Bolstered by extensive fieldwork and an array of analytical methods, Adam Kielman's Sonic Mobilities: Producing Worlds in Southern China is a noteworthy contribution to the study of popular music in China. The book provides an ethnomusicological account of Mabang (马帮) and Wanju Chuanzhang (玩具船长) circa 2014, two Chinese bands that reached modest success and signed with Xingwaixing Records (星外星唱片, also known as Starsing Records) in Guangzhou. The bands break from the mainstream not just in terms of the diverse musical genres they cite as influences—ranging from folk to reggae to ska—but also in terms of language choice; many of Mabang's songs are in Guiliuhua (桂柳话), a subdialect of Mandarin used in Guangxi, while Wanju Chuanzhang performs lyrics in a subdialect of Minnanhua (闽南话) native to Nan'ao Island. With “mobility” as his driving concept, Kielman foregrounds cosmopolitan exchange as an important framework for understanding Guangzhou's contemporary music scene, describing it as...

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