VOA标准英语2013--International Performers Flock to Texas Music Festival

 

International Performers Flock to Texas Music Festival

Playing on Austin's club-lined Sixth Street, the British folk group Skinny Lister charms the crowd.

It cost them a lot of money to come here two years in a row but group guitarist Daniel says it is worth it.

“Last year we came and we managed to pick up our American record label from a guy who saw us in a pub we played in just down on Sixth Street here.”

During South by Southwest you can hear American music as well as music from Europe, Africa and Asia.

Nearly half of the 800 bands playing here night and day during the festival are from other countries.

K-Pop fever

One of the biggest draws this year was the K-Pop show, where fans lined up to hear 11 Korean groups perform, among them a hard rock group called Galaxy¹ Express.

Galaxy Express guitarist and singer Park Jonghyun says the music has universal appeal.

“People always love rock and roll, it is so wild and [we have] leather jackets, you know.”

He says they enjoy the diversity of fans they encounter at South by Southwest, especially talking to and making friends with people from other countries.

David and Alex, friends from Houston, are among their big fans. David says that he listens only to Korean music, while Alex adds that he used to listen to it while living in China where, he says, it really infiltrated² the local market.

K-Pop fans around the world have discovered Korean groups by watching their videos on YouTube and other online sites.

Last year, the “Gangnam Style” video by South Korea's PSY became YouTube's most-watched video ever.

The CEO of Billboard³ Magazine-Korea, Clayton Jin, says the South Korean music industry is geared toward export.

“It produces between 50 and 60 new artists every single year. Not all of them get accepted, but K-Pop is getting more and more acceptance outside of Korea and when the Korean manager companies design groups, they make groups, they design them for the international market, not just for Korea.”

Some of the Korean groups as well as groups from other countries playing that played at South by Southwest will go on to perform at other venues⁴ in the United States before heading home. 

1 galaxy   

n.星系；银河系；一群(杰出或著名的人物)

参考例句：

• The earth is one of the planets in the Galaxy.地球是银河系中的星球之一。
• The company has a galaxy of talent.该公司拥有一批优秀的人才。

2 infiltrated   

adj.[医]浸润的v.（使）渗透，（指思想）渗入人的心中( infiltrate的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The headquarters had been infiltrated by enemy spies. 总部混入了敌方特务。
• Many Chinese idioms have infiltrated into the Japanese language. 许多中国成语浸透到日语中。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

3 billboard   

n.布告板，揭示栏，广告牌

参考例句：

• He ploughed his energies into his father's billboard business.他把精力投入到父亲的广告牌业务中。
• Billboard spreads will be simpler and more eye-catching.广告牌广告会比较简单且更引人注目。

4 venues   

n.聚集地点( venue的名词复数 )；会场；（尤指）体育比赛场所；犯罪地点

参考例句：

• The band will be playing at 20 different venues on their UK tour. 这个乐队在英国巡回演出期间将在20个不同的地点演出。
• Farmers market corner, 800 meters long, 60 meters wide livestock trading venues. 农牧市场东北角，有长800米，宽60米的牲畜交易场地。 来自互联网