Help me get into Chinese music!

November 27, 2006 8:14 PM

Help me find good Chinese rock!

So, I'm American but I was born and grew up in Hong Kong, and everytime i go back to HK to visit people I meet ask me if i like Chinese music. What I've always been exposed to is Canto pop, and...that's not really my thing. I'm interested in learning about both cantonese and mandarin bands/artists. I'm especially interested in mandarin rock. I know about Cui Jian, and a little bit about the history of rock in the mainland, but I haven't really liked a lot of what I've heard. Recommend good artists and songs to me, please! Bonus if you can point me towards a place to download them, itunes is fine. Thanks!

posted by friendlyfire to Media & Arts (12 answers total)

Have you heard of 五月天 (wu yue tian/may day)? They are pretty popular in taiwan. Also 伍佰 (wu bai) has some great songs.
posted by mphuie at 8:26 PM on November 27, 2006

BTW yesasia.com has a large selection of asian music. (not affiliated with them).
posted by mphuie at 8:29 PM on November 27, 2006

You might try Rock in China.
There's a page with several downloads in a variety of styles.

Chinese punk at: Beijing Scream (it will at least give you some names to look into)

[e.g. Hang on the box (their myspace page has music examples)]
posted by imposster at 8:30 PM on November 27, 2006

There is a nice wiki on contemporary Chinese music called Chaile.
posted by subtle-t at 8:38 PM on November 27, 2006

You could check out some of the reviews of new and live music at the That's Beijing magazine website (though I do prefer Time Out personally). You might even try emailing That's BJ or Time Out and seeing if they have any suggestions.
posted by Pollomacho at 9:42 PM on November 27, 2006

Get down! Get funky!

/I am soo-ooo sorry ...
posted by RavinDave at 10:29 PM on November 27, 2006

If you know or can copy and paste Chinese, you can download lots of stuff from sogua.com.

I'm no expert on modern Chinese rock, but my two favorite songs from the 90s are 唐朝 - 国际歌 (Tang Chao's version of the International Song) and 崔健 - 一无所有 (Nothing to My Name by Cui Jian). But you know Cui Jian.
posted by thirteenkiller at 4:29 AM on November 28, 2006

I guess the Tang Chao search link is broken. Maybe this is better.
posted by thirteenkiller at 5:36 AM on November 28, 2006

Not to derail, but I'm relieved to discover this question is NOT about heroin.
posted by FelliniBlank at 6:11 AM on November 28, 2006

You can try listening to Yekaroo which has a good amount of Mandarin rock/pop. If you hear something you like, you can get the title and artist and go from there, using the search engines mentioned above.
posted by reformedjerk at 9:56 AM on November 28, 2006

Brain Failure! (Sorry about the myspace link, but the band's site is down.) An amazing CD (out on Thorp in the US) and one of the best shows that I have seen in the past few years.
posted by toddst at 12:44 PM on November 28, 2006

Quite past the thread's expiration date, but I have an album from Mainland with songs by a bunch of different rock or metal bands: 唐朝 Tang Dynasty, 黑豹 Black Leopard, 崔健 Cui Jian... Some others I don't remember too. But the best by far was 战斧 Battleaxe, whose song on the album < 天葬>> "Sky Burial" was probably the grungiest, most depressing, coolest metal song I've ever heard. Plus, they seem to be Tibetan, which makes it even cooler. But I'm not a metal connoisseur at all, so take that with a grain of salt.
posted by jiawen at 9:09 PM on December 12, 2006