Beijing’s thriving music scene has no shortage of good bands, but few are as unabashedly innocent and giddy as Carsick Cars. Inspired by the blazing post-punk of Swell Maps, the aloof experimentalism of 90s shoegaze bands, and occasionally the discordance of Glenn Branca, Carsick Cars are equally influenced by the bands around them — PK-14, Joyside, Gar – singing in Mandarin and transcending the derivative unoriginality that marked the Chinese rock scene just a few years ago. Catch them this month on their US tour with PK-14 and Xiao He.

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Buddhist temples all over China, Taiwan, and Hong Kong sell or give away small plastic boxes that play a loop of prayer and chanting. A few years ago, Chinese electronic act FM3 hacked into some of these boxes and programmed their own music into them. The band had their own Buddha Machines manufactured in a wide range of colors, and people went nuts over them. Now, the Beijing-based duo is back with Buddha Machine 2.0 with all new music. As with the first box, the haunting, meditative tracks on the new machine play in a constant loop when it is switched on. Users can adjust the volume, bend the pitch of the music, and plug in headphones. The new machines come in new colors — burgundy, grey, brown, and even a limited edition one made out of real Pu’er tea.

Beijing-based band Hanggai write original songs in the traditional folk styles of their Mongolian ancestors — throat-singing, horsehair fiddles, lutes — spearheading an Asian version of the old-time revival. Though it’s only through the digital age that the rest of the world can access this beautiful music, it makes you want to slow down and reflect on what we’ve lost as a species. This stuff makes every flavor of the month indie band seem vapid and meaningless.

One of the quirkiest and memorable bands to come out of the Beijing folk-rock scene was Glorious Pharmacy, an almost too-arty-for-their-own-good avant-jazz acoustic band that were notorious for impromptu puppet shows and ten-minute saxophone freak outs. Frontman Xiao He is the nucleus of the band, and his solo stuff is often much more grounded and accessible, with a distinctive, off-kilter catchiness, He’s voice wavering between a folky croon and an operatic wail. Though he hasn’t released a solo record since his debut, Birds That Can Fly High Don’t Land on the Backs of Oxen that Can’t Run Fast, he’s been busy collaborating with playwrights and underground filmmakers, as well as continuing his work with Glorious Pharmacy.

The underground music scene in Beijing produces a lot of derivative and half-assed bands, but PK14 are great by any standards. The quartet, most of whom hails from the southern city of Nanjing (although drummer Jonathan Leijonhufvud is a Swedish national), plays catchy, charging postpunk in the vain of Television and Gang of Four. Their off-kilter beats, smart lyrics (which, unlike most other new Chinese bands, are in Mandarin), and blazing guitar parts earned them the distinction of being one of Time magazine’s 5 Asian Acts to Watch in 2008. The band was recently in Sweden recording their fourth album, which is due to be released any day now.

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