Chinese youth rock the western way

Aravinda Hettiarachchi

Cds referred to as 'Dacau' are available at illegal Chinese markets has brought up an unofficial new generation who are forever plugged into the global music market. Though some people nicknamed this 'another possibility for communism', Chinese government doesn't encourage a 1.3 billion people listening to rock and roll. Yet this new wave of rock music in China has led to new listening possibilities as well as a sensitivity to different values in music. 'Dacau', is yet to reach global standards. It is now a lifestyle among Chinese youth.

However, in china, you have to get into a zone of illegality to get more in globalized popular music. Yet the New Sound Movement with its popular staff in Beijing opened a new page for youth in china.

According to Chinese administration, these disturbing noises of electric guitars entered China's illegal doorways through e-mail accounts of the youth in the mid of 1990s. In 1980s a new trend of this came into the scene with a rock music pioneer named Cui Jian. Later, when bands such as Tang Dynasty and Black Panthers appeared in the 1990s. Chinese boys started experimenting with different sounds through local record companies such as Modern Sky and New Bees. China today, with sound parameter ranging from hardcore punk to deep house can be heard from Urumqi to Beijing.

Yet Chinese administration interprets rock music as in terms of political rebellion. And a question arises, even from the socio-democratic point of view, that 'how could you interpret rock music as rage against the party machine?' And there is also a mocking among Euro-US community 'all nice to see in China in the dominant ideologies in their academic chairs.' Because the academies as well as the some of musicians, producers, journalist and audiences in china used to refer to rock music as 'rock mythology' and interpret it as a tough, subversive sub-culture.

On the other hand, Western intellectuals exclaimed that China degrades any popular discourse in music as 'Western' the Euro-US. Yet what has happened after rock music traveled through China?

After rock music created cultural politics in China or China tried to rock, Western style, a part of the cosmopolitan image of the youth in china changed into a certain punk image. Thus the punk bands such as 'punk Band 69 and ' 'Brotop Band' had the chance of changing this deception by putting China in the global map of pop. Actually this hardcore punk is the ideal embodiment of rock mythology.

A further discourse took place among youth with the slogan 'if you don't want to be a slave be a punk!' Some people think that 'the punk liberates the obedient Chinese self.'

Yet just imagine a band dresses up as Beatles. Does it represent something original, which is only influenced by the technicalities of another foreign music tradition. No! It emerges as not an original or adaptation but a Photocopy of the west. Yet Beijing has become a very internationalized zone where any 'foreign thing' can be celebrated. The city was almost filled with a lot of foreigners interested in something strange and exotic.

Consequently the western gaze in china today is very much appreciated. Further, the company Modern Sky, not only hopes to promote Chinese rock internationally, but also proposes to contract bands from London. Then there will arise a new Slogan "local music sells globally while global music sells locally!"