Canadian Musicians hit Beijing

Never ones to kick up a fuss, a Canadian Music Delegation politely moves into town this week to explore the Chinese Music market. Another day, another delegation? This group come armed with a bunch of very appealing musicians and bands, and a few of Beijing's best and brightest will join them for a two night showcase Wednesday and Thursday, May 28-29 at the Star Live. I highly recommend checking this out.

With live performances by foreign bands in post-Bjork, pre-Olympic Beijing becoming as rare as scissors in a late night “barbershop", this is a great opportunity to catch some interesting and talented live musicians. On the Chinese side Wednesday, local favorites Casino Demon will play, as well as Ziyo's mighty frontwoman Helen Feng debuting her“electroclash" Pet Conspiracy project.

One of the featured Canadian acts playing tonite, (weds) is Buck 65, a hip hop artist and MC who has been lumped into the“abstract hip hop” category, which means he's not writing about Bentleys and bling. His biography claims influences range from Afrika Bambaataa, Leonard Cohen, to Captain Beefheart, and a listen to his tunes will reveal this isn't the top forty hip hop you're used to hearing in Beijing.

He's not afraid to push the envelope right into the paper shredder, and explore lyrical and musical areas most hip hop artists would fear to tread. According to the man himself “When writing a song, considerations of hip hop or street credibility never cross my mind. . . If I find an idea, memory, or emotion interesting enough to want to write about it, I just try to turn that into music in as clear and honest a way as possible. There have been cases where that's meant being very un-macho and putting a banjo player to work (both decidedly anti-hip hop notions, generally speaking).”

Buck 65 has worked with top turntablist DJs like D-Styles and Skratch Bastid, and had his tracks remixed by dance rock darlings MSTRKRFT, but some have even compared his sound to Tom Waits, which certainly puts him into a different category altogether. Worth checking out, to expand your conceptions of what hip hop can be. Tomorrow night will see locals Caffe-in, Hao Yun, and Canadian dance rockers You say Party, We say Die!, who to me at least seem to have been lingering around China for a while now, and post-funk band Woodhands among others.

It''s unfortunate that the event wasn't promoted more agressively, as an eclectic lineup like this of musicians traveling across the world to engage Chinese audiences surely deserve. The event website, www.transmitchina.com seems to be down, but after a bit of research I understand the lineup goes something like this

Wednesday 28th May

Casino Demon

Life Journey

Pet Conspiracy

Buck 65

Daniel Wesley

Thursday 29th May

Caffe-in

Hao Yun

You Say Party, We say Die!

Woodhands

Champion

The event is free, with a few small conditions, call 6426 4336 ext 13 or e-mail transmitchina@yahoo.cn and tell them your favorite Canadian artist and your favorite Chinese artist. With the Beats for Life Sichuan Charity fundraiser also happening downstairs at Tango Wednesday night (featuring DJs from Yen, Baicai, SOS, Syndicate and Acupuncture among others) Ditan Park's south gate seems the place to be tonite, for local and international live music, DJs and more.