To close out 2021, we rounded up our ten highlights from the last year of our best articles! Take a look back at the last year of what Electric Soul has put out. 
 

1. Connecting Asia Through the Digital Airwaves: Asian Community Radio in the Time of COVID-19
 

With COVID having gone on for over two years now, this has led to a shift to livestreams and other online formats in order to make do with the lack of live music and club events. To learn more, we spoke to a number of the community radios that have popped up across in Asia, both during COVID and before, about how they understand their platforms. 
 

2. “Our Competitor is Our Past Self”: A Conversation with Lloyd Chiu of B1
 

Lloyd Chiu is the boss of B1 in Taipei, and more recently Studio 9. We spoke to him about his experiences running B1 and how he became a DJ. Learn more about Minijay, one of the anchors of the Taipei underground, and his origins with Bass Kitchen.

3. Creating Musical Spaces of One’s Own: An Interview with Ani Hao

Ani Hao is not only a DJ and one of the founders of Bad Time Disco, but a feminist writer and research. To get more insight into her views on record digging, feminism, and creating a space for forms of music not usually heard elsewhere, we spoke to Ani in October. 

4. BAIHUI 百会 is China’s Newest Underground Radio Station

Over the summer, we profiled Baihui, the latest underground radio station in China. This touches on not only some of the artists involved in Baihui, but also the station’s concept, and its summer broadcasts. 

5. Interview: Louisahhh On The Practice Of Freedom, Her Sober Sex Podcast, And Musical Feminism

In March, we spoke with punk-influenced producer Louiseahh about LGBTQIA+ influences on her projects, her debut album The Practice of Freedom, and her podcast Sober Sex. Our interview also touches on what it means to express political views through music, and how to try and change the traditionally male-dominated music industry. 

6. “It's Just Geography, It Doesn't Mean Anything”: Eastern Margins in Conversation

Eastern Margins has carved out a space for itself as a collective that brings together Asian diaspora artists and artists working and living in Asia today. To learn more about Eastern Margins’ work and guiding principles, we spoke to co-founder David Zhou, who was among the co-founders of Eastern Margins in 2018. 

7. “I Throw Everything into a Blender When I DJ”: An Interview with Misty Penguin

We chatted with Misty Penguin, one of the few trans DJs in Hong Kong, about her hybrid DJing style and the wide range of projects that she is involved in. Apart from DJing, Misty Penguin’s many talents also include being a stand-up comedian and filmmaker. 

8. Gathering Asian Producers to Help the Environment: 88 Double Happiness Vol. 3

FuFu Records’ Double Happiness Vol. 3 was another iteration in the Double Happiness compilation series, bringing together high-quality sounds for a good cause. Apart from bringing together some of Asia’s top producers, the proceeds from the album also go to reforestation efforts. Check out our review.

9. A Haunting Meditation on Fukushima: Ryuichi Sakamoto’s “Is Your Time”

We reviewed Ryuichi Sakamoto’s art installation, “Is Your Time”, which was displayed in the Taipei Music Center through November. “Is Your Time”--which combines audio and visual effects–proved a powerful reflection on the 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, the effects of which still reverberate through Japanese society today. 

10. Ten Picks: Molly Lin

Ahead of the release of her first EP on Reckoning Records in October, Taiwan-based producer and DJ Molly Lin gave us a playlist of ten of her favorite tracks. Molly shared with us what she likes about the tracks, as well as the atmosphere that they inject into the dance floor when she plays them.