October Action

Quite a bit of stuff to update here, and plenty for the drums- and bass-loving crew out and about in Beijing. Read on to find out more about Hermitude, Syndicate vs Baicai #10, Goldie/MC Lowqui, and DJ Krust, oh yeah. "Thing of the Week" makes another appearance as well, in the form of a mix download.

Right then, in order of date:

Hermitude, coming all the way from Australia for a visit, are playing White Rabbit on Friday October 10th. From the flyer:

Having played alongside music visionaries DJ Krush, RJD2, Kid Koala, and DJ Kentaro, these Aussies' signature sound takes instrumental hip hop's smooth influences, flips and cooks them up into sets of riding electro vibes, funk beats and stomp-your-feet drum n bass.

Sounds interesting, and the promoters reckon they'll play a decent wedge of drum and bass. Also playing on the night are Mael, and Deep Space Mafia, it'll cost ya 50RMB to get in, and you can get a bit more info about them at http://www.myspace.com/hermitude, and by reading an interview with one of them on the City Weekend website

Next in line, also at White Rabbit (where else, really), is the 10th time that Baicai and the Syndicate have kissed and made up after the monthly torrid lovers tiff. That will be on Saturday October the 18th, it will cost you 50RMB to get in, and I'll get the lineup and flyer posted up here later this week.

Then--woo! woo! woo! woo!--Goldie & MC Lowqui at Yugongyishan on Saturday October 25. I've noticed that The Beijinger has the date down for the 26th, don't listen to those foo's - it's definitely the 25th. Again, flyer and more info to come, but it's looking like it's going to be more than a little ruckus. On the lineup--besides the Golden One and Lowqui--there's the Beijing Live Hiphop Experience coming down to play a set of live funk and hiphop, and back to back sets from Blackie and Elemental, and D-Rail and Mael. Yugong has had more than a little trouble with their neighbours recently, so this party is going to start nice and early: Beijing Live Hiphop Experience playing 9:30-10:30; Elemental and Blackie on 10:30-11:30; Goldie and Lowqui on at 11:30; and then Mael and D-Rail to play lasties. Will have the flyer up soon, and also a page with plenty more info.

For now, just remember the date--25th October--and that you'll be able to pick up advance tickets about town for 80RMB, or pay 100RMB on the door.

Now, the Thing of the Week* - seeing as Goldie will be in town, how about a download of his BBC Essential mix? It's from April of this year, and is super-bad - get your download and tracklist from www.newmixes.com. If that's not working for any reason, you can find more download links at the impeccable www.breaksblog.biz

* management reserves the right as to the definition of the word 'week' in this case.

And lastly, Bristol/Full Cycle/Talkin' Loud/Reprazent legend and all-round don DJ Krust will be giving Beijing a taste of science on November the 1st. This looks like an interesting party: a new venue in the Solana Mall complex, Jagermeister sponsorship (oooerr!), and a dnb room, a chillout room, and a patio (which may be a little chilly by the time November gets here). Much more info to come for this in the next few weeks.

Mala / MIDI / Syndicate Podcast #5

All right my dudes, have not updated yis for a bit. Here's something for you then!

A proper big'un by any definition - two rooms of dubstep, drum and bass, dub, dancehall, and house and techno, guest starring Mala of Digital Mysticz, plus DJs from the Syndicate, Baicai, and Upstepper crews, and there's extra guest action as well.

So, get your ass to White Rabbit on Friday September 26th, pay your 60RMB on the door, settle in for a big night night of bass and whatnot.

On the dubstep side of things you get Mala and Mael; Blackie, DRail, Slyde, and DJ Asayo go drum and bass-wise; techno and house from the Baicai boys Donald Summer and Mr Soon; and then dub and dancehall courtesy of the good ol' Upstepper Soundsystem.

Get ready for all that malarkey by downloading the newest Syndicate Podcast, this time featuring a good lashing of dubstep courtesy of the stenchy Frenchy DJ Mael - download it here.

Also, hold up while I figure out when/if the MIDI Festival is going to be on soon (and there is the Modern Sky Festival too, but seems like not much dnb happening there)

Drums Festival / Syndicate vs. Baicai

All right, two things coming up for yis:

The Drummer Festival at Star Live, while technically not a dnb event, may still be of interest to those of you who like drums. Mico from Junglecat is involved, and they'll be playing a set up in there. It's at StarLive (next to Tango) on August 31st, starts at 8pm, advance and student tickets cost 30RMB, otherwise it's 40RMB on the door. Flyer, address, phone number and more info at www.thestarlive.com

The Syndicate vs. Baicai 'Comeback Special' takes place at (where else?) White Rabbit on Saturday September 13th - 'Comeback Special' as in a lot of the Baicai Crew who were banished mysteriously absent (:P) over the Olympics period are back, and also because the Syndicate welcome the return of DJ Slide, well known for causing dnb-type big trouble in little Beijing around 2004/5/6.

It will be 50RMB on the door, starts 11ish, and White Rabbit will have both rooms open (Baicai in the Purple Room, Syndicate downstairs in the White Room)

And still no idea about that Sunday's on Top thing ...

Beijing DNB Action in August 2008

Long time no update! Sorry about that, it's a been a combination of no time to make updates, and nothing to make updates about ... if that makes sense ... I think it does ...

Anyway, for those still in Beijing, those visiting Beijing (ahoy!), and those hoping to get back to Beijing after sorting out another visa, I bring news of the dnb action in Beijing for August.

But before you read about that, start downloading the new Syndicate podcast! - right-click > Save As to download (substitute equivalent for Mac users), or click it to stream (your mileage may vary) - download Syndicate Podcast 4

First up, merry pranksters The Syndicate get in on the oh-hey-it's-the-Olympics action with Golden Greats at White Rabbit on Saturday the 9th. DJs on the night are Blackie, D-Rail, Elemental, Mael, LYDNB, and Japanese import XXXXX, with MC Terra-D plus others speaking into the microphone at opportune times. Music-wise, it's mostly straight-up dnb, with a little dubstep and old-school jungle thrown in for good measure.

50RMB will get you inside, it kicks off 11pm, and we'll see how White Rabbit's late-night tendencies fare against the rumoured 2am no-fun-allowed curfew. You can get directions to the club on the City Weekend White Rabbit page.

And then, later in the month (date TBC), Blink Events' popular Sunday's on Top series has moved to Yin Bar, and Blackie will be doing the musical equivalent of going on like a drunken uncle at a wedding and playing dnb amidst the regular house beats provided by Patrick Yu. Not sure where Yin Bar is, but I hear it's got a very nice rooftop. So that'll be on a Sunday, obviously, and like I say I'll let you know the date when I find out. The Sunday's on Top parties things normally start around 4pm and have been known to go on until Monday morning - you might find more information about it on the Blink website.

THE BUG vs. SYNDICATE vs. BAICAI

In short, Ninjatune and Rephlex Records recording artist The Bug is touring to promote his new CD London Zoo; he's making a stop at White Rabbit on Friday June 4th to play a set of his ragga/dubstep/crazy-shit music; and he's been thrown right in the middle of the monthly Syndicate vs. Baicai battle.

It will be 60RMB on the door, starts 10pm (11, more likely), support comes from Flo Eysler, Mr Soon (Baicai), Mael, Blackie, D-Rail, Elemental (The Syndicate). Jing DNB Mailing list dudes and dudettes keep an eye out for some giveaway action this week.

Set times
10.30-12: Flo Eysler
12-1: Elemental
1-2: Blackie and D-Rail
2-3.30: The Bug
3.30-4.30: Mael vs Saul
4.30-end: Mr Soon

ALSO

The Monday Re:Tox thing at Alpha has been canned, so don't go down there;
and, there was some sort of mis-understanding about the entrance thing for the Concord Dawn party last week. My email said it was going to be 50RMB to get in, and that it was going to include a free drink. No free drinks were on offer though, bugger. Good party but?!

Blame / Syndicate vs. Baicai

Well hey, look at all this stuff - more international visitors, another of the excellent Syndicate vs. Baicai parties, plus more news of upcoming action in a variety of places. (And now with extra Syndicate Podcast Episode 3 download link.).

Syndicate Podcast Episode 3
This episode is again hosted by Blackie and D-Rail, and features a mix-set and chat from Elemental, plus a cameo from Syndicate Dan.

- the server is not really set up for streaming. Right-click the link, and choose 'Save file as' to start the download - Download Syndicate Podcast Episode 3 here (43MB, 128kbps MP3, approx. 50 minutes long). Just so you know, the download server has been a bit spotty recently - if the download cuts out after a few minutes please try it again.

The webserver guys said the problem was the network between China and the US, the network-between-here-and-the-US guys said ... well I'm not too sure exactly what they said but no doubt they were pointing fingers at the webserver guys. Anyway...

First in line with the let's-rock-out-in-Beijing is Blame, a producer with old school cred untarnished by any sort of falling off type activities. From the proto-dnb classics on Moving Shadow, the atmospheric business on early Good Looking, to the more tech stuff on 720, and some smashers on Charge and Metalheadz, he's been doing his thing long-term, and is rated as a properly good DJ.

He'll play China Doll on Thursday the 12th of June. Blackie and D-Rail are on the support lineup, music starts around 11, it's free to get in before 12, an-n-n-n-n-nd you get 2-for-1 drinks between 10 and 12. How about that?

Here's the small print from the flyer:

Blame is one of the most innovative producers on the drum & bass scene - an accolade hard won over years of consistently breaking musical boundaries in an attempt to bring true innovation to the music that he loves. He’s been around from the beginning, and has released music on some of the biggest labels in the scene.

In recent years Blame’s hard work and skills have gained him a steadily rising profile, both as producer and as a DJ. Besides running his own imprint 720 Degrees, Blame has built strong bonds with Goldie’s label Metalheadz, and Charge Rec., both highly respected, yet different labels, showing once more Blame’s versatility.

As a DJ, Blame enjoys a reputation of excellent technical skills and extreme professionalism. This, combined with simply being one of the nicest characters in the scene, has lead to many invitations from promoters for him to return to their events.

There you go ... and on to the next.

Rumour has it that Baicai got the award for Best Beijing Promoters in the City Weekend Readers Choice Awards, and The Syndicate got Editors Pick in the same category. Did they deserve it? Is there jealousy between the two rival crews, or are they still Best Friends Forever? Get down to their next party and find out!

The party is on Saturday June 14th, starts at 11pm or so, and will cost 50RMB on the door. House and techno in the upstairs room, with dnb downstairs in the White Room.

On the drum and bass side of things you've got Blackie, Mael, Kay C, Shiva, and Sara C to check out, while Baicai have selected Flo Eysler and the Deep Space Mafia. It's looking like your last chance to see Sara C spin in Beijing, in itself a good reason to get down there.

Also upcoming
NZ dnb legends Concord Dawn at China Doll June 26 (just one of them but)
DJ Blackie has got a set at "The Beach Party," on June 28 (more info to come about that)
Elemental gets a guest set at Mael and Otra's Monday night Re:tox session at Alpha on June 30

Right, so there's plenty to keep you busy in Beijing next few month (if you can sort out the visa of course!). Shouts to everyone that came out to the charity thing at Tango last week, and also to all those who got stuck into the vodka at China Doll the night after that.

Yen 4th Anniversary / Photos

Celebrate 4 years of Yen parties with a big one at Star Live this Friday night (May 23rd, 2008). Blackie is playing a dnb set 4-5am; also on the lineup are Dio, Mickey Zhang, Yangbing, Usami, Flo Eysler, and DJ @llen. Door sales are 100RMB, 70RMB if you buy a ticket in advance of the event. Find out more info at www.o2culture.com

And OH MY GOODNESS IT'S THE SYNDICATE 4TH BIRTHDAY PHOTOS. Three months after the event they have finally surfaced, click through to have a look at the madness. (Many thanks to Oak Taylor-Smith, photographer extraordinaire.)

Early May Action in Beijing

First things first, the MIDI Festival is still cancelled (mostly), but maybe moved to October. There is still some MIDI-related stuff going on, including some of the after-party type things.

At White Rabbit this Friday (May 2nd) we've got what was going to be one of the Yen Stage afterparties, but with a slightly different lineup that is not fully figured out yet (apart from the fact that it will be happening). Representing drum & bass and dubstep so far there's Blackie, Mael, and Elemental, and D-Rail with another one or two DJs to be added on there. In the other room at White Rabbit there will be techno/house DJs - so it's going to be a bit like one of the Syndicate vs. Baicai parties but with Yen instead of Baicai.

30RMB on the door, from 10pm or so.

On Wednesday May 7th Blackie and Elemental will play at The Boat's "Electronic Ferrytale" series. Free entry, and tunes from 10pm until 2am-ish. The Boat is a relatively new venue, and it is actually a boat. Check their Myspace page at http://www.myspace.com/theboatbeijing or Facebook if you're into that. Ahoy!

Extras
Extras, the first: new "Beijing Syndicate DNB podcast" available for download - here's a direct link (BJSYNDNB Podcast 2 download), permanent link is at mixes.jing-dnb.com
Extras, the second: The Syndicate and DJ Blackie are nominated for awards in a City Weekend magazine Nightlife thing - use a spare two minutes to cast your vote online at http://www.cityweekend.com.cn/bjsurvey. (unless you hate them, but who would hate them?)

Finally, clear the calendars - Kasra and MC Wrec will play China Doll on Thursday May 15th. Free before 12, 50RMB after that, Syndicate support DJs will be in effect, and you can get a wee preview of Kasra in the mix by downloading the "Keep it Critical" mix he did for Dogs on Acid last year. (Mix download links and tracklist are at Breaksblog, a site well worth checking for dnb mix downloads.)

Storm / MC Rage at China Doll

Get more information about this party on the DJ Storm and MC Rage minisite.

Syndicate vs. Baicai at White Rabbit

Syndicate vs. Baicai at White Rabbit
The 4th round of the Syndicate vs. Baicai battle is on Saturday March 22nd at White Rabbit. The usual format applies - this time it's the Syndicate's turn to take over the upstairs room and run dnb all night, and the Baicai lot are playing house and techno downstairs. Doors open 10ish, music from 11, finish up 6ish going on previous form (6am, just in time for breakfast). It's 50RMB on the door, and that gets you access to the whole place. Half-price with your Baicai card. (Will try and post the lineups later in the week.)

Syndicate 4th Birthday photos
Still haven't been able to track down a copy of these, when I get them they'll be up on the site quick-fast.

Syndicate podcast
The podcast that D-Rail and Blackie recorded at the beginning of the month has been a popular download - it's 40 or so minutes of tunes and a bit of chat, download it here (60MB 192kbps MP3, click to stream, right-click save-as to download it). A permanent download link for it can be found at http://mixes.jing-dnb.com, a new section of the site which should expand as time goes on.

Sara C at Nanjie
"Drum and bass, breakbeat, and everything inbetween" from Sara C and guests at Nanjie every Thursday from 10:30 or so - if you're in the area pop down and have a look. Free entry, cheap drinks.

Venue information
White Rabbit
C2 Haoyun Jie (Lucky Street), No. 29 Zaoying Lu, Maizidian, Chaoyang, Beijing
北京市朝阳区麦子店枣营路29 号好运街C2.
Phone: 13321123678

Nanjie
4 Gongti Bei Lu
工体北路4号院内 沙沙卡利宾拉丁俱乐部对面
Phone: 6586 7757

Mid-March dnb in Beijing

Not much to report for this weekend, but plenty on next week, with the highlight being top UK talent Matrix and Futurebound - read on for the infos...

Matrix and Futurebound, Thursday March 13th at Vics
Producers of some fine, fine tunes recently (Skyscraper, American Beauty bootleg rmx), and the latest international dnb talent brought over by The Syndicate.

This party is part of their 'Universal Truth' LP tour, so here's some press release shizzle about that for you

Already tipped by many as a contender for Drum and Bass album of the year, the hotly anticipated ‘Universal Truth’ long player is finally unleashed.

Matrix & Futurebound deliver a uniquely accessible array of musically accomplished club destroyers that are Phatter than Rick Waller, smoother than Britney Spear’s !!?!! and deeper than Bill Gate’s pockets.

It's a full night of dnb, with Syndicate support from Mael and Kay C, 50RMB gets you entrance and a free drink. Doors open 10ish, dnb from 11ish (I guess!), will continue until late. Keep an eye on your email all you mailing list members, some freebies are incoming.

Beijing Over Zero, Friday March 14th at White Rabbit
Get down to White Rabbit to check a live set plus VJ action from Delacrew, some Spanish fellows who have recently arrived in Beijing.

After their European tour, Delacrew joins Asia to offer us the best fighting and powerful drum&bass and visuals produced in Spain.

Also playing are Mael, Sara C, and Thome Tomato (I thinkThome Tomato is a breaks DJhouse DJ, but anyway). 40RMB, starts at 10pm.

If you were thinking about checking out the Dave Seaman thing at Starlive on March 14th, make sure to hang about until the end of it for a dnb surprise. Blackie is playing the final set of the night up there, but don't expect to hear anyone else play dnb up there. Tickets likely to be expensive, and that's all the info I've got about that at the moment.

And lastly, will have some photos from the Syndicate 4th Birthday party on the site soon!

Venue information
Vics Club
Inside North Gate Workers' Stadium
北京市朝阳区工人体育场北门内东侧
Phone: 5293 0333

White Rabbit
C2 Haoyun Jie (Lucky Street), No. 29 Zaoying Lu, Maizidian, Chaoyang, Beijing
北京市朝阳区麦子店枣营路29 号好运街C2.
Phone: 13321123678

Syndicate v. Baicai #3

Big party at China Doll last weekend for the Syndicate 4th Anniversary - yours truly snuck out at 6:30am and the party was still going on. Keep an eye out for the photos from that one, should be coming to this site, soon.

And on to the next one! Syndicate vs. Baicai, Friday Feb 22 at White Rabbit.

50RMB on the door, with The Syndicate rocking dnb in the White Room, and the Baicai cabbage sound upstairs in the Live Room.

DNB DJs in the White Room
Kay C
Sara C
D-Rail
Shiva
Elemental

Venue information
White Rabbit
C2 Haoyun Jie (Lucky Street), No. 29 Zaoying Lu, Maizidian, Chaoyang, Beijing
北京市朝阳区麦子店枣营路29 号好运街C2.
Phone: 13321123678

Sara C Nanjie set

On Thursday January 31st the regulars of Nanjie will be able to hear a dnb and a little breakbeat as they are politely sipping their beverages, and you can hear some as well if you get yourself there.

Sara C (plus Blackie) will be playing "Drum and bass, breakbeat, and everything inbetween," from 10:30 or to until 2:30 or 3am. Free entry, and the regular cheap Nanjie drinking action.

Venue information
Nanjie
4 Gongti Bei Lu
工体北路4号院内 沙沙卡利宾拉丁俱乐部对面
Phone: 6586 7757

DJ Marky, January 12th

THE VENUE HAS CHANGED, THE PRICE HAS CHANGED, NO MORE OPEN BAR, THE LINEUP IS THE SAME STILL

New venue: Song Music Bar and Kitchen (www.songbeijing.cn)

New price: 50元 for everyone, no more open bar.

NEW UPDATE! (4pm Saturday January 12th)

Everything else is still the same, Marky is on at 1am. Everything is a bit different now! Marky is on at 2am, Elemental and Terra D are on at 1am, Wordy has cancelled completely, and there's a pre-booked house DJ from 9pm-1am. This is mostly due to the venue change - the house dude had already been booked, so he has to get a play.

New Years greetings to all readers, all the best for 2008.

Next big thing lined up is Brazilian superstar DJ Marky on January 12. It's at Song Music Bar in The Place, a classy-looking new spot. Tickets are 50元, and Wordy, Elemental, and Terra D are taking care of the support DJ/MC activities.

February should be fun as well, with Logistics and Cyantific from Hospital Records flying over for the Syndicate's 4th birthday party on February 16, stay tuned for more information about that!

Venue information
Song Music Bar and Kitchen
B108, The Place, No.9 Guanghua Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing (100020)
北京市朝阳区光华路九号世贸天阶B108
Tel: 6587 1311
13910183730 for info
Website: www.songbeijing.cn
Venue info on Cityweekend website

Jungle Bells DNB Xmas party

Here's one for junglists sticking it out in Beijing over Christmas - Jungle Bells at China Doll, Monday December 24th. Yeah, it's a Monday night, but you're not working on Christmas Day are you? (Are you?)

Pitch-in and MC Taiwan are flying in from France to provide the Christmas treats, both no strangers to Beijing. Pitch-in is well-known for his manic approach to DJing - quick mixing, 3-deck action, multi-genre mashup sets, and general high-energy antics - check his myspace profile for more info.

Meng Qi is playing a live set on the night as well, and backing them all up are Syndicate DJs Mael and Elemental. The party is from 9pm til 5am, it's free entry, and China Doll has a sweet sound system. (Mailing list dudes check your mail over the next few days to find out how you can get a free drink.)

Venue information
China Doll
2nd Floor, Tongli Studios, Sanlitun (under Kokomo / next to Bar Blu)
三里屯北街同里2层
6417 4699

Website maintenance

The website is going offline for a bit this Saturday, the webhost is moving servers, blah-de-blah, etc., etc.

So best check back on Friday to see if anything is going on this weekend - so far not much though!

Junglecat at Syndication, Saturday 17th November

This weekend we've got Syndication at Yugongyishan on Saturday the 17th of November. Syndication is a mixup event, usually featuring differing styles of music played by live bands and DJs, and always with a little dnb in there.

Alongside Junglecat (live jazzy dnb/breakbeat/hiphop) there's also the Beijing Live Hiphop Experience (hiphop, duh!) and DJ sets from L'una Otra (mashup), D-Rail (dnb), and Elemental (dnb).

It's at the new Yugongyishan (see map on flyer), will start at 10pm, and cost 30RMB to get in.

L'una Otra will be on first, followed by the bands, with the dnb DJs on after that.

Drum & bass forecast for the next few months
Syndicate vs. Upstepper (dnb vs. dub/reggae/dancehall in two rooms) at White Rabbit [December 8th]
Dnb Xmas party at China Doll [date to be confirmed]
Yen Countdown [December 31st, venue to be confirmed]

Venue information
Yugongyishan
Zhangzizhong Lu 3-2, Dongcheng, Beijing
北京市东城区张自忠路3-2号
(west from the north-west entry to the Zhangzizhong Lu subway station on Subway Line 5, next to the big gate.)
Phone: 6404 2711

6M Studio parties cancelled, more November action

The 6M Studio space was due to host a variety of parties over the next month - Ken Ishii, Beijing Techno Allstars, as well as a Syndicate vs. Upstepper soundclash. Unfortunately the venue has cancelled the lot due to double-bookings (or some other similar but no less sketchy reason).

There's still plenty of other parties in November: 8th November Blackie has got a set at White Rabbit; 9th November the Syndicate take over Room 1 at White Rabbit; and on the 17th of November there's a big Syndication party at Yugongyishan with Junglecat, Beijing Live Hiphop Experience, Sara C, and L'una O'tra.

Yen Fetish Halloween / Clash of The Underground

The always popular Yen Fetish Halloween party is on this weekend (2007-10-27), and DJ Blackie will be playing a dnb set for the closer. Mind that you don't go to the wrong place though, they've changed the venue to Arena Club.

Full information can be found on the o2 Culture website, but to summarise: doors open 9pm Saturday October 27th, advance tickets cost 70RMB, and door sales cost 100RMB (if available).

The DJ lineup for the party is Dio, Patrick Yu, Gao Hu, Blackie, the Mug Up Phonies will be playing a live set, and Yuan Yuan and Douzi will be doing a fire dance performance.

The organisers of the Clash of The Underground party tell me that there will definitely be a bit of dnb played on the night, and you'll also hear hip-hop, dubstep, grime, and a live set from Project 010. Project 010 is made up from most of the Junglecat band members and MC Youngkin.

Venue information
Arena Club
B1 "The Place"
No. 9 Guanghua Lu, Chaoyang
朝阳区光华路甲9号
世贸天阶 地下1层
Map

White Rabbit
C2 Haoyun Jie (Lucky Street), No. 29 Zaoying Lu, Maizidian, Chaoyang, Beijing
北京市朝阳区麦子店枣营路29 号好运街C2.
Phone: 13321123678
City Weekend White Rabbit info

Uptown Steppers / HBH video

This Saturday (2007-10-21) is the Uptown Steppers party at White Rabbit, "a night dedicated to heavy bass" featuring a lineup of DJs playing dubstep, dub, minimal techno, and drum and bass. Representing dnb on the night is Sara C, also playing are Mael, Steve Barker, Tom Foolery, and David Lassere.

It's 30元 on the door, and will start around 10 or so. White Rabbit is on Lucky Street (Haoyun Jie), and is toward the south end of all the other restaurants and bars.

And, here are some lovely HBH graphics that you'll get a look at during the Nu:tone & MC Wrec gig at Vics on Thursday (2007-10-18) (If you can't see anything then you are probably in China, where Youtube is in trouble with the net filter for whatever reason.)

Venue information
White Rabbit
C2 Haoyun Jie (Lucky Street), No. 29 Zaoying Lu, Maizidian, Chaoyang, Beijing
北京市朝阳区麦子店枣营路29 号好运街C2.
Phone: 13321123678
City Weekend White Rabbit info

(New) Yugongyishan, Modern Sky Music Festival

Yugongyishan 2007-09-28
Sara C will be spinning a dnb set at Yugongyishan 'sometime after 12' on the 28th of September. Also on the night: B6 from Shanghai, and L'una'Otra.

Tickets for that are 30元 on the door, good excuse to check out the new Yugongyishan if you haven't already.

Modern Sky Music Festival Electronic Stage Timetable
Here's the timetable for the electronic stage, a good three hours of dnb on the 4th, and a bit of dubstep and maybe dnb on the 2nd. Antidote on Wednesday might be worth a look as well. Check festival.modernsky.com for more info and some directions. The festival is from October 2nd to October 4th at Haidian Park (same place as MIDI Festival), tickets are 60元 per day, 120元 for a three-day pass. Starts 12:30pm each day, plenty of bands and other music to go along with the DJs.

October 2 (Tuesday)
1:30 — Eddie LV
2:30 — Pancake Lee + Xiao Linfeng
3:30 — Elvis.T
4:30 — Micrometropolice + Didjelirium
5:30 — Mael+Didjelirium
6:30 — Vvip
7:30 — Chozie
8:30 — Ben Huang

October 3 (Wednesday)
1:30 — deysun
2:30 — Antidote
3:30 — G-Sound
4:30 — Erwan
5:30 — Blaise
6:30 — @llen
7:30 — DJ Goldsworthy (DFA)
8:30 — DJ Sweeney (DFA)

October 3 (Thursday)
1:30 — Huang Weiwei
2:30 — Queen Club
3:10 — Dead J
3:50 — iLoop
4:30 — Blackie
5:30 — D-Rail
6:30 — Elemental
7:30 — Dave Kollection
8:30 — Youdai

Venue information
Yugongyishan
3 Zhang Zizhong Lu, Dongcheng
东城区平安大街张自忠路3号
Phone: 6404 2711

September action * MORE UPDATES*

Another update to Nanluoguxiang Street Party.

There are a few interesting parties coming up over the next couple of weeks, and another visit from Hospital Records has recently been confirmed for October.

Firstly, on the 15th and the 16th there's a street party in Nanluoguxiang. Attractions include food, fashion, art, and on the 16th you can hear a little dnb music there courtesy of Mael, Elemental, Sarah C, and Plastered T-Shirts. The turntables are getting set up in a shop so it's not going to be amazingly loud, but you'll be able to hear a few beats and shop for some nice t-shirts from 4pm-10pm. There's been a bit of trouble with permits for the event so it's going to shut down a bit earlier than planned. So instead it's: 2ish 'til 6:30 - Mael/Elemental/Sarah C; 6:30pm Fashion Show (Plastered T-Shirts' new range); 7:30pm - 9ish: Mael/Elemental/Sarah C. Check the map on the Plastered website.

A new club called White Rabbit is opening on Friday the 21st, and the Syndicate Crew will be taking care of the second room there (Main room has Ludo V and Patrick Yu playing 'landmark minimal tech sets'). Get down there to check sets from Blackie and Elemental, Young Kin on the mic - cost/times still to be confirmed. White Rabbit is on Lucky Street (Hao Yun Jie), the big group of bars and restaurants close by to the north-west corner of Chaoyang Park. You can get there by following Liang Ma Qiao Lu east from the Kempinski Hotel - it's two blocks from the hotel, 1 block east of the south end of Nu Ren Jie, south side of Liang Ma Qiao Lu. (City Weekend White Rabbit info.)

Also coming up is the October holiday, with the Modern Sky music festival taking place in Haidian Park on October 2, 3, and 4. Modern Sky is "a renowned Chinese indie label," and the festival is set to feature 120 bands, headlined by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. They must have a dance music area in there somewhere as well - drum and fans will be able to catch Mael, Blackie, D-Rail, and Elemental playing sets at various times. Updates on set times to follow, the festival is 60元 per day, or 120元 for a three-day pass. Links: Modern Sky (Chinese language); Modern Sky Festival site; electronic music stage lineup

And finally, mark October 18th in your diary because Vics will be getting another visit from Hospital Records - this time Nu:tone and MC Wrec, touring to promote the excellent new Back of Beyond album.

What's on in August

Quite a bit of drum and bass action for the 8th month, here are some flyers for you.

Syndication at Mao Livehouse
Saturday August 4th, from 10pm. 30RMB, Junglecat, Beijing Live Hiphop Experience, Mael, Elemental.
www.maolive.com
111 Gulou Dongdajie (Bell Tower/Houhai/Nanluoguxiang area)

DNB BBQ 2 at Q Bar
Sunday August 5th, from 4pm, free entry.
www.qbarbeijing.com
5th Floor, Eastern Inn Hotel, San Li Tun Nanjie (a few blocks south of Bar Street/Bookworm, 300m south of Beer Mania)

Klute and Stamina MC at Vics
Thursday August 9th, from 10 or 11pm. 50RMB, support from Mael, Wordy, Webber.
Vics, inside north gate of Workers Stadium.

Upcoming excitement

If you haven't already got a ticket for the beach party on Saturday the 14th, check out the information at www.myspace.com/greatwallbeachparty and see if there are still some tickets left. The party is at Shanhaiguan north of Beijing, where the Great Wall meets the sea. Dnb representation is provided by DJ Blackie, who got a mention in the latest City Weekend magazine.

Also:

Syndication at Yugongyishan, Friday July 20th - the last dnb you'll hear at Yugongyishan before it gets knocked down. As per usual it's dnb DJs alongside interesting live acts. This time the live interest comes courtesy of regulars Junglecat (TBC), and the as yet unnamed Zhang brothers combination - Yen regular Mickey Zhang providing the beats from his Mac/Ableton live setup, his brother adding atmosphere with the Chinese harp/zither. You might have seen them at one of the Terminal parties, or the NO+CH festival - a great set combining traditional Chinese instrumentation with modern technology.

And, because it's the last one, you get a loaded lineup of DJs: D-Rail, Blackie, Mael, and Elemental. Same price and time as usual - that's 30元, from 9pm until late late late.

Syndicate Patio Party at Q Bar, Sunday August 5th - The Syndicate have been invited back to rock out on the roof, more details about that in the next couple of weeks.

Also! L@@K!!: A nice rumour that's turned into fact - Klute and Stamina MC will be in Beijng to run things early August. Thursday August 9th, 2007 at Vics. Stamina MC was last here in 2005 with DJ Marky, and Klute will be making his first trip to China.

Syndication at Yugongyishan, DNB BBQ action

Syndication at Yugongyishan
Friday June 29 is the date for what will probably be the second-to-last Syndication at Yugongyishan - the venue is due for demolition, exact date unspecified. So what the flyer says and get it while the getting is good. It's a fresh lineup, with percussion focus from the Gudian Soundsystem (percussion vs. computers), a UK Garage set from Phillix 66, MC action courtesy of Webber, and dnb support from Elemental and D-Rail.

Update, jazzy-breakbeat-electronic-dnb band Junglecat will also be playing, get in there.

Update 2, now with 100% less Webber and Phillix 66 who can't make it.

Junglecat are on around 10:30pm, DJs on either side of them, with the Gudian Soundsystem in there at some stage as well.

30元 on the door, music from 9 or 10 or so. You'll have to get to Yugongyishan via the west entrance on Chun Xiu Lu - the Gongti entrance is boarded up.

DNB BBQ
Plans underway for a bit of dnb & barbeque action on the Q Bar rooftop on the 8th of July - that's a Saturday afternoon, and Q Bar is conveniently located in South Sanlitun. Look forward to confirmation of that.

Venue information
Club Yugongyishan
1A Gongti Beilu, Chaoyang District
愚公移山
北京市朝阳区工体北路1号
(010) 6415 0687
(In the back of the carpark with Nan Jie, Red Ball, and Bus Bar, north side of Gongti Bei Lu, west of the stadium north gate)

Long time no update

R.I.P. Zub, now in the midst of a transformation into a pizza restaurant. It had better be good pizza!

So, not much dnb action the last few weeks. Not too much dnb action in the next few weeks either, but after that it's back into it with Syndication at Yugongyishan on the 29th of June. If you've been past that way in the last few days you might have noticed that the main entrance to that area is all boarded up, but you can still get in by the Chun Xiu Lu entrance (turn right at the traffic lights to the west of the main entrance, go north up Chun Xiu Lu, look for the gate past the brick buildings and before the hot pot restaurant.

Goldie & MC Lowqui photos / Syndicate at Zub / etc

First things first - photos from the party with Goldie and MC Lowqui are up now - czech them out. Big up all Syndicate crew for a blazing party, big up yourself if you were there to witness, and many thanks to Oak Taylor-Smith and Tom Carter for the fine photos.

Syndicate DNB at Zub 2007/05/19
Next up for drum and bass fans, the regular monthly party at Zub on Saturday the 19th of May. Bad news though - it's going to be the last drum and bass party at Zub. The plan is to go out with a bang, so get yourself down there and check out the Syndicate Allstar session. Still free entry, still starts around 10pm, still goes until late, and you still get some drink specials.
DJs: Elemental, D-Rail, Blackie, Karibdis, plus guests
MCs: Terra D, Webber, guests to be confirmed.

Here's the etc section:

• Photos page Added a page to index all the photos - link is on the left there, or click this one to have a look at all the old photo sets.
• Elemental mix Another mix download available - a half hour of old school biz (Photek/Paradox/Hokusai/Dillinja/etc) from Elemental, download the mix from mixes.nzdrumz.com

Venue information
Zub
Basement 1A, 13 Huaqing Jiayuan, Wudaokou
(50m south of Lush, under the 7/11)
Venue info at http://www.lushbeijing.com

Goldie / MIDI Festival

Just quickly, the dnb sets at the Midi Festival:
2007/05/02 (Wednesday), 17:00-18:00 - DJ Wordy dnb set
2007/05/04 (Friday), 12:00-13:00 - Elemental / Dan Stephenson Syndicate Sound Set
More info at www.midifestival.com and www.o2culture.com

And here's the Goldie / Lowqui flyer, nice isn't it? The party is at the newly refurbished Vics on Thursday May 10.

Here's a bigger version of the flyer

Syndicate DNB / Jungle at Zub April 21st

It's time for more jungle action at Zub - Saturday April 21 sees another big jungle set from Elemental and D-Rail, as well as upfront and dubwise selection from the other DJs on the lineup. The last one was wicked, so if you missed it you definitely need to get down to check this one.

Doors from 9pm, it's free to get in, and you can enjoy 2-for-1 specials on selected drinks before midnight. D-Rail and Elemental will play from 11:30-1, Blackie, Mael, and Karibdis are also playing, and you've got Terra-D, Webber, and Essention on the microphones.

Also, Goldie and MC Lowqui will be back in May (at Vics!). Goldie has recently had a mix on BBC's Essential Mix Show and it's well worth a listen - check Breaks Blog for the download.

Venue information
Zub
Basement 1A, 13 Huaqing Jiayuan, Wudaokou
(50m south of Lush, under the 7/11)
http://www.lushbeijing.com

Syndicate DNB / Jungle at Zub

Right, so not much happening this weekend - you'll have to wait til the next. Should be worth the wait, though: you can catch another jungle set from Elemental & D-Rail as well as upfront and otherwise beats from Blackie, Karibdis, and Mael.

So yeah, for now all you need to know is that the date is April 21, it's a Saturday night, there's going to be a bad jungle set, and it's free to get in. Set times will be posted closer to the date, along with other information.

Also coming up - another Syndication at Yugongyishan (time is slipping for Yugongyishan, the wreckers are on the way), some summer sun action on the roof of Kokomo in San Li Tun, and in May, the MIDI festival and the return of Goldie and MC Lowqui.

Junglecat, I Love EU party

Junglecat are back
Wednesday March 21, Club Yugongyishan

Jungle-dnb-hiphop-breakbeat-jazz fusion band Junglecat are back and will play Yugongyishan on Wednesday the 21st. Tickets should be 30RMB, arrive around 10pm.

"I love EU"
Saturday March 24, Club Tango

"Celebrating 50 years of the European Union - 5 up and coming live electronic artists from the EU." Drum and bass fans can catch a live set from French native Tambourbattant, Syndicate DJ Blackie will be playing the closing set, and there's the other 4 up-and-comers to check out as well.
The Tango website isn't working just at the moment, but may come back online later (www.tanguo.com). More detailed information can be found on the Boa Events website, starts at 9pm, 80RMB on the door, dnb upstairs in Mango from 1am.

Venue information
Club Yugongyishan
1A Gongti Beilu, Chaoyang District
愚公移山
北京市朝阳区工体北路1号
(010) 6415 0687
(In the back of the carpark with Nan Jie, Red Ball, and Bus Bar, north side of Gongti Bei Lu, west of the stadium north gate)

Club Tango
79 HePing XiJie, Chaoyang District, Beijing, south gate of Ditan Park

Plenty of things to do in March

Lots of drum and bass things to do in March - here's your summary, in ascending date order for your reading and scheduling convenience.

Francophone Music Festival
Friday March 9 at Nhu Lounge, close to the South Gate of Lido Park

Special music festival with acts from countries where they speak French - they've got Belgian rock 'n' roll, Canadian folk, French hip-hop, and, of special interest to dnb fans, a set from DJ Science (Congo Natty Crew) and MC Big Red (Raggasonic). Science and Big Red will be playing the closing set.

It starts at 8pm and it's free to get in - but with a twist! You can get guaranteed entry by picking up a pass from the French Cultural Center at 18 GongTi XiLu. I guess that means that if it looks like it is getting full up they'll reserve space for people who have made the effort to pick up a pass.
Find directions to the venue at www.nhulounge.com.

Artwalk Beijing
Saturday March 10 around 798 Dashanzi Art District

Syndicate DJs Dan and Elemental will be spinning some laidback beats at the Artwalk Cocktail reception from 7:30pm-9:30pm. Check www.artwalkbeijing.com for full info. The Artwalk lot have organised special opening hours of 6-8pm at some of the more interesting galleries in 798, they've got guides to help show you around, and they will finish things off with a bit of cocktail action - a good excuse for dnb fans to check out the 798 area, or a good excuse for art fans to catch a little dnb, whichever way around works best for you.

Syndicate DNB at Zub
Saturday March 17, Zub Wudaokou

The Syndicate's regular monthly party, free to get in, 2-for-1 drink specials from 10-12. The vodka sponsorship seems to have run out, unfortunately - previous sponsors 42 Below got bought by Bacardi and the local distributors got the sack. Too bad!
Party starts at 10pm, DJs Blackie, Karibdis, D-Rail, Elemental; MCs Webber and Terra D, plus guests.
Get directions to Zub at www.lushbeijing.com

"I love EU"
Saturday March 24, Club Tango

"Celebrating 50 years of the European Union - 5 up and coming live electronic artists from the EU." Drum and bass fans can catch a live set from French native Tambourbattant, Syndicate DJ Blackie will be playing the closing set, and there's the other 4 up-and-comers to check out as well.

There's also a Syndication due sometime this month, will post up info about that as it arrives - for now I can say that it should feature the return of Junglecat..

Syndicate d'n'b at Zub, Saturday February 17 2007

Celebrate Chinese New Year with the Syndicate at Zub - the regular strong DJ/MC lineup and 2-for-1 drink specials.

It's free to get in, the party starts at 10pm and will continue well into the first day of the Year of the Pig.

Venue information
Zub
Basement 1A, 13 Huaqing Jiayuan, Wudaokou
(50m south of Lush, under the 7/11)
http://www.lushbeijing.com

Tomahawk & MC Wrec, Syndicate 3rd birthday photos

Check the photos from the party at Club Fusion, big night! Thanks to Oak Taylor-Smith coming through with the pics once again.

Photo set here, click!

Syndicate 3rd Anniversary Weekend

To celebrate their third birthday the Syndicate have organised a weekender: more DJs from Hospital Records on Friday the 19th; and a an all-nighter at Zub on the 20th.

Tomahawk and MC Wrec at Club Fusion, January 19th 2007

Tomahawk is the resident DJ at one of the world’s most popular monthly Drum & bass nights “Hospitality” in London, and is well known for remixing, mastering and producing Drum & Bass music. Best known for his track 'Until Dawn', he’s produced music with the likes of High Contrast and Dynamite MC, and also manages Hospital Records.

MC Wrec has been MC’ing for 10 years in the Hip hop and Drum & bass scenes notably as the frontman for the award winning live drum & bass group, London Elektricity.

There's more open bar action at this party. The kind folks at Club Fusion may have learned a lesson from the last time they let drum and bass heads drink for free (always a mistake ;]), and have put a time limit on it, 10pm-3am.

Tickets are 80RMB, available on the door, and include the open bar.

The Syndicate have also employed the skills of DJ Usami for this party, so expect a bit of breakbeat action to accompany the drum and bass from the headliners, Wordy, D-Rail and Elemental. Webber and Terra-D will be on the mic, Haobuhao VJs on the visuals.

Classics and Anthems All-Nighter at Zub, January 20th 2007
Wudaokou is where it all started for the Syndicate, so it's only fitting they head back there for the second night of the birthday weekend. It's a stacked lineup, featuring just about everyone who has ever played at a Syndicate party.

Music policy for this one is strictly anthems and classics, and it will be an all-nighter for sure. Meng Qi will be doing his live performance to start things off, and you can enjoy half-price 42 Below Vodka all night. The full lineup is Mael, Blackie, Meng Qi, Elemental, D-Rail, Dan, Karibdis, Webber, and Terra-D, and it's free to get in.

Expect to hear the best tunes from the last 10 years or so - jungle, techstep, rollers, the lot.

Syndicate Radio
If you're online at 11pm Beijing time on the 10th of January you might like to tune in to webradio.ombilikal.org to catch the latest Syndicate Radio session: a live recording from Club Yu Gong Yi Shan, featuring Elemental, Mael, Youthman, MC Webber, and MC Kin. 11pm is roughly 4pm in France, 3pm GMT.

Venue Information
Zub
Basement 1 Building 13
Huaqing Jiayuan Wudaokou Beijing
(50m south of Lush, under the Francaise Bakery)
北京市海淀区五道口
华清嘉园13号楼地下1层
Website: www.lushbeijing.com

Club Fusion
A8 Gongti Beilu (one block west of the Den, opposite the Ya Show Market)
工体北路甲8号 城市宾馆向东50米
Website: http://www.clubfusion.cn/

Syndication / DJ Nymfo / New Years

Syndication is back at Yugongyishan this Thursday with more variety for your ears. First, and most important for fans of drum and bass is DJ Nymfo, Holland's top-rated drum and bass DJ. He's an organiser of the very popular Red Zone parties in Eindhoven and regularly invites big-name DJs to play guest slots. For this reason Nymfo has a tasty collection of dubs to play, as well as some of his own new tunes. Check www.redzoneheadquarters.com for more information about him and the Red Zone crew.

Also on the lineup is well-known guitarist David Mitchell, who will be adding jazz vibes to some of the DJ sets.

Last, but not least, Elemental, Mael, and DJ Wordy will be playing as well - dnb from Elemental and Wordy, dubstep and other bits from Mael.

Doors open at 9pm on Thursday the 28th, it will cost 30元 at the door.

Also this week - the Yen New Years party on Sunday the 31st. Drum and bass fans can get down to a DJ Wordy dnb set, check www.o2culture.com for more information about that.

Ok, and for those on the email list - yes I got the date wrong in the last one ;]

Venue information
Club Yugongyishan
1A Gongti Beilu, Chaoyang District
(010) 6415 0687
(In the back of the carpark with Nan Jie, Red Ball, and Bus Bar, north side of Gongti Bei Lu, west of the stadium north gate)

'It came from the Jungle' photos

More photos for you - 'It came from the Jungle' at Zub, brought to you by The Syndicate, Zub, and 42 Below Vodka.

More photos from the camera of Oak Taylor-Smith, nice one Oak

Photos here

Parties coming up: Redeyes & MC Youthman at Club Fusion, December 17th; BASS at Zub, also December 17th - more info to come for both of those.

'It Came From The Jungle' at Zub

A Jungle theme party at Zub on November the 18th - 42 Below Vodka cocktail specials, jungle riddims and dubwise dnb.

Free entry, starts at 9pm.

Get down there to check a B2B old school jungle set from Elemental and D-Rail, plus dnb from Blackie, Karibdis, and Oos, with Terra D and Webber on the mics.

Venue info
Zub
Basement 1 Building 13
Huaqing Jiayuan Wudaokou Beijing
(50m south of Lush, under the Francaise Bakery)
北京市海淀区五道口
华清嘉园13号楼地下1层
Website: www.lushbeijing.com

Syndicate Radio

Tune into Syndicate Radio at http://webradio.ombilikal.org on Wednesday November the 1st at 8pm Beijing time (4pm GMT) to catch one from the archives - DJ Blackie, MCs Terra D and Youthman, live at Club Cargo.

If you didn't make it to that party then here's your chance to hear what it was like, if you were there you can relive the sweet, sweet drum and bass memories (or refresh them, if that is more applicable).

Syndicate Radio

Tune in to webradio.ombilikal.org on Wednesday the 18th of October at 8pm Beijing time (4pm GMT) to check the second instalment of Syndicate Radio, a one-hour rinseout courtesy of Blackie, D-Rail, Elemental, and Terra D.

Syndication at Yugongyishan

On Saturday the 14th of October we've got another Syndication party at Yugongyishan. They're continuing the live theme - it's hip-hop this time, with the Beijing Live Hip Hop Experience (MCs Webber and Essention with drummer, bass player, guitar, and clarinet) as well as DJ Wordy who will be playing a scratch/hip-hop/dnb set. And of course there's some drum and bass in there with Mael, Elemental, and D-Rail ready to do their thing.

The last Syndication was a good one, with some excellent interplay between live percussion and samplers, sequencers, and singers. Look forward to hearing some band vs. DJ action at this next one.

Starts at 10pm, tickets are 30元. It's on a Saturday so the party will go until late (or early, depending on how long you stay) as well, no excuses about work the next day!

Set times (all times approximate, have been changed once already)
10-11pm: Mael (dubstep/dnb)
11-12: The Beijing Live Hip Hop Experience
12-01: Elemental
01-02: DJ Wordy (Battle set showcase & hip-hop/dnb set)
02-03: D-Rail
3-finish: back 2 back session

Venue Information
Club Yugongyishan
1A Gongti Beilu, Chaoyang District
(010) 6415 0687
(In the back of the carpark with Nan Jie, Red Ball, and Bus Bar, north side of Gongti Bei Lu, west of the stadium north gate)