Yin: Upbeat Canto Alt-Pop from Guangzhou’s Power Milk

Yin (音, “music”) is a weekly RADII column 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.

Slipping on in to July, steam things up with this recent track from Guangzhou’s Power Milk, one half of a lathe-cut vinyl released a few weeks ago by Qiiii Snacks and Hak Hak Manufacture. Even if you don’t understand Cantonese, you can readily bounce along to this high-energy, feel-good tune, helpfully illustrated by a pastel-perfect animated music video (Bilibili exclusive, sorry):

Always love to hear whatever the Qiii Snacks crew cooks up. If you’re feeling a little more mathy, check the b-side to this 7″ by smellyhoover, also from Guangzhou:

Pretty different style-wise but the liner notes tell the tale of why these two bands were paired:

Although the two bands seem to be completely different, they both use Cantonese to tell a story about the characteristics of Guangzhou life. For this release, the two bands coincidentally both wrote a song about the hardships of office life…

Think the super-limited lathe-cut is already sold out, but you can still download the two-song EP here, and find more info about Qiii Snacks Records and Hak Hak Manufacture — two key DIY forces keeping the PRD indie scene alive and thriving — in the RADII links below:

Guangzhou’s Qiii Snacks Records is Capturing the Sound of Southeastern China

How Hak Hak Manufacture is Cutting Out a Vinyl Record Niche in Guangdong

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