沼泽 Zhaoze - The Swamp

  This is going to be my first and hopefully not last post written in English. It is an experiment: please be understanding.       

    沼泽 Zhaoze, aka The Swamp is a post-rock band from China. I happened to buy one of Zhaoze's album, almost without knowing what I would find in it. But some words on the cover caught my attention: "古琴摇滚" which means "Guqin Rock music". And thanks to those few words I came to know one very interesting band.


   Before talking about their music, let me introduce the band: Zhaoze has four members:

Zhaoze

• 海亮 (Hz): Guqin, keyboard and vocals
• 细辉 (Littledream): guitar
• 阿来 (Roy): Bass
• 海逊 (Seasean): Drums

Hz playing the guqin

   Now, going back to the album I had in my hands, it was their second guqin featuring album, entitled 《一九一一》"1911". You can listen to it on their website  (http://zhaoze.bandcamp.com/), where you can also buy it and read a brief description.

"1911" cover

   But what about the guqin? The guqin is a traditional seven-string chinese musical instrument and, as it is written on their website,

"Guqin is the major instrument in Zhaoze, binding the band with it's signature bleak and desolated atmosphere. And together with a strong three-piece rock band, skillfully crafted the piece with the structure of symphony, created a long enduring poem in 1911." (from zhaoze.bandcamp.com)  

   "1911", released on 31 december 2011, consists of one long single instrumental track divided into four movements, each of them linked to the others through a progressive theme and by recurrent patterns.

   On their website, at this link, it is also possible to listen to their single, 入夢令 (Into your dream) (2012), written for the film "Mistery" directed by Lou Ye, and to their fifth album (but first featuring the guqin), entitled 滄浪星 Cang Lang Xing (2010) at this link.

  I sincerely recommend that you try and listen to the music of this group and hope you like it as much as I do.

SOME LINKS:

• Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/pages/%E6%B2%BC%E6%B3%BD-Zhaoze/53806369768
• Zhaoze's website: http://zhaoze.bandcamp.com/
• Youtube Channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/zhaoze