This is the month we’ve been waiting for for quite some time now. Throughout the month of April Sub-Cinema presents a season of Italian murder mystery classics – GIALLO SEASON!!
Giallo (Italian pronunciation: [ˈdʒallo], plural gialli) is an Italian 20th century genre of literature and film, which in Italian indicates crime fiction and mystery. In the English language it refers to a genre similar to the French fantastique genre and includes elements of horror fiction and eroticism. The word giallo is Italian for “yellow” and stems from the origin of the genre as a series of cheap paperback mystery novels with trademark yellow covers.
Tuesday 3rd April – Tenebre (1982)
Dir. Dario Argento
With Argento’s trademark visual style, linked with one of his more coherent plots, Tenebrae follows a writer who arrives to Rome only to find somebody is using his novels as the inspiration (and, occasionally, the means) of committing murder. As the death toll mounts the police are ever baffled, and the writer becomes more closely linked to the case than is comfortable.
Arguably one of Dario Argento’s best, Tenebre is almost the perfect example of Giallo cinema. Slick filming, fantastic story and an amazing soundtrack by the one and only Goblin (the main theme has been heavily sampled by Daft Punk among others), its the perfect way to kick off our Giallo season!
Sub-Cinema @ Dada, every Tuesday night - Doors @ 8pm, Screening @ 9pm - Free Entry, Free Popcorn + Free movie poster for the first 10 people
Sunday 1st April – Sub-Culture presents: AM444 with Li XiaoChuan & Friends (live)
@ JZ club, 49 FuXing Lu, near YongFu Lu
Line Up: AM444 (live), Li XiaoChuan (trumpet) + guest musicians. Support DJ: Drunk Monk
Entrance: FREE
Starts at 9pm
It’s hard to believe its been a whole year since AM444’s ‘Eye Wonder’ release party. Weddings, babies and Red Bull Music Academies all arrived pretty soon after their debut performance, which blew minds at The Shelter exactly 1 year to the day, and so we’ve been waiting to find the best opportunity for their 2nd full live show in Shanghai. We didn’t want to delve into the darkness of The Shelter for their second show, we thought it deserved something a little more special than that, so finally we are excited to present AM444’s new live show on stage at Shanghai premier Jazz venue, JZ CLUB, for an intimate evening alongside the serious horn skills of Li XiaoChuan, as well as a few other surprise guest musicians!!
AM444 is the Shanghai based project of singer ChaCha and producer Jay.Soul. Their debut album ‘Eye Wonder’ was the first release on Shanghai’s PAUSE:MUSIC and made a huge impact on local and international scene, selling out almost instantly and leaving fans pining for more.
ChaCha (Guizhou, China) is one of China’s brightest underground stars. Besides being part of reggae crew Uprooted Sunshine she also records with the likes of Kode9, Clive Chin, Jahtari, Desto, Jimi Tenor, Sickstar & Sunbiz and was part of RBMA 2012. ChaCha effortlessly switches up styles to fit the electronic, trip-hop, dub and leftfield grooves she sings her sharp self-penned lyrics over.
Jay.Soul is a versatile music producer and DJ from Amsterdam. He has made a wide range of tracks, both solo and for others, incl: Mr Windmill, Cecilia Stalin Sole Profit, Corey, Ninefifty. He’s remixed Giovanca, Nas, Michael Franti & Spearhead, O.Boogie, The Proov, Roots Manuva and also composes music for commercials, film, websites, theatre and your momma!
Their new live performance takes their music to a whole other level, with ChaCha on vocals, effects and keys, and Jay on Decks, Bass, Guitar and Synth. Seen as they have been welcomed to play at the legendary JZ Club, we couldn’t help but take advantage of the opportunity to play with some of Shanghai’s most talented musicians, and so joining AM444 on stage will be Li XiaoChuan on Trumpet as well as a few surprise guests! A lot of people have been waiting for this night, and we assure you you won’t be disappointed.
To warm up the evening, Drunk Monk will be dusting off some vinyl treats especially for JZ Club. No booming bass or grimey UK sounds this time, straight up rare grooves, jazz classics and soul dipped goodness!
Friday 23rd March - SHANGHAI BY BUS
Line Up: DJ Maze, Drunk Monk, Ubec, DIdje, George Wyndham + guests
Entrance: 30rmb
Heavyweight reggae vibes all night long as Shanghai By Bus returns to The Shelter. Uprooted Sunshine and DJ Maze bring you a full evening of Reggae, Dancehall, Roots, Dub and Ska with a host of guest mcs! Listen out for the previews of the exclusive dubplates recorded with Daddy Freddy last week! Dont miss!
Saturday 24th March – PAUSE:MUSIC present: Achun – ‘On The Other Side’ Album Release Party
Line Up: Achun (live), Hamacide, R3, Ozone, Drunk Monk
Entrance: 50rmb (includes a copy of Achun – On The Other Side CD)
@ The Shelter, 5 YongFu Lu — Shanghai, China
PAUSE:MUSIC are proud to announce their 5th full release, an album entitled ‘On The Other Side’ by Macau’s ACHUN!
Macau electronic musician Achun’s debut album, “On The Other Side”, is a documentation of the impact on him of various influences over the last few years. He firstly got his inspiration from science fiction movies, and then UFO’s, Occultism and conspiracy theories. All these inspirations were derived into this parallel universe based album. From twisted dubstep and bass, to retro 8-bit sounds and shoegaze atmosphere, as well as active funk and breakbeats, all of these are the foundation of “On The Other Side”.
Achun will be performing a full live set, with support from R3, Hamacide and Drunk Monk!!
Taken from his forthcoming album on PAUSE:MUSIC ’On The Other Side’ (released this Saturday at Shelter), here is a video for Achun’s track ‘Other Side’. More info on the release of this album very soon.
Next up is the new Original Fools video for the track ‘Sick And Tired’. Original Fools consists of Sub-Culture/Uprooted’s Didjelirium and Russian producer Damscray. Video by Didjelirium.
Finally, here’s a brand new video from Beijing’s DJ Wordy and Jeff Soulspeak
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MASSIVE thanks to everyone who came out to The Bug and Daddy Freddy last Saturday, an incredible night! The King Midas lock in was breathtaking and the main set later in the evening was sheer insanity! The Bug and Daddy Freddy absolutely loved the show, they will be back for sure!
Next Sub-Culture session will be on Saturday 14th April where we will be joined by Finnish don TES LA ROK!!
You know the drill. Sub-Culture this Saturday @ The Shelter. Doors open at 9pm. No admittance from 10pm – 11pm. Here is Saturday’s full line up:
9pm – 10pm: B6
As a special surprise to set the tone and quality for the evening, we are honored to have non other than Shanghai’s B6 join us for a special early evening semi-live ambient set before our lock down. B6 is one of China’s most celebrated electronic musicians, and this very rare appearance is the perfect way to open up a night of serious music.
***** Doors to The Shelter will be locked at 10pm. There will be no admittance from 10pm until 11pm. If you wish to leave The Shelter during this time you will not be allowed to re-enter until 11pm***
10pm – 11pm: King Midas Sound DJ Set
As you probably know, The Bug and Daddy Freddy are our guests for this month’s Sub-Culture. The Bug is one of the many pseudonyms of Kevin Martin, the multi talented frequency-fiend from the UK. As well as ‘The Bug’, Kevin’s other current project is King Midas Sound, a group consisting of Kiki Hitomi (Dokebi Q), poet Roger Robinson and himself. Signed to Kode 9’s Hyperdub, Ming Midas Sound released one of 2009’s best albums – ‘Waiting For You’, and their incredible 2011 remix project ‘Without You’, which included reworks by Flying Lotus, Mala, Kode9 and Kuedo to name but a few. Much deeper than ‘The Bug’, beautifully heavy and hauntingly cerebral, the KMS sound has morphed and progressed over the last few years and is a serious force to be reckoned with. With Kevin already in town, we thought we would bring a little something extra to the table to make this, already immense event, just that bit more special. For the first time ever, Kevin will be playing a DJ set under the King Midas Sound banner. It is something that he is very excited about as we were the first people to ever suggest this (they usually play live as a group) and so he is planning to make this debut something to remember. Dark drones, warped pop, ambient sound scapes and more, this is an exclusive chance to hear where the King Midas Sound came from, and where its heading.
***** Doors to The Shelter reopen at 11pm *****
11pm – 12pm: dji + George Wyndham + Nick Muzyczka
Quebec’s dji is one of the original members of Uprooted Sunshine/ Sub-Culture and has been djing in Shanghai for over 6 years. Known for his deep, sub heavy dub music, he always warms up the dance in the best way possible. Joining dji for this special anniversary set will be Uprooted’s newest member George Wyndham, on live harmonica, and Nick Muzyczka on Melodica. Dji and George stunned the crowd at Uprooted’s recent appearance in Manila, and with the addition of the very talented Nick on Melodica the trio have been killing it early hours at every Sub-Culture and Uprooted Sunshine night for the last few months. Get ready for some heavy dubbed out vibes.
12pm – 1am: Steven Lorenz + ChaCha + Didje
Steven Lorenz is the newest addition to the Sub-Culture crew and over the last 2 years has honed his style and taste and has become an integral part of the Sub-Culture line up. Originally more into the straight up dance-floor style of Dubstep, recently he has got much deeper into the sound and his recent sets have been deep, dark and heavy, just how we like it! Think producers such as Pinch, Kryptic Minds, Vivek, Biome, etc and you get an idea of his sound. With his own productions with the Intransik Beats crew getting releases on multiple labels around the world, Steven’s sets always deliver.
Joining Steven will be the beautiful voice of ChaCha, and the many voices of Didje. ChaCha and Didje did an amazing set together with Steven a few months back and so we thought we would put the three of them together again for this special event. The perfect warm up for the audio assault coming up next…
1am – 2.30am: The Bug + Daddy Freddy
This is it. Brace yourselves for a true soundsystem experience like you’ve never seen (or felt) before. Ninja Tune recording artist THE BUG along side the legendary Jamaican MC DADDY FREDDY! Heavyweight riddims, booming bass, screeching sirens, gun shots and more, with a true lyrical mad man on the mic. This is a set you wont forget in a long, long time. No need for more explanation, BE THERE!!!
2.30am – late: Drunk Monk + Ubec + guests
Rounding off the night will be Sub-Culture warrior Drunk Monk alongside the mighty Ubec and a few other lyrical guests. If your system is able to continue after some serious Bug concussion, Drunk Monk will be dropping bombs in The Shelter till the early hours!
For Sub-Culture’s 4th anniversary last December, we were very lucky to have Kode9 agree to play a special set of Burial’s music early in the evening, as well as his Kode9 set later in the night. For the Burial set, we opened The Shelter one hour early (at 9pm) and at 10pm we locked the doors of The Shelter, turned off the lights, turned off the mobile phone signal and from 10 – 11pm, those who were lucky enough to get in on time experienced a very special and intimate hour of music. The response to this was great, and we had around 150 people inside the club for the set, and around 50 people outside who had arrived too late and had to wait until 11pm for the doors to reopen (the reason for turning off the phone signal is we didn’t want ourselves or the other people inside the club to get bombarded by phone calls and texts asking to get them in). It was a full hour of uninterrupted, beautifully dark music with everyone in attendance knowing what they we’re coming to experience.
We said we would only do this again when an opportunity came to do something equally special. Now that time has come. As you probably know, The Bug and Daddy Freddy are our guests for this month’s Sub-Culture. The Bug is one of the many pseudonyms of Kevin Martin, the multi talented frequency-fiend from the UK. As well as ‘The Bug’, Kevin’s other current project is King Midas Sound, a group consisting of Kiki Hitomi (Dokebi Q), poet Roger Robinson and himself. Signed to Kode 9’s Hyperdub, Ming Midas Sound released one of 2009’s best albums – ‘Waiting For You’, and their incredible 2011 remix project ‘Without You’, which included reworks by Flying Lotus, Mala, Kode9 and Kuedo to name but a few. Much deeper than ‘The Bug’, beautifully heavy and hauntingly cerebral, the KMS sound has morphed and progressed over the last few years and is a serious force to be reckoned with.
So, this Saturday night, with Kevin already in town, we thought we would bring a little something extra to the table to make this, already immense event, just that bit more special. For the first time ever, Kevin will be playing a DJ set under the King Midas Sound banner. It is something that he is very excited about as we were the first people to ever suggest this (they usually play live) and so he is planning to make this debut something to remember. Dark drones, warped pop, ambient sound scapes and more, this is an exclusive chance to hear where the King Midas Sound came from, and where its heading.
As with our last lock in, doors to The Shelter open at 9pm with a very special warm up act (to be announce soon), and at 10pm the doors will be locked and its lights out, with doors reopening at 11pm. During the set you are welcome to leave The Shelter, but re-admittance will not be allowed until 11pm. This is a very special set and will not be repeated in Shanghai again, do not miss!
Ok so this weekend its the big one, one of the biggest events we’ve put on in a while – Ninja Tune’s THE BUG along side legendary Jamaican MC DADDY FREDDY! The pair have been on a tour of Asia, tearing up clubs and systems on their way, and this weekend sees the finale in China! We’ve got a whole load of stuff to post leading up to the big event, but first off here are some images direct from Idle Beats of the printing process for this month’s Sub-Culture poster designed by Anna Gruter, and is by far one of favorite posters yet! Was a hard job to follow up last month’s poster by Chairman Ca, but we think she nailed it! Look out for a competition on www.smartshanghai.com later in the week, and as always the screenprints will be available on the night for a special price of 150rmb (normal price is 200rmb)
