Talking Tunes: The End is Nigh - Let's Rock

We got the announcement of the first set of confirmations for JUE Festival moments before this blog was supposed to go live last week, so let's calm down a bit and take a measured look at the first raft of turns we'll be seeing in February and March.

In case you missed it last week, the big one was that Ben Folds Five will be in town in February as part of the JUE jamboree. They reformed last year after more than ten years apart and have recently released a new album, "The Sound Of The Life Of The Mind". Fantastic live, the Split Works gang will do very well to top this on the bill.

We've mentioned already in this blog that Vancouver house witch Grimes is also scheduled to perform.

English folk singer/songwriter Frank Turner is another name booked. The 30-year-old will be releasing his fifth album in March next year. Turner recently released his own Belgian beer. Perhaps he could bring a few bottles east and let our own artisanal crowd try it.

Australian folkster Jeff Lang is also inked, alongside up-and-coming Swedish pop sprite Amanda Mair and old-school Chinese indie rock darlings Sound Fragment.

This was only the first round of announcements, and organisers say they have some "big names waiting in the wings" before announcing the second round of confirmations in the new year.

The fourth annual Midi Awards were held last weekend in Wukesong, and as is often the case, the results weren't without their fair share of controversy. Namely, Escape Plan sweeping the board to land a total of four gongs. One award that we were pleased to see was Residence A getting the nod for Best New Artists. Check out this write up of the awards ceremony by our friends at BeijingDaze.

This may be the last time we meet. Well, that's if you believe the Mayans. Regardless, most venues in town have used our impending doom as an excuse for an "End of Humanity Party" of some description. Head along to our events section for exact details, but there's "Armageddon Night" at Temple featuring Devils at the Crossroad, "Save the World, Only Rock 'n' Roll" night at Yugong Yishan featuring Hanggai, Casino Demon and Rolling Bowling amongst others, and simply "The End of the World" at V.A. Bar which will feature Intrepid Adventurers and Monster 11.

At least we still have tonight. Speaking of which, a new jazz band take the stage at Cafe CD Blues. Music Soulz, consisting of musicians from Barbados, Cape Verde, Italy, the US and Cuba, look to fuse hip-hop, rock, reggae, flamenco and bossa nova in their live shows.

Finally, could we be getting Public Image Ltd. here in Beijing in March? Surely not when the authorities are said to have found Rihanna too subversive to allow a performance permit. It's hard to imagine Johnny Rotten getting clearance to perform in Beijing, but the veteran post-punks have declared on their website that they're set to hit China for the first time next year. We're dubious, but we'll keep our eye on that one.

To play us out this week we'll plump for Frank Turner performing his track "I Still Believe" at the London Olympics opening ceremony earlier this year.

Don't forget to check out our events for where you can go for your aural fix over the festive period.