Weekly Update: Get Dazed!

By Josh, 2015年 12月 27日

Catch Pz and Shen Zhi from Gatsby in a Daze on Sunday @ 69 Cafe

Yikes. Good time to not be in Beijing, between the vague terrorist threats issued by unknown agencies and the concrete terrorism issued by known quantities of polluters. Rule of the game, money over everything. Where do you think those stocking stuffers come from? Nice or not, all toys burn coal.

Anyway, hope you had a good solstice! Here’s our last batch of gig recommendations for 2015 if you’re stuck in the smokestack, with fingers crossed for a brighter tomorrow…

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Nanluoguxiang hang 69 Cafe has a nice double-header on for Sunday, December 27. My pick would be the afternoon show, featuring sets of stripped down experimental electronics from White+, Alpine Delcine (doing an all Eurorack modular set, I’d imagine), Sheng Di (aka Dee, of Nojiji/Raying Temple notoriety), and the duo of Pz + Shen Zhi.

That last one’s unknown to me. They’re both members of Hangzhou lo-fi jangle pop band Gatsby in a Daze, who are in town to play Maybe Mars’s latest Independent China in Stereo showcase of out-of-town bands. (That was last night @ Modernsky Lab, sorry, slept on it.) Here’s a taste of Gatsby in a Daze:

That gig runs from 4-6:30pm, followed up with a folkier block featuring Zhang Qianqian, Liu Donghong, and Bian Yuan from 8:30pm on, a year-end afterparty for Mushroom Festival (which is organized by 69 Cafe’s Xiao Zhan).

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On Tuesday (Dec 29), Modernsky Lab will be the place, when they host a rather incongruous lineup co-curated by longtime Beijing experimental/noise scene publishers Nojiji and Subjam. Label founders Yan Jun (Subjam) and Li Yangyang (Nojiji, performing as “Azoik”) will share the stage with outer-orbit affiliates Rat the Spy 51 (an inconstant Soviet Pop side project), Sun Wei, and Ma Xiao (performing as Sufisama).

Just kind of spinning through all that at random, here’s a series of improvisations by one of several Nojiji collective incarnations, ong 唵, online-released this past May:

That’s Subjam x Nojiji on Tuesday, December 29 at Modernsky Lab. 8pm start, 60rmb at the door. More

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It’s probably because of my history with D-22, but when it comes to New Year’s Eve in Beijing I’m always partial to Maybe Mars’s blowout jams. This year’s bill includes none of the label’s bigger headliners, which I think is a good thing, since the party’s being held in the relatively more intimate space of DDC, and because after such a shit year, it seems more optimistic to push some of the label’s fresher talent forward into the first hours of 2016. White+ headlines, with opening sets from Birdstriking — who’ve been holed up in the studio with Brian Jonestown Massacre’s Ricky Maymi all month working on their sophomore album — and Gate to Otherside, who’ve also been in the studio with Ricky, laying down their first.

You might have missed it, but Birdstriking’s 2012 debut was re-released by A Records — the label run by Brian Jonestown’s Anton Newcombe — earlier in the year. Here’s that again, in case you’ve never had the pleasure, or in case you want to revisit it with better cover art:

Maybe Mars New Year’s bash is Thursday, December 31 (obviously) at DDC, 8:30pm start, 60rmb at the door.

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Last up: keep your roll going right on into 2016 with Cold Neo’s excellent New Year showcase at Mao Livehouse. As previously reported, Mao’s days are numbered. Their Douban currently has events listed through Jan 17, and I have it on good authority that they’ll be hosting Canadian noise rock outfit Metz on Feb 20 — though after that all bets are off, and I have it on equally good authority that they’re not taking any new bookings from March on.

If you’re looking to get your goodbyes out of the way, Jan 1 is the time to do it. Eternal youth favorites Hedgehog headline, with support from rarely seen rockabilly act The Molds, Shanghai surf punks The Psyders, local up-and-comers The Twenties, and — my personal favorite — twisted insomniac folk from Yang Fan, who will be performing with Hedgehog’s Shi Lu on drums.

100rmb for that one, 8:30pm start.

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RECAP:

White+, Alpine Decline, Dee, Pz + Shen Zhi = SUN Dec 27 @ 69 Cafe (4pm)

Mushroom Festival Afterparty = SUN Dec 27 @ 69 Cafe (8:30pm)

Subjam x Nojiji = TUE Dec 29 @ Modernsky Lab

Maybe Mars NYE = THU Dec 31 @ DDC

Cold Neo New Year Party = FRI Jan 1 @ Mao Livehouse

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