Take an ancient tradition, allow it to rapidly meet the sounds from the rest of the world, and some really interesting things happen. The Rough Guide To The Music Of China illustrates this cultural collision with some amazing results. Since the sounds of Western rock are a fairly recent inclusion to the cultural diet of the Chinese, and since this is a nation fiercely proud of its own tradition, the breadth of this disc is rather stunning. The sub-title to this disc says it all: "ancient traditions to Beijing punk!"
Considering that the Chinese people have been isolated from external musical influences for the majority of the last 60 years, and didn't have much contact before the Cultural Revolution, a healthy tradition has managed to survive to this day, supported by both the government and even the younger aspects of the population. This glorious music is represented here by many artists. Particularly touching is the soft "The Night of Bonfire," performed on the pipa (picked dulcimer) by Liu Fang, currently a resident of Canada. Performed with a wisp of percussion by Farhan Sabbagh, the delicate song races forward to a breakneck tempo by mid-song. Not bad for an artist in her 20s! The gentle qin (7 string zither) playing of Yao Gongbai on "Jiu Kuang" is also satisfying: with a lilt more commonly associated with the music of Africa, the ballad is soothing, if not smoothly performed.
The influence of the West rears its head a lot on this disc, although with often surprising results. Al Jing, a singer-songwriter in the Western tradition, takes the simple structure of an Alanis Morissette style pop song, and interjects middle section more representative of her tradition, with plucked zither and the unison chorus singing we think of when we think of Chinese music, before returning to a more Western sound. Her politically charged "My 1997" is a perfect hybrid of styles, if somewhat calculated (a Chinese Madonna!) "Nocturnal Light" is another interesting hybrid by Kin Taii, mixing traditional structure and form in an electronica style backdrop, sounding like Kraftwerk jamming with an erhu (Chinese fiddle) player. A chanted, effected vocal creates a spooky atmosphere.
Of course, like in many cultures, some musicians dispose of the tradition altogether. The aforementioned punk band, Hang On The Box, even sing in broken English: their track "Yellow Banana," keeps the spirit of 1977 alive quite nicely. But most of these artists interject a least an aspect of the past in their music. "Yi Wu Suo You" by the energetic Cui Jian starts of as typical brooding Asian pop with some very punk vocals in the Operatic tradition, before breaking down into a cycling of riffs that recall the Police. (It would be fun to see these guys and, say, Fishbone play together!) Although I could do without the tracks from the 1940's pop explosion (too much like the Hollywood "Chinese" music of the period for my liking), the rest of the disc is of pretty high quality.
Indeed, I was rather shocked at how well most of this music was recorded: obviously, Western technology is not lost on these musicians. Vocals always seem to be forefront in the mixes, echoing the oral tradition of this music as well. The packaging is typical for the Rough Guide series, with decent liner notes and a good discography. Thankfully, World Music Network has dropped the advertising of their product in the back of the track booklet: let's hope more labels follow suit!
There is such a wealth of music coming out of China nowadays to utterly perplex anyone wanting to check out the music from this region. The Rough Guide To China is an excellent starting point, very balanced between the new and the old sounds from this nation. This is one of the best of the Rough Guides I have listened to, and it's really worth checking out.
