Changing titles

…. because it seems the universe is laughing at us.  Just in time for finals, articles about procrastination are dangled in front of the eyes of procrastinators so that we can procrastinate by reading about procrastination.

A couple weeks ago I went to the North American premiere of a documentary on Beijing’s rock n’ roll scene made by a couple amateur German filmmakers. By “North American premiere” I really just mean that Prof. Zamperini of the Asian Languages and Civilizations department somehow got a copy of it on DVD and screened it in Kirby for the whopping six students in attendance. But technically, it was the first screening on this continent…

Anyway, the film is called Beijing Bubbles, and it explores the vibrant (albeit still very much underground) punk and rock movement in China’s capital–a movement I hadn’t been very conscious of prior to seeing this documentary. If nothing else, the film introduced me to a whole new musical arena to wander around in, and for that I’m grateful because I’d almost lost hope in the possibility of good music coming out of my homeland.

Bubbles profiles several notable bands of a wide range of sounds (one group is influenced by American blues, one by Mongolian folk music, another reminds me of Weezer…), offering exuberant little snap shots of each and their respective takes on music, life, art, etc. The film, which is available at the library if you want to see it, doesn’t go particularly deeply into any one group or any one aspect of music, and I didn’t find much of a unifying message except that “real” rock music (and thus real artistic expression) is still highly marginalized in China (not so much by the government as it is by a society obsessed with consumption and shallow materialism). Despite this, I really enjoyed watching film because it’s just so fun. And interesting. And different. And interesting because different. And the filmmakers’ love for and fascination with rock n’ roll shines through brightly. Above all, it provides a good departure point for anyone interested in seeing (or rather, hearing) how non-Western countries are rocking out.

When you’re done watching that, here are some other things to check out:

1. One of the bands profiled, Joyside, has a full-length documentary devoted entirely to them called Wasted Orient.

2. You can find some of these bands on iTunes. There’s an interesting compilation album called Look Directly at the Sun: China Pop 2007, which was put together by drummer, producer, label owner Martin Atkins. It’s definitely not pop, and it definitely reflects a penchant for old-school punk rock. (If you’d like to, ahem, listen to it without having to buy it, email me.)
3. Carsick Cars has been opening for Sonic Youth in some European cities.

4. This blog hasn’t been updated in a while, but it’s still cool for newbies to look through.

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