A whole CW dedicated to music?! Suddenly the whole blogging for “Tha' Man” experience came into perspective. My fear is one brought on by perhaps the most significant change in my life since landing in China: a complete disconnect for my passion of chords, beats, loops and kicks. Somehow my former, primal urge for indie rock was transmogrified into a preference for fine dining, pleasant conversations and a calming bottle of riesling. Am I just getting to the point where I am starting to enjoy my cups of tea and a nice lie down in the evening? Or does living in China automatically turn you into your parents and all you want is to turn the music down?

After a few years in China, I’ve found myself completely disconnected from Western music. Maybe this downturn I'm suffering from appears to be one of the symptoms of the wider expat experience. My friends concocted a collective theory (ironically fashioned after a nice dinner, drinking several bottles of wine and hours of pleasant conversation) that following a two to three year stint in China, a window exists in which quite a few foreigners enter the cultural netherworld that is neither Chinese nor home. A cultural and musical wasteland of the mind if you will.

Delving online, I discovered that the buzz about Shanghai’s music scene was almost strictly the domain of PR representatives from upper-tier electronica and hip-hop clubs. You would be lucky to find a few fleeting reviews and user-comments on sites like SmartShanghai and Shanghaiist.

When live music is talked about in Shanghai, invariably two topics are brought up: either, "not another Pinoy cover band" or "did you hear that place X just shut-down/closed/taken over by greedy partner...?” The original live music scene here always conjures an image in my mind as the perennial one-night stand. They can be described as awesome or awful, but invariably the ride lasts for a long enough period of time until you jump onto another venue (so to speak). Suffice it to say, a night of disappointment can be the norm for music lovers in Shanghai. Banal experiences are way too common, like Dan Washburn’s at a music bar in Shanghai just a few weeks ago:

• It's possible that we just caught the recently opened Piccone Live Music Bar on a bad night, but honestly the most interesting aspect of our experience was the toilet in the men's bathroom.

If it isn't the venue causing you grief, you can then bemoan the lack of one. Established, original live music venues are like hen's teeth in Shanghai, and I've learnt enough from living here that the whole scene can be very, very turbulent. Shanghaiist covered expat blogger and music scene veteran Brad Ferguson's bleak account of the ending of his Live Bar venture:

• I'm giving Live Bar back to the original owner next month ... can't afford his extortion anymore.

• No final party ... future plans uncertain but will be underground music related.

• As of today it's his. It will continue to be open in the same format but sound equipment and drink prices will likely change.

Shanghaiist similarly covered the prolonged illness and eventual closure of the super-hyped and well-located Tang Hui Bar, including its descent into a pillow-fight party venue.

• ... we never thought we'd be reading an international wire story about a dating website holding a pillow fight party at Tang Hui, but that's what happened ...

Yes, the roundabout that is Shanghai's alternative music scene never fails to serve up some incredulous stories. Three venues that have shook off shakey ground and stand as the eminent alternative live music venues in Shanghai are LOgO, 4Live and the venerable Yuyingtang. Let's hope more alternative venues can keep up with these Lis.

If there is a silver lining in my music isolation, it is that I was lucky enough to not be sucked into the whole emo marketing phenomenon that gripped the Western world. Thank you China!

BLOG ENQUIRER

It's the Shanghaiist.com roundup

Street Food Sorrows

Urban renewal in SH will claim another iconic spot, with the looming redevelopment of Shanghai’s Wujiang Food Street. We are now all left wondering where to get our sheng jian mantou from ...

Macau Baby, Macau!

Macau has officially overtaken Las Vegas as the world's biggest casino draw, but now Singapore looms as the greatest gambling rival in this region. Who’ll win? It won’t be the gamblers.

Top 100

Mercer Human Resource Consulting confirms what everyone else in China knows — that Shanghai (100) has a much better quality of living than Beijing (116). It also means Shanghai is on par with New York (100). Scary.

Google Goof

After being overjoyed with its new pinyin tool, we rapidly discovered that Google hasn’t lived up to its “Do No Evil” creed by suspiciously producing a very similar piece of software as Chinese tech company Sohu.

Mr. World

Sanya’s ongoing, desperate bleating to attract tourists reached another low with the announcement that Juan Garcia Postigo is the "the world’s most desirable man.” Juan was crowned Mr. World 2007.

Beware of Falling People

This month two people were saved after falling out a building—by poo and by a police airbag. The former fell out by accident, but the latter care of the copper’s high-pressure water hose!