Monthly Press Review – 6 (July 2024)

Taiwan version of “The Big Band” begins

Yes, Taiwan has now it’s own version of “The Big Band” (乐队的夏天), the iQiyi show which jump-started the carreer of many old and new Chinese indie-rock bands. It’s called “Let’s Listen to the Bands” (一起聽團吧). Here’s an article on the four members of the jury, Harlem Yu, Howe Chen, Waa Wei and Luantan Ascent. Less Yanjing beer, more bubble tea.

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Miserable Faith concert in Beijing

China Daily, or should I say the new PR agent of Miserable Faith, published an article on the recent concert of 痛仰 in Shougang Park in Beijing, to, I quote, “promote high-quality cultural and tourism integration and to build Beijing into the “capital of performing arts””.

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Hip-hop sensation Gali concert in Malaysia

Gali, the third runner-up in the 2020 season of The Rap of China, is coming to Malaysia according to the local paper The Sun.

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A Noise space in Hong Kong

SCMP article on the biggest Noise fest in Hong Kong curated by Kung Chi-shing, in order to show another image of Hong Kong beside Cantopop.

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Exhibition on the golden age of Cantopop in Hong Kong

A SCMP article on the new immersive exhibition on James Wong Jim and Joseph Koo, two legends of Cantopop who began a partnership in 1972. An exhibition opened in Tai Kwun until end of August. “Soundtrack of Our Lives: Joseph Koo x James Wong x the Rise of Cantopop”, Duplex Studio, Block01, Tai Kwun, 10 Hollywood Road, Central, Daily, 11am-7pm. Until August 28.

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Beijing’s DADA 12 year anniversary concert

The Beijing indie electro night-club DADA is celebrating its 12 year anniversary with 69 DJs. DADA had to relocate near Ritan, but still, 12 years is a milestone for Beijing live-venues! I have to share the anecdote in the article of That’s Beijing, because, well, that’s Beijing:

Do you have any funny stories about Dada you’d like to share?
For the last three years at the old location, the landlord kept telling us we would get kicked out fairly soon and that the building would get destroyed, but there was never a date set in stone.

Finally, in 2021, we got a two week notice and held a ‘closing party.’ Then the following Monday, we got a call saying we could stay open for a few more weeks because the inspectors found an endangered bird that had built a nest and laid eggs above our doorway, so they couldn’t do any construction until the baby birds hatched and flew away.

This was about two days after our ‘grand closing’ event, and so we had to plan a bunch of events again. Everyone was like “What’s going on?!” I had to tell the bird story at least 300 times.

Finally, about a month later, the birds flew away – I actually have it on video – and sure enough, the next day we got the call – game over.

Luckily, we’d already started construction on the new location near Ritan Park, so there was only a short gap between the old and new locations.

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Xi’an punk band The Noname European tour

The old punk band from Xi’an (formed in 2001) is touring Europe this summer with their new album, “Fortress Besieged”. New Noise Magazine published an interview of the Chinese punk band with perhaps the worst reputation.

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Chinese bands turning to psychedelic sounds

Interesting article by RadiiChina on two Chinese bands, Backspace from Beijing and Sweet Sister Session from Wuhan, who turned to 1960s American psychedelic rock and roll “to escape from the pressures of contemporary China”.

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Politics and award winners at the last Taiwan Golden Melody Awards

The GMA (Golden Melody Awards) is already over. As predicted, No Party For Caodong 草東沒有派對 got three awards for their long-awaited second album (best band, album of the year and best Mandarin album). Taiwanese rapper MC HotDog won the best Mandarin male singer award, while the best Mandarin female singer award went to Shi Shi Sun, according to Variety. Justin Su won the Best Male Taiwanese Singer category for his album Empty Side of the Heart (心內烏空), while Huang Fei clinched Best Female Taiwanese Singer – her third time winning the title – for her album Eighteen Martial Arts (十八般武藝), according to Focus Taiwan. Of course it can’t be a proper Taiwanese award ceremony without some political controversy. Panai Kusui, an Indigenous rights advocate, grabbed Best Taiwanese Album with “Iā-Pô” (夜婆). During her acceptance speech, she urged people not to forget China’s 1989 crackdown on democracy protesters in Beijing, as the GMA and the Tian’anmen crackdown both marked their 35th anniversary, according to Taipei Times.

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Wayne Liu’s Solo Album Release Party

Very touching article from Muhammad Irfan in The New Lens on the release party of Wayne Liu’s solo album. Wayne Liu (who was a member of Wayne So Sad and The Admonished Trio) sadly passed away last year. During the concert at The Wall in Taipei, all his past band-mates were reunited to celebrate his musical journey.

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Mayday donates RM696,000 to Singaporean non-profit

It’s not a monthly press review without a Mayday’s new. This time it’s not a controversy, the Taiwanese (or Chinese? we don’t know these days) pop-rock band donated $200,000 (RM696,000) to a Singaporean non-profit to mark its appreciation for the country’s fans who have supported their music for over 25 years according to The Star.

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Korean band Say Sue Me on their cancelled concert in Beijing

We talked about it last month, the Korean indie rock Say Sue Me was supposed to play in Beijing, all was in order for their trip (they had, as always – see my article about music censorship in China – to submit a list of their songs and their meaning to the Chinese authorities), but it was cancelled at the last minute. A new victim of the “Hallyu ban” in China, which began in 2015. Here’s an article on NME about the Korean band.

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