Review: 日常 – 一，二 (Sub Jam, Jan 12)

No artist’s oeuvre exemplifies the variety and radical creativity of Beijing experimental music culture than Yan Jun, so it follows naturally that his humble label Sub Jam has become a crucial platform for both established figures and newcomers. The new batch presents material by cross-genre veteran 李维思 (Li Weisi), young but already well-accomplished 孙一舟 (Sun Yizhou), uncompromising neo-Fluxus performer 阿科 (Ake), as well as a gorgeous archival field recording by the late 刘惠润 (Li Huirun). All of the cardboard-housed documents deserve their own appreciation and analysis, but I chose the debut cassette by 日常 (Nichijou) to focus on because of how it captures the diverse sonic and aesthetic interests that make this ever-burgeoning scene so exciting. The newly formed duo of 羊库库 (Yang Kuku) and 赵子毅 (Zhao Ziyi)—the latter of whom also just released his first solo album, 恨你—was almost a noisegrind project, but the musicians quickly pivoted to a very different, stripped-down approach that celebrates the “noise from everyday life.” This two-tape set runs the gamut of all possible definitions of that “noise.” 一 comprises direct recordings of trivial actions, first “扔被子” (“throwing carpets”) and then “拆台” (“dismantling”). Each minimal performance is percussive in its own incidental way: the former draws its momentum from both the muted thumps of the heavy fabrics making impact and the empty space in between; the former from the accidental rhythms of clatter, clicks, and yanks as devices are disconnected and taken apart. There’s a sense of good humor to these mundane proceedings that’s even further realized in the irony of “拆台” directly preceding 二, both sides of which are filled with dense, surging currents of electricity. Fittingly, C-side track “演奏” is a rendition of a composition of Yan’s; its presence here honors his career-long incorporation of electronic feedback systems into the organic, humdrum acoustics of the quotidian.