Sound Notes

 

6.20.07

Testament in Beijing @ Star Live
According to our friends at rockinchina.com, Thrash Metal pioneers Testament will be playing a show in Beijing at Star Live on July 29. Why does that name ring a bell? Because they were your fourth favorite Metal band after Metallica, Slayer and Megadeth in 1990, but then you got that Nirvana album and stopped buying their records. Anyways, with their original lineup (mostly) reformed, the Bay Area quintet have been trading on their popularity in the underground Metal circuit and are touring a back-to-the-basics Thrash Metal sound. Hosted by Painkiller Magazine, the only China stop of Testament is the highlight of the year for die-hard Thrash Metal fans. Tickets are 190 yuan, 290 yuan and VIP tickets are 666 yuan. Yes, I'm not making that up. VIP tickets are 666 yuan. Call 10-62159844 (the Painkiller Office) to book. Click here for their MySpace.

6.12.07

 P.K. 14 Returns to Shanghai July 7
Beijing punk legends P.K. 14 (short for Public Kingdom for Teens) are finally returning to Shanghai to play shows at the ENOISE afternoon cooncert series and at Yuyintang's new venue in the New Factories area in the Jing'An District on July 7. Formed in 1997, P.K. 14 are one of the most respected names in Chinese punk for their edgy post-hardcore sound, DIY ethics and political Chinese-language songs. They are also playing shows in Beijing, Wuhan and Nanjing. To listen to a few of their songs and watch a video that features the guitarist from Brain Failure as the protagonist click here to be redirected to their MySpace page. Their webpage is www.pk14.com.

5.11.07

Goldie @ Bonbon, Saturday, May 12
GoldieThe first and biggest mainstream success story of the jungle breakbeat movement, Goldie, will be performing a set at Bonbon this Saturday, May 12, supported by MC Lowqui, Siesta, Skyline and Kingpin. Goldie is the man behind the legendary Metalheadz label and the international face of drum n’ bass. His Shanghai stop was brought to you but the city’s resident defenders of the much misinterpreted genre, Phreaktion. Tickets are 120 yuan at the door and 80 yuan after 2 am. He goes on at “1 am SHARP” according to Siesta on the smartshanghai.com message board. Be sure to request “Mother” numerous times.

 

 

5.5.07

Smegma Riot @ Live Bar May 10th
SmegMariotThis show is not on the concert listings because we received the information a little late. Italian old school punk rock band Smegma Riot will be playing a Shanghai show at Live Bar on Thursday, May 10th as part of their May China tour. The tour is ingeniously entitled "The Long March Tour," and also takes the band to Beijing, Chengdu, Wuhan and Kunming. Tracks from their new album A Lovely Touch of Brutality are up on their MySpace page. Kinda sounds like the Ramones if they tried to be funny. The standout? "Blame the Pope."

 

 

 

 

 

4.13.07

Pretty Girls Make Graves Cancel China Tour
Pretty Girls Make GravesThe much anticipated upcoming Pretty Girls Make Graves show at 4 Live has been canceled. According to the music director/promoter at 4 Live, one of the members lost their passport. So yeah. He (or perhaps she) lost their passport and now they can't come. PGMG are on a farewell tour of sorts, although I don't think you're allowed to be on a farewell tour when you've only been around since 2001. Anyways, it looks like they'll be saying goodbye a little earlier than expected. The band is currently on Matador and has played with The Killers and Bloc Party. Their biggest single was "This Is Our Emergency" off their 2003 album The New Romance. If you go download it, I don't think anyone is going to mind. The people at 4 Live seem to have taken the news in stride and are promising more cutting-edge international acts in the coming months.

4.12.07
 
Seminal local comp. available for download: Underground Shanghai 2000 Shanghai Underground
Here's an interesting link that's been around a little while. It comes from Bunnyman at rockself.com by way of wwww.rockinchina.com. Available for download in its entirety, is an early compilation record of Shanghai's (then) best underground rock bands called, Underground Shanghai 2000. The bands themselves may have faded away (or burned out) but the album remains as a great snap shot to the early bands on the scene. Some of the musicians playing on the album went on to form other bands that are active (Torturing Nurse and Crystal Butterfly, for example). And of course, I'm sure some ended up in a guitar shop down on Jingling Lu. But is that really failure?

The above picture is the album cover and follow the link for track listings. I'd go with "Summertime Marijuana" to start.

In commemoration of the event, Yuyintang held a concert in November of entitled "Rock Nostalgia: "Shanghai Underground 2000" Remembered" featuring Crystal Butterfly, Terrified Bird and Prague Spring.


BACK TO MAIN

 
HOME LIFE SOUND IMAGE TEXT ABOUT CONTACT