| Alive |
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| Culture | |
| Tuesday, 08 April 2008 | |
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Nominated for the BBC Radio 3 World Music
Awards, and releasing an album in a year of heightened interest in Chinese
culture, Sa Dingding is clearly gaining attention. And Alive
- from the artwork of its CD sleeve and cover, to the ethereal, escapist
sussuration of sound - smacks of a calculated stylization. Indeed,
the sleeve itself calls her "an unprecedented and mysterious artist". Not necessarily a bad thing, but so broadly
does she cast her vocal range, in ostensible service of ethnic song,
you occasionally hope that Sa Dingding would settle down to the sound
that suits her best. But this is Sa Dingding's project - composing
most of the music and lyrics and producing virtually every track. In simple terms, Alive
is an eight-track album with two of the songs, including the title track,
redone in a different language. And Sa Dingding runs the range
- Mandarin, Sanskrit, Tibetan, and even a "self-created" language
- all fitting in with her aim of referencing the sounds of different
Asian regions, from Mongolia and Tibet to modern China itself. Mantras and traditional-sounding folk
tunes, fused together with dance club rhythms, seek to create a hypnotically
spiritual - if not directly religious - tone, spelled out in titles
such as Holy Incense (Mantra), Oldster by the Xilian River and Flickering
with Blossoms. To hear Sa Dingding's voice in its
simplest and perhaps best form, skip to the last track - (Qin Shang),
less encumbered with counter-productive sound. The rest of the
album displays an intriguing, but variously engaging, range of vocal
skill. As a title track, Alive is likely to work most as a ‘single'
- hypnotic after a folk intro that's probably annoying after several
plays. But it's the album's opener that
foretells the range of surprises in store - with western, soupy orchestral
sounds playing against Sa Dingding's deliberately childlike voice-over
before rupturing the intriguing calm with a sudden rumbling rhythm and
a sky-flying, wing-stretched, thin-sounding wail. Indeed the first three songs maintain
a constriction of voice before Oldster by Xilian River bursts the banks
with Sa Dingding's self-created language - a more raking, strident
sound which would've sounded better were it not for the over-production
and repetitive nature of the track. In another sudden switch, with Tuo Luo
Ni, sees a softer, lyrical, sound. Childlike, it's still a thin,
mountain-top voice but a rocky modern rhythm underscores it well. However,
the next tracks revert to a rumble of rhythms owing more to the computer
in the studio than the clear air of the cultures Sa Dingding is singing
about. As an album, Alive
works best on the less over-crowded tracks, when Sa Dingding's evidently
talented voice is given space to rattle and hum: sparseness of
acoustic accompaniment allows its shading and quietness to come through.
And while the last song may seem to some the most bland, shorn of ethno-techno
packaging, Sa Dingding's lullaby lilt is colourful and calming. Sa Dingding is calculating to make her
mark with this album. And it's both a remarkable and an unremarkable
listen. But if she can clear away the clutter and settle
down to material that really suits her voice, there'll be a lot of
people looking forward to hearing more. Glenn Watson Sa Dingding album Alive is released in the UK on Wrasse Records on 14 April 08. Sign up to our mailing list by emailing This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it for your chance to win one of 5 copies of Sa DingDing's new Album. For more information, see: |
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Already a huge star in South East Asia,
Sa Dingding now releases her first international album - Alive.
It's an eclectic calling card, cleverly fusing eastern and western
sounds. Running through, though, is a range of languages, vocal
styles and rhythms all designed for one purpose - to showcase the
voice and personality of the star herself. | < Prev | Next > |
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