Yin: Beijing’s Hedgehog “Kill Rock Stars” in this Glowing Cube

Yin (音, “music”) is a weekly RADII feature that looks at Chinese songs spanning hip-hop to folk to modern experimental, and everything in between. Drop us a line if you have a suggestion.

If you’re a fan of underground Chinese indie rock and are not epileptic, I’d like to direct your attention to Channel R, a new music video series launched in May by Beijing film production outfit DATESE Studio. The series, entitled “Plug It In,” kicked off with an inaugural performance by Beijing rapper J-Fever on May 6, and has been going weekly since.

Simple concept: take a given singer or band and record them playing a song in this elaborate glowing cube set that DATESE seems to have in-house for some reason.

Last week’s video was for Hedgehog, steadfast warriors of Beijing’s mid-’00s noise indie scene. Hedgehog released their latest album, Sound of Life Towards…, in April on Ruby Eyes Records, marking a break from big-indie label Modern Sky, which had released five earlier studio albums for the band.

Here’s one of the rougher-edged tracks off the new one, “Kill Rock Stars,” a callback to the band’s noisier roots:

Also a fan of “Plug It In” Ep 02, which features Kunming’s South Acid Mimi Dance Team performing “Original Soul,” a track from their upcoming debut album, also to be released on Ruby Eyes. We actually premiered that track here in February in case you want the audio-only version.

Get a fresh “Plug It In” video every week (I guess) over at Channel R’s YouTube.

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