Occasionally I find an artist that I don’t care for at first but something draws me back to listen to them again…and again…and again. Pretty soon I have to admit I like it or, at the very least, it offers me something I’ve never heard before.

Red Unit out of the Quiet Lounge netlabel is like that. The artists reside in Shanghai, China and produces dense Industrial Dance music. What sets Red Unit apart from other techno groups is that they used the music and sounds of China’s political past for their base. Red Unit describes their music as “gloomy ambient music under the theme of revolutionary communism” although I think it is far too pulse driven to call ambient. Having been to China and having experienced Chinese young adults’ willingness to openly criticize its government, especially in Shanghai, I can’t really say whether Red Unit’s intent is serious or satiric. Regardless, the music keeps gnawing at me and keeps my interest. At times it’s hauntingly melodic and at other times it’s quite disturbing. Yes, Red Unit is growing on me.

They have four EPs. NKNP is their first and sets a pattern of using spoken word, both Chinese and English, almost subliminally under a pulsing beat. “Compulsion” is as riveting as anything I’ve heard from Prodigy or The Chemical Brothers. The second EP, The Ideal of Maoism, follows the same pattern. Commune is their newest album and uses Chinese traditional music to a heavier extent. Compared to the others, it is downright cheerful!

But the best EP has to be Girls In Red. The track “Tradition” clearly refers to the use of a traditional song as it is bent by the electronic beats. In the title track, Asian melodies are almost obliterated by the machine gun-like rhythms. “Reds In Far East” is perhaps the most melodic track with its Chinese chorus sampling.

All four albums are available in 192kbps MP3s.

Download
N.K.N.P.
The Ideals of Maoism
Girls in Red
Commune