Looking like another great weekend for music in Shanghai, this time a bit more focused on live rock. There’s probably some DJs playing too.

First off, a show I’ve been anticipating for months, one of my favorite bands – The Pains of Being Pure At Heart are coming to Mao Livehouse this Friday night  with support from local homies Boys Climbing Ropes. Pains of Being Pure At Heart are playing in Beijing on Saturday night at Yugong Yishan too.

Download audio file (Contender.mp3)

The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart – Contender

Their debut LP has some of my favorite cover art ever, and I’ve listened to it probably hundreds of times. It’s great indiepop. If you like My Bloody Valentine or The Smiths, you’ll love them.  Pre-sale tickets are sold out, but you can still cop for RMB150 at the Split Works office on Fuxing Lu (right around the corner from The Shelter) OR you can show up at Mao Live at 8:30PM Friday night and you’ll probably get a ticket.

Then on Saturday night, we got my homie, “The White Heatwolves,” aka DJ BO, putting on the LAST EVER Trash a-Go-Go show this Saturday at Yuyintang. Trash a-Go-Go is about as rock and roll as you can get – booze-fueled and messy as fuck. Saturday’s lineup includes four bands and DJ BO, who’s a fine Motown/Northern Soul selecta. Plus this is local hardcore band The Instigation’s first show with their new singer and guitarist. Don’t miss out.

It’s not rock, but if you’re still alive after Trash a-Go-Go, head down to Shelter for the Downstate album release on my friends’ label PAUSE:MUSIC. Glitchy beats from planet GameBoy. Support from Cavia, Blaise, Drunk Monk, Icenine, Olive Pixel, and more. Will be a big night -

We’re doing a new mixtape every month, and this one dropped just in time for Valentine’s Day. It’s called HE▲RTBE▲TS [阿姨爱巢]

The first half is mostly new songs, heavy on the bass, and the second half is straight-up babymaking jams. Lots of throwbacks.

This mix took forever to make because we couldn’t decide which direction to take, but we’re super happy with the outcome – so are our Ayi friends!

Free download on Soundcloud.  Put it on and make some sweet love.

在你手里是上海超人阿姨打扫卫生帮的情人节MIXTAPE. 很多感情，很多爱. 非常稀有的. 心跳, 心跳, 心跳…

TRACKLIST:

1. LEISURE TIME VHS LOVE SESH
2. Mount Kimbie- Carbonated
3. Fantastic Mr. Fox- BrickA-brac
4. Horsepower Productions – What We Do
5. Gongon and Bad Autopsy – Mags Remix
6. Sinjin Hawke – Love Is On Your Side
7. Slugabed – Rockin U-
8. The Cure – Lovesong (Extended Remix)
9. Guido – Mad Sax
10. Kavsrave – Your Love
11. The Weeknd – What You Need-
12. Holy Other – Your Touch
13. THIS IS NOT LOVE RADIO
14. Deniece Williams – Free
15. Barry White – Playing Your Game, Baby
16. Teddy Pendergrass – Close the Door
17. Bobby Caldwell – What You Won’t Do for Love
18. The Isley Brothers – Between the Sheets
19. Love Unlimited – Walkin’ in the Rain With the One I Love
20. Lionel Richie – Hello
21. Ready for the World – Love You Down
22. Janet Jackson – Any Time, Any Place-
23. Maxwell – Fortunate
24. BROTHA DON’T TAKE MY LOVE AWAY

i wouldn’t care if this was a poster for a kenny g show, it’s so ill i’d probably still post it. drawn by chairman ca of beijing, printed by idle beats right herrrrrr in shanghai.

but it’s Sub-Culture, so you know the music won’t disappoint. Doc Daneeka has not only done mixes for XLR8R and FACT, and released trunk-rattling music on labels like Well Rounded, 50 Weapons, and Ramp, he also runs one of my favorite boutique record labels – Ten Thousand Yen. they put out a beautiful series of 10″ records last year, including one of my favorite releases from 2011 – “You Always Start It/Ordinary Things” by XXXY. running a label like that, you know dude gonna have a lot of weapons in the ol’ record bag.

peep this preview mix he did for Sub-Culture, a taste of what he’s spinning at Shelter. gonna sound nice on those subwoofers…

There’s two possibilities for why I like Lil B and his new mixtape “White Flame” – 1) I’m getting dumber, and years of DJing have harmed my ears, or 2) Lil B is actually really good [sometimes], and is better at entertaining than rapping.

The number one question I get from my friends when I introduce them to Lil B’s music is “does he write?” Really not sure, but what’s clear is that Lil B has issues, or is great at pretending like he does. He often sounds paranoid, delusional, and grandiose, but he’s about to release his second “Illusions of Grandeur” mixtape so perhaps he’s really just fucking around.  Better crazy than boring – just look at Charlie Sheen. People love to see celebrities with problems, and there hasn’t been a borderline-mainstream rapper as visibly eccentric as Lil B since….?

We’re talking about a rapper who received death threats for naming his album “I’m Gay,” refers to himself as a “pretty bitch,” and tweeted to Kanye West “If Kanye West refuses to work with me I’m going to fuck him in the ass next time I see him.”

And remember that Lil B is 22. He’s part of the generation that has always had the internet. The generation that had Adult Swim in high school. I hope that no one assassinates him and that he keeps putting out mixtapes like “White Flame” for a long time. TYBG -

Lil B – Surrender To Me

Download audio file (05 – Surrender To Me.mp3)

Lil B – Poppin V

Download audio file (12 – Poppin V.mp3)

It’s almost that time again…another Love Bang party at Dada before we move to The Shelter for March (then back to Dada on April 7th). Thanks to all who checked out our latest mix – we’ve got another one coming sooner than you think.

We want to give away some free drank at this Saturday’s show, so we’re doing a caption contest a la The New Yorker. All you need to do is fill in the dialogue bubbles for the boy and the girl. Could be one word, one sentence, or a paragraph. Please no essays/extended discourse – we’re busy working on a mix.

You can leave your dialogue in the comments section on this page. Just say “Boy: ….. Girl: ……” or, you can send @热狼isHeatwolves on Sina Weibo.

First prize gets a bottle of Smirnoff vodka, second prize gets three bottles of beer. We’ll announce the winner on Friday.

We’re spinning love songs from all genres on Saturday, so expect some Motown, some hip hop, a little dubstep, house, and of course some slow-jams on the late-nite tip. Some surprises in store too, and a warm-up set by the mystical DjMrWhite!

The Temptations – Get Ready

Download audio file (Temptations – Get Ready.mp3)

Silkie – Tonight

Download audio file (SlikeTonight.mp3)

Here’s the reason for the lack of posts recently – I’ve been working on this mix right here with the homie DJ Caution and our Chinese auntie friends. We’re super proud of this one, and confident to say that no one has done anything quite like this before. It all started when we realized that the 1983  mid-tempo hip-hop track “World’s Famous” by Malcom McLaren, the same dude who did “Buffalo Gals,” sounds fucking ill slowed down to 88 beats per minute (bpm) from its original 107 bpm.

Then we went through about 200 more tracks trying to find ones that sounded just right when pitched way down. Lots of songs sounded like complete garbage, but some sounded amazing at slow speeds – sometimes even better than the original track. Italo disco, boogie, and mid-tempo hip hop worked best. These songs have heavy analogue synthesizer-bass that sounds warm and deep when pitched down to the extreme, unlike songs made with software plugins/emulators that sound awful under these conditions. If you slow down most modern “electro,” (the kind that people have in mind when they ask the DJ to play something “dirty”) you can hear the audio bits breaking apart like a spilled box of digital Cherrios. But not with the tracks on this mix.

“Built for rainy days and purple sunsets – the January 2012 Chinese New Year mix by Shanghai’s SUPER AYI CLEANING TEAM members DJ Caution and Heatwolves. A carefully selected bag of italo disco, house, and hip hop, slowed down 30% and cut with some dusty old VHS tapes from around the world. Slow, bass-heavy, smokey, and sexy.”

Tracklist after the jump – hope you enjoy! We’re doing mixes every month this year, this is only the beginning.

Tracklist: [all songs played at 87 - 88bpm]

Level 1: Chinese TV DRAGONFLASH
Level 2: B Beat Girls – “For The Same Man”  // 25 West Records
Level 3: BICEP – “Hit N Run” // Mystery Meat
Level 4: Tiger & Woods – “Gin Nation” // Editainment
Level 5: T Ski Valley – “Catch The Beat (Deetron Rollerskate Remix)” // Peppermint Jam
Level 6: Malcolm McLaren – “World’s Famous (Super Ayi Cleaning Team Bowser Cut)” // forthcoming LO▼E B▲NG
Level 7: Bonar Bradberry – “Beat The Beat (Beatdown Remix)” // Red Music Records
Level 8: Doctor’s Cat – “Feel The Drive (Instrumental)” // ZYX Records
Level 9: Daft Punk – “Da Funk” // Virgin
Level 10: Afrika Bambaataa & Soulsonic Force – “Looking For The Perfect Beat” // Tommy Boy
Level 11: BICEP – “Purple Smoke” // THRONE OF BLOOD
Level 12: Kollektiv Turmstrasse – “Schwindelig” // Hafendisko
Level 13: Japanese TV DRAGONFLASH
Level 14: Crystal Castles – “1991″ // Last Gang Records
Level 15: PBS DRAGONFLASH… Game Over?

——-

This mix was heavily inspired by DJ Screw (RIP) and  Squincy Jones’ excellent “Knowmsayin” mixtape.

Also, about the name – it’s Chinese New Year now – we’ve just entered the year of the dragon….”dragon” is 龙 (Lóng) in Mandarin.

————-

新年好! 这是我们超人阿姨打扫卫生帮新的mixtape – 慢, 很多低音, 非常性感 – 希望你喜欢!

Jet lag can feel like a giant bird’s wing pushing down on my shoulder, forcing me down into an inevitable deep sleep. Not a mean-spirited bird, but an invincible one nonetheless. Even at like 3PM, Jet Lag > Coffee x 10,000. Thought I beat it when I stayed out till 7AM on Friday after Tsu Sing’s Stockholm Syndrome party at Dada, but no. That party was great though. I walked in at 2:20AM and acid house was just pounding through the subs. Nice to see people playing house music that doesn’t suck. And a little bit of hip hop got dropped too..yes.

Such a necessary trip back to America. Shanghai can hit you much harder than jet lag..and for all the late nights, the peanut smoothies, the cheap cabs, the ability to do just about anything at anytime, there’s no home-cooking from mama, no blue skies with purple sunsets and stars, no cheap breakfast cereal (Cinnamon Toast Crunch is over $10 a box at CityShop), and no driving around listening to rap music. True, you can keep CDs in your bag and ask your 司机 to put them in the deck while you ride through the grey city in that $2 cab, but it’s not quite the same.

Here’s some of what I was listening to, cruising around Kalamazoo, Michigan.

Three 6 Mafia – Baby Mama

Download audio file (12 Baby Mama.mp3)

Project Pat – You Know The Biss

Download audio file (05 You Know The Biss.mp3)

downloads after the jump -

First show of 2012 this weekend at Dada. The classic Love Bang crew – DJ Caution, MC One Consciousness, and myself. It’s free as usual, and we’re playing hip hop, club rap (like Three 6 Mafia, 2 Live Crew, etc), and probably some dub.step too.

A bit about the poster – a 色狼/Sèláng, or “color wolf,” in Mandarin is that dude who’s always trying to holler at girls. Kind of a Leisure Suit Larry if you will. Not the kind of pervert that should be locked away, but the color wolf is always horny. In this poster, the horny animal is the 色龙/Sèlóng. A play on words, it’s phonetically similar to 色狼/Sèláng.

Always thinking of creative ways to get the P, 色龙 tells birdie that it’s 2012, and the world might end, so they should have sex. “我们两好一下” is kind of like “let’s have a good time…” with heavy implications.

Birdie tells 色龙 to “Gǔn/滚.” Literally, this means roll over, but also means “get lost;” a slightly more polite way to say “fuck off.” Try using this word on relentless beggars on Yongfu Lu aka Hampsterdam. You can also say “滚开/Gǔnkāi,” which is a bit stronger.

Hope to see you on Saturday night – here’s the DLs for those tracks

Three 6 Mafia – Baby Mama

Project Pat – You Know The Biss

Been eatin so many treats back in Kalamazoo..

For some, the word “treats” conjures up images of cookies, cakes, pies, and the like. I choose a much narrower definition for treats.

Treats = gummy (-bears, -worms, -dinos…), powder-based (sweet tarts, spree, smarties), chewy (e.g. Mike & Ike, Airheads), or hard (lemonheads, jawbreakers) candy made almost entirely of sugar and artificial flavoring. They could be sour, in the case of Sour Patch Kids. Could be licorice too (red Twizzlers..) I don’t include anything chocolate in my treats category, though some may.

Aside from Halloween, which is really more about candy bars than treats, I don’t have any specific childhood memories of treats (clearly a motif though)..but my first adult memory of treats is the summer after senior year of high school, when my friend and I worked as security guards at a supermarket near a bunch of public housing. Our main job was to watch for white folk who might buy or steal large amounts of batteries, matches, and other ingredients for making methamphetamine, and people stealing food and general merchandise too. If someone tried to walk out the door without paying, we were supposed to arrest them with the handcuffs our boss gave us. If people bought big bags of meth-production ingredients, we had to get their license plate and report it to the Michigan special drug task force for meth.

Sometimes this resulted in employees getting attacked, and almost [intentionally] run over by a Ford Taurus one time. Looking back that was a terrible risk to take for $7.50 an hour. One time my [giant] friend was almost stabbed with an HIV-infected needle trying to arrest a felon who stole $300 worth of meat. Another time he got bit through three layers of clothing and had to get an updated tetanus vaccination and testify against the teenage girl in court. The verdict? Guilty on all counts.  No treats in jail.

On break, we’d drive around the surrounding neighborhoods, listen to rap, and eat treats. We always kept a huge bag of treats under the driver seat. Several ounces. Our grocery store didn’t have a bulk-treats section so we had to go to Meijer, a bigger store up the street, if we blew through our stash.

Treats in China are generally expensive and somewhat difficult to find. Carrefour used to have a bulk candy section, but not now. Sometimes a mystery candy shop tended by two Ayis will appear out of nowhere, usually in subway stations. There’s a spot by to the entrance to the City Shop on Shanxi Nan Lu/Huaihai Lu (Shanxi nan lu metro line 1/10). They slang treats for fair prices. City Shop has treats, but they’re all pre-bagged German imports (Haribo). The taste? Chronic, but expensive.

My advice – if you ever have a house party/dinner party to attend, and don’t know what to bring, show up with a pound of treats. Gummi Bears and all that. Everyone will love you, unless they’re complete dicks. I know, cause I brought a bag of treats to DjMrWhite’s Christmas party.

Fifteen Reasons Why I Love Hip Hop by DjMrWhite

You may want to listen to some chill hip hop when you eat treats, and this is the tape for it. This dreamy, smokey mix of old school hip hop comes courtesy of the Netherlands’ DjMrWhite. He’s the guest DJ for the Love Bang Valentine’s Day special, coming up on February 11^th.

Just saw the homie Drunk Monk’s top ten list over at Sub-Culture and had to do one of my own.  Will do the top ten EPs in the next few days.  Hope u hv a VPN.

1. Danny Brown, XXX – My favorite new rapper, AND he’s from Michigan.. I never get sick of “I Will..” that beat sounds like the ghosts in Super Mario World castles.  Songs about stripping abandoned housing for copper plumbing, eating pussy, smoking blunts and taking Adderall, and Detroit, over beats made with prog-rock samples…insane flow. Super smart move by Fool’s Gold Records putting this out. “Langston Hughes wit a blue fuse and a screw loose.”

2. The Weeknd, House of Balloons – Perfect after-hours CD. Villain R&B w/ Beach House + Siousixe and The Banshees samples. Dark/sexy as fuck.

3. Rustie, Glass Swords – Turbo mode, exploding gold rings, sonic the hedgehog warp-speed cinematic ish. The last 1:00 of “Surph” is (!!!) So next level, all of it.

4. Balam Acab, Wander Wonder – Dreamy, beautiful music.  Loveswamp vibes. <3 that bass on “Apart” and “Now Time.”

5. ASAP Rocky, LIVE.LOVE.A$AP - New York x Houston x Midwest gangster raps over Clams Casino beats. “..School of hard knocks, I could show you my degrees/couple ABC’s/bad bitch double D’s, poppin’ E/I don’t give a F, told ya I’m a G…”

6. Tiger & Woods – Through The Green – LP that compiles the mystery duo’s singles from the last few years plus a few new jams. Dem are the dons of disco/slow-house edits. Always stays in the crate/CD wallet.

7. Sepalcure – Sepalcure – Listenable anywhere. Vocal samples floating around warm bass and trippy percussion. The piano on “Hold On,” the last few minutes of “Breezin…”

8. Drake – Take Care – A mainstream rapper I slept on for wayyyyy too long. Don’t really care that he used to be an actor on a teen TV drama, he’s done so many great tracks. I played like four or five tracks off this per set in November/December..if you hate on this album you probably hate on sex too.

9. Juicy J – Blue Dream & Lean – Came home at 5am one night and listened to this all the way through while eating some gratin from lawson’s; LOLed IRL dozens of times. Only serious misstep is the Kreayshawn feature. Unfortunately I predict Juicy J gwan die within five years if the conspicuous drug consumption he promotes in these songs isn’t a hyperbole, e.g. “you say no to drugs – Juicy J can’t,” and “trying to get high enough to see Biggie.”

Remember Three 6 has been putting out music since like 1991 (!!!) They sampled Transformers in 2003.

10. Hype Williams – One Nation – Weird music that sounds like worn-out VHS tapes looping over underwater subwoofers. Can easily see myself listening to this again in twenty years.