Sub Rosa
Various - Exploring Gong Culture In Southeast Asia:Mainland and Archipelago Intro by David Toop
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-
Gongs
have
played
an
integral
role
in
the
mythogeography
of
Asia.
This
is
not
music
that
aligns
with
national
borders
or
ideas
of
homogenous
populations,
let
alone
racial
stereotypes
and
exotic
clichés.
What
connects
all
of
these
tracks
is
a
simultaneous
feeling
of
entrancement
and
social
cohesion.
Communal
and
collaborative,
its
form
is
hypnotically
repetitious,
melodies
and
rhythms
spread
out
among
the
players
using
the
technique
of
hocketing
in
which
a
flowing
line
is
distributed
among
all
the
musicians.
The
effect
is
mesmerising,
immediately
intoxicating
to
anybody
who
loves
Chicago
footwork,
free
improvisation,
Sun
Ra
or
young
hip
hop
producer
Jetsonmade.
The
music
is
simple
yet
mysterious
and
enveloping,
a
sound
world
in
which
to
disappear.
A
theory
exists
but
this
is
not
explained.
David
Toop
(extracts
from
the
liner
notes)
This
project,
Massif
and
Archipelago,
is
a
field
recording
project
initiated
by
Japanese
sound
artist
Yasuhiro
Morinaga,
documenting
traditional
gong
music
by
different
Southeast
Asian
ethnic
groups.
The
project
aimed
to
examine
the
impact
of
the
natural
and
social
environment
on
the
gong
music
culture
of
Southeast
Asia.
During
the
project,
he
visited
over
50
different
ethnic
groups
and
made
hundreds
of
recordings.
This
album
presents
a
selection
of
the
unique
gong
music
from
different
ethnic
minorities.
The
selected
music
has
been
divided
into
two
broad
sections:
one
focussing
on
the
music
from
the
Massif,
i.e.
mainland
Southeast
Asia
(Central
Highland
of
Vietnam
and
Northeast
Cambodia),
the
other
on
music
from
the
Archipelago,
maritime
Southeast
Asia
(the
Luzon
Islands
of
the
Philippines,
Borneo,
Sulawesi,
and
the
Flores
Islands
of
Indonesia).
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