*** As Summer continues to cook, the days get longer and the nights get hotter. Luckily there's a bunch of cool shit happening on the live music front pretty much every night this week, work schedule be damned! Jumping feet first into the deep end: *** Yeah, on the more abstract end of what's on offer this week in Beijing: tomorrow night (Tuesday, June 16), Canadian experimental musician Eric Boros presents an "amplified solo acoustic guitar/vocal set" at Meridian Space. Boros, one half of perennially-on-tour French/Canadian experimental folk duo Vialka, is a self-taught multi-instrumentalist and homegrown experimenter in the fields of tape loop noise, performance art, photography, and composition. He's pretty much been on tour for the past twenty years, adding instruments and ideas to his arsenal from most corners of the globe. His presser adds: "With a focus on trans-cultural and interdisciplinary collaboration, he has established connections with artists from around the world and off the beaten path, crossing the borders between art, music and noise." Here's a sample from the Boros files: On Tuesday it'll be less trans-cultural mashup, more one-man-and-a-guitar minimalist compositions. 40rmb ticket, 8:30pm start. More info here. *** Next up, on Wednesday at XP: alone-in-the-zone Beijing space rock unit Alpine Decline will deliver one more live set before jetting off to the USA for the rest of the summer. Since moving to Beijing in 2010, Alpine Decline have cemented themselves as one of the city's most prolific and consistently interesting bands. They've put out a full-length LP for every year they've been here, each one better than the last. Last year's effort, Go Big Shadow City, got top marks in our 2014 Best Music survey, and I can already tell you that the one they have in the chamber for a late 2015 release will blow even that out of the water. They're also just about ready to unleash INK, an all-modular-synthesizer album, as a little palette cleanser. Debuted a track off that in SmartBeijing's chunjie mix back in February. Here's another sample: XP has been a home base for Alpine Decline for a major part of their Beijing career, so they're turning in one more performance there before it shutters for good in July. They'll be doing a full-on rock set, with longtime producer and recent band addition Yang Haisong on bass. 40rmb (includes a drink), 9pm start. More *** Moving right along, more weeknight tomfoolery to be had: on Thursday night at School Bar, Cat Aids, "the best band in Beijing" according to themselves alone, releases their new EP via their own Nasty Wizard Recordings cassette tape label. This is the first Cat Aids release since their excellent Christmas album, and the first new tape from Nasty Wizard since Percy Piss Wizard's Better Than a Glory Hole. (Percy is a cat I believe.) Cat AIDS recently doubled down on its aimless noise theatrics with the addition of iconic Gulou longhair "Filthy" Bill on second, untuned guitar. Expect costumes, headbanging, special guests on stage, and at least five songs dedicated to SmBJ's editor-in-chief. Also, "music": Support sets from down-for-the-cause buddies Death Narcissists and Sleep Paralysis. Solid weeknight grunge/indie/noise rock billing right here. 40rmb, 9pm start. More info *** Finally, the weekend! On Saturday night, you'll want to head back to School Bar to catch Shanghai's Round Eye as they blitz through Beijing to release their debut, eponymous LP. Round Eye, who just celebrated their third anniversary, is one of the hardest-working bands in Shanghai DIY. And their self-released long-player Round Eye is a real ripper, let me tell you. In the last few sets I've seen them play, they've stripped away some of the fringe elements of years past, fleshing the sound out around on a core set of raw, late Black Flag-inspired weirdo riffs, coupled with ragged skronk sax outbursts and vocalist Chachy's demented musings on doing bad things in the city. You can stream the whole thing here. And here's an MV for the single, "City Livin'": BONUS ROUND: on Saturday, Round Eye will be joined on auxiliary sax by legendary ex-Stooges collaborator Steve Mackay. Steve's coming up a night early to do a standalone show at XP, where he'll collaborate with some of Beijing's wildest noise artists and freest improvisers. In particular, he'll play along with Vagus Nerve, the psych-doom project of China's premiere freakout guitar shredder, Li Jianhong. Bring earplugs! Back to Round Eye: on Saturday at School, they're joined by Xi'an punk stalwarts Sucker and local wastoids The Bedstars. Also rumors floating around of punk scene luminaries joining Round Eye on stage for some Stooges covers. Guess you'll have to show up to find out. *** RECAP: Eric Boros = TUE June 16 @ Meridian Space Alpine Decline = WED June 17 @ XP Cat AIDS EP Release = THU Jun 18 @ School Steve Mackay (Stooges) + Vagus Nerve = FRI June 19 @ XP Round Eye LP Release = SAT Jun 20 @ School