MV Monday: Headphone, Horoscope, Birdstriking, Final Message

Anyone hear about that massive drug bust at Dos Kolegas this weekend – undercover officers at a reggae party – that’s just diabolical. Hoping the joint is alright. To wash the bad taste out here’s your weekly Monday dose of music videos, tour videos, and previews for upcoming gigs from noise rockers Birdstriking, filmmaker Maya Rudolph, hardcore group Final Message, and eccentric expat withproficient Mandarin, Sofa. It’s all gonna be alright folks – at least we Americans will get a chance to see Re-Tros and Second Hand Rose.

Depending on your tastes this is either the creepiest ‘laowai singing in Mandarin’ vid of the year or the cutest I’m leaning more towards creepiest – I mean just look at that face. If John Wayne Gacy lived in during the viral internet age, this might be what he would be churning out. Joking aside, it’s quite an adorable jingle for you novice chinese learners out there. Entitled Headphones, the music video follows our laowai hero, Sofa (沙发) as he embarks on another subway journey through the city – his medicine of choice to get by – music. Definitely can get behind that statement. And props to the editing team – looks like it was a blast to shoot.

Last month, three piece noise rock band Birdstriking had the privilege of going on tour around the UK opening for none other than the reveled American psychedelic rock outfit The Brain Jonestown Massacre – whose founding member Enrique Maymi has been pushing indie Chinese music to the masses. Quite the cool gent. Well, looks like the tour was a blast according to this mini preview of a tour documentary that was shot during their trip across England. Check it out in its entirety this Saturday, August 16^th, at XP where Birdstriking will join other Maybe Mars’ regulars.

Vimeo alert! Last December I had the pleasure of watching local filmmaker Maya Rudolph’s short film entitled Iceberg, about a Beijing drummer on the cusp of success. Well she’s back with her latest short film, Horoscope, which stars once again Beijing’s own lil firestarter Pei Pei (aka Little Punk), as well as Maybe Mars’ media executive Lolly Fan. Here’s the synopsis: “Xinxin and Xiao Lu are best friends who do two things every day: read their daily horoscopes and take the Line 3 bus to their Beijing middle school. When the girls find themselves increasingly invested in a chance encounter with a fellow passenger, they find that the future is not always written in a horoscope and their daily commute may lead them to unexpected places.\” Cool beans – check that out Friday, August 15^th, at The Other Place – followed by a Q & A with the director and a performance from its star.

With the Hardcore Festival just around the corner (more on that later this week), I bumped in this cute little tour video chronicling local scremo band Final Message’s trip to Korea. Nothing more nothing less – simply love seeing Chinese bands getting more and more opportunities playing aboard. Looks like it was a high-end event – sure as hell beats Mao Livehouse. Uterine