music
Video: Google Goes GaGa – My Favorite Quotes
Mar 28th
In honor of Lady GaGa’s 25th birthday, I’ve embedded her Google Goes GaGa interview and written up my favorite quotes from it. I’ve also embedded the performance of hers that was the tipping point in my belief that’s she has genuine charisma and talent as a live performer instead of just as an artistic director and composer.
Google Goes GaGa: same video on YouTube and Youku
Favorite quotes from this interview:
“The most important thing I think with creativity is that you honor your creativity and that you don’t ever ignore it or go against what that creative image is telling you because of what society is projecting on you.”
“My whole life is a performance piece, so I don’t need to have my picture taken to feel that I’m in a moment of art.”
“Honesty and the truth is always what will set you free.”
“If the artist is constantly molding ourselves and changing, abridging what we do for the machine, then the artist becomes part of the machine. I don’t want to be part of the machine. I want the machine to be part of me.”
“I do believe that women in pop music have a very bad rap, and I think people have learned to expect very little of us, and I think it’s unfair. It’s very prejudiced.”
“I worship my fans, is what I’m trying to say. They are my religion.”
Speechless on The Ellen DeGeneres Show: same video on YouTube and Youku
As a background on my Lady GaGa fandom, she is not my favorite celebrity or pop star – that would be Adam Lambert – but I love her music, and she is one of my idols. She is my age, and I find her passion and drive to succeed in her career as well as her willingness to be controversial in order to live up to her potential inspiring. She was the only celebrity I blogged about in 2010, and she was the go-to celebrity example I used in my classes in China.
Seattle Hard Rock Cafe Concert Review – Late Night Transit, Aury Moore Band, Afraid of Figs
Sep 28th
Saturday night was my first time going to a concert at any Hard Rock Cafe, let alone the Seattle one. I thought the concert was going to be in the restaurant, but there’s an entire upstairs concert venue with a capacity of 477 that’s mostly a stage and bar with sparse seating.
The three bands were Late Night Transit, Aury Moore Band, and Afraid of Figs. This was apparently one of only two nights in the venue’s history that it sold out, and it doubled as Late Night Transit’s CD release party.
Of the three bands, Late Night Transit was the only band I’d recommend pretty much anyone see live, though their CD was a bit of a letdown, often the case with indie bands with cheaply produced albums. Live, they displayed a combination of musical talent, humor, and charisma. They sang their album’s lead track “Pretty” to my friend who was attending the concert for her birthday party, which was hilarious because the first line of the main chorus was “I’m the only one who thinks you’re pretty.”
I wouldn’t recommend seeing Aury Moore Band, mostly because Aury Moore herself had pitch problems for their entire set even though the rest of the band seemed like good musicians. The crowd sadly visibly thinned throughout their set.
Afraid of Figs, the headliner, were good musicians but not particularly my taste because comedy was front and center in their lyrics and performance. Their songs include lines like “I ate a vegan” and “I don’t want to be your Facebook friend.” If Weird Al Yankovic and Jim Carrey formed a good ska band, they would probably sound a lot like Afraid of Figs.
Overall, I think I got my money’s worth at ten dollars. Hard Rock Cafe seemed like a decent venue at that price, not particularly crowded or hot and with okay sound. However, knowing that this is one of only two concerts to sell out there worries me that most bands who perform there are not as good as Late Night Transit, who alone sold half the tickets.
Note: I sadly can’t find a Web site — even an active MySpace page — for Late Night Transit. Let me know if there are any out there.
Update 9/28/2010: Thanks to Emily, the birthday girl mentioned in this post, I now have a link to Late Night Transit’s Web site.
Audio: Chinese Indie Music Sampler – 重塑雕像的权利 (Re-TROS)
Jun 14th
This is the third post in a series of audio links to Chinese music I’ve bought, mostly rock and electronica. Most of the music in this series is by bands I’ve seen live. You can see the first post here. The second post is here.
The third band I’m featuring is post-punk 重塑雕像的权利 (Re-TROS). Re-TROS is an acronym for Rebuilding the Rights of Statues, their full English name. I saw them for the first time at My Generation is Not 2 Bad in Beijing, which I found out about somewhat ironically by reading NeochaEDGE, so thanks to Ka Xiaoxi for that post. At that show, Re-TROS wowed me with their showmanship as well as disregard for conventions in both composition and performing.
Audio: 08 Up Next: Bela Lugosi’s Back
You can order Re-TROS’s music online on Amazon or their official Web store.
In Beijing, you can buy Re-TROS’s music at:
The Chinese Underground Music, 89-3, 鼓楼东大街, Beijing
(Bus: 小经厂. Subway: Beixinqiao on Line 5.)
Phone: 13466775001, 15901080625
Open from 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.
Update: The above store has closed. If you know of any other physical, not-online stores selling Re-TROS’s music, let me know in the comments.
Re-TROS online:
Official Web site, MySpace page, Douban (豆瓣) page
NPR: China’s Latest Export: Anti-Establishment Music
Last.fm: Rebuilding the Rights of Statues
Audio: Chinese Indie Music Sampler – 旅行团 Life Journey
Jun 2nd
This is the second post in a (likely short) series of audio links to Chinese music I’ve bought, mostly rock and electronica. Most of the music in this series is by bands I’ve seen live. You can see the first post here.
The second band I’m featuring is 旅行团 (Life Journey). They are excellent musicians and a lot of fun live because they have great stage presence and are so fashionable. They sing in both English and Chinese.
Audio: 02 悠长假期
You can buy Life Journey’s music at:
The Chinese Underground Music, 89-3, 鼓楼东大街, Beijing
(Bus: 小经厂. Subway: Beixinqiao on Line 5.)
Phone: 13466775001, 15901080625
Open from 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.
Update: The above store has closed. If you know of any other physical, not-online stores selling Life Journey’s music, let me know in the comments.
Last time I checked, their music was also available at the bookstore next to Lush in Wudaokou.
Video of Singers from my American University is Viral in China
May 25th
Prominent in student life at my alma mater are student groups who perform pop song covers a Capella. The men’s group, On the Rocks, is active in social media as a promotional tool; they have a Twitter account and broadcast their performances live online. About a month ago, they uploaded a performance of Lady GaGa’s “Bad Romance” with annotations onto YouTube as a fundraiser for their trip to Los Angeles to audition for the NBC television show “Sing Off.” The video currently has more than 3 million views.
Last night, as I was watching the original music video for “Bad Romance” on the Chinese site Youku, I noticed On The Rocks’ performance video, uploaded by YoutubeSpace, as a suggested related video. The video has more than 300,000 views and about 300 comments (in Chinese). I shared it on my own RenRen and Q Zone profiles (with a note that this was my alma mater, of course), then found out one of my good Chinese friends had already shared it on his RenRen as well before learning that the video had any relation to me whatsoever. On RenRen, the video has more than 41,000 share views and 233,000 views.
On the Rocks online:
Official site
Twitter: @uoontherocks
Facebook: OTR rocks my socks
Live broadcast
Watch the video on Youku, YouTube, or both below:
And if you want to compare the choreography and arrangement, here’s Lady GaGa’s version. (Nudity warning for those who haven’t seen it already.)
Audio, Video: Chinese Indie Music Sampler – The Bigger Bang 大棒
Apr 26th
I’m starting a (likely short) series of audio links to Chinese music I’ve bought, mostly rock and electronica. Most of the music in this series is by bands I’ve seen live.
The first band I’m featuring is my favorite Chinese band, The Bigger Band 大棒. They are pretty good musicians from a technical standpoint and great entertainers, both live and in music videos. They don’t have an album out and the only way you can buy their music is online is on iLike, as far as I can tell.
Audio: 03 Down! Down! Down! [Demo]
Outside China? Watch the “Oh! You” music video on Facebook here.
You can see The Bigger Bang from 2:30 to 3:10 p.m. at Day One of Strawberry Music Festival this Saturday on the Strawberry Stage.
You can buy The Bigger Bang’s self-titled EP at:
The Chinese Underground Music, 89-3, 鼓楼东大街, Beijing
(Bus: 小经厂. Subway: Beixinqiao on Line 5.)
Phone: 13466775001, 15901080625
Open from 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.
Update: The above store has closed. If you know of any other physical, not-online stores selling The Bigger Bang’s music, let me know in the comments.
My Favorite Chinese Rock Bands
Nov 13th
Mainland China’s art and entertainment center is Beijing, and that includes its rock music. After seeing a fair amount of live rock in Beijing, I thought my favorite bands deserved a post. I’ve seen all of these bands live.
Life Journey – Live, this band reminds me a bit of a British rock band from the 1960s or 1970s. In recorded form, they sound more like a combination of folk and Chinese contemporary pop. They make great live entertainment, with stellar performance presence and fashion sense. I bought their six-song EP at Wudaokou’s most famous bookstore for 38 yuan.
Carsick Cars – This band experiments musically and reminds me a bit of Modest Mouse. I attended their album launch party last spring at Yugong Yishan and bought their album. They just finished touring the United States.
The Bigger Bang – This band sadly does not have any recorded material for sale, so fans have to make do with their MySpace page and live performances. You can tell the Yeah Yeah Yeahs have heavily influenced them in terms of everything from their sound to the lead singer’s current haircut. You can watch their music video on Facebook here.
Hedgehog – This is probably
Beijing’s most popular rock band, and they’re going to tour the U.S. this year. With a 3-member lineup of drummer, guitarist, and bassist, the easiest way to describe their sound and performance style is alternative rock. You can order one of their albums online with free U.S. delivery here.
Online resources for Chinese rock:
Places in Beijing to see rock concerts:
Mao Live (which has a record store nearby where you can buy Chinese rock)
Modern Sky’s semiannual music festivals
Do you like any of my favorite Chinese rock bands or rock music venues? What are your favorite Chinese bands and venues? I look forward to your comments.
Carsick Cars: Straddling the Line Between Noise and Music
Dec 17th
Carsick Cars was one of three great bands I saw Saturday night at 愚共移山Yugong YiShan, Beijing’s self-proclaimed best live music venue. I love this band because members lack the glamour of many live performers; they are simply really good musicians.
Carsick Cars plays experimental electronica, not what I typically listen to on my iPod but very respectable. Most of it has no vocals, and most of their songs lack easily identifiable choruses or verses. Their sense of pitch and rhythm when improvising live makes it hard to deny that they are excellent musiciaans. Band members also play multiple instruments each, sometimes at once.
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