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is a weekly Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê×ÊÁÏÍø 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 email us , and we'll honor your request promptly.

Happy Singles Day, Shanghai! Everyone knows one is the loneliest number, except when it’s November 11. I’m planning on stopping by the flower guy at my metro station and buying myself an overpriced dozen roses. Just for me. Then I’m going to take myself out to a nice fancy dinner at , roses in hand, then I’ll probably head down to the before I hit Mardi Gras for some of their one-water-one-sparkling-wine-one-wine special for 100rmb. Yes, nothing sad about my lonely boy night out at all. Fortunately, I have the biggest Electronic Dance Music festival in China in the form of STORM to look forward to this weekend, where I can only imagine I’ll be surrounded by thousands and thousands of like-minded Paris Hilton enthusiasts. 


The STORM Festival is the brainchild of the same large-scale event company that brought you Pitbull last August, and I have the feeling this is just the beginning of their invasion of Shanghai. Just in case you haven’t seen their full-page ads in every magazine and website in town, I’d like to tell you a little about STORM. It’s a two day "festival" that starts this Saturday, November 16, in an outdoor space in southern Shanghai called the Xuhui Binjiang Green Space. The second day is Friday, November 22, at the same outdoor venue, so let’s just hope they are selling hot chocolate to keep your fingers warm. Many of the artists on the festival bill are also playing after parties in various clubs around town both nights. You’ll have to make the call if you’d rather see your favorite artists in festival form or club form. I hear Paris Hilton is doing her after party at Windows Scoreboard and will be giving a ping-pong show, but that is not confirmed. For now, let’s check a few of my favorite artists coming into town that are confirmed, Afrika Bambaataa, Dillinja and Claptone.



The 56-year-old Afrika Bambaataa is dropping in on Shanghai like 300 pounds of bricks. A breakbeat godfather and Universal Zulu Nation representative, Bambaataa has been a consistent positive force in the world of hip hop and inner city community action. Bambaataa aimed to steer kids away from joining gangs by introducing them to alternatives like rapping, DJing, graffiti art and, in general, "art instead of guns". His group of artists under the Zulu Nation banner formed much of what we know of hip hop culture from the late 1970s into the '80s. Around 1982 Bambaataa started introducing electronic musical influences from artists like Kraftwerk into his selections and helped pioneer the electro-funk movement, which was influential to artists like Egyptian Lover, who was just in Shanghai last weekend.

Throughout the late '80s and '90s he continued to innovate in the electronic realm working with artists like Gary Numan and WestBam. A good amount of his later work is more experimental and less radio or even dancefloor friendly, but you have to give it up to a founding legend who has never stopped running game. Check him out Saturday at STORM and later that night at Arkham for a more intimate show. To get a cheap price at the aftershow, you have to buy a 60rmb ticket inside the Storm Festival not just turn up with your stub. Little tip there.







Fast forward to the future. The future you ask? Yes, the future being 1991 when Karl Francis, AKA Dillinja, started putting out drum'n'bass tracks to a hungry world. With over 500 releases under his belt, Dillinja has become widely known as one of the most prolific producers of his genre. Also an accomplished DJ, you can expect his set this weekend to be hard and in-your-face with that bass. Keeping true to his vinyl roots Dillinja opened an audio-mastering and vinyl-cutting studio called Ear2ground, which has done work for DNB labels like Liquid V and Progress. Alongside his longtime partner Lemon D, Francis has developed his brand of DNB from roots within the Jamaican sound system culture. His name is an homage to early reggae MC Dillingja.

One of his biggest influences is King Tubby and, like Tubby's music, every Dillinja track is a very unique piece that only Dillinja could have possibly made. After his STORM set on Saturday you will find Francis playing a bass-heavy club set at the Shelter that very same night. 








My final pick in the top three incoming artists this week is the masked man himself, Claptone. Back to rain vengeance on the land of Shanghai, Claptone first visited us last January when he tore that place down a like a house music bulldozer. His songs are palatable to the average listener and hardcore house head alike, which is perhaps why Claptone has received such praise. Every song is warm-hearted and well thought out with a strong since of emotion.





Yep, that’s the best of STORM, in my eyes. There are some other artists who have popped up on the lineup like Compuphonic and Sweden’s KITE, which deserve an honorable mention. For a full STORM line-up, go here.

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