As the century turned, Beijing knew little of drum & bass. The Syndicate, a band of rowdy miscreants who dared to venture where none had gone before, changed that. Ahead of the crew’s sixth birthday party at White Rabbit on March 13 (RMB 50, 9pm), members Blackie and Slide tell us how they’ll up the ante in 2010.

the Beijinger: It’s been quiet on The Syndicate front for a few months. What’s been going on?
DJ Blackie: It really was a case of, in the wake of various movements and goings on in the Beijing nightlife scene, us pursuing various other projects for a short while. It’s also given us time to take stock and wait for the opportunity to hit the ground running. We’re super excited about where things are at in terms of clubs this year.

"I hate optimism out of insensitivity."
- Zuoxiao Zuzhou

For the past five years, this guy has been making headlines for pricing his albums from 30 kuai to 500 kuai. He’s also known for being a contemporary artist/poet/soundtrack composer working with Ai Weiwei and film director Jia Zhangke. Born in 1970, alternative rock singer-songwriter Zuoxiao Zuzhou (literally means “left-little-curse of the ancestors”) founded Beijing East Village with many avant-garde artists in early 90s, and their controversial artwork Adding a Meter to the Nameless Mountain (为无名山增高一米. See photo, below) shocked the Chinese art world in 1995. Meanwhile, ZXZZ's rock band "NO" released Trip to Temple Fair (庙会之旅) and The Missing Master (走失的主人). Both albums are filled with spacious guitar chords, tribal drum beats, sound experiments and volatile vocals, which scared many people for sure, but also gained him a loyal fan base.

Fubar boss Chad Lager thrives on schemes and promotions that seem like madness. He launched Cinco de Drinko at Saddle Cantina, giving away half-price drinks for a whole day on the 5th of every month. Later, after moving to Tun, he did the unthinkable and started a ladies' night on Fridays - in Beijing nightlife, this was the equivalent of declaring the world to be round in medieval times. Both ideas worked. Then Chad went off to open Fubar, a "speakeasy" cocktail bar priding itself on large pours, quality drinks and good prices. All very sensible. Were Chad's days of dreaming up insane promotions over?

For almost two decades, DJ Vadim has been DJing and producing some of the most innovative hip-hop and electronica around. He's worked solo, putting out records on the legendary Ninja Tune label as well as on his own BBE imprint. Vadim has collaborated with everyone from Stevie Wonder to Kraftwerk, from Paul Weller to Sly Stone. Even his wife, MC Yarah Bravo, is a regular collaborator, as Beijing will find out when Free the Wax bring the pair to perform at Yugong Yishan this Saturday.

A month after the Rickshaw's demise (reported here), clouds appear to be gathering around another of Beijing's favorite bars of recent years. Beijing Boyce reports here on Q Bar's one-day closure earlier this week, citing tension among the management. As the sun comes up again over Beijing, plenty of us will be looking forward to occupying Q Bar's terrace for a drink - let's hope we'll get the chance. Boyce also notes that Blue Frog's terrace has reopened already. Hmm. I'm as big a fan of happy hour drinks on the Frog's terrace as anyone, but given the icy winds this morning, I'd say they're just a little too eager to start reaping the rewards.

This week we've got some visitors: AV Okubo (www.douban.com/artist/avokubo) are in town on Saturday (Mar 6) at Yugong Yishan. Coming with their debut album The Greed of Man (大时代), these disco punk heads from Wuhan will share the stage with P.K.14, Carsick Cars, Xiao He and White. After that, the gang of hipsters are leaving Beijing for South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in Austin, Texas, followed by another Maybe Mars US tour. Look at them (pictured above), they are obviously ready for the cold weather and street noise in Beijing.

Just received received word from the people at Yugong Yishan that Pet Conspiracy's March 26 show at the venue has been canceled. At present, the YGYS gig was the band's only confirmed date this month, so it looks like fans may have to wait until April for their next chance to see Helen Feng and her gang in action.

So, we are back from the holiday, and it’s the same old faces on the stage. But that’s why live music in Beijing is exciting - it beats the sound of firecrackers and CCTV's Spring Festival Gala. I watched the entire four-hour show with my family and kept thinking about what would happen if Manchester United played against The Los Angeles Lakers in a curling game - and the winner turned out to be Maria Sharapova. Happy time.

Anyway, the important thing is musicians are back in town. On Friday, Afrokoko (probably the one and only Afrobeat group in Beijing) bring live beats with the DJ crew of funksters at Yugong Yishan. An alternative is available at Mao Livehouse where Acid Live put on their monthly jazz session of dynamite.

Sound art, experimental noise, video games and Dr. Dre. If any of the above excite you, you’re in luck: DJ Seph is coming direct from Buenos Aires to mix up an eclectic electronica storm at Lantern this Saturday. Before his arrival in China and exclusive set in Beijing, Seph tells tbj who his influences are, what kind of candy he likes, and how to fall in love with electronica …

Honestly, none of us expect Bob Dylan can actually play in Beijing when Oasis became cool enough to be banned to play here. But sometimes the story is more complicated than raging against the machines, here are the latest updates for the expected Bob Dylan show in Beijing on April 4.