A Beijing-based music and gig review blog

Where: School Bar
When: Mon, 31 Dec, 21:00
How Much: 80RMB, lim­ited sale
Who: Hedge­hog, Steely Heart, Candy Mon­ster and more (Full Info)
Why: So I was pretty cer­tain that the 150 tick­ets that School Bar said they were going to sell would sell out pretty fast, but as of Decem­ber 23 they still have tick­ets. This either means that 1) they’re not sell­ing fast, 2) every­one will get them on the night, or 3) they’re not really lim­it­ing the sales to 150. That last one scares me, but if it doesn’t scare you, I fully sug­gest you either grab some tick­ets now or head to Wudaoy­ing early on the night. It’s gonna be nuts! But I also pre­dict that it’ll be a lot of fun, pro­vided you get enough 30 kuai whiskey in you.

Last week­end might have been a bit of a bust, but this week­end has a few prospects! On Fri­day, Maybe Mars is fill­ing up Yugong Yis­han with their best bands and the sounds of The Vel­vet Under­ground with Peel Slowly and See, 9PM, 80/60RMB. On Sat­ur­day night, hit up School Bar for Xiao He, 9PM, 100RMB, or the Acid Jazz show at 2 Kole­gas with WHAI, Mickey Zhang and Jun­gleMICO, 10:30PM, 60RMB.

Where: 2 Kole­gas
When: Fri, 14 Dec, 21:00
How Much: 40RMB
Who: Friend or Foe, Res­i­dence A, Thru­outin, Dev­ils at the Cross­road (Full Info)
Why: It was really tough not to say Su Yang this time. I think these two shows really tie for first place in my heart. But Friend or For at 2K is just going to be a super fun show, and you shouldn’t miss out. These guys are up from Shang­hai with a remix album (on which one of the tracks was remixed by Thru­outin, per­form­ing at the show), and they’re always such an ener­getic live show. And as men­tioned in last issue, I haven’t seen Res­i­dence A in ages, so it’ll be a great excuse. PLUS, if that wasn’t enough, we all know Dos Kole­gas is going to take an extended win­ter hol­i­day (they always do) so we may as well get our 2K time in while we still can. Though do rug up, it’s going to snow out there.

As men­tioned, folk musi­cian Su Yang is going to steal my heart on Sat­ur­day night, play­ing at Mako Live House, and you should come and see him too, 8:30PM, 100/80RMB. If you’re not there, Da Bang releases their new EP “Cel­e­brate” at Yugong Yis­han, 9PM, 80/60RMB. And if you miss out on Friend or Foe at 2K, you can always see them on Sat­ur­day at Tem­ple for free with Fuzzy Mood and The Dyne, 9:30PM. Sun­day is equally as packed, with the 2012 MIDI Award Cer­e­mony at Wukesong M-Space, 4-10PM, 100/80RMB, a mas­sive lineup at the Immerse Your Soul in Love show to ben­e­fit the elderly home­less at Yugong Yis­han, 5:30PM, 100/70RMB, the Tai­wanese indie pop­pers Tizzy Bac at MAO Live House, 8PM, 150/120RMB, and finally the ever-mesmerising Zhou Yun­peng at Mako Live House, 8:30PM, 100/80RMB.

Where: XP
When: Sat, 1 Dec, 21:00
How Much: 40RMB, 30RMB stu­dents
Who: Pairs, Gum Bleed, 16 mins, Baby For­mula (Full Info)
Why: I’m not gonna lie, I’m super dis­ap­pointed that Res­i­dence A is off the bill for this show. I haven’t seen them in ages and this was going to be a good oppor­tu­nity for it. How­ever, that doesn’t mean this show doesn’t deserve the spot as gig of the week. I first saw Pairs last year at Hot Cat, and while I slept through most of the other bands that night (there’s some great pho­to­graphic evi­dence, thanks friends), the cat­nap gave me the energy to keep up with the energy of their show. I really have no idea how they do it, but they put every­thing into one hell of a set and I can­not wait to see it again, this time with dif­fer­ent songs. Best part of all, it’s a vinyl release, so I can add to my col­lec­tion of retro music record­ings I can’t lis­ten to.

Run­ners up this week are many and fuck­ing awe­some. Kick­ing off the sea­son right, Maybe Mars First Win­ter Show gives you a taste of what’s to come from the label on Fri­day night with PK14 (back from record­ing in Swe­den and the U.S.), Rus­tic and Skip Skip Ben Ben at Yugong Yis­han, 9PM, 100/80RMB. Also at Yugong Yis­han, tomor­row night they host Ger­man elec­tro act Brandt Brauer Frick, who used to be the sort of techno group I didn’t really care for, but recently they’ve added some awe­some lay­ers of orches­tra­tion. Obvi­ously they’re not bring­ing over an orches­tra, but it’ll still be way rad. Check them out tomor­row, 9PM, 150/100RMB. Finally, Sun­day ses­sions at XP bring Shang­hai punk group Round Eye for their Gen­jing Records release, a 12-inch split with Amer­i­can prof-punk (that’s a thing?) band Libyan Hit Squad. Check out more info at the Gen­jing Records web­site.

Where: Yugong Yis­han
When: Fri, 16 Nov, 21:00
How Much: 80RMB, 60RMB (advance)
Who: Psy­chic Ills, Chui Wan, Snapline, White+ (Full Info)
Why: This is going to be a pretty epic show. Not only are Maybe Mars bring­ing out old favorites Snapline and White+, but it’s also a chance for their newest signees, Chui Wan, to show off their new album, White Night. Those are some pretty great local rea­sons to get to the show, but I guess if you want to hear about the head­liner… well, I guess I can talk about them. Actu­ally, Psy­chic Ills are pretty great. They’re a New York band whose sound is a seri­ous throw­back to 70s psy­che­delic rock, with­out sound­ing like a com­plete rip-off. I sug­gest bring­ing some­thing to sit on, because this music will not have you danc­ing, it’ll have you doing that drunk sway­ing thing. If you’re not drink­ing or tak­ing drugs, it’ll at least make you feel like you are. I shouldn’t have started lis­ten­ing to their Xiami first thing at work, actu­ally… Any­way, it’s going to be a great show, with plenty of awe­some music, so brave the cold and get out there.

Also on Fri­day night, there’s a great lineup of rock at 2 Kole­gas, with Buyi, Li Dong, AIS and Per­pet­ual Motion Machine, 9PM, 80RB. On Sat­ur­day night, British ambi­ent post-rock group Kyte is joined by Beijing’s own Glow Curve for a night of swoon­ful tunes at MAO Live House, 9PM, 200/150RMB. And if you’re still in the mood for some post-rock after that, recently regrouped Hua Lun takes an after­noon ses­sion at XP on Sun­day, 4PM, 40/30RMB. If you’re han­ker­ing for some indie pop, though, MAO Live House hosts another of Don’t Eat Friends’ shows with Car­rchy, LILISAY and Shay, 8PM, 50RMB.

Where: XP
When: Sat, 3 Nov, 16:00
How Much: 40RMB, 30RMB (stu­dents)
Who: Kikuyu, Baby For­mula (Full Info)
Why: This is the first time I’m rec­om­mend­ing one of the after­noon ses­sions at XP as pick of the week, but it’s for a very good rea­son. Kikuyu is the stage name of the very adorable Sez Wilks, an Aus­tralian micropop artist whose min­i­mal­ist arrange­ments layer vocals, an elec­tric organ and a few 8-bit addi­tions. The result is Hunter Gath­ered, an album’s worth of this sun-soaked sonic jour­ney, and it’s just won­der­ful. Take a lis­ten at her Douban before you go, or just show up, grab a beer, and set­tle in for an after­noon of won­der­ful music.

Tonight, if you haven’t caught the folk rock stylings of Nanwu in a while, get to Jianghu Jiuba and check them out as they cel­e­brate the venue as it still stands in Donghuamian Hutong, 9PM, 60/50RMB. Fri­day night is Post Rock Night at XP, with The Dyne and Glow Curve, who are always a good show, 9:30PM, 30/20RMB. And Sat­ur­day night, also at XP (they’re hav­ing a good week), Girl Kill Girl and Cloud Choir take the stage with You Xi, 9:30PM, 40/30RMB. Also on Sat­ur­day, Casino Demon is per­form­ing one of their rare unplugged sets at Zajia Labs, which should at the very least be inter­est­ing, 9PM, 50RMB.