One thing that will always have a special place in my heart is an intimately self-produced demo. It’s always cool to hear a band working within their means to put the music about which they are passionate into a recorded form. Obviously the sound is often lacking, but anyone who has been there before is certainly able to look past the poor production values and try to understand what the band was trying to achieve.
I was pretty stoked to see that Chinese noise pop/shoegazers The White Tulips put out a collection of tracks recorded at their rehearsal space in the form of “Wrapped in the Waves”. Though they would call it their debut EP, the band’s drummer Milk has made it perfectly clear that it is merely a jumping off point for the band. It is definitely a bit rough around the edges to say the least – snare rattling, murky guitars, soft vocals, and everything else that can be expected of some live demos. Still the Xiamen-based band, who appeared at last year’s First East Asia Shoegaze Festival in Shanghai, put their passion into getting some recordings out there.
The band appears to be set on putting out a “high quality EP” in the near future, but for now there are six intimately recorded tracks to listen to. The EP is currently available to stream (and with some understanding of Chinese or strategic use of Google Translate to purchase) at http://www.xiami.com/album/1795813587. Be sure to keep an open mind when you give it a listen!