Sounds of Silva – Vol. 7
Halfway through 2025; where I've been and what I've been listening to
Every once in a while, I have the feeling like I’ve fallen off the map. Friends and family aren’t quite sure where I am, which is the same sense I have myself, transiting from place to place and never sticking around in one destination for too long. But when my last message to my brother is “I’m going to the DMZ for a music festival” followed by a few messages left unread, then I understand why the concern is heightened.
In the last couple weeks, I attended two music festivals in Korea, one about 30 minutes from the DMZ border and one at a luxury resort (more on those in the next newsletter), followed by a week in Taipei celebrating the Golden Melody Awards. I even spent about two hours sitting alone at a vinyl library in Seoul, disappearing into Slowdive and Brian Eno.
Now that I’m properly on my way back home for the summer, it’s time to reflect on many of the new artists and albums I’ve encountered during my recent travels. With the first half of 2025 coming to a close last week, I felt it was a good time to share an update on some recent favorites that have been swirling around my mind.
For the full playlist, listen here.
Otherwise, see below for some handpicked choices.
Siri Lee
The winner of Best Album at the 36th Annual Golden Melody Awards in Taiwan, Siri Lee very cleverly writes Taiwanese verse to a variety of different and unexpected instrumental backgrounds on Sui 水. Sometimes the lyrics are intentionally written like she’s singing in French or Italian, as in “足芳足芳” which led her to accept the first of her awards (also was awarded Best Female Singer (Taiwanese) and Best Taiwanese Album) by greeting the audience with “bonjour”. The styles range from French chanson to traditional banger – it’s a joy and an important achievement in breaking away from definition and forging a new identity in Taiwanese language music.
someshiit
someshiit walked away with the Best New Artist award at the Golden Melody Awards, and his debut is definitely deserving of this distinction. Conscious hip hop backed by production from No Party for Cao Dong’s team is a formula that is now proven to be a winning collaboration – Sam’s earnest lyricism blanketed over a layer of melodic and progressive lo-fi rock backbeats is thrilling.
CHO CO PA CHO CO PA QUIN QUIN
Haruomi Hosono has a grandson, and his grandson has a band. While it’s not surprising that a music legend’s offspring has a project of their own, what’s impressive is that their debut album tradition stands among the best of an already outstanding young crop of Japanese bands in recent years. Pulling from his grandfather’s songwriting sensibilities, the songs are meticulously littered with musical delights, but with every note placed intentionally in a way where the song would be incomplete without it.
(*Extra interesting tidbit: Haruomi Hosono himself was the grandson of a notable person – the only Japanese survivor of the Titanic disaster.)
hathaw9y & Phoebe Rings
Busan’s dream pop darlings hathaw9y released a new track recently, shortly followed by a hometown show welcoming New Zealand’s Phoebe Rings who were on their first ever tour of Asia and first ever show in Busan. The pairing is really musically obvious, both inducing really groovy reinterpretations of city pop and cosmic funk from generations prior, but inspired by their own unique experiences.
Matt Berninger - “Breaking Into Acting”
The singer of one of my favorite bands of all time recently released his second album as a solo artist, almost two years to the date I attended the release event for his full band’s latest album (at the time). The National themselves are incredibly prolific (the event I attended for Laugh Track was actually the first of two records they released within that year), but Matt Berninger’s solo output (as well as his underrated side project EL VY) is also impressive. Get Sunk is so so good, and the songs bleed with sincerity in their storytelling, as is usual to expect from Berlinger.
Mayday at Taipei Dome – June 29th, 2025
At the urging of one of my best music buddies, I got a last-minute ticket to see the legendary Taiwanese rock group Mayday at Taipei Dome, a pretty special stop on their on-going world tour. It was a celebration of 25 years of one of Taiwan’s most beloved bands, really one of the first bands from Taiwan to break out internationally (and also domestically where they eventually launched their own production company and shaped the future of live performances in Taiwan).
I rarely attend stadium shows like this, mostly because in America the tickets range from one week’s salary all the way up to maxing out credit cards for floor seats, but the ticket I got was incredibly reasonable, and the production was so incredible for a whopping four hours that I felt I actually underpaid for the experience I got. Bangers from top to bottom, insane visuals, immaculate crowd interaction – truly a concert-going experience I’ll remember for a while.
Follow the full playlist of Sounds of Silva featured tracks.
Check out the full list of Zach’s favorite albums of 2021 on Medium.
Listen to Zach’s radio show archive for Friend From A Big City on Deadbeat Radio.