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| Track list: 1. Chung Kuo 2. The Long March 3. The Dragon 4. The Plum Blossom 5. The Tao of Love 6. The Little Fete 7. Yin & Yang 8. Himalaya 9. Summit Running time: 41 minutes Released: 1979 |
Time for some music older than I am. At some point in the early/mid 2000s I decided to buy up a load of Vangelis albums to explore his work further. I had always loved the Blade Runner soundtrack, and had some things beyond that already, but acquired to fill in gaps. I don't recall ever spending much time or attention on the things I picked up though. China was one of these.
The opening sounds remind me not of Asia, but of helicopters and dystopian sci-fi or cyberpunk. That feeling is enforced further by the tinny electronic notes that carry the first semblance of tune. I rather like the dated darkness, very much of a kind with the Blade Runner score. I suspect this is not going to last as a theme throughout the disc but we'll see. A more recognisible oriental influence is not far behind this opening salvo - whilst still flavoured by our artist's penchant for synths, the patterns are instantly calling the region to mind. Stereotypical sounds, able to be thus because they are, presumably based on enough genuine material to take root.
My player categorises this as "New Age"; how quaint. I get it, but really? Hippy-ish? Akin to crystal healing and tie-dye? OK, so now it is me being unfair with stereotype. Deliberately and to make that point.
As an aside, it occurs to me that Blade Runner is probably now the most oft-referenced post that I have made or have to make at this stage. I wouldn't be surprised if it remains so at the point I either finish, or more likely give up on, this endeavor.
After a pleasing predominantly keyboard piece we get a more urgent, insistent number, synth pulses evoking lasers, quick tight repeating notes bringing a tension, and a high pitched bell-like sounding of an alarm. I suppose it could represent the dangers of a dragon, but it doesn't evoke that very strongly in my view. Oddly the vision I get is some garish, epileptic-fit-inducing intro sequence to an anime show. But that is just me being mean with caricature and stereotype again. On the record, we get back to some more typical sounds, but they morph into a weird cross between synth prog-rock and a curtailed (I initially typed castrated for some reason) loop cut from a western classical composition.
It bears saying that most of these pieces are short, skipping by quickly and easily. There is one 10 minute plus epic on here, but only 2 more are over 5 minutes and there are a few below three. This makes the New Age tag even less of a genuine thing for me. This isn't pretentious and overlong, it isn't all out there, they are shorter, more purposeful compositions. Sure they have an odd tint to them with the waw and the synthesised sounds but they have a heart and soul, too. I am finding them rather enjoyable, though the sudden voice interposing itself over The Little Fete feels out of place and unwelcome. It is in English, spoken with a strong accent. It doesn't destroy the beauty of the simple background arrangement but it does rather dampen my enjoyment of the piece until I adjust to it a few sentences later.
There is a nice twang to the bassy sounds in Yin & Yang which follows, at least initially. I think I see the point, the aim, of the album in this tune. Reverence to an idea, but whilst still fundamentally producing a Vangelis record, marrying up the influences of Chinese composition to the synth wizardry and electronic sensibilities of the composer. Somewhere in there I lost my attention for a second, reading banning notices (other people's not mine) on a webforum. Silly me. Not what I am here for. In the meantime the epic has started, Himalaya.
It sounds like this will have a slow build, I hope that it delivers a climax somewhere, because there is nothing (well, not very much) more frustrating than a long piece with time to build that settles instead for an elongated and unfulfilled tension instead. The early exchanges remind me of 1492: Conquest of Paradise though committed to record a decade and more earlier. It rumbles along with a steady rhythmic structure, a dark overall tone and top end themes that fade in and out. The most piano-like of them is actually really nice, but some of the other layers up there I am less keen on. Almost 7 minutes in, and I do not feel that it is building. This is no crescendo, alas. The music is pleasant enough, and as I start to type something about it stagnating, some louder, more Blade Runner-esque electronics cut in. It's great that they arrived, but it was a little sudden, rather than building organically to the volume and focus. They go again pretty quickly.
I think that last paragraph pretty much works as a generalisation of the composite Vangelis record from my perspective. A lot of good or nice elements, overall very pleasant, but ultimately frustrating in a number of cases - content to meander along, and light on lasting impact. Blade Runner is a notable exception in this, and I think on balance that is down to the fact we have visuals to pair it with - visuals that can be called to mind when hearing the soundtrack again. If that sounds like I am being down on things... well, no. I rather like what I have heard over the last 40 minutes. I just also feel pangs of disappointment that these compositions didn't quite deliver a lasting impression as strong as they might have done.
The opening sounds remind me not of Asia, but of helicopters and dystopian sci-fi or cyberpunk. That feeling is enforced further by the tinny electronic notes that carry the first semblance of tune. I rather like the dated darkness, very much of a kind with the Blade Runner score. I suspect this is not going to last as a theme throughout the disc but we'll see. A more recognisible oriental influence is not far behind this opening salvo - whilst still flavoured by our artist's penchant for synths, the patterns are instantly calling the region to mind. Stereotypical sounds, able to be thus because they are, presumably based on enough genuine material to take root.
My player categorises this as "New Age"; how quaint. I get it, but really? Hippy-ish? Akin to crystal healing and tie-dye? OK, so now it is me being unfair with stereotype. Deliberately and to make that point.
As an aside, it occurs to me that Blade Runner is probably now the most oft-referenced post that I have made or have to make at this stage. I wouldn't be surprised if it remains so at the point I either finish, or more likely give up on, this endeavor.
After a pleasing predominantly keyboard piece we get a more urgent, insistent number, synth pulses evoking lasers, quick tight repeating notes bringing a tension, and a high pitched bell-like sounding of an alarm. I suppose it could represent the dangers of a dragon, but it doesn't evoke that very strongly in my view. Oddly the vision I get is some garish, epileptic-fit-inducing intro sequence to an anime show. But that is just me being mean with caricature and stereotype again. On the record, we get back to some more typical sounds, but they morph into a weird cross between synth prog-rock and a curtailed (I initially typed castrated for some reason) loop cut from a western classical composition.
It bears saying that most of these pieces are short, skipping by quickly and easily. There is one 10 minute plus epic on here, but only 2 more are over 5 minutes and there are a few below three. This makes the New Age tag even less of a genuine thing for me. This isn't pretentious and overlong, it isn't all out there, they are shorter, more purposeful compositions. Sure they have an odd tint to them with the waw and the synthesised sounds but they have a heart and soul, too. I am finding them rather enjoyable, though the sudden voice interposing itself over The Little Fete feels out of place and unwelcome. It is in English, spoken with a strong accent. It doesn't destroy the beauty of the simple background arrangement but it does rather dampen my enjoyment of the piece until I adjust to it a few sentences later.
There is a nice twang to the bassy sounds in Yin & Yang which follows, at least initially. I think I see the point, the aim, of the album in this tune. Reverence to an idea, but whilst still fundamentally producing a Vangelis record, marrying up the influences of Chinese composition to the synth wizardry and electronic sensibilities of the composer. Somewhere in there I lost my attention for a second, reading banning notices (other people's not mine) on a webforum. Silly me. Not what I am here for. In the meantime the epic has started, Himalaya.
It sounds like this will have a slow build, I hope that it delivers a climax somewhere, because there is nothing (well, not very much) more frustrating than a long piece with time to build that settles instead for an elongated and unfulfilled tension instead. The early exchanges remind me of 1492: Conquest of Paradise though committed to record a decade and more earlier. It rumbles along with a steady rhythmic structure, a dark overall tone and top end themes that fade in and out. The most piano-like of them is actually really nice, but some of the other layers up there I am less keen on. Almost 7 minutes in, and I do not feel that it is building. This is no crescendo, alas. The music is pleasant enough, and as I start to type something about it stagnating, some louder, more Blade Runner-esque electronics cut in. It's great that they arrived, but it was a little sudden, rather than building organically to the volume and focus. They go again pretty quickly.
I think that last paragraph pretty much works as a generalisation of the composite Vangelis record from my perspective. A lot of good or nice elements, overall very pleasant, but ultimately frustrating in a number of cases - content to meander along, and light on lasting impact. Blade Runner is a notable exception in this, and I think on balance that is down to the fact we have visuals to pair it with - visuals that can be called to mind when hearing the soundtrack again. If that sounds like I am being down on things... well, no. I rather like what I have heard over the last 40 minutes. I just also feel pangs of disappointment that these compositions didn't quite deliver a lasting impression as strong as they might have done.
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