Song Title: “The Incident” 《事变》
Artist: Whale Circus《鲸鱼马戏团》
Album: "Du Yuesheng and Meng Xiaodong’s Love in Jiangnan” 《情爱江南之杜月笙与孟小冬》
Release Date: February 14, 2020
Li Xingyu’s personal music project, Whale Circus, performs as either a solo or a fixed band. Since the creation of Whale Circus, Li Xingyu hopes to convey this concept:
"I will never set a frame for myself. I hope that everyone will find their own shadow in my music. Similar fragments of life are what weaves this world together. I hope what everyone hears comes from a real person who speaks to himself, to everyone, and speaks from the heart that is common to every life."
The group combines many different musical styles/approaches such as ambient, minimalism, neoclassical, post-rock, and new-age. Regarding the current state of the entertainment industry, Li Xingyu said:
"I don’t want too many people to consume themselves in stress. In order to bring fun to the public, I need to work hard to turn myself into an interesting person. This is not actually making music, but it is to create myself as a public image. I hope I can make music for a long time, rather than do too many things at once and be in an awkward situation."
For live shows, they emulate a studio sound with a combination of electro-acoustic and double string instruments.
“We have prepared several new albums for this year, but we have not finalized release dates yet. Because of the pandemic, we estimate to release any news about albums and performances at the beginning of next year.”
Based on Ding Taisheng's poem of the same name, “The Incident” is one of four traditional Chinese songs on the album "Love in Jiangnan."
“The "Love in Jiangnan" series is different from other works of Whale Circus because it is an attempt to experiment with traditional music. In fact, the album was created three years ago. In the past few years, we have been exploring more traditional music and have been in the process of creating new songs that might be released in the near future.”
Each of the four parts in this album (Xi Shi and Fan Li, Zhang Shicheng and Liu Shi, Mao Pijiang and Dong Xiaowan, Meng Xiaodong, and Du Yuesheng) tells a different story of love and history. "The Incident" weaves in and out of different styles and completely defies genre. A sincere piano intro slowly underlays a militarized drum beat. Subsequently, an intensely percussive orchestral line builds toward a decaying drone and a lasting drumbeat. All seven minutes feel like an epic tale:
"The Incident" comes from the chapters of Meng Xiaodong and Du Yuesheng. There are actually a variety of interpretations of this story, however, I chose to put myself in the perspective of Meng Xiaodong.”
The leader of the group, Li Xingyu, contributes his excellent acoustic design skills to a wide variety of projects. At Cui Jian’s recording studio, he launched “52Hz Sound Plaza” which aims to explore audio art spaces beyond music:
“In 2018, the “52Hz Sound Plaza” sound-seeking project was officially launched where I will be cooperating with the Modian website’s cloud storage and trying the paid subscription for the first time. I have always hoped that these projects can maintain its purity and indie heart. Furthermore, I hope that I can use this journey to learn and grow together with everyone who loves Xinjiang culture and music and explore the charm of the Western Regions (in China) with sound.”
“When a person has experienced several ups and downs and also has stood at the highest points in their lives, their “stage” becomes crushed by mainstream values. Love is like a piece of driftwood, flowing with the waves, but clearly visible to the eye.”
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