Watch more Beijing videos at tripfilms.com
Check out this recently released video about rock n’ roll coming to Qingdao, the port city best known for its Tsingtao beer, and the emerging rock scene in Beijing. If you like it, there's a second part.
And while you’re at it, click here for a recent article in the New York Times by Jimmy Wang about the Hip-Hop scene in China. Be sure to see the video with the article. Jimmy is a NYU film school alum and does great video.
I don’t know much about the music scene except what I hear from our 18-year-old daughter who is a habitué of D-22, the music club in Beijing’s northwest Haidian district that is the pet project of Michael Pettis, a banker-cum-professor-cum-empresario (whose blog on economic matters here is brilliant).
Lastly, here’s a link to an article in the New Yorker by Alex Ross, the music critic who won a MacArthur genius award a while back, on his visit to Beijing last year. It is near the end where he gets into the experimental music scene in Beijing. If memory serves correctly, Ross labeled a concert by a local band, the Carsick Cars, as one of his top 10 musical experiences last year. That says a lot.
Emerging rock scene my butt! come on man! How many articles must be continuously written about Cina's "new" rock scene? People were writing articles 14 years ago about China's new rock scene, and again 13 years ago, and again 11 years ago, and again 10 years ago, etc.
Posted by: S | March 11, 2009 at 12:50 AM
C'mon S! Not everybody's a Zhongguo tong like you. This blog's got readers who've never been to Beijing and wouldn't know Cui Jian from a Panda cigarette.
Posted by: Tim J | March 11, 2009 at 03:20 AM
The Beijing music scene today is nothing like the stuff of the 1990s, when all the excitment was not about the quality of the music but simply the fact that it existed in China. Things are much different now, and unlike in the 1990s, when all the talk about music was from the general press, now it is mostly musicians and critics in the US and Europe who are talking about how good it is. For some reason many older expats get incensed whenever others discuss the current scene. Why?
Posted by: TR | March 11, 2009 at 03:43 AM
I think TR's distinction is important. Even though rock's existed in some form or another for some time around here, the music and environment are constantly evolving.
The last two or three years has seen a lot more sophistication and professionalism (in terms of long-term sustainability) brought into the rock scene. This is projecting experienced artists into wider recognition in the city community -- Chinese and foreign -- and worldwide. There is, too the spawning a whole new, different pool of appreciation and interest to foster emerging artists. There were plenty of rockers trying their stuff before that, but the city was a different place then, just as it will be a different place in another couple years. The environment changes, the music changes, the people change. It's all perpetually nascent. But it isn't immaculate conception.
I feel like many expats tend do develop a sense possession of the music here and, more broadly, their memories here. Memories are important in a place that has changed as much as Beijing. How many foreigners were there in Beijing in the 80s? How many are here now? I ain't got nothin' on the people who've been here for one, two, or more decades, but I still feel like I have more China Expat Points when I see first-time study abroad students partying. It's all an expat process.
And as much as expats might feel wiser about China as they live here, there are still sooo many people who know little to nothing about China, let alone it's developing rock scene, which to them probably would seem nascent.
For interested readers looking for leads to find out more about Beijing's music scene, you could try searching for local expat magazines' coverage of music. City Weekend, the Beijinger, That's Beijing, Time Out Beijing all have some kind of music coverage. Check for events to get a picture of the entertainment scene. Micromu.com is a cool blog supporting the folk scene. It has a lot of music and videos, and they're all free (in agreement with the artists involved). Micromu is in Chinese, but it has lots of clear links to watch videos and download music.
Posted by: Kirk K | March 11, 2009 at 04:53 AM
It occurs to me, as an afterthought, that for rock music, Beijing seems to be the place to go. Maybe Shanghai? I'm glad to see people spreading it to Qingdao and beyond.
Posted by: Kirk K | March 11, 2009 at 04:55 AM
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Posted by: penis size | March 11, 2009 at 01:13 PM
Surely the rock scene in Beijing today is different from that 10 years or 20 years ago (is the American or British rock scene today the same as that 20 years ago?). But to say the rock scene in China is nascent is indeed a bit funny.
Posted by: peanut butter | March 11, 2009 at 04:40 PM
See, life is much better without His Holiness.
Oh no, no Rock n' Roll in Qingdao. Don't touch our girls there!
Posted by: jeff | March 11, 2009 at 05:29 PM
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Posted by: RODNEY | August 09, 2009 at 04:55 AM