It's the mooncake-tastic mid-autumn festival which means a public holiday long weekend. I'd love to throw in the words wish and happy in there somewhere but it's a miserable grey day with intermittent rain and thunder. I did get a chance to read around the English language sites and mags and find some stuff on the scene. I've recently put up a lot of reviews and vids so why not throw in a chat? Warning: it's inane and uninformative, you might want to bail now.
First, I was reading SH magazine which has a big feature on live shows and festivals this month. The feature is written by Jake Newby whom I met via a brief stint at Shanghaiist. Jake is a good guy. So before I start the blather, who not read it online:
So the article is saying how that after a quiet summer, now everything's back with a bang - so to speak. First up - the JZ festival. Oh, wait a minute, Jazz.
... flips ahead ...
Avril ... something happening in Beijing ...
...flips back to correct feature ...
World Music ... Nordic experimental DJs playing in a greenhouse ...
Well, there were a couple of bands in there somewhere that I liked. China Now is not too bad, I suppose. What was the other thing I was looking at today? Ah yes, that new website I mentioned here. Spicy Duck Neck (dot com). Today I saw they posted a review of both TooKoo and Control. Well, they also cover Jazz and anything remotely musical but now I have the first evidence of crossover. This is good - now readers have a chance to see a contrasting viewpoint. And, as usual, read what I'm talking about in full first:
Yes! We have a discrepancy. Where I felt that people 'got' BCR by the end of the set and there was a good response from the audience. Layabozi doesn't share my view. So is this an indication that I see the scene through rose-tinted glasses? Will you ever really ... care. I'll tell you who won't care: BCR. I recently bumped into them at shows a bit and have a confession to make. Bassist Morgan's appreciation of Iron Maiden makes me a convert. In fact, if anyone ever wants anything from me in the future, start by mentioning your belief in the far reaching influence of the Dave Murray/Adrian Smith partnership.
Finally something a bit more serious. Yan Shuai, the singer from TooKoo, was interviewed for SH magazine's 60 Seconds feature. I'm sure it will come online shortly. Here's a quick sample featuring his picks for mainland China bands:
Banana Monkey are good. Their style is more indie than us, but I like to listen to indie too. ReTROS are really good live too. They are really professional, on an international level almost, and I like their attitudes towards music and life - they're very low key.
So the Mid-autumn holiday didn't go down too miserably, as Crazy Mushroom put on another outstanding performance yesterday in Huai Hai park with the Now Music Festival. Yes it was raining, and yes there were a gazillion mosquito's, but CMB got the crowd at least partially jazzed with their ever-reliable professional performance, cleanly cut tunes, and outright passion for their music.
IMHO they are without doubt the cream of Shanghai's music scene as of date (and as of the other bands I've seen).
Album apparently out Mid october - Hope this will be pushed at the Beijing Midi-Music / Sky Festivals happening at the start of Oct.
BTW - Peace to the crazy guy in green who managed to get at least part of the crowd dancing, ad the rest singing to one of CMBs signature tracks - their rendition of the Four Non Blonds track "what's going on"
That's great. Crazy Mushrooms are a favourite of mine. Get any photos?
Wait, you mean you're not excited by the thought of Avril invading what used to be a hippy folk festival up in the mountains of Yunnan? You've changed Andy.
Here's the Yan Shuai interview
Thanks for the link Jake. Great to see you putting music stuff into the mag, thanks.