Chinese Shoegaze: An Introduction

Yes, it's called 盯鞋. Alexa Pan x Concrete Avalanche

A few days ago, Ezra Klein said this on his podcast about Donald Trump’s rally turned DJ set:

Part of me finds Donald Trump’s behavior here unusually relatable. You think I want to sit up here talking about politics and war day after day?

You don’t know the temptation to just once, just for one week, turn this podcast into a drum and bass set, or play some of my favorite Kiasmos songs. But I don’t. Of course I don’t. It’s not what we’re doing here.

Well, Ezra, I hear you. Lucky for us, ChinaTalk is not a property of The New York Times — which means we can publish DJ sets whenever the mood strikes! So this week, we’re giving you what you need, not more election takes but a fantastic deep dive into Chinese shoegaze. This episode comes courtesy of ChinaTalk columnist

Alexa Pan

and Jake Newby of the Concrete Avalanche Substack. They put together a wonderful radio hour playing some amazing tracks and walking you through the genre.

Have a listen to the show on our podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or search ChinaTalk on your favorite podcast app!

Track 1: Hothot Aquarium · 窄巷天使NarrowLaneAngel

One of the stand-out acts from the Kind of Shoegaze Vol. 1 compilation focused on young Chinese bands that was released at the start of the year, NarrowLaneAngel formed in Inner Mongolia in 2023. In August of that year, they released an eponymous debut EP.

Track 2: Limpid · Forsaken Autumn · 卢佳灵

Based in Shanghai, Forsaken Autumn have been together since 2011, propelled by the talents of britlulu (who also founded the East Asia Shoegaze Festival) and singer Ecke Wu. Released at the tail-end of 2015, Forsaken Autumn’s record Whenere — dubbed “the Chinese Loveless” by one commenter on Bandcamp — is a classic in Chinese shoegaze circles.

Track 3: Nostalgia · Summer Daze

Founded in 2021, Summer Daze are another band who featured on the Kind of Shoegaze compilation series from Amemoyo. After a couple of early EPs, they've put out four new singles over the course of this year.

Track 4: Firework · The White Tulips

Xiamen music scene stalwart Chen Zhenchao (also known as Soda) has moved away from shoegaze into surf-rock and dream- and city-pop territory with his more recent projects, but in 2015 he and his band The White Tulips delivered the decidedly shoegazey Fondle. It’s re-release on vinyl in 2021 was a nod to its status as a Chinese shoegaze classic.

Track 5: float · 巧克力文件岛

Hebei five piece Chocland.doc apparently first came together at a former residence of Eileen Chang, but are seemingly yet to write a song based on Lust, Caution or any of her other novels. “Of course, the name of the band has no meaning,” they say. “What you understand is what you understand.”

Track 6: Is your dream still out-focus · Lunacid

Another one of China’s newer shoegaze acts, Lunacid was formed in 2023. The trio hails from Changsha and was also featured on the Kind of Shoegaze compilation series.

Track 7: 迷航 (off course) · 哲学思潮 (philosophical trends)

Formed just last year, 哲学思潮 hail from Nanning in Guangxi province, near the border with Vietnam. Their debut album Dazedtrek was recently made available on Bandcamp.

Track 8: Detached · The Numen

Shanghai-based quartet The Numen met on arts review platform Douban and have pursued a shared love of shoegaze and indie-rock since the summer of 2023. They namecheck shoegaze greats such as My Bloody Valentine’s Kevin Shields among their influences.

Track 9: Cat Tenant (Summer) (猫房客夏日版) · Baby Formula

Formed by “three boring people with no expectations for the unknown journey ahead,” Beijing band Baby Formula came seemingly out of nowhere, dropped an impressive eponymous debut album in the autumn of 2013, and then promptly disappeared again. Still, their music continues to resonate over a decade later.

Track 10: 星星 (Star) · 親愛的艾洛伊絲 (Dear Eloise)

As frontman for long-running band PK14, Yang Haisong is one of the godfathers of Chinese post-punk. Yet he’s also played a pivotal role in bringing more experimental, noisy, and yes, shoegazey sounds to the fore. Formed in 2007 with his wife (and one-time PK14 bassist) Sun Xia, Dear Eloise have released a string of atmospheric records over the years and remain an influential act in China.

If you like this playlist, you might also like these compilations from Jake and consider subscribing to his Substack!