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Aug
2ndQuickslants: Less Licks, Bookswaps, Icelandic Vibes, Dual Triple Headers, Returns and moreIf you missed out yesterday on the Franz Nikolay/Randy Abel Stable gig at Yugong Yishan, don’t despair! Plenty of interesting shows are coming up over the next few days that might be just as intriguing. While some of them are sure to be packed, especially Friday night at Mao and Old What, other little gems can be just as much fun. Thursday August 2nd Cao Yang @ Jianghu I’ve been listening to Cao Yang’s douban trying to figure out if it’s worth seeing or not. 2 hours later, I’m still confused and in-between. The show is billed as “I’m back” blah blah blah blah… 3 bands on the bill and potential good times if you just stay away from the red wine. 3 bands on the bill and a good opportunity to chill in the hutongs with this weather Friday August 3rd 3X3 – Hedgehog, Casino Demon, Gar @ Mao Biggest lineup I’ve seen at Mao in quite some time. This is solid shit in Beijing’s underground musicland. Hedgehog, love or hate them, deliver every show and have put on some memorable concerts lately. Casino Demon is back in form and slowly working their way up the ladder again after a few months off. GAR is one of those bands i don’t freaking get! People are mystified by the fact that they never play so anytime they come out, they cause a frenzy. How about the music though? Either ways, this will be a fun show with gigantic attendance. Misfits [...]
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Jun
14thQuickslants: New Albums by Hedgehog, Namo, Wutiaren – 3 Years of Hot Cat and moreI was wondering the other day whether the quickslants were still needed considering we’ve got the wonderful Beijing Gig Guide doing a great job with recommendations and LBM delivering some consistent content albeit with a gigantic rose colored glasses, not to mention the expat rags. Coverage is big enough I thought that the reasons I started the quickslants were no longer valid. Unfortunately, the more things change, the more they stay the lame and it’s up to the bloggers to provide exposure on the bands… otherwise, you’ll miss out on bands like Namo and Wutiaoren releasing their albums and end up watching some third tier Dio-wannabe Metal cover band. I’m grumpy… anyways, let’s get to it! Thursday June 14 Le Comptoir des Fous @ Temple This actually sounds like one hell of a party: fusion of hip hop, reggae, jazz and little Cajun flair seems like the right thing to do on a thursday night to get some energy. They’ve been touring China for a little while now and should be ready for a big party with potentially a lot of people that speak their language. Friday June 15th Namo @ Mako One of the best bands to come out of China over the past few years has a new record out, “I’m your KingKong”. I’ve heard the title track and it is a much heaver louder sound that they had before, at least on this one track. I’m curious about the rest of the record! They’re fun, they’re good [...]
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Jun
14thNew Hedgehog Video Ahead of Saturday Album LaunchActually, they shouldn’t be called Hedgehog but Chameleon.. That’s a more appropriate moniker considering the different colors they’ve shown over the past years. I’m hoping we’ll have a review of the latest record,Sun Fun Gun, soon but in the meantime, here is their latest video for a track called Surf With Sharks. I love the fact that this band just doesn’t stop whether it’s new records, videos, live album and what not. A bunch of the more established bands could learn from them. http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XNDEyNzM5Njcy.html if you’re having problems viewing it on Youku, check it out on their website: http://hedgehogrock.com/html/video_surf-with-shark.html interesting lyrics too don’t purswade me 不用劝我 i hate what you say 我恨你说的话 don’t save me 不用救我 i am bad 我很坏 i feel shame on all the shits on TV 我恨电视上的一切 should i not be born in the ancient east? 难道我生错了地方？ we are all bad bad bad bad bad seeds 我们都是坏种子 we are all naturally born bad seeds 天生的坏种子 i can’t do any real thing in east country 我们无法在这里保持真实 i should not be born in the ancient east 难道我生错了地方？ look at that crap 看那些垃圾 it can make money 它能赚钱 look at that crap 看那些垃圾 it can make money 它能赚钱 decieve the fool 欺骗迂腐之徒 then feel so good 之后感觉真爽 what’s wrong and what is going on ? 出什么错了？到底是怎么了？ we are all bad bad bad bad bad seeds 我们都是坏种子 we are all naturally born bad seeds 天生的坏种子 i can’t do any real thing in east country 我们不能在这里保持真实 should i not be born in [...]
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Apr
24thCui Jian added to MIDI, New Records from Hedgehog, Nova Heart, Mamer, LiDong, Bad Mamasan and moreSome random news coming around today.. The reclusive Zhang Chu,originally scheduled to headline MIDI day 1 on April 29, has some emergency. None other than Cui Jian, the godfather of Chinese rock, is replacing him on the bill! That’s a pretty good deal in my book! Granted, it might increase the security concerns in Shunyi. On the new release front, there is a shitload coming up: Hedgehog has a new one out already but the official Beijing release will be in June. Sun Fun Gun is hailed so far as a return to the source for the trio… I’m still taking it for a spin so expect a review sometime soon on the site. Nova Heart, fresh from touring around the world, is putting out their first EP this Friday at Yugong Yishan. I’m gonna see if i can actually get my hands on it beforehand because i’m really curious! I’ve heard them plenty of times and it’s always been different! How will the recording fare without the captivating presence of Helen? I’ve covered Mamer in a post not too long ago and I hear from Ruby that at least one of his new records is already available at C Rock. We’ve covered Lidong for years on the blog and been hoping that they’d get those demos packaged for a final release… it’s done baby! Li Xia and the gang have put the final touches on it and we’re looking at May 19th as the date this baby will be [...]
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Apr
6thCity Weekend Beijing Awards for Best Local Band: Loving itI remember a time when only local expat bands got any coverage from the expat rags and I’m extremely happy to see that things are changing slowly! There is hope! Last year, DH & The Hellcats deservedly managed to run away with the award and they have exploded since then as one of the fun darlings of the scene! Try asking them to play a private gig and see how that goes! This year, CW is at it again with an interesting set of nominees: So, we have Hedgehog, Residence A, SUBS, Shan Ren, Hot Club of Beijing and The Randy Able Stable…. Nice selection there folks! Here are some thoughts. Let me start by saying that I love the “local band” moniker! It does not discriminate against bands based on their nationality and that is something that usually pisses the living shit out of me in Beijing/China. So seeing an award for local Beijing-based musicians is fantastic. I asked Alex Searson ( Friend, CW Nightlife editor, Beijing Gig Guide owner) about the nomination process and this is what she had to say: i tried to pick a range of music styles, and based it on 1) the quality of the music and 2) what they’ve done in the last year I’m not surprised to see Hedgehog, Residence A or Shan Ren on there. They all had records come last year and are fairly popular among CW’s readership (and their nightlife editor ×wink× ). They also played some memorable shows [...]
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Mar
20thHedgehog, Unregenerate Blood, Fever Machine Music Videos, MIDI Trouble and Dong updatesIt’s been one hell of a busy weekend with all the gigs from Jue, BLF and other gigs.. I’ll try and get to them later in the week. There were some gems especially the Steve MacKay and Black Cat Bone Gigs. There were also some good comments thrown around at the Jon Campbell talk that might get their own post later. In the meantime, some news and ramblings MIDI Trouble May is around the corner and there’s absolutely no updates coming out of the MIDI camp concerning a location or a lineup. The lineup is more disturbing because pretty much all the bands that matter have been signed to Modern Sky’s Strawberry. I’m sure they’ll pull a big coup last minute but still, I’m worried. Their Shanghai festival is confirmed though for end of April. Dong Chorus Tours Beijing Wu Hongfei and the Dong Chorus are pretty much on a mini tour of Beijing…how about that? Instead of playing a bunch of cities, they have decided to cover every major venue in town. Yugong and Mako have already happened, next up is 2 Kolegas Thursday March 22 and Mao Livehouse March 25th and Jianghu on March 29th.So if you thought you missed out like i did, do not despair. 3 More chances to catch them. In case you don’t know about them: the Dong Chorus was chosen to be the Intangible Cultural Heritage of The World. It dates back to the Spring and Autumn Period of ancient China, which has [...]
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Jan
10thTop 5 Best Chinese Albums of 2011: IZ, Ordnance, Hedgehog, Proximity Butterfly and LongshendaoMan it sounds so pretentious to say this… but it’s a title that gets headlines and scores high in search engines so deal with it. There are many reasons why this is not a traditional “best of”, main one being I can’t claim that i heard every album released in 2011 all around the country. From those I did hear though, and there were quite a few, there are a number of standouts.. let’s see how they go: IZ [ Kolengke ] If a steel mill could sing, that’s what it would sound like (thanks Sharon)! This has been one of the better records of the year and that for many reasons. It’s pretty darn different from anything available in China that I managed to get my hands on. If you know of something similar, let me know. Mamer and his crew just put together a beautiful cacophony of sounds and made it work. It’s dark without being too gloomy. The album is actually beautifully simple despite what seems like elaborate compositions with thundering bass lines and percussions. Back in the days, Kazakhs used to write songs about grasslands and plains where they roamed free. Nowadays, Mamer and IZ are city dwellers, it makes sense that they songs reflect their new lifestyle.This is an album that stands on its own in and outside of China as far as I’m concerned! It doesn’t need nor does it ask for excuses! Hedgehog [2011 DEstroy meMOries] yup, Hedgehog! The trio has been extremely [...]
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Dec
1stLive Music Quickslants: Hedgehog, Trail of Tears, Fish, Dawanggang and Boy Climbing RopeIt’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 [...]
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Oct
15thNews to Ooze: MIDI 2011 Awards, Jacky Danny, Douban how-to and moreIt’s been a while since the last bit of random news so let’s see what’s been happening in China Music Land MIDI 2011 awards are in the process.. The anouncement appeared on weibo today! Expect the awards to be held mid-december. REcord companies, bands and participants are encouraged to contact the organizers at the number below: Hedgehog are in the middle of their US tour and they’re having fun. They posted a bunch of pictures over on their official website. Check it out here. They have also added yet another bootleg live recording from september, titled Still Alive, that sounds pretty darn good. Check it out: http://hedgehogrock.com/lp/8 Jacky Danny, a ‘daze favorite, is “back on the saddle” so to speak! They got a new drummer, rhythm guitar and old bass player back so expect them to start popping out in listings all around town. I’m looking forward to this…. yes, they’re one of my guilty pleasure and I dig them! CMCB are finished recording their new record. Expect a release party around December 10th at Mao or Tango. More details as they become available. I love these guys brand of Rap/Metal and they’re Beijing to the bone. Last but not least, Andy Best is blogging more regularly about the Shanghai music scene again. See his latest extremely informative article about following bands on Douban: http://www.kungfuology.com/andybest/2011/10/following-chinese-bands-on-dou.html
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Sep
29thFree Music for the masses: Hedgehog’s Destroy Memories & Gouride’s hardcoreThere’s a lot of new music going around ‘daze headquarters and tons of reviews delayed by real life obligations… so it’s always good to be able to share some of the stuff with you guys and see whatcha all think. On the menu for today, we’re looking a 2 completely different types of releases, both made available for free by the bands so support them please: 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 [...]
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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
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'dazeFEAST 2012 - June 23rd at 2 Kolegas.
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- Quickslants: Tambours du Bronx, New Shanren, Painkiller Fest and more
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- Dreamer Festival 2013 – Azure Ray, Shan Ren, Omnipotent Youth Society and More
- PS: You Rocked Me – Abaji, One Drop, Devils, Yungiema etc..
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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