*** Monday again. Hope you're enjoying this...
This weekend we've got two acts from greater China coming through, both playing a double shot over Friday and Saturday. So many venues these days, that's the way to do it. GUIGUISUISUI from Changchun plays on Friday at School Bar and Saturday at Temple. 2's from Shanghai plays on Friday at XP and Saturday at School. You can check 'em both out...
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is principally one guy, Dann Gaymer, a Briton who's been bangin' out feedback-damaged Bo Diddley riffs from Dartford to Dongbei. Style is murky garage blues bitten more than once by a rockabilly zombie wearing a Misfits mask. His mutton chops would choke a bear. Dann's father is a blues player, and treated this young hellion to the Delta classics from an early age. Dann took his love of Muddy Waters, R.L. Burnside & co. across several continents and dragged them right into the 21st century, hybridizing with strong parallel punk/skateboarding/DIY influences. Now his weapon of choice is a custom-made diddly board — his version is a skateboard strung with a single string, loose & mean.
After kicking it in South Korea for nearly three years — and starting Aweh, an excellent resource for underground Korean art and music — Dann packed it up and headed to Changchun. Changchun is the capital of Northeast China's Jilin Province. In the past it was also called Manchukuo, when the Japanese occupying forces set up deposed Qing emperor Puyi as a puppet hegemon. You've seen The Last Emperor, I'm sure. Anyway, "Changchun" means "long spring," which I guess was just some hilarious joke its first mayor must have made. I was there in February — Changchun is m'fuckin cold. Hence Nineteen Below Zero, the newest GGSS EP. For this one Dann teamed up with Changchun beatboxer Xiao Hai (he's churning out bass lines on the diddly board) and hardcore drummer Mao Dagong. The GGSS show comes to Beijing this weekend: check it Friday at School and Saturday at Temple.
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On a totally different wavelength: 2's from Shanghai are also coming to Beijing this weekend, making their debut in the capital. 2's, also called √2, is a duo making electronic music with samplers and MIDI keyboards, but incorporating some live instrumentation as well. Its members J Lee and Robin Hua used to play guitar and keyboard, respectively, in the post-rock band Triple Smash. Here's some of that:
Triple Smash frequently collaborated with Shanghainese trip hop singer Zhong Chi, so the jump from meandering rock instrumentals to electro boom bap is not as abrupt as it may seem. 2's is definitely more electronic-oriented, but the guitar and synth work comes through to set it squarely apart from laptop-oriented "live electronic" that still invariably feels like a dude pressing play on his laptop and wiling out on gin & tonics. 2's has the aura of consummate musicians with a clear vision, tightly rehearsed jams, and a dash of that same experimental inclination that will make them a natural fit in Beijing alongside White+, a band that also makes electronic music with guitar, keyboard, and live drums. Here's 2's live: *** 2's plays at XP on Friday, July 12 and again at School Bar on Saturday, July 13, the latter with White+. GUIGUISUISUI is at School on Friday and Temple on Saturday, the latter with Rolling Bowling. Get it.
