RandomK(e)
From Music-China Wiki
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Biography
taken from Tag Team Records:
In initially describing any band we industry types inevitably fall back on the use of generic labels; Tortoise were ‘post-rock’, Jefferson Airplane ‘acid rock’ and Coldplay ‘incontinence-core’. Genres are unavoidable and generally helpful. But once in a while bands pop up that defy genres or, at the very least, incorporate ideas from so many different genres in their music that pigeonholing becomes impossible. RandomK(e) are one such a band. Magazine writers desperately searching for that one perfect adjective that forever pins them in place have described RandomK(e) as everything; post-rock, post-punk, stoner rock, angry hippies, mellow punks, lao wai, post-lao wai, noise rockers and dubby krautrockers with unconscious Shellac leanings. They've even been called 'slippery bastards'. All of these are perfectly accurate descriptions... until the next song starts.
Formed in 2004, RandomK(e) are quite possibly the burliest group of dudes ever to assemble on a Beijing stage…ever. The band benefits from the wildly disparate musical backgrounds of its constituent parts. Vocalist/ Guitarist Richard Todd brings slabs of punk and DIY/ post-punk to the party, despite singing like a down-to-earth Ian Gillan with emphysema; Bassist Adam Pillsbury plays his instrument like the bastard child of Bootsy Collins and Charles Mingus; double-bassist/ laptop terrorist/ gadget fiddler/ knob twiddler general Jackson Garland adds unobtrusive electronic textures to the music that you may only notice by their absence and while drummer Jon Campbell's hair screams Grateful Dead, his beats can whisper Buddy Rich or wail Bill Ward.
At the end of 2010, drumer Jon Campbell moved back to Canada to concentrate on his book abour Chinese rock music. The official last show of Randomk(e) took place in 2 Kolegas in December 2010. And old friend Abigail Washburn came all the way from US to see this show, she and Subs vocalist Kang Mao even performed an impro together with Subs guitarist and Randamk(e) musicians.
Discography
Albums
Waiting - 2009, March
Appearances in Podcasts
Pissing On The Bamboo Curtain - 2008, March
Further Information
Official pages
Videos & Photos
Interviews and Articles
- Playing with The Redbucks & RandomK(e), Interview with Jackson “two-sheds” Garland by Beijing Daze, November 2009
- Interview by Edna Zhou on Shanghaiist.com, June 2009
- Interview on layabozi.com
