Summary: "Beijing has one of the best music scenes in the world," one of our guests intoned, triggering a brawl that quickly split along Beijing-Shanghai lines. And while we'll admit a case can be made for Shanghai too, there no question China has come a long way since the days attending a mainstream rock show meant seeing either Xu Wei or Cui Jian. These days China has an established concert circuit and you can't hit a local club without running into up-and-coming bands like Bigger Sky, Snapline, or Omnipotent Youth Hotel. Something strange is afoot, and we're going to talk about it. Joining host Jeremy Goldkorn this week is of course Kaiser Kuo, who non-Sinica listeners may know for his time with the China metal bands Tang Dynasty and Spring and Autumn. Kaiser is joined in our studio by Archie Hamilton, founder of Asian concert promoter Split-Works and Splatter. Michael Pettis, bearish China economist to the rest of the world, is also here in the guise of his alter ego as owner of the D22 club and founder of the Chinese music label Maybe Mars. Want more Sinica? Like the idea of this on-demand music service that Kaiser keeps talking about but is only available in China? Why not get the best of both worlds by signing up for a free account at Popup Chinese and subscribing to the Sinica show? Follow our instructions and new episodes of Sinica will download to your MP3 player as soon as they're released. Of course, if you're looking for a bit less commitment you're still invited to download the Sinica show directly from our site as a standalone mp3 file. Enjoy!
