So, after several months of dodging Will's attempts at making me write for the site, I finally found… [more]
Alright, it’s June, I’m sweating, it sucks - let’s get a few releases out of the way. A eceltic… [more]
Alright, I said my birthday wishes last week (yeah a little late – everything is backed up in these… [more]
World Music Day is upon us again folks – and by World Music Day I mean La Fete de la Musique – the… [more]
Alright, lets get these bad boys into the world. Time for the latest in releases and other miscellaneous nonsense from the likes of Saisa, Candy Monster, Fei Ma, Chu Qiao, Sa Dingding, and Noise Arcade.
It’s gonna be a Shanghai lovefest this week – deal with it. Round Eye and Guo Shen swung though Beijing at the end of last month along with prehistoric party punkers M.O.T.O, who despite the white hair, punched up the fun – and dare I say they made me feel youthful. But really, I was here for Round Eye whose schizoid party rock was just what the good doctor ordered at Temple.
Imagine having these guys play at your Bat Mitzvah – fucking ace. Check below for more from Round Eye, Guo Shen, and M.O.T.O.
World Music Day is upon us again folks – and by World Music Day I mean La Fete de la Musique – the annual summer solstice music celebration, which got its start in France during the 70s, and has spread across the world since then. Last year the organizers managed to snag fourteen venues to partcipate in the merry fun – and this year they’ve shat all over that number – with a staggering thirty-four venues throwing down this year – from music haven Dos Kolegas, to microbrew peeps Malty Dog, and even coffee houses. Basically, if you step into any establishment in Gulou, come this Friday, June 21st, you’re bound to run into some drunken musical shenanigans. And best of all, it’s all super duper free. I’d put my money on Dos Kolegas’s mega lineup on the outdoor stage (though after hearing of Saturday’s clusterfuck of a show they might be skeptical) unless you have the juices to barhop around Gulou, which is a pretty ace idea, and definitely keeps with the spirit of the festival. Check out their website here which is mighty nice, and click below for the full line lineup, as well some cute maps for all you folks who can’t find their way around Gulou yet. Noobs.
Well that was quick – did you all rest up this holiday. Probably not. You’re probably wishing you could go to work tomorrow. Well, no point in fretting now – too much goodness going around. Back into the frying pan.
The Hanggai Music Festival kicks off tonight at Mako Livehouse with the elder very wise Huun-Huun-Tu who sold out Yugong Yishan last year, our own Li Dong, who can plaster a smile on just about anyones face, and the Qinghai Mongolian Long Melody group – should be pretty rad. Alright, remember when I plugged a Brain Failure show back in April or something, where they filmed the show – well said film is edited and ready for your viewing pleasure, and the mainstays punks, who hit the sweet spot every time they play (and unlike a lot of punk bands in town know how to play) have just returned from a nationwide tour and ready to unleash on Yugong Yishan – this is their last whorah in some time, and they’ll be going all out – trust. For folk at it’s most pure, most bare – I definitely recommend heading to Blue Stream Bar to see these - Zhang Qian Qian (who BeijingDaze has compared to Joni Mitchell), and Wang Juan, who’s on a whole other level. Mao Livehouse hosts a hostful of bands with enough cred to get a crowd rallied up, including Residence A, Fuzzy Mood, 16 mins, The Big Wave, and Lost Train. 80s hard rockers Los Crasher crash the party at Temple for some whiskey-swirling fun, while The Beijing Beatles tear it up at VA Bar. Things get scrappy at the Old What? Bar with Mud & Lotus, Zakka, Miao Kai, and more. The University of Architecturre squares off against the UIniversity of Science and Technolgy at School with Big Pink, Dizzy Monkey, The Track, Nafeilimu and more rocking out. Finally, catch the Big John Blues Band at Jianghu Bar and the newly formed Hutong Yellow Weasels at Modernista.
Today might be your best bet though if you’re in it to win it at the Hanggai Fest – WHAI, Hanggai, the much gushed about Israeli group Yemen Blues, along with The Tribe, Natascha Rogers out of France, and The Randy Abel Stable. This is gonna be a long one folks – a slew of rockers, pretty and ugly, scruffy and classy, but all rock worthy will be heading to School early today to get things sweaty long into the night. Heck, I’d go just for Rolling Bowling, Bedstars, and Steely Heart (who impressed the shit out of me a couple weeks back), but the rest ain’t too shabby either, with Los Crasher bringing in the hard 80s rock and The Reason keeping the screamo kids in check, all closed off with The Diders, Thousand of Public, and Lazy Camel. Bang for your buck this is. Glow Curve is one of the best post rock groups in town – simply because they strive to keep outside the branding of being a post rock band – the elements are still there, but they, especially in the past year, have been making leaps and bounds in experimenting with their sound – electronic touches, and gasp, even vocals – see them at XP where they’re joined by rockers Eat (who upon first listen, sound pretty rad). Temple is full of old school metal lovers (this becomes apparent every weekend after 2 pm when the DJs are hijacked) and Bad Mamasan is the greatest love letter to old school metal – so shit will hit the fan. And better yet, visiting Dutch metal heads Vanderbuyst are in town (also playing at the Hanggai Fest) are gonna take a stab at controlling Temple’s rabid regulars. For something a bit kinky, head to Yugong Yishan where Japanese visual-kei band D=OUT gives it their all. Lastly, it’s folk night at Blue Stream Bar with Guonian and Left, The Groove Collective at Jianghu Bar, and Rudra’s Sage at 69 Cafe.
Sunday’s the dark horse at the Hanggai Fest with Dawanggang, IZ, Djang San (with a whole band now), holding up the local torch and Turtle Island out of Japan, Wylie & the Wild West out of the US, and hard hitting Vanderbuyst out of the Netherlands. Electronic metal makes its way to the Hot Cat Club with Virus Base. New wave rockers Perpetual Motion Machine and Big Pink are joined by more at Mao Livehouse as part of a new series entitled Power Series. And things get poppy at Jianghu Bar with Joe & CC.
Yeah, I added in a Tuesday event – what gives. My roommate has been bombarding me all week with thte request that I get the word out – the monstrosity that is Dead Elvis & His One Man Grave will be hitting up Temple along with our own Low Bow. Hello hangover Wednesday.
Alright, gonna be out of order a bit this week, as I’m gathering other video feeds for the M.O.T.O that went down a Fridays back. Patience, dear ones. The show must go on. The first of June marked not only the 3rd Anniversary of pangbianr, but also the label lanuch of Sinotronics, the new Beijing-based label headed by Josh Feola and Markus Schneider, which will go forth publishing contemporary music from and in China with a strong emphasis on electronic sounds. Pretty gnarly if you ask me. So I decided to stop by the second day of the party, at the new bar/venue The Other Place (yes telling my friends where I was got annoying almost immediately). Remarkably I opted to go sans the video recorder, mainly due to the fact that there were some big shots at the party with heavy duty equipment shooting a doc, and I have a inferiority complex – so there. Anywho check out some shitty pics below if you’re into that kinda think. Oh, and The Other Place will host a Summer Soundwave Showcase tomorrow night, Friday, June 14th - read up on that here. Pics and words below.