This week's huMP3s come from Chengdu psychedelic rock outfit Proximity Butterfly, who take to the Nuts Club stage once more this Saturday as they embark on the second leg of their national "Pillars of Creation" tour, fresh off of a main stage, festival opening performance at the third annual Zebra Music Festival.  This time around they're promoting their latest album and first release(out 5/31) on the lauded Maybe Mars imprint, "The Reprieve."  The self-produced album, and subsequent tour, is drawn from the band's personal encounters with the "devastation that reshaped Chengdu's community," just over 3 years ago.  The multitude of emotions evoked by the disastrous 2008 Sichuan earthquake, or "5.12," guide the album's ethereal, imaginative sound, and though born of a cold, dark place, warmly welcome listeners to the "unmistakeable sound of Proximity Butterfly."  

The two tracks below are from a previous album, as I've yet to get a hold of any of their new material, but give a good indication of what to expect from Saturday's show.

As any North American will tell you(not sure about Canadians), this Thursday, May 5, is one of those holidays we've adopted as an excuse to drink excessively.  May 5, or Cinco De Mayo as the holiday is known marks the defeat of French forces by the under dog Mexican Army, and is held as a celebration of Mexican culture, which in-turn means drinking tequila, margaritas, and Mexican beer.  Being that the holiday was first celebrated by Mexicans living in California, there's no better way to celebrate than with a band hailing from the same region.  

Los Angeles California's The Morlocks will be celebrating Cinco de Mayo in Chongqing for what promises to be one hell of a fiesta.  Cityweekend Shanghai writer Dan Shapiro posed 8 questions to the band ahead of their upcoming shows, which you can read here.  But there's no better way to get to know the band, and a bit of American culture, than this Thursday at Nuts Club.  50 RMB get you in the door and includes all you can drink beer, access to unbeatable 10 RMB tequila shots, and a latin music dance-party late into the night!

As I mentioned here, a few days back, the May, National Day holiday has become synonymous with music festivals throughout China.  Unbeknownst to me at the time, was that Chongqing has jumped on the bandwagon with the first ever Ancient Town Music Festival.  

From Friday night through Monday, the 16 Bystreet Music Club in Ciqikou will play host to a handful of underground bands and DJs of varying styles.  Though most of the artist performing are little known to Chinese and foreigners alike, there are a few whom we recommend.  Namely, CQSCENE favorites The Deep Green Sea,  local indie rockers Narrenschiff(acoustic set), Chongqing's only blues band The Lucky Peace, and the Jolly Fellow Ukelele Band.

SIngle day tickets are 50 RMB, and a 4 day pass is 120RMB.  Music starts at 20:30 on Friday night, and 16:00 Saturday-Monday.  You can view the full schedule(in Chinese) here, and a very rough map of the location here.  For any questions or concerns please feel free to give me a call 13608367114, or you can call the venue directly at 1361824900.

I've been planning on writing this since early March when I first saw this month's event calendar at Nuts Club.  It is rare that I get genuinely excited for shows(concerts) since moving to Chongqing, and a weekend full of excitable performances is near unheard of.  For over a month I've been thinking about what to say, and how to convince the faithful few of you to get off your asses and check out some of the best bands China has to offer.  And for over a month I have put it off, knowing that more often than not, my words fall on empty ears, and yet another night(or in this case 3) will pass, and great talents will go unheard.  Until now, roughly 3 hours before the weekend's live music extravaganza kicks off, and the guilt of not sharing my knowledge of said talents is settling in.  I know that regardless of what I say, it doesn't really matter.  You may read this, and think, "oh cool, there actually is something exciting happening on Chongqing for once.  Maybe I'll go see what this 'Nuts Club' is all about."  But chances are, you won't.  Despite the fact that China's most revered indie-pop band, and participants in last fall's prestigious CMJ music week in New York CIty, Hedgehog will be playing tonight, you'll probably stick to the same old song and dance, be it Cotton club, The Harp, KTV, 88, or any of a number of the monotonous nightlife options this cits has to offer.  And Hedgehog, is just the tip of the iceberg, for Saturday and Sunday's bands are easily the most popular of China's indie contingency.  

Saturday brings the hottest ticket in the country to our fog filled city, in the form of Queen Sea Big Shark.  Playing to sold out crowds of foreigners and locals alike, and fresh off a showing at Austin's South by Southwest(SXSW) music festival, this garage/dance rock outfit's reputation for high-energy, charismatic live performances has been on the up and up for the past couple of years, and is showing no signs of slowing up.  Being that this is their first showing in Chongqing, I expect the heads to be out in full force, dancing from the first note on through the encore.  

And though QSBS is the hottest thing this side of the pacific, Sunday's act, Mogolian folk-rockers Hanggai, are no slouch.  Their blend of traditional Mongolian music, including the infamous throat singing, played in a rock & roll(dare I say punk?) structure, has gained them praise around the world.  Pitchfork.com, the website responsible for making Rolling Stone magazine all but obsolete, gave their album a rating of 8.0, better than both Radiohead's latest album and Jay-Z's greatest hits.  

Granted, live music is not for everyone, and even if it is your thing, maybe the styles of the three bands presented aren't up your alley.  That being said, I've heard the ole, "there's nothing interesting going on in Chongqing," and "this city is soooo boring," more times than I'd care to, and if you're one of those people, and you fail to give these up and coming bands the slightest of chances, consider this a back handed bitch slap in your face.  

As 2010 comes to an end, I'm left to reflect on the year that was.  Doing so evokes memories of events, and changes Chongqing has seen in the past year; CQ beer festival, legitimate western food, an Irish Pub, and main-stream media coverage. But what stick out in my mind most of all is the music.  For 2010 was a great year for music in a city often referred to as a cultural desert.
 And as I look out my window into a thick haze of urbanization, I try to recall where, for me, the year started.  Of course I could say January 1, or February 14(Chinese lunar new year), but anyone who's been here as long as I have knows that due to the perma-grey skies, and bone chilling weather December through February,  new year's  day in Chongqing might as well be March 1.  Or in my case, March 13.

March 13 is when I was blown away by Shanghai via Guizhou singer/MC ChaCha at Nuts Club, where many of my fondest memories form 2010 took place.  Not to mention a mere few days later when I had a night out with the infamous Dead Elvis, which included a vomitus high schooler, and a tranny-bar. Or on April first when a Norwegian Jazz trio played, featuring one of the sick-nastiest drummers I'd ever seen.  And later that spring when, 2 of China's best producers of electronic music, Liman and Sulumi(particularly Liman) rocked CiCi Park, Carsick Cars(in its original line-up) and 24Hours, played great high-energy sets at a near empty Nuts Club, Reptile Retard taking the energy through the roof with their unique style of "techno-soul," and Maybe Mars' return to Chongqing with Ourself Beside Me before the lull of summer.
And as the weather started to drop, the calendar began to fill-up, beginning in September with three nights of non-stop music from bands both foreign and local to celebrate Nuts Club's 3rd anniversary, featuring Chongqing's best Narrenschiff, BendT., The Wheels, and The Deep Green Sea.  As well as spectacular performances by Seattle freak-folksters the Cave Singers, and 'psycho-billy' band Knuckle Bone Oscar from Denmark.  October saw the return of ChaCha, this time with the entire Uprooted Sunshine Soundsystem, as well as legendary reggae producer Clive Chin. And later that fall when, recently named 'best band in China' Miserable Faith played to a packed house, Beijing up-and-comers Guai Li made their Chongqing debut and American instrumentalist Daniel Hart  pulled off an excellent rendition of 'One Night in Beijing,' with his violin and dance-pad.  Before the year was rounded out by two of my favorite bands from China's east coast, Dalian's Wang Wen, and Boys Climbing Ropes from Shanghai.  

Its hard to believe so much has happened in so little time.  It was no more than a year and half ago when Chongqing's live music options were limited to the odd show in a dark, dank, basement of a youth hostel, and the even more rare occurrence of 'dance' or 'electronic-music' parties.  And to think, the above is a mere selection from the artists' performances that stick out in my mind, having left out acclaimed artist, both foreign and domestic.  

The aforementioned local band The Deep Green Sea celebrated their 8th anniversary on New Year's day.  Having seen them a dozen or so times, I was once again captivated by their somewhat eerie, somewhat funky, chilled-out sound.  And if Chongqing's first 2011 show is anything to go buy, we should be in for yet another great year music, in what may be the only 'desert' in the world that is not expanding, but shrinking. 

And the forecast for the next few days calls for angst!  Both Thursday and Friday are sure to have their fare share, as punk band Buyi, and thrash metal band Inner M will bring they're mosh inspiring sounds to Chongqing, before the weekend clears up with something a bit less likely to leave you with bruises. 

Sinne Eeg, one of Denmark's premiere jazz vocalists, will be performing both at Nuts Club, and Bossanova(Nan Ping), but as I'm sure she has enough money to sue me, I'm gonna spare you the mp3s, but you can give her a listen on her website. 

This Friday, October 15th, Nuts Club plays host to Shanghai's Uprooted Sunshine Soundsystem's 5th anniversary tour.  A multinational crew of DJs, MCs, Singers and producers, with a reputation for turning out reggae infused rhythms, from roots to drum & bass.  In the run up to this weekend's Chongqing party we had a few word with one of Uprooted's founders, and an integral presence in the Shanghai music scene Garreth "Gaz" Williams aka DJ Drunk Monk. 

Us:  We'll start off with names and nationalities/home towns?

Them:  Ok, the two remaining founding members are Gaz AKA Drunk Monk from Manchester, UK and Israel AKA dji from Montrael, Canada. Then we have DJ Blaise Deville from Geneva, Switzerland, ChaCha from GuiZhou, China, Esia from France, Didje from Tahiti and Arminda from Portugal. Plus on this tour we have special guests Clive Chin from Jamaica and Selector Twice from New York.

Us:  How did UPROOTED come about in the beginning?

Them: Uprooted Sunshine was formed in November 2005 by Drunk Monk, dji and DJ Yo. Yo was doing a small reggae party in a bar called The Eager Beaver called 'Sunshine Is...', and after responding to a post on a forum asking for people to start a reggae night, Drunk Monk and dji met up for the first time at C's bar and decided to start a reggae night. The first party at C's was called Uprooted Sounds. The first party was a great success and after that Yo, dji and Drunk Monk joined forces to make Uprooted Sunshine. A few months later, Blaise Deville arrived in Shanghai and came to C's for an Uprooted night and soon after joined the crew. Uprooted continued there monthly parties at C's, but at the same time started a new night in a, then new, bar called Logo. Whilst on holiday in Shanghai, Didje came to one of the Logo parties and jumped on the mic, tearing up the party. He returned home, but soon after returned to Shanghai to join Uprooted. A year or so later, an unknown singer called ChaCha came to One Love (the weekly uprooted party at Logo which lasted for over 2 years) and got on the mic. After joining the parties a few times, it wasnt long until she was a proper member of the crew. Not long after, Esia and Arminda were introduced to the crew by a mutual friend and, after a short time in Korea, they returned to Shanghai to join Uprooted. This is just the short version of the story, there were many other members along the way, most notably Yas and Yufah from Japan, Don Dada and Saru from France and Boombadil from Italy.

Us: How has where you're from as well as you are now, influenced the music you make/play today?

Them:  We all share a love for reggae and jamaican music, but as we are all from different countries and backgrounds we all bring our own individual taste and experiences to the music. Some of us have a hiphop background, some drum and bass background, some a rock background, some of us even used to make pop music. We have all also had our own experiences in the music industry, from events management to performing and producing, so this is also a good aspect of the crew as we can all concentrate on the areas that we specialise in. Its quite a unique thing to have a group of 7 people who are all from different countries, and so with our individual styles and backgrounds we can appeal to a much wider audience. At the end of the day though, we are all the same really, we just like reggae music and want to spread it around china.

Us:  Gaz and Cha Cha, were in Chongqing last March with The Antidote, and if I remember correctly, Gaz was (understandingly) a bit upset by the early exit of most of the audience.  For those who haven't experienced an Uprooted party, can you tell the audience what they might expect, so as to assure they are properly prepared?

Them: The night is going to be a show from start to finish, so dont think about leaving early this time! The night will start off with dji's signature opening of dub grooves and heavy bass, followed by a special guest artist from ChongQing. After that we (Uprooted Sunshine) will perform our new live set which we have been putting together over the last few months. There are some brand new tracks in there (one written especially for the tour), plus some of our old favourites. After that is the main event - Mr Clive Chin and Selector Twice! Clive has been digging out some serious tracks for his set, including a Rocksteady tune from the early 60's sang in Mandarin, and also a track he made in the 70's entitled 'Shanghai'. Im sure the Uprooted MCs wont be able to stay off the mic for too long too....

Us: Any last words?

Them: We are all incredibly excited to be going on tour, and me myself (Gaz) am very happy to be playing back at Nutz. I had a great time last time (although it ended too early :) ) and this time I am with the full crew so its going to be a big one! We are putting every last bit of energy into the show, so we hope that you (the crowd) can give us that energy back!

This week's huMP3 day features music from one of the more established, and arguably most 'popular' of Chongqing's very own rock bands.  The Wheels, having gained massive exposure  in last year's nationally televised pepsi battle of the bands, have over the years earned themselves quite the following with their tight, energetic pop-punk.  Friday marks the beginning of their national tour, and as it is their only home town show on the tour, the mosh pit at nuts should be in rare form. 

The WHEELS play Nuts Club Friday, 10/9 @ 20:30.  Supported by No.2 Story