Rich Medina, a veteran of the New York music scene, is tearing up the Shelter on Friday night - a party you definitely don't want to miss.
Rich Medina, a veteran of the New York music scene, is tearing up the Shelter on Friday night - a party you definitely don't want to miss.
Electrolist, hosted by Shanghai Ultra of the infamous VOID crew, gives the lowdown on the Shanghai Electronic music scene each week, with picks, tips, news, and other rumors.
With everything that's going on tonight, FREE the WAX has got one more gig vying for your attention featuring American electro-cinematic producer maestro Eliot Lipp who is best known for his seamless weaving of 80s electro, 70s jazz-fusion and Bay Area hip hop.
Internationally-renown Eric San, who records under the name Kid Koala, is well known for his inventive style of turntablism, which uses an unusual collection of samples from sources like Charlie Brown television specials, old comedy sketch routines, people sneezing, and people reading a menu in Cantonese.
CNNGo went around Shanghai's bars and clubs recently in a confusing article about air quality. Confusing namely because they said they're testing for the best and worst, but only six bars/clubs make the story and, really, the only one that got lambasted was The Shelter, which had a ppm ([thousand] parts per million of criteria pollutants) of 350. Regular air quality in Shanghai is 230 and the U.S. FDA says 150 is in the high end of the safe zone. Because we needed an air quality meter to tell us that it hurts to breathe in The Shelter. Anyway, apparently one of the best places to go for a breath of fresh air is Sin. But while your lungs will feel clean, can all the ventilation there stop your soul from feeling dirty?
Hard working underground DJ group VOID has made it to the two year mark here in Shanghai. They'll be celebrating tomorrow with a party at the Shelter, but we took some time to get to know a little more about the group. Check out our interview with Shanghai Ultra below:
Another week, another great spat of live music here in Shanghai - and this time around, there's a good mix of electro indiepop, hip hop, synthy stuff and some punk on the side. YYT, like usual, dominates the weekend with Yuguo on Friday and a rock-filled Sexy Animal Party on Saturday.
Maybe you've never heard of Onra or Arnaud Bertrand but you may actually recognize one of his songs, "The Anthem", which was featured in a Coca Cola ad for the Beijing Olympics starring 3D animated versions of Yao Ming and LeBron James.
Matthew Curry, also known as Safety Scissors, told us his roots in minimal techno music began early - he was allegedly listening to his mother’s heartbeat before leaving the womb.
Anyone who's been in Shanghai for the past few years will know about micro - the semi-regular series of minimal house and techno nights that has graced a number of venues in its time.
Within two months of their arrival to Shanghai, Mads Damsgaard Kristiansen and Esben Valloe (i.e. Reptile and Retard) have managed to score an Antidote-sponsored headlining gig at The Shelter.
Steve Barker, a pioneering British alternative music DJ and active BBC regional radio broadcaster, usually spends his days rocking out Beijing. But tonight, he's gracing Shanghai with his presence by helping host a dub and reggae music festival at the Shelter.
Up-and-coming electronic hip-hop producer Dorian Concept, otherwise known as Oliver Thomas Johnson, will take to the stage come this Thursday at The Shelter. Having developed his own distinctive twisted sound, the 24-year-old Austrian has just released his debut LP and performed at this year's Gilles Peterson Worldwide Awards a few weeks back.
In their first show of the year, the Shanghai's underground house and techno crew, Void, take a break from hosting the likes of Underground Resistance, Robert Hood, DJ Bone and Neil Landstrumm to showcase their own residents with a live, improvised decks and drum machine performance.
2008 Anno Domini / Year of the Rat will be remembered as a difficult one for China in general. Its effects were felt by all, including those involved in Shanghai's numerous musical scenes. It was a year in which artists, promoters and fans had to deal with even more obstacles and barriers than usual in their quest to generate culture and make the whole metropolis live up to its reputation as one of Asia's most dynamic and happening cities.
We are pretty sure more than a few people are thankful that Mark Pritchard didn't pursue a culinary career in the end. The pioneering DJ, currently with cutting edge label Warp Records, has since moved on from his critically-acclaimed deep ambient music to the dark synthetic bass bleeps of Detroit-inspired instrumental hip hop.
A highly respected African-American DJ and producer, from the most influential city in the history of electronic music, has criticized the ranking system which is used by many clubs in China, particularly Shanghai, when deciding which DJs to bring to the country, as being useless.
We’d like to correct an error in the post “Bananas is back (Alright!)”.
This Saturday Friday at the Shelter sees the long-awaited return of a legend on the Shanghai party circuit: Bananas.
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).
Cover: RMB 50
Seems like it's that time of year. First, Void celebrated their one-year anniversary last month. Now Phreaktion, fronted by DJ Siesta, turns three. It's just more proof that drum and bass is not only here, but here to stay. So this weekend, they're giving you the presents by featuring Goldie and DJ Krust over two action-packed nights.
In the past year, local techno strongmen Void have proven to be anything but. They've consistently rocked venues like LoGo and The Shelter every month, bringing one techno legend after another (see: Robert Hood, Traxx, etc). So it's only fitting that they celebrate their first birthday with not one, but TWO notable techno artists.
Barely two weeks after their successful first event, FREE the WAX will bring in multi-instrumentalist hip hop duo, Hermitude (Elefant Traks) tonight from down under for a show at The Shelter.
Last night's gig was much welcomed after a long drought in Shanghai's experimental/ indie electronic music scene (think DJ Krush back in December 2006), judging by the large turnout ready to party on a week night. Daedelus, outlandishly dandy as ever with massive sideburns (that would do well to give Gaz Coombes a run for his money), certainly did not disappoint.
Yeah, that long holiday week is almost here, isn't it? Well if you want to tack on an extra two days, this might be your ticket. On Thursday night, Free the Wax is bringing Daedelus to The Shelter with his brand of hip-hop/synthpop/electronica. What's it sound like?
Turntablism, also known as scratching, started as an integral part of hip hop in the 80s and has expanded into numerous other genres. At its basic level, turntablism involves manipulating a record and crossfader to create quick chops, fades, cuts, and stutters in the music. True artists juggle beats back and forth, switching between numerous songs at lightning-fast speed. Not only does it sound amazing, it's also extremely badass to watch a DJ manipulate a record in his own fashion and create an entirely new piece of music on the fly.
Ah, 80's music. No, we don't mean that 80's music. We mean Frankie Knuckles and Ron Hardy inventing new art forms at dueling nightclubs in Chicago. From their respective perches at The Warehouse and The Music Box, these pioneers of music transformed soul, disco, R&B, and funk into what's now known as house music.