Why Taiwanese Post-Rock will save Indie Music

Nelson Moura,

Correspondent (Music)

 

Taiwanese progressive rock at first may sound like an exotic fringe music scene. Like referring to the hardcore/trash Albanian scene or Papua New Guinea folk singers.

So that was exactly my reaction when my Taiwanese girlfriend first exposed me to a music called Tolling Bell from Sugar Plum Ferry. After 7.17 mesmerizing minutes of pure melodic crescendo, I was surprised to find a band capable of producing music that could compete with and even surpass any international post-rock bands such as Mogwai or Explosions in the Sky.

I decided to explore the band in more detail and end up discovering a burgeoning and very intense scene in this small island with only 644 sq km, but with a population of 23 million people.

Named after something John Lennon mistakenly said in a recorded session, Sugar Plum Ferry has been considered one of Taiwan’s most critically acclaimed bands. Formed in 1998 by college students inspired by their love for international Post-rock, they quickly became well known as their 2001 debut album Lack of Something turned into a corner stone of the scene.

Their music sounded pristine, clear and full of mathematically conceived string melodies.

Adjectives I would soon also find in other Taiwanese band such as Aphasia, 8mm and Photobug. It seemed this Asian island had decided to immerse itself into soft rainy music with no vocals.

I was intrigued and decided to go to the source itself and ask Templar Hsu, 24, a keyboardist  from 2HRS,  a post-rock band from Taichung in Taiwan, if he could explain this surge of quality bands with similar playing style.

A style that I believe was perfectly defined when Hsu defined the sound of one of his favourite bands Photo Bug, “their musical structure is always intense and their music is like building a solid wall with handmade bricks”.

Using his own band as an example he believes this style ends up coming naturally, especially when you are influenced by bands like, Maybeshewill, Mogwai, and Japanese band Mono.

“I think there are a higher percentage of fans of post-rock in the indie scene in Taiwan than other countries but i really don’t know why.”

“There are lots of bands playing sub-genres of post rock in Taiwan and lots of the indie bands like 8mm sky are very instrumental too. Although there’s a vocalist they seldom sing.”

He also explained to me how Taiwanese bands sing in three main local languages, Chinese, Taiwanese dialect, Hakka and aboriginal dialect.

With only 14% of the population from the island, the small Hakka community even has a right to their own indie band, Labour Exchange, who use their music to reflect on the aboriginal farmers, blending traditional Hakka music with post-rock elements.

All this proves how Taiwanese post-rock is a deep sea world waiting to be explored by music lovers.

 

Tolling Bell - Sugar Plum Ferry

 

 

Image Courtesy: http://www.sitcomserf.com