Search - Twelve Girls Band :: Eastern Energy (Bonus Dvd)

Refreshing energy from the East, by 12 talented ladies

Daniel J. Hamlow | Narita, Japan | 10/05/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"OK, want something different and exotic? Disillusioned of Bond posing as classical but in fact drifting more into that oontsa-oontsa music? Tired of waiting for another Charlotte Church album? Look no further, and look also to the East, and of twelve women who play instruments that date back 1500 years, meaning the time when China was divided into the Northern and Southern Dynasties in the pre-Sui and pre-Tang era. They play the dizi (bamboo flutes), the yang qin (dulcimer), the gu zheng (zither with movable strings), the erhu (a two-stringed Chinese fiddle), and the pipa (a large four-stringed lute with a pear-shaped body). Put together, this delightful dozen, coming from different ensembles in the People's Republic of China, produce a unique and exotique sound.



"Miracle" serves as an intro to the 12GB's sound, decidedly Chinese, harking back to centuries of tradition while melding within it pop and classical sensibilities, as the lively orchestral arrangements demonstrate.



They then do an equally strikingly exotic cover of Coldplay's "Clocks" that totally outdoes the original while retaining the melody and the sense of longing within. The liner notes state how the 12GB infuse the "ardent wish to overcome so many of life's difficulties" in their version. Don't we all? Those opening dizis and erhus give a weird but outstanding ambience.



Other tunes are more thoughtful, such as "Liu San Jie," based on a Chinese story of a girl who became a fairy, "Shangri-La," and "Forbidden City," conjuring the mystic and mysterious aura of both the utopia from James Hilton's novel and the city of Beijing, which became the capital of the Chinese empire from the Ming Dynasty.



Their trademark song, "Freedom" is a bouncy revamp of Turkish composer Santuri Ethem Efendi, which has similarities to "Allegretto" performed by Bond and Myleene Klass. This is one of the better songs here, as is the playful "Alamuhan," with its wailing erhus, piping flutes which trade off in the verses.



Only Twelve Girls Band could do a wonderful instrumental cover of Enya's "Only Time" with the dizi setting a reflective tone that the original did, as well as the stringed erhus replacing Enya's vocals and doing justice to one of the Irish songstress's best ever songs.



The band finishes off with a medley of Mozart's 40th Symphony G Minor, Allegro Molto, Beethoven's Fifth Symphony in C Minor, and part of the overture of Gioacchino Rossini's The Barber of Seville. What's cool about it is that a funky backbeat plays as the girls do their things on "New Classicism," amusing considering "A Fifth of Beethoven" from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack also used Ludwig van's Fifth.



As for the DVD, the main goodies are excerpts from their sellout concert at the Budokan in Japan, where they perform "Shangri-La," "Alamuhan," "New Classicism," "Forbidden City," and "Freedom." What's noticeable is their concept of symmetry, embodied in the performers playing in three rows. The three yang qin players in the rear, the three pipa players in the middle, and the six dizi, gu zheng, and erhu players up front. There's even a reverse pyramid motif in their "Freedom" video, where there's a five-four-three arrangement while they play in the desert. And they sure enjoy performing, if pipa player Shuang's vivacious smile is anything to go by.



No cheesey musak in a Chinese restaurant here. This is exotic stuff. Oh, by the way, the women on the front cover and the instruments they're holding are as follows:



1. Kun (pipa)

2. Yuan (dizi)

3. Jian-Nan (gu zheng)

4. Bao (pipa)

5. Yan (erhu)

6. Jing Jing (gu zheng)

7. Li Jun (erhu)

8. Ying (erhu)

9. Song Mei (guzheng)

10. Ting (erhu)

11. Bin Qu (dizi)

12. Shuang (pipa)



Thanks, ladies.

"

New age with Chinese instruments and a bit more groove

J. Lund | SoCal, USA | 08/20/2004

(4 out of 5 stars)

"After hearing EASTERN ENERGY several times I found quite a few aspects to like, while a few areas left a bit to be desired. Yet the latter should be weighted against the fact that this is their debut USA release and as such there's lots of time for them to reach their potential with music of greater artistic impact. I'm not really into "new age" music, but I do recognize that there is an audience out there that is emotively impacted by this genre. And despite it not being my normal listening fare, I do feel an emotive connection with a fair amount of the material on EASTERN ENERGY. On the other hand, I find that impact negated at times by either the tunes and/or the somewhat sterile by-the-numbers new age sheen (obtrusive on some tracks moreso than others).



However, overall EASTERN ENERGY is to me a bit more intriguing brand of new age due primarily to the colorations of the traditional Chinese instruments. At its best, certain tracks remind me either a bit of the folkier tunes that Weather Report and similiar jazz fusion groups composed (e.g., "Lu San Jie"), or of other intriguing Asian/electronica fusions (e.g.,"Freedom"). In the future their music might gain greater interest if they stepped out of unison more often (they do at times, but I'd like to see it happen more frequently). And on the accompianing DVD there is a section where several of the women start improvising much like jazz musicians do. More of that would be a step forward, too.



Despite my intermittent reservations, overall I'm happy with the CD...this group certainly deserves to be a pop culture phenomenon moreso than many others currently creating a buzz in the upper reaches of the pop charts. What would really amaze me though would be if in the future they collaborate with some truly provocative world and/or groove producer/musicians. A few that came to mind are The Angel, Talvin Singh, Ryuichi Sakamoto ... and if I thought about it longer I could probably come up with others (like they care what I think!). Lastly, don't be surprised if children find the music and the 12 Girls' visual appearance quite captivating, particularly on the bonus DVD which has a videoclip and concert footage."

Breathtaking !!!

Donald Martin | Florida | 04/25/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Twelve Girls Band is a music ensemble from China that actually consists of thirteen young women who perform in various orchestras throughout the entire country. The group will perform with 'twelve' musicians according to the schedules of the members. The thirteen members of Twelve Girls Band are: Bin Qu Liao, Shuang Zhang, Ting Sun, Song Mei Yang, Ying Lei, Li Jun Zhan, Jing Jing Ma, Yan Yin, Bao Zhong, Jian Nan Zhou, Kun Zhang, Yuan, Sun, and Jin Jiang.



"Eastern Energy" is Twelve Girls Band's US debut album. The music is blend of traditional Chinese music, classical music, and a hint of pop music thrown into the mix. The results is breathtaking to say the very least.



Here is the list of songs on the album:

1. Miracle

2. Clocks

3. Liu San Jie

4. Earthly Stars (Unsung Heroes)

5. Freedom

6. Shangri-La

7. Reel Around the Sun

8. A Girl's Dream

9. Forbidden City

10. The Great Valley

11. Alamuhan

12. Mountains and Rivers

13. Only Time

13. New Classicism



All the songs on the album sounds spectacular but I especially adore their interpretations of Coldplay's "Clocks" and Enya's "Only Time". You wouldn't have imagined that taking a now classic Coldplay song and turning it into a classical/pop instrumental would work but it really does here. I love the women's cover of "Only Time". Although there are no vocals on both cover songs (as well as the rest of the album), the instruments used makes up for the lack of vocals. It is almost they are singing. My personal favorite song on the entire cd has to be the sumptuous "Earthly Stars (Unsung Heroes)". The melodies really stood out for me. Another great song is the last song "New Classicism" which is a melody of three classical compositions by Beethoven, Mozart and Rossini. I loved all the songs. The sound in general is primarily traditional Chinese music but there is a distinct classical influence with a hint of a pop sound thrown into mix, especially with the cover songs. There wasn't a single song that I had to skip over.



The performances by the women of Twelve Girls Band are amazing. There were times when I thought I was listening to my other favorite classical/pop group Bond. Like Bond, Twelve Girls Band puts in a lot of energy into their music. I look forward to hearing more from Twelve Girls Band.



ALSO RECOMMENDED: MEHDI ~ INSTRUMENTAL HEAVEN VOLUME 7..A TRUE GEM..FULL SAMPLES ARE AT SoothingMusic.Com...Just Listen !



"