I’m planning to do a series of posts regarding music that was influential in the music of Zhongyu. Some of the influences are widely known bands from the US, Europe, and England, but I’m starting with one of the less known groups that helped inspire me. When I moved to China in 2006, one of the first things I did was start searching to see if there was any music there that could be called “progressive” in any way. Cold Fairyland (冷酷仙境, Lěngkù Xiānjìng) was one of the first things I found.
All of their albums are good, with variations on their sound, which is based around the pipa and voice of leader Lin Di. But I think the album that realizes their esthetic most effectively is their 2007 album called 地上的种子, or Seeds on the Ground in English.
This album is a gem from start to finish, with interesting arrangements, excellent musicianship, odd meters, and all of the things I like in music.
I wrote a review covering several of their albums for Exposé Online in 2008, before Zhongyu was even a glimmer in my mind. And I was lucky enough to see them play live at a festival in Beijing in October of 2008.
The venue was not at all conducive to photography with the small digital camera I had at the time. This is one of the better shots I manged to get.
I managed to make contact with Lin Di after the performance and ended up doing an email interview with her and her bandmates. It was published in the Exposé print magazine in 2010, and is now available online.
For the Asian influences in Zhongyu’s music, this is the strongest source. Unfortunately, the band is no longer active, and Seeds on the Ground was their last album of new music. Lin Di has released some solo works, and there are a couple of compilation albums of Cold Fairyland tracks.
Lin Di’s solo albums are also worth investigating.