Shaoshupai Relaunches FM3.14 Column With September Album Picks

The article said FIIO's brands include FIIO, JadeAudio and SNOWSKY, and that the column invites veteran music professionals and enthusiasts to recommend Chinese independent and pop music. It said the author hosted sharing sessions in September and October with bands and artists including Mixin, attosec, Huang Yeyuan, and Tixiong Zhuanke with Jason Kui.

Mo Xizishi's album 'Stars, Thorns and Birds' was released on Sept. 9. The article said it followed an eight-year gap and was made after Mo moved from Beijing back to his hometown in the Daliang Mountains. The album takes life as its theme, opens with samples from a Hani village in Mengxin, Yunnan, and includes the song 'What Are Tears,' which the article said sets out the album's life theme. The song 'Birds' uses Hai Zi's poem 'Dedication in the Dark Night'; the article said Mo described stars as a sense of human smallness, birds as freedom and thorns as his own edges. Family appears in 'Stars and Moon' and 'Old Things,' while 'Childhood' was originally written for the film 'A Tent With Colored Balls' and draws on writer Shi Shuqing's experience of losing a sister. Instrumental pieces 'Sigh' and 'Envoy' alternate with vocal tracks, and the closing song 'All Beings' presents a collective portrait.

The article also featured Hugowave's 'Deep Blue' on Sept. 24. It said Hugowave had worked for years as a bassist before releasing this debut singer-songwriter album, which moves through art pop, R&B, alternative rock, folk pop and electronic music. The album was inspired by a real dive to 16 meters and projects underwater physical pressure onto intimate relationships, public judgment, self-doubt and daily stress. The article said Hugowave described himself as a poor kid with big dreams and said that if decency cannot be kept, the mess should at least be arranged to sound good.

Sidanmancu's 'Flowers and Dung' was released on Sept. 25. The article said the Tibetan artist turned dung, a common daily sight, into a philosophical subject about flowers, dung and cyclical transformation. She called the album a chaotic flower and worked with 11 producers on an alternative pop record that the article said pursues a dirtier, deeper, more aggressive and more real sound. Tracks include 'Rotten Through,' 'Let It Rot,' 'INFJ,' 'I Am My Own Mother,' 'Sa Sa Sa,' 'Finding the Sun in the Night,' 'Living With Your Ghost,' 'Fall' and the title song. The article said the album moves between gentler and more forceful vocal performances and ends with a process of self-lifting.

Chen Jinglin's 'The Shape of Which Day' was released on Sept. 9. The article described it as the debut album of a young singer-songwriter, built on guitar, bass and drums and set in alternative rock. It said the songs address growth, confusion and the tension between personal desire and outside expectations, with Chen's clear voice offering moments of calm.

Helena Gao's 'gao dan dan' was released on Sept. 10. The article said Helena Gao, whose Chinese name is Gao Dandan, is Chinese-Danish, born in Denmark to a Chinese mother and a Danish father. It said she grew up in a homogeneous society and long suppressed her Chinese identity, later studying at the Rhythmic Music Conservatory in Copenhagen and embracing her Chinese heritage while connecting with Shanghai's electronic music scene. The album draws on her life between London and Shanghai and on Scandinavian alternative pop, with tracks such as 'I Scan You,' 'Teacher,' 'Awesome,' 'Not as Good as You,' 'Boyfriend,' 'Foreigner' and 'nanana.' In an interview with THE LINE of BEST FIT, she said the album explored and reconnected her with part of her identity. The article also said she co-produced nine songs for Zara Larsson's album 'Midnight Sun: Girls Trip' and received a Grammy nomination for best dance pop production.

SONNIE's 'Sad Boys Club' was released on Sept. 24. The article said the album is largely upbeat urban pop, with some high-energy rock at the end, and that its lyrics deal with love, escape, growth, vulnerability, dreams, self-encouragement and gratitude. It said the album presents the idea that even when sadness remains, everything can be laughed at and sorrow can be sung out loud.

The article also listed additional recommendations: Wo Gui De Huo Che's 'Music Must Come Again,' already available on NetEase Cloud Music; Vuize Wang Zhongwei's 'Teal Blue'; LAWA's 'Side Effects of Living'; A Si's EP 'I Suspect I Am Dreaming'; and rosemances' 'amorscenes.'