Review: Carrying the legacy of their late uncle, who was the cult and crate digger's favourite qawwali legend Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan, Rizwan-Muazzam Qawwali return with a profoundly moving collection of songs on At the Feet of the Beloved. The album pulses with the intense emotions of love's anxious passion and the dreamlike devotion it inspires. The vocals and arrangements are masterfully refined throughout so sit in harmony with the work of the ensemble to create a transcendent musical experience that takes you way beyond your own world and into new realms.
Li Li Hua & Yan Hua - "A Thousand Birds Facing The Phoenix" (3:12)
Zhou Xuan - "Age Of Bloom" (2:50)
Bai Guang - "Waiting For Your Return" (3:30)
Wu Yingyin - "The Moonlight Sends My Lovesickness Across A Thousand Miles" (2:21)
Wang Renmei - "Song Of The Fishermen" (2:44)
Yao Lee & Yao Min - "Congratulations, Congratulations" (2:23)
Bai Hong - "Suzhou Nocturne" (3:11)
Zhou Xuan & Han Langen - "Mahjong Classic" (2:35)
Yao Lee - "Lovesick Tears" (3:05)
Gong Qiuxia - "The Girl By The Autumn Water" (2:40)
Yuan Meiyun - "The Most Beautiful Boy" (2:38)
Zhou Xuan & Yan Hua - "New Life Of Love" (3:03)
Yao Lee & Yao Min - "Oh Susan" (3:15)
Du Jie - "Chinese New Year Song" (3:32)
Zhang Jing, Zhou Xuan & Li Mingjian - "Bells" (3:00)
Qu Yunyun - "Simple Life" (2:48)
Liu Qi - "Tired Of Dancing" (2:59)
Bai Guang - "Expectation" (3:09)
Review: We bloody love the Death Is Not The End label. It's the sort of outlet that vinyl lovers fawn over because it only deals in fascinating sounds from lesser-known musical worlds. Enter this latest project: Shidaiqu, meaning "songs of the era," emerged in 1920s Shanghai as a fusion of Western pop, jazz, blues and Hollywood soundtracks with traditional Chinese elements. This hybrid genre shaped a golden age of Chinese popular music and film during the pre-Communist interwar period. This record anthologises shidaiqu's evolution, from Li Jinhui's pioneering 1927 song 'Drizzle' sung by his daughter Li Minghui to polished 1930s-40s works by the Seven Great Singing Stars, including Zhou Xuan and Bai Guang. A wonderful trip into the unknown.
Review: On a new compilation tracking the performances of various mouth organ groups in the region, Sub Rosa head Guy Marc Hinant levels a timely critique at the commodification of southern Chinese traditional styles native to Guizhou Province. Though he uses the term Miao here, he also reflects on the label's unfortunate popularisation as a product of global market economisation, a trend which between 2006 and 2013 he witnessed first hand, having lived in the area of Dali, Yunnan. This arresting eight-track compilation follows Hinant's very real effort to champion authentic, non-commercial musicians over and above ethno-touristic copycats and recuperators, resulting in this reverent, on-the-ground collection of wedding dances and travelling songs.
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