A Beijing-based music and gig review blog

Part of my being com­pletely remiss while I was tak­ing a hol­i­day meant that I missed announc­ing this event. Xiao He is set to release his new album this week­end at Great Leap Brew­ing — his first album in more than two years. As may be expected of Xiao He, how­ever, this is no ordi­nary album. Dubbed a “musi­cal art­book”, this new release is not only an album but an expe­ri­ence. The twelve-track album is accom­pa­nied by illus­tra­tions by Xiao He of twelve dif­fer­ent leaves, inspired by his time spent in Zurich last year. The musi­cal art­book also comes with a built-in MP3 player with custom-made head­phones from 233621, which spe­cialise in high-end noise-cancelling ear­buds. It also includes a DVD with three music videos from three dif­fer­ent Chi­nese art­house direc­tors: Yu Liwei, Yang Jin and Zhang Yue­dong. The price is on the steep side — 488RMB (or 388RMB at the release party) — but the release is lim­ited to 1000 copies, mak­ing it a very spe­cial release.

I know I’ve said that Xiao He is hit or miss in his live per­for­mances, but I must say that this art­book release is some­thing spe­cial. Not only are you tak­ing home a piece of Chi­nese indie folk music, you’re get­ting a work of art. Splurg­ing on a piece of art and music com­ing together isn’t always easy to jus­tify, but if you’ve liked Xiao He in the past, I def­i­nitely rec­om­mend it. Or else, just head to Great Leap Brew­ing and mull it over a microbrew.