Phnom Penh Punk & ‘Chinese Democracy’
Jun 25th, 2009 by Jinja
“Rebuilding The Rights of Statues” is my favorite People’s-Republic-of-China-approved “post-punk” band.
No, seriously. Great sounds, they’ve obviously schooled themselves with some great influences. http://wiki.rockinchina.com/index.php?title=Re-TROS
Fun to listen to. And they are OK’d by a ‘socialist’ country as a cultural export, served up on a platter for us by Penhville’s business community: Chinese House, Asialife Guide and Tiger Beer. More fun than Pyongyang Restaurant, you just can’t mosh to Karaoke.
I would not want to be a pop musician in China. Working within the system may be the only compromise they can make and maintain some degree of sanity. I’m very happy to hear some body-throbbing reverb in Phnom Penh. (Mind, if they did any covers of Guns & Roses’ latest album, there’d be calls to the Embassy.)
As per the war in Iraq: I’m not happy with USA policies. I have no quarrel with the soldiers themselves. Musicians in tough circumstances? I’m game to listen and meet with Chinese rockers or Cuban hip hoppers. Similarly, I am less enthused about the system they operate in. Maybe there are things we can learn from them, because even in the West, there is less breathing space for independent media.
The whole world caved in to accommodate the PRC during the Olympics. ‘Chinese democracy’ : coming soon to a country near you?
