Xu Shaoyang profile picture

Xu Shaoyang

boulder, pebble, sand

About Me

i play music alone and with friends and i play drums and piano and other things for maher shalal hash baz. i live in london and copenhagen.
reviews, etc...
His adaptability was impressive and he played along on melodica without any reference to a musical score. Shiu was in tow when we performed songs such as The Fastest (Slowest) Rock Solo in the World in Shibuyas Uplink Factory and last spring at Artland for songs like Unify my Heart and Kaki/Persimmon. At the time, Maher where playing as a stealthy 2/3 person unit and Shiu was necessarily a presence
the happy revelation in Niigata, hearing Shiu perform solo for the first time, that he was a genius, was ample compensation. He plays an electric using only 2 or 3 strings, which he delicately picks while quietly singing. I think he is better than anyone .. city. One such marvellous song is sung and played accompanied only by the Do-re-mi-fa-so-ra-ti-do do-shi-ra-so-fa-mi-re-do scale. He is also partial to covering songs in foreign languages like Faye Wongs hits in Mandarin, Julie Doiron, Hirai Ken, and so on. In spring we toured Kansai together with Okamehachimoku. To sum up his persona in a few words, I would describe him as having a voice with a ringing-sonorous quality.
Possessed of a quiet dynamism which can turn on a sixpence like a firework; a type of person not found among Japanese; like an airplane painting pictures on a cloud, Shiu will join the ranks of great modern Chinese artists. Tori Kudo, Maher Shalal Hash Baz
London has Let Me Down appropriate or interpret popular songs in so singular a fashion that you will be reminded afresh of the simple redemptive power of songs sung true; that what can seem like trite over-sentimentality in popular music, can in the right hands be transformed into the source for an achingly beautiful lament or celebration. Shoes is the story of a memory of a love affair which is simultaneously a source of lingering pain and of a supernatural mana. Their habit of truncating songs purposefully or spontaneously and the ever shifting line-up mean that every performance is subtly-radically different. Its a quiet dynamism and youve got to listen carefully or you wont hear what is going on, but if you do learn to listen, both prettiness and a preternatural wisdom await you. Philip Brunton, Niigata English Journal, Japan
live history
199? 07/?? - ??? pub, nice, france
199? 07/?? - hole in the wall, nice, france
1997 08/?? - main street festival, markham, canada
1997 ??/?? - rivoli club, toronto, canada (spoken word)
1997 ??/?? - ?? park newmarket, canada
2002 11/11 - gravity club, london, canada w oneida, blyn moon trail
2003 01/31 - gravity club, london, canada w jm guthrie band, heidi hazelton
2003 03/21 - forest city gallery, london, canada w hail of knives (photography show opening for Melanie Shatzky and Nathalie Daoust)
2004 11/13 - village rock cafe, niigata, japan w maher shalal hash baz
2005 - 03/11 matsuri, niigata japan (solo)
2005 - 03/12 matsuri, niigata japan (solo)
2005 - 03/20 uramado, shinjuku, tokyo w/ tori kudo, kakuni, etc.
2005 - 03/26 more music, matsuyama, japan (w mshb)
2005 - 04/01@osaka VEEubW w/mshb, okamehachimoku, natacha's recordings soundsystem
2005 - 04/02@kobe _Ebig apple w/mshb, okamehachimoku, natacha's recordings soundsystem
2005 - 04/03@shiga ]EV w/mshb, okamehachimoku, natacha's recordings soundsystem, morikawa sisters,
2005 - 04/30 @sendai kasei no niwa (mars garden). w/yumbo, TADA, F-1 talk
2005 - 07/08 @ niigata, matsuri w/shopping is a feeling, satoshi suzuki
2005 - 07/09 @ niigata, black pig
2005 - 07/26 @ niigata, book of days (evening in-store) w/ perfect dancer (kyoto)
2005 - 08/06 @ tokyo, uramado w/ tori kudo, ma-on, naoto kawate, etc
2005 - 12/04 @ copenhagen, literatur haus (klub argot event) w/ pleasure/drenching/klapper/casswell
2006 - 01/04 @ aarhus, SpLAB, Jutland Academy of Fine Arts (w/ mshb, ma-on) - recording with DR danish national radio 2006 - 02/04 @ copenhagen, galleri ax12 (w/ mshb, ma-on) 2006 - 03/04 @ gothenburg, kulturehuset underjorben (w/ mshb, jens lekman, ma-on, erik de vahl)
2006 06/21 portland oregon, red and black cafe (with riley, ID and surprise guests)
2006 06/22 portland oregon, the artistery / MSHB with Woelv, Arrington de Dionyso (of old time relijun), the watery graves
2006 06/23 solo at 12th annual olympia festival of experimental musics
2006 06/26-29 recording session in dub narcotic (maher, ma-on, pan, sans deer, shiu)
2006 07/01 seattle july 1st solo gallery 1412 (Yes) with mshb, kazu nomura
2006 - 08/13 montreal canada @ zoo bizarre (with paper boots, Brian Lipson (of White Flower)
2006 08/16 (vs gein wong laptop-ing) hamilton canada @ casbah lounge
2006 - 08/22 toronto canada @ graffiti's (with matias rozenberg, fusilli)
2006 - 08/30 toronto canada @ press club - part of "poor pilgrim"
2006 - 11/11 gothenburg, sweden @ kulturhuset underjorden (with prurient, the skaters, carlos giffoni)
2007 - 01/07 dublin, ireland @ st patrick terrace (with eoin j cotter and friends)
2007 - 02/26 manchester, england @ klondyke club (with fete and 7 hertz)
2007 - 02/28 bristol, england @ cafe kino (with naoto kawate and sam jones (movietone))
2007 - 03/01 bristol, england @ cube cinema (with arctic circle and naoto kawate)
2007 - 03/02 london, england @ LSE shaw library (with ana da silva)
2007 - 03/04 london, england @ big chill house
2007 - 05/31 london, england @ red rose
2007 - 06/08 glasgow, scotland @ mono
2007 - 06/16 cherbourg, france @ epicentre
2007 08/09 - copenhagen, denmark @ lygten station Description:with: blue sabbath black fiji (F), Hellbridges Pastaklub (dk)
2007 19/10 - madrid, spain @ El Patio Maravillas
2007 22/10 - barcelona, spain @ Heliogabal w/Bradien
2008 04/04 - brussels, belgium @ La Compilotheque w/Clement Nourry
2008 04/25 - copenhagen, denmark @ undervand, orestad, "cyklerband"
2008 06/27 - london, england @ cafe oto w/morten jorgensen
2008 06/28 - manchester, england @ fuel w/ eyes
2008 08/15 - bristol, england @ cube cinema w/fringes, rozi plain, i know i have no collar
2008 08/29 - dublin, ireland @ toner's
2008 08/30 - bray, ireland @ harbour bar
2008 10/07 - kyoto, japan @ yugue w/naoto kawate
2008 10/09 - matsuyama, japan @ more music w/ maher shalal hash baz, naoto kawate
2008 10/12 - tokyo, japan @ grande bleu w/andersens, macomeology, muffin
2009 02/13 - hamburg, germany @ sudbalkon w/ djs
live history of playing for tori kudo H~ / maher shalal hash baz
2003 11/22 - uplink factory, shibuya, tokyo (instream series-8, noise/exp/etc) ..
2004 04/17 - roppongi super-deluxe, tokyo (mshb w movietone) ..
2004 05/01 - artland, musashi-koganei, tokyo (tori kudo, imuta, meko, shiu) ..
2004 08/29 - roppongi super-deluxe, tokyo (mshb w bill wells*) .. *also accompaniment for bill wells.
2005 06/24 - serralves museum of comp. art, porto, portugal
2006 06/23 with mshb at 12th annual olympia festival of experimental musics
2007 06/04 - bristol, england - venn festival arnofini
2007 06/07 - glasgow, england - chai ovna
2007 06/17 - reims, france
2007 07/04 - roskilde, denmark - roskilde festival astoria
2007 07/06 - malmo, sweden - scaniaparken
2008 08/13 - tokyo, japan - shijuku jam
credits:
shiu-yeung hui "london has let me down" (igloo)
maher shalal hash baz "l'autre cap" (k records)
maher shalal hash baz "c'est la derniere chanson" (k records)
yumbo "flicker/echo" (igloo)

My Interests

Music:

Member Since: 3/7/2005
Band Website: page7.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/g7599
Band Members: current and former members and guests: meredith ferguson, selena horrell, shiu-yeung hui, mark jeffrey, michael shannon, laura sullivan, gen yasuo, aimee mitchell, tyler morrison, nicole naka, koji shibuya, tori kudo, naoki otani, mako hasegawa, naoto kawate, naoko takechi, kenichi takechi, nagisa hayashida, mai tanaka, peter fox, philip brunton, miyuki asakura, ayako ohno, natsumi kudo, chieko yamaji, tetsuo watanabe, jeff bissing, michelle grate, tero, dimitrios christoforidis, paraskevas kerketsos, xu xiao yu, wei yu pei, jiang nan, paul mihai, steffe, shiro kobayashi, jens lekman, emil thorensfedt, fernanda pradal, klaus jakobsen, tyler brown, shiro kobayashi, takuya sugimoto, gein wong, kelci archibald, ernest agbuya, christopher a. cummings, james vanbolhuis, matias rozenberg, ann denny, anna danova, sasha chapin, sam jones, howard monk, ellen rein, casper clausen, samuel, Pablo Santoro, Maikel, Rodrigo Cortillas, Urs Hampel, Ramiro Cortillas, Enrique Godino, Clement Nourry, thomas kudela, sha sha, etc.
Influences: the pastels, dan hill, tori kudo, joao gilberto, faye wong, etc.
Sounds Like: melodies gone wrong.
Record Label: ko-ishi (japan), igloo (japan), bsbta (denmark)

My Blog

2008

it has been almost one year. there's been nice shows all over the place, very happy about them. brussels show was surprising, kind uk audiences as usual, copenhagen appearance was with a makeshift bic...
Posted by on Tue, 09 Dec 2008 02:53:00 GMT

spain recap

madrid was helped along with various local musicians and we had a rehearsal in their studio there. gig was at a very well-organized squat apartment courtyard but ended a bit early they say. barcelona ...
Posted by on Sun, 04 Nov 2007 02:14:00 GMT

copenhagen line-up

this weekend's gig's friends - casper from efterklang, ellen from pigegaarden, zheng yu from tibetan dance performance, and others. instruments: piano, guitar, keyboard with sampler, recorders, melodi...
Posted by on Thu, 06 Sep 2007 06:02:00 GMT

tour recap

maher european tour+recording 2007 is finished. the last show was in malmo sweden in a park next to the sea. we could see the audience sitting on the grass and deck, with the water and the setting sun...
Posted by on Thu, 12 Jul 2007 14:53:00 GMT

L'Autre Cap available now on K records

maher shalal hash baz's new album, l'autre cap, is finally released! it is on k records. i play some stuff on it! exciting! the first time my sounds appear on a pressed cd!
Posted by on Fri, 01 Dec 2006 05:14:00 GMT

piano

piano practice every tuesday afternoon at kulkafeen in copenhagen K. played a show on short notice in gothenburg... ireland confirmed! jan 7 in dublin. something in malmo, sweden, soon..... ? maybe.
Posted by on Thu, 23 Nov 2006 08:39:00 GMT

denmark foremath

now i'm in denmark. i'm having fun but spending too much money. i hope it will be as fun as year#2 in japan.   now i'm not so sure i can play in ireland.... christmas/new year is not a good time ...
Posted by on Tue, 17 Oct 2006 16:44:00 GMT

Canada aftermath

The last show in Toronto, Canada, went well. It was at a place called the press club for an event called poor pilgrim. i highly recommend it.i think i will just sit around here until I go back to Denm...
Posted by on Mon, 04 Sep 2006 13:23:00 GMT

k records aftermaths

i'm busy sending out postcards to people out west to whom i owe CDs... many performances in canada soon, and then i will play with damo suzuki too at the end of august near my birthday. and then i wi...
Posted by on Tue, 01 Aug 2006 09:50:00 GMT

back from the west coast!

the tour went quite well, we played a nice warm up show in portland and then a proper show at the artistery with arrington de dionyso (old time relijun), woelv (genevieve elverum), and the watery grav...
Posted by on Wed, 05 Jul 2006 22:48:00 GMT