China bans Mongolian rock
DGDevin
What kind of amps do you suppose they use in Mongolia? Maybe a market for
tubes there, LV should send out some flyers....
From Mongolia's Independent English Weekly News, http://tinyurl.com/4qudl
Hurd banned in China - Mongolian rock in a world context
(TheUBPost, 16 Dec 2004 02:28 am ULAT. 0 comments)
By Gerald Marchewka
The UB Post staff
During the last half of the 20th century rock music became an inseparable
part of the vast popular culture in the English speaking world. Lyrics like
"I hope I die before I get old" from Pete Townshend's My Generation, " Then
you better start swimmin or you'll sink like a stone" from Bob Dylan's The
Times They Are A Changin and "Old man take a look at yourself I'm a lot like
you were" from Neil Young's classic Old Man became part of the reservoir of
popular culture that flowed through the minds of a large number of people
both young and old.
But if we look to the origin of this pop music we find that its beginning
was characterized by a rebellious sentiment that has permeated the musical
genre since it first began. In fact a cursory review of the history of the
term rock n' roll reveals that it was first used by American musicians
during the early part of the 20th century. It was quite frankly an unabashed
reference to the act of sexual intercourse. This term no doubt raised more
than just a few eyebrows.
Elvis Presley for example, the infamous American icon, was certainly the
focus of considerable controversy. In the late 1950's American television
networks refused to film the singer from below the waist. It was argued that
his tendency to sway his seductive hips in rhythm to the tune made him more
than just a little risqu?. This story became an integral part of Americana,
things typical of American culture or civilization.
Ironically at the dawn of the 20th century we find that the rock phenomenon
is, for better or worse, in the guise of different names, playing itself out
in different lands and various cultures across the globe. And in many
respects the risks and dangers are even greater. In the wide open spaces of
Mongolia for example, seemingly far removed from the trappings of western
culture, the rock n' roll controversy continues. The quintessential
Mongolian rock band Hurd was banned from performing in Inner Mongolia,
China. The reason however is not sexual but political.
Hurd, the Mongolian wonder-band, has among its many talents the phenomenal
ability to integrate Mongolian contemporary culture into a brief four-minute
song. And the youth of Mongolia love it. They are provided with a new
opportunity to celebrate their own way of life in a way that is suitable
perhaps only for them. For this they should be commended. And perhaps this
phenomenon is not so difficult to understand, as the Mongolian people are a
proud hardworking resilient bunch. And they are situated between two major
world powers, Russia and China.
This surely exacerbates their acute awareness of history. For Mongolians
about eight hundred years ago controlled a vast territory that stretched
from Southeast Asia to Europe covering 13.8 square miles or more than 35
million square kilometers. But today it is perhaps reasonable to conclude
that young Mongolians are just attempting to make their modest mark on an
ever changing modern world. Perhaps the whole rock n' roll exercise is
merely an exercise in Mongolian self-assertion.
However the significance of this self-assertion may not be fully understood
for years. And surely more than a few American social critics have argued
against the evils of rock n' roll for several decades. They have held it
responsible for everything from an escalating divorce rate, truancy, and
teenage masturbation the most heinous crimes.
With this in mind it is more than a little ironic and slightly comic that
the notorious Rolling Stones, the British rock band were granted permission
to play in China. With just a few restrictions they were given the green
light by the government, provided they would omit a few songs from their
play-list. Just a few years ago this would have been unheard of. But today
the Chinese government may see these gray-haired weather-beaten old men just
as a small means to improve the ever-growing economy. They are no longer
examples of spiritual pollution and must no longer be purged from the minds
of the great proletarian youth.
So we must ask ourselves why is the communist government afraid of Hurd.
Speculators have indicated that the Chinese government is perhaps worried
about age-old ethnic tensions between Mongolians and Chinese. And as
Mongolia is molding itself into a very impressive young democracy perhaps
the risk of a pan-Mongolian united front from across the border and into
China's Inner Mongolia is more than it can take.
But if we sweep politics aside and focus upon the merits of the music, it is
quite difficult not to admire this young group of musicians. With a unique
ability to ply their way into the hearts of Mongolia's youth, we can only
hope that they will continue to find a creative outlet for their music. If
anything, the international attention spurred by their latest round of
publicity may be a sign of good things to come. We can therefore at least in
all sincerity wish them the best of luck. In the spirit of rock n' roll:
"C'mon
baby let the good times roll".
zoot...@gmail.com
China? with MP3s and WAVS not far behind., the Great Wall will start
shakin sooner rather than later.
It's a big country. Lots of acts that play in NYC can't play here. It
may not be "officially" censored but we'll never see 'em, that includes
a lot of styles of music.
John Wood
> Thanks to Brian for finding this.
>
> What kind of amps do you suppose they use in Mongolia? Maybe a market for
Yeah, tell me about it...;-)
:-)
John
zoot...@gmail.com
Mongolia boasts 97 percent literacy rate. Back in mid 70s, Mongolia was
even awarded a UNESCO Golden Medal for successes in educating the
population. Presently more than 500,000 pupils attend 597 secondary
schools and another 100,000 students attend 198 state and private
Universities and colleges.
Though Mongols developed their own script way back in 13th century,
some 50 years ago it was banned and the Russian Cyrillic alphabet
imposed as the official script. After the Democratic Revolution of
1990, the Parliament decided to return the old script back into use as
a main precondition for preserving the traditional culture and national
identity.
The old script, written vertically from up to down, is being taught in
all secondary schools since 1994, but now only 30 percent of Mongols
can write, while another 50 percent can read it.
Mongolia used to be the second, after Tibet, stronghold of Buddhist
religion. In the turn of 20th century each and every family was obliged
to send one of their children to a monastery to become monk.
However, with the arrival of Communists in 20s, the religion was
severely repressed, and all but one monastery destroyed. More than
30,000 monks and priests were executed and another 70,000 exiled or
imprisoned. In seven decades Buddhism was almost eradicated, but the
liberalization of 1990 allowed its peaceful revival. Now more than 140
Buddhist monasteries have been set up anew.
Under this new freedom of belief, other religions flocked in, including
more than 40, mostly Christian, churches and cults. Another popular
religion is Islam practiced by a 60,000 strong Kazakh minority in Bayan
Ulgii province.
Mongols are great dancers as if they do have music in their blood. My
wife Mercedes once joined a group of dancers in their traditional
dance. Later she told that Mongols feel the rhythm impeccably and she
could easily do hardest pa as her partner led her all the way. -
William Douglas, Deputy Judge of the Supreme Court, USA, 1962
Nearing a decade of life, Hurd continues to experiment with new sounds
and performance styles. They recently softened their driving, heavy
metal style in two "Unplugged" concerts given at another new disco club
in Ulaanbaatar, Top Ten, a cavernous warehouse located in a former
cultural centre. This was the first time any rock group had tried such
a concert idea in Mongolia. Even on acoustic guitars, however, the
group, consisting of a bass, two guitars, drums, percussion and
keyboards, managed to fill the club with their sound and fury. Their
fans packed the house, and the lead singer, Tumurtsog, needed little
effort to get them to sing along with him on many songs.
Hurd and Haranga are still very popular groups in Mongolia, but in the
past years few new heavy metal or hard rock groups have come onto the
pop-rock scene here. Instead, a new generation of popular singers and
music groups have been working their way up and into the limelight of
the concert stages. These are youths that mostly eschew the long hair
and leather jackets of the older groups in favor of short, styled hair
and suits and ties. The music would be recognized in the West as
techno, hip-hop, and pop along the lines of the Backstreet Boys, Celene
Dion and the Spice Girls, and is almost always electronically produced
in recording studios and then backgrounded to the singers and dancers
themselves on stage with the use of a tape player.
Mostly in their late teens and early 20s, these performers appeal to
Mongolian audiences with their singing, dancing and stage presence. One
of the most popular of the current crop of bands is Har Sarnai ("Black
Rose"), a "hip-hop techno" male duo, famous for their dancing,
nationalistic song lyrics and sometimes outrageous clothes and hair
styles.
In their concerts they often come out on stage wearing specially
designed silken dels (traditional Mongolian robes worn by both men and
women), with sunglasses and big bushy black and gray colored wigs on
their heads. As the heavy techno beat of one of their most famous
songs, "Alarm," begins, they launch into their synchronized dance
routines and lyrics, which exhort Mongolians to wake up from their
dreaming and set to work producing a new society. Their audiences watch
from their tables-as Mongolians hardly ever dance while the bands are
performing-clearly enjoying the show.
"Har Sarnai is my favorite band," says 19-year-old Buyanbaatar, a
student at the Mongolian State University. "I like how different they
are. Their clothes, their behavior on stage is different. And the songs
that they sing, their dances and their clothes and style are all well
suited together."
Even older youth, like Sukhbaatar, age 30, mirror these sentiments. "I
like Har Sarnai because I like their style and their dancing very much.
I also like their unique styles of hair." His friend Tsooj, age 31,
adds, "In America you have rap bands, like New Kids [on the Block], and
they dance really well. We like dancing very much. We are not too old
for this!"
To both of them, the infectiousness of the new music pop scene
transcends traditional age definitions. "I started to listen to music
from the Beatles and other foreign bands. But now it's become very nice
in Mongolia. It's just impossible not to be a fan because we are young
people. We don't think we are old. We are young enough, and we are here
to support our favorite bands, and we will scream and whistle with
everyone else!"
How audience members of different age groups can mix together at
concerts and share such similar tastes in musical genres is perhaps
unique to Mongolia. "One of the reasons why even the older generations
like the new bands of the younger generations," says Norov-Aragcha, a
professional artist, aged 38, "is that in their youth, when they were
18 or 20, such bands didn't exist here. We like new things like the
younger people, and this music is new to Mongolia."
But while he appreciates the new opportunities that the new bands have
to perform their music in Mongolia, Norov-Aragcha adds that something
is certainly missing from their music. "I like Ariunaa, and appreciate
what she does. But all these bands and singers [of the young
generation], although they have their own styles, they are generally on
one level. None of them stands out from the rest. Maybe because of my
profession, I prefer something new, something very different from the
others. Haranga and Jargalsaikhan, they are our generation. They have
feelings, they are making efforts with their music, and they are honest
to their music. In their time [late-1980s and early 1990s] it was very
difficult, but they did it. They have real talent, real feeling in
their music."
"Now I'm looking at all these new bands and singers, but still the one
that I want hasn't appeared. ... That is, something which suits today's
conditions and atmosphere. ... Something very powerful, very hard.
Something like a Kurt Cobain."
While not new to Mongolia, pop-rock's growing diversity certainly is.
The general feeling these days seems to be one of celebration of its
freedoms and appreciation of its diversity, without the isolation of
audiences into genres that is typical in the West.
http://www.un-mongolia.mn/archives/ger-mag/ger-3.htm
One of the most popular of the current crop of bands is Har Sarnai
("Black Rose"), a "hip-hop techno" male duo, famous for their dancing,
nationalistic song lyrics and sometimes outrageous clothes and hair
styles.
In their concerts they often come out on stage wearing specially
designed silken dels (traditional Mongolian robes worn by both men and
women), with sunglasses and big bushy black and gray colored wigs on
their heads. As the heavy techno beat of one of their most famous
songs, "Alarm," begins, they launch into their synchronized dance
routines and lyrics, which exhort Mongolians to wake up from their
dreaming and set to work producing a new society.
oh oh - revolution is in the air....
China built the Great Wall more than 2,000 years ago to keep out
invaders from the north. But the Chinese are having a harder time
repulsing modern interlopers like these: long-haired Mongolian men in
black, whose office décor features a wolf pelt, a portrait of Genghis
Khan and a music store poster of Eminem.
So the Chinese police got nervous when they heard that Hurd was
crossing the Gobi Desert, coming down from Mongolia, 600 miles to the
north. With their new hit CD, "I Was Born in Mongolia," Hurd, a heavy
metal, Mongolian-pride group, was coming for a three-day tour,
culminating Nov. 1 with a performance in Hohhot, capital of the Inner
Mongolia Autonomous Region.
"The morning we were to get on the train, the translator guy called and
said 'Your performances are cancelled,' " Damba Ganbayar, Hurd's
keyboardist and producer, said glumly as he lounged in a white plastic
chair. "He said, 'I will call with details.' I never got the details."
http://www.zeroballet.info/supernaut/media/04nov/hurd.jpg
The details, according to reports from Hohhot, were that riot policemen
and trucks surrounded the college campus where the group was to play.
They checked identity cards, detained four people overnight and
dispersed about 2,000 frustrated concertgoers into the autumn night.
In the next several days, the Chinese authorities shut down three
Mongolian-language chat forums, according to the Southern Mongolia
Human Rights Information Center, a New York-based group that tracks
"Chinese colonialism" in what some call the southern end of Greater
Mongolia.
"Banned in Hohhot" may not have an epic ring to it, but it is a sign of
the times.
With reports of local protests almost daily fare in China, the
authorities are increasingly nervous also about ethnic minorities. In
late October, several days of fighting erupted between Hui Muslims and
Han Chinese - China's dominant ethnic group - in central Henan Province
after a traffic accident.
During the 1960's, the Chinese-Soviet split kept Mongolia, a Soviet
satellite nation, apart from China's Inner Mongolia. Today, the Chinese
region is home to four million ethnic Mongolians, almost double the 2.5
million in the country of Mongolia. But Chinese migration to Inner
Mongolia over the years has left the ethnic Mongolians there vastly
outnumbered by 18 million Han Chinese.
In recent years, barriers have gone down between those two Mongolias as
China has become its northern neighbor's largest trading partner and
foreign investor. With Inner Mongolia's economy growing by 22 percent
during the first nine months of this year, officials in the two
Mongolias agreed in October to open a free-trade zone where the
Trans-Mongolian Railway crosses into China.
On the cultural front, music groups from here often appear on Inner
Mongolia's Mongolian-language channel. Hurd, which means speed, has
done three concert tours in Inner Mongolia since 2000. It claims to be
the most popular rock group for Mongolians on both sides of the border.
"In 2000, it was very Soviet-style, with lots of policemen around with
flashlights, very disciplined concerts," Mr. Damba Ganbayar recalled.
"Later, it became more relaxed, like normal rock concerts."
"Even so, they advised us not to say, 'We Mongolians are all together!'
or 'All Mongolians rise up and shout!' " the keyboardist continued.
"People would shout, 'Genghis!' But it was nothing political."
But on later visits south of the border, he noticed a growth in Mongol
pride.
"More and more the young people say, 'We want to keep the Mongolian
language and the traditions,' " he said. "I met a guy with a Mongolian
name, and he shouted, 'I am Mongolian!' - in Chinese. I met many like
that."
Encounters between Mongolians and Inner Mongolians are a bit like
encounters between Mexicans and New Mexicans. Many Mongols here say
they consider Inner Mongolians to be more Chinese than Mongolian. When
people here travel south, they do not say they are going to Inner
Mongolia, but to China.
"We don't have an Inner Mongolian problem," a Chinese diplomat in the
region said in an interview. "Most of the Inner Mongolian population
has been 'Han-ized.' They speak Chinese, think like Chinese. Hohhot is
like any other Chinese city."
Munh-Orgil Tsend, Mongolia's foreign minister, said in an interview,
"For us, Inner Mongolia is a province of China that happens to have
ethnic brother on other side of the border."
On the northern side of the border, Hurd's nationalist identity has
grown over the last two years, a time when the group did not record any
new songs.
"Hurd's national pride and love of homeland takes the ethos of Bruce
Springsteen's 'Born in the U.S.A.' to a new level," said Layton Croft,
an American foundation representative and musician here, who attended
one of their concerts in October. "There is a loyal, mostly rural,
Mongolian fan base for such music."
Hurd's Mongol nationalism is aimed at that audience: young Mongolians
who now leave the country for work, the men in construction in South
Korea, the women as 'hostesses' in Macao.
But the "I Was Born in Mongolia" CD, with its paeans to a "land of
great legendary heroes," came out here as ethnic Mongolians in China
were discovering that a Han Chinese-owned company was taking over
administration of the Genghis Khan Mausoleum, the region's biggest
tourist money-maker. Entrusted to the care of the Darhad Mongolian
tribe since 1696, this shrine holds relics of the great conqueror,
including his saddle and his black bow.
The actual burial place of Genghis Khan, who died in 1227, is not
known, and has been the object of several archeological expeditions.
But construction of a new "mausoleum" by Dong Lian, the Chinese
company, prompted protests by Mongolians who see the move as another
power grab by Chinese settlers.
>From the Chinese side, "anything associated with nationalism,
separatism, political rights, they want to suppress it," said an Inner
Mongolian trader here who asked not to be identified.
In the best-known case, a bookstore owner who goes by one name, Hada,
is serving a 15-year sentence after being convicted of separatism in
1996.
But with the canceling of concerts by Hurd and Horda, an Inner
Mongolian band, some fear new restraints on Mongolian cultural
expression.
"The government is shutting down a lot of music shops, confiscating a
lot of music tapes," said Enhebatu Togochog, who runs the Southern
Mongolian information center in New York. "They say they are purifying
the cultural market."
sponsored by one of those Liberal groups http://www.smhric.org/
where's a sound clip?
zoot...@gmail.com
http://www.un-mongolia.mn/archives/ger-mag/issue4/hurd.htm
sound clip here - ewwww - tell me if this is what you expected after
this build up?
different "take" on band's philosophy Three long-haired men sit around
the table, frowning and shifting in their seats. A young Australian
woman has just asked them to tell the time in English, and after a long
pause, one says, slowly, "Three fifty." He sighs deeply, and with
effort, adds: "-Or, ten to four." They are all visibly relieved
when the lesson is over.
An unusual view of one of Mongolia's foremost heavy metal bands,
Hurd. Three albums down the musical highway, Hurd remain one of the
original rock bands to form before Mongolia's transition to
democracy.
In Mongolia's socialist past, new forms of music were suppressed and
controversial lyrics outlawed. People expressed their love of music
through traditional instruments such as the horse fiddle and folklore
songs. But soon enough secret imports of western music such as the
Beatles began to find their way into the young generation's hands and
Mongolia's own pop and rock bands of the 1980s were gradually
accepted by the government. After the opening up of Mongolia in the
early 1990s, bands began to travel abroad and foreign groups came to do
historic performances here.
Rock and heavy metal music quickly became popular and today there are
several well-established bands. Hurd has one of the biggest followings,
showing an ability to cross over into gentle ballads and even mixing
with classical instruments. Citing musical influences in rock legends,
Metallica and AC/DC, the band has evolved over time from speed metallic
to heavy metal sounds. Yet it is their ballads that are replayed
constantly on Ulaanbaatar's radio stations; among the most famous are
"Girl in a Painting" and "Don't Cry". The lyrics are mostly
about parents and the motherland, as found in many of the traditional
Mongolian songs. (click here to hear ).
"We worship our parents. If it wasn't for them, we would not be
here," says band member, Otgonbayar. "If we translated our lyrics,
people elsewhere (could) listen to the words, and they would love their
parents more." Otgonbayar's three brothers are also in the band. He
taught himself how to drum by playing on cups while living in the
countryside, and later moved to Ulaanbaatar to study, when he first
heard western heavy metal music.
"We are a young country and this is the music of young people," he
says. "We are not ignoring traditional long song. It still exists."
The latest figures recorded 42 per cent of Mongolians are under 18.
The country's small population has left no room for the adulation and
pop star worship found in most contemporary music scenes around the
world - another factor setting the Mongolian music scene apart.
"Support is strong in our concerts, but Mongolians are mellow,"
says bass player, Nara. "So in the street, people come and ask for
autographs, but they don't make idols out of us. People listen to all
the popular bands. There are no real fans."
A mix of wholesome lyrics and gentleness gives Mongolian heavy metal a
softer edge, although some of Hurd's faster tracks are not that
different to their western equivalents. The band are now planning a
series of concerts for the summer, this time performing with a
classical orchestra, and will release two singles in April and May.
In the long-term, Hurd have the same dream as many young Mongolians, to
travel abroad. Six of their songs are already translated into English
and two have been recorded. To reach audiences in other countries, the
band feel they need to sing in English.
"We have to work hard. The first step is English, to sing songs in
English. We can't just sit in Mongolia," says Naya. Otgonbayar nods
and quotes a well-used Mongolian saying: "If you have language, you
have legs."
alexan...@gmail.com
shop that Doc Marten shoes/boots are now made in China. Being born and
raised in London (although now living in Kansas) I was quite disturbed
by this knowledge. I've been wearing them since I was 16. I think of
them as a very "English" thing, and now they're, well, not.
How to get back on topic... Ah, OK - I'm quite excited by the arrival
of my new Russian made KT66-HP tubes, even though they're not very
English. :)
Alex
Miles O'Neal
> Thanks to Brian for finding this.
>
> What kind of amps do you suppose they use in Mongolia? Maybe a market for
> tubes there, LV should send out some flyers....
Well, given that a huge portion of the world's supply comes
from China, I think they're set. 8^)
>
> From Mongolia's Independent English Weekly News, http://tinyurl.com/4qudl
>
> Hurd banned in China - Mongolian rock in a world context
> (TheUBPost, 16 Dec 2004 02:28 am ULAT. 0 comments)
> By Gerald Marchewka
> The UB Post staff
Ugh, That was an annoying read, regardless of the material.
And he desperately needs an editor. Or a calculator.
zoot...@gmail.com
incident over the sound of Hurd?
http://www.un-mongolia.mn/archives/ger-mag/issue4/hurd.htm A sound
clip is on this page.