Episode 43: Chinese hackers launch “virtual jihad” against South Korea boy band fans
In this episode I go back to my own roots as an indie rock scenester and talk with Krish Raghav and Yan Cong (Far & Near newsletter) of Chaoyang Trap. We cover a range of topics from popular music in China, what Western media doesn’t get right about popular music in China, the growth of the indie rock scene in Beijing, and the dangers of buying too much yoghurt in order to support your favorite boy band member.
Some of the things mentioned were a hilariously tone deaf piece in Foreign Policy asking why there are no “good” bands in China (and the author’s response), another hilariously bad episode from Radiolab on music in China that does not mention a single Chinese (or Asian) artist, the Coca-Cola Incident, the vintage web design of indie music hub Douban, the curated list of music documentaries (in English) on underground music in China, the trailer for HYPE! (which I highly recommend), Peter Bagge and Hate comics, Japanese band Godaigo and their 1980 concert in China said to be the “first” rock concert in China (also released as a live album), and the trailer for Todd Haynes (yes, the Todd Haynes!) documentary on the Velvet Underground.
And the title of the episode comes from the legendary headline of this article.
I also reference my own episode 27 on the Taiwanese wave dramas numerous times so if you’d like to listen to that to learn more about elementary school Yan’s favorite F4 and my favorite Fahrenheit that episode (with transcript) is available here.
The songs played in this episode are:
1. “Yong Hui Store” by The ROMP (Bandcamp link)
2. “Baifang” by Hanggai
3. “The Moon Represents My Heart” by Teresa Teng
4. “Green Apple Paradise” by the Little Tigers
5. “Dong Tian Li De Yi Ba Huo” by Fei Xiang (cover of a Frankie Kao song)
6. “Femme Fatale” (mono) by the Velvet Underground
7. “Ass Hole, I'm Not Your Baby” by Hang On the Box
8. “Zhongnanhai” by Carsick Cars (Bandcamp link)
9. “Get Funky” by Click #15 taken from The Big Band Season 1
10. “Nothing to my name” by Cui Jian
11. “噢！乖 Be good, boy” by Carsick Cars (cover of Dou Wei original live on The Big Band Season 2)
12. “EOEO” by Uniq (the K-pop group of which Wang Yibo was a member)
13. “The Less Than Omnipotent Comedy” by Omnipotent Youth Society
14. “Electronic Girl” by Chinese Football (Bandcamp link)
15. “Wonderland Party” by INTO1
16. “Blue Fireworks (long)” Hualun ((Bandcamp link) from the An Elephant Sitting Still OST)
17. “Boys” Howie Lee remix of Charlie XCX feat. Jeannie
18. “Beijing is Sinking” by Chui Wan (Bandcamp link)