post rock / ambient rock / art rock / alternative
Birds Contending is an album released on November 23, by Chinese alternative rock group Zhaoze. With only one track – the eponymous Birds Contending – which lasts more than forty-three minutes, this surreal, intense and poetic epic symphony definitely showcases a special and monumental sound, that unravels a vastly different level of musical creativity, profoundly grounded in oblique, frugal and perceptive experimentalism, without fear to display a genuine and exceptional will to create something new, and entirely different.
With a more protuberant and lenient delicacy, that combines classical Chinese instruments and traditional musical elements, the style of Zhaoze is organic and mostly natural, the melodies flow with the spiritual essence of its proverbial calmness and unbreakable serenity. With an exceptional, but meticulous technicality, though, that proves able to sustain a paradox that is fully aligned with more aggressive, but conversely downplayed sonorous layers, the formidable convergence they display of an ambient rock sound with a postclassical surreal sensitivity is exceedingly brilliant and emotional, being essentially genuine and quasi-minimalist in the structure of its inherent nature.
They sound very enthusiastic – despite the calmness of their style –, and the continuous turnarounds Birds Contending do all the time keeps the music a constant inventive surprise, that keeps adding an excitement to their boundless creativity. A great lesson on music experimentation, this one-track album is a rapturous sonorous experience, that integrates with crafted, but imponderable sensibility the most marvelous elements of the group’s musical abilities, concerning synchronicity, sound refinement, elegant melodies, and a sophisticated musical layout. With a general basis that departs from a very consistent and thoroughly original sonorous premise, definitely Zhaoze undoubtedly proves they are a fantastic band, and Birds Contending should be considered the art rock album of the year.
An epic one-track album that definitely displays marvelous musical excitement and a proverbial originality, Birds Contending is a surreal and groundbreaking sonorous experience. I have no doubt about their potential to be China’s greatest underground act in their genre of choice. Certainly, I became very anxious to discover what they are going to release in the future.
Wagner
With a more protuberant and lenient delicacy, that combines classical Chinese instruments and traditional musical elements, the style of Zhaoze is organic and mostly natural, the melodies flow with the spiritual essence of its proverbial calmness and unbreakable serenity. With an exceptional, but meticulous technicality, though, that proves able to sustain a paradox that is fully aligned with more aggressive, but conversely downplayed sonorous layers, the formidable convergence they display of an ambient rock sound with a postclassical surreal sensitivity is exceedingly brilliant and emotional, being essentially genuine and quasi-minimalist in the structure of its inherent nature.
They sound very enthusiastic – despite the calmness of their style –, and the continuous turnarounds Birds Contending do all the time keeps the music a constant inventive surprise, that keeps adding an excitement to their boundless creativity. A great lesson on music experimentation, this one-track album is a rapturous sonorous experience, that integrates with crafted, but imponderable sensibility the most marvelous elements of the group’s musical abilities, concerning synchronicity, sound refinement, elegant melodies, and a sophisticated musical layout. With a general basis that departs from a very consistent and thoroughly original sonorous premise, definitely Zhaoze undoubtedly proves they are a fantastic band, and Birds Contending should be considered the art rock album of the year.
An epic one-track album that definitely displays marvelous musical excitement and a proverbial originality, Birds Contending is a surreal and groundbreaking sonorous experience. I have no doubt about their potential to be China’s greatest underground act in their genre of choice. Certainly, I became very anxious to discover what they are going to release in the future.
Wagner
