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Reviews

Zhaoze — No Answer Blowin' in the Wind
(Bandcamp no#, 2023, DL)

by Jon Davis, Published 2023-07-09

No Answer Blowin' in the Wind Cover art

With each release, Zhaoze continues to delve further into their own musical world, and while it is sometimes far removed from our day-to-day world (at least in musical terms), it’s a fascinating and moving place to visit. The band has been around since about 2005, and they released three albums of relatively conventional rock music before discovering their true calling with Cang Ling Xing (2010), turning to almost completely instrumental music featuring Hoyliang’s guqin in the lead role. No Answer Blowin’ in the Wind is their latest offering, and this time out, the English title is a straight translation of the Chinese. For this album, rather than the single extended track of Birds Contending (2018), they present eight shorter tracks that describe a sonic journey of great beauty and drama. They resemble a typical post-rock band at times, with quiet atmospheric passages that contrast with powerful climaxes, but instead of the standard slow-build flow that most bands fall into, Zhaoze is constantly mixing it up. “Ask the Wind” starts the album with a plaintive flute, answered by a xylophone, leading into a floating section with heavily effected guitar and subtle bass. Then the bowed guqin comes in with a cello-like melody, but they shortly drift away into the mist. It’s a fitting introduction to the sounds lying ahead. “Standing in Wind” brings in the full band, with pounding drums forming the backbone of the track along with staccato guitar notes. “2-Dimension (Turning Point)” is a very odd track, structurally at least. For the first two and a half minutes of its seven-minute length, you hear distant echoing sounds from guitar and guqin, scrapes and quiet wails, then without warning it’s a big, intense climax for the full band — but that lasts only about a minute, and it finishes with three more minutes of atmospheric noises. It’s as if you were walking through a misty forest where nothing is seen clearly, then suddenly you burst into a sunlit clearing, so bright you can hardly see, only to be once more engulfed in fog. The track is quite unconventional, but deeply affecting. Much like classical Chinese poetry can carry a multitude of images and emotions in very few words, Zhaoze has a talent for evoking vivid impressions with few notes, and freed of the bond of language, their music can reach outside the boundaries of their homeland. I’d like to draw special attention to Seasean’s drumming this time out. The fact that much of the album avoids the drum kit makes it all the more powerful when it appears, and his way of using the kit isn’t like a typical rock drummer, punctuating the music with toms that cut through the other instruments without overpowering. I can’t recommend No Answer Blowin’ in the Wind highly enough — even listeners without a particular interest in Chinese music or post-rock should be able to enjoy it, provided they’re willing to calm their minds and devote a little time.

Filed under: New releases, 2023 releases

Related artist(s): Zhaoze (Swamp)

More info
http://zhaoze.bandcamp.com/album/no-answer-blowin-in-the-wind

 

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