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Sign up with Google Sign up with FacebookQ: Ever heard any Chinese music you liked?
I like the wistful sound of my neighbour's flute and all that ancient, dreamy stuff that usually includes a flute or a guzhang (that piano-guitar type thing), and i've heard a couple of tunes that I loved, but only a couple and I don't know the names of either of them. Otherwise and on the whole, pretty much everything I hear is chintzy, bubblegum crap. Am I missing something? And could someone please help me understand what the Hell the appeal of Beijing opera is? I mean, I know it's kind of impossible to judge art, one man's meat is another man's poison, and one of my favourite musicians, John Coltrane, played what to me sounded like the worst possible discordant dirge in his later days, but has anyone got a handle on why so many like it? Beijing opera I mean. The whole 'CLANG, CHANG, CLANG, WAIIILLLL, CLANG, CHANG, SCREEEAMM' thing just gets so lost on me.
What do expect from 5000 years, Beijing opera must be great and we just don't understand it, The same goes for eating with sticks, cooking road kill butchered in a wheel meal in a single pot and using a hole in the floor, all better ideas. The Chinese are just better at everything, so they like wearing excessive makeup, they can really dance to that music.
One of last nights variety shows had lots of music. None of it original. A young champ completely destroyed Radiohead's Creep. Successfully made a version of it without any edge, just plain pop. The rest of the show was different women screaming the same old songs as every year.
jetfire9000:
I watched that New Year's celebration too! The Voice of China champ, the guy with the bowl cut, did a terrible job to that Radiohead song. It was sooo baaaaaaaaaad I couldn't believe it was actually part of the event. Worst ever.
And there was also the rendition of Lady Gaga's "applaud" and then a Ke$ha song. Those girls did okay, I was watching just because they were hot the way they were twerking around.
Scandinavian:
When the first guitar riff of Creep went missing, I scrambled for my earphones and a dose of Alice Cooper + the 3rd book about Robert Langdons crazy antics.
What do expect from 5000 years, Beijing opera must be great and we just don't understand it, The same goes for eating with sticks, cooking road kill butchered in a wheel meal in a single pot and using a hole in the floor, all better ideas. The Chinese are just better at everything, so they like wearing excessive makeup, they can really dance to that music.
Peking Opera is definitely an acquired taste....I can take it only in small doses (when channel surfing). But I do enjoy seeing the old people perform their favorite opera songs in the park and how their audience listens raptly and sings along. I also love the ancient dreamy stuff like you, some melodies are just achingly beautiful. I've always enjoyed traditional folk songs from various provinces (OK-- Kangding QingGe is overplayed, but I still love it). I also like just about anything from Deng Lijun (Theresa Teng) "The Moon Represents My Heart" - although she died in 1995, her music spoke to an entire generation - she is legend. All the current pop music is derivative drivel.
Love Teresa Teng too...I'[m usually into much more heavier and weirder types of music.
Chinese people seem to really like high pitched sounds.
Crank dat treble.
BJ Opera mimics Chinese society. street life here is best described as a discordant wail. Sorry if I offend some with this observation, but it is the simple truth.
You don't acquire a taste for Beijing opera. You build up an immunity.
Paulberger:
my buddy here once said "its like the flu. you never grow to like getting the flu, your body just learns to fight it off better and better each time."
Most of it sounds pretty good to me, but I have shit hearing. I also have to listen closely or I'll miss a lot of it.
My brother-in-law can play a pretty mean flute, too. Too bad I had to crack his skull.
There is music in China?
Stiggs:
No music?! Don't tell me you haven't been to a KTV and sang to the Carpenters or Celine Dion !!
Actually, yeah fair question.
No single "song" , It seems to me there is just abut 10-15 songs here, all over only the same crap around, blasting from barber shops, carefour or folks mobiles as ringtone, or by evening walk around ...
I prefer traditional Chinese music. Especially pipa sounds. One poet described the performance like this: rapid and soft notes mingled were just big and small pearls dropping onto the jade plates. Magnific and exact words.
Really like Teresa Teng.....she had such a clear voice.
The Chinese music I listen to actually comes from a PS3 game called "Sleeping Dogs".
A great little game that's set in "Hong Kong". Its open word sandbox game like the GTA games.
If you haven't played it do check it out.
Anyway.....like GTA, the cars have radios and "Softly FM" is an amazingly cool station.
Managed to download the full playlist and its great to listen to.
Need to register to get the Softly FM download link...
http://forums.ffshrine.org/showthread.php?t=132084&highlight=sleeping+do...
Yes. If you watch Chinese Tv shows, you're more likely to stumble upon songs you like. I like 方大同 (FangDaTong) and 王大文 (WangDaWen).. both HongKong natives, but they sing in Mandarin... Soul/R&B type music. Pretty dope, especially if you understand what they're saying.
Have tried a few times to 'like' Chinese opera, but just cannot get with it. The music is just not understandable to western ears.
mArtiAn:
That's being generous, I hear people singing in that operatic style regularly in the local parks. I can't understand the attraction as hard as I try. Not just the singing either, the screech of the strings on the erhu (is that the name?) together with the strangled cat vocals makes me want to stick sharp things in my ears.