Oct 11, 2010 | Music, Youth
Guaili / 怪力 are definitely one of my favorite bands in Beijing. I am secretly obsessed with their lead singer Wen Jun who throws her angular, almost skeletal body around stage during performances all while chain smoking cigarettes and rocking out an incredibly powerful voice. This September they went on a 14-city “Hell Tour” around China in support of their first album, Flight of Delusion, which they released with Maybe Mars. I have listened to it a few times and even though it might not be as wild as their performances in dive bars around the city, there are definitely some gems. You can purchase the CD at the usual suspects around Beijing including D-22 and most music stores around Guloudong Dajie. Hopefully there will be a way to purchase it online soon.
Sep 26, 2010 | Art, Music
The Creators Project organized by Vice finally rolled into Beijing last week with tons of exhibitions and a blowout party in 798. Over the past year I have been meeting people from Vice who shot the short artist profiles that form the core of The Creators Project. Some of my favorites from China include Zhang Shouwang from Carsick Cars, DJ Wordy (see previous post), Ray Lei, Peng Lei from New Pants, and fashionista extraordinaire Vega Wong. They are all very well produced and will surely create an impressive archive of innovators from around the world. After reading up on The Creators Project parties in London and New York, I was quite excited for the main event here in Beijing. Unfortunately CSS canceled last minute and Delorean had troubles getting their equipment through customs (something always goes wrong in China). Nonetheless, the hometown boys held up their part of the bargain with two amazing sets by Rebuilding the Rights of Statues (ReTROS) and New Pants. One of the highlights included Fox Pang grabbing an old iMac on stage and smashing it to bits much to the delight of the audience at the end of their new hit “Sex, Drugs, Internet”. See the attached video for this and more highlights. Otherwise DJ Wordy shined with his short musical interludes while Major Lazer definitely lived up to their reputation and got the entire room riled up into a proper frenzy. The craziest part of this entire venture is that Intel sponsored it all. Hopefully we will see more specialized projects focusing on fringe media and artists with big corporate sponsorship behind it in the future. Gotta pay the bills somehow.
Sep 14, 2010 | Music, Portraits
I met up with DJ Wordy this afternoon to interview him about the history of hip hop in Beijing. For those of you not in the know, DJ Wordy is a three-time DMC China DJ Champion and has toured all over the world with his phat beats and dynamic scratching abilities. His contributions to the Beijing hip hop scene are legendary. More recently, DJ Wordy spent a month in New York this summer and was taken under the wing of Damon Dash who wants to make inroads into China through his new DIY-inspired company, DD172. Hopefully by the end of the year a new CD from DJ Wordy will be out with artist collaborations from all over the world including those from Damon Dash’s roster such as Curren$y and Ski Beatz – local Beijing MCs would also be featured. If the project actually materializes, it could represent a great leap forward for underground hip hop in China. Beijing freestylers are in desperate need of some quality producers who can put their talents to better use.
Sep 10, 2010 | Society
Last week I finally got to meet the lovely Meimei, one of the most notorious cross-dressing performers making the rounds of Beijing’s small but burgeoning homosexual cabaret scene. She was first brought to my attention via an excellent piece produced by my friend Anna Sophie Loewenberg, star of the long-running online series Sexy Beijing. Meimei also runs a private cross-dressing and S&M parlor. Such an independent business venture is a very new phenomenon in China and symbolizes the growing acceptance of the widening spectrum of sexual diversity in the country. I will be focusing on Meimei in the coming months, so expect more work concerning her story.
Sep 6, 2010 | Society
I just returned from the Golden Beach Music Festival in Qingdao. The festival is very unique out of the many popping up all over China – it takes place right on a beach so that concertgoers can enjoy the sand beneath their feet and dive into the ocean to cool off. Although there were only a few thousand people on hand every day, everything was well organized and both the Subs and Demerit stole the weekend with excellent performances. However, I was most taken by the intrepid music fans and curious passersby who couldn’t afford the ticket price and instead climbed trees just outside the fencing to catch a glimpse of the stage. Thus spawned this symbiotic series of man and tree.
