The Beat Performances Book Review travel Sports Tested Why are there Parisian boy wonder You know about the Eat your way Defend yourself with so many bricks Thomas Enhco back Silk Road, now read through Krav Maga at Sunny- in Beijing? 34 in Beijing 38 about The Silver Way 41 Singapore 46 focus Sports Club 48 things to do concert highlight

From Light to Dark amiina is not just for faeries

32 www.cityweekend.com.cn behind the music things to do

celandic, neoclassical, indie pop band amiina are headlin- Iing Beijing. Known for collab- orating with Icelandic post-rock band, Sigur Rós, amiina contrib- uted to a lot of the lush instru- heart mentation found on critically acclaimed Sigur Rós albums such as Takk… and Með suð í eyrum við strings spilum endalaust (With a Buzz in Our Ears We Play Endlessly). transcendent What began as a string quar- Violinist owen tet in the early 2000s, amiina has now become a sensible six- pallett speaks piece ensemble. But the number of players don’t speak to the level of instrumentation they produce while utilizing instruments like the theremin, kalimba, melodi- ca, and table harp. amiina’s ear- Oscar-nominated, 37-year-old multi-instrumen- would’ve sounded the same with lier works are what you would talist and Toronto native Owen Pallett is known or without the name change. expect to hear from an Icelandic for his lush string arrangements with the Grammy almost What do you hope to bring to group, instrumental music made from the land of faeries, for faer- award-winning band Arcade Fire and scoring entirely Beijing with your performance? ies, much like a Brahms lullaby Spike Jonze’s 2013 movie Her. new songs I’ve been told that Shanghai and or Debussy nocturne, twinkling What’s your approach to writing music? For Beijing are two of the most beau- and delicate. me, it is easier to write when there is a structure in tiful cities. I’ll be playing almost amiina’s new album, Fantô- place, a story to tell. I don’t write songs as cathar- entirely new songs. Historically, mas, takes a stark departure from that notion, probably because it sis, I don’t have an urge to put my day’s feelings I’ve found that my audience in Japan prefers to was originally conceived as a down into song form, and I don’t think that it’s hear new material instead of old material. This is score to the 1913 silent French a useful method in my practice. Instead, I write very different from Western audiences, who want crime film serial of the same larger concepts. It’s easier to form statements to hear ‘the hits’. I don’t know if Chinese audiences name. This time around, there is of criticality when working within fictional narra- share this predilection, but I’m hoping it is the much more tension held in amii- na’s compositions, and a steeli- tives, to be satirical or political in a fantasy envi- case. I will be playing some older songs as well, er undertone, which gives way to ronment, because you’re not burdened with the but at the moment, the show is 80-percent new contemplation for the listener. necessity of facts or honesty. Have you evolved material.  Ariel Yang  Ariel Yang since your days working under the moniker Final Fantasy? It was just a change in name! It Find it: Yugong Yishan, 3-2 Zhangzizhong Lu, 东城区张自忠路3-2号, Tel: 8402-8477, amiina at Yugong Yishan, Friday, didn’t change the way I make music. The albums www.yoopay.cn/event/OwenPallettBJ April 21, 9pm, ¥160 (presale) ¥200 (door) newnoise.taobao.com

Happy LMT Connection Let’s get funky Seis de Mayo Fiesta 80th, Veterans of the funk and blues Join Club Paradise DJs Ted Dancin’, BB! circuit, LMT Connection tours the Saucy, Chloe, Gary Boozy, Rothwell, world in celebration of BB King’s and special guest Count of Monte 80th birthday. They’ve entertained Disco for Beijing’s premier Cinco de audiences with hard-hitting sets Mayo bash, as they break in The Other that line up Jon Irvine on bass, Leroy Place’s beautiful hutong courtyard for Emmanuel on guitar and vocals, the season. Expect an all day blow-out and Mark Rogers on pretty much full of funky tropical tunes, BBQ, fes- everything else. ¥80 (presale), ¥100 tive booze deals, and more! So prepare (door). your best sombrero and get ready Dusk Dawn Club for Beijing’s funkiest fiesta at El Clubo Friday, May 5, 9pm www.showstart.com Paradiso. Tickets TBA The Other Place, Saturday, May 6, 1pm Tel: 6401-3269

33