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.