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	O-Kay with Shirley A unique confluence of Cantopop from different eras will take place at the Hard Rock Café (G/F and 1/F Silvercord Shopping Ctr, 2375 1323) on September 28, when Shirley Kwan meets Kay Tse for Diva Duet Live. Veteran Kwan has been around since the late ’80s, winning over audiences with her unique voice, technique and character. Rising star Kay Tse released her first album just last year and her smooth singing has won her praise as one of the best female performers among the new crop of Hong Kong singers – great things are expected of her in years to come. Catch the two together from 10pm for $200, with free-flowing San Miguel during the show. Unterirdisch Still the best indie gig in town, Underground is coming back to Wanchai for its 32nd show. Five bands will be rocking out at Les Visages (18 Fenwick St, entrance on Gloucester Rd) on September 29 for the low price of $40. In an interesting clash of sounds, Lamma ska band Transnoodle will perform alongside post-punk shoe-gazers The Yours, whose music features “stylish vocals” and “irritating guitars”. Five-piece The Sinister Left will be getting their groove on with their semi-experimental music influenced by Radiohead, The Smiths and New Order (but then, who isn’t influenced by those bands?), and will be joined by F.T.T. (or Four Twenty Two), who like a bit of Brit punk and pop. Alt-rock crew Sanskrit round out the acts. Harmonic Major The Vienna Philharmonic’s two Hong Kong shows sold out long ago, and you can see why. The venerable orchestra has a reputation as one of the world’s finest, having earned the praise of Richard Wagner, Johannes Brahms, and Richard Strauss, who famously remarked, “All praise of the Vienna Philharmonic reveals itself as an understatement.” The orchestra will be performing in Hong Kong under the baton of Valery Gergiev, whose many international accolades include Conductor of the Year (1993), the World Economic Forum’s Crystal Prize for dedication to arts and contribution to cultural dialogue, and recognition as an Artist of the World by UNESCO (2003). The Vienna Philharmonic plays September 24 and 25 at the HK Cultural Centre Concert Hall. Haven’t got a ticket? Don’t panic – a free live relay of the show will be projected onto large screens in the piazzas at the Cultural Centre from 8pm. The Best Free Jazz Canadian jazz pianist and composer David Braid has been much celebrated in his home country, receiving rave reviews from the press and a national music award with his group, aptly named the David Braid Sextet, for their recent recording, Vivid. Braid has written more than 50 works for the ensemble, which features Steve Wallace on bass, Terry Clarke on drums, John MacLeod on flugelhorn, Mike Murley on saxophone and Gene Smith on trombone. Collectively, the group’s members have won more than 30 Juno (Canada’s highest music honour) and Grammy awards. Canada’s national broadcaster, the CBC, has called Braid “the most gifted young pianist and composer in the country” – and you’re getting him for free. Yep, that’s right – the David Braid Sextet will play at the HKAPA Concert Hall with no admission cost on September 29, from 8pm. Call 2584 8517 for enquiries. Coming Soon… Keep an eye out for tickets to Mariah Carey’s performance at Tamar on October 28, and start buying now for guitar hero Yngwie Malmsteen’s impending visit to these shores on November 6. He’ll be playing at HITEC, Main Hall B as part of his Unleash the Fury world tour. Get your tix through HK Ticketing on 31 288 288.

Masseuse of Metal “Mammoth, unremitting, and, most importantly, groovy,” is how lead singer Indy Shome describes his band Molten Lava Death Massage’s first album, Eye of Ra. And that’s a fair description. Molten Lava Death Massage are three private school boys on a mission to blow your ear drums with screaming power chords, pulsating drumming and an improbably mature growl from 17-year-old whizz kid Shome. Ben Gagnon (bass) and Andrew Chu (drums) join Shome to form a trio that produces the noise and energy of a five-piece. Shome says the most satisfying thing about the album was just “putting something out for people to hear,” and picks the title track The Eye of Ra as his favourite because “it’s the slowest and therefore, I feel, the most foreboding of the songs – and I love the ending!” Raw Roar Rock Qiu Hong set a wicked tone with their self-titled debut, one-and-a-half years in the making. Their sound is tight, their messages powerful, and they’re one of those rare finds – a Hong Kong band with a healthy dose of anger. The entirely self-produced album is solid throughout, with only the odd slip into amateurism, which really just lends a raw edge to the thumpingly good metal. Vocalist Jan Lo says the album represents a history of the band, tracking it back to its beginnings in 2002. It’s definitely worth a listen – especially if you’re into the heavy stuff. Qiu Hong are having a CD launch party on October 7 in the Imnet industrial building in San Po Kong, near the Diamond Hill MTR station. (See more on Qiu Hong, page 19.) The Dark Side It’s mysterious, it’s brooding, and its marketing is full of shit – but Shamus Dark’s Songs for Suicidal Lovers is damn good. The release of the jazz covers album with a difference was accompanied by a flurry of publicity attempting to build an aura of mystique around the shadowy singer known as Shamus Dark. The marketing pegged Shamus as the “previously unheard of and reclusive vocalist” – well, we’re not sure of that, and we can’t tell you exactly who he is. But then, neither can his website, shamusdark.com, which features fictional articles from fictional characters testifying to Shamus’s (perhaps fictional) accomplishments. But what of the album? It covers songs made famous by the likes of Frank Sinatra, Chet Baker, Billie Holiday and Nat King Cole, and you’d think there’d be plenty of room for error, but with the able support of Hong Kong’s jazz guitar maestro Eugene Pao, Shamus succeeds in twisting new life into greats such as Angel Eyes, You Don’t Know What Love Is, and I Get Along Without You Very Well. Recorded in Hong Kong, London, Marseille, Los Angeles and Kathmandu. Well, so they say. Highly recommended. Nothing to Cry Over 89268 have put out another GO compilation, featuring eight solid tracks from upcoming local bands. The Boo Boo CD is a follow-up to Boo, released in July. Three of the four bands on this album – Malfunction, Innisfallen and Downer – are clearly influenced by Brit rock, but in different ways. Malfunction, a band accustomed to playing with cardboard boxes on their heads, present decent straight-ahead verse-chorus-verse rock with twangs of slightly pained emo vocals, while the excellent Innisfallen offer up two classy indie rock tracks in No Reply (The Reprise) and Butterfly Effect. Fun-core group ‘a company’ (there’s no easy way to write that) splash out with some light ’n easy electro pop at the start of the album – quite a contrast to Downer’s deep contemplative instrumental-led rock at the other end of the compilation. You can see all these bands at the GO’s Boo Boo Live party on September 23 at the Fringe Club, starting 9:30pm.

	Sweet Notes – gig guide My Chinese Heart @ Innonation (Room 402, 1 Hysan Ave, CWB), September 15 Tel: 3188 2466 Go for: Jazz crossed with Chinese oldies from world-renowned Sylvain Gagnon and friends. Listen Up! @ Fringe Club, Fringe Gallery, September 15 Tel: 2521 7251 Go for: Indie coolness from the Shotgun She-ras, Natural City, and Papa Jack. Lobo @ HKCEC Hall 3, September 15 Tel: 31 288 288 Go for: One night with a ’70s folk hero. The Yuri Honing Trio @ Fringe Club, Fringe Gallery, September 16 Tel: 2521 7251 Go for: “The most beautiful tenor sax sound in Dutch jazz.” World Battle of the Bands @ Edge Semi-finals: September 16 Finals: September 21 and 23 Go for: The climax in the search for HK’s next top band. Allen Youngblood Jazz Series Part 11 @ Grappa’s Cellar, September 17 Tel: 2521 2322 Go for: Jazz for free from the Blue Train Express, The Eugene Pao Quartet, Ginger Kwan and the GK Project. HK Oratorio Society’s Three Generations of Mozart @ HK City Hall, Concert Hall, September 18 Tel: 2268 7321 Go for: Music from the Mozarts – Leopold, Amadeus and Franz Xaver. Yang Lui & The Lady Tennant Stradivarius @ HK City Hall, Concert Hall, September 19 Tel: 2734 9009 Go for: A brilliant Chinese violinist playing a US$2 million Strad. Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro @ HK Cultural Centre, Grand Theatre, September 20 – 23 Tel: 2734 9009 Go for: Four acts of vocal brilliance and comic opera from the HK Sinfonietta and the Opera Hong Kong Chorus. Jazz Straight Up: Tim Wilson @ Fringe Club, Fringe Gallery, September 22 Tel: 2521 7251 Go for: Acoustic jazz from an HK icon. Daphne & Jeff Chang Hsin Che Live with the HK Sinfonietta @ HK Coliseum, September 22 and 23 Tel: 2734 9009 Go for: Star Taiwanese entertainers with a star HK orchestra. Majestic Drums VII – Mesmerising Mexico @ HKCC Concert Hall, September 22 and 23 Tel: 2734 9009 Go for: Four Latin American percussionists massaging your ears. Link Star Music’s Toulouse Live Gig @ Link Star Club (9/F Golden Era Plaza, 39 Sai Yee St, Mongkok), Sept 23 Go for: Heavy music with mesmerising guitar solos from Synfia, Cogent Spirit, A La King, No Excuse, Killer Bee, and Metal Wolf. Cantabile @ HK City Hall, Concert Hall, September 27 Tel: 2734 9009 Go for: A cappella from one of Britain’s great vocal groups renowned for its on-stage humour. Eitetsu Hayashi @ HK Cultural Centre, Concert Hall, September 27 and 28 Tel: 2734 9009 Go for: Trance-like artistry and brute force on skins from an acclaimed Japanese drummer. Me?… We! Movement @ Fringe Club, September 29 Tel: 2521 7251 Go for: More fly music from up-and-coming local bands. Saturday Night Jazz Orchestra @ Fringe Club, Fringe Gallery, September 30 Tel: 2521 7251 Go for: Elaine Liu and Taka Hirohama putting the swing in your step. HUSH!! Full Band 2006 @ Macau Cultural Centre Square, September 30 Go for: Eight hours of great Asian rock – for free.