Dark Nights For Beijing Metal Heads - Monthly Music Roundup

Good music is in the ear of the listener. And this month, to each his own.

Metal enjoys a fruitful month, with visits from Urban Decay (Los Angeles), Stratovarius (Finland), Kreator (Germany) and Exodus (San Francisco). Plus, Demerit’s on the scene (Sep 23), and two nights dedicated to Metallica (Sep 11-12) goes down at 13 Club – which is also where the two-day Darknight Enchantment concert (Sep 30-Oct 1) will end the month on a bang. Probably from an instrument being broken over somebody’s head.

Jazz – classic, acoustic, big band and acid – happens throughout the month and all around town. And if all else fails, just head to East Shore Live Jazz Cafe, which holds regular live sets every Thursday through Sunday.

There will be blues from Black Cat Bone and Wu & The Side Effects. There will be hip-hop a la the boys of Section 6 (Sep 26). Reggae from Beijing and Shanghai face off on September 25 (Long Shen Dao and Lions of Puxi), while world and folk pop up in every part of the city you can think of.

Tizzy Bac makes another attempt to come to Beijing – if you feel like you didn’t get your money’s worth because they broke their InMusic Festival promise, the indie rockers from Taiwan will try to make it up with a duo of shows (Sep 19-20).

Speaking of money’s worth, what’s 50 kuai to you? Because if you fork out to enter the international Global Battle of the Bands competition, you might end up turning that RMB 50 into RMB 680,000. Plus a record deal.

But don’t let money distract you from remembering to say happy birthday to Yugong Yishan (Sep 18). Five years after opening (and two years after their move from Dongwai to Dongnei), they’re still going strong. Turning out to rock the spot will be your favorite local DJs – Yen, Acupuncture, Meiwenti and Upstepper Sound, and regulars of the late, lamented White Rabbit.

It might be a good idea to head on over to Yugong Yishan the following night as well (Sep 19), which is rumored to be the last Carsick Cars show of the year. They are slated for an international tour for the lattter half of 2009.

Also going on tour is Hanggai. The Inner Mongolian folk band is having quite a year – by December, they’ll have visited 30-something cities worldwide. They’ll be making the rounds at a few US folk festivals later in the month, but you can catch them on September 11 at the Tiny Salt Coffee Club. It may be Tiny, but Hanggai is going to be huge before you know it.