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Beijing underground rock (again)Posted by Alice Xin Liu, March 23, 2009 4:42 PM
CNN's Talk Asia show has made three episodes on "China's Underground Rock". Here's the first one, and you can find the others on their site. In this video: Buyi, Hanggai, Kaiser Kuo and Michael Pettis. |
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Comments on Beijing underground rock (again)
Actually, 4 results show up if you search Beijing Music Scene on the CNN streamer site. Unfortunately, I haven't figured out how to find the videos only through their streamer browser.
Journalists are obsessed with the idea that Beijing's rock scene must be anti-governmental in someway, so they can have more "interesting" stories to write about. As Buyi said, they are just expressing their feelings about life and society, some of which might be challenging the authority, but why does it have to be anti-government or even political? Get over yourself, journalists.
Dito, feel like "the promise that rock music with shatter the state" story has been covered by every journalist that has ever covered China. Rock n roll is so 89 - this is such a safe and lifeless angle in 2009.
you know just how underground beijing rock is when cnn start to cover it. reminds me of all those US grad students that have rolled through beijing over the last decade, thinking they are so original as they write up the beijing scene into a dissertation. the whole thing is so cliched
While I was pleased to see CNN reporting on the Chinese rock scene - it's good publicity for bands, labels and fans alike - it's sort of sad to see musicians have to field the same hackneyed questions about elite Chinese politics, year after year. Bet they wish journalists would ask more questions about their music, their lives or the things they sing about. CNN got a few things right, though. They chose several good up-and-coming bands, a few informed observers, and they emphasized the explosion of the Beijing rock scene from a few dozen acts to over a thousand in the space of two decades. Seems like the next step is to explore the diversity of the Chinese indie music scene (hard to do in short segments), and the effects of commercialization, fragmentation, piracy and the internet on musicians, fans, record labels, distributors and promoters. Wish Rolling Stone, VH1, MTV or some other well-heeled media outlet would commission a series on the development of music in China. Could be something big.
I have to agree with some of the thoughts above but there is 1 film out there (that you can find on Plexifilm) that doesn't touch the politics at all. It is more about the life and music of the people in the film.
Still, while Mr. Kaiser Kuo does say some good things I would have to disagree that it isn't becoming commercialized. That "Queen Sea Big Shark" and "Joyside" for example were in a huge Converse ad. campaign. If Converse, owned by Nike, isn't commercial then what is?
Beijing rock scene isn't THAT good... Seriously.. its okay, but nothing to write home about.