Once upon a time, singer-composer Lin Di met bass player Su Yong. Together they self-produced a demo album (Flying) under the name Cold Fairyland. Later on, the pair was joined by three other musicians they’d met and befriended in bars. For the last four years, the band has performed all around China and won fame, if not fortune, in the alternative scene.
In 2003, they released a demo album The Zoon of Stranger (available at www.miyadudu.com). Influenced by Portishead and Pink Floyd, their sound is similar to dream pop, but darker in tone and with the addition of folk elements, exemplified by the cello and pipa, for example. Their ethereal melodies blend feedback and sonic textures with indecipherable vocals akin to Faye Wong or the Cocteau Twins’ Elizabeth Frazer.
Lin Di also has a solo career, one that affords a living; she’s released three world-music albums on a Taiwanese label. The band performs both her solo work and their own music once a month at the ARK Live House in Xintiandi. Cold Fairyland offers all the proof you need that the Shanghai music scene is alive and kicking. With two new works scheduled for summer release, well, what can we say. Stay tuned…

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
July 2005 issue