Words: Ami Li
Soviet Pop. Deadly Cradle Death. Raying Temple. For those in Beijing and around China who follow the noise and experimental scene in China’s capital, those names will be familiar. Harsh noise and experimental sound art have been around Beijing for years, with artist-musicians Yan Jun, Li Jianhong, Torturing Nurse and others leading the way. However, filmmaker Joshua Frank chose to interview three younger musicians for his documentary on the current Beijing noise scene, Howling into Harmony.
Howling into Harmony profiles three musicians currently involved in various capacities in the scene; Li Yang Yang (Raying Temple, Nojiji), He Fan (Birdstriking, Carsick Cars, Deadly Cradle Death) and Li Qing (Soviet Pop, Snapline). The documentary was shot in the summer of 2011 by Frank, a young Canadian who went to high school in Beijing and became interested in the noise scene both as an observer and participant through his band Hot & Cold.
Frank, currently a student at New York University, returns to Beijing on July 28th to screen his finished documentary at Beijing’s own incubator of young experimental musicians, XP. The screening is at 7:30 and free of charge. XP is located at the southwest corner where Di’anmen Nei Dajie meets Di’anmen Xi Dajie. It is behind a roasted chestnut stand called 秋栗香.
Douban event info here. Trailer below (Vimeo only, sorry folks)