-
Mar
1stFreeloading & New Releases: Pairs, Stegosaurus, Jacky Danny and more
starting the snake ride with some new tunes: some are old favourites, some are new ones and one is even from out of the country. Let’s see what February is bringing us: Pairs: They’re at it again and they might get the award for most releases in the last 12 months. A new album, available online for free download/streaming and completely different from anything else they have done. I would try to describe it myself but i think they do a better job than i did on it: We’re pretty happy and slightly embarrassed to announce the release of our new album, Eltham Join. The album is a bit of a change as it features absolutely no drums and no guitars and is just piano and vocals. You can both listen to it and download it for free by going to pairs.bandcamp.com We warn you, it may have the most out of tune, most awful vocals ever put to tape. Sorry. I’m tone deaf. It’s to be expected. It was recorded, engineered, mixed and mastered towards the end of 2012 and the beginning of 2013 by Adam McRae of Reykjavictim (reykjavictim.bandcamp.com) fame. Adam was awesome to record with. Everyone should do it and should give him heaps of cold hard cash. Do what you will with this info. It’s a digital release only. Who can be bothered pressing CD’s for this trash? But here it is. Something different and something that we found pretty fun to do. Thanks. Love always, [...]
-
Jan
18thWe Are Shanghai II – Presenting Shanghai to the World
well, no one can blame Shanghai’s bands of being lazy or anti-sharing. here comes their second release of music in as many years, free for the world to download and get an idea about what’s happening down there. http://weareshanghai.bandcamp.com/album/we-are-shanghai-ii We Are Shanghai II by We Are Shanghai I haven’t had time to take it for a spin yet but i do see some familiar names on there… so here you go folks, download it and let me know what you think.
-
Jan
16thNews to Ooze: Moma does live, Free Pairs, Ningxia Rising and more
a lot of things happening this beginning of the year folks… here are a few drops: Moma, as in the residential complex, has a decent theatre and they’v thrown their eight behind live music somehow putting together an incredible lineup over a few weeks. They hosted a reunited Wild Children this past saturday that had people pissing themselves with excitement and there is more goodness coming up: This weekend brings Top Floor Circus (shanghai) and Wu Tiao Ren (guangzhou). THey’ve also got a reunited underbaby, He Yong and more coming up. Check it out here http://site.douban.com/192672/ Pairs were up in Beijing last month and pulled off one hell of a show at XP.. I don’t think I got around to reviewing it but still, take my word for it,.. it was fun. Somehow, they recorded the performance and it’s up on Bandcamp so go get it. http://pairs.bandcamp.com/album/live-at-xp-beijing The Ningxia connection keeps on giving and most of my favourite bands are getting together to record the master of all Ningxia Compilations: Lao Da, Buyi, Lidong, Miao and Skarving just to name a few. The project is hosted at MusicKid.com in the hope of crowdsourcing it. As of this writing, they’ve raised almost 3000 rmb and the contributions get you cool stuff from a copy of the CD to purses, signed posters and the like. If you speak/write Chinese or have a friend that can help, go and contribute… this will be one hell of a record. http://www.musikid.com/project/245 Finally, mark your calendars [...]
-
Oct
23rdNew Pairs Album Available… Get Grandparent Now
i’m not usually big on this new lo-fi/whatever bands but, as they say in French, Il faut rendre a Cesar ce qui appartient a Cesar… (look it up) in this case, i gotta mention Pair’s new album, Grandparent, that i just heard today and was actually impressive. I don’t expect much from noise/whatever-label but this is a nice record folks and i was surprised by how melodic and structured in sounds. expect a review sometimes soon in the meantime, you can get Grandparent from Bandcamp or Douban… it’s worth the download Bandcamp: http://pairs.bandcamp.com/album/grandparent Douban: http://site.douban.com/pairs/ there’s rumors of a special packaged USB key and videos for each song but i haven’t managed to see them yet. color me curious
-
Jun
13thBeijing Music Day – Fete de la Musique: One night, 14 concerts, all freeIn all the ‘dazeFEAST stuff, I’ve completely forgotten to mention a really cool event dear to my heart: Beijing Music Day. Originally, this worldwide celebration is organized by the French Cultural Center but this year, it’s a motivated group of young guys and girls that have done an amazing job putting together a free evening of music throughout Gulou. As if organizing one concert wasn’t bad enough, they have managed to put together 14 concerts, the same evening, for FREE… respect respect respect! Vous avez fait un super boulot, les filles!!! I’ve known about this for a little while now and beijingdaze is one of the sponsors of the event but our part was miniscule compared to the work the team behind Beijing Music Day did. Here is their Blurb The “Fête de la Musique” makes its debut in Beijing ! The “Fête de la Musique”, celebrated each year on June 21st worldwide, makes its debut in Beijing in 2012 ! Started in 1982 in France, this event takes place every year in most French cities. It now tends to become global : this year the Fête de la Musique will be held in more than hundred countries in Europe and over the world. In Beijing, on June 21st, from 6:30 pm till late, the district of Gulou will be taken over by the sound of live music. Come along to experience this momentous event and get the chance to listen to rock’n’roll, dub step, reggae, blues, jazz, electro with [...]
-
May
4thCore in China Compilation Released… Get a Free Taste for the Heavier Side of Yaogun in the Big Silly
A couple of months ago, the team behind Rock in China wiki and good ‘daze friends set out to collect samplers from all around China to get a feel for what was happening in the ‘core side of things… by ‘core they meant hardcore, nintendocore and all kinds of other terms i’d never heard off. I also discovered in the process that there was something called Folkcore, I kid you not. well, the baby is out on bandcamp and you can go download it: http://coreinchina.bandcamp.com/album/core-in-china lyrics & credits: http://wiki.rockinchina.com/w/CORE_IN_CHINA_(VA) Track Listing: 1.Why Lazy – Dying in the dream 04:35 2.NewTank – The Dreamer 04:22 3.Meat Sucks – Buried the Truths 04:54 4.Ordnance – Ask for a justification 03:44 5.Partisan – Selfish 03:18 6.Monkey King – Until You Come 05:31 7.Multi-Ego – End of Me 04:01 8.Mensheng – 故謠 Ballad of Fallen 04:54 9.Die In Velvet – 每天生每天死 03:59 10.Ashtemato – Joker 05:06 11.Saving Molly – To My Friend 02:58 12.Luktomo – We Are Luktomo 06:41 13.Beyond Cure – Self Destruction 04:34 14.DustFall – Dawn Late 06:02 15.Thyhazard – Liar 04:58 16.King Ly Chee – 在路上 feat. Andrew Neufeld (Comeback Kid) 03:29 17.Shut Up! Shut Down! – Bros Holds On Firm Bloods 03:14 18.Raving Jokes – No Vain 04:07 19.The Falling – Circle II Circle 04:50 20.Mary Dolls – 2012 04:14 I haven’t gotten around to listening to it but i can see some tracks that have peaked my interest. It’s also good to have the reigning kings of Hardcore in [...]
-
Mar
15thFree Music for the Masses: Beijing Post-Rock Compilation!For all the Post-Rock fans out there (BD, you’re excluded from this one!) local label 1724 records has put together a great little compilation album featuring 6 of the city’s Post-Rock bands: Illness Sickness, pentatonic, The Grinding Ear, Glow Curve, Sparrow and Hualun. You can grab the download for free, yes, FREE! on their bandcamp here. Or if you’re like me and have to have the physical CD in your hands, come along to Mao Livehouse tomorrow night to pick up a copy and see 4 of the bands on the compilation play!
-
Mar
6thMega BLF Ticket giveaway: What Does a Book Sound Like?I love music! I love books and I love putting them together, kinda like a soundtrack to a movie! There’s so much music out there though and so many books, how they’re mixed is entirely personal and I’m curious about it. The Bookworm International Literary Festival is around the corner, doing their part to unite various forms of art ( writing, poetry, music) and I figured it would be a great time to see how these associations are made by other people. So, with the help of the bookworm, we’re putting together a mega giveway mixing both music and literature: What’s one of your favorite book, who would put together a soundtrack for it and why? You can win 2 tickets each to the following 3 Events at the Bookworm: Footnotes: David Thomas Broughton March 11 English folk singer-guitarist David Thomas Broughton‘s performances combine improvisation, unconventional instruments – radios, televisions, natural field recordings and more – with multimedia videos. Poetry Slam @ 2 Kolegas: March 17 Tim Clare and Luka Lesson bring their unique spin to performance poetry at this showcase event. Despite what you may have heard, poetry is alive and well! Whether you are a fan of hip-hop or comedy, a veteran to the slam poetry scene or a newbie, you’ll be wowed and inspired by this fresh take on a classic. Also joining in the fun: Canadian musician Courtney Wing. This event is also part of the JUE festival. Translation Slam: Sing Me A Song! March 22 [...]
-
Feb
17thVoodoo Kungfu: A Weibo Goodbye from Li NanFlash back to 2009 when yours truly had a hectic circuit running around Beijing from show to show, the one slotted in the middle featured Voodoo Kungfu and the Folk Orchestra at Mao Livehouse. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the sight of Li Nan perched up above the stage, his body covered in writings, preaching to a hypnotized crowd in a packed Mao Live. It was beautiful! Fast forward a few years, things have changed and it’s apparently time to waive Voodoo Kungfu goodbye as their frontman and musical soul, Li Nan is headed out to Berklee College of Music. The announcement was made through his weibo account also announcing a farewell tour sometime this spring. Here’s hoping it’s a grandiose and befitting celebration of a unique monster. All of Voodoo Kungfu’s tunes are now available for download on their douban page for personal use and hopefully not for abuse. Voodoo is one of the most interesting acts still and Li Nan definitely had a lot to do with it. I’m sure something will come out of his time stateside! You can also follow the band on weibo for some interesting tidbits and historical facts that Li Nan has been posting lately about the music, logos, makeup, influences etc… http://weibo.com/voodookungfu I don’t think many people will understand how special of an artist China is losing… I’ll refers you to this slightly outdated, but nevertheless relevant, interview by Gary Temple for City Weekend a few years back: http://www.cityweekend.com.cn/beijing/articles/blogs-beijing/the-beat/voodoo-kungfu-and-the-coming-dark-age/ Up from [...]
-
Jan
13thWe Are Shanghai: Discover the Bands through a FREE 20 song samplerSomething is brewing in Shanghai and I don’t mean the same stuff they’re doing at Great Leap… The music community there seems to be toughening up and finding creative ways to get people involved and get the audiences out to the shows! And that is commendable…. I’ve gone on the record calling Beijing-based bands “lazy” and I stand by it… I’m not sure I can say the same about Shanghai based ones anymore: – A while back, they organized a concert where the bands paid the audience members 1 RMB to come and check them out! That is freaking awesome marketing! I can only imagine that they have a hard time drawing crowds down there despite them only having a few live music venues. That’s a display of creativity, the likes of which i can definitely get behind. – Now, 20 bands have teamed up and put together a 20 song FREE sampler for people to listen to them. This album is a joint effort by Shanghai’s own Zangnan Records, Luwan Rock and Twin Horizons. It looks like the guys behind the album reached out beyond their own immediate circle to get some real diversity in there. I’ve managed to hear about most of those bands all the way up in Beijing, especially Friend or Foe, Pairs, Rainbow Danger Club etc… Read an interview on Shanghai 24/7 by the man behind the project, Ivan Here’s the track listing: http://weareshanghai.bandcamp.com/ 1. Duck Fight Goose – Light is God’s Bread 2. Boys [...]
- ‹ Older Posts
The Mini Skinny
What once started as my personal ramblings has morphed into the number one collective resource about underground live music in Beijing and China. All bands, all music, all Rock n Roll, all the time with a little side of eclectic topics.. best of all, it's still as BIASED as ever
Ganbei!!!!
'dazeFEAST 2012 - June 23rd at 2 Kolegas.
17 Bands, Roast Lamb & All FREEWhat’s on Offer?
- 10 Questions (31)
- Album Reviews (22)
- Beijing 人 (44)
- Belly Ties (52)
- blabbers (326)
- Book Review (1)
- Chinese Through Lyrics (2)
- Freeloading (34)
- Geek matter (17)
- Gig Reviews (58)
- Need'em liquids (9)
- On The Road (3)
- Outsourced Blabbers (21)
- Provincial Restaurants (15)
- Quickslants (64)
- Roaming Around (11)
- Tunes under the moon (524)
looking for something?
Ingredients
2 kolegas Amazing insurance salesmen Bad Mamasan Beijing 人 black cat bone Brain Failure buyi Chunqiu DH & the hellcats Dude Ember Swift Flying Mantas free the birds GAWTMY Hanggai Hedgehog iz Jacky Danny Kaiser Kuo Kick Ass Lidong live music mademoiselle Maggie Who Mamer Mao Livehouse MIDI Miserable Faith Nanwu Nucleus Omnipotent youth society provincial restaurant randy abel stable Residence A rustic skarving Steely Heart SUBS Suffocated The Redbucks voodoo kungfu whai wu & side effects xiao he yugong yishanFresh Pills
- Quickslants: Tambours du Bronx, New Shanren, Painkiller Fest and more
- Mamer & Song Yuzhe: opposites attract at Jianghu
- Dreamer Festival 2013 – Azure Ray, Shan Ren, Omnipotent Youth Society and More
- PS: You Rocked Me – Abaji, One Drop, Devils, Yungiema etc..
- Quickslants: No Dong, Some Punk, a Little Ordnance and more
Can of Worms?
- Joann on Quickslants: Jurat, PiL, XTX, Yangjima for a Loaded End of Week
- On The Scene: 2013 Strawberry Festival Day 1 | Live Beijing Music on MIDI 2013: Anywhere, Anytime, Thanks for the Rock n Roll
- ex virility pill on Quickslants: Jurat, PiL, XTX, Yangjima for a Loaded End of Week
- ruby on MIDI 2013: Anywhere, Anytime, Thanks for the Rock n Roll
- Beijing Daze on MIDI 2013: Anywhere, Anytime, Thanks for the Rock n Roll