Talking Tunes: Madlib Confirmed for Beijing, As Festival Silly Season Gets Going Early

Paul Ryding | Jan 11, 2013 6:00 pm | Add a comment | 1589 reads

2013 kicked off as we hoped it wouldn't, with a big-name cancellation, but we're hearing enough to keep the faith that this year will be a better one for top music all around. We're aching to confirm some of the names we've been hearing, but would hate to get your hopes up only to dash them again. Needless to say, as soon as we get the thumbs up, we'll have some exciting confirmations for you.

As for shows we can (almost) guarantee are going ahead: LA-based comedian-turned-DJ, multi-instrumentalist, rapper, and music producer Madlib has been confirmed to perform in Beijing at Yugong Yishan on February 21.

The rumors about PiL rocking up in Beijing refuse to go away, though I'm reserving the right to maintain a healthy skepticism about that one. To add a dollop more skepticism on top of that, possibly the most outrageous rumor we stumbled across this week was one that claimed Marilyn Manson would be taking in China at some point this year. But given that he only finishes a year-long world tour in February, it seems hard to fathom that he would be hitting the road again anytime soon. I saw the poster for said China visit, though. It was a nifty bit of work for an elaborate prank, if that's what it was. We're definitely heading back towards festival silly season.

While we're on festivals, the Sound of the Xity gathering is set to go ahead at the beginning of April, and they've begun to call for bands who'd like to be involved in the annual 'music conference and showcase festival'.

We came across a nifty website during some office downtime this week. Jing.fm creates playlists based on your mood. Just tell the site how you're feeling when you log on and it will create a playlist to get you through the day. Unfortunately, it's only in Chinese currently, but it's pretty easy to navigate. I only had to hassle my Chinese-reading colleague for two minutes before I had The Beatles lightening my day.

On to some of this weekend's highlights:

To play us out this week, we looked a little closer to home and found this video produced by Greenpeace using music from Nova Heart.

Don't forget to check out our events section for more of what's going on this weekend.

Have a smasher.