As year-end lists are compiled, yaogun gets its own list, thanks to China’s newest and rockiest awards to be handed out. From the people that brought us the Midi School of Music and then festivals across the country, the folks at Midi Productions have, three times, issued awards for the best yaogun in the country. The shortlist for the Fourth Annual China Rock Midi Awards (中国摇滚迷笛奖) has just been announced, yet again inspiring, erm, feelings across a wide spectrum…
Category: Red Rockers
The artists rockin’ in the PRC
A Yaogun Cover
It’s not often that yaogun tunes get covered. Back a few years, we had yaogunners take on Cui Jian – with mostly not-great results. Don’t get me started on rap-metal act CMCB’s butchery of “Nothing to My Name,” but let’s just say I might well be more partial to Michael Learns To Rock’s version. But I stumbled into a cover worth sharing…
Cui Jian Branches Out, Again…
He’s been a star onstage for thirty-odd years now, so it’s only reasonable that Cui Jian, the inventor of yaogun, would opt to join the action on other sides of the stage. And the action in question is not his film forrays: in 2009, he was one of three directors that contributed segments to Chengdu, I Love You (which, by the by, debuted at the Venice Film Festival); his 3D concert film came out earlier this year; and his full-length directorial debut, Blue Bone, which tells the story of a young musician, is set for a 2013 release. No, Cui is looking to branch out into another place altogether…
Microblogging: 1, The Man: 0; Yaogun: ?
Big ups to China Music Radar for this juicy tidbit, in which we are told of how Weibo, China’s Twitter, helped Chengdu, Sichuan rock band Mr. Chelonian emerge victorious over AMC Group, the company behind a Tiger Beer Battle of the Bands competition that had refused to pay the fee the band was promised.
Post-Punks: Of shoes, of sunglasses, milk and more
We have heard, and seen, yaogun on China Central Television. We have seen yaogun’s only real anthem reinvented in protest. We’ve even seen that anthem of anthems (“Nothing to My Name”) reinvented for the Idol set (2009’s Super Girl, the massively popular Chinese televised singing competition):
But we have gone from an age where yaogun, occasionally, is broadcast on television to an era in which brands now scamper after yaogun. And, in the spirit of the previous post, I give you, again, Anarchy Jerks.
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