And just like that, there was a flash on the horizon, a blinding light, the buildings began to splinter and fray, concrete blocks tumbling from high above, but yet there's also a sweet ringing in your ears, whispering that it'll all be ok. The release of Douban's new festival lineup (see it in full here), titled Wetware, has basically just had the equivalent effect on Beijing's summer festival calendar.

If there's one word that could describe the foreign acts coming to Beijing over four days, May 18-21, at both Tango and School, it would be distortion. Tasked in rounding up the acts, Gaz Williams of the now defunct and soon to be mythical The Shelter went to town, bagging acts for Tango's third floor stage that span indie rock: Cass McCombs, Low; to those more inclined to heavy guitar and synth: Stephen O'Malley (of SunnO)))), Alessandro Cortini (previously of Nine Inch Nails), Cold Cave, Dopplereffekt; to huge electronic and club names Kode9 (alongside visual artist Lawrence Lek), Andy Stott, Tim Hecker, and Laurel Halo. Heavy, heavy, heavy.

The festival's second stage, located on the first floor of Tango, will feature an ongoing backdrop courtesy of visual artists Kim Laughton and Jonathan Zawada, to which electronic and R&B influenced performers such as Nightmares on Wax, RP Boo, DJ Earl, PC Music’s A.G. Cook, Danny L Harle, Palmistry, and Faded Ghost (aka ChaCha) will do their thing. The after parties will bring it home here, with Beijing’s Do Hits doing the honors on the Friday (May 19) and Shanghai’s SVBKVLT hosting on the Saturday (May 20).

Head to Wudaoying's School to catch a number of local acts, including Elvis T, Dataline, RUN RUN RUN, MIRRORS, chenchenchen, and a handful of smaller foreign bands like Sweden's .one and America's Mark Verbos.

Tickets for the show can be bought for RMB 239 (Thu), RMB 329 (per day Fri thru Sun), or RMB 889 for the whole shebang.

Always more of a "which festival looks the least bad" kind of choice, summer festivals here aren't something so much you look forward in so much as it's just something to do in order to kill time with your friends while the sun still hangs in the sky. Wetware is trying to change that, and you won't need to go to Hebei to get lost in it.

More stories by this author here.

Email: tomarnstein@thebeijinger.com

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Images: Douban Wetware