YYT Channel’s 19th installment moves over to the new Yuyintown Basement this Friday with a nice spread of indie acts. The evening also marks the venue's Pre-Holiday Weekend Bash - before it seals up for the Chinese New Year - so get in your licks while you can. On the docket, you’ve got Hunter & Tree猎人与树’s rustic, melodic, and blues-inflicted rock and roll, which has plenty of bite and anarchist spirit. Meanwhile, Luoyang’s SiltLawn makes the kind of visceral hard-edged guitar rock that’s too rare these days. And finally, there’s emerging post-punk outfit SOTA.
A seismic thrashquake comes tearing through Shanghai this Friday as German thrash metal pioneers Destruction, unleashed four decades of fury among audiences. That’s right…the band has been around since 1982 - turning crowds into tsunamis of neck-snapping intensity. A part of the ‘Big Three’ of German Thrash metal (with Kreator and Sodom) - they’re a class act - showcasing a ripping, fun yet ferocious style that perfectly encapsulates Thrash’s 80s heyday. Mosh pits galore.
LiveChinaMusic welcomes the Year of the Horse with brute force - well, the unstoppable might of ten thousand horses galloping to be exact. We’ve gathered some of the most visceral acts this side of town - bands that push their sounds to new frontiers and imbue their sound with grit and vigor. From hefty and potent experimental instrumental rock outfit An Corporation - not afraid to infuse grandiose sound with an apocalyptic edge; to the evocative, full-bodied and combustible indie rock of Suzhou’s Acid Room酸的房间, apt at blurring the lines within their sound; to finally, the taut high-wire tension of post punk outfit Binding Time待时而动, waiting to explode at any given moment. We’re ushering in the new year not with a whimper, but with a bang.
Black metal and sludge reign supreme tonight at Cave Art Venue as some of the scene’s freshest and gnarliest entries to the seasoned genres take the stage. Riding an underground river of sludge crust and sludgecore act T.O.S. (or Tornado of Shit if you prefer) concoct a foamy brew of feedback-soaked filth, disembodied samples, and tortured vocals - hardcore brutality via nails-on-the-wall narcotized slow burn. Then there’s black metal outfit Katharnum, featuring members of Atomic Saman and Conjurer, who have been keeping busy this past year. Finally, a heartfelt farewell to Storytellers who hail from Suzhou - an oppressive and atmospheric smothering of black metal - essentially a soundtrack to the gates of hell.
Shanghai post-rock torchbearers 21 Grams bring an elegant maturity to their sound. Evocative and sincere, every song unfolds like a worn-in story, one that deepens with every retelling. While 21 Grams’s brand of post-rock is lean and old school, stylistically they cover a lot of ground - from the spacey, playful riffs to heartfelt catharsis - always managing to find the light at the end of the tunnel. The band is putting a bow on the Year of the Snake tonight at Cream Club.
Already, Handycam is proving to be one of my favorite new acts this year. There’s a certain conviction and vision to their rustic, nervy art rock sound - one that is eager to push against the grain and jump down the rabbit hole sonically. More than happy to inject some jazz fusion theatrics, grubby blues rock, and whatnot into the mix, nothing is off the table for Handycam - including jamming out at experimental music hub trigger for one last hoedown before the holiday season comes swinging through.
Mosh Space is back and I couldn’t be happier! The Yangpu hub for the young and restless - a venue I took quite a liking to last year - is back at its new location after shutting its door back in October. They’ve put together quite the lineup this Sunday for those who want to check out the new space - including B.L.D.W. - the boisterous synth-filled post punk act from Ningbo; Shaoxing based hard-hitting instrumental rockers Namo; shoegaze hip hop act SmashSoulGaze; Li Wangnian & Rinn - featuring the solo musings of Salty Tomorrow frontman; and renegade punk rock favorites Stick Xiaoming Again and Again. Hell of a lineup.
