- 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 Climbing Ropes – The Knitting Song
3. Stegosaurus? – Stinky Tofu
4. The Beat Bandits – Sukiyaki Beat
5. Break for Borneo – Complicated
6. Friend or Foe – Crazy Eye
7. The Dangxin Mofos – Geeky Boy
8. Rainbow Danger Club – Drown The Creatures
9. X is Y – Never Sever
10. Pairs – I Wanna Die in the Ocean
11. Dragon Pizza – Bomb Cola
12. Moon Tyrant – I am the Way
13. The Fever Machine – Heartbrokenbleedin’ Again
14. The Instigation – No Way Out
15. The Horde – Beijing Sucks
16. Sonnet – Perfect Son
17. The Song Dynasty – Slow
18. Top Floor Circus – 进来白相相 (Jin Lai Bai Xiang Xiang)
19. Baltic States – The North Sea
20. Little Punk – I’m Not in the Mood for Making a Song

Sadly, I’m not sure beijing bands have it in them to do anything like this… we had the AIDS CD which was the closest thing so far! So there you have it folks, head over to Bandcamp and download your sampler!

If you’re in Shanghai tonight (13th) or tomorrow (Jan 14th), make it to the launch parties for the CD.. Listings and times on The Shanghaiist

If you don’t know who Simple Plan are, here is the short intro:

A group of five former high school pals Pierre Bouvier, Jeff Stinco, David Desrosiers, Sebastien Lefebvre and Chuck Comeau who came together in 1999 to form this multi-award winning punk-pop band with hit singles like “I’m Just A Kid”, “Welcome to My Life” and “Jet Lag” among others.
http://www.simpleplan.com/

The folks at Street Hustle are giving ‘daze readers a chance to win 2 tickets (Value of 760 RMB) for the January 6th show at Yugong Yishan… here is how you can win them:

Who is the person pictured in the photo below and what is his connection to Simple Plan?

* send your answer to beijingdaze@gmail.com
* The right answers will be entered into a hat with a random drawing
* Contest ends January 3rd

Hints:
- that person has appeared in most Simple Plan videos.
- He was kicked in the crotch in “I’d Do Anything”

Good luck..

Simple Plan plays Yugong Yishan January 6th 2012 with support courtesy of Beijing’s own Finger Family. Pre-sale tickets (200) are all gone!

BD on My Claw is Never Limp

I love me a catchy album or song name and this one does not disappoint. I don’t really know the band members but that’s already a good insight into their personality.. having now read a few interviews with them, I like what i see. But what about the music man… the music?
The opening number, Terrorized, sets the tone right away! power chords, fast riffs, sharp vocals that keep me tapping my feet and wanting to jump up and down. That’s just the start! “Friend or Foe” is an interesting track: subtle, understated but in your face at the same time. It benefits a lot from a different production and interesting mixing! I love the discreet echos on there. I read a lot about the track “double down” but it failed to impress… threading the same musical waters as “friend or Foe”.. what it does have though is an interesting perspective on live as far as lyrics go. I’ve seen them soaking it up Gin Tonics in bars all around Beijing. “Snorting Clorox” is the musical equivalent of primal scream therapy: let it out baby. and then it goes downhill from there… we move to a set of slightly emo songs that lack the power and edge from the early ones which is weird. “almost too much” is a fitting closing number for a record that was almost too good.
What I can’t put my finger on is why this record reminds me so much of The Cramps, a band i haven’t heard or listened to in years.. I really don’t know why! Overall, a very solid effort that makes me wanna go check out the band live. They’re a bit hard rock, a bit punk, a bit progressive, slightly aggressive and potentially a lot of fun.

Ruby on My Claw is Never Limp

When I first moved to Beijing I thought of Shanghai as a snooty, expensive musical wasteland full of sleazy hotel jazz bars and boring DJs. Oh, how that impression has changed, especially in the last year. Ok, so I’m not moving down south in a hurry, but it’s like someone declared this ‘Shanghai Release an Album Year’ because so many great bands are dropping new recordings. A few have made the trek up to the ‘Jing to share their tunes with us, but luckily Bandcamp seems to also be a big hit amongst our southern neighbours, so you can listen most of these new albums – and in many cases download them for free online (or name your price to support the bands!)

The latest in the slew of Shanghai bands to release an album is the notorious Friend or Foe. If you haven’t heard the elaborate back story on how these guys came to earth and what they’re up to here, I won’t ruin it for you now. There’s a whole cartoon included with the album that explains this much better than I could. It’s hard to put a label on this album, I’ve heard the names ‘space rock’, ‘boner rock’ and ‘experimental wonk-grunge’ thrown around, and to tell the truth I’m not a genre person anyway, so I’ll just call it awesome. ‘Terrorized’ opens in the album hard and heavy, and sets up high expectations for me in seeing them live. ‘Lie to Me’ basically tells the story of many relationships in the expat wonderland we live in. It’s catchy and fun, but luckily so far I’ve been able to resist singing along in the office (BD would never let me live that down…) I love ‘Double Down’ with it’s slot machine intro, seedy vocals and explosive feedback in the chorus, can’t wait to hear this one live. On the first listening ‘Crazy Eye‘, ‘Burnt Out Buildings’ and ‘Almost Too Much’ didn’t really jump out, but the more I listen to the album, the more these songs grow on me and I think they’re becoming my favourites album tracks. Which came first the band name or the song name? Either way, ‘Friend or Foe’ is actually one of the low points of the album for me along with ‘I don’t wanna touch it but I need it’, but I think they’re both tracks that will work much better live.

So like I said, I’m still not convinced to move south, but I really should make it down there for a weekend sometime and I will definitely be making the trek out of my 2nd Ring comfort zone too see Friend or Foe at D22 on Saturday.

Catch Friend or Foe Saturday night at D-22 in Beijing along with Yan Tiao and He Fan’s (Carsick Cars) side-project and Deadly Cradle Death. RMB50 (door), RMB40 (students).

Read their pretty cool interview with City Weekend’s Liz Tung & download My Claw is Never Limp for free or a donation at http://friendorfoeband.bandcamp.com/

Lose Yourself by Eminem
Beijing Is Not My Home – Demerit
zhongnanhai – carsick cars
你是风儿我是沙
99 problems
北京画面 – 左小祖咒
No One Knows – Queens of the Stone Age
Do Not Move – Pet Conspiracy
Nobody But You – The Wonder Girls
我的2008 – 李楠

Billy Joel’s Piano Man is from way before 2001 but I must agree that if is befitting so I’d include it in the soundtrack but not the drawing.

so.. who won?

Willy‘s answer takes the merit… hey, this is a biased area and I can completely relate to what he wrote. This city is addictive and once people get a taste, they are hooked!!

So yeah it was “Do Not Move” – with its dirty lyrics of ‘stay inside me’ and its sexiness literally oozing out — which sums up Beijing and I think why Beijingers stay here – it’s a intoxicating city which once you’ve had a taste of it, it becomes hard to leave, like a drug, or like Helen Feng singing sweet nothings to me.

The other entries were put in a hat for a random drawing and KIRA‘s name was picked.

So Willy and Kira, please use the contact form to email me your phone number and FULL name to claim your prizes (each won 2 tickets for tomorrow’s shindig)

Hedgehog: Destroy Memories
from Hedgehog underground issue demo [2011 DEstroy meMOries] in March 2011 , 9 tracks , many of them are uncomplete edtion of new songs , we do it in a lofi and smarshing way , sounds more like our live , 500 copes limited , you can get it in the coming up China tour during March 18th – April 22nd 2011.
　　Time&Addr:Beijing XiSi N2 st. Rehearsal Room , 29th Jan 2011
　　Record&Mix:Liu Feng Shuo
Buy the record on Taobao:
http://item.taobao.com/item.htm?id=9742590656
Or Download it here:
http://hedgehogrock.com/lp/2

I’m not a big fan of noise rock really but this record/demo does it for me. I’m digging Hedgehog’s gloomy dark direction.

Gou Ri De 狗日的 S/T

I guess this can be translated as “Of Dog Days” or according to the band “motherf**r”… it’s a recent release from these kids in Yunnan, some of which are part of the Québec Redneck Bluegrass Project. It sounds good y’all! It’s funny how I’m starting to get back into hardcore recently with Black Flag and the likes… and this one fits right in.
It’s unfortunate that they broke up just as I heard of them but they do sound like extremely cool cats if I’m to go by this interview they did on a Kunming Expat Rag before their last show:
http://www.gokunming.com/en/blog/item/2196/interview_gouride
get the album over on Bandcamp:
http://gouride.bandcamp.com/
hat tip to Nevin Domer of Maybe Mars for Gouride
there you go, dazeheads…. some tunes to keep you entertained during national day.
Keep you yes posted for more reviews with Glowcurve, Fever Machine and more coming soon.

If you’re not familiar with Very CD, you should. They’re a p2p sharing site using the emule/edonkey to distribute files… they’ve built a decent library of links by now after close sourcing their client.
Considering how big Miserable Faith is, this is an interesting direction for them and for VeryCD to go…

Download the files here:
http://www.verycd.com/topics/2903372/

http://www.verycd.com/entries/528111/
Oh and yeah, the whole Miserable Faith catalog for free… that ain’t bad!

The good folks from Street Hustle are helping out by donating 2 tickets to the Neon Trees gig at Tango 3rd Floor ( formerly Starlive) with support from Pet Conspiracy and a yet-unnamed-band that the fans will vote on.

So, how does this work?

RULES

- On the picture, I am holding 6 CDs from China based bands.
- 4 of those CDs are fairly easy to make up whereas the last two are a bit more difficult.
- In order to win the tickets, you have to identify 4 out of those 6 CDs!
- All those who identify 4 out of 6 CDs at least will be entered in a random drawing where one will be selected to win 2 Tickets to see Neon Trees.
- Note that the FIRST person to identify ALL 6 CDs will win a bottle of Rum from my personal collection.
- To enter, send an email beijingdaze [at] gmail.com with both the Bands’ names and the CD titles
- Contest ends Friday July 29th
- Winner will be announced on monday August 1…

How well do you know your music Beijing? Here’s the high resolution picture (click)

good luck

It’s quite similar in essence to that of Google Music (The Chinese one) as far as listing popular songs, giving access to top 10s and also allowing listeners to vote on some songs. Another common point is that one has to download the songs one by one. there is no functionality to download a full album in one go.

The similarities however stop there! Lost in this PR shuffle is the fact that Google has been doing it for 3 years and their catalog much deeper than that of Baidu Ting:
Some pretty big names out there are still missing in action on Ting like AC/DC , Motley Crue or The Blues Brothers just to name a few. Moreover, a slew of local bands like Xie Tian Xiao, Reflector, Yaksa, Zhou Yun Peng, Miserable Faith, Muma etc… are also not available yet.

Overall, the announcement and the service itself are a sign that things are moving forward in terms of IPR. Still, Ting is nothing but a pale copy of Google Music at this point with a lesser catalog and nothing to set it apart.
It would be interesting to see Baidu try to innovate on this one and maybe take a slice of douban by allowing independent artists to upload their catalogs if they wish to do so and have access to the same terms the big labels get. How many a musician right now is just putting songs up for free believing they can’t get paid for them? Think about the potential… maybe a separate indie section with some moderators to keep things organized and clean up a potential mess? iTunes and Amazon are already doing it, it can’t be that hard.

Sure, licensing issues are tricky and maybe some record companies have been locked into binding agreements by Google and their partners but a behemoth the size of Baidu should have been able to launch with a bang, including everything the competition has and more… let’s hope that much like weibo, renren, kaishin and other Chinese homegrown sites, this one starts off as a copy and morphs into something entirely new.

What: ‘daze FEAST – A Celebration of Music & Fun
When: June 25th, 2011
Where: 2 Kolegas – Liangmaqiao
How Much: NO COVER ( buying CD from a participating band encouraged)

Summary:

Throughout the past two years, I’ve been fortunate enough to meet amazing people in this town in and out of concerts. The musicians, the fans, the friends, the venues have filled my life with enough memories for a few lifetimes. Well, now, these people are getting together to celebrate in Beijing for a whole day of music and fun at my favorite venue in town: 2 kolegas!

This is a No Cover celebration but I’m hoping all of you will support the musicians, who have all gracefully donated their time and skill, by purchasing one or more of their CDs at the door. These cats have spent a lot of time and energy bringing you the fun and the music, they deserve the recognition.

The Confirmed Lineup ( with many surprises coming up)

* Mademoiselle et Son Orchestre
* Dude
* The Flying Mantas
* Zhang Si’An
* Black Cat Bone
* Maggie Who
* at least 2 more acts to be announced

* There will be a lamb roasting in the pit all afternoon with chilled acoustic sets on the grass
* There will be some great Rum concoctions to get everyone in the mood
* DJ Carlo will be keeping you entertained between sets all afternoon and all night

of course, this being 2 Kolegas, expect the unexpected!!! I hope everyone will turn out for what promises to be one hell of a good time and one hell of a feast!!!

Watch this blog for more updates as they become available!!

By the looks of things, the guys are really working hard on the record with videos of the recording sessions as well as pictures making it online over the past few weeks. Now this is a record I look forward to and I’m hoping the lads get their ass up to Beijing sometime soon.

I gave the songs a few listens already and Dancing With Deviance is slowly becoming a favorite of mine. Really catchy hooks and big chords, two things i’m a sucker for. Go get the songs… now!