By the way "funny or die" was founded by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay. Mixing original materials by Will and his friends with user generated videos from aspiring comedians, FOD is a pretty interesting experiment on how a brand of an artist could become a distribution and talent scouting channel with a little help from the community. Company is now broadcasting with HBO and is backed by Sequoia Capital.
Is Shangai 08 the new London 77 ? Looks like it for Martin Atkins (Former drummer of Pigface,PiL, Ministry and killing Joke turned documentary director). He is currently releasing "sixteen days in China", 60 mn on Chinese undergroung music current earthquake.
Martin Atkins: "I think time and location has more relevance, like London in 1977, New York in 1980 or maybe Chicago 1989. These were cities that had exploding scenes that I managed to be a small part of. Add to that some entrepreneurial what-the-fuck-ness, and there you go! The backdrop is different, but the immersion, the focus on just the music and attitude feels like a definite ripple from those times...I'm looking forward to the kind of musical liberty that will come once the music that is being made now has been understood. The next generation, and I don't mean biological but musical, will happen quickly and I think will be a most interesting mashup. The tones and textures are very different. I don't think we have seen that yet."
And if you mix the raise of a cultural movement with a big communication shift such as China is having right now with internet connections and mobile devices, looks like we have something which can be pretty interesting here.
http://www.invisiblechina.com/ There is a full interview on Listening Post Here.
