Tag: Library Journal

Newness @ jWc.com and Beyond

It’s not just Red Rock: The Long, Strange March of Chinese Rock & Roll season. It’s also new content at jonathanWcampbell.com season, as well as high time I lead you to some jWc/Red Rock news Out There on the world-wide interweb.

First, at “home”: You’ll find a new section at jWc.com: RED ROCK: THE BONUS TRACKS. Unlike Red Rock: The Liner Notes, which give more footnote-type illuminations on the text of the book, the Bonus Tracks bring elucidations of a multi-media kind. I’m time-releasing these bad-boys, to let you do some reading before you dive deep beyond Red Rock‘s pages. Oddly enough, I’ve opted to start with Chapter 1.

Next, “Out There”, where word is slowly starting to spread:

The Library Journal said very nice things about Red Rock. Read those things here.

The China-based Global Times newspaper ran a story about yours truly and Red Rock. That story is here. A companion piece on yaogun’s journey is here.

PopMatters.com published an excerpt of Red Rock‘s first chapter.

Not long ago,the Taipei Times ran a lukewarm review of Red Rock. The same author wrote a warmer review for the South China Morning Post, which is behind a paywall.

I appeared on web-tv channel That Channel’s Liquid Lunch in late September. You can see the video of the entire episode here.

The Beijinger, an English-language events magazine, ran a profile in their tenth anniversary issue, viewable online here.

As previously mentioned, Time Out (Beijing) asked me to chart Five Major Moments on yaogun’s path.

And don’t forget: Red Rock is available via Amazon:

Librarians Dig Red Rock

Librarians can rock with the rest of us, despite their reputation. To wit: They used the following words, in a recent Library Journal issue, to describe Red Rock: The Long, Strange March of Chinese Rock & Roll:
“Indepth“, “Thoughtful“, “Well-written“, “an especially welcome addition”

The full review (which is from their website):

One does not usually associate rock ‘n’ roll with China, but a passion for this music has been growing there since the post-Mao era, when yaogun (Chinese rock) began to emerge, speaking to the confusion and frustration of the younger generation. From certain defining events, including a landmark 1986 performance by Cui Jian, to the latest Midi Music Festival, musician/promoter and journalist Campbell traces the history of this phenomenon. He discusses the behind-the-scenes workings of groups that molded music from a different culture into something uniquely theirs that they can, in turn, introduce to the world. Drawing from a wealth of sources and personal experiences, Campbell explores the individuals and their philosophies, the cultural conflicts, and the singular challenges inherent in this musical movement—from the artistic to the political—and raises provocative questions about how far yaogun has come and where it is going. VERDICT This in-depth, thoughtful, and well-written book will appeal to those with an interest in rock ‘n’ roll and related genres of contemporary music on an international level. An especially welcome addition to world music collections.—Carol J. Binkowski, Bloomfield, NJ