The majority (more than 75%) of the audience was non-Chinese. Both surprising and not considering the state of music in Beijing at the moment: we’re in the thick of summer language-study students, many of whom will have heard of Caribou.

“Chinese rock was finished very early on. Without spirit, without a core, rock music can’t exist. Western rock music is a huge structure: from economics to culture, the influence is quite deep. In the eyes of Westerners rock music is perhaps not only a form of expression via music, but more of an aspect of spiritual enjoyment.”

Read the full interview in English and 中文

…sometimes it’s better to keep it simple, and stay true to the original spirit of these both Mongolian and American traditional tunes, rather than trying to spruce them up for the modern set.

This second generation who is taking and building upon an already established sound is confirmation that Beijing has grown into a grounded music scene in its own right, one that gives rise to bands that convey similar emotions using the same musical language.

Wheatfield’s big kick is supplying young artists, intellectuals and counter-culture types in Kunming with a rich selection of literature, theory and music.

Your last chances to catch La Loupe in Beijing for a while, since Maia is moving on to Taiwan in August.

白糖罐作为国内独立音乐唱片的推广机构，自从03起至今有七年多的时间。多年来尤其以国内外声音与先锋实验音乐的推广为主，在北京甚至在全国都很难找到像这样一家唱片店，可惜的是，今年六月份被798物业洗劫一空，现在的白糖罐已面目全非。负责人老杨面对如此情形肯定是难以接受的。关于前前后后的具体原因大家可以观看下面的视频采访…

The real gem here, though, is Rockland’s self-released (i.e. burned) albums, which are wrapped up in brown cardboard sleeves and stacked unobtrusively in the back left corner. Here you can find more obscure Chinese and Western indie bands, live albums, compilations, and lots and lots of Lou Reed. A lot of these come as a two-album set, meaning you can’t buy either album individually, but at fifteen kuai a pop, this is hardly anything to complain about.

The band seemed to possess a similar mindset, communicating with each other through their usual knowing glances and smiles. It’s nice to see a band that actually listens to themselves when playing live and enjoys the music that they’re producing.