Paul Au - a True Vinyl Hero (photos part 2)

One More Day - Cha Cha +WordySoulspeak EP

Cha Cha+WordySoulspeak's new EP One More Day is on soundcloud now (free download)
http://soundcloud.com/chachachina/sets/one-more-day-chacha/

ChaCha and Beijing DJ Wordy and producer Soulspeak team up for this Hip Hop/Soul EP.

Go Cha Cha! Great title track, do your ears a favour and download it!

Cha Cha news - Europe here she comes:

Monday 14th November - Montana Sagrada with ChaCha (live) - Club Nasti, Madrid

Thursday 1st December - Disrupt & ChaCha (live) - Worldtronics Festival, Berlin

Halloween Bento

Pumpkin head skeleton man made from carrots, cheddar moon and stars on a bed of rice flavoured/coloured with sesame oil and dark soya sauce.

Faceless avocado witch with nori seaweed hat on a bed of rice seasoned with rice vinegar and spring onion.

For more accomplished spooky bento see: www.kawaiikakkoiisugoi.com

Jasper Sharp on Today's Show

Today I will be joined by writer and film curator Jasper Sharp to discuss his forthcoming book Historical Dictionary of Japanese Cinema and Zipangu Film Festival.

An expert on Japanese cinema, Jasper has written several books and is co-editor of the website Midnight Eye.
Jasper is now the director and head programmer of Zipangu Fest, the premiere festival in the UK showcasing Japanese films, and the co-director and co-programmer (with Chris Magee) of the Shinsedai New Generation Japanese Film Festival in Toronto.
He's also a bit of a foodie with a love of fungi and making his own berry wines. I will be bringing some ghostly bento to the studio for us to sample in this week's Dim Sum Lunch Box.

See also:
Upcoming Elctric Sheep Magazine Event An Evening of Subversive Japanese Cinema
Kôji Wakamatsu’s Sex Jack + Jasper Sharp and Julian Ross in conversation.
Tuesday 15th November, 7pm @ The Horse Hospital. Details here.


My Zipangu Pick:
The Ghost Cat and the Mysterious Shamisen
Back from the dead, a rare pre-war horror especially subtitled for Zipangu Fest
Dir: Kiyohiko Ushihara,1938 @ The ICA
Sunday 20 November 2011 at 3:00pm
Thursday 24 November 2011 at 8:45pm

Tune in today 3.30pm Resonance 104.4FM in London and www.resonancefm.com everywhere. Podcast to follow in the next few days. Don't forget for all the latest Lucky Cat news and updates you can join the Facebook Group or email luckycatzoe at gmail.com.

Lucky Cat S6 Ep2 (22nd Oct 2011) Playlist & Podcast

For Episode 2 of Series 6 I am joined by actress Lucy Sheen to talk about her career and upcoming project In The Mirror which also features solo performances by Anna Chen and Veronica Needa.
To book tickets please go to: The New Diorama Theatre web site

• China Night - Mary Leung (Hotel Miramar Hong Kong commemorative 7" picture disc, bought in Paul Au's shop)
  
• Autumn Wind - Zhou Xuan (Pathe 100 CD)
  
• Always Together - Stephen Cheng (Sunshine label reissue 7" 45)
  
• Soon You'll Be Gone - The Blues Busters (Sunshine label reissue 7" 45)
  
• Nursery rhymes - by Shanghai children (from the CD Sounds of Shanghai by China Record Company)
  
• Sans blouse et sans pantalons - Fonseca et ses anges noir (7" 45 EP Pathe label)
  

I finally own the only original Rocksteady Reggae tune sung in Cantonese recorded in Jamaica. OK so it's not original vinyl (this record is very rare and £300 + I think). Reissue is good enough for me - I've still been waiting 7 years to see one of these up for sale! I think this was originally a Taiwanese folk song, The Girls of Ali San, here's the lovely Carrie Koo Mei singing it:

Apparently Francis Yip does a version too - if anyone has on mp3 I'd love a copy. Please email me luckycatzoe at gmail.com
Thank you.

Lucy Sheen on Today's show

Today I will be joined by actress Lucy Sheen to discuss her upcoming show There are Two Perfectly Good Me's: One Dead, the Other Unborn.
This is part of a 3 woman solo show produced by True Heart Theatre, IN THE MIRROR: Three women, three stories from Chinese diaspora. Lucy, Anna Chen and Veronica Needa will each be performing solo shows at the New Diaroma Theatre from 9th to 12th November 2011.

I will be asking Lucy all about the new production and her acting career.

Today's dim sum lunch box contains some Tawianese fish balls - new recipe, all organic - courtesy of Daney Hsu from Borough Market.

Tune in today 3.30pm Resonance 104.4FM in London and www.resonancefm.com everywhere. Podcast to follow in the next few days. Don't forget for all the latest Lucky Cat news and updates you can join the Facebook Group or email luckycatzoe at gmail.com.

Lucky Cat S6 Ep1 (15th Oct 2011) Playlist & Podcast

In this episode I recount tales from my HK trip including my magical visit to Paul Au's record store in Kowloon. Includes and interview with Paul Au.

• Batman - Lynn Tait and the Jets (reissue 7" on Merritone, subsidiary of Federal Records. Distributed by Japanese label Dub Store)
  
• I Love Bat Girl - Josephine Siao Fong Fong and most probably Lui Kei (mp3 from softfilm)
  
• La Novia - The Peanuts
  
• Dance of the Yi Pipa - Pipa Solo from the 10" LP Year of Happiness, Folk Instrumental Music (China Record Company)
  
• Music Addict - Solo Banton (Jahtari EP)

Mentions:
Korean high-school horror Death Bell is released in the UK by Terror-Cotta and on sale now, check: terracottadistribution.com/films/death-bell
If you want to find out more about China's Got Talent UK look here.

Paul Au - a True Vinyl Hero (photos part 1)

I ♥ Hong Kong

Today's show will mostly be about my 3 days in Hong Kong earlier this year.
Here are a few reasons why I loved it so much:


Tony Leung was at the airport to meet me when I arrived (kind of).


The food is soooooooo good. Here's the meal I had at the Islam Food Centre. The veal dumplings were truly divine. Thanks to Phil and Alice for taking me and quick mention for Mango Vine where I saw a post about the restaurant which aroused my interest.

The stunning view after travelling up the hill on the peak tram. Pretending I was in Love is a many Splendoured Thing and trying to trek around to walk off the 2 dinners I had the night before:

Dinner # 1: Nyona style Malaysian chicken curry with roti and greens @ Asia Family, Gloucester Road, Causeway Bay.

Dinner # 2 @ Yung Kee Restaurant, the classic Roast Pork on Rice



It's not all hustle and bustle, I took some time to chill out on Lama island (birthplace of Chow Yun Fat and hippy idyll):

My last meal in HK was dim sum at the airport. Airport food - yeah I know, what you're thinking. But this is Hong Kong! The bar is set a lot higher, the food was pretty damn good. Check out these cute hedgehog shaped dim sum, yum yum:


One of the best things about my stay in Hong Kong was going to Paul Au's incredible 2nd hand vinyl record shop in Sham Shui Po. I will save my photos for a new post, coming right up....

Tune in to today's show for all my HK memories and vinyl delights.
UK time 3.30pm Resonance 104.4FM in London or via www.resonancefm.com anywhere. Podcast to follow.

Lucky Cat Series 6 Starts This Sat 15th Oct

This Saturday I will return to Resonance 104.4FM for the 6th series of Lucky Cat.
In the first episode I will be playing my interview with vinyl hero Paul Au of Paul’s Records Hong Kong, recorded earlier this year when I visited HK. Expect to hear some of the vinyl delights I picked up at the crate digger's paradise that is Paul's Records.
Lotus seed paste hedgehog shaped dumplings are in the Dim Sum Lunch Box.

Tune in @ 3.30pm Saturday 15th on Resonance 104.4FM in London or via www.resonancefm.com anywhere. Podcast to follow.

A HUGE THANK YOU to the talented Josue Menjivar for his beautiful illustration for rseries 6. Check out his blog: www.freshbrewedillustration.com

East Asian Films at the BFI London Film Festival Oct 2011

I've had a quick scan of the World Cinema section of the BFI London Film Festival programme and am excited to see the following films will be shown:


AnDa Union: From the Steppes to the City
A documentary about Mongolian folk music and the way of life in this remote region.
I can recommend this excellent CD: Mongolia - Living Music Of The Steppes).
For more information on the film see: www.andafilm.com



Children Who Chase Lost Voices From Deep Below
Makoto Shinkai's magical anime feature film, read a review here. Sounds heavily Ghibli-influenced.


Cross-talk comedy action caper Let the Bullets Fly starring Chow Yun (I really love you Fatty Fatty) Fat. Directed by Jiang Wen, who also stars along with Ge You, this was a big box office success in East Asia. Set in 1920s mainland China so expect some great mis-en scene and period style dress. Zhou Yun from Bodyguards and Assassins is the female lead (see pic below, great outfit). The film is also supposed to contain some brilliant political satire, heavily veiled in cross-talk and humour. A great opportunity to see this on the big screen, hoping to get tickets for this one.



Also showing are films by HK veteran director Ann Hui, art-house master Jia Zhangke (who produced this award winning movie by Han Jie), a film by Yuya Ishii who recently had a hit here in the UK with Third Windows distributed Sawako Decides and a Tibetan film by Pema Tseden.

For all the London Fim Festival info see: www.bfi.org.uk/lff/
Runs 12th - 27th October 2011 in London.

Happy Mid Autumn Moon Festival

Some moon based music for ya:





Check out these extravagant Hong Kong mooncakes.

Also this lantern sculpture in HK is amazing (World Record Breaking in fact!): http://youtu.be/-YNtbf1WmUU

I know I'm a little late but the moon still looks spectacular tonight, Happy Autumn everyone.

Regular DJ Spot @ Mango Landin'

I'll be Djing the third Friday of every month at Mango Landin' in Brixton now. I tend to start off with a more eclectic and East Asian vibe and get into some heavy Reggae later on in the evening. Hope to see you there this Friday 16th Sept, my brother will join me and play a little Hip Hop and Funk.

For directions: www.mangolandin.net

I'm Back Again! Lucky Cat Series 6

I will be back on Resonance 104.4FM for Lucky Cat Series 6 next month. The first show will air on Saturday 15th October at 3.30pm and I will be on every week up until Chinese New Year in 2012. I'm editing all of my China audio for the new series and was just listening to the recording I made in Paul Au's wonderful record shop - this track by Paula Tsui was playing.


(Photo shows Cha Cha and I @ Shelter Club, Shanghai 2011)

I am very excited to announce I will broadcast an exclusive interview with China's premier Reggae & Soul singer, the hugely talented Cha Cha. Big congratulations to Cha Cha who is the first ever Chinese mainland national to be accepted into the Red Bull Music Academy. Cha Cha will be at the Academy this October, where she will have the opportunity to work with fellow talented musicians, producers and DJs from ll over the world. Maximum Respect to Cha Cha!

Hong Kong Film Week @ Prince Charles

Apologies for the long absence in posting, I have been en vacance. I'm back now and gearing up for my new radio series (details to follow in my next post). I was alerted to a series of Hong Kong movies showing at the cult Prince Charles cinema in London next week.

First up is Ip Man on 13th September. Donnie Yen is the legendary Ip Man, Bruce Lee's martial arts mentor (though the film is set way before Bruce becomes a pupil and charts the early years in mainland China and the Sino-Japanese war). This is fast becoming a kung fu classic and Ip Man 1 & 2 have raised Donnie Yen's status immensely. If you haven't seen this it would be nice to catch the action (Sammo is action director) on the big screen.



The next film showing is Echoes of the Rainbow (14th September). I actually watched this on my flight to China back in March. I was keen to watch this mainly because of the era it is set - 1969 - cue beehive-style hair dos, transistor radios, cool fabric prints and wonderful vintage mis-en-scene. The cast are not too shabby either: the wonderful Simon Yam and Sandra Ng star as the parents of two very different boys, played by Buzz Chung and Aarif Lee. It's a thoughtful film which has art house tendencies and reminded me a little of the work of Tawianese director Hou Hsiao-Hsien. I'm really glad it will be screened here in the UK as it is not normally the type of Hong Kong film that gets shown here (i.e. it's not martial arts, Triad or cop action). There is a nice reference to HK cinema of the 1960's as the young lad (Big Ears played brilliantly by Buzz Chung) sells photos of Connie Chan Pao Chu and Josephine Siao Fong Fong with faked signatures to raise pocket money cash!
The film's director Alex Law will be giving a Q&A after the film.

Showing on 15th September is Love in a Puff which I don't know too much about but it seems like a fairly silly rom com set in a post-smoking ban HK.


Finally on Friday 16th you have the cops in action in Beast Stalker and my favourite HK heart throb Nicholas Tse 谢霆锋stars! Directed by Dante Lam this is, by all accounts, a very entertaining thriller. Not to be confused with 1998 Dante Lam & Gordon Chan directed classic Beast Cops.


The Festival has been curated by thinkasiathinkhk.com - The Hong Kong Trade Development Council.

Level Up – the work of Gene Luen Yang

An interesting podcast to check out: Resonance FM's Alex Fitch talks to American cartoonist Gene Luen Yang about his recent comics about games – his graphic novel Level Up and web strip Legends of the Joystick, both illustrated in watercolours by Thien Pham.

Also discussed is the magical realism found in Gene's work - from American Born Chinese to his forthcoming graphic novels about the Boxer Rebellion.


Click here to take a listen

Anna Chen on Chinese Humour - Radio 4

Anna Chen's radio feature on Chinese humour - Found in Translation - aired yesterday on BBC Radio 4.

Anna talks to American Chinese comic Joe Wong, British academics Dr Ashley Thorpe and Dr Hwee-San-Tan as well as Beijing comic who is still practising the ancient art of cross-talk (xiangsheng). Cross-talk, word play and punning is very interesting - a kind of triple entendre comedy threat!

In fact when I was learning Mandarin this is one of the things that I found really difficult - ideograms/characters will have more than one meaning and the same phonetic sound can have a totally different meaning when given a very slight tonal difference. Aiya! My brain hurts just thinking about it again. My Mandarin never did get past more than menu items and basics (I am ashamed to admit).

When I think of 'Chinese humour' I think more of Cantonese Hong Kong humour and the slap stick comedy found in movies such as Aces Go Places. I also think of Stephen Chow and all of his great comedy films (God of Cookery is my personal favourite)and the Cantonese mo lei tau humour he employs. I had presumed this all stemmed from the theatre and Cantonese opera traditions (which in some ways are comparable to British music hall or American vaudeville satire and entendre).

Mainland Chinese comedy is a bit of an unknown territory and the programme does explore this a little. It seems that the oral tradition of theatre and storytelling were also important. Politics and the Cultural Revolution have meant that comedy in mainland China has not developed in the same way as in Hong Kong. The feature suggests that perhaps because of censorship the traditional method of cross-talk is being favoured to allow comics to joke freely and satirise politics today.

With regards to Chinese mainland cinema I really need to see When the Bullets Fly which is apparently full of cross-talk. I was also intrigued by Red Light Revolution - China's first and only sex shop comedy - which was shown at the Terracotta Film Festival earlier this year. Good news for all who missed it: those lovely people at Terracotta will be distributing it soon in the UK. Watch this space.

If you missed Anna's progamme do tune in via iplayer:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b012f5qj/Found_in_Translation/
It will definitely get you thinking - and also has a nice little interview with British Chinese Elvis impersonator Paul Hyu.

Anna herself tried her hand at stand up comedy:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kf-4dHmncU8

All in all an interesting feature which given it's brief time slot of 30mins goes some way to busting a few stereotypes and spring boarding the listener to explore the topic. I wish Radio 4 would use BBC 7 to allow for an extended version of features such as this which could go into more depth.

龙神道 Long Sheng Dao - Chinese Reggae Band

I've been meaning to investigate this band since Steve Barker (On the Wire) meetioned them to me when I met him in China earlier this year. Their name translates roughly as The Way of the Dragon God I think. Loving the gu zheng Reggae sounds on this track. They also seem to be into uptempo Ska sounds as well. They released their debut album earlier this year. I hope to get hold of a copy to play on Lucky Cat Series 6 (coming to a radio/computer near you soon).

They have a:
Myspace page
and a
Facebook page

Rea more on the Beijing Gig Guide

AM444 Video for 'Eye Wonder'

Love the video and the track. Been meaning to post this for a while but I was having a real non-computer life - which as the song suggests might be a good idea!

More from the Shanghai crew here: http://subcultureshanghai.com/

Watch this space for new of a Cha Cha interview I'll be recording very soon....

China Visual Festival - Documentary Films

Looks like an interesting festival, check out: http://chinesevisualfestival.org/
All this weekend in London.

New Mix - DJ set from Electric Sheep Anthology Launch

Electric Sheep Anthology - Launch Party Mix by Luckycatzoe on Mixcloud

Here are the tunes I played at the launhc party for The End: An Electric Sheep Anthology earlier this month. A lovely book with articles on cult and world cinema and some great illustrations too. My favorite is a full page illustration of Gong Li's face taken from the shot at the end of the Zhang Yimou movie Ju Dou.

Back on the turntables! Fri 29th July

I am pleased to announce I will be DJing at the lovely bar Mango Landin' in Brixton on Friday 29th July. I will be spinning my usual mixture of vintage vinyl 45s of various genres: 60s Hong Kong pop, sound tracks, Reggae, Ska, Rocksteady, 60's Soul, Rhythm n Blues, Lounge and Cha Cha Cha!

Not a Lucky Cat night as such so there won't be any Asian snacks but Mango Landin' do have a BBQ style restaurant garden area for delicious jerk chicken etc. The cocktails are pretty good too (mango mojitos mmm). Come early for food, I start playing at 9pm and won't stop till I drop (around 3am). Dress up in your qipaos and get ready to skank to some Chinese Reggae.

Directions, menus etc on the Mango Landin' web site: www.mangolandin.net

I doctored this great propaganda pic for the flyer,turns out Mao was very fond of mangoes, read more here .

Ai Wei Wei @ Somerset House

I was very pleased to hear the news that Ai Wei Wei had been released (on bail) yesterday. In an earlier post I mentioned all not being a bowl of ju-jube berries when I visited China. The media control in society was difficult to swallow for me and I really felt it whilst I was there as when I visited Hong Kong Ai Wei Wei had just been arrested and it was all over the media. When I entered back into mainland China it was Ai Wei Who? I didn't see anything in the media at all. I'm sure young people were talking about it in code online but the air was strangely silent. I also had not realised the still marked difference between Hong Kong and mainland China media.

Here are some photos of my visit to the Ai Wei Wei sculpture exhibit at Somerset House in London last month. I thought it really suited the setting and I enjoyed my visit tremendously (as did my little 'kitten' who you can see splashing around in the fountains).

If you haven't been there are only a few days left so make a plan and visit!:
www.somersethouse.org.uk/visual-arts/ai-weiwei-circle-of-animals-zodiac-heads

See also:
Further article on Ai wei wei's release

Excellent Radio Piece on Flutist Guo Yue

Heard this by chance on BBC Radio 3 the otehr day. A very nice interview with flutist Guo Yue who grew up during the Cultural Revolution in China. You can listen again via the iPlayer if in UK:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b011txy8/Between_the_Ears_On_the_Rubble_of_My_Home_I_Played_My_Flute/

Also check out this Youtube clip:


You can buy his 2006 CD Music, Food and Love and find out more at Real World Records.

Lucky Cat Mixes on Mixcloud

I've decided to start using Mixcloud as uploads are unlimited! I will be posting up mixes from my vinyl collection and delving deep into the Lucky Cat archives. Hope you enjoy listening.

Lucky Cat Summer Mix 2011 by Luckycatzoe on Mixcloud

Pop Up Exhibition in New Cross this week

Fontless II is a 3 part collaborative music/visual performance about psychogeography - the act of urban exploration on foot and its application to join disparate resonances (emotional/sonic) through intervention and documentation.

Part I is created by Ben Absalom & Sam Bardsley, part II by Raimund Wong and part III by Oscar Oldershaw and Joe Campbell. All with live soundtrack by Maja Naga, this time with Toby S (mandolin and electric guitar), Camilo Tirado (tablas and percussion) and Raimund (ruan and guitar).

27th May 6 - 9pm, 28th May 1 - 9pm, 29th May 1 - 6pm

At 6pm on Friday there will be a screening of several films surrounding the subject, including The Solitary Life of Cranes.

Address & Transport:
Bond House Pop-up Space, Goodwood Road, SE14 6BL

Train: New Cross Gate/ New Cross
Buses: 343, 484, 21, 53, 172, 453, 136, 171, 177, 436, P12, P13

Links:
www.localanaesthesiaexhibition.com
Facebook Event Page

China Trip 2011 - Food Diary (Beijing)

I posted about the Tofu Fa on Lamma island Hong Kong but what about the other delights I sampled on my trip? Well, it just so happens that I kept a food diary.
Warning the following posts may make induce serious munchies:

Beijing
Thursday 31st March
Snack from outlet in hutong area: Weird triangular shaped snack with wafer like wrapping filled with egg custard and sweetcorn. Sweet and gloopy with crispy shell. Nothing special, forgot to take a photo.


















Dinner @ Sijiminfu, Qianmen District

• 1/2 a Roast Duck
  
• Pancakes
  
• Accompaniments for duck were the usual plum sauce, cucumber & spring onion with the delightful additions of pickled vegetables, red pickled ginger, roasted mashed garlic paste and a side of fresh mint, pea shoots and young salad leaves. We were also given some white sugar to dip the crispy duck skin in.
  
• Cold dish of celery shoots with blanched almonds
  
• Garlic shoots with pork and shrimps
  
• Rice
  
• Finished off with a bowl of duck stock broth.

Mmmm garlicy, top notch stuff. A very big thank you to Anxi for taking care of me in Beijing and making sure I was extremely well fed!

Friday 1st April
Breakfast @ my hotel: Steamed pork dumplings, plain congee with slithery shreds of pickled cabbage, watermelon.
Snack: Roasted sweet potato from street vendor




Lunch @ amazing Beijing snack restaurant. You walked through a corridor with stalls either side where traditional snacks here being cooked. As you entered the main seating area there was a stage with a guy straight out of central casting (grey Mao suit, long white beard, bald head, twinkle in his eyes) telling stories. The atmosphere was rowdy and not many people were taking notice of him but he bellowed on with his animated performance.

• Cooked pear in syrup. Pleasant.
  
• Sweet soup of white snow mushroom with goji berries, red beans and lotus seeds. Too musty for my tastes.
  
• Red cubes of Chinese hawthorn apple jelly and yellow cubes of mung bean / pea? jelly cubes
  
• Fried flour ring (doughnut)
  
• Lian ta hou shou - long, friedBeijing pork dumplings with black vinegar for dipping. Crispy delicious.

Dinner @ Karaiya Spice Housein San li tun area, in 'the village' a big shopping mall which is part of a huge new (6 years old) development. Massive Apple Mac and Nike stores there.

• Cold noodles made from fern root jelly with marinated cucumber
  
• Sliced beef with chilli oil and spring onion
  
• Chilled tofu cubes with diced chilli peppers
  
• Mushroom stir fry served over hot wok like clay pot on table
  
• Sizzling beef
  
• Steamed perch
  
• Ginger chicken (also served on table)

A delicious meal of Hunan food - previously an uncharted area for me. Whilst in China I made the discovery that Szechuan food isn't the only regional cooking to infuse dishes with a range of chillies, spice and salty delicious flavours, Hunan and Yunnan dishes are also very tasty.
Big thanks to Steve Barker for taking us to Karaiya Spice House.