Following the news of Brad Ferguson's dismissal as manager of Windows Underground, a recent announcement on Smart Shanghai reveals the new guy in charge of the to be Steve Bamford, a DJ who has been playing "all colors of house" around Shanghai and China for the last four years. Taking a new house/techno/dance-friendly direction, Shelter's Friday D'n'B Friday night "Sweat Shop" has already relocated to Windows Underground (at least whilst the Olympic ban is in......

Wednesday, July 23 Tired of standing around awkwardly with your cheap drink at weekday happy hours? Express your inner artist (and your inner alcoholic) at the studio’s Happy Hour Art. Sketch, paint, drink and snack — all for 150 RMB. 796 Julu Lu, Luwan near Fumin Lu 巨鹿路796号 近富民路 Thursday, July 24 Sometimes those favorite moves we break out at the club each week start to seem a little overused. For those times, there’s Souldancing.......

DJ J Walk from djvibe.com played an amazing set at The Shelter last night.......

Phreaktion's Sweatshop events at The Shelter have been going strong for awhile now, and this Saturday 5/31 promises to keep the momentum going. Once again, flithy drum 'n bass is on the menu. Headlining is Canada's J Walk:J Walk, from Canadian based clubbing website djvibe.com makes his junglistic debut at Sweatshop this month. Having just returned from London, Sweatshop heads are in for a fresh tuneage treat!Local support is from Phreaktion regulars Siesta, Viceroy, Abruzzi......

By Benjamin Cohen In Shanghai, everyday is great. Here are five reasons why: Tuesday April 15th: Clouds of Crowds If you haven't been out to Island6 yet for "Clouds of Crowds," stop in before it drifts away (last day is April 29th). This interactive multimedia installations seeks to draw the viewer into blurry realm of chaos and order. Island6 Arts Center 2F, Bldg 6, 120 Moganshan Rd. Thursday April 17th: City Sound Sessions Take a......

Last night, Shanghaiist traipsed out to The Wall. Getting there was a little tricky and required our cab driver to get out and ask directions twice. The address of the club might be Riverside Avenue (Binjiang Dadao), but you can access the place only via Fenghe Lu. It took us a little while to figure that out. If it helps, the venue is directly across the street from the Shanghai International Convention Center. Anyway, it's......

If we had a jiao for every time someone was flabbergasted at the fact that we live in Pudong then, well, we could probably buy lunch. But cool stuff does happen east of the river. And this Saturday night, Union Music DJs Steve Bamford and Carl Lorimer will prove it by hosting a night of house and breaks at The Wall. Located at U1, 2727 Riverside Avenue (浦东滨江大道2727号 广场地下1层) in Lujiazui, this swank new venue......

Local techno goons Void are back on a mission to bring you some quality electronic music. Crew chief Cameron Wilson was serious when he spoke about extending his love of techno beyond lao wai. To prove his point, Void is hosting an all-Chinese lineup of serious techno DJs. Leading the charge is Void's Ben Huang – originator of the Ding concept – and Beijing's Mickey Zhang, who featured at last year's successful party of the......

Shanghai DJ collective The Lab celebrates their second anniversary this weekend. As a sort of reverse birthday present, they've gifted us with turntablist wizard and mixologist DJ Kentaro. Kentaro is the 2002 DMC World Champion and a two-time DMC Japan Champion, so he knows a thing or two about scratching records. But don't just take our word for it. Kentaro's label Ninja Tune describes him thusly: Kentaro is a mad dexterous surgeon who slices and......

On the left there is Matrix, who along with Futurebound rocked the hell out of Club Bonbon with some crazy drum and bass on Friday. More pictures, including a review of the "Punk from Xi'an" show at the Live Bar, after the jump.......

What's up this weekend? Plenty of things, but Shanghaiist plans to attend these two events for sure. Friday night, Phreaktion and DJ Siesta bring you Matrix & Futurebound at Club Bonbon. MC Stride does the vocals. From their site: Phreaktion brings you two of the current drum’n’bass icons in March: Matrix & Futurebound are responsible for arguably “THE” drum’n’bass album of the year – “Universal Truth”. The album has enjoyed much praise and massive success,......

No, it's not the new dining craze in Shanghai. If you're tired of mainstream house and trance, try giving Infected Mushroom a listen. Shanghaiist guarantees their brand of psychedelic trance will put you in a different frame of mind. To help convince you, the Israeli-based duo performs live tonight at the Tanghui VIP Club. A live set means no pre-recorded songs on vinyl or CDs - this is strictly synths, drum machines, and other instruments,......

Are you starved for techno? Real, honest-to-gosh techno? Well, Shanghai's Void crew has you covered. Several times a month they fill up LOgO and The Shelter to bring you the foot-tappinest, head-noddinest, neck-snappinest techno you ever could lay ears on. They've showcased both DJ Nomadico and Jason Hodges in Shanghai, and this Saturday March 1st they bring a little bit of Detroit and Berlin to The Shelter. We sat down with Shanghaiist football contributor and......

We've been hearing about the so-called hip hop grannies, but dang, actually watching them getting into their element left us pretty gob-smacked! We're sending this clip to mom because these ladies put up one helluva performance that would make Tina Turner blush... definitely the coolest grannies one could ever ask for!......

If you like your basslines rinsin' and your selektas rewindin', you'll be in broken-beat heaven this weekend. On Friday the 15th, Hospitality Shanghai sends Logistics and Cyantific to disinfect Club Bonbon. The duo will storm the emergency care ward to celebrate Bonbon's new status as a resident stop on the Hospitality tours. Cyantific is bringing an extra turntable just for us and will showcase his own brand of three-deck trickery. Still not satisfied? Then head......

Feeling a little "under the weather" (hah!) from all the snow we're getting? Those rapscallions over at Void have just the answer for you. On Saturday night, they're bringing respected house music veteran Jason Hodges to drop some bombs at The Shelter. From their web site:Following their successful mission at The Shelter opening party in December, VOID is back and will bring Canadian house DJ and producer Jason Hodges to the same venue on February......

Underground Resistance's first foray into mainland China last Saturday at The Shelter was truly a significant milestone for Shanghai's underground scene. DJ Dex aka Nomadico unleashed a set that's been described as a "real history lesson in dance music" — one that took the 800 or so revellers from the pre-electronic routes of modern dance music in the shape of parliament and James Brown, right up to the proper "electro" from the Advent ("program da......

With 20 million Muslims around China, it is only in recent years that they have been able to go on the yearly pilgrimage to Mecca, Islam's holiest city, in substantial numbers. Thanks to rising affluence, growing numbers of Chinese Muslims are now able to fulfill their spiritual obligations of performing the Haj at least once in their lifetime, and this year, a record 10,700 of them are expected to do so. Five departure ports......

Back in the office and just can't concentrate on work? Here's a bunch of useless links we gathered that you can entertain yourself with (while pretending to look oh-so-busy)! The Opposite End of China pulls out more old China news from the New York Times archive. Eye-catching headlines include: "Moslems capture West China cities", "Sinkiang capital falls", "Mohammedans capture Urumchi, Nanking may send mediator", "New state is formed by Eastern Sinkiang", and "The Living Buddha......

Who is Yacht ? Yacht, a musician you will love like a rainbow after the rain, or a lollipop after visiting the dentist. Any one remember the Blow? Well, the Blow’s last 2 albums was 90% Yacht and Yacht is made up of one man….the multi – talented Jona Bochtolt. Happy, positive rainbow music on speed, Yacht might currently be best known as that guy who used to be in the Blow or for......

Singapore Season, a series of cultural diplomacy events that started in London in 2005, has been kickstarted in Shanghai with a sell-out concert by pop star JJ Lin at the Hongkou Stadium last Sunday. About the only show throughout the entire series of events that has a Shanghai connection is Little Toys, a remake of the Chinese classic silent film 小玩意 (ie., little toys), starring 1930s screen goddess Ruan Lingyu (阮玲玉). This production won standing......

Oops..we have been sitting on this a few days, all the beers and amazing shows made Shanghaiist a little loopy and unable to sit down and type. The entry below comes via Emily Moy who had a chance to sit down with Talib Kweli and Ozomatli at the Yue Festival press conference last Thursday........ Its 3:30p.m., I’m running up and down The Bund and, I’m LATE. My interviews with Talib Kweli and Ozomatli are to......

Watch how these yangrouchuan sellers attract a crowd as they dance to techno while doing their thing. They obviously understand the idea that if there is little chance of differentiating your product (and lamb kebabs are a commodity, well, almost) you need to alter the WAY you deliver your product. Their music selection is really giving us a headache, but who are we to say anything. They clearly have got the attention of their target......

In its second year, the first independent dance festival in China brings lust, desire, sensuality and sexuality to the stage. The Shanghai Dance Festival initiated by Jin Xing exhibits works of dance companies from China, Denmark, Israel, Sweden and Switzerland. It’s the show we saw from Switzerland, closing Wednesday night (tonight), by the Dutch actor and choreographer Arthur Kuggeleyn that got us hot under the collar. His composition, “Master of Complications” is a bold exploration......

Before we get started on what is happening this weekend in music, gotta admit we accidentally put the wrong Yue Festival link in our last post. So here it is, for all you who want to keep abreast of festival news....www.yuefestival.com. We have also received word that the 1234 Beach Rock festival is being pushed back to October 21st. And now to what is happening this weekend in live music. Norwegian rockers Team Blitzkrieg are......

Punk might not be dead, but it seems that, due to permit issues, the Exploited tour is. What Shanghaiist can't figure out is why the Exploited, in all their anti-government glory, would even apply for permits (many of the bands who come for China tours do it on tourist visas). Any one who has already purchased tickets for the show will be able to take them back to 4Live for a full refund. In other......

As yet another weekend descends upon Shanghai, we have been contemplating what shows to report and why. Simple fact; if someone takes the time to tell us about it, then we will almost always take the time to write about it (unless it really sucks). Friday nights have been slow of late, with the more interesting shows competing with each other for crowds on Saturday. But, not this Friday. Dream Factory after splitting with Yuyintang......

Disgruntled Shanghaiist critics will have a fit when they realize that the prison in question is in the Philippines. To which I reply, "Black or white, Chinese or Phils: Jack-o knows no borders." The talented inmates in question reside at the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center. In this video, hundreds of inmates perform the King of Pop's most famous choreography (right after moonwalking, the surgical destruction of one's face, and dodging molestation charges-- the......

Gil Kim is a professional baseball player from Pottsville, Pennsylvania, which we are sure you all know is the home of Yuengling Lager (and is not too far from Bloomsburg, which we are sure you know is home to the Bloomsburg Fair). After graduating from Vanderbilt University, where he was "primarily a role player," Kim spent 2006 playing with the Omron Pioniers, a minor league team in Amsterdam, Netherlands. In 2007, he was signed by......

Although Cirque du Soliel's Quidam opened a few weeks ago, Shanghaiist didn't get the chance to see the show until last night. Initially, we weren't exactly over the moon about seeing the Canadian troupe perform...to new age music...in tights...on one of our precious Friday nights. But, we were wrong. Insert foot into mouth here. Last night's show was a great display of entertainment, music, and dance that bridged that cultural divide. It was a welcome......