(6) Ai Zai 2012 - Is this the pivot? Easily the hardest song to digest. 3:54 – now those synth sounds are SR-worthy.

2:16: Droplet sound? (Buddhist impermanence droplet sound?) Lots of attention to details. Rhythm stop around 1:58 and sounds get trippier, as they do at times. “Walalalala” Well what can you say? Big heavy thwack beat that I don’t like but tolerate. (5) Zhi Shang Ai - Some of the electronic sounds here seem a good deal more contemporary than they do on much of the album. Or maybe I just zone out during much of this album. (There's a new excuse for mentioning Kate Bush.) This is another ballad, and we are talking about an actual Chinese pop star remember, so this is pretty sweet, but I think it may still be digestible by western ears. (4) Huang Ru Ge Shi - The farm animal noises make me think of Kate Bush. Okay, this is pretty uneventful, but okay. I do prefer the portion of this one with the floaty vocals, however. There are other days it’s delightfully ridiculous. (2) Ru Ying Sui Xing - What to say about a song that starts off sounding a bit like Ofra Haza, but ends up with a Hmong choir singing “Ode to Joy” with an annoyingly bombastic 80s type beat? There are some days I can’t really listen to this.

This is certainly the standout single of the album. It’s triumphant and I don’t need to know what she’s singing about. Worst thing for me is the excessively heavy beat, but it doesn’t ruin the song for me by any means. Layers of rhythmic complexity I missed first time around. Vocal technique reminds me of a more subdued Mauritanian singing or something. The poor production choices (especially the dated big thwacking electronic beats) are balanced out by the many other brilliant studio touches. Tarab? Interruptions, the better to cast a spell. Lots of stop and start, shift, change of pace. These are my notes from her latest album:įirst off: Sa Dingding has an amazing voice and amazing vocal technique.

Sa Dingding The Coming Ones