Noise Pollution: Dirty Fingers, Brutal Fest, Future Orients, Brain Failure, Hutong Rap Battle

Will Griffith | Aug 24, 2018 8:30 am | Add a comment | 2257 reads

Birthday hijinks, metal heads coming out in droves, and dream pop wonders from the coast of China – you know it’s still summer when the weekend roundup when the weekend roundup features so many wild cards. My recommendation – enjoy the madcap variety before the autumn brings out the big guns.

Friday, Aug 24

The Temple Quartet, Hang Nail, Hind Brain, Pizza Face at Temple
Ever wish you could turn Temple Bar into a classy ballroom for just one night. Well, here’s your chance. In honor of Temple manager Marshall’s birthday, Temple will hold their first-ever classical concert – as The Temple Quartet performs a variety of repertoires including hardcore and Struggle Session’s "Fuck You! This Is Hardcore!". Afterward, the evening turns into another headbanging affair with Hang Nail, Hind Brain, and Pizza Face – though everyone will still be in his or her finest suit. Gotta love it. See our interview with the birthday man himself here. FREE

Dirty Fingers, Holy Shit, Screaming Kong, The White Papers at School
‘Eternal Summer’ returns just in time and the organizer, School Bar’s resident photographer Xiao Hou has wrangled up a scorcher of a lineup. Shanghai punk favorites Dirty Fingers return alongside punk all-star group Holy Shit, kinetic post-punk outfit The White Papers, and one of this year’s fine discoveries – the scrappy and abrasively fun Screaming Kong. RMB 100

Sick Pupa, Fair Child, Four Five, Dungeon Beijing at Yue Space
Rap and metal – two genres that have secretly loved each other since the late 90s, team up for a wild n’ out evening at Yue Space this evening – get your metal kicks via Fair Child and Sick Pupa, a bit of deathcore from veterans Four Five and all your hip-hop needs covered courtesy of the Dungeon Beijing crew featuring N-Bomb, Drop Science, and Odd Couple. RMB 120

Abnormal Infected, Hitobashira, The Dark Prison Massacre, Lethal Incendiary, Hydrosyanik, Impure Injection at 13 Club
Brutal Fest is back! And as you can guess based on the names above, we are heading into brutal territory – with an assortment of death metal bands having at it in Wudaokou’s 13 Club including Shanghai’s Hitobashira, Shangdong’s Impure Infection and more. RMB 120

Wangweima at DDC
Born in Inner Mongolia, the duo Wang Weima brings his dusty neofolk tunes to DDC to promote his forthcoming album, which will be released on MIDI Music. This will be the first stop of their nationwide tour, some swing by if you’re in the mood of acoustic melodies and slow-burning tunes. RMB 100

Ember Swift at Modernista
Known for her unique, jazz-influenced guitar playing and elastic vocals, the Canadian born Beijing based singer-songwriter Ember Swift has been a fixture of the Beijing music scene for years releasing an array of LPs and melding Mandarin, English, and French into one intoxicating package. FREE

New Workers Art Troupe, Hummingbird, Lu Liang, Lazy Rainbow at BSP Livehouse
Folk blues rockers New Workers Art Troupe join pop punk-funk outfit Hummingbird, Lu Liang, and Lazy Rainbow at BSP Livehouse this evening. RMB 100

Liu Peiyi at Jianghu Bar
Get your jazz on at the homey cozy Jianghu Bar as saxophonist Liu Peiyi invites his friends on stage for some upbeat jazz renditions. RMB 60

Wang Yingtian at Laifu Livehouse
Singer-songwriter heavyweight Wang Yingtian brings his soulful folk tunes to Shuangjing. RMB 60

More Feel at Mogu Space
Indie pop duo More Feel bring their light as a feather and charming keyboard-led pop tunes to Xizhimen tonight. RMB 60

AM Rock, All Sixes, Cha at Blue Stream
Cha – which could either mean cross or to open your legs – release their grunge-filled rock and roll throwback sound to Blue Stream alongside All Sixes and AM Rock. RMB 50

Rudra’s Sage, Cheng Yufeng at Pink Moon
Pay tribute to the great Bob Dylan as sitar player Rudra’s Sage and folk singer Cheng Yufeng give their inspired interpretations of the singer’s greatest hits. RMB 66

Nicola Lancerotti Quartet at The Bricks
Double bass master Nicola Lancerotti brings his crew of skilled jazz musicians this evening at Sanlitun’s The Bricks – featuring Nathaniel Gao on sax, Simone Schirru on guitar and Antonio Fusco on drums. FREE

Saturday, Aug 25

Future Orients, Wasted Laika at School
Beijing’s Future Orients descend upon School Bar this evening for the final stop of their China tour. The Maybe Mars bands have been indie darlings since their 2016 release Eat or Die – which packed influences stemming from psychedelic rock to indie electro to classic punk. The young showstoppers will be joined by Wasted Laika. RMB 100

Boss Cuts, Macondo, The White Papers at Temple
Temple continues to celebrate the birthday of Temple manager’s mom with a rollicking affair featuring surf rock bosses Boss Cuts, power post-rock showstoppers Macondo, and post-punk renegades The White Papers. Expect birthday silliness of the highest order and of course more than a few surprises. FREE

Outspoken, Fire Monkey, Hind Brain, Ephemerality, Rex, Empty Eyes, A.J.K, Longjin, Yuan Tu at Yugong Yishan
Beijing Thug Life presents ‘Beijing Mob Bro’, a salute to the classics. A parade of metal, hard rock, and bands with a knack for turning the dial up including Outspoken, Fire Monkey, Hind Brain, Ephemerality, Rex and Empty Eyes playing classic works by artists like Nirvana, Slipknot, Metallica, Ramstein, Marilyn Manson and Rage Against the Machine. RMB 100

Brain Failure at Mao Livehouse
Punk legends Brain Failure, who have been kicking around since the late '90s, continue (despite some massive lineup changes over the years) to please their legions of fans and inspire the punk scene. They’re at the tail end of their latest nationwide tour and are looking to let off some steam in Wukesong. RMB 120

Early Bus, The Flip Side at Caravan
Ska legends Early Bus are back in fighting form and are looking to stir up some good fun at Caravan alongside Beijing’s premier live disco band, The Flip Side. Sounds like the perfect occasion to get out those dancing shoes. RMB 50

Hutong Rap Battle Vol.7 w/ Boss Cuts, Dojo Shaolin at Soi Baochao
Head to Soi Baochao and lay down your best rhymes as an array of rappers compete and jam to their heart's content. Plus a special (perhaps hip-hop filled) set from surf rock regulars Boss Cuts, and DJ Shaolin. Good dirty fun at one of the year’s breakout venues. FREE

0190, I Know What Kind of Girl You Are, Pure, Stay Gold at DDC
OK Beng – a band that I’ve been eager to catch since I caught them last year, are back with a new long-winded name and lots of good word of mouth – catch them and their sassy, humorous brand of female-led pop punk alongside fellow new favorites, grunge ruffians Pure, pop-punkers 0190 and Stay Gold. RMB 60

Liu Dongming & The Sand at Pink Moon
Folk rock singer-songwriter Liu Dongming – a prominent figure in the folk world for years, and whose album with his band The Sand recently was awarded the Best Folk Album Prize from Douban’s Abilu Music Awards – returns tonight to Pink Moon. RMB 80

Uighur Sama at Modernista
A mixture of traditional Arabic songs and lively Spanish rumba classics, with lyrics both in English and Uyghur, Uighur Sama continue bringing the energetic sounds of Xinjiang to China´s capital. FREE

Soft Sound Bank, Halo, Qingchun Re at BSP Livehouse
Pop rock, punk rock, and Acappella – all the ingredients of a good-hearted good time. Catch indie pop group Soft Sound Band perform alongside acapella troupe Halo, and Qingchun Re this evening. RMB 80

Eternal Wings, Evil Thorn, Skyfire, Nightingale, Heavy Duty, Norcelement, Song of Chu, Broken Halberd at Laifu Livehouse
It’s a metal feast in Shuangjing tonight as bands with tons of street cred and legions of metal fans, take the stage. Mosh pits, headbanging and more to Heavy Duty, Song of Chu, Evil Thorn and so much more. RMB 120

Double Face, Doc, DJ Erik at Omni Space
Southwest China trap rapper Double Face, based in Kunming, joins his fellow Yunnan freestyle battle champ Doc and DJ Erik for some hip-hop fun at Omni Space. RMB 150

Jason Chen at Tango
Hailing from the USA, Jason Chen, 26, is a Taiwanese American pop singer whose singing career began in a dorm room performing covers for YouTube, before he gained the attention of millions of fans from all over the world with his musical talent. Dude’s pretty famous I reckon. RMB 480

Nancy & No Filters at The Bricks
Nancy Jenkinson Brown alongside with her ever-skillful band of troops presents her ‘No Filters’ neo-soul band – a delicious cocktail of music and playful renditions of songs you know and love, providing listeners a new sense of joy for jazz. FREE

Sunday, Aug 26

Zoogazer, Hotkey Killer, Last Goodbye at School Bar
Two of this year’s newest discoveries – Xuzhou’s Zoogazer and Xiamen’s Hotkey Killer (Rejian Bei ShaShou) bring their infectious brand of shoegaze-inflicted dream pop and noise pop to School Bar. Can’t recommend these cats enough – sun-drenched pop songs that reverberate not just with a heady amount of noise but a crackling sense of youthful energy. They are going to bands on everyone’s short list come next year. Support from Beijing’s own shoegazers Last Goodbye. RMB 100

Ling Tosite Sigure (JP) at Mao Livehouse
Japanese rock trio, formed in 2002 in Saitama Prefecture bring the noise to Wukeosng. The band's style resembles post-hardcore and progressive rock, often incorporating rapid changes of tempo and mood framed in complex guitar melodies and technical drumming. They utilize both male and female vocals ranging from soft singing to loud wails and screams. RMB 680

Ding Chenchen x Li Song, Li Song x Li Yan at fRUITYSPACE
fRUITYSPACE gets back to basics – a freewheeling improvisational performance that’ll have noise maker Ding Chenchen team up with Xi’an raised laptop artist Li Song, followed by another duo team up of Li Song and fellow Xi’an sound designer and producer Li Yan. RMB 40

Pizza Face, TNT Combo, 4 Channels Club at DDC
DDC continues to mix it up with this intriguing and dangerously alluring lineup that features up and coming indie rockers Pizza Face, 8-bit producer 4 Channels Club, and funk-infused jazz outfit TNT Combo. RMB 60

H.O.G, Rhonda, Miracle Pot, Little Fireworks at Laifu Livehouse
Post-rock, jazz, hip-hop – whatever genre floats your boat, Laifu Livehouse in Shuangjin has got you covered as instrumental rockers Rhonda join hip-hop ragers Honor of the Ghetto and more. RMB 60

Nicola Lancerotti Quartet at Modernista
Double bass master Nicola Lancerotti brings his crew of skilled jazz musicians this evening at Modernista – featuring Antonio Fusco on drums and Zhang on guitar. FREE