:: I had the privileged of being on the advisory committee and event management team for yesterday’s TedxShanghai conference (China’s 1st!) together with a great group of people including , , , , , Sherry Wan, Mark Evans, , , and Pat Mai. A special thanks to all the sponsors and those that volunteered their time to make the event happen. I can’t wait until the next one.

There will be some updates to the TEDxShanghai official website, but for now, see below for the speakers / performers that presented. It was a stellar line up. I’ll be sure to link everyone to the video content when it’s live online. Watch this space. Link here for the below images in a more readable / high resolution format. Link for all the TEDxShanghai Twitter chatter.  // AjS

:: with the growing popularity of independent music in China, musicians, labels, and promoters are all seeking to understand and benefit from various business models. On Thursday (May 14) night, Neocha.com will bring together three representatives from various fields of China’s independent music scene to share their thoughts and experiences in a panel discussion titled “How Can Independent Music Make Money in China?” at the newly opened Factory in Shanghai.  // SL

Panelists:

• Lao Yao (SOMA record label & promoter)
• B6 (electronic musician, co-founder of Neocha.com & Antidote)
• Yoyo (head of PR / marketing at a record label & artist management company)

Date / Time: May 14 (Thursday), 19:30

Language: the discussion will primarily be in Chinese with English interpretation available.

Location: Factory – 1933 Creative Complex  1st floor, building 4, 29 Shajing Rd., Hongkou district, Shanghai

Phone:   Email: 

Event links: | Douban

[full disclosure: Sean Leow is the CEO of Neocha.com]

:: taken in Taiwan last week by Sean Leow. A stencil tag of the late, great Bruce Lee (李小龙).  // AjS

:: I Wanna Be is a nice little animation by Neocha.com-user Kim227. According to Kim, he is a soon-to-be unemployed 21 year old student (离失业不远的学生) at Chongqing University and made this video for an animation class last year.

The background track is She Traded Her Leg by . Kim mentioned that while in China it’s normal to not respect copyright laws, he still has a guilty conscience over using the music without contacting the artist.  //

[UPDATE: A few days after I first got in touch with Kim, he wrote me and asked if I was willing to help him contact and translate messages with Jeffrey Butzer, the composer of the background music for Kim's I Wanna Be. We reached Jeffery and he was very gracious, honored in fact, about Kim using his music. Cheers to Jeffrey for his generosity. Here is the new version of "I Wanna Be" with a hat tip to Jeffrey and Neocha.com. I definitely look forward to more opportunities to connect creatives halfway around the world.]

[full disclosure: Sean Leow is a guest contributor on 56minus1 and the CEO of Neocha.com]

PSFK points us to a beautiful stop-motion film called “Notte Sento,” that tells the story of a girl missing her train to Milan and waiting overnight in Rome. I’m not usually a sucker for romance, but this one hooked me in. The film was made with 4500+ still photographs shot on an Canon EOS 30D digital camera. For more about the video, link here. Bravo, well done.  // SL

[Sean Leow is a guest contributor on 56minus1]

:: Neocha.com recently released the fifth edition of its webzine 放大 (or Blow Up).

Blow Up 5 is available as a free download from the Blow Up homepage or, if you prefer, here are direct PC and Mac download links.

For those unfamiliar with Blow Up, it is Neocha’s flash webzine dedicated to independent youth culture in China. It’s released every few months (or so) and has only one (strict!) rule: all of its content (pictures, music, text, animation, etc.) are 100% original creative works put together specifically for Blow Up. This is not zhuanzai’d content. Previous issues of Blow Up can be downloaded here. For an English summary of the last edition, see Adam’s previous post here. (Just click, the downloads will start automatically.)

The main theme for Blow Up 5 is “十宅记” or “10 Homes.” We visited the homes of 10 young creative people in Shanghai from a wide range of social and economic backgrounds. In doing so, we asked each of them to choose 10 objects in their homes and tell us why they are important to them. We documented the visits with pictures and interviews, and even got everyone to draw a map of their home. Good fun.

Below is an brief overview of Blow Up 5 in English, but I highly recommend downloading a copy to get the full experience with music, full-text, animation, interactive flash, and all the great photographs.

Blow Up 5 cover ::

table of content (this is fully interactive in the webzine format, please download to experience) ::

video of Neocha’s two year anniversary party ::

陈洁微 is the founder of a company that places part-time workers (a temp agency of sorts). She used to run a creative shop in Beijing ::

丁冬 is from Guangxi and runs an independent photography studio in Shanghai. He took all the pictures for this issue, he’s an incredible photographer ::

天天 is originally from Sichuan and now lives in Shanghai as a fashion designer ::

郑一 is the founder and lead designer of The Thing, a graphic design company specializing in streetwear clothing and products ::

糖果猫猫 (Popil) is a Shanghai-based “creative extraordinaire” originally from Guangdong. While Popil’s best know for her illustrations and drawings, her photography, graffiti, and music are all impressive. Check out a slideshow of her work here ::

童云 aka 大海盗 (Big Pirate), is a designer who runs the “TYAKASHA Earth Store” creative goods stores in Taikang Lu’s 田子坊 (Tianzifang) area ::

阿郜 is a poet and theatre director. She is the founder of the 测不准 (Uncertainty) independent theatre troupe ::

小季 is one half of the photography duo 鸟头 (Birdhead), which has become well recognized in the Chinese modern art world. Check out their profile on ShanghART Gallery here ::

李悠 is from Ningxia and is now a promoter for musicians in China ::

廖传扬: Sean Leow (that’s me in my apartment!) ::

credits page ::

a (subtle) call for advertisements in the next issue – hey, we gotta keep the lights on :-) ::

Again, Blow Up 5 is available as a free download from the Blow Up homepage or, if you prefer, here are direct PC and Mac download links.

Special thanks to 丁冬 for his superb photography work, Jamhippy for the cover art, and 诺琪 (Noki) for soundtrack through this edition of Blow Up.  // SL

[full disclosure: Sean Leow is the CEO of Neocha.com]

:: following up on Jon’s post yesterday about the José González’s show at the Shanghai Children’s Art Theatre, I went to his second performance in Shanghai last night at Glamour Bar. José again put on a great show, with an intimate stage arrangement that allowed for everyone to get up close. One highlight of the night was José showing off his Chinese and saying “牛逼!” (niu bi) to the crowd, something he must have picked up in Beijing a couple nights earlier. Below is a video I took on my phone of “Teardrop,” his last song of the night. Again, kudos to and his team at Split Works for bringing José to China. // SL

[Sean Leow is a guest contributor on 56minus1.]

:: Kentaro Nagai is a Japanese graphic designer who has come up with an innovative way to present the Chinese zodiac. Kentaro uses the land masses from a single, black and white, world map and reconfigures them into each of the zodiac’s twelve animals. The work was created for the “Piece Together for Peace” project; an impressive animated flash version of the animals can be viewed here. Bravo, well done.  // SL

rat ::

rabbit ::

rooster ::

dog ::

dragon ::

snake ::

boar / pig ::

tiger ::

monkey ::

sheep ::

ox ::

horse ::

[Sean Leow is a guest contributor on 56minus1.]

:: a slideshow collection of Bigeye illustrations titled “There is a Problem with my Drawings” (我的画有问题), from Neocha.  // SL

[full disclosure: Sean Leow is CEO of Neocha.com]

:: 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:”

01 coverpeople：我们

02 范世琪：梦境

03 漂亮亲戚：hearing

04 诺琪：coffee’s

05 蘑菇红：屋顶花园

06 April&Box：小事情

07 棒棒糖乐团：a song 4 my angel

08 丹麦：火车司机男朋友

09 汤旭：失乐园

10 Today：结束之前

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.