Flyx | BeijingDaze

May
9thQuickslants: No Dong, Some Punk, a Little Ordnance and more

the big expected gig of the week would have been the Dongpai Folk Festival at 2 KOlegas but if you’re read the site yesterday, you know that it is pretty much dead in the water. I got to hear various versions/reasons for the cancellation but none of them really makes sense at this point. Either ways, it’s fucked! Still, there’s a number of cool little gigs around town starting tonight. Let’s see what the consolation prizes are: Thursday May 9: Coprocephalic @ 2 Kolegas Death Metal from California/Taipei… that’s how these kids are being labeled and it sounds intriguing enough. In pure 2K tradition, we know nothing about the gig or the band other than they’ve been around since 2011. Options are scarce enough that this makes an appearance on the slants for a thursday. Punk @ XP: Discord along with Flyx, Brother Tough and Found Amber are headed to the west side of town for a mohawk night at XP. Nothing out of this world but surely a decent enough option for those craving a little 2 to 3 chord action with badly tuned instruments but fun nevertheless. Friday May 10: The Randy Abel Stable/Shun Kikuta @ CD Blues Probably the best show from this series of Blues Festival when Beijing’s resident Americana hellraisers pair up with one of Japan’s more prolific guitar players for a night of good mellow tunes. If you were looking for an excuse to head over there, this is the best night. Just remember [...]
Aug
8thQuick Slants: The Punk Uprising, Boredom BrigadeS, Backyard Secrets and a Rant

This is really a boring summer musically folks. I love my Beijing bands but really, even the quickslants are becoming redundant with the same bands playing every week and in some case, 3 or 4 times a week. I understand that musicians must make a living as well but someone has to sit down and slam some sense into them about dilluting their brands. It’s just not doable any more and it’s hard to muster any sort of excitement as far as seeing some of them. I wish they could go back and see what Michael Petis did with Joyside and how they boomed after that. Anyone remember Pet Conspiracy’s monthly shows at Yugong Yishan and how much of a packed affair that was? I don’t mind so much Out of town artists are now doing a couple of dates a week in Beijing in case people can’t make it to one gig and they play different sides of town but not the local ones… loses all charm— it’s another type of Boredom Brigade. This week is looking a bit different though with some interesting one off gigs that might make me feel a little better about the scene and I’m quickslanting things i don’t usually do. Thursday August 9th 16 Min @ Temple I’ve loved these guys sound since the first time i stumbled on their douban last year but i still have not gotten around to seeing them live. Maybe tonight is the night! It’s an interesting fusion [...]
Apr
26thQuickslants: The Busiest Music Weekend in the World I think

seriously, I’ve lived in 4 continents, countless cities and seen my share of shows but nothing compares to the musical onslaught that is about to be unleashed on Beijing over the next 5 days. It’s actually mind blowing and busy enough to make a music fan go insane trying to decide where/what to do. This set of quickslants is just for the regular shows in the clubs/venues. Here is the my guide and list of picks for the May Mayhem of Festival that i’ve done separately . Shall we get started? (pic shamelessly ripped from http://www.zazzle.com/ Thursday April 26th La Souris Deglinguee @ Yugong Talk about a blast from the past. This band was a crowd favorite in France and I never thought i’d catch them in Beijing of all places. These French punks have been around since 1976 and they’re still rocking their ass off with some cool live shows. If you can’t catch them at MIDI, this is your chance to see them on their own. I expect a heavy French presence tonight. Friday April 27th Acoustic Brain Failure @ Jianghu: Last time these cats got together to do this, i missed it. Thankfully, they recorded the whole gig and put it online as a proof that they got the chops and can play their instruments. I like what they do and I love how they’ve been doing it lately so I would expect Jianghu to be extremely packed for this one. Nova Heart EP Release @Yugong Somehow, [...]