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1. Venice is Sinking Sorry About the Flowers 2. Rebuilding the Rights of Statues Cut Off! EP 3. Lonely China Day Sorrow 4. Arrows Made of Desire Songs That Sell Fish 5. Lonely China Day Eponymous EP 6. The Submissionaries Royal Jelly EP
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November 5, 2008
INDIE NIGHT Is Back!    Having spent the summer reclining on sun drenched beaches - all the while wishing it was back in the cellar - Indie Night is back; bigger, louder and slightly less hairy. DJs Empty Floor, The Other One and Assasin Eyes play all your soon-to-be skinny-white-guys-with-guitars favourites and derisively spurn your Chilli Peppers requests. Thanks to White Rabbit and Tag Team Records, Thursdays just became tolerable again. Bring all your bros and bras! And don't worry ladies, Attacks Unicorns is with us in spirit... Actually, we've instructed two interns to fabricate a 'Kyle Doll' that we're going to officially market as 'Tickle Me Emo'. Thus far everything they've come up with looks kinda shitty, but so does Kyle most of the time, which is prolly why all the chicks dig him so much. Anyway, Sherman wants to set the doll up in the DJ booth every Thursday. I'm kinda on the fence and Bekka just thinks Kyle should wash his hair more often. Whatever. See you all every Thursday at White Rabbit: C2, Haoyun Jie (Lucky Street), 29 Zaoying Lu, Chaoyang District, Beijing P.R.C. November 2, 2008 Dude! Remember Arrows Made of Desire? Turns Out Joewi Didn't Get That Modeling Contract In New York After All, Something About A 'Dutch Oven' Became...Erm, 'Probatory' (sp?) or whatever. I Dunno, We're All Getting Sick Of Homie's Good Looks Anyhow & Everyone Knows NYC Is An Unacceptable Place To Do Anything Other Than Say You're From There So Chicks'll Think You're Sophisticated or Something Like That. Anyway, Turns Out There's Some Pretty Happening Shit Pertaining To Young Joewi And The Rest Of Those AMoD Dorks! Opening For Jens Lekman?! Touring China With Moses Hazy?! New Album Out In March?! WTF, Brah?!    Sometimes the title portions of stuff here on the Tag Team site actually eclipse any and all necessary text. Okay, actually, most of the time. Honestly, we do our best to entertain you folks. Well this time'll be different I suppose. I'm busy. Maybe you're busy too? I doubt you're on the way to a hospital to talk to a buncha dudes about the 'meaning of love', but I am. I actually took some notes earlier about what 'love' actually is, or at least what it means to me. Here's a few things I love unconditionally: 1) In-N-Out Double Doubles w/ grilled onions (no tomato). 2) The fact that I'm going somewhere better than here when I die... 3) and...wait for it...Arrows Made of Desire! There's prolly more, but Arrows are going off on tour around China with freak-show, classic rock officiators Moses Hazy and returning to Beijing, hopefully intact, and opening for the one and only Jens Lekman!!! Come on, you read Pitchfork, you know who Jens is? Yeah, of course you do. Here at Tag Team, we know him a little better. He's the dude who boned Kyle's ex-girlfriend back in Park Slope one night after a Southpaw gig. Watch your back brah! Oh wait...shit! This posting's all about love. Yeah, I guess we love you too, Jens. I mean, you did play that legless teenager's benefit show in North Hampton last night. Just make sure and keep it in your pants here in the 'Jing, dude. Damn Swedes! 11/15 Shenzhen @ Huaqiao Cheng Wenhua Chuang Yi Yuan, w/Moses Hazy 11/16 Guangzhou @ Xi Wo Bar, w/Moses Hazy 11/18 Changsha @ Freedom House, w/Moses Hazy 11/19 Nanchang @ Xing Kong Qi Bar, w/Moses Hazy 11/20 Wuhan @ VOX Bar, w/Moses Hazy 11/21 Nanjing @ Gubao Bar, w/Moses Hazy 11/22 Shanghai @ Live Bar, w/Moses Hazy 11/23 Shanghai @ Yu Yin Tang, w/Moses Hazy 11/26 Qingdao @ Red Star Magazine, w/Moses Hazy 11/27 Qingdao @ Xi Hai Guoji Julebu (West Lake Intl. Club), w/Moses Hazy 11/28 Beijing @ MAO Livehouse, w/Moses Hazy 11/29 Beijing @ 2Kolegas, w/Moses Hazy 11/30 Tianjin @ Mayflower, w/Moses Hazy, RandomK(e) 12/02 Beijing @ MAO Livehouse, w/Jens Lekman October 30, 2008 In Pursuit of Further Blog Space, and The Fame That Follows, RandomK(e) Brings New Tunes to the Inter-Cyber-Web-Esphere, While Making Announcements of Random (hee hee!) Nature, Milking Every Last Letter Of the English Alphabet To Within A Micrometer of Its Existence, And Album and Tour News, too!    Whether or not "Green", one of the latest batch of tracks uploaded for your downloading pleasure from “slippery bastards” RandomK(e), is, in fact, The Great Beijing Rock Song is a matter for debate, though those in attendance at the K(e)’s first headlining show at Mao at the end of an October in 2008 otherwise bereft of performances by anyone sporting brackets in their name would end the debate before it gets started. What we mean to say is that all reports agree that "Green" kicks a lot of ass, and you can find it somewhere in the deep recesses of this internet website. It won’t be on any Long-Play Album by RandomK(e) for some time, because, well, that is the fashion in which the K(e) rolls. There will be a Long-Play Album by RandomK(e) in the near and foreseeable future, because, hey, why else would a brand known if not for their love of the album format, then at least for their love of claiming to love the album format and even occasionally drop a Long-Play Album on the heads of the unsuspecting public grant the band such primo real estate to blather on ad infinitum about a few new tracks that have been placed on Team Tag Team’s truck stop off exit 127.356.003.1 of the information superhighway? Because RandomK(e)’s debut full-length record --- now tentatively titled “Waiting”, and previously tentatively titled “(e)”, though never, ever previously titled “RandomK(e) Presents the Magical Mystery Tour” or “Booya!”--- will be unleashed to the world in March of 2009. In like a lion, those Ides of March, and out like a K(e). What we also mean to say is that our fine feathered friends at RandomK(e) have dusted off some digital files of a not insignificant value, and have placed them in the hands of Tag Team officials. But don’t for one moment, dear blog reader, think that this journey is so simple as the mere passing of digital information. Please, dear blog reader, have some respect for the Process! After sequestering the files in a lockbox guarded by sixteen vestal virgins --- who delayed their coastal voyage for the chance to spend quality time in the company of said files --- in the depths of an abandoned bomb shelter beneath the maze of Old Beijing’s ancient alleyways, the files emerged, cleansed and with a slight scent of centuries past and a hint of elderberries, at which time they have been lovingly placed in the arms of the Webmaster. At which time, as guided by the Bavarian Purity Laws 1621, lawyers from all sides gathered, washed the purified files in the baptismal fire of a seven-month-old bottle of Baijiu, took a blood oath and, together, as one, ceremonially clicked the Tag Team Family Mouse, sending into cyber-space the files you see now, under the category marked “downloads”. Here you will find songs of freedom, songs in the key of life, songs that make the whole world sing. In short: Songs. Some, you may have heard before. Well, if you’ve been as good a fan of the band as you ought to have been, you would have heard all of the aforementioned songs --- and then some! --- but, if geography, rain, a comfy couch, an early morning the next day, a late night the day before, a hairdressing appointment or your night to clean the hairs from the shower drain has prevented you from coming to see a show, then first: A Fie on your houses! Second: We are rewarding your incompetence. Because that, also, is the fashion in which the K(e) rolls. RandomK(e) has little time for grudges against those who know not what they miss --- though that little time does affords The Band quite a bit of room for complaining, The Band does not tend to waste too much time on the issue beyond what is absolutely necessary. Are your ears burning? Could be that little time now. The reward comes in the form of several songs upcasted for your listening pleasure. And proof that the K(e) is Alive and Well and Living in Beijing. “Green” is destined for dance and rock party greatness with its flubbery bass, clickety-clackity electronics and deep-down funk rock. “DubBide” is the group’s exorcise of its dubdemons, reinventing inna new style, a track from the forthcoming release that just might prove to be unrecognizable, in a deliciously slippery kind of a way. “Our Greatest Mistake” is quite the opposite: A journey into the dark side inspired by a rethinking of humanity, alienity and pretty much everything, with a soundtrack from the end of days as composed by a Black-Sabbath-loving Mozart distraught over something much heavier then his impending unexistence. But with a happy ending. These three songs are so fresh, they missed the recording session, and, alas, were all, every one of them, recorded live (“Green” and “Our Greatest Mistake”, at 2 Kolegas on April 25, 2008; “DubBide” at Mao Livehouse on March 14, 2008, if you must know). Which is our way of saying ‘sorry the recording quality isn’t as high as you’ve likely come to expect from Tag Team Records, but hey, we were doing this LIVE! In front of People! That’s hard!’ And herewith also find two new mixes, ever closer to album-ready, of “Bleeding Hearts”, the anthem of our generation, whichever generation you please; and of “Anything”, a pop song that unravels into a swirl of heavy noise, because, after all, ‘your love doesn’t mean anything.’ ‘Anything.’ Love, RandomK(e) September 28, 2008 Since Everyone At Tag Team Got Their Medical Degrees Whilst Serving Time In Various Prisons/Halfway Houses The World Over, We Have No Idea What Function A Spleen Actually Serves? But, We Know It Must Seriously Suck To Have One Removed… All kidding aside, Johnnytwentythree bassist, Joe Maier, was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident a couple of weeks ago and had to have his spleen removed shortly thereafter. Ouch, right! As a result, J23 have been forced to cancel all of their shows for the next couple of months, including a slot at the Midpoint Festival in Cincinnati and all opening slots for Lonely China Day’s current US tour. Like everyone else in America who isn’t a corporate lackey or trust fund kid, Joe doesn’t have an adequate health care plan and shit like…heavy duty surgery…is quite an expensive proposition over in ‘the land of the free and home of the brave.’ So, stuff for Joe just plain sucks all around at the moment. If you feel like throwing a little cash Joe’s way in order to help him with the bills, or simply want to wish him well, please contact Stephen at johnnytwentythree@hotmail.com and stuff will get where it needs to go… We at Tag Team wish Joe and his wife (and fellow band member), Brianne, all the best during this difficult time…you should too! Also, Joe, now that you’re gonna live and all that good stuff, can you please tell us what a spleen does and why it’s actually necessary…erm…biologically?! Dayang, Kyle and Kagler have been watching shitloads of General Hospital on satellite here at Tag Team World HQ Beijing PRC in an attempt to gain some knowledge on this subject, but all the characters just keep having super-duper romantic sex with one another…then somebody gets stabbed or whatever? We’d all rather be watching porn with jackets on our laps, thank you very much. Sheesh. Throw us a bone, dude! Ummmm, lemme rephrase that… September 23, 2008 Lonely China Day’s Gone All International...Again.    Being the only British...erm, 'chap' at Tag Team World International HQ (of China) these days, my own knowledge of the American mid-west is limited to Jay “The Great” Gatsby’s debauched house parties and some stuff about politics I heard on the news last month. Anyway, I recently learned that Lonely China Day are going on little mini-tour there, prompting me to learn more about this barren backwater. The fruits of my labour? It’s all a little bit like The Wizard of Oz, but without the yellow brick road. One shocking fact did come to light; it’s not in the West, it’s not even in the middle. Is it too late to get this changed to the kinda-mid-North? How will a Chinese indie band cope in America? Scratch that, they've done it before and Kagler says they seriously dig some place called Taco Bell? Does it matter if you can't understand the beautiful lyrics? No, their, ahem, rocking style is enough to support them through whatever turbulent crowds of rowdy drunks they encounter. At one point they stop in Pittsburgh, Anna from the OC lived in Pittsburgh and she was pretty hot, so that’s cool. Maybe all the girls in Pittsburgh are that hot. Can I be kept updated about this? Supporting Lonely China Day at several points are label fellows J23 and Everybody. These bands are pretty awesome too, especially J23 which I’m told is cinematic. This is good because everyone likes the cinema. As an added bonus, they’re both American so that’ll go down well with the locals. Is it the Midwest that has those giant balls of yarn and shit? They’re cool too. Have you ever seen Around the World in 80 Days with Michael Palin? How awesome would it be to do a musical tour of the world. You could even stage is so there are bands waiting at different points on the globe for an amazing, international Tag Team – get it? So, Lonely China Day’s gone all international...again. That’s very cool, take lots of photographs and send 'em our way! If you have a camera...and like to take photos...and go to a Lonely China Day show...and are willing to send them to us. Erm, right. 9/26 Cincinnati,OH @ Midpoint Music Fest 9/27 Bloomington,IN @ The Farm (w/ J23 + Everybody) 9/28 Louisville,KY @ Ear X-tacy (instore performance) 9/29 Pittsburgh,PA @ University of Pittsburgh (Q&A + 20 min set) 9/29 Pittsburgh,PA @ Garfield Artworks (w/ sBACH!) 9/30 Bloomington,IN @ The Bluebird 10/2 Athens,OH @ The Union 10/3 Indianapolis,IN @ Radio Radio (w/ J23 and The Post) 10/4 Indianapolis,IN @ Indy CD & Vinyl (instore performance) 10/5 Nashville,TN @ The Five Spot July 1, 2008 Tag Team Are Always Up For Helping Out A Bro, Especially If That Bro Happens To Be M. Monroe. Sweet Rhyme, Huh?! Anyhoo, Here's Your CH+INDIE FEST III Photos Dude! Hope You Find Whoever Wronged You And Kick Their Ass Into Next Year, Even If 'They' Are You! Dear Tag Team Records, To make a long story short...Yes, I attended both days of CH+INDIE FEST III: The Search For Spock last June. Yes, it's July 14th today. Yes, I seriously just came out of a life-altering 23 day, (presumably) alcohol/mind altering substance induced blackout which I believe started at the CH+INDIE FEST on June 20th. At least, the last thing I remember was one of the DJs on the lawn at 2Kolegas throwing a whole zha-pi mug of beer on me then screaming, "Death Cab For Cutie gargle my balls!" after I asked to hear a tune off Transatlanticism. Is such an act even possible? Not in Canada. Seriously, yuck dude! Anyway, needless to say, I am beyond pissed at myself at the moment. Right, so check this out, after 'coming too' in a public toilet opposite 13 Club out in the Wu yesterday morning wearing the same pair of Teva sandals, Dockers khakis, Roots Canada t-shirt and knock-off Aviator sunglasses I'd worn to CH+INDIE on 6/20, I walked to Frank's Place sports bar in Lido and caught up with my (now former) colleges from The Wall Street Business English Institute who informed me, between tearful bouts of piercing laughter, that in the past three weeks I have: Impregnated three separate female taxi drivers, Traded my passport for a bucket of KFC chicken to a bunch of Chinese dudes with gold teeth who spoke fluent Russian, Gotten a tattoo that says 'SASKATEWAN' in a Cholo-faunt [see Old English malt liquor] that forms an arch across my entire abdominal region, Hurled said bucket of chicken at a group of monks sweeping the grounds at the Llama Temple 'cuz they "looked fuckin' hungry", Participated in a 'performance art piece' at some gallery in the 798 Art District which left me with only one pinkie finger, Physically pissed all over a group of seven year old kids playing with a starfish at the mock-tide-pool inside the Beijing Aquarium + dug around in a dumpster behind the Da Dong Roast Duck Restaurant for 48 solid hours looking for Nazi gold... And that's just the shit they told me about! Fucked up, right?! Seriously, do you dudes have some CH+INDIE III photos you can post on the Tag Team site so I can sorta try and re-trace my steps that night? Pretty sure I saw Arrows Made of Desire and Cui Jian do a jam together? Fuck, I dunno. My smokin' hot Chinese wife of several minutes tells me that pictures tend to "jar lost memories" or some shit. We cool? By the way, I just sent you guys a 35 song album I recorded last night in my in-laws bathroom down in rural [insert shittiest province in China]. Interested? Thanks, eh! See you dudes at the RandomK(e)/Wang Wen show at MAO on 7/24! Your bro, M. Monroe p.s. I went to high school with one of the members of The Constantines. We had a chemistry class together and he punched me in the face one time at kegger. June 30, 2008 Pissing On The Bamboo Curtains Returns with episode 10! Now with 10000% More Ian Sherman!    After a slight hiccough in production, the boys from B1 of Tag Team Towers have sent up another award-winning (someday) edition of their mind-blowing (maybe), definitive (probably), and adorably anodyne (occasionally) podcast: Pissing on the Bamboo Curtain. Long time Tag Teamer Kyle Page has joined forces once again with Pissing’s creator and all around evil genius Ian "Prof. Mango" Sherman to take you on another trip through the best and brightest of China’s emerging indie music scene. Seriously people, if you’ve ever wanted to A). Impress you’re friends with the coolest and most obscure bands in over five thousand years of unbroken civilization B). Get lost for hours in the dreamy sounds of Kyle’s bedroom fantasy’s and Ian’s corduroy-patched diphthongs C). Study American and British English at the same time or D). Equip your level 20 Night Elf Bezerker/Thief with Indie Cred (+2) and totally, like, smoke the world with the rock and roll... ...then you better click here. June 20, 2008 Venice Is Sinking’s Sorry About The Flowers LP Finally Drops Chinaside...Finally. After much trial and error and a few more setbacks and delays than we care to discuss at the moment, Tag Team are pleased, and moreover, relieved to officially announce that Venice is Sinking’s (debut) orchestral pop masterwork, Sorry About the Flowers is now available in fine record shops throughout the PRC! If you’re a morbid shut-in, or wasting away in a Chinese prison for not brushing your teeth three times a day, or plotting world domination inside of a secret volcano base somewhere in Xinjiang, or simply hate dealing with record store clerks and prefer shopping online, feel free to order Sorry from our Taobao store. If you, God forbid, don’t live in China but have suddenly realized that your record collection just won’t be complete until you purchase the Chinese edition of Sorry About the Flowers, which (incidentally) comes with three snappy bonus tracks and a bilingual, hand written lyric sheet, then by all means, order it from the Tag Team online store and we’ll ship it to you along with a bunch of free goodies like customized chopsticks, and stickers, and newborn kittens. Lastly, if you dig the digital thing and think that actual CDs are like, sooooo 1997, jump on over to iTunes and score yourself some Sorry. Incidentally, if you’re an asshole and would like to illegally download the album off Soulseek or Bittorrent for free, click here. Now get to shopping people, we’re still trying to pay off the remainder of the tab that Kelso from The Submissionaries ran up at the Happy Endings massage parlor (Lido branch) back in ’05 and can seriously use the cash. Thanks in advance for your purchase and happy listening! p.s. Feel like you would like to get to know Venice is Sinking a little better before committing your hard earned cash to Tag Team? We’re one step ahead of you folks! Check out this Pulitzer Prize award winning interview we did with ViS principle songwriter Daniel Lawson a couple days ago. A truly eye opening journey into the world of Venice is Sinking past, present and future, and definitely worth the mouse click...or not. June 18, 2008 CH+INDIE FEST III: The Search For Spock Will Melt Your Face Off (In A Good Way), Beat Up That Dude Who Boned Your Sister, Make Your Parents Proud Of You, Defeat John McCain In A Swing State Primary, Make You Breakfast In The Morning, Give You A Hug When You Need It Most, Enable You To Get The High Score On Donkey Kong, Give You A Rolling Paper When You Run Out, Wipe Your Butt, Score 1600 On An SAT Exam For You, Install A Mirror Above Your Bed, Load Your iPod With Every Roky Erikson Song Ever Made, Deport That Italian Chick Who’s Been Stalking You, Grant You A One Year Multiple Entry ‘F’ Visa, Introduce You To Hard Drugs Then Pay For You To Go To Rehab, Provide An Excellent Setting To Witness What The Local Beijing Music Scene Has To Offer Whilst Simultaneously Giving To Charity…Now, What Did You Say You Were Doing This Weekend?    Aah, summer in Beijing. The 90% humidity, coupled with 100 degree temperatures. The leisurely afternoon strolls down Dongzhimen Wai, dodging all manner of vehicles (on the sidewalk) whilst gazing longingly into the putrid yellow, borderline apocalyptic bubble of pollution that surrounds the Beijing Metropolitan City State. The sitting around Gulou Dong Dajia noodle joints with a mixture of Baijiu and sweat dripping from every poor in your body as you cack-handedly attempt to maneuver hung-over chopsticks and block out the ever present sights and sounds of folks around you hawking lugies and slurping as though it were a sport and spitting bits of chewn up ligament on the floor. Anyway, as much as we at the label appreciate these particular seasonal realities, you’re probably saying to yourself, “Fuck all that noise! Where’s the ROCK this summer?” Well presumed my friends, Tag Team are not only bringing you two full evenings of the best indie rock Beijing has to offer (11 bands in total), we’re throwing in tasty vegetarian food, shitloads of booze, cage dancing Russian chicks, merch galore you’ll actually wanna spend money on, free newborn kittens (while supplies last) and a couple of DJs who’ll be spinning everything from The Carpenters to Lightning Bolt ‘til they pass out. That’s right people, CH+INDIE FEST II: The Search For Spock is GOING OFF at the fabulous 2Kolegas this coming Friday and Saturday! As per current government regulations, all band sets will be held indoors, but everything else will be situated out on the lawn, where there’s plenty of room to stretch out and make fun of Belgian dudes with a pint whiskey in one hand and an XL veggie kebob in the other. Bands will start by 9pm latest on both days, so get there early or else you’ll miss stuff. Oh yeah, a portion of all ticket sales will go to Souleiada, a low-key NGO who focus on the development of education and arts programs for disadvantaged children in different cultures throughout China. So essentially, while you get wrecked, listen to rad tunes and slobber all over members of the opposite sex, you’ll be contributing to a good cause. Does shit get any awesomer than that?! Probably. Whatever, see you all at 2K this weekend! Friday, 20th: Lonely China Day, Guai Li, Arrows Made of Desire, Linga, Nuclear Saturday, 21st: SUBS, Ourself Beside Me, iLoop, The Gar, The Scoff, Fire Balloon June 1, 2008 Ian Sherman Takes All Consuming Need For Attention To Whole New Level By Contracting Very Serious Form Of Cancer. Beijing Music Community Throw Benefit, Act As Enablers.    A few months back, gonzo local music critic, podcast host extraordinaire, Indie Night DJ, and longtime Tag Team associate, Ian Sherman was diagnosed with stage four cancer. Ian is currently in Boston being treated by a bunch of high-end doctors we can only assume look a lot like Rob Lowe circa 1984. Seriously people, how rad is that bit in St. Elmos Fire when homie busts that sweaty sax solo all gattet out on coke and surrounded by poodle haired 80’s chicks necking glasses of J&B rare! Ahem, yeah. Moving right along, as it turns out, cancer treatment is quite expensive in today’s world...ok, ridiculously expensive, so we figured it’s prolly best we team up with a bunch of our bros in the Beijing music community and throw what was easily one of the more hotly tipped local music events of the entire year + give all the proceeds to Ian’s family so he can continue to eat pepperoni pizzas every night while that crew of Rob Lowe dopplegangers fix him up over in Beantown. Anyhow, we managed to take in a little over RMB 21,000 and had an all around decent time in the process, talking shit about Sherman and making out with teenagers in the bathrooms between sets. In other words, a typical night out. Hey Ian! Get better soon dude, or at least get your limey ass back to Beijing. I’m sick of writing fucking news items...and don't even get me started on the podcasts! March 8, 2008 Tag Team Celebrate the Signing of RandomK(e) By Scripting Impossibly Retarded News Item…Band Begin To Seriously Reconsider Then Realize That They All Need To Go Home and Read ‘Yertle the Turtle’ To Their (Cumulative) 352 Children While We Eat Pizza and Listen To Godspeed On Repeat...Forever. With the music industry in a flat out recession, labels scrambling to find new and interesting ways to make copious amounts of cold, hard cash/ take advantage of young, impressionable bands with a minimum of 1 million myspace friends/ use the internet for more than Google-ing their own names and streaming free porn trailers, we at Tag Team have decided to simply go for broke (quite literally) and celebrate the fact that we are about a week away from maxing out all of our credit cards and do what anybody else would do in these remorselessly dark times tempered by financial caution and gigantic, scary question marks…sign a new band! Seriously folks, we’re beyond excited to announce the official addition of the seemingly impossible to pigeon-hole RandomK(e) to our apparently ever expanding roster of musically talented chicks and dudes who buy us shitloads of drinks and wake up with gnarley hangovers and record deals hastily scribbled on cocktail napkins that they’re stuck with for life while we snicker our mornings away in posh Sanlitun cafés, waiting for our dealer to show so we can re-up on rohypnol...'cuz we're gonna sign another 5 bands next week, baby! Anyway, in between playing a whole bunch of gigs here in the Jing this month, including a very special Third Anniversary Show at Yugong Yishan on March 19, the band will be in and out of XLS Yilong Studios finishing up the principle recording of their debt album, tentatively titled (e), which will be released here in the PRC by, you guessed it, Tag Team Records, soon as we clear up those above mentioned credit card debts. While you’re here on the site, be sure and pop over to downloads and check out a couple of tasty demos the Randoms were kind enough to allow us to post. Beyond that, be sure and send 'em some love on their myspace page. Alright then, welcome aboard gentlemen, it’s all downhill from here... p.s. The other night we ran into the K(e) and kindly asked them to send us some info on their above mentioned Third Anniversary Show for promotional purposes. The next day, a beast of an email arrived in our inboxes and, well, we just had to print this smoldering piece of radness in it’s entirety for all of you to see/ appreciate for yourselves (plus, we needed a new excess bloggage entry). Click here for brilliance. Thought Tag Team were long winded and full of ourselves...ladies and gentlemen, meet RandomK(e)! March 6, 2008 ScienTagology. Team...Records. Just when Tag Team had given up hope that we'd ever be able to become a non-profit ball-gargling religion while still making piles of cash and ass-exploiting a bunch of kids to go on retarded space alien crusades for us, we discovered Scientology. Founded and co-designed by long time Tag Team associate Kendra Wiseman, www.exscientologykids.com explains in sexy detail exactly how to make people pay tons of money to exorcize traumatized alien-ghosts and never get busted by the government. Now all we need is a legitimate medical profession to demonize. Scientology has psychiatry, so we were thinking like, dentists. Or uh, bikini waxers. We know the chicks are with us on that one. Seriously though. Scientology is fucking rad. March 1, 2008 Venice is Sinking Are Busy Doing All Kinds of Stuff…Tag Team Still Think It’s Christmas + Somehow Work Kenny Loggins and Boba Fett Into Below News Item    As if mixing their sophomore long player AZAR with Scott Solter at Baucom Studios in North Carolina wasn’t enough, our bros and ahem, ‘bra’ in Venice is Sinking have decided to take on a rather lengthy residency at the Flicker Theatre in their hometown of Athens, GA. Expect the band to debut a bunch of scary-good new tunes from said new record at this series of shows and at least one Phil Collins cover…we’re still bugging them about a live rendition of Hardware To the Danger Zone or anything else by Kenny Loggins, but don’t seem to be getting any love from the Venetians as of yet…Loggins haters! What else? Oh yeah, a little while back ViS wrote and hastily recorded a Christmas song called "The Grey Line" in Daniel’s living room. The song appears on Kindercore Records "Xmas 3 : The War On Christmas" compilation which can be ordered here. You can also order the digital version from emusic and itunes. All the proceeds go to charity, so be sure to check out the other Christmas songs by rad bands like Folklore, Murder Beach, Blak Thor, Headlights, and more. And yes, we here at TTR know that it’s March, but we’re still keeping our potted Christmas tree watered and trimmed here in the office, so it’s kinda Christmas year round here at Tag Team Towers, thus this is a completely and totally valid/ relevant news item…like, duh! p.s. Hey Black Thor?! You still gonna send us those t-shirts or what? We’re sorta like kids in 1982 running to the mailbox every day at noon anticipating the arrival of a limited edition, mail order only Boba Fett action figure when it comes to these Courtney Wolfgang designed silk screens. February 8, 2008 Feed the Hungry, Clothe the… erm… Hip.    After months of patient waiting, our first clutch of Chinese weaving spiders has hatched. Originally we had hoped to have them make us all Shrouds of Unseeing (+2) so we could get into shows without paying, but then we realized we don’t pay to get into shows anyway. So we decided to make T-Shirts! With only a few false starts (the spiders kept making 8-armed shirts that fit snug on the thorax), we are super pleased to present our first batch of designs, guaranteed 100.12% Made in China (by spiders). Jump on over to our online store and get yourself one while supplies, ahem, last…or something like that. p.s. You know you wanna see your girlfriend/ boyfriend in a "What music? We're in it for the DICK" t-shirt or better yet, why not run around town with "Fuck AIDS...we've got INTERNS" pasted squarely to your chest. Huzzah! January 8, 2008 The 2007 Tag Team Records Top 5 Lists Are Now Available For Your Viewing Pleasure Courtesy of Our Personal Hero/ Animated 80’s Icon, Inspector Gadget: Penny: Wowzers Brain! 2007 is already over, wish we would’ve posted the Tag Team Top 5 Lists on Excess Bloggage before Dr. Claw stole them right before Christmas…[sigh]. Brain: Arrf, Arrf…Arrrrrrfff! Penny: What boy? You say Inspector Gadget rescued the lists from the evil clutches of Claw and his derelict, faceless henchmen? Brain: RRRRRRRRRRuff! Penny: If I weren’t a child genius I’d say that’s ‘pretty fuckin’ rad!’, or something to that effect! Brain: Arrrrgh… Penny: What! I knew you were upset that Kagler, Ian and Kyle talked a lot of shit about all of our friends/ bands within the context of the list descriptions, but that’s no reason to not post. How could you have voluntarily given the lists to Dr Claw?! He’s evil and hates Uncle Gadget more than John McCain hates “Gooks”! That’s it Brain, I’m telling on you, this is total bullshit! [yells] UNCLE GADGET!!! Inspector Gadget: What’s that Penny, Brain gave the Tag Team lists away to John McCain? That guy’s nothing more than a senior citizen with a gimp hand, or is that Bob Dole? Whatever, Go-Go-Gadget Garden Shears! Penny: No Uncle Gadget! Don’t cut off Brain’s… Brain: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAhhhh!!! Dr Claw: Haaaa, cut off your own dog’s bullocks did you Gadget!!! I know Don Knotts does your voice and he was the star of Get Smart and all and is a complete moron who somehow seeped into the American zeitgeist in a time when things were a lot more simple, but we’re in Red China now and... To Be Continued... December 15, 2007 Tag Team On The Wire Legendary BBC dj/ tall scary man, Steve Barker decided to dedicate a whole On the Wire radio program to Tag Team and invited our own Kyle Page to join him in the studio for ‘colour’ as the English spell it. Tag Team On the Wire hit the BBC today, December 15th at 10pm UK time. The show is available at www.onthewire.uk.com or just click the 'podcast' button here on the TTR site...crazy right?! December 5, 2007 We Told You Joewi Was Pin-Up Material...Why Is It That Everyone Always Thinks We’re Kidding Around Here At Tag Team?!    After many a candle-lit dinner, several boxes of Belgian chocolate and a couple of visceral 'massages', City Weekend editor and chief, 'Rainbow' Lee Mack, was somehow convinced enough to put our own Joewi Verhoeven (aka Arrows Made of Desire) on the cover of his, ahem, fine magazine. Kagler tried to give Joewi a call this afternoon, let him know that he was a cover star or whatever, but one of his entourage answered and said something like, “Whoa, sorry bro, homie’s chillin’ in the grotto with a buncha hoes right now and seriously doesn’t have time to fuck around with your stupid indie rock bullshit. He’ll call you back, like, when he feels like it. Douchebag!” Right…so…anyway, much thanks to Lee, Blake and Rachel for the super-nice piece on Arrows. You’ve made a lot of young, impressionable folks of the female persuasion very happy campers. City Weekend Magazine is currently available in unkept bar toilets/ dumpsters throughout the Beijing metropolitan area. December 2, 2007 Those Dudes Are Going to Need a Catheter When They’re Old. Sometimes you have to wait for the good things in life. Green lights, a perfectly ripe pear, your French neighbor undressing in front of the window –these things just can’t be rushed. That’s why we think it’s grand that Tagteamers Kyle Page and Ian ‘power-drivel’ Sherman have emerged from their hobbit holes long enough to hand over a brand new installment of their Pissing on the Bamboo Curtain podcast. They mumbled something about ‘technical difficulties’ and ‘Kyle’s off his meds again’ and ‘nine audio vignettes of Asia’s fastest rising musical superpower’, but we gave their sophomore effort a listen and it was just 40 plus minutes of rad Chinese underground set to banter. Click on the button over there, and judge for yourself. November 28, 2007 Tag Team X-mas Shindig Set To GO OFF This Weekend! Since it’s almost Christmas or whatever, we’re actually gonna get all semi-professional on your ass and let Time Out Magazine’s ‘#1 Critics Choice’ listing do all the talking about our X-mas bash for us, it’s just easier that way and you can blame them for length of text if you want to…out of our hands you see: “What, Christmas already? Third time around for Tag Team’s seasonal showcase, fast becoming a fixture on any hipster’s calendar. The spectacular, yet elusive, Lonely China Day headline. Everyone’s favorite indie rock pin-up savants Arrows Made of Desire make a rare foray out of the studio, Random K(e) always come ready to bring the [angst] rock, Sulumi bleeps his way into our hearts and FM3 drone their way into our bowels. Add in lashings of mulled wine, cookies and loveably cack-handed DJing from Los Britney Spears and you have – hands down – the gig of the night, if not the week.” So there you have it. If last year’s X-mas party was any kind of indicator, shit will get crowded, people will get hammered, there will be a fist-fight somehow involving TTR honcho Matt Kagler, the William Blake Society of London will show up to ogle quizzically at Arrows Made of Desire and Ian Sherman will meet the newest love of his life (again)…hope to see you all at 2Kolegas this weekend! October 15, 2007 Johnnytwentythree and Tag Team Join Forces…Attempt Ghangis Khan Style Takeover of Chinese Earholes Tag Team are happy as clams to welcome Cincinnati, OH instrumental rockers Johnnytwentythree to our humble, though ever expanding family of nice people who proficiently strum guitars and beat on drums and stuff. Uhhh, in normal speak that means that we’re gonna put out a record from J23…cool right! The album in question, JXXIII, is a stunningly powerful collection of songs, complete with accompanying videos, which was engineered/ recorded by Paul Oldham (Palace Music, Bonnie Prince Billy) at his rural Kentucky home studio. Look for JXIII to street Chinaside in summer ’08 or as soon as we can figure out how to replicate the amazing packaging of the U.S. version of the record...let’s just stick with summer ’08 for now. If you can’t wait for the Chinese release, please feel free to purchase JXXIII directly from the band. We’re pretty sure they’d find that perfectly acceptable. Hey, while we’re at it, J23 are currently right in the middle of a pretty exhausting Midwest/ East Coast tour of the good ol’ USA. Seriously folks, these guys (and girl) are more a force of nature than a band, so if you have the chance, make sure and get out and see ‘em. If they were to roll through your town and you were, say, drinking beer and watching Curb Your Enthusiasm with your significant other while the band were slaying on stage it would…yeah, erm, you get the point. How did I get appointed to write this news item anyhow? Sheesh. October 14, 2007 Lonely China Day Tour China...Tag Team Draw Pictures 10/20/07 - Velvet Underground Bar, Shijiazhuang 10/21/07 - Show Club, Zibo 10/26/07 - Castal Bar, Nanjing 10/27/07 - Live Bar, Shanghai 10/28/07 - 4-Live Bar, Shanghai 10/29/07 - Next Door Bar, Yiwu 10/31/07 - The Roda Bar, Quanzhou 11/02/07 - Base Bar, Shenzhen 11/03/07 - Club Cixi, Hong Kong 11/05/07 - 46 Bar, Changsha 11/10/07 - 2 Kolegas, Beijing September 24, 2007 Pissing On The Bamboo Curtain Podcast Hey, it isn't all 'me, me, me' here at Tag Team Records, sometimes we like to give a little something back - spread our altruistic wings, so to speak - which is why we've given valuable webspace over to hosting brand-spanking-new podcast 'Pissing On The Bamboo Curtain'. Put together by long time Tag Team affiliates and supermarket-brand mouthwash spokespeople Kyle 'Kyle Page' Schaefer and Ian 'Doctor Chocolate' Sherman, 'Bamboo Curtain' deals in hard hitting reportage from the seamy side of Beijing's dental hygiene underworld or, alternatively, they play a bunch of Chinese tunes that you probably haven't heard before. Marvel at Kyle's deep sexy made-for-late-night-radio voice and flinch at the sound of Ian's weird, squeaky limey diphthongs, but most of all 'groove' to the fascinating world of sino-rock that they endeavour to introduce in the rare moments that they actually shut the hell up. When we tried to find out how frequently they were going to do this, their people refused to talk to us, but we're going to go ahead and use the word 'frequently' in the this context. Push that little button thingy to your left and see if this word fills you with hope or fear. August 17, 2007 Rebuilding the Rights of Radio…Re-TROS Featured on NPR!!! Yo, NPR? We dig you guys and appreciate the story you did on Re-TROS, but gee-whiz folks, seems like you would have gotten your facts straight before committing the story to American airwaves! The Cut Off! Ep was licensed to Tag Team by Modern Sky and is NOT, I repeat NOT a Modern Sky release in North America. If it is, then that’s news to us (and our pocket book) here at Tag Team Towers. Anyhoo, press is press right? No hard feelings, we just wanna set the record straight. That said, click here for a listen to the NPR story on Re-TROS, then go to our online store and buy the freakin’ record, or don’t. We think it’s pretty good though, that’s why WE released it! July 24, 2007 Hey, North Americans! Press Your Finger To the Pulse of the Chinese Underground and Buy Our Stuff…Right Now!!! Tag Team Records' much anticipated July releases are being collated, burnished and loving stacked THIS VERY MOMENT by teams of rescued unwanted baby girls for imminent US/Canadian releases (Street date, July 24). Strap on your headphones and prepare for a life changing conversion! Don't miss this chance to impress that hot girl at the record store with your impeccable, globe-spanning taste. Walk up to her with confidence and repeat after me: Lonely China Day: Sorrow And let’s not forget… Rebuilding the Rights of Statues: Cut Off! Ep If for some strange reason, the hot girl at the record store types a few key strokes into her Commodore VIC 20 and tells you something like, "We don’t have those titles…dude.", then you can retort with, "Can you please order them from Redeye Distribution…sweetie." She will say "Like, OK, hold your horses man!", or something to that effect, then slap that shitty grin off your face for calling her "sweetie"! So, don’t call her sweetie I guess, just be sure you get the records ordered. She’s most likely supporting some dude sporting a heroin-mullet who has "musical aspirations" and sells all her 7” Smiths singles on E-bay while she’s at work anyhow, so give her a break. You wouldn’t talk like that to your mom, would you? Yeah, you would, you sexist pig. Sheesh! P.S. If you're a girl, you don't need to impress anybody (you're already awesome and that clerk at the record store knows it), but you will still love these albums. P.P.S. If you're hip to the digital thing, you can snap-up the releases right now over at Amazon or iTunes...It's all just a click away! P.P.P.S. If you're SUPER RAD, you'll order both records (or at least one) directly from Tag Team Records + go to your local, indie retail outlet and bug "that hot girl" about ordering said releases via Redeye! Is that too much to ask? If you perform both of these tasks, we promise to send you a pair of official Tag Team chop sticks! Just send us an email with your story/ experience to info@tagteamrecords.com. Shit WILL get sent. We're cool like that. July 20, 2007 CH+INDIE FEST II: The Wrath of Khan Revisited/Chronicled By Ian Sherman…Sorta.    Okay, so the sun didn’t shine, it rained cats and dogs most of the day and a bunch of dirty French hippies tried to sneak into the festival grounds Glastonbury style, but nothing could stop CH+INDIE FEST II: The Wrath of Kahn from taking the crown as best Beijing music festival of the summer! Thirteen of fourteen bands put on stellar sets (yeah that’s right, fuck you Brain Failure!) for a whole bunch of sweat soaked, veggie kabob munching, booze swilling revelers on hand for both days of our not-so-little music fest. Everybody, and I mean everybody had big smiles on their faces and seemed to be having a genuinely good time, everybody except for longtime Tag Team contributor Ian Sherman, who just happened to chronicle his blue-ball oriented misery into a lengthy, though thoroughly cock-blocked CH+INDIE Diary. Paired with Sherman’s up-beat text are a bunch of rad photos by our bro Gabriel Mellan, who hasn’t worn a shirt in public since early 2003. Anyway, it’s all pretty fun stuff...so look at it already! Geeze. July 16, 2007 *This Photo Was Shot 45 Seconds After Venice Is Sinking Signed To Tag Team…Soon As We Saw It We Almost Backed Out. Tattoo’s Rad Though, So We Kept ‘Em Tag Team are pleased as punch to officially announce the addition of Athens, GA orchestral popsters Venice Is Sinking to our ever expanding Chinese roster. Look for a deluxe version of the of the band’s critically acclaimed debut album, Sorry About The Flowers (complete with bonus tracks and bilingual packaging) to street Chinaside in early 2008. Until then, you can pick up the U.S. version of Sorry via their American label, One Percent Press, if that so strikes your fancy + be sure to check out the band’s nifty myspace page, which is jam-packed with all sorts of ViS goodies, blogs and other relevant info pertaining to our fair boys and girl. Beyond brushing up on their Mandarin in anticipation of a China tour sometime in ’08, the Venicians are currently recording their sophomore effort with none other than the fish taco obsessed, analogue genius that is Mr. Scott Solter (The Mountain Goats, John Vanderslice, Spoon) over in North Carolina. The demos they sent us are so rad that we decided to put a moratorium on playing them in the TTR office as no one was getting anything done…which isn’t that uncommon to begin with. Oh yeah, Venice Is Sinking are also playing several shows this summer. So, if you live in the Southeastern U.S., well, you figure it out. Anyways, welcome aboard guys, the life preservers are located just below your seats and in case of a sudden loss of cabin pressure, please be sure to secure oxygen masks to yourselves before helping others, including children or the elderly…oh, and if you can score a white belt in Athens, please be sure and send it to the Tag Team Beijing office c/o Kyle P. Schaefer. Thanks. *photo courtesy of Courtnie Wolfgang July 6, 2007 CH+INDIE FEST II Is On Like Donkey Khan...Dude.    Let's face it Star Trek II sucked a huge amount of testicular matter. The fucking Klingons don't even look like fucking klingons, for christ's sake! I mean come the fuck on! Shatner's toupee being slightly out of whack with itself from take to take... that we can accept, but Klingons that look like Kagler with a suntan?!! Where the fuck was the continuity girl? Montobaln's cool though, we like him but we're not letting him anywhere near our mothers, who go for that creepy geronto-latin thing like hot indie chicks go for us... hard. So Star Trek II sucked balls, but that doesn't mean that CH+INDIE FEST II: THE WRATH OF KHAN will. Yup, we don't just churn out quality 'product', we fancy ourselves as promoters as well. For two beautiful, sun drenched days Tag Team (with a little help from Modern Sky Records) is lining the best bands in Beijing up and pushing them onto the stage on 2Kolegas' lawn one after the other. If you live in Rimjob, Nebraska or Arseville, Wyoming you may as well skip this bit. You don't live in Beijing - ain't our problem. Suck it up. For those of you who do, check out the above flyer for full details. Seriously, this should be very very good. If you're one of those pussies who stares blankly at the listings every month scared witless by all the bands on offer, this one's for you - all the best bands in town in one location. Unless you're into the metal, in which case you're shit out of luck. June 21, 2007 Attention Haters! Now You Know What We Look Like...So Beat Us Up Already!    Hippies used to dream of being on the cover of Rolling Stone and androgynous 80s types would have traded in all their hair products for the cover of NME. These days, we pity the fool who doesn't realise that the place to be is on the cover of Beijing's own City Weekend. Renowned tastemakers CW, listings mag of choice for those who haven't heard of Time Out, did a huuuuuge fucking photospread on us with a real photographer and everything and then they wrote some words to go with the piccies. It's all quite clever really, what will they think of next?! We're all pretending that, y'know, it don't mean shit and like, whatever, who gives a fuck, dude? Secretly, however, we've all sent the issue back home to our parents and that slutbag ex who didn't think we'd ever amount to anything. 'Huh, what's that, bitch?! Can't really understand you... oh, hang on it must be because you're choking on my MOTHERFUCKING MAGAZINE COVER!' That felt good to get out. June 13, 2007 White-Belted Hipster No More...Sigh.*    We’re not sure how to break this to you folks, but: Kyle has lost his White Belt. Fans and former lovers gathered together today at Tag Team Towers to mourn the passing of Kyle’s epochal hipster status. Now he’s just a dude with a good haircut. Honestly people, it’s like living with a parent stricken with Alzheimer’s. Where once stood a proud figure you loved and admired, now there’s only this shell of a man with girl jeans drooping off his slender frame. In his defense Kyle says, “Who needs a belt when your pants are this tight? In the front." Also that lazy bastard finally got around to giving us the second part of his tour diary. Read it here and weep. * photo courtesy of City Weekend [more]