It’s clear how influential punk has been in forming the contemporary Beijing scene… the other night at Hot Cat I started to better understand how bands that ostensibly bend back toward the mainstream keep their underground musical and ideological influences intact in ways that might not show up on a stage or a larger label release.

Made a quick stop at Max Star Music Festival last Saturday to catch Ourself Beside Me before upping the punx at Mao.

9月5号 Release show for Building 2, a new cd by Hot & Cold. Door price is 10元 and ALL of the door money goes to the bands, so come out early-ish on a Sunday for a CHEAP show to support some great live music.

The mission was deceptively simple: Find a replacement needle for Sophia’s vintage record player in the vinyl-cultureless haystack that is Beijing. Jordan spent a few hours in Xinjiekou looking for musical equipment last week and asked around. He led us to 得利 A/V Parts.

Carpet of Let opened as a duo, Mr.Rotten educated the crowd on “post-punk gothic”, Pairs imported some much needed house party energy from Shanghai and Streets Kill Strange Animals closed the show with a killer set.

Watch the video for Ai Qing Bicycle, a song from La Loupe’s new album, 为什么不

为什么不, the self-released La Loupe CD, is now available for international order! Stream some songs, watch the music video, and click here for ordering info.