
well, to celebrate a fake weekend, what better that a few music videos to distract your from your pretend work in the office? I like that bands are getting into them again and discovering the value of a good MV as a promotion tool. So, what’s on the dazeTUBE? Dawangang: Good old Song Yun Zhe has been busy cooperating with tons of people over the past year but he did find some time to get a new record released for his band, Da Wang Gang. The lead single from the album is 四条道 sìtiáo dào. A nice little Folky number that mixes tons of influences and, much like SOng Yun Zhe himself, sharp and dark.. http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMjY4ODk3Mjcy.html Dawanggang is currently touring China in support of their latest release but expect them back in Beijing soonish. Xie Tian Xiao: Remember that hyped up gig at the Worker’s Gym? well, apparently, it was good enough! heck, some people are saying it was amazing. Video is slowly leaking out and the latest one, which is pretty well produced, is of the lead single from Illusion: 把夜晚染黑 http://www.letv.com/ptv/vplay/1964466.html I really didn’t like this at first but i’m very much digging it nowadays. Casino Demon The on-off supergroup is really having fun these days. THey released an decent EP, went on tour and they are playing regularly which is a great thing. I Mean it’s still pretty much an offshoot of the Dancers IMHO but who cares what it’s called? Here is their video for 童年 [...]

How you surviving the week y’all? With Jue kicking ass and taking names, it seems like the last 2 weeks have been a constant stream of live shows and music news and none of it is over yet. Way away from the mainstream, I was fortunate enough to catch some cool stuff this week with Japanese Drumming prodigy, Funky, organizing an impromptu music festival with some real y old school things that included a COBRA reunion… yeah, that Cobra.. but that’s all for another day. Let’s see what we should be looking forward to over the next few days: Fri Mar 22 Fangzui Xiangfa @ Temple This is my gig of the night. THe band was first brought to my attention by none other than J-curls and they kick ass. Old school hardcore punk that takes no prisoner. They’re coming off their first China tour in a while and have been putting on some kickass shows. Gumbleed and the Flyx will be on hand to provide some extra tunes. Acid Live/Wu Ning ye @ 2 Kolegas I saw these cats perform together about two months ago at Temple and it was kickass. They have developed such a chemistry since then with some of them even joining BUYi permanently. It’s a blast and tons of fun as they go through jazz, folk, blues seemingly. Definitely a good time. Wu Ning Ye almost seems happy these days as he smiles more on stage. Frank Turner & The Sleeping Souls @ Mao Live [...]
I’ve been trying to get the quickslants in early this week mostly for tonight’s show at Mako in support of the young Hasetie’er. Friday is gonna be one of those “it’s fucking hard to pick” which show to go to day with solid ass lineups all around town. Let’s get this baby started with my recommendations Wednesday Jan 11th: Hasetie’er : You’re Not Alone @ Mako Mamer, Dawanggang, Wu Tun, Dongzi, Zhang Weiwei, Liu Kun, the Jam Band, Mural, Yerboli (the younger) and more join their musical talents to support a night of giving. The folk community in Beijing/China is amazing in terms of pulling their resources together and helping out those in need! Be there, it’s gonna be amazing! Thursday Jan 12th: Liu Kun @ Jianghu: Low Wormwood’s frontman, Liu Kun, seems to be hanging around Beijing a lot lately. I oughta ask him about his favorite lanzhou mian place in this town when i get a chance. His brand of folk is quite interesting, earthy with western influences. Quite appropriate for a venue like Jianghu. Judging by how popular the gig was at Mako a while back, Jianghu might be packed. Ma Tiao Album Launch @ Tango: Well, the album is out. Ma Tiao has literally been around every show played in Beijing this past month. He popped up at Yugong Yishan during Muma’s performance. He was there at Tango during Su Yang’s show and he’s been promoting his new release. The New album is called “Master” or [...]
Mamer, Dawanggang, Wu Tun, Dongzi, Zhang Weiwei, Liu Kun, the Jam Band, Mural, Yerboli (the younger) and more join their musical talents to support a night of giving A star-studded list of folk/rock/experimental performers are donating their time and talent in aid of a young Kazakh man, Hasetie’er. In late 2011 the 21-year-old Hasetie’er was left on life support after a motorbike accident. His disabled father and mother are now bereft of their only son, and the only income-earner in their family. This rural family has had little aid in pursuing the individual who caused the accident and with hospital costs mounting have been left destitute. The Kazakh community has stepped in to help and this event hopes to go a long way toward aiding this family in need. Mako has generously donated its space, and 100% of the proceeds will be donated directly to the family. The only thing missing is your support of this very special event. When: Wednesday January 11, 2012 8pm Where: Mako Live House How much: 100 (door); 50 (students/ presale) To reserve tickets please text the mobile phone number 18701476341 and include in your text 义演 (yiyan), your name, the number of tickets and your mobile phone number; at the door give your name and mobile phone number to pick up your presale tickets. The organizers, artists and venue involved with this charity event are graciously donating their time, energy, space and equipment. Every fen will go directly to Hasetie’er’s family. Please give this [...]
It’s that time of the year when things are starting to slow down and the choices not as numerous as far as the live music scene goes in Beijing. Still, the next few weeks will have a few gems, or diamonds in the rough that will be well worth your and my time. So, what’s cooking for this end of the week? Thursday December 1st: Take Control @ Mao Heavy night in Gulou with Holland’s NO TURNING BACK stopping in Beijing. New daze favorites, Unregenerate Blood, set to launch their EP the same night with extra help from Return the Truth and XitneverhappenedX … It a tight knit community in Beijing and i expect them to show up in half decent numbers! just beware the center of the pit as they tend to start kicking randomly. Someone still oughta teach these kids how to mosh.. As I said before, I like the Unregenerate Blood kids, they have their heart in the right place. Friday December 2nd Hedgehog @ Yugong Yishan ok.. this one is bound to get crowded with one of Beijing’s favorite bands playing one of the most popular venues.. it sounds like a mad crowd rush waiting to happen but it could be really fun. I’m liking how Hedgehog is growing into this darker heavier entity when most bands tend to mellow down with age. They get some help from Fuzzymood and Spacebitch whom i never heard before. The show is tagged with the line: “Hedgehog rock live [...]
Remember that running joke about Wu & The Side Effects not really existing because they kept no-showing? Well, I’m ready to start using it on Dawanggang who’s bailed out on at least 4 shows I was supposed to catch them at. Still, this past Thursday at Jianghu, the locals were out in force for the Kazak Eagle’s cooperation with one of Beijing’s premier Sax players. The show started around 9:00 p.m. with a full house listening to the improvisations that took place on the tiny stage and went on until about 11:30. If nothing else, we can’t complain that we didn’t get our money worth in performance time. The show itself? Fairly interesting if not remarkable! Mamer went through 4 instruments on the evening, switching some of them halfway trough songs. He didn’t sing much and rather mumbled a few times in the microphone. One thing i noticed was how he played Bass on a few songs using a violin bow which was just weird.. but it worked! the guy has an amazing voice, I wish he’d use it more often. Tieqiao kept the energy levels up with a variety of wind instruments ( sax, pipa, flute & Harmonica) and was clearly having tons of fun sharing the scene with Mamer. There were some nice percussions courtesy of that-man-whose-name-i-always-forget, the Mexican lad that had a few sit ins with Panjir back in the days.. his beats provided a hypnotic background to the session. I wish there had been more structure [...]