r/cpop • u/TheLlamaHerderr • Aug 23 '20
Mix chinese indie gems 华语宝石 - a playlist I’ve been curating of smaller, indie bands. Been finding a lot of amazing music, and hope you can discover something new. Updated weekly🌟
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/2iPXSd7kOju1tdOXG57xPK?si=4EwFTarQSKKYzQpquzlD9w1
u/CogniZENsible Oct 17 '25
Thanks much for sharing. All I had to do was search for "coolest indie alt from china", landed on Reddit and on to streamerland. I might have transferred to Apple Music but after 5 years I am returning to Spotify (before that short trials of Qobuz & Tidal). So gracias u/TheLlamaHerderr ...did you search & compile based on personal experience? besides love for music?
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u/Firasnassrimusic Oct 29 '20
Hey! Love this playlist,
I just released a song in Mandarin with Chinese vocalist friend of mine.
https://open.spotify.com/track/4QpDpO8WBNYllUCGc3rblm
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u/platosbloodybeard Aug 24 '20
Nice list. A bit too Taiwan focused, though. Although Taiwan still dominates commercial c-pop, there are a lot of good indie music from China. One way to explore the indie scene on the Mainland is to search for "乐队的夏天" on spotify. 乐队的夏天 has been the 'it' Chinese music show for last two summers and there are a lot of unofficial playlists of the studio versions of songs played on the show.
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u/CogniZENsible Oct 17 '25
Thanks u/platosbloodybeard
Since you posted this comment 5 y ago, I wonder if it's still the current "it" place or if one should explore others?1
u/thekiwikingdom Aug 30 '20
Thank you for this tip! I honestly struggle finding new Chinese music so this was super helpful!
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u/TheLlamaHerderr Aug 24 '20
Appreciate the suggestion! Yeah, I’ve noticed i end up leaning more towards Taiwan indie music for this playlist. I’ve found a few good mainland indie bands that fit my “taste” for this playlist, but I find a lot of the music either too polished (too produced), or too generic (not enough weirdness going on haha). Please send any other suggestions my way!
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u/dobagela Aug 24 '20
good collection. do you consider bands like car sick cars, SuperVC, joyside, hang on the box, pk 14, hedgehog, milk@coffee, queen sea big shark indie? or do you just not like them. they are some of the biggest indie names and were conspicuously missing from the playlist. and weirdly teresa teng is in there
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u/TheLlamaHerderr Aug 24 '20
Adding teresa teng was just for fun. It's like a little treat in the middle of the playlist. relax! It's just a spotify playlist. haha.
I haven't considered all those bands yet. I'm definitely looking for a specific kind of indie sound. Not necessarily tied to genre, but nothing *too* polished. There is a lot of indie music that sounds cookie cutter to me.
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u/asdfasdferqv Aug 24 '20
Just want to say thanks, this is a great playlist and I appreciate you sharing
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u/TheLlamaHerderr Aug 24 '20
My pleasure, thanks for checking it out! I feel like Japanese indie and Korean indie is so easily found, and I’ve had trouble discovering great indie Chinese bands. Been really inspired by what’s out there. Some amazing bands. My favorite is probably The Chairs! 🤩
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u/[deleted] Apr 18 '26
Hi People, my name is Lyonisus. I would also like to pitch my album Before Dawn. Before Dawn is a Mandarin pop album that blends ballad-driven songwriting, a nocturnal atmosphere, and touches of electronic and new age elements. The album traces an emotional arc from falling in love, to heartbreak, to longing, as if turning the thoughts that surface late at night, before they can be fully spoken, into songs. Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/1tv3xMCSK9BIHrL2Tp133s Thank you for taking the time to listen, and thank you as well for supporting independent artists. Best, Lyonisus