*** Like magic: as soon as September hits, the live music schedule swings into full gear. Welcome back, everyone! Did you enjoy your beach vacation? How was Yangon? Well, it's been raining here, and it shows no signs of stopping, but there are plenty of worthwhile international & local bands to check out this week from the comfort of your favorite smoke-choked indoor livehouse dive. Let's get into it, lot to cover: *** First up: TOE from Japan. This one's a New Noise joint, so you kind of already know what to expect. Post-rock. Math rock. Epic swelling soundscapes. At least 5 people in the band, probably closer to 10. Probably some string instruments involved. Lots and lots of people in attendance. I've run out of language to describe this post-rock stuff, I'll let TOE speak for themselves (I use "speak" metaphorically because of course TOE's music is 99.9999% instrumental): Yes, very intricate and... mathy. I hate that I use that word so often for music but it does describe this kind of thing well. Lots of talent on display here. TOE plays Yugong Yishan on Thursday, September 4. I'm not sure if this thing will sell out but it might come damn close, post-rock is huge here. If you want to guarantee your spot (and save a few kuais while you're at it), grip your 160rmb pre-sale stub via SmartTicket right here. Otherwise it'll run you 200rmb at the door. *** Next up: Blue Hawaii from Montreal. File under: electro twee pop. Looped & layered vocals and shadow beats, very gauzey and dreamy. Recommended for fans of: Postal Service, maybe less "edgy" Grimes? Pitchfork was pretty into their last release, 2013's Untogether, giving it the highly Pitchforkian classification of "humid, sun-kissed, heart-on-its-cut-off-sleeve electro-pop." Here's one cut off that one: Blue Hawaii plays a live set on Friday, September 5 at Dada. Pretty curious how that will go down. Think the 50rmb cover will keep some of the grimier Dada weekend warrior punters at bay, at least. The support artists are pretty erratic, as well. Presumably opening is the highly prolific, aptly named Noise Arcade. I've seen him do his live set at Dada and it actually works surprisingly well for all the sonic chaos involved. Here's one of his latest tunes: Presumably closing is Nee Bing. He's an old-hand Beijing electronic music promoter, a martial arts manager, an app magnate, and I think a tech house DJ. Go figure. In any case this will be a different flavor from Dada's usual Friday night rigmarole, will at least be different kinds of pheromones in the air (ones that smell less like Axe body spray, I'm guessing). Worth a look. *** For more of a local scene on Friday night: XP (via Maybe Mars) is releasing a compilation featuring a bunch of bands that play there all the time, appropriately enough entitled The XP Sound. This thing's been in the making for well over a year — half the bands on it don't even really play anymore. Nevertheless, it's a solid document of one of Beijing's most important live music incubators. Here's Alpine Decline's entry, straight up one of Beijing's best current bands. They're just coming off a two-month sojourn / tour of North America, look for them to pop up again in Beijing within the next month or so: Friday's release gig features live sets from Metoo, Bedstars, Elenore, and iimmune. Definitely an eclectic mix (lo-fi indie rock, '77 punk, Brit pop, experimental electronic), but I guess that makes perfect sense for a compilation celebrating such an open-booking-policy venue as XP. Catch that noise on Friday, September 5 at (obviously) XP. *** Moving on to Saturday night: Beijing punk stalwarts SUBS give a special performance to officially release their new album, yoU aRe yoU, and a compilation of European bands covering SUBS songs, plus to celebrate their 10th anniversary. Full disclosure here: I'm the drummer of SUBS, but they were grinding for a decade before I ever added my 2 cents to the equation, so it's not really my thing at all. Anyway you can get the lowdown from Kipp Whittaker at The Beijinger. And here's the album that will be officially released: That's Saturday, September 6 at Yugong. *** Last up: The Cairos from Brisbane. They're swinging through under the auspice of Fake Music Media / Nova Heart, as if that wasn't evident from the electric-yellow "David Lynch character writhing at a voodoo ritual" poster art above. Nova Heart met these fellas while touring down under last year and are returning the hosting favor back on their own turf. Love these band romances. Cairos' style is kind of a gritty early grunge / post-punk thing, but with the harder edges softened by a legit pop aesthetic and a singer who can really sing. Pretty good stuff. They just dropped their proper debut, Dream of Reason, this past May. It's more on the pop end of things; you can sample that here. I'm more into their earlier stuff, which has a bit more grit. Here's 2010's Summer Catalogue EP: Noice. The Cairos share the stage with Nova Heart on Sunday, September 7 at Yugong Yishan. This event is also the official release party for a new Nova Heart single — a teaser from their forthcoming full-length album, which will drop in November. Ticket holders can also catch a free afterparty at Migas featuring Nova Heart's Helen Feng, Fake Love Music's Metro Tokyo, and The Cairos spinning dance tunes til the small hours. Next Monday's a holiday, after all. One day it's summer, then you turn around and it's already Mid-Autumn. Lunacy. *** Recap: TOE = Thu, 9/4 @ Yugong Blue Hawaii = Fri, 9/5 @ Dada 'The XP Sound' Compilation Release = Fri, 9/5 @ XP SUBS Album Release / 10th Anniversary = Sat, 9/6 @ Yugong Nova Heart Single Release Party w/ The Cairos = Sun, 9/7 @ Yugong Damn, Yugong's really mopping up this week.