Hyphen magazine - Asian American arts, culture, and politics

“Actually, Records.” has announced their first label showcase on the West Coast with ‘A Minotaur Mini-Tour’.  Featuring four critically acclaimed acts from the label roster - Kite Operations, XYZR_KX, The Gold Medalists, and Jack Tung, this mini-tour promises to present the best in left-field Asian-American indie-rock, electro-pop and post-noise. 

The tour begins on Friday, March 26 with a Giant Robot in-store and venue show in San Francisco and ends the next day on Saturday, March 27 in Los Angeles.

‘A Minotaur Mini-Tour’ is sponsored by Giant Robot, Hyphen Magazine, Koream Journal, Audrey, and Angry Asian Man.

“Actually, Records.” is a Chicago-based independent record label specializing in releasing innovative and exceptional records regardless of commercial restraints; blurring the lines between the electronic/acoustic, linear/entropic and tonal/atonal. 

‘A Minotaur Mini-Tour’ will include the following stops:
March 26    San Francisco     Giant Robot (in-store)
March 26    San Francisco    Retox
March 27    Los Angeles         Silver Factory Studios

For more information about A Minotaur Mini-Tour, go to www.actuallyrecords.com.  Tickets are on sale now.
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Artist Bios:
KITE OPERATIONS
http://www.kiteoperations.com

Kite Operations is a New York City based band that recently released the critically acclaimed album, ‘Festival’, a no-wave/post-noise testament to the band’s ability to infuse dissonant experimentation with the emotionally incisive.
 
"...rock that'll shock your testicles like Kabangers. Heavy on guitar feedback madness, straight up noise, and dadaist vocals, the Asian American sound is now officially over. The [New York] band killed it brilliantly..." – Giant Robot

"...successfully [walks] the narrow tightrope above a chasm of inaccessible noise over to the promised land of melodic redemption..." – Heavier Than Air

"With its deep lyricism and carefully constructed accompaniment, 'Festival' is an unparalleled mixture of celebration, emotion and passion." – Lucid Forge

"Free-jazz inspired noise-rock improv-spazz-pop. Sounds like Don Caballero meets Cap'n Jazz plus more noise. Super energetic and fierce." – KUCI 88.9fm
 
 
XYZR_KX
http://www.xyzrkx.com
 
Pronounced ‘Scissor Kicks’, XYZR_KX is Jon Monteverde, Chicago-based Chinese-Filipino indie-rock/electro-pop wunderkind. With this project, Monteverde redefines the boundaries of the traditional pop song by simultaneously incorporating hushed vocals, serrated guitars, and chaotic beats.
 
"Essential lo-fi bliss for anyone sick of cloying emo lyrics and cut-up juxtaposition." - Illinois Entertainer
”More passion than purity, more brash than composed, the sound explodes out of the speakers.” - Grooves Magazine"Quietly earnest folk-pop, narcoleptic electronica... jaw-dropping power." - Splendid Magazine
"One-man band Jon Monteverde includes a cast of contributors in his latest indie-electronica opus, which ranges in sound from metal-machine free jazz to Star Wars droids talking to ambient sounds off the street to what might be acoustic Tropicalia. It's hard to pin down Monteverde into any genre, but the one constant is his vocals. When he chooses to sing, he shows the same delicacy as Ben Gibbard and the same soul as Tae Won Yu. Enigmatic yet pleasing." – Giant Robot
 
"#2 EP of 2006" - WNUR 89.3 FM
 
 
THE GOLD MEDALISTS
http://thegoldmedalists.com
 
 
Part Animal Part Machine. Those are the words scrawled across Jason Jesse's back and a phrase well suited to describe San Francisco’s Peter Nguyen AKA The Gold Medalists.  Famed as the drummer monster behind noise/metalheads Total Shutdown and indie-rockers eE, Nguyen (pronounced Win) is soon releasing his debut album, The City Lights Us on Fire, to the world, and woe to those who turn a deaf ear.
“Peter Nguyen is one of the finest drummers I know and now a fine songwriter.  His first collections of songs only whisper at the enormous potential to come.” - Yoshi Nakamoto (The Aislers Set)“Peter Nguyen is the best thing happening in the Bay Area right now.” - Sooyoung Park (Seam)
JACK TUNG
http://www.myspace.com/jacktung
 
Jack Tung's songs are precisely composed instrumentals performed by Jack alone in real-time on an electric guitar, a drum machine, synthesizers, and a sampler. His moody aesthetic is equally informed by the exhilarating and harsh thrash of his youth in the Long Island hardcore scene, and by the atmospheric film soundtracks absorbed as a lifelong cinephile. In live performance, Jack uses no pre-recorded parts and no backing tracks, save for the spare drum machine patterns which propel his arrangements. His precise execution and control of multiple layers of sound is a feat to witness.
 
“Long Island hardcore veteran Jack Tung has no fear of playing whatever music he likes… great range… dreamy soundscapes…  he can provide the soundtrack to just about anything, from aggressive stuff like skating and fighting to something more emo.” – Giant Robot
“When he performs live, it’s just him and a drum machine—everything else is all live. The guitars are dangerous with a myriad of distortion and effects layered onto one another … a whirlwind of edgy emotional instrumentals." - Smother
"The resulting sound is suited for movie soundtracks, wristful and guitar-driven with errant noises that evoke quiet satellite transmissions." - Brooklyn Greenline