Live Music Quickslants: Shanren & Hanggai throw parties, new albums from Jurat & Duck Fight Goose
Wah, I’m still recovering from last weekend, is it really time for Quickslants again?
The year may be winding down, but there’s still no shortage of great gigs to check out this weekend. Here’s just a taste of what’s available.
Shanren
Thursday December 15th:
Little Marbles @ Yugong Yishan
Swedish indie-gypsy-pop meets American bluegrass, a strange, but hopefully good combination of Little Marbles and the Randy Abel Stable. That p-word makes me want to run and hide, but if you’re into that kinda thing, this is one to check out.
WHAI @ Jianghu
Post/prog-rock ningxia style in the hutongs with WHAI, made up of Long Shen Dao & Buyi’s Zhang Wei on guitar, keyboard & guzheng, Lidong & Nucleus’s drummer Liu Miao and Chen Zhong on bass. I’ve caught these guys out at the drive-in a couple of times now and I’m really enjoying their style.
Friday December 16th:
Shanren & Lidong @ Mao Livehouse
Two of the best folk bands in the city team up for one big night at Mao, Lidong from the north-west and Shanren from the south. Shanren are currently recording an album with Daze Central friend Martin Rawlins, we’re looking forward to that coming out in the New Year.
Hanggai @ 2 Kolegas
There’ll be lambs cooking, voices roaring and dancing galore when Hanggai throw a party in their home base 2 Kolegas. No matter where you start tonight, this will be the place to end it, I can see this one going all night!
Saturday December 17th:
Jurat Album release @ Temple
Uighur psychadelic rocker Jurat went home to Xinjiang for October holiday and came back with a new album. He’s ready to share it with you tonight at Temple, with support from WuTun. Watch this space for an double take album review (with a special guest reviewer!) later in the week.
Duck Fight Goose Album release @ D22
If you prefer your rock futurisic style then head to Wudaokou tonight to catch our latest Shanghai visitors Duck Fight Goose on their album tour, with support from D22 regulars Chuiwan and Soviet Pop.
Djang San & Bye Bye, Thanks for the Fish @ Mako
French electro-folk from Zhang Si’an’s alter ego and Chinese punk rockers showing their softer sides combine in Shuangjing. Kang Mao was my pick for best female vocalist at the Midi Awards last weekend, if you’ve only heard her scream, here’s a good chance to see a different side to the Queen of Fucking Everything.
Bye Bye, Thanks for the Fish
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I wanted to clarify that “Little Marbles” the band from Sweden who played at Yugong Yishan on Thursday December 15th during the Beijing leg of their China tour are far from a “Pop” band. I am not sure how that designation got attached to the band–perhaps it was a poor translation from the original Swedish description of their music. They play an energetic blend of gypsy-folk, alternative, and hard charging bluesy rock. The crowd at Yugong Yishan — of which there were many for such a cold Beijing weekday winter evening — were treated to a real treat. While barely 21 years old, the front duo of Lynn and Julia rocked the house like seasoned performers and were backed by an experienced guitar and rhythm section of 3 that had been playing together for 15 years. While I hear you when you say you run and hide when you hear the “P” word, it is unfortunate that this misnomer was used, as their show was undoubtedly (and surprisingly so) “one of the highlights of the year in Beijing” — and that was a direct quote from the management of Yugong Yishan.
Thanks for clarifying that Peter! I actually took that from Little Marbles’ douban page which states “被称为瑞典流行乐坛最被看好的明日之星” (known as the Swedish pop music’s most promising stars of tomorrow). They’re also classified as Pop on iTunes and Indie-Pop on last.fm … maybe they need to look at their marketing? Anyway glad to hear it was a great show … I enjoyed the post-rock one I was at that night too 😉
Definitely a problem with some schizophrenic marketing. My Space says Afro-Beat Rap while this Wall Street Journal article on the band calls them gypsy-folk: http://on.wsj.com/rquha8
Frankly, I don’t pay much attention to what iTunes classifies a band as it is often incorrect.