Aug 15/08
Zhao Guang
More music from the folks at MicroMu today. Remember that you can download all of the tracks I post plus the full EPs and LPs at the MicroMu site. If you have trouble reading the Chinese (as most of us will) I’ll provide direct download links in these posts.
Today we’ll be hearing a couple tracks by the young Zhao Guang. This first of the MicroMu EPs is, once again, a wonderful listen. Long-time Benn loxo listeners will know that I’m always a sucker for nice, simple, jangly acoustic guitar music from any country. Finding this kind of sound in China was a pleasant surprise.
This EP was recorded a couple months ago in June, 2008. You can download the whole EP here: http://www.micromu.com/wp-content/uploads/MMDSEP001%5BMicroMu%5D.zip.
The title of the first track translates to “Throwing Handkerchiefs”. As Ed Peto explains, “This is based on an old Chinese children’s game. In the song, Zhao Guang talks of throwing a handkerchief off a building and resolving to follow whoever picks it up.”
The second, 小苹果公主, means “Little Apple Princess”. It’s “about a shallow girl..’you change your hairstyle, cut off your long hair, smile at the cars as they pass by, and jump onto the back seat of a stranger’s bicycle’”.
Apologies in advance for this popular reference, but I immediately thought of Bob Dylan when I heard the first track. In a very good way..
赵光 – 丢手绢 (Zhao Guang – Throwing Handkerchiefs)
赵光 – 小苹果公主 (Zhao Guang – Little Apple Princess)
Yes!
Like your reference to the ‘Little Apple Princess’, makes me think of all the cute little Chinese girls eating sweet & sour apple’s in the streets of Beijing, especially in wintertime blowing white clouds … Soon, soon, back to Beijiing!
Thanks for the always positive posts! They make my days!
Cheers,
Wiet
PS in your style listening to a great Samoëla tape I brought back from Madagascar, long live the music!
[...] along like a house on fire and he got pretty enthused with what we are up to, enough to “blog the shit“ out of our [...]
Thank you for sharing his music with us – do you know if it is available under a creative commons license? I’d like to include it in my show, with appropriate credits, of course.
Thanks,
bob