Talking Tunes: Epic Devils and Black Emperors

Paul Ryding | Apr 11, 2013 6:00 pm | Add a comment | 768 reads

Word on the street is that Chaoyang Folk Festival (née Ditan Folk Festival) is struggling to get its permit in order for this year's outing. We'll confirm if and when we get anything definitive, but let's hope this rumor is wide of the mark as that would represent an early blow to festival season.

Still with festivals but on a definitely brighter note, Hanggai Music Festival is set to return in June. Mark the three days in your diary (Jun 14, 15, 16) as the Hanggai crew always supply enough top acts to keep Mako Live House rocking. It seems that Yemen Blues, who gave a rousing show last year, will be back for another round.

The "Godfather of Chinese rock," Cui Jian, is about to release a new compilation album internationally on April 16. The 3rd Sound of China will be Lao Cui's first worldwide release.

Beijing rockers Abominati are preparing to release their new album, too. It's to be called Year of the Snake and you can check it out here.

After a recent hiatus, Not There are on the way back. They released a new promo video recently to mark their return show at Temple on May 4.*

And now to the upcoming highlights:

Wordy & Soulspeak are preparing to release some new material at Yugong Yishan on April 26, but they very kindly sent us this mix tape to get us through the end of the week. We'll use that to play us out today.

Don't forget to head along to our events section for all the music events I couldn't fit in this blog.

* Full disclosure: When he's not shredding his guitar with Not There, Nick Richards shreds the Arts & Culture pages of the Beijinger.