chinatownrecordsproject

🪩 SUN 10/27 🪩 surprise!! bonus chinatown block party to close out this wiiild season of block parties all over. closing out with the sweetest chinatown home game to sunset @thinkchinatown's arts festival and this 2024 season outside 🔆🔆🔆 SUN 10/27 ☆ 2-6p mott + mosco st @thinkchinatown @chinatownrecordsproject @rochellehkwan for the first time in yeeears, i'll be riding solo as your block party dj. just lil yiuyiu 瑶瑶 playing whatever i/we want on vinyl + digital to scream karaoke on the street. i've been listening to *a lot* so it's gonna be a fun ride! biiig hugs to *all* the friends/fam who brought this 2024 season/tour of chinatown block parties to life with me all over the continent. haven't had a chance to process/rest from it all yet, but in the meantime, here's a scatter of memories i'm holding close to my heart for a long while 🥰 see you 10/27 on our fav block a final home game to keep you warm til next year ❤️‍🔥 📷 @still1 @marionaguas @cindytrinh.photo @side_a_emma @elodiekwan

👋 hi! it's finally happening ~ 3+ years of growing this project, blossoming from many generations of families and music. welcome to Chinatown Records 華埠錄音 💽⁣ ⁣ 💿💿💿⁣ Chinatown Records 華埠錄音 is a homegrown community effort to celebrate the richness of music, memory, and history that comes with inherited family collections. From Chinatown block parties to sonic family histories to endless listening and research, Chinatown Records is an ever-growing record of the people we love who bring all this music back to life with us.⁣ ⁣ From my dad’s records, CD’s, and tapes to now close to 20 different collections spanning 1920’s-2000’s Chinese music and beyond from family, friends, and neighbors, Chinatown Records continues to grow as a community-powered, living archive. Beyond the home archive, I take on my childhood name YiuYiu 瑶瑶 to plant the musical seeds for people to listen, learn, and create memories together with their loved ones. Rooted in deep listening and relationships, Chinatown Records imagines music as a familiar entrypoint and bridge for opening up conversation, sparking memories, and building connections across generations – starting right here at home with our loved one⁣s. ⁣ ~~~⁣ so excited to share not only all the music that have now found a new home with me, but the loved ones + stories that come with them all.⁣ ⁣ first up: my dad showing me the ropes + why he archived his records with such care. soundtracked by the voice of our household growing up, 林子祥 George Lam. this story is the seed for this whole project 🌱 a snippet from my first ever radio show in 2020, thanks to a very new friend phambinho, who was kind enough to invite a girl (not even a dj) who slid into his dms to guest on his @nts_radio show. check out the full radio show to hear me, dad, and popo (grandma) remember musical stories to some of our favorite songs. 📷 by my sister @elodiekwan on our first family trip to hong kong ~ it's a family affair! ⁣ ⁣ thank you for being a part of it all with us 🥰 onward! ~~~⁣ ⁣ xx yiuyiu 瑶瑶 + my ever-growing fam 💞

[08/08/2024] 💿 ３０/６０/９０ 💿 on the most auspicious day to time travel, dancer designer Grace Hwang (@iamgracehwang) + i are finally popping open our 90s time capsule 🔓 2023 marked my 30th, dad's 60th, + popo's 90th birthdays. a year+ in the making, 30/60/90 is a time portal back to the era that birthed this lil 9️⃣0️⃣s baby handmade with love like the ones i slipped into friends' lockers + nervously made for crushes growing up (still), a box set of 3 cd mixes to pop into your car + drive to for every part of the ride ~ ☀️ DAYTIME ✨️ NIGHTTIME 💫 DREAMTIME 🌌 ~ soundtracked + made just for you dad + popo prob wouldn't enjoy this music ~ can't always make them proud ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ so we'll enjoy it for them and remember the nights we snuck out to dance and thought they weren't waiting up for us when we raced the sunrise home ~(˘▾˘~) ~*~ ☆ limited run of 💯 ☆ i handmade each box set as a lil gift to someone, so first dibs goes to friends i can hand this to. catch me in nyc / seattle / san francisco to get yours first! any leftover after this tour will be available to order online ~ stay tuned by signing up for our mailing list 💌 ☆ $40+ per set ☆ we're splitting the proceeds w/ Majazz Project, Palestinian Sound Archive (@ majazzproject). because we know how much it takes to care for a community archive AND bring it out to the people. + because our growth here at chinatown records is forever tied together with the ever-growing ecosystem of culture bearers like Mo'min (@ mominswaitat) who inspire us 🔗 whether you can give $40 or even more, you'll be directly supporting community efforts + histories that refuse to forget / be forgotten so of course, extra 1st dibs to my nyc home team @thinkchinatown that started it all with me ~ grab yours first at this sunday's (8/11) sunset chinatown block party to relive these sonic memories together all year long 🎶

“music can tie us together” 🎀 Listen back to a mix from Yiu Yiu of @chinatownrecordsproject, recorded for our International Migrants’ Day broadcast – playing records sourced from family, friends, and the wider community in Chinatown, Manhattan and beyond. “Dedicated to the mothers and aunties who have crossed oceans for/to us, “to our mothers(land)” is a sonic history weaving together the music and memories of beloved collections gifted to us by daughters, who had first inherited their collections and love for music from their mothers. “` Link in bio to listen 📲

🌊 TONIGHT 8P ET / 5P PT 🌊 𝓽𝓸 𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓶𝓸𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓼(𝓵𝓪𝓷𝓭) sonic history travels across oceans to reach us ~ tune in on @nts_radio in honor of international migrants day love you mom ~ thank you for braving uncharted waters to sing along with me, no matter how far away we are from each other 💞 𝓽𝓸 𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓶𝓸𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓼(𝓵𝓪𝓷𝓭) is a sonic history dedicated to the mothers + aunties who have crossed oceans for/to us, weaving together the music + memories of small discs (45s + cds) gifted to us by daughters, who had first inherited their collections + love for music from their mothers. from 1950s-70s taiwanese pop 45’s to 1980s-00s hong kong cantopop cds, woven through with stories from moms + aunties from chinatown's knickerbocker village, 𝓽𝓸 𝓸𝓾𝓻 𝓶𝓸𝓽𝓱𝓮𝓻𝓼(𝓵𝓪𝓷𝓭) is a record of the songs + stories that have traveled across generations to/with us 💗 hope you love the music + memories as much as we do 🥰 📡 tune in at nts.live

📡 SUN 12/15, 8p est | 5p pst 📡 new sonic history broadcasting on @nts_radio for international migrants day! dedicated to the mothers + aunties who have crossed oceans for/to us, 💞 to our mothers(land) 💞 is a sonic history weaving together the music + memories of small discs (45s + cds) gifted to us by daughters, who had first inherited their collections + love for music from their mothers. from 1950s-70s taiwanese pop 45’s to 1980s-00s hong kong cantopop cds, woven through with stories from moms + aunties from chinatown's knickerbocker village, to our mothers(land) is a record of the songs + stories that have traveled across generations with us. i hope y'all love the music + memories as much as we do 🥰 earlier this year, @meibewhatever invited me to do listening + story workshops with chinatown aunties at knickerbocker village, where we altogether created the 📀 memories from golden song 📀 sonic history ~ then they choreographed a dance to their favorite songs + memories of them 🥲 so happy to weave in these stories again, which will be extra sweet + tender for our canto speakers. but here are a few snippets with english translations, so y'all can feel them too ☺️ thank you janice, sue, + mei for trusting us with your moms' incredible music collections ~ we love them. big hugs to @meibewhatever + knickerbocker village aunties for trusting me with your precious stories. shoutout to @nts_radio + @demonslayer__ for spotlighting all of these beloved songs + stories. +++ of course, i owe it all to my mom for the love + music that runs deep in my blood 💗 finally, constantly inspired by @treyalam, whose music sparked this longing/loving for our mothers(land): when they bury me beneath the redwood tree don't you shed a tear for me bring me back beside the waters that we crossed without our mothers to an otherland where we can be free to an otherland where we can be ~ @treyalam, otherland

leveled up to a digital dj this year ~ all thanks to jeff + the whole fam at 🌟 @canalsoundlight 🌟 it started out with them setting me up with cdj's in the middle of their shop to try playing live sonic histories, then letting me play around with the new @pioneerdjusa / @pioneerdjglobal omnis duo controller. first time i used it, jeff was saving me at a gig ~ sped up from chinatown when he was already late for something else, passed it through the window to me, and i set up + learned to use it in less than 10 minutes. since then, it has traveled with me from the @chinatownrecordsproject archive studio to the streets for chinatown block parties to the classroom at brooklyn collaborative ~ where i got to teach 6th graders how to dj, then they djed their favorite songs for our 1st ever dj historian graduation party! my first love as a dj will always be records. but my first love as a music head will always be cds ~ and now i can finally rip them all + weave in sonic histories live with our favorite songs. + now i can also roll up with my lil usb, play a bunch of my fav 90s-00s cd rips + friends' remixes (shoutout @justbeehk), then go straight out to dance after djing {{wild}} no words can fully express how much jeff + the whole @canalsoundlight fam have supported / believed in me + @chinatownrecordsproject. from rides home to chinatown after gigs to leveling me up to a digital dj to teaching our team to be our own sound engineers to sooo much more that can't fit here, they have made so many dreams possible this year. it's been a dream/honor to be lifted up as your lil sis (kwans 4ever) in the neighborhood ~ thank you for it all 💗

it's giving i love my friends ~ go support them! they're big inspo 💕 it's been a whirlwind year of dreams coming to life. and none of it would be possible without the friends + fam bringing these dreams to life with me + @chinatownrecordsproject 🔗 1 @thinkchinatown @djrekha @still1 @canalsoundlight 2 @thinkchinatown @_giafu @cantonmambo @kennybhollon 3 @seavinylsociety @mamsbookstore @cidblockparty 4 @meibewhatever + knickerbocker village aunties 5 @thinkchinatown @thevinylbuck @patricknvrsleeps 6 @thecollaborativechronicle 7 @jiafoundationmtl @rhythmandhu.es 8 @lincolncenter 9 @thinkchinatown 10 @oaklibrary @asianbranchlibrary 11 @kb0ogie @mactrayy @yaaah.nuuu @thebeaconmm 12 @edgeonthesquare 13 @yuandmebooks 14 @lowergrandradio 15 @iamgracehwang @majazzproject 16 @cindytrinh.photo @priscachoe @treyalam @mmmlloyd 17 @lincolncenter @iamgracehwang @still1 18 @thinkchinatown to plenty more big dreaming together ahead ✨

popping out of the archive for a few events ~ come warm up with us ❤️‍🔥 🌟 [FRI 11/29] living room listening ☆ @yuandmebooks the theme is COVERS (cause we're in a bookstore with plenty of book covers riiight?!) been dreaming of a covers night since the beginning because i have found plenty of canto/mando originals that i've then later discovered have english covers... depending on who you ask 👀 so bring a favorite cover on record/youtube to share + soundtrack our living room with us 📀 extra credit: ask your fam/friends for their fav covers over thanks/friendsgiving + bring them too!! 🎟️ ticket link in bio // flyer by meee from the archive 🌟 [FRI 12/6] end with a book! 15th anniversary ☆ @asiaartarchiveinamerica archives supporting archives 🔗 soundtracking with my digital usb archive to celebrate 15 years of independent artists + publishers from asia + the asian american diaspora! with chances to win big prizes that push the boundaries of artistic, collaborative book-making. they're big inspo ~ we can't wait to get to our 15th+ anniversary someday too! 🎟️ ticket link in bio // flyer by @lau_wai_lau some pics from our last living room listening with our favorite person / chinese music royalty/encyclopedia 👑 buckley yung (@thevinylbuck) at @thinkchinatown to warm y'all up for our cozy living room together ++ to show off the gorgeous 張國榮 leslie cheung record that buckley gifted to us to play at chinatown block parties 🥰

some beautiful moments easing the weight of the world lately. been hiding away, but still traveling all over. lots of archiving (finally), learning, + dreaming in my first comedown season in our chinatown records home / studio / archive / wonderland / hideaway. i love it here ♡ will come out to love my friends, sit by the water, or fuel up with a global glizzy 🎈

☆ HONG KONG / TAIWAN \ CHINA ☆ putting out some feeelers to friends cause i'm coming your way next year 🛩 2nd half of february + 1st half of march hong kong >> taiwan >> china book me. take me out to dance + eat at your fav spots. link me with your friends/fam. come dance if i get booked?? i'm down for it all so say hiii 💌 1st time back since i ~ became ~ a dj. 1st time ever in taiwan. i wanna learn a lot! i think i'm pretty fun too. i'll try my best as an abc 竹昇妹 🎋 would love to catch you in the post-lunar new year comedown + before i dive into sunny season back home. if we meet in china, maybe you can meet my fam too :) here are some pics of things i'm lucky to do with chinatown records ++ bonus clip of the time dad finally got to see me dj his records (big thanks to @philip_thangsombat @seavinylsociety @mamsbookstore @cidblockparty for this sweet memory) can't waaait to see uuu 🥰 ✨️ ugh all our friends got untagged ~ so here's who made this magic with us, so you can support their amazing work that inspires us: 1 @thinkchinatown @djrekha @marionaguas 2 @thinkchinatown @thevinylbuck @cindytrinh.photo 3 @kb0ogie @mactrayy @yaaah.nuuu @thebeaconmm 4 @thinkchinatown 5 @thinkchinatown @thevinylbuck @cindytrinh.photo 6 @jiafoundationmtl @rhythmandhu.es @savsupreme @side_a_emma 7 @jiafoundationmtl @rhythmandhu.es 8 @jiafoundationmtl @rhythmandhu.es @side_a_emma 9 @thinkchinatown @_giafu @cantonmambo @qianshanweng_ 10 @seavinylsociety @mamsbookstore @cidblockparty @philip_thangsombat 📷 @marionaguas, @cindytrinh.photo, betty yee, @side_a_emma, @qianshanweng_ dad 📽 @philip_thangsombat

backstage peek of quiet time (finally) to gather *all* of this year. a few fun things + updates for you ~ 1️⃣ she got a green room & charcuterie board at @pac_nyc! 2️⃣ FOR THE RECORD 002 newsletter is ready to fly, recapping another unbelievable year (every time) >> 📧 sign up for our mailing list to receive in your inbox >> 💌 support our patreon to receive in your mailbox & hold in your hands 3️⃣ last 5 sets of 30/60/90 opening up to people on our mailing list + shipping to faraway friends. can't believe we're almost sold out, but i guess @iamgracehwang + i did make the cutest 90s baby 4️⃣ finally updated my x̶a̶n̶g̶a̶ website after so many new things coming to life this year. check it out if you're curious / wanna bring me wherever you are 5️⃣ budding archive of song request receipts from 15+ listening events this year. 400+ of our favorite songs + memories, compiling into an almost 24 hour playlist (tune in by supporting our patreon) 6️⃣ call me beep me cards, like lil notes slipped into your locker. started out when time escaped me before tour and chinatown discount stores came through. now i love them so they're staying 7️⃣ no comedown quite like putting away an entire season of records back into the archive 8️⃣ finished 1000 piece puzzle that tested how much i really love the moon + color gray (still a lot) 9️⃣ cantopop royal fam updated about why i've been away 1️⃣0️⃣ love seeing chinatown records on our dressing room (rather than my name). feels like everyone's there with me 1️⃣1️⃣ ok 1 onstage pic because vic is smiling and that's huge. maybe he's proud of me?! 1️⃣2️⃣ found in a used bookstore + made me gasp. paired with a new fav movie 📼 tape crackers by @rollojackson thanks to @colloquium_unpopular_culture. big inspo / reminders of the power + joy that comes with regular people who looove music *so much* that it eventually goes down in history. reminders that even if our reach may not be far + grants don't get us, there are people who care about + believe in this with me. our work is deep + personal ~ and i really do love it. underground is way more fun anyways 🕳️ thank y'all for it all 🥰