BeijingDazeTales of Live Music From Beijing's Mostly Underground Rock Scene..

Jun
14thQuickslants: New Albums by Hedgehog, Namo, Wutiaren – 3 Years of Hot Cat and more

I 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 Coverage is big enough I thought that the reasons I started the quickslants were no longer valid.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 and they deserve your attention. If you’ve never heard them, think a younger version of Second Hand Rose doing crosstalk rock. Worth the trip to shuanjing

The Medulary Paralysis @ Mao
Support courtesy of Army of Jade Kirin whom I have not seen in quite some time. The Medulary Paralysis is one of those weird bands with some sort of higher purpose and latex… fair enough! I’d go there just for the curiosity factor. They’ve toured China and played Beijing a few times before so they must be doing something right.

Nucleus & Friends @ Old What
Now that the Lidong record is out, Lixia and co can concentrate on the grunge band and produce some kick ass sounds. I’m looking forward to a heavier Ningxia style over the next few months.
Dwaas & Pork are also on hand for some rock whereas Thruoutin will atttempt to weird everyone out with their electronic stuff.

Hot Cat Club 3rd Year Anniversary
I didn’t think the fangjia hutong hideout would last this long but so far, they’re standing the test of time. The last month saw them bring a bunch of changes with better bookings, more consistent quality acts and just more name recognition out there. Glad to see them still standing!

Saturday June 16th

Hedgehog @ Yugong Yishan
I expect the place to be packed for Beijing’s darlings as they finally bring their CD to the capital. They’ve toured extensively behind it all over China and saved their hometown as the last stop.. I guess some take on “save the best for last” maybe. I’ve been listening to Sun Fun Gun and it’s a big departure from last year’s releases that kicked some seriosu ass IMHO. This show will be big and Yugong will be packed. Get there early

Wu Tiao Ren @ Mako
Another album release ( actually a double album) back at Mako by this southern folk duo that kicks serious ass. They’re widely viewed as one of the best bands in the country for good reasons. Talent, composition, performance and a little je-ne-sais-quoi makes them worth the trip. I expect to see quite a few musicians show up for this one down in shuanjing.

Beijing Beatles @ 2 Kolegas
The drive-in will be dancing Saturday with good old Beatles sounds. Dom Lemon and the crew know how to keep the audience entertained and singing all freaking night long. Last count, they had 40 songs in their catalog and it’s not that hard to convince them to play them all.

not too bad.. a whole lotta music going on.. now, I gotta try catching some myself.