香港六合彩资料网

is a weekly 香港六合彩资料网 column, serving up mp3s from bands living and making music in China (or coming to China, or thinking about coming to China, or whatever). Copyright holders: if you would like your song removed, please send an email to nightlife@smartshanghai.com and we'll honor your request promptly.

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Top of the morning to ya Shanghai. March is upon us and the rogue characters at are back with their annual JUE Music + Art Festival. started up in 2009 and is the community-driven portion of Split Works, who also dabble in more commercial ventures like their music festival and various sponsored tours.

Basically, on top of bringing in cutting-edge music acts, Split Works handpicks some of the best events in March and throws them under the JUE umbrella to help promote and tie them all together in a Chinese rendition of Kumbaya. While an extensive list of art events happens under JUE as well, today we give you the meat and potatoes of their music line up that will grace stages around Shanghai over the next couple weeks.

Looking at all these events together gives proof of Shanghai鈥檚 presence on the international music stage. This presence can seem minimal during the harshest points of winter, especially the Chinese New Year dead zone, so by the time March comes around, our town is more than ready to get back to the rock. Plus, the shows are generally affordable, so take a listen of these incoming artists and get ready to hit the streets. It鈥檚 JUE time again!



Let鈥檚 start with my favorite act of the incoming JUE festival - Paul Collins鈥� Beat, playing Saturday March 8th at Yuyintang. Ordained the godfather of power pop, Paul Collins is best known as a founding member of seminal 70鈥檚 rock band The Nerves, and later The Beat. You may remember The Nerves from their song 鈥淗anging on the Telephone,鈥� which Blondie covered a few years later. More importantly, their brand of power pop influenced countless 70鈥檚 kids into creating their own version of a harder, stripped-down and gritty pop rock. Paul Collins went on to create The Beat, who have been playing on and off over the past 30 years. Finally in 2014 he鈥檚 arrived on China鈥檚 doorstep.





Also on March 8th, Wuhan rock veterans Hualun come through to play a show at On Stage over in Red Town. Hualun reflect China鈥檚 ever-growing love of post rock and were picked up on China鈥檚 largest rock label, Modern Sky. Their album Asian River is one the most respected records out of China in recent years. This show was originally supposed to be Japan鈥檚 Acid Mother Temple, which would have been a gig for the ages. But we can鈥檛 change fate and the addition of Hualun to the festival is more than welcomed.





Back up a night before to Friday March 7th at Arkham and you鈥檒l find American electronic music producer Travis Egedy, who performs under the moniker Pictureplane. Making waves a few years ago with his darker blend of acid house and goth-inspired party beats, the Colorado native toured with Crystal Castles last year from sea to shining sea. Even more recently, the hipster beatmaker got a track on a DC fighting game titled Injustice, where you can battle it out with Batman against Superman and more. You鈥檒l want to get your party pants out of the closet for this one as she鈥檚 going to be a banger.





Coming back to China for another taste of the orient are Irish post-rock gods And So I Watch You from Afar for an early set on Tuesday March 11th at Mao Livehouse. Handing out mathematical beatdowns from Belfast to Berlin, you鈥檒l be hard pressed to find another band with so much good feedback. The four Celtic boys play instrumental sets that punch you in the face and keep you coming back for more. Signed to the Sargent label, they put out the album All Hail Bright Futures last year. Also, they're label mates with some top shelf kids like Boris and Hella. This show is going to be a banger!





Making JUE festival even more classy is a midweek show with Will Wiensen Filed, aka Baths, on Wednesday 12th at 390 Bar. Wiensen grew up in the Tarzana area of Los Angeles, where back in 2010 he was touted as the new big thing in Electronic music with the breakout album Cerulean. His last three albums came out on the California-based label Anticon, whose roster includes Jel, 13 & God, and Why?, to name a few. Wiesenfeld is classically trained in the musical arts and this shows in his beautifully composed works, which have landed on multiple 鈥渂est of鈥� lists from heavy hitters like Pitchfork and The AV Club.





My favorite China-based band gig at this year鈥檚 JUE festival is hands down Beijing psych-rock duo Alpine Decline, playing Yuyintang on Friday, March 14th. This show is the release party for their new album Go Big Shadow City. Fresh off an Australian tour, these kids are jumping right back on the road doing a full Chinese tour with over twenty dates. Their sound comes from a wealth of dorky analog equipment and solid bass and drum action. Legendary Beijing rock man Yang Haisong recorded for Alpine Decline and it鈥檚 clear that these kids just keep getting better with every album. Opening up for the Friday show is Shanghai experimental rock band Duck Fight Goose.



Happy JUE festival kids, she comes earlier every year!