The independent music movement in China is making significant strides, as the Internet and new media fuel a creative underground of artists striking brave new paths in China's limited music industry. With the country at a historic moment following the wildly successful 2008 Beijing Olympics, China has an ever-increasing role in international cultural conversations. Timed to coincide with the World Expo in Shanghai—running May through October, drawing an expected 70 million visitors from around the world—The Shanghai Restoration Project and Neocha present eXpo. This carefully curated 10-track collection features the leading independent electronic artists at work in China today. The album will be released May 4 on Undercover Culture / Neocha.
The first collection of its kind, eXpo is masterminded by The Shanghai Restoration Project—a U.S.-based group renowned for its fusion of Chinese instrumentation with hip-hop and electronica—and Neocha , which is the leading online community for independent Chinese musicians and artists. eXpo traverses a broad array of genres from techno and house to dubstep and hip-hop, all evidencing an internationally-engaged yet regionally distinctive independent music scene brewing in China.
For those of us outside Asia, Chinese musicians have been difficult to identify due to language and cultural barriers as well as an underdeveloped independent music market. eXpo opens the door to exchanges between Chinese artists and their peers worldwide. Crucially, eXpo bridges differences in music business practices between the U.S. and China, as many of these emerging artists have not been exposed to a professional music production process nor have they been compensated for their work.
