Posts Tagged ‘neocha’

tomorrow’s afternoon tea ::

Friday, October 24th, 2008

Neocha log:: Neocha’s “netlabel” just released its latest compilation, titled “Tomorrow’s Afternoon Tea.”

The album brings together ten original tracks from independent Chinese bands and solo acts with female vocalists, all of whom are Neocha.com users.

Link here to download the entire compilation, or link from the tracklist below to stream each song.

According to Neocha CEO Sean Leow, the goal of Neocha’s netlabel is to bring together the best of various music genres in China represented by Neocha musicians. Neocha offers the compilations to the public for free in order to give the musicians wider recognition and distribution.

Neocha net label’s “Tomorrow’s Afternoon Tea:”

Tomorrow's_Afternoon_Tea-A

01 coverpeople

02 范世琪梦境

03 漂亮hearing

04 coffee’s

05 蘑菇花园

06 April&Box小事情

07 棒棒糖乐团a song 4 my angel

08 丹麦司机男朋友

09 

10 Today束之前

Additionally, here’s a link to download an earlier-released Neocha.com compilation / podcast titled “Post China,” which features eight of China’s best emerging post-rocks bands.

And lastly, one more link to stream (not available for download) another Neocha.com compilation titled “1981,” an album showcasing sounds from China’s post-1980 generation musicians.

[full disclosure: 56minus1 is a partner at Neocha.com]

// AjS

friday 5 | chinese net-speak (part 1) ::

Thursday, October 16th, 2008

DannyYungOnJiong :: Chinese netizens enjoy playing with language online. They make up new words, insert alphabetic and numerical abbreviations between Chinese characters in their posts, write backwards and upside down to trip-up the censors, and trade catchphrases with wild abandon.

To outsiders, however, conversations full of acronyms, ancient characters, and allusions (sometimes quite obscure) to Chinese culture / history is quite difficult to understand.

To help with the “decoding,” below are some basic explanations of frequently-used vocabulary by Chinese netizens:

visual pun: “囧” [pronounced “jiong,” in this case; other times pronounced "jing"] ::
After becoming widely used online in China, the past couple of months have seen this character explode into mainstream media / culture. It’s been splashed onto the cover of books and magazines, in advertisements, and on clothing. The obscure Chinese character 囧, which originally meant “bright,” looks like someone gaping in astonishment, so Chinese netizens reinterpreted it as a general response of helplessness or gloom. Sam Flemming of CIC talks a bit more about it here. Also, a number of well-known Web sites have sprung up around 囧 culture: 阿囧囧客官方囧人王国囧的官方网站. Some other online visual examples of 囧: .

catch-phrase: “economize: drink maotai” ["节约点,喝茅台" pronounced "jie yue dian, he mao tai"] ::
[Warning, this is very funny] The latest online catch-phrase was inspired by a report about a government official in Sichuan who beat up a liquor seller for overcharging on a bottle of Maotai alcohol. The explanation given: “Director Cao wanted to economize, because money is tight at the personnel bureau and he still owes money for house repairs.” Chinese netizens are always quick to pick up on hypocrisy, particularly on the part of local governments – the irony of a bureau director claiming to want to save money by buying China’s most famous brand of alcohol (and beating someone up over it) was too good to pass up. [link]

visual Pun: “槑” [pronounced “mei”] ::
An obscure alternate form of 梅, plum, the character 槑 is formed from two characters, which means “dull / stupid / foolish.” Chinese netizens use it to refer to anyone who is especially slow-witted. Because it kind of looks like two people standing next to each other, it shows up quite a bit in cartoons and image macros alongside 囧. Another adapted character, 雷 (”thunder”), is used to mean “shock.” For something especially shocking, the character is tripled to produce this character: 靐 (pronounced “bing”). [link] [link]

describing the opposition: FQ, JY, BS ::
When Chinese netizens aren’t having fun playing with catch-phrases and characters, they’re likely arguing with each other, employing shorthand / acronyms to refer to their opponents (and themselves too). FQ means 愤青 (pronounced “fen qing”), “angry youth,” and is used dismissively to refer to ultra-nationalist netizens (of which there are plenty). Some FQ have tried to reclaim the term as a badge of pride. On the other side are JY, 精英 (pronounced “jing ying”), “elite”: intellectuals who tend to be liberal and supportive of universal values. A third abbreviation, BS for 鄙视 (pronounced “XX”), “despise or disdain,” is tossed around by netizens on both sides of the aisle.

modifier: “山寨“ [pronounced “shan zhai”] ::
The word 山寨 literally means “mountain fort” or “village,” but is also used as a modifier meaning “knock-off,” to describe off-brand / fake products manufactured in small, tucked-away shops in Chinese villages. Some of these no-name brands have begun to advertise using celebrity-lookalikes as spokespersons. Knock-off F4, knock-off Emil Chou, and knock-off Jay Chou have all turned up in advertisements, drawing mockery from Chinese netizens. The term is even being applied to Chinese remakes of foreign TV and movies.

// AjS

[Friday 5 is the product of my work at Edelman Digital (China). Link here for the full Friday 5 archive. If you'd like to be added to the bilingual (English & Chinese) Friday 5 email distribution list, please send me an email at: adam DOT schokora AT edelman DOT com.]

the shanghai beat | graffiti shanghai ::

Tuesday, October 14th, 2008

:: Danwei TV presents episode 4 of The Shanghai Beat, titled “Graffiti Shanghai” (with bilingual subtitles). You can also watch on Tudou (faster loading / higher quality in China).

For this episode, 56minus1 (Adam Schokora / 小石) meets up with three of Shanghai’s best known graffiti artists: PopilZhang Lan (AKA: Mr. Lan), and HKer, to get their inside perspective on the local graf scene and catch them in action painting a few pieces.

After the show, stay tuned for a musical performance by 21 Grams, a Shanghainese experimental post-rock band whose introspective music is largely inspired by their passion for film (featured band courtesy of www.Neocha.com).

credits ::
Produced by Adam Schokora & Ginger Xiang
Soundtrack by NaraK.C. Accidental, and Peter Bjorn & John

contacts ::
email & msn IM:  
skype: the.shanghai.beat
AIM: theshanghaibeat
qq:

special thanks ::
Peng Xin (Banyue), Annie, Nara, Sean Leow, Katie Grube, Stephanie Tung, and John Meckley for helping make this episode happen.

// AjS