Review: The Lumineers in Shanghai
God bless the pre-sale, because if I had not already bought tickets for The Lumineers at Mao this week, I would have missed them. Tuesday was absolutely miserable and cold [...]
Live Show Reviews
Live in Tokyo: Neutral Milk Hotel (again)
To be honest, the nightlife in Shanghai is pretty good. The music scene ebbs and flows, but in general, I’m pretty content and get to see a lot of good stuff here. But [...]
Review: Neutral Milk Hotel played live and then I died (updated)
I saw Neutral Milk Hotel almost a month ago, twice, in fact, but it took me a while to get to this point to actually write a show review for two reasons: 1) Real job got in [...]
Review: Poor Sebadoh
There is nothing wrong with Sebadoh. Absolutely nothing. Their only downfall is the fact that they were unlucky enough to open for Neutral Milk Hotel on some of their Asian [...]
The indie rock/rockabilly showdown
Banana Monkey (the indie rockers) and Rolling Bowling (the rockers-abilly) played a double bill at Yuyintang. First up: Banana Monkey. I actually feel like maybe I talk about [...]
Daniel Hart at YYT (again?!)
I’ve seen Daniel Hart in Shanghai before. Maybe at Yuyintang? Maybe somewhere else. Maybe on the street just hanging out. I can’t immediate place it because it [...]
Girls Like Mystery and albums that never get opened
I get psyched for album releases. Like, really excited, because I love to get an actual, physical copy of an album. It’s the best souvenir I can get in Shanghai because [...]
Review: The euphonious sounds of urban folk
I decided that I was going to listen to more Chinese music (gasp! While living in China and actively writing about music. Crazy, right?). I actually hear loads of local indie [...]
Review: Do Japandroids dream of electric sheep?
The big show of the weekend was obviously Japandroids, put on and well-promoted by Split Works. HIMDONG opened the show. It’s been a few months since I’ve seen [...]
Review: A ripper of a show from YYT
The “Goodbye Shanghai” show at Yuyintang was a good one: an all-day love affair with Shanghai music and the people who make it (and those who will be missed). [...]
Review: Dead Elvis vs. Dead Elvis
I’m not usually one for a gimmick, but if it’s some dude who dresses up like dead Elvis (just to be clear, he doesn’t dress up like Elvis, who happens to be [...]
Review: Blah blah blah, More Rainbow Danger Club stuff
I go on and on about Rainbow Danger Club, but that will soon be coming to an end. They released their second (and last) LP Saturday night at Yuyintang. Best show I’ve [...]
Review: Scandinavian music is…Scandinavian
You gotta have a gimmick! And last Friday at 390 Livehouse that was “Scandinavia.” But you know, I’d never been to a Scandinavian showcase before so it got [...]
Sometimes it’s pretty cool to write about music
I both love and hate music festivals. Like everyone. This should sum it up. And when you’re working at a music festival, it’s a mixed bag. On one hand, you [...]
Review: Post-rock is better than Jesus, at least when it comes to Godspeed
Though really, that’s kind of ambiguous. I guess my opinion of post-rock really depends on your opinion of Jesus. A couple of weeks back, Godspeed You! Black Emperor [...]
Review: Rock ‘n’ roll at Yuyintang with lots of white guys
Sometimes it’s nice just to go somewhere and hear some music. You know, nothing fancy. Just some good ol’ slightly messy, very loud, strangely enthusiastic music. [...]
Review: Made in Shanghai, except for all the balls on stage
I’ll get to the balls in just a moment. Last night was a “Made in Shanghai” night at Yuyintang, meaning they had four Shanghai bands on, three of which [...]
Review: Frank Turner makes us all sit on the floor and we still like him
Grimes was probably the big booking of the JUE Festival, but there was no one I was more excited to see than Frank Turner. Frank Turner is an English folk and punk musician, [...]
Review: Grimes, fairly decent
The musician Grimes played Mao on Wednesday night. It was absolutely packed as she was the big booking of this year’s JUE Festival. Grimes is the stage name of Claire [...]
Review: Wooozy Session #10 (updated)
The Wooozy Sessions is a concert series from Wooozy.cn with the cooperation of Shanghai’s independent livehouses. They promote local bands and give them a platform to [...]
Review: Jeff Lang
Australian musician Jeff Lang played last night at Yuyintang as part of the JUE Music + Art Festival. This guy is pretty stellar. He’s a very folksy singer/songwriter [...]
Review: How to Dress Well – Tom Krell
How to Dress Well — the stage name for Chicago based musician Tom Krell — performed at 390 Panyu lu last night. I was actually surprised how much I liked what [...]
Review: Consider Yourselves Conquered
It was a busy weekend for Shanghai music. On Friday I went out to see The Horde at 390 Live for the release of their EP Consider Yourselves Conquered. I love these guys and [...]
Rocksgiving 2012
Last Friday was the annual Rocksgiving concert held again at Yuyintang, which has turned into a pretty cool charity event with BEAN Shanghai. This is the third time [...]
Psychic Ills, Chui Wan, Duck Fight Goose
Last night Psychic Ills from New York were playing at Yuyintang, so I figured it was worth going even though it was Wednesday, cold and pissing rain. Glad I did, though. I [...]
Friend or Foe and What Have You Done With My Claw
390 Panyu Lu is a newish live house/gay bar in Shanghai. The performance area is quite small, but the sound is good and you can get up close and personal with everyone. I [...]
Review: The Airplane Boys, Kikuyu
Figured Lune would be a good place last night, because I kinda wanted to see the Airplane Boys from Toronto. Because when I think hip hop, I think Toronto. Ah, that’s [...]
Review: Capitan Tifus
This slightly crazy, extremely fun band called Capitan Tifus came through Shanghai a couple of nights ago. They’re from Argentina and have a lot of members (nine? I [...]
Review: James Murphy of LCD Soundsystem
James Murphy (producer, musician, DJ, record exec, man about town) of LCD Soundsystem is touring China and Japan and played at O’Malley’s Friday night. Super [...]
Interview – Friendly Fires
Sometimes you don’t need music that changes your life, you just need something that makes you feel good. Friendly Fires is that. Not that Friendly Fires can’t be [...]
Smack Madness 