Split Works Operations Director & co-founder Nathaniel Davis
A little interview about JUE | Music + Art and the business (and passion) of music promotion in China by Split Works co-founder and occasional Radar contributor Nathaniel Davis. Thanks to China Radio International for this one.
Listen to it here.
A post by Archie Hamilton (Split Works and China Music Radar laoban) on the occasion of Gang of Four performing in China, March 2013. Cross-posted from Tumblr.
JUE | Music + Art 2013 encompassed nearly 100 events across Beijing and Shanghai over the course of 17 days. It is both the most exhausting event and the most exhilarating event that Split Works puts on every year. It is also the reason why things have been quieter over at the Radar for the past few months. For the rest of the summer, we will be returning to our regularly scheduled programme of updates here on the blog. In the meantime, click through to read some of Archie’s thoughts on the performance of the legendary Leeds post-punk band Gang of Four during JUE 2013.
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Here’s a little mix that Shanghai DJ collective Love Bang (aka DJs Heatwolves and Caution) put together on the occasion of JUE | Music + Art 2013. It contains tracks from almost all of the JUE 2013 artists, including but not limited to Grimes, Gang of Four, Frank Turner, AV Okubo, How To Dress Well, Cinema Soloriens, SLV and many more, interspersed with Shanghainese gems from the Super Ayi Cleaning Team.
The mix is loaded up onto the official JUE 2013 Morning Tears souvenir USB stick, which is 50 RMB with all proceeds going to official charity partner Morning Tears. The USB is 4 GB and also comes with JUE posters, MVs and lots o’ love from the whole festival team.
Peep at the track listing below and stream the whole thing from Soundcloud.
1. BAWANG Intro
2. Gang of Four – “Outside The Trains Don’t Run On Time”
3. AV Okubo – “Old Game”
4. Frank Turner – “Four Simple Words”
5. Let’s Get Weird and 黑暗 with 排球女将
6. Cinema Soloriens – ??? ripped from YouTube
7. Zhongshan Park – “Wut R Treats?”
8. AM 444 – “Interloop 2″
9. Grimes – “Vanessa”
10. Downstate – “Mist”
11. Ital – “Dub Me for Tonight (Saviour’s Love Megamix)”
12. HONEY, 蜂蜜!
13. Grimes – “Genesis”
14. Super Ayi Cleaning Team – “Tigerwoman”
15. S L V (Downstate & Hamacide) – “Toi”
16. Acid Pony Club – “P.O.P – Scratch Boom”
17. Little Yellow Bird Gonna Help You Out
18. How To Dress Well – “Lover’s Start”
19. WUT DID YOU STEAL??
20. How To Dress Well – “You Won’t Need Me Where I’m Goin’”
21. Kikuyu – “2 Appointments (Super Ayi 阿姨机器人 Vocal Remix)”
22. SHANGHAINESE SIGNOFF, 再见
There have been a couple of half decent articles on the Chinese music scene kicking around the wires recently. We thought we’d point you to a couple:
First up, Andrew Chin over at City Weekend does a retrospective of big international shows in China in advance of two in two days (Elton John on Friday in Shanghai and Jennifer Lopez in the same venue the following night).
From Wham, to John Denver, to the Rolling Stones to Sonic Youth to Linkin Park to the present day, the article features interviews from Adam Wilkes, Archie Hamilton, Steve Sybesma and John Cappo, it makes a nice trip down memory lane for nostalgia hunters, while demonstrating how far we’ve come.
You can read that one right over HERE.
Disclaimer, the one of the authors of this blog was interviewed for this article.
At a different end of the spectrum, Morgan Short of Smart Beijing and previously of Shanghai based band Boys Climbing Ropes baits Dan Shapiro of The Fever Machine into telling us what he really thinks about the music scene in China. Both of these brohammers have been here for over 5 years and have spent most of that time immersed in the music scene, so the interview is a good one for those of you interested in being in bands here. You can read that little gem HERE.
The final one for today looks in depth at the present and future of music access in China, pointing to the fact that more and more of the big players are introducing options for the consumers to actually pay for content. The model seems to be that streaming will continue to be free, while downloading would cost. The author makes some pretty broad claims without backing anything up. The Chinese consumer has never paid for content before – it’s going to take a pretty significant breakthrough in simplicity or usability to make it happen
Read this one HERE
Recently, we’ve been thinking that China’s emerging live music scene feels a little bubbly. From the sold out Maroon 5 show to the upcoming Blue // Elton John // Jennifer Lopez triple header, to mid range bands like the Fray, to DJ’s like Skrillex and Justice, to metal bands like Cannibal Corpse and Unearth, to smaller touring artists like Kikuyu, Jamie Woon and the Smith Street Band, to underground raves like Savage Skulls and Surkin, there has never been more or a wider variety of live music on show for Chinese fans.
At the same time, China feels bubbly across most sectors, of which live music is just one. The global recession (meaning international brands have less money to invest and local companies are exporting less), the power handover for China’s favorite Party (meaning that business will be harder to do and overt and superfluous spending will be less), added to potential ticket buyer fatigue (the market always gets ahead of itself from time to time) all suggest to us that we might be in for a tougher 2013.
While thinking about these things, our minds were taken back to February 2008, when we predicted that a bubble was just about to burst. You can read this again HERE. Ironic then that 6 months later, 2 of the 3 companies being featured were no more.
The last thing we want is for this to happen. Our entire business is tied up in the continuation of this upward curve. We are, however, thinking twice about the number of shows we are planning for 2013.
There must have been something in the water five years ago in China. 2007 saw the founding of prominent indie label Maybe Mars and electronica promoters STD. In fact, Split Works (our parent organization) was founded at the end of 2006. We were always a little ahead of the curve… Maybe Mars celebrated their 5th birthday in style back in September, and you can see our review of the show here. This weekend, it is STD’s turn. They’ve taken over Lantern in Beijing tonight for a combination Halloween and birthday party (not a bad idea, if you ask us), with appearances by Surkin, co-founder R3, Sulumi and more. Their big party is tomorrow in Shanghai, at some abandoned nightclub, with a show by Queen Sea Big Shark and a slew of local DJs.
From the halcyon days before the global financial crisis to après-moi, le deluge, these three organizations have combined to tour Carsick Cars with Sonic Youth, bring Ludacris to China and promote some of the world’s freshest electronic acts in greater Asia. That is only a tiny sampling of what each company has accomplished in this relatively short time, and only the beginning of long and fruitful futures for all of them. 生日快乐, y’all.
Don’t forget to peep at Split Works’ 5 Year Anniversary programme and retrospective, here.
Ah, the joys of a supportive government. There is a reason that music from France, Canada and the Scandinavian countries are disproportionately represented in countries like China: that their governments believe in the soft power of exporting their cultures, and actually put funds behind initiatives to actually make it happen.
Oya Festival is the granddaddy of the Norwegian contemporary festival scene. Founded 14 years ago, it is held in a Medieval Park in the Bjorvika district of downtown Oslo. The area is a monster mash of construction and redesign. A sparkling new opera house made of white marble is the main feature of the regeneration of the East end of the Oslo fjord. The old container port will soon be 145,000 sq.m of new houses, offices and retail space that make up the controversial “Barcode buildings”.
Editor’s Note: Department of Shameless Self-Promotion, Population: Us. As many of the readers of the blog know, as Split Works we are co-producing Black Rabbit Music Festival.
After the smashing success of last year’s Black Rabbit Music Festival, event co-producers Taihe Live and Split Works are incredibly excited to formally announce that the festival will be returning for a second year. Happening in October in Shanghai, we can’t reveal the artists coming for Black Rabbit Music Festival 2012 just yet, but rest assured that they are even bigger than last year’s lineup of Ludacris, 30 Seconds to Mars, Hebe, PK 14, Yellowcard and more. We’ll leave it up to you to contemplate the possibilities.
In the meantime, re-live the magic with the official 2011 Black Rabbit Music Festival wrap video, and follow Black Rabbit on Facebook, Twitter, Douban and Weibo for all the latest updates, lineup announcements, ticketing, venue, prizes and much much more.
Archie Hamilton, a major contributor to this site (and MD of the Chinese concert promoter and festival owner Split Works) is proud and honored to be speaking at the inaugural Transition China conference, hosted by the Entrepreneur’s Organization. His chosen topic is the Anatomy of a Chinese Music festival, and he is in quite illustrious company, so if you can afford the ticket 
, come along.
[disclaimer: as Split Works, we are directly involved in the organization of the JUE | Music + Art Festival]
Friday night sees the start of the 4th annual JUE Festival. Founded in 2009 as an alternative to the influx of big outdoor festivals in China, JUE aims to unite the creative communities contributing so much to the “new” China.
in 2012, JUE takes in nearly 100 events over a 17 day period in Shanghai and Beijing. There are poetry slams, flea markets, photography exhibitions and music ranging from indie balladeers Death Cab For Cutie (this Friday 9th in Shanghai and Saturday 10th in Beijing) to sleazy underground partay Love Bang (directly after Death Cab in both cities), from the sharp cutting skillz of Rob Swift, to Chinese popstrells Qu Wanting and Summer Lei.
You can check out the full calendar HERE and see the preview video below. Get out and support your local arts…..
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