Word: electronica
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...punk and alternative-rock scenes have been gushed over by excited commentators, eager to cite them as evidence of China's changing mores. But they are staid in comparison to that created by a new breed of artists, who eschew conventional guitar-based music in favor of baffling electronica, extreme noise and found sound...
...also a promoter and the founder of Beijing electronica label Shanshui Records. "The great thing about the experimental scene in Beijing," he says, "is that it's easy for musicians to get a foot in the door." But it's not that easy to make a living - in fact, Sulumi is one of the few to pull it off. "I do commercial performances sometimes, which is where I get my income," he shrugs. "But making music is my life - I don't need any other motivation...
...Shenggy also performs in an electronica duo, White, alongside vocalist Zhang Shouwang from Beijing alternative rockers Carsick Cars. It was with White that she caught the ear of Einstürzende Neubauten's singer-writer-multi-instrumentalist Blixa Bargeld. The duo plans to release a debut album later this year, under Bargeld's aegis. "Everything is coming very fast, young people are very open-minded and, in some ways, the scene lacks direction," she says. "Avant-garde music here needs time, but in a couple of years, things are going to be good...
PHILIP GLASS to score opera about Walt Disney, featuring oppressive minimalist electronica, cute dancing broomsticks...
...That's a really interesting question. What cultural phenomenon from 1998 seems most ridiculous now? People thought electronica was going to be the new rock music. Death in Vegas and The Chemical Brothers were going to be the new Beatles and Stones. That never happened. Now? The biggest phenomenon, in a way, is the widespread [idea] that all these things people used to pay for should be free - information, music. It's overlooking the fact that there's a cost of construction for these things. It'll be strange look back at this period and say, remember when we thought...