*** Sometimes it's hard to tell whether we're sinking or floating in all this smog. As Chui Wan bassist Wu Qiong says to The Village Voice about her band's track, "Beijing is Sinking": It's not talking about the government, but talking about living in a big city like Beijing. Like most of China, Beijing is changing very quickly, and it's [about] the feeling of being drowned in these changes... the speed of life is increasing. There's a lot more pressure put on people — commercial pressure, rising cost of living, the environment, the pollution. Indeed. But we all try our best to stay afloat regardless, surfing the waves of change as best we can. Here are some sounds to sink into this weekend, including one of the most highly anticipated record releases of the year, hyper-net dance music from Australia, and punk in Tongzhou... *** First up, my pick for gig of the week: Chui Wan's album release on Saturday at Yugong. Chui Wan is a band close to my heart. Maybe I'm a bit biased. I first saw them at their second ever show, out at now defunct Tongzhou noise shrine Raying Temple back in August 2010. I later joined the band on the drums, recorded on their debut album (White Night), and toured that around China at the end of 2012. On Saturday, they'll officially Beijing-release their sophomore album, Chui Wan, which has already been floating in the web-ether for a few weeks. As much as I'd love to sit back and smugly claim that the first record's better, damn, did they ever one-up themselves with this one. One-upped the whole Beijing scene, really. I wrote the press release for this record, quoting myself: "On Chui Wan, the focus is less on the unbridled, reverb-drenched inflections of White Night, drawing more from the band's wide palette of influences, including Sufi music, Southeast Asian folk tunes, and 20th-century avant-garde composition... Beyond the infectious melodic hooks on Chui Wan lie a near-constant fluctuation of beat and tempo, a deliberate maneuver calculated to create a simultaneous sense of fluidity and disjuncture." Chui Wan is a coming of age, a manifestation of the band's evolution as a whole, as well as a coherent result of the freeform experiments done in solo and duet performances by their two core songwriters, Yan Yulong and Liu Xinyu. It's all perfectly backstopped by the aforementioned "near-constant fluctuation of beat" supplied by their current drummer, Li Zichao. People often ask me why I like "experimental music", whatever that meaningless term may signify. In large part it's because experiments in baldly, at times painfully abstract music occasionally will produce something like Chui Wan. The band's currently on the tail end of an extensive US tour, where they've been making some waves. The music video for Chui Wan's single, "The Sound of Wilderness", debuted on NPR last week. That has to be some kind of milestone for the Chinese indie scene. So Chui Wan's coming back in a few days, fresh off a string of about 20 gigs, and gearing up to launch a nine-date China tour behind the new record. My guess is that they'll be in tour-hardened top form. Catch them on Saturday, June 6 @ Yugong Yishan. *** Later that very night, Dada hosts "the freshest sounds direct from Australia" via hard-to-classify producer and DJ, Air Max '97. Dude's named after a shoe and produces what he calls "OBLIQUE CLUB TRAX." This is another booking by Shanghai label Sub-Culture, who were just in town the other weekend. Big boss Howell will be in tow for Saturday's gig as well; check what he's about in May 18's Music Monday. Air Max '97 is among a new-ish wave of club producers using ultra-clean, hyper-digital sounds to create a somewhat future-sounding, fully in-the-box dance music. Aesthetically it bears some resemblance to London label PC Music, which has been the subject of much recent hype / reactionary criticism. Air Max's jams aren't as out there as the PC tunes, but they do still have that glossy digital sheen, sounding as if they tumbled straight from the internet's AI hive mind to the bass amp, without any need for a human intermediary pushing the buttons. His album art and press photos reinforce that concept: Air Max & Howell hit the decks on Saturday, June 6 @ Dada. They promise that "Those who take a step forward and lean into [Air Max '97's] riskier sounds are always rewarded tenfold, with a thrilling, hypnotic night of open-minded, open-bodied dance." Chill. *** Finally, also on Saturday (packed day), for something musically a bit less adventurous, a bit more time-tested: Beijing Drunk Fest II @ DMC. This one's a DIY production by local promoter Dr. Smartass featuring ten local bands (and one from Harbin) playing various styles of punk rock, including D-beat, ska, street punk, Oi, '77 punk, et al. It's a bit of a schlep, located out at Tongzhou punk oasis DMC. But it's not that hard to get there via public transit, and once you're there you're rewarded with a free gig and plentiful cheap booze. Music starts at high noon, with live sets from (in no particular order, as the bands will draw straws for playing order on the day): Bedstars, Bastards of Imperialism, Diseased Fruit, The Flyx, Cut Frenzy (Harbin), Maoxuewang, Fake Weed, Free Sex Shop, Chinese Modern Guys, Guiguisuisui. All that, plus post-show revelry in the form of an "Old School Punky Reggae Party" courtesy DJ Loyalty. Here's an oldie but a goodie by one of of my favorite bands on the bill, The Flyx, live at long-gone Wudaokou venue D-22. I think the last time I saw them was actually at D-22. Damn. If you can't be bothered to trek out to Tongzhou on Saturday, Dr. Smartass is also putting on a Drunk Fest pre-game show on Friday at Temple. Pretty solid lineup on that too, with Cut Frenzy from Harbin, Nakoma, Demerit, and an unannounced mystery band. That's free, 10pm start. *** RECAP: Chui Wan Album Release = SAT June 6 @ Yugong YIshan Sub-Culture pres. Air Max 95 = SAT June 6 @ Dada Beijing Drunk Fest = FRI June 5 @ Temple (pre-party) + SAT June 6 @ DMC