*** Barreling right through this November... can feel the live music listings drying up even as I type this. This past weekend was the first lull in what will become the inevitable march towards December, winter proper, everyone going home to wherever their families / real lives exist, or just deeper into their holes to hibernate. But before all that: we have some blistering Cali hardcore, smoldering lo-fi bedroom indie, and a new showcase of homegrown psych fuzz on display this week in Beijing. Decent! Here we go: *** First one's on tonight, somewhat of a last-minute arrangement. Converse, via their Rubber Tracks mobile recording studio / corporate-underground-bona fides-establishing series, have just finished a brief China tour for California hardcore band Trash Talk. Trash Talk does pretty straightforward fast, early '80s hardcore, but also has a sort of 21st-century California bad kid skate rap thing going on with their overall vibe. They signed to controversy-generating rapper Tyler, The Creator's Odd Future label in 2012, and have subsequently gained some kind of crossover appeal, bringing fast hardcore to a more generalized audience of youth into fucking shit up and skateboards and drugs and whatnot. Here's an animated music video created by VICE offshoot Noisey, in which the band members drink a shoplifted Satanic potion and turn into psychedelic zombies: By all accounts, Trash Talk puts on a great live show. They were just in Chengdu, and a friend who was there said they were jumping off Little Bar's rafters the entire time. Here's what they look like in the flesh: So there wasn't originally a Beijing stop planned for Trash Talk (they had official dates in Shanghai, Chengdu, and Xi'an), which is kind of insane because this is the music capital of the country. Guess someone at Converse realized that, and booked an 11th-hour tour endcap for tonight at Yugong Yishan. Bedstars — who've been on the road with Trash Talk the entire time, as China's diplomatic offering of fucked up youth — will open, along with Dr. Liu and the Human Centipede. Should be a total ripper. Free, 9pm start. *** Another US act touring through this week worth your attention: Bill Callahan. Callahan previously recorded and performed as Smog, establishing a strong underground fan base with a long catalogue of lo-fi, four-track, expertly-crafted bedroom indie confessionals. As Smog he had a lot of hits. Arguably his best is this one, "A Hit": From the early '90s to the mid-'00s, Callahan progressively cleaned up his sound, and in 2007 cleaned up his title, dropping the Smog handle to record and perform under his christened name. Since then he's released a handful of albums on Drag City, which is presumably the material he'll be playing on Friday night. Here's some of his more recent work: This one's a Split Works joint, their penultimate gig of the year (followed up by Dan Deacon on December 6). Opening up for Bill is local rock'n'roll lifestylist Bian Yuan. Split Works's press release tells me Callahan is called "the new Leonard Cohen," and Bian Yuan is sorta China's Leonard Cohen, so perhaps that's the logic there. Here's Bian Yuan covering Leon Payne's dark alt-country burner, "Psycho":

Bian Yuan (边远) - "Psycho" live @ SCHOOL Bar 03-30-2014 The Other Side world premiere from Shanzhai Laowai on Vimeo.

So that's Bill Callahan + Bian Yuan on Friday, November 21 @ Yugong Yishan. Pick up your 100rmb pre-sales here (otherwise it's 130 at the door). *** One more for your consideration: a new concert series called Zaofang is kicking off this weekend at XP, with a pretty impressive roster of off-kilter psych-rock/electro acts performing over Friday and Saturday night. Night one entails a headlining performance by White+ and a solo electro-acoustic set by Da Bang drummer Linan. Talked a bit about this whole drummers going solo phenomenon on last week's Music Monday; think these all-percussion sets will be a big trend in the new year. Friday's gig also features a comeback performance by long-absent psych trio Dice. Whoa! I thought those dudes had hung up their guitars for good. Here's some archival footage of them from a few years back, before they vanished: Night 2 features a new band called Run Run Run. These guys apparently formed in April, and I assume they have some member overlap with Dice, because they're listed on Dice's Douban and their guitarist's name gets shouted out at the end of one of their recordings. All that's currently available as far as previewing their sound goes is two live cuts, and you'll have to click through to the Run Run Run Douban to hear those. Highly recommend you do. Super spacey, Warhol-era Velvets / borderline Les Rallizes Dénudés endless noise-psych jam vibes. Real, real good. Headlining Saturday's show is Chui Wan, standard bearers of the Beijing psych revival. These four have been in the studio working on a new 8-song LP, a follow-up to 2012's White Night. They've also been exporting their sound around Eastern and Central Europe lately, and are planning on a major US tour in the Spring, after their new album's issued. Here's a video of their full set, including lots of new material, performed at a festival in Estonia this past September: Friday and Saturday's Zaofang shows are 50rmb a pop, 9pm start for each. *** Recap: Trash Talk = TONIGHT (MON Nov 17) @ Yugong Yishan Bill Callahan / Bian Yuan = FRI Nov 21 @ Yugong Yishan White+ / Linan / Dice = FRI Nov 21 @ XP Run Run Run / Chui Wan = SAT Nov 22 @ XP