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1.26.2009

new shanghai restoration project record: zodiac


Happy New Year! It's the Year of the Ox, my friends. Musician Dave Liang, the guy behind The Shanghai Restoration Project, is celebrating the occasion with a new record. Blending traditional Chinese instruments with hip hop and electronica, he's carved out a distinct sound for himself that I've really enjoyed with each release. So how about something new?

Zodiac, out last week, is an project inspired by the Chinese Zodiac. Each of the twelve tracks is inspired by a Chinese fable/proverb about one of twelve animals. Thus, you've got track titles like "vOX," "top DOG," "BOARdom," and "dark HORSE." You get the idea. To learn more, go here, and watch a promo video for Zodiac here.

As someone who's heard all of the Shanghai Restoration Project records, including the remix stuff, this one is... different. In a good way. The vibe is all over the place, which makes sense, as each track seems to have distinct personality. I'm digging it more and more with each listen. Get it at the usual online locations, like iTunes
icon and Amazon.com.