunately Moon Romantic just recently announced it will be closing its doors this upcoming Fall, following the same fate as many smaller music venues in the city. Thankfully mui zyu had the opportunity to play in the shadow of the moon not once, but twice (it will make a return later in this newsletter).

The second night in Taipei was at a venue steeped in history, Witch House. The cafe, in its 30 year history, was been an important beacon in the city for campus folk music and feminism, and holds the distinction of hosting the very first shows by legendary Taiwanese musicians Cheer Chen and Sandee Chan. Now mui zyu had the opportunity to grace the corner of the cafe and perform for a rapt college crowd.

Fast-forward to our arrival in Tokyo – on the morning of the second day, we all gathered for some of the fluffiest pancakes in the world at Flipper’s – mui zyu, myself, and the Father/Daughter Records team. They also made the journey (from America, much further than my own starting point of Guangzhou).

We soon came across a familiar scene as we made our way down a treacherous staircase at Moon Romantic in Tokyo, as the same full moon we saw in Taipei re-appeared on stage here in Japan at its sister venue.

Support for the show in Tokyo was MANAKANA, a twin duo formerly in the popular Japanese post-punk group CHAI. Their new project however was at the complete other end of the spectrum, a very contemplative ambient performance incorporating traditional instruments.

The drive from Tokyo to Nagoya was notable in that our route passed very close to Mt. Fuji and offered some picturesque traffic and “construction ahead” photos.

After some pre-show century-old-recipe miso katsu, we returned to the venue KD Japon which sits under an active rail line, making for either very well-timed or very unfortunately-timed rocking and rattling from the rafters during the performance. On this night, mui zyu pulled out a special final encore number, a cover of Elliot Smith’s “Everything Means Nothing To Me” that felt perfectly suited for the old upright piano and wooden frame of the venue.

But of course, this is part of the ambiance of such a unique spot, and one of the opening artists also made use of the atmosphere to complement her set, marucoporoporo stringing together found sounds and ambient soundscapes which made what was an already an out-of-body experience touring in Japan even more surreal.

The autumn leaves and serene settings of Kyoto were unlike any place I’ve ever been, but we all had to wait one more day before our true “day off in Kyoto”. The final show of the tour brought us to Urbanguild, a two-person elevator ride up a few floors of a nondescript row of shops. Up-and-coming group Yutai Communications (who just released a fantastic full-length record) opened the night with a spell-binding set made even more impactful by expert lighting design through the entire evening.

One of our fearless tour managers, Miyabi, hails from Okinawa, which celebrates taco rice as one of its unique cuisines. This venue happened to have a version of the dish, so our post-show celebration included a few drinks and a healthy serving of the Japan-ified American-ized Mexican food.

We bid our farewells at the physical shop of Big Romantic Records in the Shimokitazawa neighborhood of Tokyo, the home of the tour promoter and purveyor of everything good in Asian indie music.

Whether strolling under the golden gingko trees in Meiji Jingu Park in Tokyo, learning about the generational history of the miso recipe we tasted in Nagoya, or picking up plum wine in Nishiki Market in Kyoto to gift to our tour manager and good friend Budha, every moment with the duo and their team was an honor. Exploring new places with friends adds to the joy of discovery and the curiosity and kindness of this whole crew compounded that joy ten-fold.

It just so happened to be an actual Full Moon on the day I departed Tokyo, Monday December 16th. No additional lighting or production necessary.

mui zyu will be on tour in the United States this September! I strongly encourage you to get a ticket and see their performance if you have the chance.

Tour dates and ticket links

Every once in a while, I have the feeling like I’ve fallen off the map. Friends and family aren’t quite sure where I am, which is the same sense I have myself, transiting from place to place and never sticking around in one destination for too long. But when my last message to my brother is “I’m going to the DMZ for a music festival” followed by a few messages left unread, then I understand why the concern is heightened.

In the last couple weeks, I attended two music festivals in Korea, one about 30 minutes from the DMZ border and one at a luxury resort (more on those in the next newsletter), followed by a week in Taipei celebrating the Golden Melody Awards. I even spent about two hours sitting alone at a vinyl library in Seoul, disappearing into Slowdive and Brian Eno.

Now that I’m properly on my way back home for the summer, it’s time to reflect on many of the new artists and albums I’ve encountered during my recent travels. With the first half of 2025 coming to a close last week, I felt it was a good time to share an update on some recent favorites that have been swirling around my mind.

For the full playlist, listen here.

Otherwise, see below for some handpicked choices.

Siri Lee

The winner of Best Album at the 36th Annual Golden Melody Awards in Taiwan, Siri Lee very cleverly writes Taiwanese verse to a variety of different and unexpected instrumental backgrounds on Sui 水. Sometimes the lyrics are intentionally written like she’s singing in French or Italian, as in “足芳足芳” which led her to accept the first of her awards (also was awarded Best Female Singer (Taiwanese) and Best Taiwanese Album) by greeting the audience with “bonjour”. The styles range from French chanson to traditional banger – it’s a joy and an important achievement in breaking away from definition and forging a new identity in Taiwanese language music.

someshiit

someshiit walked away with the Best New Artist award at the Golden Melody Awards, and his debut is definitely deserving of this distinction. Conscious hip hop backed by production from No Party for Cao Dong’s team is a formula that is now proven to be a winning collaboration – Sam’s earnest lyricism blanketed over a layer of melodic and progressive lo-fi rock backbeats is thrilling.

CHO CO PA CHO CO PA QUIN QUIN

Haruomi Hosono has a grandson, and his grandson has a band. While it’s not surprising that a music legend’s offspring has a project of their own, what’s impressive is that their debut album tradition stands among the best of an already outstanding young crop of Japanese bands in recent years. Pulling from his grandfather’s songwriting sensibilities, the songs are meticulously littered with musical delights, but with every note placed intentionally in a way where the song would be incomplete without it.

(*Extra interesting tidbit: Haruomi Hosono himself was the grandson of a notable person – the only Japanese survivor of the Titanic disaster.)

hathaw9y & Phoebe Rings

Busan’s dream pop darlings hathaw9y released a new track recently, shortly followed by a hometown show welcoming New Zealand’s Phoebe Rings who were on their first ever tour of Asia and first ever show in Busan. The pairing is really musically obvious, both inducing really groovy reinterpretations of city pop and cosmic funk from generations prior, but inspired by their own unique experiences.

Matt Berninger - “Breaking Into Acting”

The singer of one of my favorite bands of all time recently released his second album as a solo artist, almost two years to the date I attended the release event for his full band’s latest album (at the time). The National themselves are incredibly prolific (the event I attended for Laugh Track was actually the first of two records they released within that year), but Matt Berninger’s solo output (as well as his underrated side project EL VY) is also impressive. Get Sunk is so so good, and the songs bleed with sincerity in their storytelling, as is usual to expect from Berlinger.

Mayday at Taipei Dome – June 29th, 2025

At the urging of one of my best music buddies, I got a last-minute ticket to see the legendary Taiwanese rock group Mayday at Taipei Dome, a pretty special stop on their on-going world tour. It was a celebration of 25 years of one of Taiwan’s most beloved bands, really one of the first bands from Taiwan to break out internationally (and also domestically where they eventually launched their own production company and shaped the future of live performances in Taiwan).

I rarely attend stadium shows like this, mostly because in America the tickets range from one week’s salary all the way up to maxing out credit cards for floor seats, but the ticket I got was incredibly reasonable, and the production was so incredible for a whopping four hours that I felt I actually underpaid for the experience I got. Bangers from top to bottom, insane visuals, immaculate crowd interaction – truly a concert-going experience I’ll remember for a while.

Follow the full playlist of Sounds of Silva featured tracks.

Check out the full list of Zach’s favorite albums of 2021 on Medium.

Listen to Zach’s radio show archive for Friend From A Big City on Deadbeat Radio.

Earlier this Spring, I was able to get away for a bit and spend a week in Malaysia, first in the city of Kuala Lumpur, then on the beaches of Kota Kinabalu.

Situated between Thailand and Singapore and with a colonial legacy of its own, Malaysia is a very diverse place. (My fellow American students maybe remember the significance of the Malaccan Strait from World History class.) No two streets or markets are the same and seemingly everyone can find a place of their own somewhere in the expansive city of Kuala Lumpur. This diversity, more than in any other aspect, is reflected in the food.

The flavors rush in from all different angles – needless to say, the dishes we tried ticked so many different boxes, as we devoured the sweet and savory and spicy flavor profiles of Malaysian cuisine. Whether it was the nasi lemak we enjoyed with several Malaysian music friends, or the morning bowl of laksa noodle soup before island-hopping, or the absolutely necessary stop for Black Thorn durian, or one of the many many cups of teh tarik, everything was satisfying in its own flavorful way.

A highlight of the trip, as is my tradition wherever I travel, was visiting a local record shop. This was one of the more unique locations however – we parked in the basement garage of a local wet market, then meandered our way up stairs, past locals selling their meats and vegetables. Eventually we located the storefront of Sputnik Rekordz plastered with artist posters and band stickers – the sign that we reached our destination.

The shop was a trove for deep cut Malay music, whether the songstresses of days past or more modern artists pushing the boundaries of what is actually a very long and robust history of Southeast Asian rock. Thankfully I had my friend Jin, a concert promoter based in Kuala Lumpur, as a guide to the region’s music history to help guide me to the releases closer to my taste. The owner was also patient as I requested “old-school, foundational rock and roll” Malaysian bands and proceeded to flick through tapes and 45s for the better part of an hour.

Malaysia actually shares a large island territory with both Indonesia and Brunei known by many as Borneo; but our next few days were spent in Malay territory in the coastal city of Kota Kinabalu, both on the mainland beaches and on the many islands just off the coast.

I witnessed the sunset almost every day on this trip, each from a different vantage point. The days usually pass quickly when I travel, but the sunset slowed everything down. I became absorbed in the golden hue and watched the half hour descent of the sun dipping into the ocean’s horizon.

It’s a feeling of completeness to set with the sun, guaranteeing with my own eyes that the day is done and feeling solace in the guarantee that the sun will rise again in just a few hours time, then it’s off to the next adventure.

Commemorate

Commemorate, a brand new Malaysian band, released their debut album during our trip to Kuala Lumpur and it’s a really refreshing blend of shoegaze and post rock written by a mixed group of newcomers and scene veterans. It’s an impressive start and hopefully a sign of more adventurous music coming from the indie scene in Malaysia.

Piri Reis

At a show in Guangzhou, China last week, I saw a young emo fan wearing a band t-shirt with the name “Piri Reis”. It might be unusual to see this in the wild, considering I was in a completely different region, but Piri Reis is one of the more legendary hardcore/screamo bands from Malaysia and the band had just visited mainland China for a string of well-attended concerts recently. Clearly they have international appeal as they’ll be headed to North America for a festival appearance this year.

hawa

Another young band, hawa came across the radar as the local opener for Grrrls to the Front!, a pop punk-adjacent music festival in Kuala Lumpur earlier this Spring. Among the likes of scene veterans Sobs, YONLAPA, and Grrrl Gang, hawa holds their own and adds to a really confident tapestry of bands making noise in Asian indie rock right now. With the understated fierceness of an Angel Olsen but the moody indie rock instrumentals, hawa have definitely made a big impression with their first singles.

Follow the full playlist of Sounds of Silva featured tracks.

Listen to Zach’s radio show archive for Friend From A Big City on Deadbeat Radio.

[Zach 2025 Travel Log #8]

my bloody valentine – “What You Want” - Loveless

Slowdive – “Alison” – Souvlaki

The Beatles - “It’s All Too Much” - Yellow Submarine

The Beach Boys - “All I Wanna Do” - Sunflower

Nothing – “Vertigo Flowers” – Tired of Tomorrow

Whirr – “Walk Through Space” – Raw Blue

Ride – “Dreams Burn Down” – Nowhere

Swirlies – “Tall Ships” – What To Do About Them

Alison’s Halo – “Calendar” – Eyedazzler

Loveliescrushing – “babysbreath” – bloweyelashwish

Lucid Express – “Hotel 65” – Lucid Express

Parannoul – “Beautiful World” – To See The Next Part of the Dream

Her New Knife – “Piled Up” – Destroza

she’s green – “Mandy” – Wisteria

On the afternoon of March 26th, I arrived early to MOM Livehouse, a concert venue in the Fortress Hill neighborhood of Hong Kong, a spot affixed in the center of an old underground marketplace right off the main street. As I stood on the sidewalk outside the venue, not even an hour after I entered Hong Kong – not even enough time to grab a milk tea! – xiexie greeted me after their morning stroll around the block.

The last time I had seen the band in full was when they performed in Taipei in a small venue, one of their first shows internationally but with a maturity about them that could have fooled me into thinking they had been playing together for a while. I was so impressed and soon thereafter we started working together.

While the band was getting set up, I walked over to Desperate Infant Records which happened to be right around the corner from the venue. The shop acts as record store, record label, and concert promoter, and does a damn good job of all three of these pillars. Their forte is emo, and I had to pick up one of their most recent cassettes – a compilation of some great younger emo and indie groups, including favorites Bennu is a Heron from Guangzhou and Wellsaid from Hong Kong.

While I was taking a brief sojourn at Megaport Festival in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, the band continued on to Wuhan for the 20th Anniversary celebration of Vox Livehouse, a well-established venue in the city.

Wuhan is the home to some incredibly important groups in recent Chinese indie rock such as SMZB and Chinese Football. In China, twenty years of an establishment – especially a rock club – is almost unheard of these days, and shows the success of the venue’s management in staying true to their mission while having to operate under pretty strict conditions. Makes the celebration that much more joyous!

On Wednesday April 2nd, I rejoined the group in Shanghai at a restaurant, where we also met the opener for the next evening’s show for the first time. Food obviously is important on any ordinary day, but it’s especially important on a tour and serves so many purposes – it helps you get to know the local cuisine and style better, it’s a communal experience in a place we’re maybe not all familiar with yet, and it’s purely pleasing to the taste buds.

The opening act for the show in Shanghai was Peach Illusion 桃子假象. I’ve been listening to them for a while now so this was a dream collaboration for me, and I was very glad they agreed to join the show on the heels of their great new record. The songs are so saccharine sweet and literary in really pleasantly unexpected ways. (Side note: I was also able to catch them perform as part of a recorded taping a couple days after the show, and they excelled in both contexts.)

The Shanghai venue had so much unique charm and energy to it, decorated with so much bizarre ephemera that it actually made sense after being there for a while and soaking into the atmosphere. There was a billiards table in the middle of the dance floor, a problem I think most of us identified early on in the night as we expected over 100 attendees at the show. I went to help the security team move the table, and one of the legs broke off. I was mortified, the staff laughed in incredulity, almost as if these kinds of inconveniences happen all the time.

The unsung hero of the tour was definitely tour manager Jun (seen in the above photo) who was the band’s fearless leader on many high speed rail rides and served as multilingual lifeline when the band needed some instructions in Japanese translated into Mandarin.

Another show done, another successful evening. We all dropped off our gear at the hotel, then both bands and a few extra friends went out for a late night celebratory dinner. This also marked the first time I’ve ever tried 中国劲酒 which was an experience all unto itself. The bands shared music knowledge, personal stories, and several plates of shrimp. This kind of connection and friendship between artists is really what I live for and hope I can continue to facilitate across all the artists I have the privilege of working with.

While I’m not sure I’m built to be on the road for longer than a week or so at a time, it was an incredibly invaluable experience. Touring musicians deserve a lot of credit not just for their musical talent but also their endurance and mental/physical health to travel these long distances for our enjoyment.

Follow the full playlist of Sounds of Silva featured tracks.

Listen to Zach’s radio show archive for Friend From A Big City on Deadbeat Radio.

“Year of the Snake” - Sufjan Stevens - Enjoy Your Rabbit

“吹风了头发” - LÜCY - Dance on the Shoreline

“I Can’t Find My Head” - elo elo

“where I stand” - OGRE YOU ASSHOLE - Nature and Computers

“Thrills” - LCD Soundsystem - LCD Soundsytem

“Red Rain” - The White Stripes - Get Behind Me Satan

“Bunker Buster” - Preoccupations - Viet Cong

“Space Song” - Beach House - Depression Cherry

“Shallow” - Green!Eyes & Pei-Yu Hung - Stigma

“Daisies” - Milledenials - It’s Terrifying and It’s A Shame

“This Year” - The Mountain Goats - The Sunset Tree

“时光不再来“ - Teresa Teng

Listen to more episodes of Friend From A Big City and read my latest Sounds of Silva posts here.

While sitting in my room surrounded by shelves of my vinyl records, I had the desperate urge to share them with anyone who would listen. All of these albums that I’ve amassed over the course of my record-collecting lifetime, from the very first one I purchased myself at an outdoor flea market almost two decades ago (The Doors’ self-titled) to the most recent arrival in the mail (Boards of Canada’s Music Has The Right To Children), this music has the right to be shared instead of confined to my little room in upstate New York.

I hope to bring some new inspiration to my subscribers and introduce new music to you, as always.

Nippon Psychedelic Soul, 1970-1979

Purchased as part of the recent online sale from Light In The Attic, Nippon Psychedelic Soul 1970-1979 is a landmark compilation that showcases artists that Japanese city pop fans should already know as well as deep cuts. Happy End and Yoshiko Sai make appearances here amongst a combination of hallucinatory, vigorous psychedelic rock that could have only been made at that moment in time.

As Light In The Attic writes on their website, “Finding their feet at home and looking for inspiration abroad, the musicians featured here were engaged in the communal soul-searching that followed the breakdown of the 1960s protest movements. Some made it big, others drifted into oblivion. The music they left behind shimmers with intensity.”

Sparks – Kimono My House

Highly recommended to me by a music industry legend about a decade ago and on my wish list ever since, I finally came across a copy of Sparks’ Kimono My House at a record fair in Albany, New York.

Sparks are well known for their decades long career in irreverent rock, but Kimono My House takes a dip into glam rock which makes the album still stand above the rest of their catalog even 50 years after its release.

Sparks recently released their 25th studio album titled The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte, continuing to keep their fans on their toes, Ron and Russell Mael cementing their legacy as two of the most unique voices in rock and roll.

Mei Semones - Kabutomushi / Tsukino

Mei Semones is an incredibly talented new songwriter who is set to release her debut full length album this year, but the record I picked up from her merch table at Empire Live in Albany was actually her two previous EPs combined into one.

I always appreciate when modern artists incorporate underappreciated genres and unconventional styles into their music, and Mei is doing just that with her saccharine jazz and bossa nova inspired chamber pop – not to mention her mesmerizing guitar work and incorporation of violin and viola, even in her live performance.

Follow the full playlist of Sounds of Silva featured tracks.

Listen to Zach’s radio show archive for Friend From A Big City on Deadbeat Radio.

Submit your reactions and recommendations here:

Leave a comment

Finally, after another year of adventures, I’ve settled back home for the winter and have had time to process everything I just experienced. It took a month into the new year to get a hang of my thoughts and put words to paper – I could say it’s due to the sheer breadth of things I witnessed, but in all honesty it was a bit of holiday hangover. The January Blues were real.

I continued to travel the world in the name of music and making meaningful connections with people and places, taking me to Seoul, Sydney, Kyoto, and Yunnan Province for my first time, and return trips to Beijing, Guangzhou, Taipei, Singapore, Hong Kong, Tokyo. I even made my way out to Shaolin temple and watched some intense kung fu performances way up in the mountains of central China.

And I’m pretty sure I couldn’t keep myself from buying a CD or record or tape or magazine in every single one of these places. It’s unfathomable to think about how in every single one of these places, near and distant, a unique culture and scene around it exists only unto itself, not worrying about what outsiders think. Bright and inspiring, whether it’s their professional calling or simply part of their everyday lives, they are the fuel and future of so many of these communities.

My journey is on a brief hiatus, but in the meantime, I’ll be publishing more podcast episodes with intriguing themes and music new to your ears and snapshots new to your eyes.

Check out some of my favorite music from last year, both in nerdy spreadsheet and playlist form, as well as a few handpicked experiences I’d like to highlight.

Full Spreadsheet of Favorite Albums & Concerts From 2024

Listen to the full playlist of Zach’s 2024 favorites.

Manning Fireworks - MJ Lenderman

Undisputably, the album that I played most frequently in 2024 was Manning Fireworks by MJ Lenderman, formerly guitarist in the very very loud indie rock group Wednesday but taking a more folk rock-y turn with his debut solo record. I think from the first single “She’s Leaving You”, I was pretty much immediately obsessed. It’s a very singable record with really clever turns of phrase and scenarios, and really simply a fun, unique rock record which is rare these days.

Hotel La Rut – Joanna Wang

I actually discovered my favorite release from Taiwan late in the year, a fortunate stumble upon a carnival ride of musicasl vignettes on the album Hotel La Rut by Joanna Wang. The songs veer between Magnetic Fields ditties, They Might Be Giants jaunts, and Regina Spektor tunes, but all have their own personality as Joanna Wang constructs a story and persona over the course of 23 songs. It’s joyous.

Clockenflap Festival

I’m pretty sure I mentioned this festival in my 2023 recap, but Clockenflap in Hong Kong has quickly become one of my favorite events every year. The setting on the waterfront, the incredibly diverse and attention-capturing curation by the festival buyers, and the representation of Hong Kong culture that the festival prides itself on makes for a fun time. This year especially, they invited two of my long-time favorite artists, Jack White and St. Vincent, to perform. It had been a while since I saw either, and to see them perform abroad in a new environment and still kick a lot of butt as usual (and play songs they don’t usually play at home) just confirms why I’ve been a fan for as long as they’ve been releasing music. And many others local to the region also stunned with their sets: The Black Skirts from South Korea, Lucid Express from Hong Kong, FAZI from Xi’an, China, and so many more that I otherwise probably would have not had the opportunity to see live in concert.

On Tour in Japan with mui zyu

I had the great fortune of traveling with the artist mui zyu for their tour dates in Asia – starting in Hong Kong, welcoming them to my adopted home of Taipei, and finally hitting the road for shows in Tokyo, Nagoya, and Kyoto in Japan. It was my first experience on tour, the day to day fatigue of driving and sound-checking and performing and drinking and not enough sleep finally palpable to me, someone who is usually organizing these details at a desk in front of a computer screen. The venues were stunning in their own unique ways, whether under a subway overpass or in a loft by the river in Kyoto, and as seen in the above photo, under a full moon. mui zyu are brilliant artists, in a way where fans were going up to them saying “I didn’t expect where your songs ended up going”, which should be taken as a compliment. Definitely will keep this touring experience close to me for a while.

Follow the full playlist of Sounds of Silva featured tracks.

Listen to Zach’s radio show archive for Friend From A Big City on Deadbeat Radio.