In conjunction with events across Record Stores in China and with partner label Genjing Records from Beijing, we’re onboard here in Australia with a very special release from an amazing musician by the name of Li Daiguo.  A creamy pink 7″ wrapped in a cover made from a map of Chengdu (every cover is different!) will be available at tenzenmen on Record Store Day, April 20th 2013.  For extra special supporters of the day you can pick up this beautiful item with a wonderful bonus 50 minute DVD at Vicious Sloth Collectables in Melbourne and Red Eye Records in Sydney!  Head to Genjing Records for information on stores and specials in China and also for an extensive interview with the man himself.

Vicious Sloth Collectables, 1309 High Street, Malvern, Victoria 3144

Red Eye Records, 143 York Street, Sydney, NSW 2000

Want to listen right now?  OK, go here!

I’m lucky enough to be in Singapore and Malaysia for a few days to catch up with my good friends Zoo (check out their page from the menu on the left) who are playing a few shows there.  Back on Tuesday and any orders placed during that time should get in the mail just before that crazy christian holiday.

After a lot of time off, god bows to math are very happy to announce they’re going back on tour again!!!! They have a lot of new songs to show you, Australia and New Zealand.

Poster by Daniel Alexander, full dates below:

22ND March, KRAZY JACKS, TAURANGA With THREAT.MEET.PROTOCOL, Deathbeam & Flogging A Dead One Horse Town

5TH April, DARKROOM, CHRISTCHURCH with Ipswich, Coate & Flogging A Dead One Horse Town

6TH April, CHICKS HOTEL, DUNEDIN with Space Bats Attack, Opposite Sex & Flogging A Dead One Horse Town

12TH April, MIGHTY MIGHTY, WELLINGTON with Force Fields & Quiet Steps

13TH April, SPACE MONSTER, WHANGANUI with Caves, Deathbeam, Parents & Quiet Steps

20TH April, WHAMMY, AUCKLAND with DHDFDs, Rackets & Quiet Steps

24TH April, CROATIAN CLUB, NEWCASTLE with Yes I’m Leaving, Lennin Lennon & Library Siesta

25TH APRIL, BLACK WIRE RECORDS, SYDNEY with Yes I’m Leaving & No Art

26TH APRIL, THE OLD BAR, MELBOURNE with DEAD, Bodies + more TBC

27TH April, WAITING ROOM, BRISBANE with Undead Apes, Tiny Spiders & Roku Music

I came across this paragraph in a recent interview piece with Zhang Shouwang from Carsick Cars/White+:

Without having had formal training (the musician has done a lot of self-teaching and reading over the years), Zhang sometimes composes for classical music ensembles. He shrugs this off, though, when asked about how he got into this and what he thinks of classical music. “I don’t really think that music has different kinds. If you like to make music you try to make music that seems exciting to you and you use different ways to make it. A chamber ensemble is different from a rock band and so it is like making a sound with a different instrument.” The idea of thinking in terms of strict differentiations between genres  just “isn’t interesting.”

I think this captures the ideas of tenzenmen and supporters perfectly!

Carsick Cars, White+ and the Gar are currently playing shows in the US – check their pages for relevant dates.

Make More’s ‘Less Deaths’ is the number one played track by fans at tenzenmen.com for February.  Have you heard it yet?  Let me know what you think.

So I’ve been procrastinating and only just started working on my tax return for 2011/12. The exciting news for music fans around the world is that tenzenmen invested more than $36,000 into bringing you new music from the Australasia region during this period! Next, to see how that balances out with income! If you would like to support my efforts financially please have a listen to some of the releases and consider a purchase. If you’d like to support my efforts in other ways drop me an email thru the contact page.

Finally got to watch ‘No Anaesthetic’ featuring the Backyard Surgeons on their 2010 tour of China (with the help of my Sino Australian Music Exchange partner Tom Mattessi and his touring company This Town Touring). If you’re interested to watch I think I have a couple of copies laying around. Tom is still helping bands tour in China too so drop him a line if it’s something you might be interested in.

Last year our good friends at mr sterile Assembly issued a call out for folks to send in videos of themselves mouthing the words to the repeating section near the end of the song ‘Transit’.   Many of us took up the call!  And here’s the results!

A rare picture of Vivian (No Art) performing a smile.

It’s been a little difficult to get back into the swing of things after returning from 6 weeks away and then the run up til Christmas when the cogs of industry generally wind down.  So – plans are afoot for a big release schedule in the first month or two of 2013!

In the meantime a few releases have slipped out into the world that you may have missed – so here they are:

X is Y – Never Sever/LP – 2xCD

Snapline – Phenomena LP/CD

Make More – Less Deaths digital single

Michael Crafter/SMG – split 7″

Birdstriking – CD

Quiet Steps – Dying Livers LP/CD

LuXinPei/Fat City – Super Split 2xCD

Bamodi – Smell Heaven LP

Stellarium – CD

Euripedes Berserker – digital discography

White+ – CD

Mr Graceless – The Tree Ever Green CD

Maybe you’re not familiar with all the artists listed – and that is kinda the point.  This is a place to come and discover new music.  You may not like everything but surely you will like something

Unfortunately shipping prices went up recently and I’ve had to pass them on and also raising prices on certain items so that I might not lose money in the future (yep – 8 years of losing thousands of dollars so far – figured it’s time to see if I might break even, or god forbid – make a dollar or two for my time and effort!)