The first time I saw Helen Feng (冯海宁) on stage, she delivered, bar none, the most convincing impression of a coked up rock star I'd seen in Beijing. Spotting her after the show -- this is when she was still with Pet Conspiracy -- it was clear she was not, in fact, under the influence of hard drugs, but the performance was part of her charm and her skill, her ability to fully inhabit the stage and make it impossible for you to take your eyes off her.
Formed in Beijing, Residence A (A公馆乐队) released its first LP earlier this year, Please Use Body to Pulverize the Desire to Flee for One's Life《请用身体砸碎欲望逃生》(translation mine). Described by Josh Feola of the music promotion Pangbianr as playing "tight, melodic indie pop, often with a syncopated disco beat reminiscent of Franz Ferdinand or The Killers," here they are with the music video Wo Jiu Zai (我就在), which translates to something like "I'm Just Here."
Beijing’s very own Second Hand Rose (二手玫瑰乐队), formed in 2000, was featured on this site in March for a Traffic Light post. The song used was Train Will Start Soon 《火车快开》, which deserves to be heard in full. Here it is, from a live performance on July 1, 2010. By the way, these guys will be performing at MAO Live House... Read more »
If you haven’t heard of Hanggai, you must not live in Beijing. One of the city’s — and country’s — most popular bands, it specializes in Mongolian folk music but is by no means constrained by that style. Singer Ilchi, an ethnic Mongolian, has established himself as perhaps the most famous “throat singer” in the... Read more »
The Rolling Stones played at Shanghai Grand Stadium on April 8, 2006, and its official YouTube page just released a video of them performing "Gimme Shelter" there. No fading away for BJC -- we'll be back with you shortly.
Zhou Guangren 周广仁 is probably China's most famous musician you've never heard of, the country's first pianist to win an international prize. Born in Hannover, Germany, in 1928, her Chinese parents eventually settled in Shanghai, where she attended a German school before withdrawing in the early-40s due to its fascist, pro-Hitler teachings. Her dad was adamantly opposed to her piano training, believing she was too smart to make a career out of music, but she persisted, and after the war was convinced to stay in China to teach at the Central Academy.
