Quite interesting, incidentally … 6/10 I have been a keen advoate of all things Damon Albarn post-Graham Coxon (i.e., Blur’s ‘Think Tank‘ and beyond) so was understandably quite excited by the album release of ‘Monkey, Journey to the West‘. I had not seen the Chinese opera-spectacular which this album scores but I didn’t let that [...]
Album Review: Monkey, Journey to the West
September 11th, 2008 · No Comments · Ambient, Electro, Electronica, Music, Psychedelia, Soundtrack, World music
Tags:China·Chinese Opera·Damon Albarn·Electronica·harp·incidental music·Jamie Hewlett·synths
Wild Swans – Jung Chang
June 3rd, 2008 · No Comments · Non-fiction
The stuff of nightmares 9/10 Jung Chang’s autobiographical story of three generations of women living through China’s tumultuous 20th century is fascinating and terrifying. Given that it is a subjective account of the key events in modern Chinese history, ‘Wild Swans‘ provides a compelling and informative narrative that brings to life complex socio-historic transformations in [...]
Tags:China·Communism·Concubines·Cultural Revolution·history·Jung Chang·Manchu Empire·Mao·Marxism·paranoia·War·Warlords·World War II