Monday, June 2, 2008
Sa Dingding
Alive (Wrasse)
To
call the Chinese regime unresponsive to its ethnic minorities would be the
depth of diplomatic understatement. With well more than 50 minorities, from
Tibetans to Mongolians, the great nation is packed with different traditions,
many of them under duress. Inner Mongolian singer Sa Dingding has a sharp ear
for the connections that run deep below the divisions, melding various musical
traditions from within China ’s
borders into an organic whole and adding judicious touches of trip-hop and mild
psychedelia. Alive is as intriguing
and gorgeously low-key as the voice at the center of the music.



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