It is with great fanfare that I readily admit that much which I don’t know: I admit, that much like you, I’m not entirely sure of all the history or story behind the music I’m sharing today. The title of this mix (my latest for LYL Radio): “Thoughts Of Zen (Ambient, New Age, & Environmental Music Of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and China: 1986-2000)” posits more of a supposition than a proposition, on my part.
My supposition is that in places where China (or Chinese influence) was left to flourish freely, without political dictate or influence, artists — like the ones here — started to chart a course bridging their roots in traditional music with that in the avantgarde and contemporary, in essence making a “new world music” as Cong Su once championed, a “Folk Arts Revival” as Endeavour would venture, something that could be universal simply by drawing from a shared past.
At first glance, though, many of these artists worked within whatever venues they had to present their music. Soundtracking films, TV, and commercials, for some. Completing commissioned works for theater, dance, and visual installations for others. Doing work behind the scenes, trying skirt censorship, by stuffing their musical canvas with things undoubtedly from their direct sphere of knowledge.
In very zen ways, packing immense density in a blindingly small amount of space (through space) was par the course. You name it: Taiwan moving away from authoritarian rulers, Hong Kong going through a sadly brief cultural renaissance pre-British turnover, and China tamping down the worst of their Cultural Revolution.
As always/anywhere, musicians traffic in their best material when they have the most freedom to do so.
So, hopefully, with time, I’ll do my best to carve out some of their story, to better build a history, anyone can run with. At the moment, we’re all students of a mercurial teacher. This means, for all intents and purposes: here’s as good a starting point as any…
Thoughts Of Zen
Tracklist:
Du Chong (杜冲): 潇洒走一回 (Xiao Sa Zou Yi Hui)
David Mingyue Liang (梁銘越): 長風萬里 (Winds of a Thousand Li)
Endeavour (民藝復興): 祭舞 (Sacrificial Dance)
Cong Su (蘇聰): 機場/加州玫瑰花車/高雄港/海灘上的泳者 (The Airport/California’s Rose-Parade/Kaohsiung Port/The Swimmer On The Beach)
Dadawa (朱哲琴): 卓玛的卓玛 (Zhouma of Zhoumas)
Chen Shyh-Shing (陳世興): 東山 (Mount East)
Yuan Jung-Ping (袁中平): 浮雲 (Floating Clouds)
Chan Wing Leung (陈永良): 苦工、嫲嫲去世、搞四化 (Bitter Labour, Grandma Passed Away, Four Modernizations)
Liu Xing (刘星): 無所事事 (To Do Nothing)
Wu Yiwen (武亦文): 蛙的情话 (Soft Nothings Of The Frogs)
Chen Yang (陳揚): 夏 (Summer)
Kang Qiao (康喬): 歸園田居 (Guiyuan Tianju)
John Chen (陈国平): 禅意 (Thoughts of Zen)