Intoxicatingly Lost / 沉醉不知處 (Zhaoze / 沼澤, 2016)

Zhaoze (Chinese for "marsh") finally produced in 2016 a CD aimed to the International market and this is its title track, a 12 minutes instrumental. The blend of traditional and rock instruments set in a post-rock frame is fascinating and the beautiful variations bring a rather progressive mood into the song, a mood that is also invigorated by a dreaming electric guitar.  The creative drumming and the firm bass lines also beong to the rock side of Zhaoze, so that one couldn't label this instrumental as a mere atmospheric song.

This beautiful cover art reminds me of Eastern watercolors.

And after all the plot of "Intoxicatingly Lost" is a strongly structureted one, lining up crescendos and calandos, still interludes, interesting interplays and sweet passages. The final flute section  surely is one of my personal highlights from this track, featuring a perfect specimen of melodic deconstruction without any useless tangles. In short, this song is worth our attention and will encourage further explorations on Zhaoze planet.

The Moon Hangs High / 月梦 (Tang Dynasty / 唐朝, 1992)

Tang Dynasty are rather on the metal side of Chinese rock, but they surely were influenced by progressive rock and never forget how melody and atmosphere are important when it comes to writing good songs. This one, for example, comes from the album "A Dream Return to Tang Dynasty" (well, the title itself seems interesting to me...) and belongs to their softer side. I like the way they take advantage of the classic song formula enriching it with instrumental bridges and a vocal emotional crescendo.

"A Dream Return..." was the debut album by Tang Dynasty.

Most of all, the themes are very well found and the Chinese lyrics add a special, unusual (for us) sound to the big picture. Kaiser Kuo's guitars and Ding Wu's vocals are the first contributions the listener appreciates in this track, but the entire band knows how to play without uselessly showing off their skills. After all, a beautiful song doesn't need too much tinsels...

Sparkling / 花火 (Fragile, 2010)

Chinese rock scene specialises more and more in post-rock acts, and some of them show many interesting progressive sides. This is the case with Fragile (well, the name isn't necessarily inspired by the Yes album...), a band that surely knows how to create delicate atmospheres, unpredictable changes and slow, majestic crescendos. "Sparkling" comes from the debut EP of Fragile, called "White Shadows" and is a charming instrumental, based on a well found series of chords and including some delicious breaks and a mandolin-like electric guitar à la Steven Wilson.

As many other young bands, Fragile debuted via Bandcamp site.

This kind of music is somehow dangerous as it can easily slip into a mere ambient sound, but Fragile are clever enough to skip such a risk, thanks to a good deal of musical diversions along the usual post-rock path. They like coherent tracks, but they know that coherence doesn't mean boredom. Hope to listen more from these Hong Kong musicians.

The Flood 洪水 (Cold Fairyland 冷酷仙境, 2005)

Originally released in a Lin Di solo album, "The Flood" (2004) became part of his band Cold Fairyland's repertoire one year later, featuring on their 2005 live tour and their subsequent "Live at ARK" album, released in 2006. And when I listened to those Chinese musicians playing this arcane, deep and mixed track I was simply fascinated. "The Flood" has the magic to melt such different things as Eastern folk music, Western Classical patterns, progressive rock solutions and descriptive ambient into a single pot.

A beautiful live release, including many magical tracks.

Ethereal and delicate, this instrumental song is also powerful and enthralling, mastering volume changes and joining vibrant acoustic instruments and a solid rythm section. Of course, Lin Di's keyboards act as the fairy glue pastng all the details to conjure up a lavish musical fresque. Art, the purest one I can imagine.

Untidal (WhyOceans, 2011)

This is what I call an intense, moving track. There are prog roots in it, but also many elements we'd call post-rock. It comes from "At Land", the debut album of a very interesting Chinese band called WhyOceans. The excellent fusion between keyboards and guitars, the delicate drumming work, the mood changes and the visionary impact of this music are indeniable.

Quite an interesting band, I even like this cover art.

 

For those into prog history, there are many links to some Scandinavian modern bands, but also a vague King Crimson taste and a Brian Eno distant echo. For sure, like for most of the Chinese contemporary prog acts, you'll find here the sense of wonder, an aerial dimension, even a spiritual quest. Nothing too intricated or Tricky, still some ten minutes of unusual and beautiful soundscapes.

To Where The Maps End (Rainbow Danger Club, 2011)

This is a fascinating mix of pop, prog and post-rock, ending up in a melodic and slow tempo song, full of good musical ideas and based on both electric and acoustic instruments, mostly the excellent Lao Xing Gan's trumpet. The melancholy mood of the track isn't as dark as many other contemporary creations. On the contrary, this is a dreamy world where Coldplay meet Genesis and the traditional prog gently flows into the math-rock stream.

"Where Maps End" was the band's debut album.

There's a growing presence of modern prog musicians in China today (you'll find more of them in this blog too), and it seems to me that  these bands set up their rarefied architectures with a keen attention to details and an undeniable good taste. IMHO, this track is but another proof of such a musical blossoming. Hope you'll enjoy it.

Polluted Pool 污水塘 (Wang Wen 惘闻, 2008)

I sometimes add to my blog songs pertaining to the so called post rock scene, especially when I smell some prog scent in it. With this song, taken from their fourth studio album, Wang Wen - a yourng chinese fivesome - surely pay a tribute to such bands as Sigur Rós, but also to prog masters, especially to King Crimson. The track is set up very well, with a slow double guitar intro by Xie Yugang and Geng Xin, soon joined by the rithm section and the keyboards.

Wang Wen released six studio albums up to 2012.

Slow as it is, this 6:27 minutes instrumental piece is never boring, because the musicians know how to change the tempos and the moods. So, the slowest section (from minute 2:18 to 4:22), cleverly prepare the listener to the rock pre-finale, including an original chinese-sounding electric guitar and fading into a dreaming closing section. Very well done, my Eastern friends. 

Ghost Town Nightmare 荒城梦魇 (Cold Fairyland 冷酷仙境, 2007)

I knew that - sooner or later - a Chinese prog rock track would surface in my blog. And still, I couldn't have imagined such a beautiful one. This "Ghost Town Nightmare" isn't a nightmare, it's a sweet and pleasant dream. Full of Eastern folk moments, it is nevertheless a perfect modern prog song, with all the changes and the delicate feelings one could desire.

In this album the band went acoustic. And they did it very well.

Taken from the third band's album, "Seeds on The Ground" (地上的种子), this downtempo track features (as the whole allbum does) an acoustic arrangement including the traditional instruments pipa and ruan, played by Lin Di, whose sweet vocals I really like. An universe of ancient legends, mysterious nature and pure skies materialize before your very eyes and a deep fascination takes you away from the material world. A new and reviving experience I highly recommend to you all. And 你好 or nǐ hǎo if you better like!