What’s really good in Shanghai this weekend…the weekend of 1997.

Oh snap. Had to work up the Hemmingway sweat after chillin with Dr. Jing last night just to write this. Too much lamb, too much goose. Coming a bit early this time as there’s so much on. Everything from two different Chinese hip hop acts on Friday night to Korn sharing a lineup with a Korean boy band, [pause], to Come Correct at The Shelter with the legendary J. Rocc from The Beat Junkies on Saturday night. AND there’s a pool party on Saturday at that Xujiahui Oasis where you can catch a set by The Super Ayi Cleaning Team from 2PM – 4PM.

THURSDAY – VINYL NIGHT @ Logo

“On the third Thursday of each month the society convenes to play their favourite records across all genres. All vinyl all night. Comfortable underground bar, cheap beer.” That’s friends from Push and Pull as well as a special guest from VOID tonight at Logo. No CDs, no laptops, no iPods, just good tunes on vinyl. Music leans more towards house, grime, dubstep, and techno.

THURSDAY – EXPERIMENTAL @ The Shelter

My friend and neighbor Laura from the Acid Pony Club makes beats all day and DJs all night – one of the hardest working cats in Shanghai. His Thursday affair on Yongfu Lu, “Let’s Get Naked And Listen To A Bunch of Drones,” brings your weekly dose of weird, trippy beats and film soundtracks. Here’s one of the latest experimental tracks he’s done, out on his SVBKVLT beat tape.

Friday – HIP HOP.

Ok I got love for Hijack but I gotta rep two Chinese hip hop shows going down Friday. First off, you already know we got our club night Love Bang at 390 with local beatmaker/manga character Ceezy, but you might not know about another show by Beijing rappers 阴三儿 (in3). I don’t know much about dudes, but local friends tell me they’re some of the best MCs in China. “Real underground Beijing style.“ They’re on Friday night at Arkham with a RMB100 cover. Peep some of their tracks over on Douban. Really nice tunes there.

Friday – ELECTRONIC

Most people know Dada Bar, but some newer heads might not know the history. Dada was started by Michael, a dude from The Bay Area, and before he started his own club he founded one of Shanghai’s original club nights pushing better music in a town full of shit tunes – Antidote. From humble 2005 beginnings in dungeon-of-vomit C’s Bar to packed nights at The Shelter, then parlaying all this into starting two of China’s most well-known underground clubs, dude deserves a lot of props. Well Friday it’s the 8th anniversary of Antidote, with a lineup of OG Antidote peeps – mostly local Shanghai dudes who’ve moved onto big tings themselves: B6, MHP, Fish, Ozone, and Drunk Monk. Sure to be good.

Saturday – ROCK AND DARK WAVE

There’s no better way to avoid attracting corporate branding than naming your band Astrofuck. That’s one idea that went into the name of this new band formed by three friends of mine: DJ Cavia, music-blogger don Andy Best, and singer Kaine. Saturday night they’ve got heaps of brand new material to play at Yuyintang, probably the best place in Shanghai to see a rock show, especially with that lush park in back. Check out their tunes over on Douban. Here’s what Andy had to say about the show, via Kungfuology:

“It will cost 40 rmb on the door and feature post-punk, experimental, gothy and dark bands. That’s probably an inadequate way to describe it. DJ Tzu Sing will open from 9 playing darkwave and industrial styles. Then The Other will play, then us doing a 45 minute plus set including completely new songs we have never played before. We also have HIMDONG closing out with some loop madness. It will be awesome and the perfect antidote to the thrown together, generalized, overpriced SH Summer Sonic night on over at the Stadium. I can say that cos SMG is a multi-billion corporation and we are just some friends putting on a 300 ppl show underground.”

Saturday – HIP HOP. J. ROCC AT THE SHELTER (yrs truly’s pick of the weekend)

Yet another big name DJ passing through town – why should you care about this one? Cause he’ll murder your favorite DJ on the turntables and turn the party out. Coming out of LA, J. Rocc and his crew The Beat Junkies birthed an entire generation of hip hop artists during the 90s. Turntablism and party rocking with class is how they roll. This dude is an absolute legend who ran in the same circles as J. Dilla and Madlib. He’s on at 12:30AM at The Shelter and I’m expecting to dance non-stop for his two hour set. No idea what I’m gonna play after this dude from one of my favorite labels ever, Stones Throw. Plus we’ve got a scratch showcase by the god from Guilin LJ and sets by T-Plus and DJ Caution…don’t sleep on this one!!!

Peep this video of J. Rocc killing it at the Beat Junkies 20th Anniversary for a taste.

SATURDAY – CHARITY

What if you had severe eye problems but couldn’t afford the surgery you needed, or even had access to the right medical facilities? Well this charity ORBIS literally flies around the world in a plane equipped with a full hospital onboard and performs surgery for kids like this on the spot. They’ve got a charity cocktail ball on Saturday night, with all proceeds from the RMB200 ticket going to their good cause. There’s no app for blindness yet.

SATURDAY – POOL PARTY

Yep, back at the same pool this weekend although this party comes to you via PX Productions, aka Panda Express. The homie Eoin from PX actually hooked us up with the pool so we owe them big. Catch DJ Caution and myself spinning from 2PM – 4PM. Really pumped to actually just play a set there instead of focusing on e.g. someone lost their ring or getting ice for drinks. Expect a lot of Three 6 Mafia and G-Funk. That’s at Wending Lu near Hongqiao Lu and just RMB80 to get in before noon.

Alight I could go on about Korn and Limp Bizkit both playing Shanghai this weekend, and how the shared lineup between the “inventors of dubstep” and a Korean boy band bound to attract hordes of tweens could create a potentially hazardous standoff between them and hundreds of metal fans in Shanghai Stadium, but I gotta go beat Conrank at squash. See you in the streets – come say what up if you’re out!

Oh PS, it’s not a rave! Please stop throwing this word around, it’s already lost meaning. If your sound system = some portable speakers with a USB-port that your friend helped you buy on Taobao, it’s not a rave. Also, there’s no such thing as a “private dinner for 150 people” that’s open to everyone on Facebook. Aight Audi 5,000.