Lior Suliman and Tal Weiss have stepped out of their general field to produce Ceremony, a conjunction of Chinese noise artists, multi-instrumentalists and tea master Lao Gu. Israeli label EnT-T has more recently been producing conscious left-field dub-inflected pop music as demonstrated by the recent compilation Versions, which highlighted the production talents of Dub Mentor (Lior Suliman): imagine a fusion of folk vocalists with a hybrid production of Massive Attack and Bill Laswell. Producing the Tea Rockers debut album is something of a dramatic step for the label and producer.
Tea Rockers consist of principal Yan Jun engaged in field recording, poetry and noise. He is accompanied by Guqin master Wu Na, folk artist Xiao He, multi-instrumentalist Li Daiguo and tea master Lao Gu. The album ceremony is akin to an idea of a time bridge, bringing cultural traditions of the ancient and the modern into dramatic dialogue. It is also a recordist’s album with the mixing arts an important aspect of the album, shown forcefully in the longest track ‘Three’ of this eight track album where noise and the interests of the form of sound take higher precedence. The album balances these roles, introducing itself initially as cultural heritage, preservation and demonstration of classical instruments and forms before introducing elements that enliven the language with contemporary techniques. For what is culture if it not alive in the tongue of the day but a collection of nostalgic gestures?
However this is a living museum whose miked up instruments are fully at play to a mixer/producer touch and the production of the language encompasses a deep sense of history, or listening if you will to the tradition of Chinese music and culture and cuts in noise manifestations, instrument play aware of traditional use and their subversion. It would take an ear more heavily schooled to Chinese music to give you a more nuanced read of this album but any ear keen on experimental music could tell that this is not merely a rendition of Chinese folk or Classical music, nor some new age pap. There is a sense that sonic and poetic moments that may be be best captured in a live setting, that the ritual form of the ceremony is best described in presence. This video of ‘One‘ may convey the sense of the moment and the ritual of the tea ceremony. Overall, listening to Ceremony describes a sense of delicacy and wonder that suggests deep cultural knowledge and delivers a rendition for contemporary ears.
Innerversitysound
