Sound Kapital: Beijing’s Music Underground is a quick rundown of the underground music scene in Beijing as of around 2007. The music on the included CD runs the gamut from indie rock to straight up punk or hardcore. This book isn’t so much a book as a quick introduction to the artists and the scene and a massive collection of gorgeous photography detailing each artist.
The Music
The included CD hits a good range of artists mentioned throughout the book and covers a good number of genres. The majority of the works would range somewhere between indie rock, and emo, with a tiny bit of punk peppered in for good measure. Most of the works feature lyrics with a mix between male and female singers, but there are a couple instrumentals worth noting.
The first song is a female fronted rawer punk influenced harder rock song which is followed up by a male fronted wall of sound indie rock sound. By track 5, we get an instrumental using less than conventional instrumentation for the genres featured so far. Further in the album, we get a smattering of alternative pop sounds and some heavily electronica influenced music as well. That being said, most of the music is very much harder rock with punk elements over anything else.
I feel that a compilation like this would benefit heavily from adding in another CD worth of music. The CD isn’t lacking, but it would be nice to have more of a sampling with a few songs from each featured band, or maybe just some other bands along with what was included. This isn’t hugely a slight against the book as the CD does a great job of really showing the scene as it is, I was just left at the end wanting more.
I assume part of this is because a lot of these acts probably exist primarily as live acts only. This was my experience when I lived in Xi’an at the time. A lot of these acts don’t have any actual recordings and get by on live shows in back alley bars which are literally so filled you struggle to move inside. The acoustics at these shows do not lend themselves to recording, nor does the threat of police intervention if the act is a little too far from mainstream or if anything gets out of hand.
The Book
The photography is mainly of the artists with a few posters and concert photos mixed in. The photography is extremely well done and really helps get a better understanding of some of the artists. This book never really tells much, but it tries to show a lot to make up for that. There is a little left to be desired without any real descriptions, but there is a short introduction to the scene and a summary of the bands as well as what page they’re featured on.
My one complaint is that the organization of the bands feels a bit arbitrary coupled with the fact there’s no real table of contents or similar. The index at the end is about the only way to figure out what band is where without just thumbing through. This doesn’t hurt much except trying to listen along and figure out what band is where.
The book is a nice hardback and makes a great showpiece once you’ve been through it. I can’t really see myself going back through except to refresh on which artist is which. The summary of the artist’s work is pretty unnecessary once you listen to the CD. The book is nice to have, but not really necessary after the first “read” through either. I assume this was done to prevent prematurely dating the book as most underground music scenes churn at a rate that makes the rest of the development and changes going on in China look glacial by comparison.
Is It Worth It?
If you like a mix of indie rock and harder rock with tangents into emo, punk, and other genres, and want something you really can’t find much of anywhere else, then this set is probably worth it. If this doesn’t sound up your alley, it probably isn’t going to do much for you. The background of the underground scene at the time is probably a bit dated, and while the photography is great, it also doesn’t tell a lot specifically which might make the book more accessible to people not interested in this genre of music.
I feel it’s a great conversation piece and did a great job catching the spirit of the underground music movement in China without trying to analyze and catalog it too much. The underground scene is developing as fast as the rest of the country, so any real attempt to analyze and catalog it would have been obsolete by the time it was printed. This set presents a great window in without trying to commit too much, but also doesn’t let you really hear the conversation inside for better and for worse.
If you have the money to spare and like the genres, this book is worth it. If you are looking for some music you can’t really find elsewhere and want to broaden your horizons, this book is probably worth it for you. If you just want something to read about the Chinese underground music scene, then skip this book. This book does what it does well, but unless you’re into the music, or want to listen to the music, you’re better off looking elsewhere.
Conclusion
That all being said, I feel this book is a great addition to anyone who loves indie rock, harder rock, punk, or emo music and the music it includes gives an interesting look into the Chinese underground scene. The music fits in well with what I heard when I lived in China and definitely keeps true to the scene itself at the time. Some may be a bit dated, but the book doesn’t really date itself too harshly thanks to the way it was put together. Check this out if you want to buy it.
Get it here.