intro:fm3

fm3 is a beijing-based collective of computer and classical musicians headed by long-term china resident christiaan virant. active in the chinese punk underground for nearly a decade, virant founded fm3 in early 2000 as china’s first-ever experiment in live, abstract electronica. working closely with sichuan-born laptop artist zhang jian and an ensemble of classical instrumentalists, fm3 focuses on digitally distilling ancient chinese folk tradition into an organic, meditative, minimalist soundscape.

fm3 made its international live debut at the berlin maerzmusik festival in march 2002 and later that year played alongside norwegian ambient composer biosphere at the rome, italy dissonanze festival, in a performance praised by the wire magazine as a rich, resonant “beautifully proportioned digital lament.”

fm3 can be heard on the forthcoming bip-hop records release bip-hop generation v.7.


live reviews : fm3

"static tones and resonant, mournful chimes slowly evolved into a dronelike chant, filling the courtyard with strangely symmetrical and levelled resonance.”
the wire. november 2002

“particularly rich was the execution of chinese duo fm3... loops, bleeps and cut-ups became insertions in organic structures, mechanisms in a studded flowing foggy atmospheric carpet... a sensory, binary language in a parallel acoustic/visual dimension.”
italian reviewer leandro pisano

“...at dissonanze (in the chiostro de bramante church) appeared the ambient chinese electronica of fm3 which was perhaps the most successful set of the show, given the music they played and the venue in which it appeared...”
italian reviewer andrea andypop camerino

“Il resto è ciò che di meglio si sia sentito in tutto il festival. Il live del duo cinese fm3 ricalca parzialmente in loro inedito lavoro discografico. sibili luccicanti e rasoiate avant coagulati in un linguaggio a metà tra ricerca concreta e materica (non distante dal duo steve roden/brandon labelle) e digitalizzazione diretta prodotta dall'ausilio del live dell'ableton. lavoro di incredibili attese cageiane, fortemente vivido, che colpisce per l'intensità ma soprattutto per la modalità con cui viene trattato il tutto (computer & sequencer + manopole analogiche). l'imperturbabilità dei due e la dimensione storica della location contribuiscono a raffinare il set. Uno dei migliori set che si siano sentiti negli ultimi anni.”
italian reviewer salvatore borrelli