I've been given a few bum steers on the Beijing gig scene lately.
I like Ian Sherman, the beardy layabout who writes the rock music listings for Time Out Beijing - since we are probably Beijing's two most prolific gig-goers, I run into him around town quite a lot. He's a decent chap, a very funny writer, and his knowledge of rock music is awesomely compendious (although this tends to render his assessments of rather limited value to me, since his thumbnail reviews of bands are typically based on 3 or 4 witty comparisons to other bands or musical genres that I've never heard of)...... but I'm beginning to think that his judgement is a bit dodgy.
He fairly raved about Magyar Posse (the ludicrously named Finnish imports I went to see last night) and their 'epic film soundtrack' music. Actually their music sounded to me more like the themes from 70s TV shows - not bad, but not quite as grand or awe-inspiring as 'epic film soundtracks'. The lush aural soundscapes and slightly retro melodies reminded me a little of Goldfrapp - but not as good, of course. The repetitive figures they often used reminded me a little of Simon Jeffes' Penguin Café Orchestra - but not as good. And the sawing guitars and drum crescendoes in the last third of each piece reminded me a little of any average garage band trying hard to make it seem more exciting than it really is - but not as good. No, they were really pretty mediocre, and after 4 or 5 songs it was all starting to sound the same.
Interesting, up to a point, though - not a complete waste of an evening.
Unlike visiting French punksters Papier Tigre, who Ian had also proclaimed to be "really very good". I had had my suspicions that this might prove not to be the case, so rather than shell out cash to see their main show at MAO Live I caught their free after-hours gig at Room 101 (still dangerously smelly, but it's growing on me gradually) instead. And my instincts were vindicated: as my illustrious friend The British Cowboy would have it - they sucked the balls of a donkey.
Now, perhaps Mr Sherman is just so much more musically literate than me that he can perceive virtues in these bands that pass me by. But I rather think that it's just been too long since he saw a proper band and so he gets overly excitable about any change from the usual Beijing routine. I shall be consuming his reviews with a larger sprinkling of salt in future.
2 comments:
ask Ian.
I'd be interested to know where he's getting these reviews from... his justifications and what not.
Well, I suppose some of the time he might just be trusting in press releases that the bands or promoters or venues are giving him. But I think for the most part he really does form his own views by listening to stuff. The man's a complete obsessive, spends most of his life downloading music from the Internet.
Of course, I would too, if I knew how.
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