THOMAS PODVIN’S FREELANCE WORK
Freelance writer - translator - Editor

Songwriters, composers, performers and vocalists Fu Zi and Wang Juan have come up with something altogether original: a winning blend of electronic music and ballads. The result is a thirty-minute album of trip hop and downtempo music. Devoid of fancy accompaniment, Gemini Trip offers a musical texture compatible with vocals, a combination that leaves room for the listener’s interpretation. Released on the Beijing-based electronic sub-label Guava, this CD is something of a work in progress; each builds on the previous, and the sound constantly evolves in new directions. The first track, “Gemini Trip” guides listeners through a world of sequencer beats and soothing atmospheric pulses. Hypnotic trip-hop, mellow vocals from Wang and syncopated reggae rhythms follow (“Drip” and “Affection”). From this point, the sound becomes more organic and beats are boosted with synthesizer loops, animal screeches, bird cries, cave ambiance sound and water drop echoes (“Solo Trip” and “Pico Bird”). Non-virtual instruments take control from track six onward: A melodeon suggests carousel music (“Tango ends”) while Fu displays his musical drift in a one-minute cello piece. The last track, a string version of “Tango Ends” offers a purely melodic finale. Fresh and intense, this is one CD that grows better with time.
Modern Sky/Guava

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
February 2006 issue

Another release from iconoclast Liu Xing, whose series of albums bear more connection to world music and new age works than to Brit pop or rap music, though he is known for blending traditional music with Western sounds. Born in Heilongjiang, Liu began studying the yue qin (or moon mandolin) at 12, was admitted by the Shanghai Music Conservatory at 16 and graduated at 20. Proficient with many types of instruments – shu di (clarinet), percussion, bass, zhong ruan (alto long-necked lute) and other string instruments – he’s composed many works. They include classical orchestral pieces (Chinese Orchestral Symphony No.2, Violin Concerto or Erhu Concerto) as well as a number of new-age and world-music albums (The Lake, The Tree or the Fading Village). His eighth album Oceania (2004), inspired by documentaries about the South Pacific islands, incorporates electronic vibes and nature noises (water drops, bird noises, animal grunts) into traditional Chinese music. The distinctive sound has a rich and atmospheric texture, and evokes a walk along the cliffs in one of these dream archipelagos. With Oceania, Liu, acknowledged as China’s contemporary world music pioneer, challenges local copycats of foreign acts to try harder.
Bandu Music/available at http://www.bandumusic.com

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
February 2006 issue

Meng Qi (Mengite) is a young self-taught Chinese electronic-music artist, an expert in beats that directly affect the part of the brain which controls headshakes and hip-swinging. Call it drum ‘n bass, drill ‘n bass, break-beat, chiptune (music synthesized in real-time by sound chips) or psychedelic trance; categorization is futile here. Though Meng has no professional training, he clearly loves music; indeed, he began to play electronic music at age 14. So far, he’s completed more than a thousand musical works, influenced by British electronic-music artists such as Squarepusher, Roni Size and Aphex Twin. With that many recordings, he dramatically increased the odds that he would be noticed. Such was the case in 2004, when one of his demo albums, Vernal Rain, attracted the attention of music moguls. That same year, Meng and French electronic musician Naibu produced the single Cong Lin, which was played over European electronic-music radio stations. In 2005, he signed with the Muzicolor record company and started his own sub-label Mengite, producing and promoting electronic works – and he’s not even 20 yet! The highly-gifted Meng spent the following six months polishing this, his official debut album, Landscape in Love, a smooth drum-and-bass release with melodic hooks and mesmerizing loops.
Mengite/Muzicolor/available at http://www.muzicolor.com

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
February 2006 issue

The original Franz Ferdinand wasn’t a Glasgow rocker with an attitude. Rather he was an Austrian archduke, heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne, whose assassination in 1914 triggered the outbreak of World War I and changed the world. Franz Ferdinand, the indie-rock band, however, aims for world impact of another sort: since their 2001 debut, they’ve made music “that girls can dance to”. Indeed, their brand of post-punk, garage rock and stomping new wave is an open invitation to shake your booty (“This Boy” and “Outsiders”). Influenced by the 1960s Kinks and Beatles, David Bowie circa Boys Keep Swinging, 1980s rock and new-wave acts like XTC (despite their denial), the band features scratchy guitars, percussive sounds and jerking techno beats. Their lyrics are intentionally cryptic, many of which have a double meaning (“The Fallen”). So cryptic, that the lyrics have to be explained to the band members before they play the music. This release, even tastier than the debut Franz Ferdinand, might not change the rock world but it’s a chart-topping good-humored album with better things to come: Franz promise to record an even greater third album after their massive 2006 world tour. Domino

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
February 2006 issue

Guanzhou Chief editor: Christopher Cottrell
February 2006 issue

In March 2005, Shanghai-based music producer Liu Xing embarked on a ten-day journey to the Miao ethnic communities of southeastern Guizhou province. There, life is as basic as it gets. Nevertheless, Liu, the devout musicologist, recorded various Miao songs using what equipment he could find. And in the process, he discovered just how important music is to Miao culture. Their high-pitched melodies have a higher purpose than mere rhythm. Indeed, the 5,000 years of Miao history is transmitted from generation to generation by song. The Miao culture is an oral one. As such, music is everything: a means to convey history and wisdom, and also an act of celebration, recitation or commemoration of national accomplishment. This release includes a 26-page bilingual booklet (Chinese/English) with a brief introduction to the Miao’s culture, their history and, of course, their music. It also includes a diary that provides insight into the recording session, the reclusive Miao lifestyle and the warmth of the people. Above all, the music speaks for itself: with the delicate sounds of the lusheng, a reed-type wind instrument, entering into the rich cultural heritage of the Miao people is a luxury we all can afford.
Bandu Music,1/F, Bldg.11, 50 Moganshan Rd (6276 8267)

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
February 2006 issue

Guanzhou Chief editor: Christopher Cottrell
February 2006 issue

This 12-track CD, recorded in January 1981 in Alberta, Canada, recaps highlights in the long musical career of Ray Charles Robinson (1930-2004). Charles pioneered soul music in the 1960s with his secular brand of gospel music mixed with blues, country and jazz. The result was something all his own, and Charles was immensely popular with both black and white audiences. Indeed, he’s influenced artists as diverse as Stevie Wonder, Joe Cocker and the Beatles. ‘The Genius’, as Frank Sinatra called him, was not only innovative, but prolific as well. Charles had more than thirty hits under his belt, including three number ones: “Hit the Road Jack”, “I Can’t Stop Loving You” and “Georgia”, the latter, a version of Hoagy Carmichael’s “Georgia on My Mind” was named the Georgia state song in the late 1970s. Such was his genius, he even had a hit with the patriotic “America the Beautiful” in the 1960s. A number of Charles’ best songs have featured in TV commercials, jingles and movie scores throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Recently, the unforgettable “I Can’t Stop Loving You” featured in the soundtrack of the 2001 Japanese animated-film Metropolis. This release includes all the above-mentioned songs and more, plus a bonus DVD, recorded at a time when he was at his peak.
EMI

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
February 2006 issue