click here or on image to read review



The collaboration, “Cantocore,” takes its inspiration and name from the rapid economic, social, and cultural changes taking place in Guangzhou, the third most populous city in China. Even in the midst of economic crises, factories are producing, Canto hip-hop is blasting, and the cultural industries are progressing. Over the last 30 years cities such as Guangzhou, the capital of Canton, have rapidly expanded economically and socially. From revolutionary upheavals to becoming industrialized global cities influenced and informed by diverse forms of representation, Chinese artists have exerted a growing influence on culture globally. Perhaps nowhere more than here on the Pacific rim of California have Chinese-Americans, who primarily immigrated from Southern China, played such a crucial role in the state’s inception, particularly in San Francisco. Not only does this city have the largest import of Chinese people of any US city, these immigrants also created the largest Chinatown in North America. However, understanding the conceptual framework of Cantocore is not limited to geographic divisions, nor reductive dichotomies driven by post-colonial stereotypes such as East versus West or Olympic nationalisms. Cantocore is the reality of life versus the theory set forth by jurisdictions where people live.

artists:
David O. Johnson
Fang Lu 方璐
Guy Overfelt
Huang Xiaopeng 黄小鹏
JD Beltran
Jon Phillips
Justin Hoover
Kathrine Worel
Lin Fang Suo 林芳所
Misako Inaoka
Wang Ge 王铬
Zhou Tao 周滔

two years ago right before i started working on my first work to be released under a creative commons license i met a far out character named jon phillips aka rejon at an overlap.org event. i was immediately blown away by jon’s enthusiasm and ability to endlessly express his creativity in all of his various endeavors. some weeks ago he co-presented an event called free on board. though i was unable to attend because i now reside in new orleans, i sent my friend nicky bourque to attend the event. their meeting subsequently got me back in touch with jon and ultimately lead to this review. in a week or so i’ll be posting an interview with jon so stay tuned.

many of the people who frequent this blog license their music under creative commons. if you are interested in this stuff and want to get more creative about using creative commons for artistic collaborations and releases then i encourage you to devour the material contained with in the site http://cantocore.com/. i have tried not to go into too much detail about the site because its worth every minute that you spend reading about the amazing collaborations that continue to evolve within the cantocore artistic community. so much net based art lacks true complexity and creativity. let the artists and contributors of Cantocore illuminate you with their bleeding edge examination of globalization and cultural exchange.

if the following review peeks your interest then please help me to reach my goal of 1000 views per day by spreading the review and this blog as far and wide across the net as you are able to do.