S/D: Chinese pop

Blogger Matt "Benn Loxo" (who blogged from Africa and then France for years) is over in China now and they haven't blocked access to his site yet

http://bennloxo.com/

I like Carsick Cars ("pop" in the same sense that Flying Nun is pop.)

Dou Wei = awesome, especially Mountain River

2008 drummers at the Olympic Opening ceremony...

and scary soldiers after little kid singers

i have no idea about chinese pop, so i just bought this 1.99 LP at a thrift store in SF last week, cause it had a colorful mirror-image girl on it. i think it's mandarin, but i truthfully just have no idea. the only reference point i have for anything that sounds like this is some of the songs from the sublime frequencies comps -- its a little schmaltzy, mostly ballads, but pretty and with like a soft 60s-70s rock instrumentation. it says THE SILVERSTONES on the cover very small, and it seems like the silverstones are like the mandarin-pop funk brothers or something? anyhow, tell me if you know anything about anything...

been really feeling this one lately, though it's an oldie...the chorus is probably the most sublime thing ever

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xqg0kAa5pU

seriously i don't get the love for that stuff, although i appreciate how it's used in movies sometimes. so treacly. so, so treacly. like that r. kelly/celine dion duet-level treacle.

this is korean and i think a few months old, but all the kids are into it
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6QA3m58DQw

seriously being able to really appreciate all this asian pop would require too much recalibration of my aesthetic preferences. too much effort.

Not exactly pop but...

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/17/world/asia/17music.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper

During a recent music festival the band organized in the suburbs of Beijing, Hanggai stacked the roster with musicians who, like the band’s members, are known for combining traditional ethnic music with contemporary genres. There were performances by Mamer, an experimental musician from the Kazakh border region of China who plays a long-necked lute, and Zhang Quan, a peripatetic folk singer from the arid northwestern plains.

The event, undiminished by the erratic sound quality and overpriced food, attracted a swarm of state security officers who monitored the crowd with suspicion, impatience and a hint of curiosity.

Shanren, or “mountain people,” another band that has become known for its eclectic style — songs move fluidly from electronica to reggae to metal — and arrangements inspired by traditional music from the country’s ethnically diverse southwest, a mélange of loose falsetto harmonies and twangy pentatonic lutes.

Never heard of them

New Jay Chou video <3 <3 <3 <3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMQsALnG34s

From Taiwan:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWboFzbYNkU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41ClkAvHEPQ

Oops, thought one of those was labeled in English: Mavis Fan & 100%.

I need to get that album. The material i've heard from it is the closest thing, in spirit, to Faye Wong around at the moment.

Could be a good resource:

http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=234666

thanks

Being from China and pretty familiar with Chinese pop/rock from Mainland China, HK, and Taiwan, mainstream or underground. I would like to offer my opinions in case you have any questions regarding...BTW, my all-time favorite non-Chinese bands are VdGG, the Pop Group, Blind Idiot God and Hüsker Dü, just to let you know a bit about my taste.

Are there any Chinese bands that have any sort of influence from VdGG, even a bit?

"Are there any Chinese bands that have any sort of influence from VdGG, even a bit?", No, not to my knowledge.

Indeed, there's no native original rock music in (Mainland) China until mid-1980s. I'm not really into prog/psych style but still aware of bands from 70s/80s in a lot of "exotic" places, say Asian countries like Japan, Korea, Thailand, Indonesia...but not in China. It's even more interesting (or non-interesting?) that they almost did not exist in Taiwan or HK where western culture had a prominent presence.

There were a few kinda alternative/art-rock releases in China in late 90s/early 00s, which are so obscure that most Chinese rock fans do not know their existences...not to say foreigners.

Are Hang On The Box still going?

What is the current status of political Chinese popular music - both pro-government and subversive? I'm particularly interested in any state sponsored music/releases and how distribution works if you don't mind giving me a little primer (or pointing me in the direction of some good writing about it)?

Are Hang On The Box still going?

I couldn't care less about them but happen to know that they might have a one-off reunion a few months ago, with only the singer from the original lineup.

What is the current status of political Chinese popular music - both pro-government and subversive? I'm particularly interested in any state sponsored music/releases and how distribution works if you don't mind giving me a little primer (or pointing me in the direction of some good writing about it)?

I don't quite get what you mean...and how much you have known about it. Generally speaking, there are two kinds of "pop music" in China. One is just like what peopl have in any country, and another one might be what you called "pro-government" pop music, which has a much longer history in PR China. This particular genre/style is usually called "minzu changfa", which literally means "national/ethnic singing", high-pitch folky stuff. Most of them, if not all, are employed in country/province/department/ministry/PLA-owned musical organization as public servants or officers. They usually perform at various festival gala/concerts. However, I don't think their songs are "political". Some of them could be perceived as "uninspiring gospel-like propaganda" at most.

For "subversive" song, umm...I suppose that you know the band pangu (punkgod), who's in exile now. After them, I don't know any existence of explicitly anti-government/communism songs...

What is Sa Dingding's domestic reception / reputation like?

Are some of the minzu changfa more interesting / more "canonized" culturally than others? Who should I check out?

opecimmac, what do you think of this thread 萨顶顶 (Sa Dingding)

What is Sa Dingding's domestic reception / reputation like?

My impression is that average people take her as something in between a joke/fraud/shaman and Dadawa (a more legitimate/less popular singer in similar style to some extent). For more avid music fans, they don't really care about her music much.

Personally I find her earlier stuff (electro bubblegum pop) under her original name, more interesting...

opecimmac, what do you think of this thread 萨顶顶 (Sa Dingding)

Haven't touched this album yet. I will let you know later.

Are some of the minzu changfa more interesting / more "canonized" culturally than others? Who should I check out?

Hard to say since I'm not an expert either. To be very honest, I don't think this kind of music is really worthy of digging...However, for some introduction I would suggest (all surname first):

Guo Lanying - Female. Kind of like the "Queen" in this genre.

Hu Songhua - Male. More like Bel Canto. (Forgot to mention that Minzu Changfa is indeed sort of Bel Canto variation in Chinese folk style)

Guo Song - Male. Less famous but pretty interesting imo, more folky in Northeast China style. And he composes.

Li Shuangjiang - Male. He's dominant (even politically) but not so interesting imo.

Li Guyi - Female. Important figure, one of the first who connected with modern popular music.

Yan Weiwen - Male. Regarded as the best male singer in recent decades.

Song Zuying, Peng Liyuan - They are really famous...you could just google them.

opecimmac, any thoughts on 朱之文? also, the winners of 中国好声音; do they generally have any future as stars?

What's yr take on Omnipotent Youth Society, opecimmac?

http://www.npr.org/2013/02/18/171900960/chinas-leonard-cohen-calls-out-political-corruption

opecimmac, any thoughts on 朱之文? also, the winners of 中国好声音; do they generally have any future as stars?

I know 朱之文 but not much, probably like a Chinese Susan Boyle.

I kind of enjoy 中国好声音 as a show. My favorite is Jin Chi(金池). I don't foresee any of them going to become a true pop star in China, say as big as those from super girl show 2005. However, the Champion Liang Bo (梁博) does have some adorable personality, reminding Dou Wei (窦唯). He has a few decent original works (although ripping off COLDPLAY, could be unintentionally). Maybe he can make it who knows.

BTW, 乒乓, are you Chinese?

What's yr take on Omnipotent Youth Society, opecimmac?

To be honest, I belong to the minority who don't like them, or think they are overrated. About ten years ago, I thought that they could be something truly great. But their long-awaited debut album sounds more compromising and cliche than I expected.

You can listen to one of their early songs from "alternative era" here (cassette bad quality) when they were called "The Nico", named after Shannon Hoon's daughter.

http://www.npr.org/2013/02/18/171900960/chinas-leonard-cohen-calls-out-political-corruption

Oh yes if you are talking about semi-protest or social issue satire, there they are.

Zuoxiao Zuzhou is no doubt the most controversial figure in Chinese rock. I strongly suggest the first two albums from his BAND era: 走失的主人 and 庙会之旅 for anybody with an open mind. In my opinion, these are among the best Chinese alternative rock scene has ever produced.

Generally I am indifferent on his prolific high-profile solo career. I can't get the likeness between him and LC...maybe because LC and Cowboy Junkies are from the same country? :) Comparisons to Lou Reed, Nick Cave, Tom Waits... make more although limited sense. I would say Kenneth Higney is a perfect counterpart.

BTW, 乒乓, are you Chinese?

― opecimmac, Wednesday, February 20, 2013 1:21 PM (6 hours ago) Bookmark

chinese-american!

http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/03/11/ai-weiwei-is-making-a-rock-album

When Chinese authorities jailed the dissident sculptor Ai Weiwei for 81 days in 2011, they may have created a monster, of sorts: now Mr. Ai has announced that he is recording a heavy metal album, and he has traced the roots of his interest in music to his incarceration, when his guards asked him to sing, and he realized that he knew only Chinese revolutionary songs.

Cannot wait.

cannot stop listening to elva hsiao atm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3IrlF6NpGU

Anyone seen Tang Dynasty? Playing tonight in Wellington.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/25/world/asia/hong-kong-stars-face-mainland-backlash-over-support-for-protests.html?hp&action=click&pgtype=Homepage&version=HpSum&module=second-column-region®ion=top-news&WT.nav=top-news

Camping out beneath an overpass outside Hong Kong’s government headquarters, amid a sea of colorful tents, a local pop singer, Denise Ho, said about 80 percent of her income came from mainland China, mostly from performances. But for now, she said, there are no mainland bookings on her schedule.

Anthony Wong, another Hong Kong singer who has joined the pro-democracy demonstrations, said two November shows in mainland China had been “indefinitely postponed” and he had no pending invitations to perform there.

“I’m just guessing, but I think they are trying to ban us because they’re afraid of different views,” Mr. Wong said late Thursday night. “They fear that we would spread them. And of course it’s an attempt to punish us, a cold-shoulder treatment of sorts, so we can’t earn their money.”

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/10/kenny-g-hong-kong-protests/381830/

kenny g too

did sa dingding end up on some tv show, like a duo singing competition where people vote
or i am thinking of someone else

Not even a mention of 小苹果，huh

Oh well here's something else

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxzgwJ8tSE0

just came here to post that. watched it like 5 times in a row with my 4 year old. a "what does the fox say" for this year.

Free Mavis Fan (of Taiwan) download here. Good stuff. I'm still not too familiar with her.

http://www.vegetarianfish.net/m--a

https://www.sixthtone.com/news/1010960/Trove%20of%20Discarded%20Cassette%20Tapes%20Brings%20Back%20a%20Lost%20Shanghai