The Beijinger Blog - Matt Jager

Apocalyptic Liquors - Getting to Know Local Spirits

thebeijinger — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 15:00:00 +0800

They said it was “Chinese white wine.” My first gulp unveiled the cruelty of the mistranslation. My tongue tingled, my lips puckered and burnt, my tonsils convulsed, my neck kinked, my cheeks filled with spit, I felt a thickness where mouth becomes throat, and then I gargled some Coke to wash away the horror. As my sinuses began to drain, I felt her in my belly, a warm evil puddle.

Music Reviews – International: July 2009

thebeijinger — Sat, 18 Jul 2009 10:00:00 +0800

21st Century Breakdown
Green Day
Ever since Dookie, Green Day has garnished their three-chord punk records with the odd polka, raga, rockabilly, acoustic or vaudeville experiment. Each one was a good track, though jarring in the context of their albums. Now those genre-bending investigations finally pay off. 21st Century Breakdown is a flood of influences that swashes and purls through hoarse guitars, sweet ballads and hollered punk anthems. Whereas American Idiot gorged on indulgent ten-minute symphonies, 21st Century presents taut overtures fastened by lyrical and musical buckles. Take it as a treasure chest and not a scattering of doubloons – a triumphant addition to Green Day’s already sparkling catalogue. MJ

Acupuncture Records First Anniversary: Steady, Accurate and Hard

thebeijinger — Tue, 30 Sep 2008 15:00:09 +0800

Acupuncture Records are celebrating their first anniversary tonight at Star Live. To mark the occasion and give you a bit of an idea of what to expect from this evening's festivities, we've gone back to the vault and picked out our former nightlife editor Matt P Jager's great write up of the hyperactive group of local DJs just as they were getting started. Matt began by describing the woman who manages the crew.

Miao Wong had been picking at her tuna salad for an hour without making any visible progress. “I don’t eat,” she said. “I don’t like food.” She’s a techno-head. She’s a fist-pumping, hip-swaying, head-tossing marathoner on the dance floor. “I should eat more,” she admitted, stabbing some greens with her fork and mixing them around in the salad bowl. “This is my only meal of the day.” With Miao Wong, I suspect that the stem cells that should have developed into her appetite took a wrong turn and ended up in the parietal musical appreciation lobe. She digs tech-house. She’s an electronica connoisseur. When she dances, her hands are balled so tight that her nails, locked into soft palms, draw blood.

click here to keep reading about Miao Wong and the early days of Acupuncture Records. See the video of their great New Years Eve Genesis party that was held out at 798 over below.

How Not To Be An Olympic Tourist

thebeijinger — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 12:30:07 +0800

Avoid Nanluogu Xiang The Dongcheng District authorities plans to show off our cool little Houhai redux as a designated Olympic Lane (no one knows what this means), so expect this place to be swamped with out-of-towners.

Just don't leave your house, okay? You should have already charged up your electricity meter, and your balcony ought to be stocked with enough booze, chow, and water cooler refill jugs to last you through the closing ceremonies.

But if you have to venture into the madness …

Speak Chinese Even if you can’t.

You’re an expatriate. You can read faces and expressions, and respond accordingly. It'll impress the visitors, if no one else. Also, sprinkle your English with Beijinghua.

New Openings: 1/5 and The Well

thebeijinger — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 10:30:41 +0800

1949 The Hidden City, the hip entertainment complex located in a renovated factory behind the Pacific Century Place at Changhong Qiao, can now boast two new nightlife venues: the 1/5 (pictured above, and not to be confused with the 1/5 Taverna next door) in the only original building on the compound, and an outdoor beer garden called Well Bar.

The Beach Re-opening Postponed

thebeijinger — Fri, 09 May 2008 18:30:42 +0800

We just received word from Block 8 that tonight's Beach Re-opening has been postponed:

Based on weather conditions, Block 8 has decided to postpone the re-opening originally scheduled for this evening, and the Beach will be officially open daily after the grand-opening launch party on May 31st. Until then, the Beach will be open depending on weather conditions. Tonight's event will take place tomorrow.

It would be pointless to have the Beach re-opening party on a night it's going to rain! Everyone would just come downstairs anyway and so we let all our VIP tables and invited guests know that Block 8 has reserved their tables, beds, cabanas for Saturday night instead.

Where to Rock in 798

thebeijinger — Thu, 08 May 2008 18:30:43 +0800

There's a new bar in 798 called Ku-18. That kind of name requires an immediate explanation: the ku here does not mean cool. That'd be ku (酷). This place is ku (库), which means warehouse. It has the whole "warehouse party" vibe. In fact, the boss of Ku-18 helped organize some of the electronica warehouse parties in 798 last year. He's a bassist from Shenzhen who recently came to Beijing to open this 1,000sqm live music venue.

The stage is decked out with smoke machines, cork-screwing lights, lasers, and the works. A dancing area opens up beneath it, lined on either side by rows of cocktail tables pushed against the walls. Behind the soundboard, the back of the hall hosts some sofas and the bar. Brick walls and reflective tile floor make for a big sound that can get muddy during louder sets.

In the future, the boss hopes to focus on foreign groups, so as to avoid becoming just another stop on the Beijing circuit that local acts follow. Still, the boss claims no prejudice towards any style of music, welcoming anything from rock to techno. When I stopped by, a Norwegian band had played, followed by a Latvian indie group. They're only open when there's a show, so check out the May line-up on their website, or below. Bottled beer from RMB 20, cocktails for RMB 30.

May 9
Zhang Ying Jazz Group

Sondia, who sings regularly at Zeta Bar, leads this band. RMB 50. 9.30pm.

May 10
Big John and Band
RMB 50. 9.30pm.

Street Cleaning

thebeijinger — Tue, 08 Apr 2008 09:00:44 +0800

The Beijing police pulled off a strike on certain shady Sanlitun venues, ostensibly for drug-related offenses. The targets were the four Pure Girls, Phoenix Cafe, and Sunset Grill. Eyewitnesses around 10:30pm reported "cops everywhere." One who observed the raids on Sunset and the Pure Girls, reported official-looking cops, accompanied by dogs and a team in what appeared to be rubber gloves and yellow lab coats. An area bar-owner claimed to have seen the other owners led away in handcuffs, and those establishments have remained closed since. The owners of targeted bars could not be reached. Apparently some of the patrons seized were international school rats as young as high school freshmen. One of these rats reported that everyone without ID in the bars were taken away. This raid was filmed and documented extensively by police cameras, at least in the Tongli area, and we have heard no reports of violence.

Beijing Techno Union

thebeijinger — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 15:00:42 +0800

The PENG crew, which consisted of X.L.F., Jackson Li, Huang Weiwei, and Pancake Lee, rebranded itself as Acupuncture Records last fall, bringing four other local DJs (Weng Weng, Elvis T, Terry Tu, and Xiao Feng) under its umbrella. Their goal: save techno. Six months later, even if techno's not saved, at least we all know it's around. Other electronica crews speak in hushed tones of awe of the Acupuncture marketing. One DJ said to me, "Where did they come from? ... They're making us all step up our game."

Starting from April, the Acupuncture umbrella just got a lot bigger. In addition to regular bilingual EP (electronic primer) Sessions designed to educate enthusiasts about DJing and different genres, Acupuncture is launching the Beijing Techno Union. "We are trying to get everyone together to make bigger noise and eventually a bigger scene," says Acupuncture manager and techno missionary Miao Wong. "The idea is to bring everyone together, establish a union."

The Beach

thebeijinger — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 14:30:37 +0800

A recent press release from the folks behind Block 8 detailed some changes to the May 9 opening of their terrace, The Beach. Last summer's Beach was one of the must-go venues for the seen-and-be-seen crowd, but took heat for its exclusive and apparently irrational entrance policy. This season, management promises: "We will be doubling our efforts to accommodate growing demands while also providing fair and equal treatment to all our VIP customers by implementing a new first-come-first-serve policy on more than half of the lounge-bed area. While nine cabanas and four beds will be offered nightly for group bookings (10 pax each), our six remaining beds will be to available to all, free of charge."