It’s a Tuesday night at 2Kolegas, a squat, rundown bar at the edge of an anachronistic drive-in movie theater. In a joint packed with local denizens and cigarette smoke, it’s a crush to find standing room, much less a deep breath. Tonight’s bill includes Islaja, a Finnish electronic loopmaker, recently off of her tour opening for Animal Collective; a red-draped Japanese-Korean duo named 10, which deploys a laptop and a bevy of toys for its sound; and Knyfe Hyts, a mask-wearing sludge-rock trio from Brooklyn. A Chinese saxophonist named Li Tieqiao joins the latter band on stage, the resulting sound not unlike something off The Stooges’ Funhouse: raucous, noisy and full-bore. The crowd goes nuts. Just another night in Beijing.
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