China with a Cut China with a Cut Based on Sixteen Years of Research, This Book Explores Various Music Scenes That Emerged in China in the Mid-1990S
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publications series Monographs 3 China with a Cut a Cut with China China with a Cut Based on sixteen years of research, this book explores various music scenes that emerged in China in the mid-1990s. Thanks to illegally imported CDs punched with a cut, the dakou CDs, a sonic world was opened up, inspiring young people to experiment with new sounds Globalisation, Urban Youth and lifestyles. In a context of intense globalisation and commerciali- sation, this book delves into the socio-cultural and political transfor- mations of an alleged rising global power. and Popular Music Jeroen de Kloet is assistant professor at the Department of Media › Jeroen de Kloet Studies of the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Kloet de Jeroen “How does sound become local in the global age? This is the ques- tion posed by Jeroen de Kloet. As much an ethnography of the sub- jectivities articulated to pop music practices as it is an interrogation of the assumptions of sinocentricity, this book constitutes a provoc- ative statement on ‘Chineseness’ at the crossroads of contemporary media, everyday life, and geopolitics.” — Rey Chow, Duke University “Jeroen de Kloet provides a rich and fascinating account of the myriad forms of rock in contemporary China. This book trans- formed my understanding of contemporary Chinese culture – and of rock music beyond Europe and North America.” — David Hesmondhalgh, University of Leeds “An authoritative, scholarly and up-to-date account of an important and fascinating field of popular music which sets a new benchmark in global music studies.” — Tony Mitchell, University of Technology Sydney isbn 978 90 8964 162 5 amsterdam university press www.aup.nl 9 7 8 9 0 8 9 6 4 1 6 2 5 amsterdam university press China with a Cut Publications Series General Editor Paul van der Velde Publications Officer Martina van den Haak Editorial Board Prasenjit Duara (University of Chicago) / Carol Gluck (Columbia University) / Christophe Jaffrelot (Centre d’E´tudes et de Recherches Internationales-Sciences- po) / Victor T. King (University of Hull) / Yuri Sadoi (Meijo University) / A.B. Shamsul (Institute of Occidental Studies / Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia) / Henk Schulte Nordholt (Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Car- ibbean Studies) / Wim Boot (Leiden University) The IIAS Publications Series consists of Monographs and Edited Volumes. The Series publishes results of research projects conducted at the International Insti- tute for Asian Studies. Furthermore, the aim of the Series is to promote interdis- ciplinary studies on Asia and comparative research on Asia and Europe. The International Institute for Asian Studies (IIAS) is a postdoctoral research centre based in Leiden and Amsterdam, the Netherlands. Its objective is to encourage the interdisciplinary and comparative study of Asia and to promote national and international cooperation. The institute focuses on the humanities and social sciences and, where relevant, on their interaction with other sciences. It stimu- lates scholarship on Asia and is instrumental in forging research networks among Asia scholars worldwide. IIAS acts as an international mediator, bringing various parties together, working as a clearinghouse of knowledge and information. This entails activities such as providing information services, hosting academic organisations dealing with Asia, constructing international networks, and setting up international cooperative pro- jects and research programmes. In this way, IIAS functions as a window on Eur- ope for non-European scholars and contributes to the cultural rapprochement be- tween Asia and Europe. For further information, please visit www.iias.nl. China with a Cut Globalisation, Urban Youth and Popular Music Jeroen de Kloet Publications Series Monographs 3 Cover illustration: Performance artist at the Modern Sky Music Festival of 2008 (photo by the author) Cover design: Maedium, Utrecht Layout: The DocWorkers, Almere ISBN 978 90 8964 162 5 e-ISBN 978 90 4851 114 3 NUR 761 © IIAS / Amsterdam University Press, Amsterdam 2010 All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright re- served above, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or in- troduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise) without the written permission of both the copyright owners and the author of the book. Contents List of Figures and Tables 7 Acknowledgements 9 Note on Romanisation and Publication History 13 Introduction: Global Longings with a Cut 15 Cosmopolitan Poses and Haunting Questions 15 From Liumang to Dakou and Balinghou 17 The Geography of Chinese Rock 25 This Book 33 1 Hard Scenes 37 A Scenic Move 37 Underground 43 Heavy Metal 54 Hardcore Punk 60 Hip-hop 68 Interim 74 2 Hyphenated Scenes 75 Multiplicity 75 Folk-rock 75 Pop-rock 84 Pop-punk 88 Fashionable Bands 94 Ending a Scenic Journey 100 3 Subaltern Sounds 103 Marginal Voices 103 Gendering Music 104 Southern Vices 119 Seductive Sounds 129 Femininity, Locality and Opacity 138 6 CHINA WITH A CUT 4 Musical Taste and Technologies of the Self 139 Music and Society 139 Youth in Fin-de-sie`cle Beijing 142 Music Preferences and Involvement 148 The Gendered Self 152 Generational Differences 154 Place and Belonging 156 Building Subjectivity 158 The Political Self 161 Technology and Control 163 5 Producing, Localising and Silencing Sounds 167 Seductive Narratives 167 Market Fantasies 169 Cultural Be/Longings 175 Silencing Sounds 180 Commercial Complexities 190 Conclusion: Paradoxical Performances 193 Mirrors 193 Deparadoxicalisation 195 Sonic Hierarchies 198 Binary Socialism 199 Notes 203 Chinese Glossary 217 Appendix I Interviews 223 Appendix II Factor Analysis of Singers 229 Appendix III Popularity of Singers and Bands 230 Bibliography 231 Index 244 List of Figures and Tables Figures Figure 0.1 A Dakou CD 20 Figure 0.2 Geography of Chinese Rock 25 Figure 0.3 Covers of Music Heaven and Modern Sky Magazine 29 Figure 0.4 Flyer Cui Jian Tour 1992 30 Figure 1.1 Zuoxiao Zuzhou 43 Figure 1.2 Detail of CD Jacket The Fly – The Fly I 48 Figure 1.3 Punkers at the MIDI Music Festival of 2008 61 Figure 1.4 Flyer for a 1997 Halloween Party 63 Figure 2.1 CD Jacket Hu Mage 78 Figure 2.2 CD Jacket New Pants – Dragon, Tiger, Panacea 90 Figure 2.3 CD Jacket Sober – Very Good!? 97 Figure 2.4 CD Jacket Sober – Demain, La Gloire 98 Figure 3.1 Detail of CD Jacket Cobra – Cobra II 109 Figure 3.2 Wang Yue 114 Figure 3.3 CD Jacket Anthony Wong – In Broad Daylight 136 Figure 3.4 CD Jacket Anthony Wong – Like Water 137 Figure 4.1 Popularity of Music Genres 149 Figure 5.1 Audience at the Modern Sky Music Festival of 2008 188 Tables Table 4.1 Music Preference 149 Table 4.2 Factor Analysis of Music Genres 150 Table 5.1 2005 World Music Sale Ranking 171 Table 5.2 Retail Value 1995-2005 171 Acknowledgements In many ways, the completion of this book is a closure. At the same time, I will always remember the making of this book as an opportunity for me to encounter so many people, and so much involvement, tender- ness and, indeed, love. First and foremost, I would like to thank the musicians, record company representatives, and young people who re- sponded so openly to my endless questioning and probing into their lives. I want to thank in particular Cui Jian, Feng Jiangzhou, Qiu Ye, Anthony Wong and Zu Zhou for their support, wit, critical views and, indeed, their music which never fails to transport me to Beijing and Hong Kong even when I am firmly back in Amsterdam. Contrary to popular belief, the music industries have been very helpful and inspir- ing. For that I want to thank Leslie and Louis Chan, Dickson Dee, Niu Jiawei, and Shen Lihui. In China, many people helped me feel more than at home. In 1992, Jin Hui and Zhou Xinping introduced me to their lives and families. Even now, whenever I am in Beijing, Xinping greets and treats me like I have never left the city. In 1997, Qin Liwen quickly changed from a research assistant into a close companion, with whom I still explore, more than a decade later, the city we have claimed as our own. She showed me so much more about China than, I think, she ever ima- gined possible. Louis Ho offered invaluable help from Hong Kong. In the Olympic year of 2008, Vincent Zhu accompanied me to see new bands and venues. I admire his fun attitude toward life, and his energy and support in this research. Another research companion of mine in that significant year, Sylvie Luk, offered me not only her critical views, but also her inspiring interest in the trendy and the artistic. Both Vin- cent and Sylvie attest to the possible openness, energy and criticality of the 1980s generation of China. Treading further back in time, I want to thank Peter van der Veer, the supervisor of my PhD dissertation which formed the basis of this book; I thank him for his trust in me and his critical readings and comments. Leo Douw was the one to introduce me to China; his teaching left a strong impression on me, forcing me to avoid easy moral judgements. After all these years, I still cherish his advice to think, sometimes, as a Chinese Communist Party member would. More recently, I have been 10 CHINA WITH A CUT delighted to work closely with Stefan Landsberger; I enjoy his openness, support and our arguments that continue from the corridor to the class- room. I am also grateful to the oral defence committee of my disserta- tion: René Boomkens, Maghiel van Crevel, Arif Dirlik, Joke Hermes, Patricia Spyer and Liesbet van Zoonen.