Results tagged “splitworks”

Oh happy day! After the Handsome Furs came and left, we didn't think we'd be hit by another act we'd look forward to so gleefully so soon. But now our sources at Split! have told us that - barring any weird visa issues/sudden changes in show regulations - ANDREW BIRD will be heading here in late January 2010. YES!

In case you couldn't tell about how excited we got before they even came, we heart the Handsome Furs. We chatted with them before their show at Yuyintang, we photographed them rocking the stage (and found other online photosets too) and...

So we always get pretty excited about the bands Split Works brings over, but this has got us literally jumping up and down in our rooms in glee. The Handsome Furs, the indie rock duo project of Wolf Parade's Dan Boeckner and his wife Alexei Perry, are going to hit up Yu Yin Tang on September 5th. Tickets will be 80RMB at the door, and 70RMB if you book it early through Taobao or by email. Opening acts are yet to be decided, but heck - we don't care who's up on stage with them... the Handsome Furs are coming. THE HANDSOME FURS ARE COMING!

       

Ghostface Killah rocked out Wu-Tang style in Shanghai last Sunday night, June 14 at the WTF Club in Red Town (which some of you may have known as the old hip hop club, Candy). With the artist originally facing visa complications, many were worried he wouldn't actually make it to Shanghai. But in the end, Split Works! stuck to their word and helped deliver an incredible show. Support from local musicians - including Red Star, Ne Zha and Didjelirium - pumped up the crowd before the main act.

Or at least Shanghai. The story of live hip hop in our city (MC Hotdog aside) is generally one of rumour and disappointment. Remember when Nas tore ish up at Racks? Or when Jay Z wowed a packed crowd at Hongkou Stadium? No, us neither. That's largely because it didn't happen. Sure, we had Kanye go through the motions in a half empty stadium last year, but that's been pretty much it. This weekend though, might just make up for all the hurt.

The competition to open for Wu-tang Clan's Ghostface Killah rages on! If you're curious about the hopefuls trying out their rhymes andbattlin' it out for the spot at his Shanghai show, head over to Splitworks' Douban site. We've got seven aspiring rappers right now with Ne Zha's "Rude of Us" and bLow mc's "Money Make the World Go Round" heading the pack. Feel like you've got the chops to kick them out of the running? You've still got til June 9th to lay down your best moves. Ghostface Killah will be playing at Zhijiang Dream Factory on June 14.

We remember how psyched we were when we first got our hands on Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), so we're absolutely thrilled at this piece of news: Ghostface Killah is coming to Shanghai on June 14 (after stopping over in Beijing the day before)! And even better, he wants local talent to share his bill with him. So if you're an MC or DJ or singer with aspirations to open for one of the biggest acts in hip hop, head to the Douban/Splitworks contest site. Competition begins on May 14 and will end on June 9.

Canadian Jewish rap is truly something to behold. And tonight, you'll be able to behold it at Yu Yin Tang when Socalled (aka Josh Dolgin) hits the stage. Socalled is known for mixing hip hop with slightly less street sounds - drum & bass, folk music and klezmer.

"Split Works is saddened to announce that P.K.14's drummer Jonney has broken his foot! Though the band was scheduled to open for New York rockers Battles this weekend, it looks like they'll have to sit this one out...Wishing Jonney a speedy recovery. Fans are welcome to send virtual flowers and cards to jonneygetbetter at spli-t dot com. Fear not! We've rustled up not just 1, but 2 intrepid acts in each city to sub for P.K.14, bringing with them a spacey, lo-fi, hi-fi, fiercely experimental and eclectic sound; fitting support for the futuristic noise of Battles." In Shanghai, Mr. Particle and AV Okubo will be filling P.K.14's shoes.

                                                 

The Young Knives — all the way from Ashby-de-la-Zouch, Leicestershire — with support from local bands Boys Climbing Ropes and The Sonnet at Shanghai's Zhijiang Dream Factory on Friday, March 6. Thanks to Split for another great night of live music!

Remember back in January when you had nothing to do and then, suddenly, out popped a ten-day festival filled with art and music and people to mosh away the winter with? Relive some of the highlights of the Jue Festival, brought to you by Split! Works (who are, incidentally, bringing us Young Knives at Zhijiang Dream Factory this weekend)!

              

Shanghaiist was lucky enough to hang out with Jose Gonzalez for his first night performing in Shanghai. After a delicious meat-free meal at Jujube Tree (aka Vegetarian Lifestyle) — Jose is a vegetarian — we went off to be thrilled by his performance at the Children's Art Theater on Huashan Lu. Jose played the greatest hits from his last two albums, including "How Low" from In Our Nature and his cover of The Knife's "Heartbeats."

More photos on the Shanghaiist Contribute page. To see your photos on our Contribute page, use Flickr and tag your photos “shanghaiist”. Or you can email your photos to photos@shanghaiist.com and they will automatically appear on our site (and here).

So last week we thought summer in the city had come early - temperatures were pushing mid-20s and the sun was shining. This week temperatures have rocketed back down to single figures. Ridiculous. Luckily, you can warm yourself with some quality live music this week - starting tonight.

                                

It was raunchy and raw, rockin' and raucous... and now it's over. The two night line up this weekend started out on Friday with Shanghai-based pop-rockers Pinkberry, DJ Sacco and an amazing set from Beijing's Demerit - easily one of the best bands on the alternative scene right now. And on Saturday, Maybe Mars outdid themselves, bringing us AV Okubo, Snapline, Ourself Beside Me and Carsick Cars. Special thanks to Split Works for bringing us two weeks of artistic mayhem. Please sir, may we have another?

Via City Weekend we learn that the documentary film about last year's Converse-sponsored (and Split Works organized) Love Noise rock music tour of China is now viewable at a DVD player near you. Love Noise put Beijing bands PK14 and Queen Sea Big Shark on a converted bus and sent them on a two-week, six-city tour during the height of Olympics craziness last August. The trailer to the Love Noise film is embedded in this post, and after the jump you'll find a slew of related clips, uploaded to YouTube six days ago. The director's first name is Hammer, so it's got to be good.

Just one week in and 2009 has been largely dull, grey, and wet. Thankfully then, the good people at Split Works have put together a ten day long festival of art and music to warm our cockles - starting today. According to the organisers, Jue Festival is "an excuse to leave your hidey-hole and experience a punk show, an art installation, and everything in between", which sounds pretty good to us. The festival (which is also taking place in Beijing), will showcase some of Shanghai's best creative talent and is hosting a diverse set of artists and performers.

Hmmm. Maybe we have a thing for Swedish guys in tightly tapered pants and white dress shoes? Don't tell the wife! Had a great time at JZ last night watching Jens Lekman and Viktor Sjöberg prove to us that a guy, a guitar and a DJ are more than enough to keep us happy on a Wednesday (at first, we were hoping for some kind of horn section, it being a jazz venue and all). Jens and Viktor worked beautifully together and really seemed to be enjoying themselves, in their own shy kind of way. Highlights for us were probably "A Postcard to Nina" (with backstory in English and Mandarin) and "A Sweet Summer's Night On Hammer Hill" (we're suckers for a Warren G reference). Normally we'd post some photos and video clips, but we lost our camera's memory card and Taobao didn't deliver the replacement yesterday like they were supposed to. We don't see any Shanghai videos on YouTube yet or any photos on Flickr yet — so if you have some, send them our way (info at shanghaiist.com). And about the airplane dance, is it wrong that this is how we assume all people dance in Sweden? We highly recommend you head out to Glamour Bar tonight for Jens' final Shanghai show. And if you still need more convincing, check out these glowing reviews of his latest album.

In checking out the Facebook page for Split Works, the promoters bringing Jens Lekman to China, we noticed the other acts Split has lined up. Here they are (with Shanghai dates/venues in parentheses): Roxy Cottontail (Dec. 4?/TBD), South Rakkas Crew (Jan. 8/Shelter), Future of the Left (Jan. 16/Dream Factory), Jose Gonzalez (Feb./TBD).

Updating yesterday's post, the once-canceled Dandi Wind concert in Shanghai is now back on ... but at a different venue. At 12:55 am, the handy SMS hotline the promoters set up (see previous post) told us:

Our friends over at Split Works tipped us off to their Yue Festival website, on which you can vote for the artists you'd most like to see at the second annual event this fall. Lots of big names on the list — how many of them are realistic, and how big of a role voter opinion will play in the signing process, remain to be seen. But we have been told that all but perhaps one band mentioned on the list are possibilities, although some are much more expensive than others (yes, we're looking at you Mr. West).