I had no idea what to expect from Ying Shui Di Jiang. The supergroup formed by Buddhist faith raised Nanjing artist Zhao Yuan and featuring ten members (including a bassist from Japan) – is less a band than a massive sound project that just happens to get together once in a blue moon. In fact, this was their second ever live performance. But my goodness – what sweet music they make. Combining elements of Buddhism, folk music, improvisation, turntable hip hop, electronica, and ever slivers of doom metal, it’s an invigorating gathering of sounds that should never of have worked. Yet rising forth from the massive band, which included also Shi Jianbo on acoustic guitar, Shigeta on bass, Li Jun on guitar, Guo Dawei on percusiion, DJ Evilbee on the turntables, and Wang Lu (of L+R) on synthesizers and other electronic gadgetry, it couldn’t sound more natural. An exceptional meeting of minds, skills, and ideas – under the same roof – creating transcendent music. The unexpected indeed.
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