Results tagged “momo” from Andy Best

Revitalization of Shanghai Rock pt2 @ Mao

By
Andy Best
on May 22, 2010 11:37 PM |
manbanpai mao
Update: here's a photo gallery of the night from Linnea at Era. It includes a shot of me and one of the best people in the scene, Xiao Bai of Bang Bang Tang.

Following on from the previous revitalization show, the second leg stepped up from Yuyintang to Mao. Here was the line up:

Manbanpai (慢半拍) 
Candy Shop (甜品店)
Little Nature(小自然)

It was quite a bold move to go for the bigger space so soon after the first show and with mainly younger/newer bands. All the usual local faces were there too. I started off the night with a kick-flip on FAF's Ding Ding's skateboard out front of the gig. Which gives you a good indication of my priorities in life. 

Manbanpai started things off with their laid back indie pop. They sounded great and played very well, it's just a question of if you like the style. Singer Hama is popular and the band got a good reception. 

Next was Momo. The band came out with matching short sleeved school shirts and dyed red hair. Ironically, their band uniforms (designed to be cute), and Ding Jia's cheerleader skirt, ended up revealing the member's tattoos - having a quite different effect (cool). The sound was dead on and the performance very upbeat. My mate Steve joked that they seemed like metal compared with Manbanpai. Maya's lead guitar, in particular had a great sound and great energy. Good show.

Alas, an error of judgement seriously took down the remaining bands performances. From Candy Shop on, the staff decided to seriously up the volume (not a bad idea in itself). However, we saw this with the Maybe Mars showcase. The PA couldn't take it and most of the following music was an indistinct roar. Strangely enough, by the time FAF came on, they were still turning it up. I really want to see FAF on a big stage again, the show ran late and I had to leave before the very end.

Pity, because my overall feeling from the night was,yes, these bands are stepping it up more and they seemed at home in the larger venue. 

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Shanghai rock revitalization @ Yuyintang

By
Andy Best
on May 1, 2010 8:31 PM |
fafemo
Somewhere in the city, tens of thousands of morons with no idea of what they like outside of what they're told by some form of glowing rectangle were feeling remotely proud as a random bunch of fireworks went up over some concrete towers. 

Elsewhere, five young Shanghainese bands were putting on a show at Yuyintang.


This was the first big show after the raids but the night went off without any visits. Great turnout of mainly younger locals and a new sound guy at the desk who was not afraid of turning it up. Good stuff.

Candy Shop went on first and played the best set of the night. The sound was great, the energy high and everyone appeared to know the songs and be genuine fans of the band. Momo followed with a stripped down short set that lacked the tight organization of the recent shows, but there was a sense that this night was more for fun.

DCW are probably the only band who really fit the tag rock in the pure sense. I was really looking forward to them and had been listening to their famous demos Say Goodbye and Some Just Want Everything all day. I got a surprise though, recent line up changes have led to a complete retooling. DCW played all new material and sounded completely different. So, it was like watching for the first time and we couldn't really get into it. The new sound has more straight hard rock in it and the crowd did enjoy some of the shredding.

FAF played their usual opening of Escape and Parasite and were the first band to get the crowd jumping. They blend the more commercial aspects of the Emo style with big guitar riffs and are local favorites. Singer Ding Ding has a great voice and good energy. They finished the set with a ballad and later a Justin Bieber (I know, why?) cover version. People seemed to like it. Little Nature closed the night, by which time a lot of the crowd had gone due to the younger locals-train times thing.

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Year of the Tiger: thoughts

By
Andy Best
on February 13, 2010 5:11 PM |
tiger new year show
In a few hours we'll have the Year of the Tiger. Last night we went to the Yuyintang New Year show, that's the flyer, and here's what Jake wrote about it:


While there we found out that Top Floor Circus were supposed to play, but the man has extended their ban until ... the end of the Expo. Here's the latest of three posts on that story, which links the others:


Finally, the Year of the Tiger is a perfect metaphor for the whole situation with biodiversity and the environment. Culture is full of sayings and symbols featuring animals, especially animals like the Tiger and no one likes to overuse them more than leaders and nationalists. In reality though, animals are sh*t on and these people do next to nothing to halt the assault on the environment.

Tigers are 99% on to not be here for the next Year of the Tiger, there are less in the wild than in captivity:

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Mushrooms headline New Year (again) and crop up in Shanghai Daily

By
Andy Best
on February 7, 2010 5:43 AM |
mushrooms polaroid
The Mushrooms are the most popular home grown rock band in Shanghai. We recently saw them headline at Yuyintang on New Year's Eve, a show that got so packed that there was an inevitable visit from the rozzers. 

Well, it's time for round two. It's now the lunar new year and The Mushrooms will headline YYT again. Also featuring on the bill are DCW, Momo and Little Nature.


It's on the Friday (12th).

The Mushrooms also cropped up in the Shanghai Daily lately, although in a generic and suspiciously out of date article. Despite it's publishing date being Jan 29th of this year, it talks about one of the guitarists having just joined the band. A year ago now.


I feel weird linking any of those papers. Their writing on the subject of culture is inconsequential. They spend more time committing things to the memory hole than reporting. We can always play a game of guessing why they chose to recycle this now. Slow day at the office? 

Who cares. Go to the show.

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Youtube Tudou: A look in Mao Shanghai

By
Andy Best
on October 5, 2009 1:57 AM |
Warning: yes, this is a look in Mao Shanghai. However, it is a hastily shot vid done on a point and shoot variety digital camera's video mode. 

I give a brief intro. But after the "40 seconds" are up and we can clearly see the stage, I change my mind and stay on it for two Momo tracks. So maybe this should be called Momo live @ Mao Shanghai.




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Rock Shanghai Anniversary @ Mao Shanghai

By
Andy Best
on October 5, 2009 12:58 AM |
rock shanghai one year
Rock Shanghai website has reached one year old and to celebrate they have revamped their front page and put on a promotional gig. The revamp is just a nice front page, the site is still solely comprised of a BBS. It will be interesting to see how they plan to topple Douban.

So, here was the lineup for the 0093 organised show:

小巫师 (Little Witch)
胶壳乐队 (Joker)
甜品店 (Candy Shop)
重结晶 (Second)
伍角星 (Five Pointed Star)

First up, good turn out. Over three hundred tickets sold as we got there early. By the end of the second band it was as full as The Mushrooms show the night before. Perhaps the best attended 0093 show to date.

Little Witch did not play and an unannounced band were to start. Just like the good old 0093 shows. The replacement band, whose name I didn't get, assuming they were Little Witch, played a mix of riff-tastic old school metal and ... err ..pop ballads. Props to the bassist who looked killer in her thrash wrist guards and low slung bass. Looking the part makes a big difference. Joker followed up with their blues-rock show. Good band but maybe a Mao Livehouse full of people mainly here to see Momo and Candy Shop is not the best place to do a rambling eight minute blues impro. 

Momo were next. As usual they were tight and professional. All the bands played short sets but Momo still managed to throw in an oldie from the Happy Strings days. Tonight's crowd seemed more up for their bubblegum indie pop material. 

Candy Shop hit the stage and ripped it up. They have a ton of new material and play a full set well now. New singer Sammi, in for Melody Li, is a great performer and held her own with the manic and always funny MC YKE. They were the first band to get people moving and jumping.    Highlight of the night. The older songs mixed thrashy riff with the catchy choruses, they now seem to be leaning more towards skate-punk style in the heavier sections. Again two great performers up front who really know how to work up the crowd. 

Now we were at the two and half hour mark. And two more bands to go. Following the Mushrooms gig I was already wasted and couldn't last the marathon. As we were getting our stuff together, Second came on and we caught the first two songs. Second grab attention immediately for their, err, natural advantages in the looks department, but that's not a concern for them. They were the first band of the night to play honest straight rock. Everyone else mixed a variety of genres with heavy dollops of pop in the mix. Second just rocked. Great.

On the way out we heard that Pinkberry were hiding backstage and were going to play a surprise headline appearance to round off the night. I'm not sure how wise an idea that was considering the regular show must have run well over three hours by the end. Anyone care to review in the comments?

andy at mao shanghai

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Mao Shanghai opening night

By
Andy Best
on September 28, 2009 1:26 AM |
mao shanghai
OK, it's the one we've all been waiting for. 

Soma art management, followed up their disastrous and controversial stint at the Dream Factory by signing up to try again. This time they have joined forces with the Japanese investors behind Mao Beijing to open up their own venue. 

It's round two of the fight to perform a great leap forward to the age of middle size music venues.

Ladies and gentlemen, here are the rules. Mid-size venues usually clock in at about 1500-2000 people. Mao makes the minimum requirement at a formidable 800. You need bands who meet the Brad Ferguson Standard, one hour of quality original material with which to headline such a venue. You need a promoter who knows which bands will do that for you. You can no longer rely on hacking a dodgy PA or inadequate acoustics. To counter your visibility you need clear and consistent laws and procedures regarding operations and a g*v*rnm*nt who are happy to let you work within those guidelines. 

And we're into the preliminaries. 

Jake and I were invited to pop our heads into the venue, which was heavily under construction, a week ago. Soma peeps were very nice to us and left us with the genuine impression of wanting to do it right and do it well. The space looked amazing and there was no hint of PR gloss in the after-talks, it was all fully open and friendly. The manager of Mao Beijing and rep for the Japan side of the operation explained to me how they invested and stuck with Mao Beijing for over two years until it became successful on a weekly basis. Good start.

It was however, still very much under construction and it didn't surprise me when the official opening featuring My Little Airport was dropped. So now we had the "low-key soft opening", so it was pitched to me the Sunday before. Saturday night was to be a free show featuring Momo, Sonnet and Life Journey.

When checking to see what was happening on my way over it turned out that "low-key soft opening" meant "actively promoted sponsored event with 1000 pre-bookings taken". Thanks for the heads up guys. So, yeah, it was packed.

OK ... so, the space is amazing. A perfectly sized pit in front of a properly raised stage and the square venue being raised around that so that pretty much every one of the 800 people can get a view of the band. Really good sound. I came in to the middle of Sonnet's set and it was loud and clear from every vantage point. It really is Shanghai's first proper mid-sized venue that meets the standards. So credit where it's due.

But ... that where it ends. The show, as much as it went off fine, was not any indicator on how  it will work in the future. This was a very SOMA night much in the vein of these previous two I was at. This was a free promotion crowd, not a die-hard show going crowd. They shunned the bar and filed out en-masse around their early bed-times/ last train times - despite a tight crowd pleasing performance from Life Journey still being in full swing. As I entered, some non-plussed looking punters walked past me with fingers in their ears. Ooohh, it's so loud at gigs. Also, after Momo and Sonnet did their on-time and short sets, leaving the place warmed up and ready, there was an onstage promotion for Casio before the main band. It went on a bit and involved audience games and Lezi hosting (again) in his panda suit. 

The night was simply not an indicator of how things will go for ticketed rock shows when a particular month has to be held down by local acts. So we'll have to wait and see. 

... and here's something else. The Mushrooms are in the closing stages of negotiating a record deal that might take them off to Ta*wan . So the 3rd October may be the last time they'll play an affordable gig in Shanghai for a long long time. So come down to Mao for that one if you're yet to check the place out.

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New Momo demos out on Douban

By
Andy Best
on July 7, 2009 11:02 PM |
ding jia somalive
Before I write this I should make something very clear:

I like Momo and fans of indie pop/cutesy should catch their show which is excellent. 

Despite the big change of direction with Soma, I followed them since they were the Happy Strings and they put on a very professional live show these days. Not my usual music taste but in the old days they were very DIY and an integral part of the struggling scene so I'm happy to support.

So first the point of the post: 

There are two new demo tracks up at their Douban page. That'll be the two at the bottom of the player marked demo.

While we're at it why not see a recent video of them performing one of those tracks:


Or look back at their Soma debut as Momo. Or check out their Gua'er mini show. Or read a feature on Shanghai girls in rock by Jake Newby that includes singer Ding Jia.

Alas, one of the two demos has disappointed me a bit. At a recent show Momo played two of their older tracks and they rocked. It was a reminder of something. In the Happy Strings days I was always impressed by Ding Jia's voice. During the chorus of Start you could hear depth and colour in the singing. If only we could have Momo's original style but with the new professionalism live. When you listen to the vocals at the start of the new demo of Qingtian Wawa 晴天娃娃 the producer has destroyed her voice and turned it into a helium cartoon voice. 

Momo are now a band with experience, style and a good live show. I hope the producers can keep their soul too.

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Video: Momo playing at Dream Factory (2009)

By
Andy Best
on June 6, 2009 9:16 PM |
Soma managed girl group Momo have come a long way. From underground garage rock stylists to slick indie-pop performers. It doesn't seem like yesterday that I first saw them at one of Banana Monkey's five dollar shake parties at the old YYT in Long Hua. They are still around should have a debut album out any day now.

This one is for the cutesy fans. 



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Soma Live: Indietop bands @ Dream factory

By
Andy Best
on June 6, 2009 10:50 AM |
ding jia somalive
It's been a month or so since all this controversy and for the first time since taking over, Soma put on a show at Dream factory that featured all local bands. So I went to check it out first hand.

The show was a Douban promoted singles event, odd, and here was the line up:


Before I go through some stuff - this was essentially a good show. So do read on.

As well as the singles night promotion, there were sheets of construction card handed out from which you could make a little model robot/monster thing. More misplaced weirdness. The turn out was a reasonable YYT show but a two-thirds empty Dream Factory. After a year of managing these bands you'd think Soma would build on their fan base and appeal but apparently it's 'marketing by numbers' all the way. Another fatal mistake was opening the doors at nine and then not starting until ten - with the promotion. First band was on at 10.30 for an all local crowd (except me, Jake Newby and my mate Steve). There was no way we'd get to the end with even half the people still around.

One more thing before we get onto the show. I hadn't seen Pinkberry for a while and we hung out before the show got going (while Sonnet's Lezi hosted the promotion bit along with people in panda suits). So ... remember the Pepsi Incident? That's getting stirred up again. After PB guitarist Toni Yu joined in the angry denouncing of the Pepsi sponsored TV show, the band decided to stay on and compete - they only ones to do so. And ... being the only true experienced band left in the running, went on to win the whole thing. Douban netizens are crying conspiracy. Anyway, you can see the whole thing on TV tonight if you're interested. On STV's E-music show at 9.30.

candyshop somalive
So, on to the show. Momo took the stage first. Since joining Indietop they have gone more cutesy but put on a tight professional show. First thing, yes, the sound was a massive improvement. Still had problems, if you stand right at the front of the stage, like first two or three rows of people, you get behind the PA and the vocals/drums disappear leaving you with the roaring guitar amp only. We'd heard rumours of Soma asking the Momo girls to lose weight and do the idol thing and singer Ding Jia did in fact appear wearing a lightweight tank top and shorn of a few pounds. You can't really tell from Jake's photo at the top of the post as it adds lines cos of the lighting etc. 

Anyway, a great surprise was to come. At the end of the layered indie-pop set, Dingjia ditched her acoustic guitar and the band played two of their older songs, garage rock style - with the new tight playing and great sound quality. The band were visibly uplifted and we got a glimpse of what could be if the management went with the band and not the brand. So to speak. 

Next up, Da Fresh played well and their musically layered songs benefited from the sound quality. It was however, ballad after ballad, kind of jangly brit-pop meets boy band. A bit much for me. Also. With 11.00 having rolled around already for this younger local crowd, the room was visibly thinning out already. Little Nature got on next. When they first appeared at Yuyintang they were a standout act. An energetic pop-punk three piece with catchy songs and punchy, tight playing. They still haven't quite got it back since adding a member and going through a Soma makeover. Also, strangely enough, I think even the Soma staff had gone home or switched off at this point as the sound quality started to disappear.

So, the advertised event finish time rolled around ... and it was time for the last two bands, the  one's I had come to see. Candy Shop took the stage to a sparse looking hall, but that never stops them giving 100%. They launched into the first song but were bemused to find the sound so out that half the elements couldn't be heard at all, to us or the band. The second song was all about the sound guys waking up and trying to sort it out and then by the third it was on with the show. The bands front people are excellent. Melody Li, apparently trying to appeal to the Soma male management with her own weight loss, and MC YKE  are full of energy and charisma. Standout songs 4TT, Wo Men and Wo Shi Chaoliu had most of the remaining crowd jumping and excited for the first time that night.

And then there was Pinkberry. Pinkberry were professional, the sound rocked, the songs were all dead on. They had the new bassist (who also plays guitar in Sonnet). Toni rocked the punk rock riffs with his Les Paul and Marshall stack combo. Xiao You strutted around the stage with energy and confidence. But, it was 12.30 at a Douban 'promoted' event and there were really just 30 of us left in the deserted hall. Pity, it was a classic Pinkberry performance.

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Youtube channel roundup for March 2009

By
Andy Best
on March 18, 2009 11:21 PM |
channel
It's that time of the month again. And it's time for the obligatory notice for newbies. Most of the live videos I post here are taken by myself and stored at the blog's Youtube Channel. You can see a link in the sidebar.

Or you can click here to visit.

So, we have a new number one, discounting my Sick Sunday parody vid which is at almost 2000 views. Hard Queen have just opened their new website in anticipation of the CD launch next month. They posted up some vids there and included one of mine. The new views have pushed them all the way.

Here we go then. if these are all old news to you, be sure to check my movers and shakers below that:

1) Hard Queen live @ YYT (August): 444 views watch
2) The Rogue Transmission live @ Dream Factory: 378 views watch
3) Bang Bang Tang live @ Yuyintang (Oct): 338 views watch
4) Bang Bang Tang (Lollipop) older vid: 324 views watch
5) Boys Climbing Ropes live @ Dream factory: 319 views watch
6) Bang Bang Tang live @ Yuyintang (Nov 2008): 299 views watch

Among hot new vids are Reflector @ YYT and Momo @ Gua'er

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0093 Women's Day party @ Yuyintang

By
Andy Best
on March 9, 2009 12:34 PM |
momo three eight
March 3rd is International Women's Day and it was a perfect occasion for 0093 Studios to put on their second all female singers night at Yuyintang.

Here was the line up:

Black Luna
Candy Shop (Tianpin Dian)
Momo
Bang Bang Tang
Hotter Than Teppenyaki
The Dovetail Joints

I was especially interested to see Momo, Tianpin Dian and Bang Bang Tang as all three have had a bit of a lay of from gigging lately to work on their new material. Click on the names for their music.

Great turn out at Yuyintang. Tianpin Dian's sound could have been a bit louder but it was a welcome return and an energetic performance. The highlight was definitely singer Melody Li. She now has a greater confidence and personality on stage which in turn has opened up her voice. The crowd really liked her. They got an encore for which the band switched instruments and YKE performed his filthy bonus track Ding Ding Dong.

Momo continued with their new found professionalism. Since signing with Indietop and recording new, more layered, material they go to great lengths to reproduce it on stage. CC was tight on the drums, using a click via headphones, and they have Jerry Li Xing playing third guitar riffs and setting off samples and effects from a lap top. Their songs sounded great and their blend of wall-of-sound indie and cutesy pop pleased everyone.

Bang Bang Tang sounded dressed sown in comparison but they are driven by Xiao Bai's great voice. They opted to play more fast songs tonight, recent sets have been almost all indie-folk in style. They closed the set with a couple of crowd pleasing covers and I didn't hear any new material. As usual, Xiao Bai was the focus of the set and the audience seemed happy to bask in her talent.

March madness continues and I've seen April's schedule with is even crazier.

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Listen to the full Indietop CD via Neocha

By
Andy Best
on January 28, 2009 11:54 PM |

I know I said I wouldn't be posting but potential posts are mounting up and I want to give you all something to listen to in the meantime.

I have blogged a lot about Indietop and don't really want to go through it all again. They are a label, they did a showcase, they made a compilation CD as a taster to some upcoming CDs. And now, they have a neocha page with the whole CD available to listen to. The CD features some guest acts who won't be recording with Indietop this year as well as their own acts: Momo, Mushrooms, Zhong Chi and Little Nature. I'm a big fan of track 13 which is King by No.33 Island.

So, no need to learn Chinese or surf away, here it is:

 

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Jiao Ban Two live @ Yuyintang

By
Andy Best
on December 28, 2008 12:13 AM |
momo tuan jiao ban
I'm back in action. Tonight at Yuyintang, Jiao Ban night part two. First of all, if you haven't already, read all about the significance of this night right here. And secondly, here are the bands involved:


I was looking forward to this a lot and, as I thought, it turned out to be a rerun of the Indietop show except with good sound. And, err, not as many bands. 

First on the stage was Tianpin Dian (Candy Shop). Regular readers of the blog will know all about this band and have listened to their great demo track Wo Men. I also reported on their great new track that they debuted at the Winter Madness show here. The track is called Wo Shi Chao Liu (I Set The Trend) and I got it on video this time. Candy Shop played a good set here despite being the first of four bands and hence with the lower volume. The new song was received well at the end. Must point out though, it's kind of the semi-serious/playful song that they do at the end and is a departure from their other, heavier, material.

Talking of Tianping Dian, we'd been having a right laugh on Douban and had arranged to meet at the show. They are a great bunch and so laid back and friendly. Also, YKE shares my appreciation of MC Hotdog's first CD and the track 1030. Fair play to that. So next on stage were Momo. Their new material is very cute but I'm still impressed with how they've tightened up the live act. They had a loud and clear sound tonight and the audience really liked them. Ex-Mushroom's guitarist Jerry was also playing up there filling in the layered parts from the new CD. He appears to be the SOMA session guy lately. Jerry Lee does have a new project in the works called Triple Smash, more on that in the future.

So yeah, Momo were tight and professional and went down really well. They came back to the small club setting but brought the best aspects of their Indietop show with them. There was one funny moment in the set. At one point, singer Ding Jia called out her number and offered a free Indietop CD to the first person to text her. The girl who won got up on stage and Ding invited her to say something into the mike. She said "I love Tianping Dian." It was taken in good humour.

Little Nature were up next. They had their original three piece line up and flat hair. The only sign of the Indietop show extras was the intro tape they played before coming on stage. They pulled out a good but not great (by their own standards) set that was a little bit sabotaged by a weak drum sound that ate up the snare completely. Last on were the Mushrooms. Their new line up still isn't quite there but this time it was enough to get the crowd moving and to make the old hits ring true. A good turn out and a solid night for Jiao Ban part two. 

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Jiao Ban Two: Shanghai scene story of 2008

By
Andy Best
on December 22, 2008 3:05 PM |
jiaobantwo
It is fitting that we have the next Jiao Ban show at the end of the year, especially for this blog. I've watched and wrote about these bands since the start and seen their stories explode (in Shanghai scene terms). I have to admit that it's all got very little to do with me, mind you. First up, here are the four bands playing the show on Saturday 27th:


The original Jiao Ban show did not include Candy Shop. 

Momo have been around a while, previously under the name Happy Strings. I first saw them at the old Yuyintang and really liked them. I didn't get to see them so much near the start of 2008 and this whole story starts with the Mushrooms. 

At the beginning of the year, they had been working super hard and were playing some great shows. I saw them rock the crowd at an early 0093 Showcase and wrote about them early on here - live @ Yuyintang. I also documented their first breakthrough into the ex-pat-iverse here. The singer Pu Pu had awesome presence and guitarist Jerry Li was coming up with great compositions.  Next up was Little Nature. I first noticed them as a standout band and wrote it up for Shanghaiist here. They were tight and had catchy songs, immediately separating from the rest of the pack. 

The next development was that the three bands had become friendly after playing together and hanging out at Bar 288 on Taikang road. They formed a collective called Jiao Ban and decided to put on a show at Yuyintang. I came across the flyer and speculated about the show in this post. At this point Happy Strings had changed their name to Momo Tuan. I went to the show and it was amazing - here's what I wrote. I came away thinking that it was a pity the scene was underground and hamstrung by the political climate. I thought that at least one of the bands would have been signed or at least snapped up by professional management in normal conditions. Before we go on, take a moment to re-live the show (article continues below).



And here's the thing. Not long after the show, I found out via Lisa Movius that the show had, in fact, cemented deals for all three bands with Soma. Soma are an art management company and their label venture turned out to be the Indietop project. Here's how the news was broken at the blog - more magazines and Little Nature. 

In the run up to the Indietop extravaganza I caught the bands a couple of times. Little Nature played a great set at the 0093 Rockin' in the Free World show. Also playing that night were Candy Shop, who brought the house down with their signature track Wo Men. Here's a video of that too. Following that, I saw both Momo and Little Nature play at Gua'er in a low key afternoon show. Here's how that went - rock in the afternoon. And here's a video of Momo unplugged at the show - Momo. The Mushrooms played outdoors at the China Now festival but I didn't manage to get along. At this point I was still clueless as to the upcoming impact of the Indietop show, on the band's styles, that is. 

Now. Enter Indietop. The three bands had some CD tracks in the bag and an Indietop compilation CD was about to come out. I heard some samples, which sounded over-produced and very pop and I also got ready for the showcase gig at Dream Factory which was to be a landmark event in the year. Here's the first post on it, here's the line up on the CD, here's my call to arms over supporting the show and finally here's the show review. Jerry had left the Mushrooms and all the bands had extra members added or major stylistic changes put on them by the label. I wondered if it could ever be the same again.

And now - at the end of a whirlwind year, the Jiao Ban is back at YYT. Indie labels are small in a small scene and the bands seem to be free to do their own thing too. If you talk to various people on the subject you'll find that even the established Beijing labels require the bands to foot most of the bill in return for services of questionable quality. Anyhow, I'm excited again about this show. It's their chance to show if they've still got it. The addition of Tianping Dian (Candy Shop) to the line up is welcome. Whatever the outcome/effect of Indietop on the Jiao Ban bands - Candy Shop put on a great show at YYT and it'll be a great way to round off the year. 

Come along if you can and, come what may, let's give a final show of support to the most active Shanghai bands of the year. Think what you may of the music or styles, these are the bands who have advanced the scene this year through the fueling of a new label. 

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Indie Top One showcase at Dream Factory

By
Andy Best
on December 6, 2008 1:31 AM |
Indietop
Well, it finally came around, the Indie Top show. So much to talk about that this may be the first post where I have to split it and have the main body 'after the jump'. Let's get the formalities out of the way first.

This was an important show and you should read why here: A call to arms

Next, here are the bands who played, along with links to their sites:

Zhong Chi 钟茌
Momo MOMO乐团
Little Nature 小自然 
Sonnet 十四行诗
Wang Xiaokun 王啸坤

There were so many people I bumped into and so many shout outs that I can't possibly list them all. I usually include mainly other English language writers when I do this because to mention everyone at, say, a YYT show who's part of the scene or a band would be to make the whole post a fifty name list each time. Met Lisa Movius for the first time and then Shanghaiist blogger Wee Ling Soh who I got to take one of her famous eyes closed photos of me and Jake. Yes! Talking of Shanghaiist writers, me and Archie bumped into Cameron Wilson at a restaurant later that night and ate with Detroit techno guru Bone (so that conversation went right over my head). 

Quick special mention to my three ticket winners who all came. Thanks guys and I hope you enjoyed it. Lost Mimi at one point but I'm sure I saw you meet up with a friend. 

So, here we go. First of all, this was a well organized pro-event that got a great turnout and a bunch of support. Plenty of CDs and merchandise on the scene and they even had custom made Indie Top ads to play between acts and an MC for the night. Great atmosphere and definitely a success for Indie Top. The buzz at the event lived up to all the hype I was giving it ... phew. So, onto the bands.

Pre-amble. I previously listened to the CD samples and worried that the production had pushed the bands in the pop direction a lot. And here's the thing - I came thinking "Little Nature, Momo and Mushrooms" and left thinking "Zhong Chi and Sonnet". Weird stuff. While the theme for the night appeared to be rock acts getting signed and then lightening up, the lighter acts actually rocked it. Weird weird weird.

Out came Sarah Zhong Chi whose CD is full of dreamy tracks about environmental disaster. The first thing I noticed was the decidedly straight rock backing band that included Jerry Li, formerly of the Mushrooms, and David from Moongazer on guitar and bass respectively. The songs were good and the band gave it some bite live. Zhong Chi doesn't really appear on the regular live circuit in town and I had no idea what to expect but she's cool and the songs worked fine live. Good start. 

Next up were Sonnet. Sonnet are not on the label and were filling out the show. They played a straight set of their regular material and were kind of separate in feel from the rest of the night. They didn't benefit from the sound, which was loud enough to give the show atmosphere but a bit muddy and way short of truly professional. Sonnet have recently reformed and seem to be just about getting it back now. The last two songs they played really came together and seemed to win the approval of the crowd. They play modern indie rock in the vein of post-Strokes stuff like Casino Demon here. 

Little Nature were next. These are a pop punk trio that I have followed from the start at this blog. The sound reminds me of a mid-career Green Day and they were instantly popular with Shanghai rock fans. It's really quite amazing that they were about to come on as a signed act at a big show less than one year later in a small scene like Shanghai. Alas, being signed has changed them a lot it seems. They came out with an extra guitarist and some pop star hair-dos. When I watched these guys at Yuyintang a couple of times they were full of energy with deceptive songs that seemed like three chord rock but had some great hooks and breaks that made them stand out. They were flat here and the label is obviously pushing the pop/idol side of things.

Momo next. Same story, The label has really got these girls to push the cute appeal. But, for Momo, that side has always been a part of them, even when the music was very garage rock still. It's not my thing, but they seemed to suit the new style and performed well. Singer Ding Jia was made to play guitar the whole show too, which is not the norm at their shows. I suppose the label were pushing for a more filled out sound or something. It never seemed to be a problem before. I wonder if these bands are going to keep playing the smaller places now?

Then came the biggest shock of the night. Wang Xiaokun was a mainstream pop star with vids on the telly and everything. I knew he wrote his own stuff and had gone indie, but I was planning to skip him if he went on last. He came on now. And WTF, his backing band were rock and he wasn't half bad. He had a Manchester thing going on. Bowl cut, psychedelic sweater, singing his indie rock vocal upwards into the mike while swaying and breaking into falsetto. He was quite good. It was a total headfuck as his previous incarnation was a talent show idol. He had the good sense to not play any of those 'hits'.

Anyway, on came the Mushrooms one of my favourite bands and an amazing live act. They lost the original guitarist and got two replacements. I don't want to talk about it much. What can I say. This was a kind of coming out party for Momo, Little Nature and the Mushrooms to showcase their new looks and styles. LN lost their punch, Momo's Ding Jia usually has a bit of power and depth behind her voice but it's all cutesy now and the Mushrooms have lost their mojo too (they should get Jerry back). It's part of a planned move by the label to sell these bands. The weird thing is the sudden change, I have seen some of these bands live between getting signed to Indie Top and tonight's show and there was no indication of the change then at all. Who's the Shanghai Mick Jones and when can he start producing? 

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Magazines: Rock Dolls in Shanghai

By
Andy Best
on December 5, 2008 12:30 AM |
rock dolls
I previously blogged about a feature I was helping Jake Newby with for SH magazine. Read the original posts here and here. The article is not online just yet so links are going to be added in later.

So the magazine is out, along with the news that the magazine only has one more issue after this before folding. That's shame as Jake was really fighting the good fight there and putting in a bunch of music writing and other good stuff that appealed to people who don't live in gated communities in Jin Qiao.

So the article asks six female artists in the music scene about their experiences. They are:

Melody Li from Tianping Dian (Candy Shop)
Xiao You from Pinkberry
Ding Jia from Momo
Xiao Bai from Bang Bang Tang
Vivian Chiang from Moongazer
Jia Die from Torturing Nurse

There's a bunch of insightful and intelligent stuff in the feature but I'll quote Vivian who seems to have a similar life experience to me:

"A lot of my friends don't even know where Yuyintang is," says Chiang, "but I practically live there!"

At the back of the magazine is a First Person interview with Jiang Shaoqing, the co-founder of 0093 rehearsal studios. After wailing on bands for leaving his studio a mess and for being mediocre he leaves us with this nugget:

To me, Rock'n'roll means being independent. And being independent means setting one's spirit free.


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More peak season, interviews and photographs

By
Andy Best
on November 26, 2008 4:50 PM |
maya dingjia xiaobai
At the beginning of the month I wrote this blog post that was reporting on Dan Shapiro's City Weekend article. The gist of it was that November was shaping up to be the peak month in the Shanghai music year. Dan was dead right, it has been great. What's more, this boom seems to be breaking right through December too. Over the next four weekends you can see the following bands/events all on different days, that is, you can see all of them:

Hua Lun (post rock)
0093 showcase featuring Moongazer, Bang Bang Tang and more
Banana Monkey's new line up
Muscle Snog, Booji and The Los (post rock/experimental)

And that's just my schedule. There are same day choices and other venues too.

Today I took part in a round-table type interview/discussion for an upcoming magazine feature on local bands. It is being put together by Jake Newby at SH magazine. After talking at recent shows about some newer bands and some bands on my blog, Jake saw a possibility for a feature on girl bands and female singers. He quite graciously had me along for the sessions too and it was a good time. Today was Momo and Bang Bang Tang, later in the week we'll see Torturing Nurse's Jia Die, Pinkberry's Xiao You and possibly Candy Shop also. Obviously I can't undercut the interview before it comes out but I can mention that in a light hearted part of the talk Xiao Bai from Bang Bang Tang let out that she had, in fact, had a semi-stalker at one point. Nothing serious, thankfully, but creepy all the same, especially if you're not a big star with security and lawyers. That's Momo guitarist Maya, singer Ding Jia and Xiao Bai in the photo above.

Finally, Lin Lin from Yuyintang has been busy with more photography down at 0093 this week. here are two great portraits of Vivian and David from Moongazer (Wang Yue Zhe).


moongazer vivian
moongazer david

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Indie Top show: this is a call to arms

By
Andy Best
on November 24, 2008 3:08 PM |
somaindietop
Update: Still two free tickets up for grabs, don't be fooled by the number of comments. I should say a free ticket to the first three commenters who explicitly state they want the free ticket. Don't give up without actually reading the comments!

This blog's contents are dictated solely by where I go and what I read/hear about. I'm not in the habit of doing specific previews or listings. However, sometimes you have to break the rules in special cases.

This post is about the upcoming Indie Top showcase gig. Read about it again here. And my message is simple: you must go to this show and force everyone you know to go too.

And here's what I'm going to do: I will buy advance tickets this week and the first three commenters on this blog get a free ticket. Just leave any comment under a nickname. If you fill in the E-mail section I will see that and contact you privately.

Before I explain why, let me list the details again:

The Indie Top showcase and CD release
Friday 5th December at 19.30

Address: Zhijiang Dream Factory, The New Factories, 28 Yuyao Road, Shanghai
地点：同乐坊 芷江梦工场 上海市静安区余姚路28号

Tickets: 50 rmb, 40 rmb in advance
Ticket Hotline: 021 6227 7332

Bands:
Zhong Chi 钟茌
Momo MOMO乐团
Little Nature 小自然 
Crazy Mushroom Brigade 蘑菇团 
Sonnet 十四行诗
Wang Xiaokun 王啸坤

Now. I think all venues and bands deserve equal support and on principal we should go to as many shows as possible. What we have here though is the possible start of a genuine and regular indie label in Shanghai. Beijing has Modern Sky and Maybe Mars. An amazing turnout at this show along with everyone picking up the CD there, will really make the difference. It will give extra confidence to the newer bands and push them on and will also show the label that they are doing the right thing. We have the power to help make this a turning point.

The Shanghai scene has been booming after the summer break, yes. But the hard truth is that it is still small enough that leaving things to chance can sometimes result in great bands playing to near empty rooms. Another stark fact is that - whatever the reasons and excuses - some promoters and event groups always fill their shows, while others toss the coin. So here's the thing - we the fans should become promoters and plug this show in every way we know how. Create your own events on Facebook or Xiaoneiwang. Mass E-mail. Write about this show for sites and mags. Buy your ticket in advance too. Let's sell this one out.

If this works then do this for every band and venue you like in the future - this scene needs you. 

P.S. See you in the mosh pit during Crazy Mushrooms.
P.P.S. If you are hard-core old school punk/not from Shanghai and sh*t on both indie poseurs and our fine city then The Shy Tall Mighty are back in town that day.
P.P.P.S. But really, go to Indie Top.

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Indietop first compilation CD line up

By
Andy Best
on November 19, 2008 12:42 PM |
somaindietop
Recently I have blogged a bit about a new Shanghai indie label called Indietop (part of Soma). A lot of this came courtesy of scene writer Lisa Movius. 

The first mention is here and the recent preview of the upcoming showcase gig is here.

There are 13 bands signed to the label including blog favourites like Little Nature, Momo and Crazy Mushroom Brigade. Talking of the Mushrooms brings us to the reason for the post. Mushroom's frontman Pu Pu (仆仆) has just leaked (i.e. promoted) the track listing for the first release from the label on Douban.com.

So without further ado here it is (a lot of Chinese, sorry international readers):

试听曲目顺序： 
　　001 蘑菇团-等待 
　　002 小自然- Different world 
　　003 钟茌-Chain of Desire 
　　004 杜佳宣-我 
　　005 MONOKINO（德国）- New kid 
　　006 MOMO-小妖怪 
　　007 王啸坤-菩提树下 
　　008 苏丹-我们的爱情 
　　009 LOTZ-老老欢喜侬 
　　010 IGO-Super Virus 
　　011 冷冻街-窃听机 
　　012 十四行诗-stupid baby 
　　013 33岛-King 

I would strongly recommend going to the show and getting a CD too. The inside word is that the label boss needed a fair amount of persuading to sign the younger bands and we should send a message that it's a good decision by supporting and spreading the word. If the label keeps going, Shanghai bands can aim higher in the future. 

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Indietop showcase coming to Dream Factory

By
Andy Best
on November 12, 2008 12:01 AM |
somaindietop
Well, Dan Shapiro was not wrong when he said we were hitting peak season at the moment. The shows are stacking up at an alarming rate.
Lisa Movius just sent me a flyer/tip off relating to Soma Record's new stable of bands. Soma are a new indie label in Shanghai and you can read previous posts on them here and here.

So, the label has an all new brand now Indie Top and is having a large showcase to promote it's upcoming first releases. The materials say that they now represent thirteen acts and are committed to young/new talent.

The show is going down at Dream Factory on December 5th and there's even a discount for buying tickets in advance. You may need to do this as they have Wang Xiaokun playing and he's well known in the mainstream.

Here's the line-up in full:

Zhong Chi
Momo
Crazy Mushroom Brigade
Little Nature
Sonnet
Wang Xiaokun
Qing Ma Dao

I have videos at the channel for most of these. Have a look here, here, here and here. If you troll around the blog you can find dedicated posts and links for all of them too. Feed my web stats. 

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Pink Berries & Bang Bang Tang live @ Yuyintang

By
Andy Best
on November 2, 2008 12:58 AM |
lollipop november
So. The very next night after the oversold massively talked about Subs gig comes the barely mentioned show that doesn't even have any kind of name or billing that I can officially call it. What a shame because Bang Bang Tang and Pink Berries put on their best performances to date.


As the night went on there were a lot of new ex-pat faces showing up. The Subs show has obviously introduced a lot of new people to the club. The first band on was Wildcat who play a bunch of J-rock sounding songs so generic that I got different answers as to whether they were covers or originals. Next time I will try to catch the band early on and get some background as they were fairly tight and got a good reception.

Bang Bang Tang. I see these a lot as they're always playing YYT. I'm not usually a big fan of this kind of music. They play very musical guitar pop-rock. Watching them belt out their very well rehearsed set it struck me that they were just as good as F.I.R. in Taiwan or a bunch of similar bands in Japan. They are great musicians and the singer Xiao Bai has a great voice too. If they were in one of those markets they'd be getting a major deal right now, not playing underground clubs. They have a quality recording on the new Neocha release (free here) and I have added a fourth video to the Youtube channel. And this time the lights don't flash away like a war on migraine sufferers. 

This was a night of if-onlys. Pink Berries had a good, loud sound and after a few bars of intro and a 'we are Pink Berries' they positively ripped into the opening track. I have that one on video too, but with the flashing random lights, alas. This was the best I've seen them. They couldn't quite carry it through all the set but I was left thinking one thing - if they had played the exact same set last night as a support act for The Subs with all those people in there, it would have been a legendary mosh and a career launching performance. 

While Little Nature, Momo and Crazy Mushroom Brigade reside in the rock-soulless Bar 288 and prepare CDs with Soma, these two bands are quietly becoming the next big things in pop-rock and punk respectively. 

pink berries nov

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Magazines: That's Shanghai Nov 2008

By
Andy Best
on November 1, 2008 8:41 PM |
momo
The ex-pat rags have been a bit disappointing lately when it comes to local music. City Weekend had their big feature that was finally dominated by Avril. Only That's have a regular, substantial page on the scene.

Before we go there, though, Ezra Glinter starts things off by reviewing the new EP from Joker. This may sound familiar. You can revisit my September trip to the Joker EP release show here. You can also check out Joker's Neocha page here. Ezra points out that these are more of an indie band doing blues than a 'blues band'. I agree. Wang Tian Tian from 0093 told me that the CD marked Joker's status as the top act from their stable of new bands. I'm following Tianping Dian myself, although Crazy Mushroom Brigade are the kings of Shanghai rap-rock. 

So, onto the main feature from Lisa Movius. This month it's more news from Momo (formerly Happy Strings). I have a massive bunch of material on them so please use the search feature to read up on previous posts. Here's the new info: Momo have their CD coming out in December on Soma Records and they are now producing a net-based animated show of themselves. The article also reveals that they changed the name to Momo and softened their style at the behest of their manager at Soma. I first saw this band at the old Yuyintang at a party put on by Banana Monkey - and they rocked. Curses, bad managerial advice. Anyway, what Lisa is getting at here is that Momo could be on the verge of breaking through to a new level of exposure. So here's your guide to all things Momo:


The final article is a brief chat with Lin Di of Cold Fairyland talking about women in rock. Well, we know how I feel about the band - not rock. But my disinterest in the band aside, the points, and Lisa's focus on women this month, are very important. Women in the underground scene have a great chance to counter the childish submissive stereotypes all over mainstream music and culture. We have to recognise that it's not an even playing field and give the usual levels of support found in tightly knit arts scenes. 

So let's finish with an example of the enlightenment levels in the mainstream 'creative' industry. Check this post out - back to the caves. Notice the utter lack of irony from the writer too.

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Rocking in the free world (0093) @ Yuyintang

By
Andy Best
on October 25, 2008 12:54 AM |
tianping dian warmup
Friday night at Yuyintang and the latest in the now long line of 0093 showcase gigs, Rocking In The Free World, was going head to head with a weekend of first generation rockers up in Zhabei. I assumed YYT would lose a lot of locals to the bigger events - but I was wrong.

Amazing line up. Amazing turn out. Solid famous acts like Sonnet and Sko were up alongside 0093 studios' better acts. The final line up went like this:


Yuyintang was packed out with a great crowd of the coolest fucking people in town. Each band got a decent crowd and the sound was good all night. This was Yuyintang as it always should be. Rocking bands, cool people and hanging out in the park behind during breaks. I was sick with the flu all week and this was just what I needed to pick me up. Keep in mind that I'm easily excited, mind you.

The surprise of the night for me was Tianping Dian. I had seen them twice before and have reported their potential on the blog a couple of times. Tonight was their time to get it together. Sonnet had played a decent set and the hall was rammed. Tianping Dian got straight on and blasted through their high energy tracks sending the crowd into a mosh. They never missed a beat and the guitar sound was especially good. I have a vid coming, but it doesn't do justice to the sound as usual. With so many bands on the bill, the set was kept short but people wanted an encore so the band swapped instruments and ripped out a well funny closer - a dirty version of a famous Shanghainese kids song that had everyone cracking up. I wish I had a succinct genre name for them. They are a kind of rap-rock crossover with female vocal catchy choruses. I dunno.

The other band that really got the crowd going were Little Nature. The Bar 288 bands kind of come in a three for one pack these days. If Little Nature play than you're going to see members of Momo Tuan and Crazy Mushroom Brigade plus entourage in the crowd. They played a tight set and got everyone moving. They do keep insisting on playing Happy Birthday though. Their fans were loving it and singing along, and it's not 100% serious, but every time they play that track it discredits all their previous good work. Saw Dan and Fabian from Rogue Transmission at the show too. Let's not forget their EP release at YYT tomorrow which also promises to be a wild night. 

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Magazines and skinheads

By
Andy Best
on October 2, 2008 4:09 PM |
old thats cover
I saw the new That's Shanghai magazine today and was all excited. That's because they have been putting out a lot of stuff on local music lately with the music editor being ably supported by Lisa Movius and Ben Hogue. Here's the magazine's online site, urbanatomy. 

I caught the mag at a bad time it seems, this month they are having one of those complete redesigns that mags have from time to time. It's always confusing at first, like when the supermarket moves its shelves around and you wander aimlessly for several minutes with a vague mental picture of a loaf of bread floating around in front of you. The main effect this time is to blend all the writing in with the many many ads. That could be a step towards honesty, in this case. 

Prior to the redesign, the music section was well defined and well stocked. I still haven't made sense of it this time, but it seems not as good. They also slipped in a new 'nightclubbing' column by DJ Carl Lorimer, also infamous as the prolific reactionary net troll 'moneyinabox' - a big fan of my work. It's comment #4.

Anyway ... good news in Lisa's column, which doesn't seem to be called Rockpile anymore, or clearly defined as a regular column either. The budding indie label Soma have done a new CD which is a compilation of the bands who are currently recording with them for future solo releases. This includes Momo, Crazy Mushroom Brigade, Sarah Zhong Chi and Little Nature. The CD will be out through the normal channels of gigs and the one or two shops that do local CDs. The article does say that you'll be able to get it at Shanghai Book City though.

So. Looking at my options this weekend I came across another 'old school punk' gig at Yuyintang on Saturday. I got a surprise when I checked out the band's page in advance:

Mi San Dao on Myspace: here

That's right, they are devotees to the skinhead movement. Well, it appears to be more in musical and aesthetic style than anything else. It's interesting all the same. Back home (UK) I'd look at this fixture and think 'nah, I don't fancy getting stabbed this weekend' but hey, I watched 'This is England' recently and apparently there are subtle divisions between violent right-wing skins and violent right-wing skins with a specific racist politcal agenda. So maybe it's all OK. I think I'm going to check it out, all the same. 

misandao

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Bonus Youtube: Momo moments

By
Andy Best
on September 12, 2008 2:19 AM |
Little Nature got the dedicated post from tonight's videos (see one post down) ... but, after re-watching a couple of times I've decided to do feature post on support act Momo too. They play guitar music, distortion guitar, garage rock with their signature melodies sung in a consciously cutesy fashion. 

Imagine my surprise when they started tonight's show by setting down the instruments and coming to the front of the stage together to do an unplugged style sing-a-long show intro. I was even more surprised when I noticed just how into it everyone there was. It's a small pub gig, but listen to the reaction when drummer Cici takes the mic at 1:05. By the end everyone was clapping along and I realised it was a 'moment'. 



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Little Nature & Momo live @ Gua'er

By
Andy Best
on September 12, 2008 12:30 AM |
momo
I am loving it - living in my hipster's paradise. Well, so says me: check it out. Lisa calls it the F-visa Ghetto. I like that. Also, when I say 'paradise', it's relative to the city i'm in. Dan Shapiro put out a tip on a Little Nature show at Gua'er Music Bar over at his CW blog. Gua'er just happens to be opposite the end of my lane, two minutes walk from my door.

Little Nature are on the up at the moment and I really wanted to see them (for the fourth time). The support for the night came from Momo. These two bands are Bar 288 regulars and they'd brought a lot of their crowd over to Gua'er. There was a good turnout of genuine music fans and I didn't recognise many people from Yuyintang gigs. I did see Little Punk, singer with Boys Climbing Ropes up at the front. Momo got things started as soon as I stepped in.

I first saw Momo as Happy Strings in the old Yuyintang down in Longhua. I was really impressed and have seen them a few times over the past couple of years. They play garage rock mixed with their own brand of playful melodies. I always like their shows but they haven't really done much in all this time, just maintained a respectable level. I would like to see them take it up a level with a full set of new originals. I did get something new. Since changing their name, Momo now open the shows with an unplugged style sing-a-long intro track. I thought it was strange at first, but the audience were really into it. It'll be up in the video channel soon.

Little Nature ripped straight into their melodic punk set that reminds me a bit of Green Day prior to the Dookie era. They are brimming with energy and confidence at the moment and it makes for a good high energy live show. This was the first time I saw them playing their own show and not buried down in a multi-band night. They were certainly up to the task. Alas, I often moan about their 'Happy Birthday' song being out of place in an otherwise great set and now I see it's a real fan favourite. People were singing along and, to be fair, there was more than a hint of irony from the band as they belted it out. They don't have a myspace style page at the moment so you'll have to make do with my video, which is a bit raw sorry. Check the channel or the next post.

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More magazines and Little Nature

By
Andy Best
on September 3, 2008 2:40 AM |

little nature That's Shanghai September 2008 edition just came out and you can see the articles I mention here.

Not as much good coverage as last month, but that's OK. Last month was especially good ... remember?

Before I get to Lisa Movius' Rockpile column I should briefly mention the Wang Wen review on page 29. I quote

Unlike the band's high energy live performances, their recorded material ...

Hmmn. Has the reviewer been to one of their shows? I have, and quite recently too. They were typical of a meandering post-rock band. Low energy. That's not a criticism, it was a reasonable recreation of the energy levels on the CD.

Now, I was impressed with the Rockpile column for a third month in a row. Let's be honest, I'm always impressed with anyone who appears to agree with me on bands and music. Equally, if you don't agree with my picks - you don't know anything. Ahem. This month is another pick, this time Little Nature. I have seen this band three times and wrote up the first time for Shanghaiist back in March here. They were the standout band that night despite their Happy Birthday closer. I most recently saw them at the Jiao Ban night at Yuyintang where I was happy to see they had stayed together and started to get a following.

Lisa talks about that night and reports that all three bands (Momo, Crazy Musrooms and Little Nature) met with Shanghai based Soma Records and walked away with deals. This is amazing news for me as they are the three bands I have been relentlessly tipping all year. I especially want to have the Mushrooms on CD. It does however beg the question, who the f*#^ are Soma Records? Obviously not the Scotland based dance label. Hmmnn, Lisa any chance of a fill-in in the comments? If not, I may have to do research, oh no.

These are good picks from Lisa. The Mushroom's CD will be especially good and these are all bands who have room to improve, mature and produce great songs given the chance to record. Let me finish by re-linking (sorry older readers) the demo we did for CW with Aric Queen that features two full songs by Momo (then Happy Strings). The demo that was followed shortly by Aric and CW manager Colin leaving the country. We will still make it if another host and backer come in ...anyone ...no ... sniff.

Momo play live for FNU. 

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Jiao Ban night at Yuyintang

By
Andy Best
on July 13, 2008 1:45 AM |

jiao ban nightJiao Ban: Well, having gotten a bunch of varying and confused answers from a selection of Mandarin native speakers it seems that SH magazine got it right in saying it's the name of a collective that includes the three bands playing. They are: Little Nature, Crazy Mushroom Brigade and Momo (formerly Happy Strings).

Continuing on from the Gala show, it seems that school's out for summer. The place was packed again, which is great for the venue and great for the three bands who all deserved a high energy crowd. Little Nature have really come along and have built a genuine following. Everyone sang along to their songs and even I managed to overlook the fromage factor for their now famous closing anthem track Happy Birthday to my Friends as the crowd waved their arms to the chorus then demanded an encore.

Update! I found the Little Nature song on Neocha here. 

Momo and the Mushrooms have an established fan base and a lot of playing experience. For the Mushrooms set the packed venue turned into a mad mosh zone. The atmosphere was so good that between songs the Mushroom's lead guitarist was able to spend a good five minutes doing a complete comedy bit on Edison Chen and the photos scandal. Did I mention that the temperature in the upper 30's here at the moment? The bands threw water out over the fans between tracks causing whoops from half of them and causing the other half to franctically wipe down their new digital cameras. Nice.  

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Happy Strings name change, Yuyintang challenge

By
Andy Best
on July 4, 2008 6:56 PM |

challengematchI was looking for some info on up coming gigs here in Shanghai when I came across this flyer. I don't usually do listings or promote up coming gigs, I just find this one interesting.

The flyer (pictured) says that Crazy Mushroom Brigade and Little Nature will play 'together' in a challenge. I have no idea what that means and I'll be happy to tell you all about it next week after I check it out.

The other interesting news is at the bottom of the flyer. It seems that Happy Strings, who me and Cameron made this video demo about, have changed their name to The Momo Brigade.

I may have to stalk them at Bar 288 on Taikang Road to get a scoop on this. I'm not sure if they remember me from our shoot.

Flyer originally found here.

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