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“The metal look works for Chinese males. This shit sprouts out of our head quite naturally and it looks pretty good. And that echoes with the great warriors of ancient times. Long hair means martial prowess.” - Kaiser Kuo, Tang Dynasty
A couple of years ago, I watched a documentary called Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey, which completely changed my perception of Heavy Metal music. I mean, I was never a fan, but I wasn’t completely against listening to it either. I don’t love it, nor do I hate it. I would say, that there are more redeeming qualities in heavy metal music than there is in, say, pop music. You may not like it, but it’s never boring.
For the most part, heavy metal music actually has its roots in orchestral classical music like Wagner and Beethoven. While most of the vocals in the genre are stereotyped with gutterral screaming, a good portion of the vocals have more in common with opera than rock; think Freddie Mercury and Queen.
So imagine my surprise that the same filmmakers created a sequel called Global Metal. Applying the same anthropological mindset as the first film, they set out to find out what and how heavy metal music has been affected by globalization by talking to bands and fans of heavy metal music all over the world (particularly in Asia.) I highly recommend watching it when it comes out in June and also rent its predecessor on DVD.
Before, my exposure to rock music from China was fairly limited to whatever I saw on YouTube through Danwei.Tv and movies. I wasn’t impressed to tell you the truth. It all seemed kitchy and wannabe and really felt something was missing in its delivery. Every so often I would come across a gem, like Cherry Boom, but they were very few and far between. The band credited with bringing heavy metal music to China was Tang Dynasty. It was founder Kaiser Kuo, who was born in New York, went to China in the late 80’s to start the band which sold 2 million legit copies of its debut album ‘A Dream Return to Tang Dynasty‘.
In preparation for the interview with the filmmakers, I go ahead and attempt to do my homework in terms of metal bands from Asia (China and Japan in particular) and I come across this supposed thrash metal band called Overload from China … and slowly find myself turning into a fan.
Known as Chao Zai, Overload is fronted by one-time pop singer Gary Qi, who according to Wikipedia formed the band with elitist musicians in China. Listening to his voice, plus looking at his picture on the album cover (rowr!), I can’t help but be drawn in. I’m almost shock to discover just how pretty one song can be, side by side, with something that is just fueled with aggression. I implore you out there to check out the music on iTunes. Search: Chao Zai.
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Yesterday night, I had the opportunity to see Benson Lee’s Planet B-Boy at the Lumiere in San Francisco. And you might have heard about it in the film festival circuit or through the YouTube front-page promotion or through other Asian-American bloggers, but seriously - go see the movie. You won’t be disappointed.
On the surface, Planet B-Boy is a documentary about breakdancing and B-Boy culture, and don’t get me wrong: it covers the the culture of breakdancing very, very well. You want to see the flares and the floor work or the B-Boy battles? You’ve got it, and you’ve got practically two hours of choreographed goodness to watch.
But for those of you that haven’t been completely enthralled watching America’s Best Dance Crew the past couple of weeks, Lee does a fantastic job mixing the breaking, popping and battling with the background stories of how this part of hip-hop culture has affected members of four crews all over the world: people in Japan, South Korean, France and the United States that would live very different lifestyles, but are united in a common culture and meet in Germany at the end of the movie to kick the crap out of each other battle on a dance floor and spin around on their head a lot. I’m tongue-and-cheek at that last sentence, obviously, but for those of you who are less into B-Boy culture and just into a good person-focused documentary, you wouldn’t be disappointed either; issues such as racism, classism and familial relationships are brought as much front to center as the flares.
But enough of me trying to write like a movie critic; go see the movie already. A list of cities where the movie is being performed is listed on the director’s YouTube page.
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What seems like an eternity, I’m back with a new show with new music from artists who’ve recently ‘Comeback’ to the spotlight this year. Music from Andy from Shinhwa, Jewelry, Namie Amuro and Toshinobu Kubota.
Also I review the recently published (and previously blogged about) “Fortune Cookie Chronicles: Adventures in the World of Chinese Food” by Jennifer 8 Lee, ask my Magic Fortune Cookie if I’m going to have any chocolate anytime soon and give a sneak preview of some of the films premiering at the Hot Docs International Film Festival (April 17 - 27).
If you want the Enhanced M4A version of the show, with Chapters, Pictures and Links please visit Popcast88.com for download and subscription links.
For any feedback, suggestions, comments, requests or if you want to ask my Magic Fortune Cookie something, please leave a comment at Popcast88.com or email me at christine [at] popcast88.com.
POP 88 #17 - The COMEBACK Show
www.YesAsia.com
(Continued)
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Last week, I had a chance to go with my friend Adam to the Warfield to see Margaret Cho’s latest comedy tour, Beautiful. Margaret Cho has been on my radar for years - first as one of the first visible Asian American comics out there with her own television sitcom, then using her comedy as a way to assert herself and a positive attitude in I’m The One That I Want, then become the raunchy comedienne for queer people, of which I am one. When her second book was released, I finally got the chance to meet her at a book signing and tell her, “oh hey, I’m Ernie, and you link to my blog from yours. Hi.”
But I digress.
So here’s my thing about Margaret Cho - I LOVE it when she makes Asian jokes. I make Asian jokes. But I don’t like my comedy political; I don’t like my comedy angry, either - I can’t stand Bill Maher, and Stephen Colbert initially made me wince. So when I sat down and tried to read her book I Have Chosen to Stay and Fight, I couldn’t finish reading the first chapter: it didn’t make me laugh, it made me angry. And I don’t watch stand-up comedy to make me angry, anyway. There are still political elements in her newest show, and I wonder how truly effectual she is when she’s essentially preaching to a very gay choir that already agrees with everything she says.
But all of that being said, I LOVE how she keeps things real and transparent. She’s crass, explicit and unapologetic. She rallies the crowd to the idea that everyone is beautiful and important despite the forces in life saying otherwise. And to this day, she’s still one of the most visible Asian American comediennes out there.
(Flickr photo credit: knightbefore_99)
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I first blogged about Dave Liang’s The Shanghai Restoration Project last May. Well, thanks to Arjan’s music blog ArjanWrites.com, a free MP3 of “Preface” is available for download from The Shanghai Restoration Project’s follow-up album, Story of a City.
I downloaded the second album, and I immediately like it more than the first. Liang’s first album had a definite goal in mind - combine eastern samples with electronica/hip hop beats, and the results came out mixed; it’s obvious that Liang is a solid music producer, but the album felt monotonous after a couple of tracks. (”Okay, yes, it IS an erhu. WE GET IT.”) And some of lyrics? Well, let’s just say Liang is a stronger producer than he is a songwriter. (My friend Jesse after listening to the song “All Rise”: “Why was she singing about four eyes for five minutes?”)
Story of a City still definitely has the downtempo lounge with Chinese instruments thing going on. But this time around, the Asian instruments and the chanting are a bit more subtle, used as accents instead of as a focal piece. And while there are some tracks where I find myself reaching for the “next track” button, there are some gems in there, including a freestyle by Natural Fact of Brooklyn hip-hop group Unconscious Logic, embedded here:
You can download the entire album in MP3 format at Amazon.com.
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You should only see dance movies for the dancing. But I think it’s also worthwhile to pay attention to who’s being cast where, as far as Asian, black, white, Latino go. Who gets which role, who is good, who is evil, who’s cool, who’s the loser, who’s the center of attention. Who are you supposed to be most interested in, who are you supposed to care the most about? Especially since this film happens to be directed by an Asian American - Jon Chu, 29, USC graduate. You can only assume that he had some say in the casting - and I’d have to say he made some mistakes.
The most prominent Asian character is Jenny Kido, played by Mari Koda. She has the most lines and screen time, anyway. Every single one of her lines is the same joke - she’s an immigrant and she doesn’t know what’s going on. But she can be part of the dance crew. I guess that part is okay. Overall, I didn’t like this character. The audience in the theater where I watched it was mostly black, and they laughed heartily in support every time this character appeared. I think they were just trying to have the reaction they thought they were supposed to have. She’s not such a funny character.
There’s another Asian in the movie, who I actually thought was Latino. Sophie, played by Cassie Ventura, is Filipino and Mexican/West Indian. Actually, her ethnic background isn’t a part of the plot. But I remember thinking, when I watched it, that Sophie, the ex-girlfriend, should have switched parts with the main character, this boring white girl. I didn’t want the main character, Andie, to win. From the beginning, I didn’t believe anything she said, didn’t care, felt tired of seeing yet another story about her. She had a hot body, but that was probably a stunt double most of the time. She was the uncoolest person there, no matter what the camera said, no matter what lights they shone in her eyes.
The premise by which she was even included in the story was so contrived. She is from Texas but her mother passed away and now her mother’s black friend in Baltimore is taking care of her - and always handing out these empty threats of sending her back to Texas, if she doesn’t show up at school and stop hanging out with this street dance crew.
The neighborhood is some minuscule percentage white, and this is the person they write the story about. It’s like the New York City public school where I’m subbing right now, which is 46% black, 41% Latino, and 7% white, 6% Asian. It’d be as if we were to make a movie about the school, and for some reason chose the drama of the white girl. There’s 13,234 black dramas you could pick, and it’s No, let’s do her story. The white person should be one of the supporting characters in the margin. But the whole story is rewritten and bent over backwards to put her in the center once again. It’s so obnoxious.
But yeah, the dancing was cool. Especially the subway scene at the beginning - just because there are actually kids who do that on the subway.
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I’ll admit, I’m fairly out of the loop when it comes to North American television, however, Apprentice Series 6 runner up, James Sun recently taped what he calls an Asian Pop Culture show, K POP.
K … several things jump out at me.
1 - On his blog he says it’s an Asian Pop Culture show - it’s called K POP: The Korean Wave - A closer look into Korean pop culture. This is where I will shameless plug my podcast POP 88 which truly IS an Asian Pop Culture show inclusive of things, Japanese, Chinese AND Korean. My pronunciation may be a tad mangled, but I claim to be no expert.
2 - Apart from the title, I really have no idea what the show is about, or what I’m to expect in terms of content. Sure the trailer looks really flashy in its MTV-style camera work and upbeat track, but how many times have we been duped paying for a movie ticket only to find out the best bits were in the trailer? So far I see bits of interview segments with singers and dancers, the club scene and a shot of an actress eating - groundbreaking.
3 - The caption for girl group SeeYa went out as CIA, which tells me, whomever is putting this together, doesn’t really know much about Korean pop culture to even get that right. It was written on their album … in English.
4 - While attractive, seemingly bright with an A-type personality that hits you like a ton of bricks, James Sun, talks a really huge game. I do think he’s an excellent businessman - but as a host/ reporter? I suppose anything is better than the over explanation of Arirang Showbiz Extra.
Of course, these are the things that immediately jump out at me and I do know how hard it is to produce decent programming especially for such a niche market. I’ll wait till the third episode.
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AZN Television, the network for Asian Americans, launched a new community forum on their website called Outspoken. Clicking the links on the front page gets you to the AZN TV blog where two poets and two intern journalists post weekly.
Beau Sia, a Chinese American poet, and Ishle Yi Park, former Poet Laureate of Queens, New York, are the poet bloggers. Lena Wong and Emma Carew are the student interns. AZN television will select new interns each semester, with the help of the Asian American Journalists Association (AAJA).
Bill Georges, Senior Vice President of Advertising and Affiliate Sales at AZN Television, said “We created Outspoken to further connect with our viewers by offering them a forum that addresses the issues affecting the Asian American community.” The topics currently listed on Outspoken’s front page are Reality Shows, Journalism, the Western Influence, Communication, and Consumerism. At the blog, you get additional topics such as Adoption, Citizenship, Racism, Thanksgiving and Weight.
None of these topics has more than one or two posts, and topics such as Thanksgiving and Weight are symptomatic of blog category sprawl. It’s unlikely that there will be many more posts about Thanksgiving, so it shouldn’t be its own category. The topic Asian American Role Models could be merged with Asians in Music and Media. Otherwise, in a few months there will be as many categories as there are posts.
From reading the site, it’s apparent that at least some of the time, the writers are given topics or questions to answer. And then they go off, with varying levels of success. Beau Sia’s sound off about Reality Shows, for example, isn’t well-considered. But at any rate, the website is another platform for discussion and source for ideas about current events, lifestyle and cultural issues.
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