It's almost a month since the last round up of the blog's Youtube channel so let's have another look.
I appealed to people to promote their favourite videos by getting their friends to watch and sending it up the charts. This seems to have worked a bit in some cases, although Miniless Record's Self Party is still at the top. Darn it. We still haven't had a vid break out into the Youtube mainstream and pile up a ton of views yet either. Curses! Why aren't people queuing up to watch unclear, bootleg videos of amateur bands they've never heard of in a distant country they know nothing about? Beats me!
I do have a couple of other things to post about today so I'll get the short one out: Banana Monkey have split. Not only were they a good band who had stuck together and 'got good', they also did a lot of organising on the scene. Some of my favourite shows were the movie themed gigs down at the old Yuyintang. I first saw them and Happy Strings (now Momo) at Wolfman Attacks Yuyintang. Follow the link to have a listen and a nostalgic moment - here.
And now ... the current top six of my blog's mainly insignificant video channel:
1) Self Party play the Miniless Records showcase at Yuyintang: 168 views watch
2) Bang Bang Tang play Yuyintang: 158 views watch
3) Boys Climbing Ropes live at Control: 131 views watch
2) Bang Bang Tang play Yuyintang: 158 views watch
3) Boys Climbing Ropes live at Control: 131 views watch
4) Hard Queen's August Yuyintang show: 108 views watch
5) Modern Cheese at Yuyintang: 101 views watch
6) The Rogue Transmission live at Control: 99 views watch
BCR and the Rogue Transmission blow the top six apart! Good show. Next step, one of the top six bands simply has to persuade some high traffic site like Shanghaiist to post their video and it will skyrocket into an utterly untouchable position. Or, if you want a real promo video, just ask. I have a flashy camera (Canon XL2) and a light and will do it for free/a laugh.
Lastly, I saw that a piece mentioning Chinese rock music appeared in the Guardian's famous Comment Is Free section. So firstly:
The article in question - here
The nice guys at Danwei who broke the story - here
The piece is actually about fetish-ising things cos they're Chinese and judging them unfairly. It makes some interesting points (unintentionally). Namely, that even being 'positive' is bad if it's a stereotype. Anyway, the article is all over the place and I've no idea why it's in CiF. The main thrust is not really what I cover on the blog here either. She does mention Carsick Cars and The Subs. Apparently, the song Zhong Nanhai is not only about the brand of ciggie but referring to the Zhong Nanhai building in Beijing. Shows how much I know. I wonder if Alice also thinks it refers to the actual Zhong Nanhai, the South China Sea? Do we have a CSC lyrics expert on hand?
Thanks for the Guardian article, I totally agree on the point about not fetishizing alt scenes just because they're Chinese. The same goes for, say, Chinese taking yoga (or rock-climping, or ballroom dancing, or pole-dancing *eye roll*) classes, eating at KFC, using the internet, making contemporary art, wearing jeans, etc, etc, etc.
Yes there was a certain rebellious and novelty value in the 1980s, but that 95% of international coverage of China still has this "OMIGOD! Chinese doing modern/'Western' things! The CONTRADICTIONS!!!" is...ugh, so idiotic and condescending. I apologize on behalf of my profession.
At the same time, if you are gay, or are an alternative musician, life here IS rife with uphill battles. The article glosses over that fact, but I realize that the author was trying to make a point.
I have to say, I'm surprised the Iron Maiden vid isn't in the top six.... on the internet OF ALL TIME.
@ Lisa
I agree, I just thought it odd (but not necessarily bad) that the article was in CiF.
@ Morgan
Yeah, I know ... where's the justice!