It's true for most of my high school and college students that they like sappy, "soft music" more than US/UK rock. But there are definitely some outliers. I'd say 10% of my students liked the songs I played during a presentation on rock, from The Aquabats, The Clash, and Foo Fighters. One high schooler was even in a rock band and played Enter Sandman on his acoustic in class.

tylerdurden wrote:

Arto wrote:Well, I was not talking about boy bands, and the second picture you posted seems like a glam rock band, not a metal band. But yeah, sure looks gay as hell.

No, that was definitely a metal band.

This is what a glam rock band looks like:



Look, and learn.

Whatever they look like, they can't be as bad if they rock hard, melt faces, and dispense with the sappy love ballads. Black Sabbath, Metallica, and King's X aren't saccharine with their music or looks.

bougie wrote:They love Lady Gaga blarring as their phone ring tone

Ughh. At least ringtones stop quickly. People were playing love ballads and pop on cellphones along the hiking trails of a 1000 meter high mountain near where I teach.

The music in this country makes me want to slit my wrists. I'm woken up every morning by the sound of a nearby kindergarten playing the same bloody songs as the kids bounce up and down with hula hoops and scream their little mongoloid faces off. The teachers try to dance.

I'm going to buy some of the biggest speakers I can find and thrash their arses off with some Killswitch Engage soon. See how they like that, the inconsiderate wankers...

tylerdurden wrote:

Arto wrote:Well, I was not talking about boy bands, and the second picture you posted seems like a glam rock band, not a metal band. But yeah, sure looks gay as hell.

No, that was definitely a metal band.

This is what a glam rock band looks like:



Look, and learn.

Take it easy on them. Dropping the mighty Eno-era Roxy on the unsuspecting will disorient.

As far as 'faggy' goes, Eno (above photo, far left) in addition to being an all-around musical genius, creator of several musical genres, and world-class English gentleman, has no vices.

Except that he got more women than everyone here. Combined.

And besides. He's Eno. 'nuff said.

Eh.. I'm full Chinese and I've never really listened to Chinese songs?

Good on you, mitchnoobhunter. I'm sure there's an "underground" of cool people here who listen to good stuff. Why, I've even heard there are some punk bands and other out-there groups on the local scene. But they are basically invisible to me.

And I don't necessarily even think Chinese musicians should slavishly follow Western trends. In fact, they absolutely should not. But to create a new and vibrant style from the ground up, you have to have a strong musical culture in the first place. I don't think that exists here.

It must be tough to be a Chinese musician with a strong creative streak, who has a burning desire to do create something original and new.

Do the Chinese Like ANY Non-Chinese Music?

Yes.
My daughter is singing along to Mumford and Sons - White Blank Page...

LOUD!

Have been having a lot of fun recently with students doing a series of classes on the history of Metal. Well, I've been having fun. Have had plenty of walkouts as time has gone by, proving 2 things:

1) Chinese have absolutely zero knowledge of any underground forms of music.
2) If lyrics can't be understood, then they don't think it is music.

A pox on them!

Come on...you guys just wait.

According to phalus minimums cn we will be all sipping baijiu in a chinese bar in manhattan in ten years while chinese teachers plow through white meat like a chicken mcnuggets production line.

china will be dominating the world completely and their "culture" will conquer the world in just ten years, so obviously their wo ai niiiiiis and beijing opera tranvestites screaming like if their balls were on fire will solve the problem for us. The chinese wont need to love western music, not only because it is inferior but because we westerners will learn to love THEIR great music...

Phalus minimus said it, so it must be true.

I remember years ago when i saw user littlefox in a wednesday mixer of this site. some of you will recall her as THE japanese hater on the site. Top playlist on her ipod?

"BEST OF JAPAN".

Many Chinese love western music. I went on a couple of cruises in Asia in the past few years, one out of SH, the other out of Singapore. Both had plenty of Chinese on them. Most popular activity I saw? Latin dancing . . . and not to canto-pop.

For yunnanexpat . . . glam rockers never die . . . they just end up hooked on Coffee and Cigarettes.

I love Britney Spears...

Oops!...I did it again....I play with your heart..
hit me baby one more time!! oh baby baby....

beenaroundworld wrote:Yes, a song's got to have wo ai ni in it, otherwise they don't like it.

You're right, the Chinese love songs sound very stupid, so 1950's -- wait, no, make it 1650's.

first learn sth except "wo ai ni"

BTW I like coldplay and Nickelback

Miss Fugliness wrote:I love Britney Spears...

"OK Alex, I'll take celebrity white trash for $500. Who is Britney Spears!"

What about classic music? The millions of Chinese kids that are studying classic piano and violin every year? Yes, many of them must be forced to practice in the first place, but it might grow on you and habit turns into appreciation (like Lang Lang). I know circle of Chinese get their interest in classic music that way.

Also, years ago there was this interesting jazz program on radio in Shanghai, hosted by an elderly Chinese gentleman called Charlie Lin (or Charlie Wong, sorry didn't remember the exact last time, but pretty sure that he named himself after Charlie Parker), an avid lover of jazz classics from Big Band to Bebop, and he didn't even speak Mandarin, so the program was in his authentic Shanghainese Chinese and Shanghainese English introducing different jazz albums (many from his own collection) and musicians, and reminiscing the old times. I thought it wouldn't be on air if nobody is interested, is that correct?

My Chinese friends and I like to listen and dance to Peter Bjorn & John, The Knife, and Hot Chip.

I used to think there is no creative movie/tv-show directors in China. Later I found it is simply because creative ones weren't given a chance to have their works shown on TV.

The elder I get, the less I am sure about what other cultures/races are really like. I realize that I am limited by my own vision and knowledge, e.g. saying Western men are all playboys reveals nothing but a fact about myself: If I am surrounded by rotten ones, it might just say that I am one of them. If I want to prove I am better than that, then I shall be looking somewhere else and involve myself with the noble ones.

Maybe expats who say this and that about Chinese and culture can learn something from my experience?

As to music, allow me to list several musicians to help you start your journey to know more about Chinese music :
1. Zuo Xiao Zu Zhou:
http://music.sogou.com/singer/e9/detail ... D6%E4.html
(If you speak Chinese, you will be able to fully enjoy the spirit of his songs.)

2. Hang Gai
http://mp3.sogou.com/music.so?query=%BA ... w=02009900

3. Ye'er Boli
http://v.youku.com/v_show/id_XMjA3NjMxNDU2.html

4. In fact, douban.com is a very good window of modern/underground Chinese music (FYI: It is also the website where most non-main stream writers, musicians and artists meet online, where the real creatives are gathered):
http://douban.fm/

Back to the titled question:
me, a Chinese, like these non-Chinese music:
1. Celtic music - Other music and musicians might be touching and admirable, but Celtic music is the very and only type that reaches my soul.
2. Ennio Morricone; 3.Leonard Cohen; 4. Sinead O'Conner; 5. those 'strange' experimental electronic music

tylerdurden: That sickening moment when the faggy male singer goes "wo aiiiii niiiii"

This is why many chinese people don't like outsiders. You all are totally rude. It's a matter of opinion whether you like chinese music or american music, but calling them 'faggy' doesn't sound nice at all, and in our chinese point of view, it's considered rude, impolite and immature. Is there a correlation between 'faggy' and 'music'? What is the difference between 'the faggy male singer' and ' the male singer'? Is it because the former sounds more insulting, so you used it to hurt other people's feelings and make yourself feel better? In fact, many chinese girls don't think Fahrenheit looks faggy at all, I'm one of them.

By the way, you don't like chinese music because it's totally different compared to that of american music. Its use of chinese language sounds terrible to outsiders because it's not you language; chinese music doesn't suit you because it is created for chinese people, not outsiders; the most important thing is that the singer is chinese instead of your own race, and thus it looks faggy/ugly/strange/weird/whatever to you.

yunnanexpat is right: While non-chinese don't like chinese music, the chinese also don't like non-chinese music, excluding some foreign singers such as snsd, super junior, lady gaga, celine dion, etc. Ask them which american singers they like, probably the answers you will get are those that I've mentioned just now. Ask them which european singers they like, probably this is the answer you will get: None. I'm sure you will get the same answer if you ask chinese people from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia as well as japanese and korean people.

Besides that, it also depends on the language. Of course, the chinese want chinese, westerners want english, the korean want korean, indians want tamil/hindu and the japanese want japanese. Therefore, no matter how well their music industries are, it is hard to be the mainstream for one another, unless they want to improve their foreign languages.

The conclusion can be made is that western people like american music, and chinese people like chinese music and some foreign music. It's not accurate to say chinese music lacks of 'something', for the opinion is based on your western point of view, not the chinese themselves. As long as the chinese like it, and chinese entertainment industry can make money, why not? Unless chinese people start feeling bored with their music, then you will see something new in their music. After all, chinese music is only for chinese people; it is specially created only for chinese people. The same thing goes to the japanese, korean and indian music, I'm sure. Ask yourself before judging: Have you seen any chinese people who don't like western music say anything about it? No, they just don't care.

One proverb I want to say: East is East and West is West, and never the twain shall meet.

Edit: I forgot to mention that there are few european musicians they like: beethoven, bach, mozart, chopin, etc. Anyway, they are musicians and not singers, but I think when it comes to european music, these are the things that they know.

dumb question. hang out with some cool locals and they'll prlly introduce you to music you haven't heard yet.

meh. It's just like back in the US. People that are really into music will seek out stuff beyond the top 40 and those that don't give a rats ass will listen to whatever the record industries feed them. When Radiohead announced they were playing Taipei this summer the tickets were sold out within a day. I saw Death Cab here in Shanghai earlier this month and the place was completely filled, albeit half the audience were white. My girlfriends sister doesn't speak two grunts of English and somehow she discovered Leonard Cohen and loves it. It's not hopeless here, Taiwan and HK have shown that with enough western exposure Chinese people are quite receptive to other types of music. Give it time.

chingiskhan wrote:I hear what everyone is saying but you don't seem to understand that western music was not exactly easily accessible and still isn't. In the UK we have radio stations that play a wide range of music whereas here it's carefully selected and controlled. You can only like (and dislike) what you've heard. Even now music is censored, so many artists were not permitted to perform here.

You read my mind! Can you listen to last.fm, as it does have Chinese site.

Brun0 wrote:Come on...you guys just wait.

According to phalus minimums cn we will be all sipping baijiu in a chinese bar in manhattan in ten years while chinese teachers plow through white meat like a chicken mcnuggets production line.

china will be dominating the world completely and their "culture" will conquer the world in just ten years, so obviously their wo ai niiiiiis and beijing opera tranvestites screaming like if their balls were on fire will solve the problem for us. The chinese wont need to love western music, not only because it is inferior but because we westerners will learn to love THEIR great music...

Phalus minimus said it, so it must be true.

I remember years ago when i saw user littlefox in a wednesday mixer of this site. some of you will recall her as THE japanese hater on the site. Top playlist on her ipod?

"BEST OF JAPAN".

well, you forgot to add why the Chinese "musician "either sing ai niiii or zuguo, not one single song is about politics, death, riots or religions like the freedom the western musician could sing whatever it comes out of their brain, for example, yaky lady gaga, that American fre...k, at least the Chinese musician didn't wear MEAT. SURELY chinese musical culture is way behind as they can only name some simple song names like ai niiii, so simple that all of you could say it like a fake Chinese; Try cold play's Mylo Xyloto, can you name it properly? Perhaps, the English teachers can, not the Americans, haha , ( fingers crossed, pray one of your chinese students not to ask you to pronounce it )

smurfette wrote:What about classic music? The millions of Chinese kids that are studying classic piano and violin every year? Yes, many of them must be forced to practice in the first place, but it might grow on you and habit turns into appreciation (like Lang Lang). I know circle of Chinese get their interest in classic music that way.

Also, years ago there was this interesting jazz program on radio in Shanghai, hosted by an elderly Chinese gentleman called Charlie Lin (or Charlie Wong, sorry didn't remember the exact last time, but pretty sure that he named himself after Charlie Parker), an avid lover of jazz classics from Big Band to Bebop, and he didn't even speak Mandarin, so the program was in his authentic Shanghainese Chinese and Shanghainese English introducing different jazz albums (many from his own collection) and musicians, and reminiscing the old times. I thought it wouldn't be on air if nobody is interested, is that correct?

Agree completely with you! Most of the posts are like from a bounch of xiang xia ren ( peasants). Try to go to some posh places, like the fairmont, the former Peace Hotel, go to the Famours Old Jazz Bar @ Peace Hotel ShangHai China http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2blXZdA_i0. This is just one example!!!
Don't just comment on what you absorbed from those young chinese students, who are only part of the Chinese.

Did one of your students ask you this question: do all of the lao wai look similar, or the same face, no matter ugly or good looking, after all they are all white, different from Chinese, except the Indians of course. " What a dumb question! " would be from your brain naturally.

The who, rolling stone, Beatles, U2, Edith Piaf, Elvis Costello,Billie Holiday... show their great songs to your students, see if they like it. Don't judge them before they could even have chance to hear it. It's like asking the French: Do the French speak any non-French, such as English? Well,I wouldn't ask this dumb question.

tylerdurden wrote:It's an insular culture. Waddaya expect?

I long ago gave up trying to influence anybody's music preferences. On the other hand, I try to keep an open mind myself. When Chinese pop is playing, I try to listen for any scrap of musical originality. There's precious little to be found.

Note for anyone with a bit of music theory on board: one interesting thing in Chinese pop is the relative lack of perfect cadences. They exist, but the leading note is usually removed. Simple reason: there is no leading note in the Chinese pentatonic scale, hence no tritone interval, hence no harmonic tension/resolution in the Western sense.

This is the main reason it all sounds so bland to our ears. Chinese listeners OTOH probably pick up the extensive use of tritones in our music and find it highly discordant and unpleasant.

so if your theory is true, that ethnic chinese do not like western scales and tones in music, then why would the western raised chinese, taiwanese, hong kong, singaporean chinese, like western pop, rock, hip-hop, jazz ect?

I don't think it has to do with actually what cords or scales, but its what ppl are used/exposed to. The average chinese hasn't been exposed to much western music other than the ultra pop and ultra over played lady gaga, justin beiber stuff. The more exposed ethnically chinese taiwanese, hk, singaporeans are loving western music and are creating their own forms of westernized music as well..y?? more exposure.

think backwards...20 yrs ago..u go the states...and u tell ppl u love raw fish on a ball of rice...wth do u think they will say? WTF?? raw fish?? rice?? dipped in some nasty spicey green crap and some soy based salty sauce?

look at the US now?? sushi joints opening up in every neighborhood like frickin starbux....its just frickin exposure to different things....

I am chinese,I don't like asian music,I like american redneck music,yes,country music,from southern rock to graceful bluegrass,any comment on me?

Do you own a pickup truck?

rickettyrabbit wrote:Do you own a pickup truck?

yeah,a chevy pickup truck with a load of blonde and blue country girls when i rolling,envy me?please don't,because this is just daydreaming gibber jabber.
what's your nationality?

teuton wrote:

rickettyrabbit wrote:Do you own a pickup truck?

yeah,a chevy pickup truck with a load of blonde and blue country girls when i rolling,envy me?please don't,because this is just daydreaming gibber jabber.
what's your nationality?

Wabbit does not have a nationality per se ...

tihZ_hO wrote:

teuton wrote:

rickettyrabbit wrote:Do you own a pickup truck?

yeah,a chevy pickup truck with a load of blonde and blue country girls when i rolling,envy me?please don't,because this is just daydreaming gibber jabber.
what's your nationality?

Wabbit does not have a nationality per se ...

Tihz & Rabbit, are you two under the rule of the same QUEEN? How come one knows the other one so well? Or perhaps you are Tweedledum and Tweedledee?
Tweedledum and Tweedledee
Agreed to have a battle;
For Tweedledum said Tweedledee
Had spoiled his nice new rattle.

Just then flew down a monstrous crow,
As black as a tar-barrel;
Which frightened both the heroes so,
They quite forgot their quarrel.

PS, which one acts as Peter Griffin who discovered his low intellect falls slightly below the level for mental retardation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Griffin, OH I know, isn't it obvious, not Mr. RABBIT.

Classic thread. Thanks to heatwolves for resurrecting it.

Pity I missed Whatever0's post from January. I would have enjoyed taking that apart. Now I couldn't be bothered. Gave me a good Sunday morning laugh though.

chinaboy wrote:

tihZ_hO wrote:

teuton wrote:

rickettyrabbit wrote:Do you own a pickup truck?

yeah,a chevy pickup truck with a load of blonde and blue country girls when i rolling,envy me?please don't,because this is just daydreaming gibber jabber.
what's your nationality?

Wabbit does not have a nationality per se ...

Tihz & Rabbit, are you two under the rule of the same QUEEN? How come one knows the other one so well? Or perhaps you are Tweedledum and Tweedledee?
Tweedledum and Tweedledee
Agreed to have a battle;
For Tweedledum said Tweedledee
Had spoiled his nice new rattle.

Just then flew down a monstrous crow,
As black as a tar-barrel;
Which frightened both the heroes so,
They quite forgot their quarrel.

PS, which one acts as Peter Griffin who discovered his low intellect falls slightly below the level for mental retardation. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Griffin, OH I know, isn't it obvious, not Mr. RABBIT.

and remember I'm not banned