Good Chinese music?

[OneEye]

Any recommendations for music in Mandarin? I tend toward more "out there" styles, like Bjork and Radiohead, but any decent music is fair game. Good pop, rock, even techno as long as it is chill (a la Telepopmusik) and not like Abercrombie & Fitch music (too much of that at work already...I'm a manager there). I'm very open-minded when it comes to music, so just name some favorites. I don't know anyone besides Andy Lau and a few I found on the Top 100 list on yesasia. Any help is appreciated.

[david1978]

I really like Dadawa. You can see her music video

Admittedly, most C-pop, to me, is crap. There is nothing like a Radiohead or Bjork in China. There is a lively punk scene in BJ but I'm not 12.

[gato]

If you like indie rock, there have been a number of threads on that:

http://www.chinese-forums.com/search.php?searchid=288429

Including this one:

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/968-koxinga-%e5%9c%8b%e5%a7%93%e7%88%ba9&highlight=indie

An amazing indie/pop female singer 陳綺貞

[muyongshi]

Admittedly, most C-pop, to me, is crap.

Let me expound upon this point so that it is a bit more than just an opinion and we all understand why when listening to it it sounds so...crappish.

Two Things

1)Musicality- The majority of current day music (their classical is another story that I find wonderfully involved and developed) is composed of things no more complex than what a 5th grade band student would learn and play. College students in the states (and I think their stuff is bad too) can create better music than the professionals here. They sometimes start to hit on things like a diatonic and nonharmonic usage but they tend not to develop it.

Most songs to do not progress or if they do they do not resolve. The use of inverted and 7ths are few. The different levels of natural progression are there but at random points or they stay on one. It doesn't progress. It lacks depth. Accidentals are used more than anything else but they tend to be used in a way that doesn't add to the sound. They throw them in randomly like a college student that is still getting a feel for the music.

2) Lyrics- Basically a third grader could write better lyrics. They are immature, lack references, illusions, allusions, and many other things that cause music in lyrical form to have flavor. The way they try to compensate is by adding English and sometimes it works. Some people will love a song but what many times they don't realize is the reason they think it is good is because of the music video. The song itself has no story line but the music video does so together they are good but the song in itself doesn't take you anywhere.

Your best bet for good music (oddly enough) is to find the local music scene because usually they know a lot of foreign stuff and have imitated it in their own music and while what they do is not always properly used, they are original and you will enjoy yourself.

[david1978]

If you're interested in avantgarde music, I know a few excellent bands to check out, although they're instrumental.

[gato]

Lyrics- Basically a third grader could write better lyrics.

I think you are overstating things. Jay Chou, one of the most popular Chinese singers today, for example, collaborates with a very good lyricist.

You are right about the underlying tunes, though.

Try this song.

Jay Chou - 七里香

http://o2jam.9you.com/qihua2/songs/z_qilixiang.mp3

七里香

作曲:周杰伦作词:方文山

窗外的麻雀在电线杆上多嘴

你说这一句很有夏天的感觉

手中的铅笔在纸上来来回回

我用几行字形容你是我的谁

秋刀鱼的滋味猫跟你都想了解

初恋的香味就这样被我们寻回

那温暖的阳光像刚摘的新鲜草莓

你说你舍不得吃掉这一种感觉

雨下整夜我的爱溢出就像雨水

院子落叶跟我的思念厚厚一叠

几句是非也无法将我的热情冷却

你出现在我诗的每一页

雨下整夜我的爱溢出就像雨水

窗台蝴蝶像诗里纷飞的美丽章节

我接着写把永远爱你写进诗的结尾

你是我唯一想要的了解

那饱满的稻穗幸福了这个季节

而你的脸颊像田里熟透的蕃茄

你突然对我说七里香的名字很美

我此刻却只想亲吻你倔强的嘴

[muyongshi]

I think you are overstating things. Jay Chou, one of the most popular Chinese singers today, for example, collaborates with a very good lyricist.

I am referring to the majority of songs. I have seen a few lyrics (such as this one) that are excellent but my other complaint is that many times they don't mesh properly with the music. I will say that there are many songs with decent or better lyrics but per average there are not many. And you usually have to dig to find them or listen to 30 to find 1.

I was using a method called "exaggeration" to emphasize my point.

[OneEye]

Wow, fast replies! Thanks to everyone!

Unfortunately, there isn't much of a local Chinese music scene in Dallas.

muyongshi: sounds like you're a fellow musician. It's hard to force myself to listen to music in Chinese that I'd never listen to in English!

david: I like Dadawa too! At least I do now. Thanks for the link, very cool stuff. I do like avant garde stuff but right now I'm mainly trying to find music with lyrics so I can get some input other than educational material. But feel free to recommend some instrumental stuff, just for listening's sake.

gato: looking through those links right now, thanks for the tip!

[liuzhou]

Much as I love Dadawa (朱哲琴), some of her best stuff is NOT in Mandarin.

But for listening pleasure it's hard to beat this.

[OneEye]

I almost really like 灰燼周三 (Ashes on Wednesday), except the recording quality is pretty poor, at least from what I hear on their myspace (the drums in particular sound very muffled and the guitars could use some EQing). They also have some trouble keeping time with each other. It's too bad, because they write some really beautiful music. It's just hard for me to ignore these issues. I hope they come out with some stuff with better production and more time spent in the studio getting it right, because I could really get into them if their music was done just a bit more professionally. They sound like some of the indie bands I used to listen to and play shows with in high school (anybody know twothirtyeight?).

[gato]

I almost really like 灰燼周三 (Ashes on Wednesday), except the recording quality is pretty poor, at least from what I hear on their myspace (

Have you tried listening to this tune of theirs on 1ting.com?

http://www.1ting.com/player/65/player_111767.html

If the above doesn't work, try downloading this directly:

http://wma.1ting.com/wmam/zzzfuck0O6/2006nMay/23i_Ash/4.Wma

草莓逻辑

[rezaf]

There are only two places that good music developes; a true democracy and a true dictatorship where people are directly involved. China's government is none of them and is very artficial so are chinese rock and pop music.

[david1978]

For avantgarde Chinese artists check out: http://www.myspace.com/whitebeijing http://www.myspace.com/noiselady http://www.myspace.com/shouwang http://www.myspace.com/shaoyp http://www.myspace.com/shanshuimusic

[lozolo]

can you read chinese? I will write in chinese. A boy called Houxian(后弦),his songs sounds very good.like只爱火星人，东爱、桥段、西厢。the lyrics are also very good.

[OneEye]

Thanks for the recommendations, everyone! I've found a few that I really like, and will be buying a few CDs this week.

[liuzhou]

If you like Dadawa, then check out 萨顶顶. Not quite in the same league but interesting.

[Language Guy]

Music snobbery fascinates me.

[muyongshi]

Music snobbery fascinates me.

Would you maybe care to explain that statement a bit more rather than just hurling it out there.

[Language Guy]

Would you maybe care to explain that statement a bit more rather than just hurling it out there.

It's hard to explain. All my life I've dealt with music snobs, because I've always liked music that most other people dislike very much.(I'm an American 20-something, btw).

Growing up I've liked country music. In recent years my tastes have swinged more toward pop, and electronic pop. This includes J-Pop and C-Pop.(My Chinese music tastes dwell on David Tao and Wang Lee Hom) The more bubblegummy, the better. Basically think of the shallowest music you can.

I don't think music has to have edgy chord progressions or deep lyrics to be enjoyable. I like music for the way it sounds, but I also enjoy lyrics as well. Crappy lyrics, which I admit do exist within my music library, don't bother me too much. I can still enjoy something despite its shortcomings. I also don't give a crap if an artist wrote their own lyrics or not. I care more about the end product, not intentions.

I grew up in a world where you're a freak if you don't like classics like the Beatles, Grateful Dead, Queen, Led Zepplin, and the like. And to be honest, I can't stand any of that music. Today many of my peers' music tastes trend toward indie rock, with very untraditional sounds, voices, and even retro beats and instrumentation, and I find it equally unbearable.

I've tried analyzing my thoughts on why I like what I like and why other people don't, and I don't get very far.

All I've come up with so far is that music is relative, there's no such thing as "bad" music, and no one has the right to tell me that the music they like is better than mine. Accordingly, I will never criticize someone's music; instead, I'll simply say "I dislike this kind of music", because I've heard "It is a fact that this music is horrible." way too many times in my life.

[muyongshi]

Let me just say that based on your comments I don't think that you listen to "bad" music.

I personally enjoy all genres and all forms of music. But the thing is the underlying musicality. I don't think the Beatles had the best stuff (they were revolutionary in their time but I can't say much more) and there lyrics only appealed to certain crowds. I would bet money on your feeling for basic musicality is right on.

Now on your lyrics I still do not see anything wrong here. As I mentioned in my early post I was referring to allusions, and refrences, paradies, etc and I know so many songs that are "bubblegummy" that are very interesting in their lyrics. They make me laugh, they make me think of a TV show and there is nothing deep about them. I personally didn't say "deep", I said interesting and shallow is good. It has it's purposes. I did say immature but that is from a song writing stand point and that includes all different types of lyrics.

I think the big thing here is your general taste leans towards these areas so that people think all in all it is strange or not good music but underlying it all is a real appreciation for musicality and interesting lyrics.

I will disagree with you that there is such a thing as bad music. I kind of relate it to 书法. You first have to learn the basics and what makes it up before you can whip out the brush and write the strokes in your own style. If you only follow the rules nobody will think your characters are the best. But if you don't know the rules and haven't followed them as a basis, your characters don't resemble characters. Music is the same and the types and basis for music is innumerable.