Although I just wrote CK an offlist post, I'll repeat the gist here, in
case anyone cares <g>.
Two years ago, right before handover, there were a number of "indie",
"alternative," and "rootsy" bands. When I was there in Spring 96, I even
played 4 or 5 shows with a local Chinese-British blues kid named William
Tang (very post-Mayall, post-British "blooze" style). But not much to
speak of in a city that big, and nothing to get very excited about.
Most kids there listen to very sugary, very poppy (in the less positive
sense) "sinopop." There are a couple of video channels of this kind of
music etc. Even with the best attentions, I couldn't get into it: way
too saccharine and un"cool" from a Western perspective.
I don't know about it these days, but I suspect that the dominance of this
"Sinopop" has even increased and that the "western" oriented bands have
thinned out even more.
--junior
