Atkins is a drummer of some renown in post-punk and industrial music circles for his work with Public Image Ltd., Ministry, Killing Joke, Pigface, and Brian Brain, but of late he's been increasingly known for his teaching and writing about the craft of touring, and for his work as a music producer and founder of the independent micro-label Invisible Records.

In October 2006, Atkins traveled to Beijing to scout bands and to record some sessions with Chinese musicians. Sixteen Days in China is the documentary record of that trip. As director, writer, producer, narrator, and principal character of the documentary, it's fortunate that Atkins proves to be a sharp, funny, and likable guy.

Atkins immediately sets the tone of the documentary with a personal on camera segment recorded in the streets of a Beijing commercial district, or so he claims anyway until the cameraman points out that the scene will have to be re-shot because the Sears Tower is visible in the background, and we realize the actual location for this pickup shot is Chicago's Chinatown. Atkins challenges us again to detect the BS before he reveals it when he intimates that a mundane Chinese highway toll booth is actually a menacing militarized border checkpoint into the country; never mind that most Americans choose to fly into China rather than drive in. Atkins' humor and delivery reminds me of Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead), or it could just be the accent and hair color.

Always ready to engage in a bit of humorous trickery himself, Atkins begins to suspect the same of those around him once he starts auditioning bands at D-22, a Beijing bar and music venue owned by westerners. It seems that the same dozen musicians keep turning up to play under different band names. Fearing either that a joke's being played on him or that he's unknowingly become a racist who can't tell one Chinese apart from another, Atkins is relieved to learn that the answer is more benign. It seems the Beijing music scene is so interconnected and supportive that musicians commonly are members of several bands at once. So the drummer for Carsick Cars is the guitarist for Snapline; the pump organ player in White is the guitarist in Carsick Cars; and Snapline and Carsick Cars do have the same bassist.

The bands that Atkins auditions nearly all sound fresh, exciting, raw, and amazing, even if not exactly skilled. I want more Carsick Cars, Caffe-In, Hang on the Box, White, Joyside, Demerit, Honey Gun, PK-14, Snapline, and Queen Sea Big Shark. I'd still go to clubs and listen to commercial radio if I could hear vital music like this there. You can't listen to these bands without realizing that commercial rock in the US is hopelessly ossified. That's not to say there isn't great music being made in the States, but you wouldn't know it based on what the major labels are pushing. The closest thing I've seen stateside to the raw enthusiasm of these bands is Be Your Own Pet, though I'm also reminded of the outstanding Japanese fictional film Linda Linda Linda (2005) about an all-girl high school Blue Hearts cover band.

Many things go wrong for Atkins causing him to second guess hiring a personal assistant and an interpreter off the internet. There are frequent mix-ups, arrangements fall through, everything costs way more than budgeted for, and worst of all none of the bands will sign on with Atkins' label. The problems add a bit of drama, but more than anything they're funny. When Atkins gets snitty with his personal assistant Lindsay because she's booked the most expensive recording studio in Beijing, failed to rent cymbals for the drum, and hired a trio of high school musicians instead of the venerable master level Chinese classicists he wanted for the session, it's possible to simultaneously laugh and feel sorry for everybody involved.

The one misfire in Sixteen Days in China is a reoccurring inarticulate rant that mixes and matches the influence of corporations on American media, Chinese State censorship, and the presence of Starbucks' coffeehouses in China. While I generally get Atkins point, and am actually sympathetic to it, the message is muddled, underdeveloped, and out of place with the rest of the documentary.

The Presentation
Quality Control
This independent release is not going to win any awards for a/v quality. The image is fullscreen, though most of the material is letterboxed. The source material is video of variable quality ranging from excellent to very poor, with inconsistent color levels, color blooming, and soft focus. The video is interlaced and the image often suffers from significant digital combing as well.

The audio is DD 2.0, but there's no noticeable separation between the channels, the bands generally sound flat, dialogue is poorly recorded and sometimes hard to understand, and there are no subtitles available.

Extras:

The lackluster extras include a studio performance of the song Fight Your Apathy by Demerit (2:40), an odd promotional video for Atkins (2:36), a boring and poorly made music video for Snapline's Pornstar featuring nothing but one Chicagoland model and the one member of the band that Atkins could afford to fly over (5:40), a collection of 51 Chinese propaganda posters (if somebody makes these into posters I'll buy), and a modestly-made, but nonetheless pretty cool video for Yellow Cab by China Dub Soundsystem, a collaboration between Atkins and a couple Chinese musicians (4:23).

The extra I'd most like to have found, a compilation CD of these outstanding bands, sadly is not included (Perhaps this calls for a deluxe collector's edition?).

Final Thoughts:
Sixteen Days in China - A Documentary By Martin Atkins is essentially a 68-minute commercial for Atkins and his Invisible Records label, but advertisements aren't so bad if you like the product. I've come to like Atkins and Invisible records, and I think you might too.

Does Atkins finally manage to sign the bands he wants? Which featured band gets signed to a European tour with Sonic Youth? Does Lindsay get fired? Does Atkins get kicked out of Starbucks or China? Get Sixteen Days in China - A Documentary By Martin Atkins and find out.

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