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Mar
1stQuickslants: Indie Music Grows, Stegosaurus, 2 Kolegas Returns and more
ooohhh.. there’s action again!! with the weather warming up, looks like we’re almost back to Business-as-usual level as far as Beijing’s music scene is concerned. Looks for things to heat up even more as we get closer to kickoff date for Jue Festival and Sound of the Xity. This weekend got a few things going for it and some of it might be pretty darn fun. Let’s see what we got Fri. March 1 Indie Music Party @ Mao Live Xiao He and Buyi Headline this first night of indie Music celebration alongside Zhang Qianqian, Po Shang Cun, and Guo Nian. It’s definitely the folky part of this shindig with some bands that have “indie” written all over them. Sure, Xiao He is signed to maybe mars but the others as far as I know have been doing things on their own for quite some time now and that’s what indie really means: independent. A must go to gig… seriously worth the cash. Stegosaurus? @ Temple They came before and put on one hell of a good show at Mao. I liked the costumes and the style they brought along with that eclectic mix of genres in their song. A little metal, a little hard rock with a side of pop, maybe even some rapping here and there. A good band for a good time. I’m not sure i’d say the same for the opening act but let’s stay open-minded, shall we? Sat. March 2 Book Swap and Board Games [...]
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Feb
22ndCelebrating Indie Music: 2 Day Music Extravaganza
I think the question i get more often than not through the comment form on this website is: Where the hell do i buy some of this music?” especially from out of town visitors. I wrote about CD Rock before but there is of course a lot of other options, including the respectable and aptly name “Indie Music” shop on Gulou Xi Dajie. Josh, of Pangbianr and smartbeijing) did a nice write up on them recently. So, here is the deal: March 1st and March 2nd at Mao Livehouse, we got ourselves 2 nights of celebration for which they enlisted some of their favourite musicians in town: March 1st: This one is old school folky with Poshangcun, Zhang Qianqian, Zhang Guonian, Bu Yi and Xiao He. March 2nd: more on the younger side of thingsm very poppy: Cha Liangfen, Elenore, Shou Ye Zhe, Ge Bi Tuan and Escape Plan (per del) I’m definitely in for night 1 of this little shindig, especially with rumours floating around about Bu Yi that i’ll get to sometime soon. So, get out there, support the kids, the music and have yourselves a good little time. Indie Music Shindig douban: http://www.douban.com/event/18177055/ March 1st/2nd Mao Livehouse Beijing
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Apr
12thDitan Folk Festival 2012 Announced: Standing Toe to Toe with the Big BoysI’m fine haunting smoky livehouses, listening to loud dirty boogie rock n roll, getting down and dirty… but i also like me a beautiful day, sitting on the grass, soaking up the sun and picnicking the afternoon away while enjoying relaxed music and that is what makes the Ditan Folk Festivals one of my favorite events of the year. Even my non-muso friends come out to play for that one! This year, I’m hoping the weather will not get in our way.. Event Douban: http://www.douban.com/event/16197716/ So, the dates were unleashed today and looks like the good old Dong party is gonna stand toe to toe with the two big boys of music in Beijing for the may holiday! That is one hell of a ballsy move and it makes a lot of sense.. it might even hurt attendance on the other festivals ever so slightly: – Ditan is family friendly with a an open air chilled athmosphere – Ditan Park is more conveniently located than any of the other venues… those of us who tried getting to tongzhou many times before know about this. – Bring your own booze/food: with the big two having all kinds of scrutiny and extra security/mafan, this might turn out to be a winner – Good acts, foreign and Chinese alike Seriously folks, this is gonna be a tough call this year… with MIDI still not getting their shit together, I like the alternatives more and more. Day one looks like a winner with Shan [...]
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Apr
3rdNot So Ephemeral: Wangba Records Back For More with Abaji, Xiao He, Djang Sanyou might remember that last year, a mini-festival popped up in Beijing from seemingly nowhere: Ephemeral Festival. Over two week they organized some pretty awesome events with the likes of Matthieu Ha, Wu Fei, Stranded Horse and more. The series was an absolute breath of fresh air in a musical scene that can sometimes get stale and repetitive. They’re back! Yoan, the brain behind Wangba, has a new series of shows called Brand New You’re Retro and it kicks off this friday night at Temple and will go on every friday of April. The series is all about exploring traditional and folk world music! Here is the schedule: NIGHT 1 2012年4月6日 April 6 improvised surrealist schizo music super star / CN 小河 XIAO HE
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Mar
7thSally Can’t Dance: experimental noise makers gather in their new hutong homeD22’s zooming nights may have been put on hiatus with the venue’s closure earlier this year, but the city’s experimental musicians came out of hibernation last weekend, joined by fellow noise makers from around China for the 4th (semi-) annual Sally Can’t Dance festival. Though not a huge fan of this style of music, I decided to swing past the venue and see what was on offer, after all the as yet ‘un-named venue’ of the former D22 team is literally across the road from my house, it would be rude not to have dropped in! To find out more about the history of this festival and those organising it this year head over to Pangbianr’s post here. My fellow hutong dwellers probably don’t yet realise who’s moved into our hood judging by the strange looks as they passed the mix of laowai and locals loitering around the venue’s doorway. As the venue itself isn’t due to open officially until May, the festival preparations in the new space were minimal and didn’t include a bar as yet, so it was a BYO affair, the local 7-11’s fridge looking very bare by the end of the weekend. Saturday afternoon saw the small dimly lit downstairs performance space filled with eager listeners come to here the best experimental musicians in the country had to offer. I made it just as Zhang Shouwang and Yan Yulong were setting up their electric guitar and violin on a table in the centre of the room [...]
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Nov
4thThey Are Still Singing for Their good and that of the Gansu ChildrenYet another date circled on the calendar for quite some time and how could i not? Zhao Lao Da, Buyi, Li Dong, Song Yunzhe, Ajinai, Xiao He, Yan Juan, Dong Zi and the list goes on, all playing the same night at 2 Kolegas. It would have taken one hell of an alternative for me not to go there, especially once i found out that the whole thing was put together to raise money that would go towards buying winter shoes for needy children in Gansu Province. I don’t think I really need to go over any of the musicians’ performances on this one in details. These guys are all seasoned veterans but I’ll cover some of the surprising more interesting points on here: The crowds were on time for a change at 2 Kolegas. It was a strange type of audience that pretty much sat down from the beginning of the show until the end. and when i say the end, I mean they stayed until pretty much the last note was played way past 1:00 a.m which i never expected them to have in them. Huge props to Dong Zi for putting together this little shindig and even bigger props for praying with his strumming hand in stitches. If anyone else is doing similar type of folk in China with such emotion, please let me know! I’d love to know who they are. Buyi is continuing a trend of doing really unusual things: They used 2 bass players [...]
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Nov
4thQuickslants: Grassland Rumba, Autumn Descends, Ido Balance and Book SwapIs it already late thursday/early friday? goodness this week has flown by! They say that’s what happens when you’re busy having fun so here is hoping i had tons of fun because it did freaking fly by. So, another weekend looming with some pretty sweet and diverse choices to pick from. Let’s kick it! Friday Nov 4th: La Pegatina & Hanggai @ Mako: If you haven’t heard of “la Pegatina”, do yourself a favor and look them up. This Spanish motley crew has been heating up stages all over the world and they’re about to give Beijing a little taste of what the rest of China has seen over the past week that they been touring here with Hanggai. It’s a little rumba, some meringue, a side of Ska, a dash of reggae and a sprinkle of Cumbia just to name a few. Buddies Hanggai, who don’t really need an introduction anymore, are also on the bill and word is they’ve collaborated on a special version of Jiu Ge ( drinking song) just for tomorrow night’s shindig. Well worth the trek to shuanjing. See this Global Times writeup or check out this video from their performance at West Lake festival in Hangzhou Chun Qiu @ Temple: Kaiser and the boys are taking this thing seriously now after just floating around for a few years. The band is hungry and has new songs, picking up where they left off with their album. This show has been fairly on the radar over [...]
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Sep
23rdDouble take: There’s nothing silly about Xiao He’s new record: Silly’s BalladI was excited and afraid to get my hands on this baby for a review as I’m not the biggest Xiao He fan in the world… let’s see what comes out of it: Beijing Daze on Silly’s Ballad I feel a bit weird writing this review because I’m getting that strange “not appropriate” gut feeling. See, Xiao He’s new release is meant to be so much more than just musical. It’s not a CD but a beautifully crafted book that is meant to be read and touched while one listens to the songs though one of a kind sound reducing earphones. Xiao He‘s genius, which borders on insanity, has brought forth a vision and an atmosphere and judging it sorely on the music doesn’t seem fair, not having the lyrics right now is also limiting. The opening seconds of the the first song bring me tons of relief… He is singing and playing guitar.. and most of the album goes that way! He is navigating through different vocal styles, strumming patterns, loops all while keeping the music very earthy. Some songs, like “Dark night is running back from a faraway place” sound like a fusion of different folk styles: Mongolian vocals, Yellow river rhythms and blues harmonies. Gugu Bird starts off sounding like a cover of Jolene and morphs into what Xie Tian Xiao would sound like acoustically. And the journey goes on with the rest of the record where I spent most of my time going ” What’s this [...]
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Sep
22ndQuickslants: Xiao He’s Silly Ballad, SUBS + Perdel Unholly Alliance and Happy 7 to YugongMan.. It’s Quickslants time already! This week has just flown past, I swear! Things got started yesterday at Temple with a lovely performance by the newly formed Lulu Galore & Sweet Leaf and we got a whole weekend to look forward to. It’s looking like a slightly understated weekend for livemusic in Beijing but in reality, there’s some pretty cool stuff happening. let’s see what we got! Thursday Sept. 22 New Blood of Rock @ Mao Live: King Kong Productions is putting together a cool little evening with some of the fresher local rock bands, most of which I never heard off and that might not be a bad thing. The advertised line up includes: The Hangover, The Ruined Flowers, Three Kings, Little Smart and Illness Sickness. Open Mic Thursdays @ Hot Cat Club: Hot Cat has been picking up steam lately with better performances and more people showing up. I’m curious to see how their open mic night is going in terms of mixing local musicians with expats. Also, I just miss a good open mic night vibe which i don’t think Beijing has had since the untimely departure of Beijing Rob over a year ago. Friday Sept. 23 Skarving & Friends @ 2 Kolegas: I’m becoming really sold of Skarving. musically, these guys are alright but the real draw is their enthusiastic and high energy stage shows. The band is having fun and you can’t help having fun while listening to them! It’s infectious. Bad Mamasan is also [...]
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Aug
11thQuickslants: RockAid, Samba, Shanren and friends ready to rock your weekendInteresting weekend ahead as usual folks with a variety of sounds available to those seeking musical entertainment. Rockaid is going on pretty much all weekend. Shanren return to 2K and host of other goodies happening left and right. The Tiger beer battle of the band continues with sessions at Mako Livehouse and Mao Livehouse. Kamila returns at Jianghu and more…. Without further due, let’s get rolling folks! Here’s where i’m most likely to show up for good tunes. Thursday August 11 Xiao He & Jeffrey Lewis @ Yugong: No, I’m not going there but it does have the potential to be amazing if both of these guys do things right. Here’s always hoping Xiao He forgets his laptop at home but I don’t think it’s gonna happen. I heard some good stuff about Jeffrey Lewis so go for it. I’ll be at Capoeira instead! Old Folk @ jiangjinjiu: Two relatively unknowns Ma Di and Dong Ye play a free show in gulou. This might actually be a cool opportunity to discover something cool and new. The guys at Jiangjinjiu are pretty cool about spotting talent. Friday August 12: Shanren @ 2Kolegas: I’ve never seen the wild ones play 2 K so it should be cool. I’d like to see how their sound has changed since last time when they started sounding increasingly more metal. This one is undeniably gig of the evening, bar none! Undistinguished Youth , whom i never heard, start things off. Rock Aid 1 @ Tango: first [...]
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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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- 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