music

Thirty years of Reform and Opening-up in China. Ai Jing is a popular Chinese singer who was born in Shenyang in 1969. Once in a while, she sings a Russian song with Chinese lyrics, and some of her songs are about childhood memories - Once upon a Time in Yanfen Street is one of those memory [...]

Earlier this year I discovered the fantastic knob-twiddling/sampling/crooning charms of Aussie-Belgian Wally De Backer. Going under the artist name ‘Gotye‘ the 26 year old has released a couple of spanking albums. His second full-length, Like Drawing Blood, was released in Australia in 2006 and slowly, by word of mouth has worked its way round the [...]

It was windy today, and rainy, with some snow in between, humid and cold. At nightfall, the wind had abated, and the rain turned into snow altogether. Now there’s one or two centimeters on the roads and squares, and it may become 15 centimeters until tomorrow, according to the weather forecasts.
It’s a beautiful, silent night [...]

Shanren (山人乐队, "Mountain Men") is a band from Yunnan that is signed to the 13 Month record label.

This is a subtitled video of their song "Thirty Years" (三十年).

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It seems the Chinese Ministry of Culture has basically condemned CCTV to hours upon hours of blank air and brought an end to the annual Spring Festival Gala show in one fell swoop.
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Everything you ever wanted to know about Germans.
      

Yesterday my eye was a little bit itchy (not bitchy), right in the corner. I tried not to rub it (thanks for the advice 20 years ago Mum!) but it gradually seemed to get worse during the day.
By evening it was quite painful. It ached a lot, especially if I happened to lean over (with [...]
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Over the course of the past week, a lot has been said about the changes to American society over the past 50 years. The other day when I picked up the new Vanity Fair, it was brought home once again how different things are now.
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Hao Yun is a Beijing-based musician whose first album, Hao Yun Beijing (郝云 北京), was released in March of this year.

Many of the songs on the album are inspired by Hao's experiences during the decade he has lived in the capital. Here's the video for his song "Beijing, Beijing" (北京北京):

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Multiple date/venue changes, check.
Crazy expensive tickets, check.
Change in opening act, check.
Title misnomer, check.
Short set, check.
Kanye West in Beijing, check.
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