Tzadik
The Tzadik Composer Series continues to uncover young and unheard talent from all corners of the globe. John Zorn and Yamatsaka Eye’s 1995 visit to Hong Kong and mainland China will not soon be forgotten by either the guests or the hosts… on of the highlights of this trip was the discovery of Li Chin Sung.
Sung’s debut album, a collection of his works from 1992 to 1995, was never intended for commercial release. The subject matter of his work is deeply personal, dealing with the people and things around him, especially his family and friends, and as such does not always obey traditional musical logic.
Past presents intriguing and personal ambient/noise/environmental works by this adventurous young Hong Kong composer. Inspired by influences as diverse as Brit-pop, Luc Ferrari and Taoism, Sung has created a unique sound world that is both perplexing and seductive.
Review by Joslyn Layne (www.allmusic.com)
Past is a flow of modern compositions whose sounds are culled from an industrial soundscape vocabulary. Each composition flows into the next, and during the first two, banging metal and construction sounds are used as gunfire, while dragged chains are flung against poles. As construction parts clang against each other, the sounds carry with an open ring that places the piece outdoors. At times more like the shattered images of a sound collage, Li Chin Sung’s compositions range from the alien cavernous soundscape of “Dream On” to the brutal violence of “Yin 1.” Often focused on the percussive use of sound, there are times when the layered samples become like very tough industrial dance tracks, as in “Suffocation” and “Wake Up and Death.” Other tracks have a cathartic, thick, grained fuzz, with fast-escaping bleeps that sound like escaping steam from a pressurized industrial life.
Forced Exposure
Discovered on the historic 1995 Zorn/Eye tour of China. “Sung’s debut album, a collection of his works from 1992 to ’95, was never intended for commercial release. The subject matter of this work is deeply personal, dealing with the people and things around him, especially his family and friends, and as such does not always obey traditional music logic…Past presents intriguing and personal ambient/noise/environmental works by this adventurous young Hong Kong composer. Inspired by influences as diverse as Brit-pop, Luc Ferrari and Taoism, Sung has created a unique sound world that is both perplexing and seductive.” Performed almost completely solo by Sung, on percussion, guitar, CD, synthesizer, voice and tapes; it’s noisy and unpredictable, and should go over big with Otomo Yoshihide fanatics.