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Apr
10thThis Just in: Hanggai Festival 2013 With Yemen Blues and more
I’m way to excited about this one folks… LAst year’s Hanggai Festival was one hell of a highlight with some amazing bands including Yemen Blues, Soul of Dolan and Hanggai themselves just to name a few. Well, guess what? Ilchi et co. are back for another go at it for 3 days: June 14,15,16 at Mako livehouse. So far, plenty of bands are in but the best thing is: Yemen Blues is back! We’re also getting Huun Huur Tu and IZ along with a local bluegrass band you might have seen a few times around town. THis one is a MUST….more new soonish.
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Mar
20thDragon in the Rear View: Memorable Performances of 2012
Note: Better late than never: I started writing this in January 2013… finally getting it out. I’ve finally got a bit of time to sit down and try to look back at 2012.. gigs, festivals, craps and mishaps. It’s been a long year really and probably the one with the lowest output on ‘daze as I changed jobs, opened a bar and saw my free time reduced to zero. Still, rock n roll was there and there in numbers. I made the gigs, listened to the songs and spent my evenings/nights with my underground brothers. How did it all pan out? It was a strange year really with a lot of bands reuniting and or coming out with long overdue records. Here’s looking at you Zhang Wei Wei and Brain Failure just to name a few. Still, more so than many years before, this one belonged to the young guns. But we’ll get to the records at some other points. Let’s first look at the most memorable performances of the Dragon year: NOTE: This is in NO particular order!!! – Miserable Faith @ MIDI I never got around to writing a review about this particular one but i’ll probably never ever ever forget it. Picture yourself in an outdoor festival, 10000 people standing in front of the main stage for the final performance of a 3 day musical onslaught and they’re singing in unison all of the band’s songs before the band even came onstage. for 30 good minutes, the [...]
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Jul
5thQuickslants: Snakes, Mohanik, 3 Weddings, Mamer, Heavy Birthday and Music GaloreSummer is officially music season here y’all.. we’re looking at another busy weekend in old smoggy ( and boy is she smoggy this week) to try and distract us from all our weekly grind. It’s a rich and diverse one with tribute shows, metal galore ( and lulu galore) not to mention a whole bunch of ‘daze favorites stopping by… let’s get to it, shall we? Thursday July 5th Lulu Galore & Sweet Leaf @ Temple Lulu rocked the grass at 2 Kolegas 10 days ago with her suave voice, charming smile and soothing ukulele sounds. I’m assuming she will do more of the same to the Temple goers tonight and have no reason to believe it won’t be fun. Friday July 6th Omnipotent Youth Society @ Yugong I get a feeling I have not been to Yugong Yishan forever and that might be true. Granted, they’ve been putting on a few high profile shows lately and I’m seriously overdue for a return there. Friday would be interesting and packed most likely with Shijiazhuang’s Omnipotent Youth Society doing a rare stop in the capital. Last time these cats played a paying show, there were 200 people stuck outside Mao Livehouse that couldn’t get in. Even with ticket prices at 150 rmb, I expect a full house here. 3 Weddings & 1 Farewell @ 2kolegas DH & The Hellcats as we know them will be no more. One member is moving overseas while 3 are getting married. They’re marking the occasion [...]
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May
3rdLive Music Quickslants: Hanggai Festival, IZ, Book Swap & Board Games and an On Fire BdayI’m not sure I’ve entirely recovered from last weekend’s musical onslaught.. really folks! MIDI rocked the shit out of me, especially with an awesome Miserable Faith performance. Ningxia Night on Monday was special as usual and so were the other days.. Still, It’s thursday and time to see what else is happening over the next few days.. This one is not about quantity, it’s about quality so I’ll make it short and sweet: Thursday May 3rd Bad Apples @ Temple: Them bad apples are back again after a few months hiatus.. why do i feel like i wrote this before? They’re a good band that is fun to watch but extremely frustrating to me because they can’t seem to get to the next level despite all the talent they have. Here’s hoping this time around, the troops are ready for a good battle and they can get over the hurdle. Temple is not a bad place to get started. I expect Kris to be shredding his new baby for it’s first field test. Friday May 4th Iz @ Mao Live One more chance to watch the masters of modern progressive dark folk at work. I’ve heard some pretty good things about the shows these guys have done over the past week and I’m quite excited to see them in a place like Mao Live where the sound will resonate nicely. I might even be tempted to grab the new Mamer records but i’ll have to get over that freaking price [...]
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Apr
26thQuickslants: The Busiest Music Weekend in the World I thinkseriously, 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, [...]
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Apr
18thInspired Mamer to Release 5 solo CDs in 2012There are bands that make 1 CD in 15 years and then there is Mamer.. The Kazakh eagle is kicking off 2012 with a bang by releasing 5 solo records in one go. I’m a huge fan of his album from last year which has made it into my top albums from China in 2012. Here’s what he’s got coming: “Star”: a collection of 12 inspired and beautiful the Tamboura solo song, 8 of which are traditional Kazakh folk songs, 4 Mamer originals “Loop”: a collection of eight experimental Tamboura songs, completely different from the traditional playing style and techniques. “Wrinkles”: a collection of unique demos, mixing Tamboura, guitar and violin among others “Soil”: originally recorded in 2009 recording, using a variety of traditional and modern instruments, this is a collection of sonic mood swings, raw and powerful “Alika”: bass album,mostly live improvised recording done in 2009. For those that managed to catch the prince of darkness last year, you’ve heard most of it played as a soundtrack to photos by Xinjiang photographer. Mamer will tour Beijing over the next month playing songs from all 5 albums along with his IZ band members. There’ll be plenty of opportunities to catch him at 2 Kolegas, Jianghu, Mako and more…. http://site.douban.com/mamer/ April 27, 2012 @ Mako Livehouse with IZ April 28, 2012 @ 2 Kolegas with IZ April 30 @ Jianghu – Solo release party May 4th @ Mao Livehouse with IZ May 5th @ Blue Stream with Friends I’m looking forward [...]
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Jan
18thIZ ( Mamer) at Temple: If a Steel Mill Could Sing…Since they came back from their world tour, IZ has been keeping a very low profile. A few things bearing mention was that they got a weibo for the band as opposed to having Mamer be the mouthpiece all the time. They’re also just using the name IZ instead of Mamer & IZ… I like that! Their show at Temple, on the first week of the year, will probably go down as one of the best ones for 2012 potentially: When they were underwhelming at Jianghu for the CD release, they sounded great at Temple.. no doubt that the cavernous nature of the room provided better acoustics to match their dark, industrial, metallic rumbling sounds. There was actually quite a turnout for the occasion, most of which were faces i hadn’t seen at Temple before so you could tell that they came specifically for IZ.. An audience that was very much well behaved and in a trance-like state during most of the performance. They barely broke the silence from time to time to clap but otherwise kept the conversation to a minimum. Much like the band one could argue. An interesting change in dynamics was with 努尔太 Nuertai singing a bit more than usual, almost more so than Mamer himself (if we can call his mumbling singing). I still struggle to describe these guys but I think i might be settling for this sentence coined by my friend Beagleboss: If a steel mill could sing, that’s what it would sound [...]
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Jan
11thQuickslants: Folk for the People, Bad Mamasan, Wan Xiaoli, Tea Quintet, Ma Tiao’s New Album, D-22′s last show and moreI’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 [...]
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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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Oct
3rdNational Holiday Quickslants: Modern Sky, Super Ningxia, Old What fun, Charity and moreIt’s been a beautiful beginning for october in Beijing with blue skies, mild temperatures and freaking empty roads… oh yeah! For those of us fortunate enough to be in Beijing and enjoying the quiet, it’s pretty cool. That said though, nightlife and music events are plentiful for the next few days… heck, there are so many that they get their own quickslants. Of special not is the charity show on October 8th at Mako Livehouse with Zhou Yunpeng raising money to benefit kids with haemophilia Modern Sky: October 3-5 I’m not even contemplating heading over to this one but it is happening over in huairou and the usual suspects will all be there. If you can brave the transportation issues and the disaster that modern sky run events are, then you should be fine. Head over to the Beijinggigguide for updated schedule of events. Monday Oct 3: Pairs @ Mao: More Shanghai bands doing the trip up north. They’re slapped with a bunch of indie bands but these kids are actually a lot heavier, noiser and more interesting. I’m really tempted to check them out tonight at Mao. They play along with Cassette, Me Too and Next Year’s Love. Buyi @ Jianghu: Haven’t seen my ningxia boys in a little while and I’ve actually never seen them at jianghu come to think about it. Heck, I haven’t been to Jianhu in a few weeks and this sounds like a nicer evening than the potential crapout at Mao. I hear they [...]
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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.
17 Bands, Roast Lamb & All FREEWhat’s on Offer?
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- 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