After winter, the sounds of spring.
In March 2016, the perfect soundtrack to melting frost and tangerine skies.
Split Works is proud to present the dreamy folk-tronica of San Francisco-based wunderkind Blackbird Blackbird and the swoony solo electro-pop of critically acclaimed UK songwriter Chad Valley.
They’ll be conjuring warm dreamscapes across shows in Beijing (Modernsky Lab, March 8) and Shanghai (Yuyintang, March 9). Cuddle up for two intimate evenings filled with visions of sunny shores and brighter tomorrows.
Blackbird Blackbird
“[Blackbird Blackbird] plays a unique mixture of dance music, ambient noise, and guitar licks…[filled] with beauty, complexity, and wonder.” –KEXP
Blackbird Blackbird is the moniker moniker (sorry) of San Francisco-based Mikey Maramag. His unique style of dreamy folktronica recalls influences from all ends of the musical spectrum. It’s pop music The Beatles could have imagined but cannot make today: warm and alive, sprinkled with digital fairy dust.
His deeply textured, hypnotic songs pay homage to psychedelica from the likes of Caribou and Washed Out, while the warmth of analogue instrumentation spliced with digital artifacts hints at contemporaries James Blake, Four Tet and Mount Kimbie.
His reverb-laden musical collages tend to lean towards anthemic, inspirational, and dream-driven themes. Blackbird Blackbird often tweaks nature-samples and mixes electronic textures with organic instrumentation (guitar, drums, synths, vocal-harmonies). Ghostly female vocals are chopped and screwed, spun around a paint-splattered collage of sound. He’s released two-blissed out albums of sunny pop – 2010’s Summer Heart and 2014’s Tangerine Sky – and has toured Europe and North America, receiving critical acclaim from the likes of Fader, XLR8R, Rcrdlbl and more.
Chad Valley
“[Chad Valley] has a brilliant way with lush, melancholic electronica…[writing] soaring paeans to youthful hopes and dreams.” – The Guardian
Chad Valley is the solo electro-pop project of Oxford’s Hugo Manuel, formerly of the band Jonquil. His music is triumphant in sound and rich in construct – often dreamy, introspective and R&B-inspired. Like Blackbird Blackbird, his music has a similar feeling of 60s pop being given a shimmery modern electronic makeover
A product of Oxford’s prolific creative community, Chad Valley has a catalogue that spans three studio releases– 2010’s self-titled debut EP which was a bedroom exploration in swirling synths and sunburnt melodies. 2011’s Equatorial Ultravox expanded that recipe, giving his downtempo productions a decidedly more pop-leaning twist. ‘Shell Suite’, off that album, was used in the movie Warm Bodies, leading to a string of key touring slots supporting the likes of Active Child, Chvrches, Erasure, Friendly Fires and Passion Pit. He toured China that year for Split Works’ fifth anniversary celebrations.
In 2013, Chad Valley released Young Hunger, his first proper album and one that saw him further embrace his pop ambitions. The material was a modern collage of 80’s freestyle jams and 90’s radio singles, featuring an impressive list of collaborators including El Perro Del Mar, Glasser, TEED and Twin Shadow. Two years later, he released his sophomore effort Entirely New Blue, a slow-burning exploration of identity and the places that comfort us with nostalgia. In support of the record, Chad Valley toured the world, winning over fans with his stellar voice and impassioned performances.
Two luxuriant young voices in pop in one stellar bill. We can’t think of a better to bring in springtime.
Blackbird Blackbird + Chad Valley China Tour Information
[Beijing]
Date: March 8, Tuesday
Venue: Modernsky Lab
Address: Galaxy SOHO, Chaoyangmen, B1/F, Bldg. D, Rm. 5-108, Dongcheng District (东城区朝阳门银河SOHO D座B1层5-108)
Doors: 8:30pm
Tickets: 100 RMB (presale) / 120 RMB (door)
Presale Link: https://yoopay.cn/event/BBCVbeijing
[Shanghai]
Date: March 9, Wednesday
Venue: Yuyintang
Address: 851 Kaixuan Road, Changning (长宁区凯旋路851号)
Doors: 8:30pm
Tickets: 100 RMB (presale) / 120 RMB (door)
Presale Link: https://yoopay.cn/event/BBCVshanghai
Links
Split Works Official Website：www.spli-t.com
Blackbird Blackbird Official Website: http://blackbirdblackbird.net
Chad Valley Official Website: www.chadvalley.net
About Split Works:
Split Works has been rocking in the free (ish) world since 2006. Working with inspirational artists from across the globe, the good people at Split Works HQ have been a key contributor to the continued rise of China’s music scene.
Split Works has launched five music festivals and promoted over 400 tours to 30 Chinese cities, always striving to stay true to a familiar refrain: the music has to be special, every single time. From Godspeed You! Black Emperor to Sonic Youth, from Thee Oh Sees to Mac Demarco and Shabazz Palaces, from Black Rabbit to JUE and Wooozy to Echo Park and More Music. We love music, we love China and we love you.