March 09, 2005
Various | Streets of Lhasa |Sublime Frequencies | Tibet
This is a simple CD of street recordings made in Tibet. It reminds me of what a great idea recording originally was--you put a microphone somewhere and later it sounds like you’re back in that place. I’d rather drink in these folk songs and ambiences than listen to most of the processed spray cheese that passes for music today.
The MiniDisc may be America’s least appreciated format. Though enormously popular in Japan, MD gets less respect in the US than 8-track tape. It’s something I’ve never understood, but I find comfort in being smug: we MiniDisc adopters were enjoying clear, portable, smartly compressed, tapeless digital audio a decade before iPods hit the shelves. And MD still does something that iPod can’t—record high-quality live audio. Here's a fine example: in 2003, a Chinese musician named Zhang Jian took his MD recorder to Tibet, bought local street musicians beer and food, and made the recordings that form Sublime Frequencies terrific new CD, Streets of Lhasa.
In describing the music and the recordings, writers Steve Barker and Christiaan Vivrant (the latter was, if I remember correctly, a member of Beijing’s first punk band) tell us what the CD isn’t by making fun of mystic New Age productions and evil “academically funded folklorists” who “deaden” music with the “brand of a matrix number.” While I’m not exactly sure how that last part works, I do agree with the sentiment—the best thing about this CD is that it sounds like a guy hanging out in Lhasa buying songs for pennies. Put some headphones on and you’re there. In this world of over-production and over-analyzed everything, the simplicity and directness of these tracks is affecting: Oh yeah, this is what recording is—you put a microphone somewhere and later it sounds like you’re back in that place.
In this case, the place is Tibet and what you hear is folk instruments like a modified erhu (Chinese fiddle) and the san xian (a sort of three-stringed guitar). There are also plenty of vocals, including those by a really beguiling little kid with a raspy voice. There are also some sonic postcards from the town’s streets and temples.
I bet there are a lot of backpackers out there who travel with MiniDisc recorders—I know I have a box full of MDs from my Asian trips. Maybe we should have a place on the web to exchange sounds. I know I’d rather drink in the ambiences of faraway places than listen to most of the processed spray cheese that passes for music today.