Late last year, it came to my attention that Beijing-based garage-punk act Subs had a song of theirs covered by Norwegian rockers Black Snakes. The band has just released a video for the tune, “Down,” which comprises a collection of footage from shows across China, and worth pointing folks toward.
Category: Red Ramblings
Yaogun Invasion: USA
A small contingent of yaogunners will imminently arrive in the United States, headed for that celebrated land of music conference and festival South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas. Audiences in a select few cities outside of Austin, where the festival goes down, will also have a chance to catch the acts.
Chinese Music on Stages Near You (New York City)
Couple of things headed to NYC stages, though, perhaps not exactly the ‘stages’ that one might expect to hear about from a blog about yaogun. We’re talking about the theatre, and audiences get a couple of glimpses into Chinese music and beyond in the near future…
(Americans looking to experience yaogun in the more traditional setting should stay tuned; updates on some US dates are coming very soon…)
Continue reading “Chinese Music on Stages Near You (New York City)”
Sub Jam
Sub Jam, the “experimental art organization” headed up by poet, critic and musician Yan Jun, just put online an archive that is a treasure trove for fans seeking China’s outer-edge music history. Compiling over ten years’ worth of events, publications and photos, there is a lot to go through. But anyone interested in a window into how the edge of yaogun mapped itself out should head there and check it out.
Sub Jam’s, and Yan Jun’s, story is you might say, typical of yaogun in its atypicality…
Rockin’ In the Year of the Snake
In light of the Year of the Snake’s arrival, I put together a playlist, of sorts, for CBC Music. 
Anything to direct folks away from the madness of China Central Television’s Spring Festival Gala variety-show-on-steroids-laced-with-Angel-Dust-and-acid madness, and what better way than with yaogun.
(though, on the Canadian Content front, we rejoice, if reservedly, as Celine Dion and Mark “Da Shan” Roswell will both appear. For those outside of China, Roswell is the most famous Canuck in China, having mastered a traditional comedic style and appearing in commercials, billboards, TV shows and more across China for the better part of the last two decades).
As always, there were a million tunes that didn’t make the cut, because, well, you gotta cut it off somewhere…
Check out my Snake Year rock playlist at CBC Music’s blog.