SUMMER INSECTS TALK ABOUT ICE

ZHAOZE ( 沼泽 in Chinese and means "swamp" in English) is a rather distinct post-rock band from Guangzhou, China (just north of Hong Kong) that has integrated its local Chinese heritage into the world of post-rock. The band formed as long ago as 1993 with its debut album "The Swamp" coming to light in 2001 well before many bands from China were getting in on the post-rock game.

Although the band often sounds liker a mix of new age and post-rock, the band is unique in that it uses the guqin, a seven-stringed Chinese musical instrument recognizable in traditional Chinese folk music. The band also takes advantage of the xiao flute which is a bamboo woodwind also of Chinese origin. The band has released nine albums and a few singles / EPs. This particular EP intrigued me because of the title SUMMER INSECTS TALK ABOUT ICE and it turns out ZHAOZE has crafted quite the gimmick with this one!

You could think of this as a single actually as the first 10 tracks are only 32 seconds each. While they all feature a distinct flavor and are different from one another they actually are supposed to string together. The 11th track compiles them which makes up the title track. While they don't really flow together in any logical manner, it's also true that this avant-garde musical procession is fairly improvisational and doesn't really engage in ongoing melodies or any particular rhythm yet isn't unpleasant.

In addition to the traditional instruments, ZHAOZE uses the guitar, bass, harmonica and drums as well as keyboards and a mallet keyboard. It's a strange album that's featured in a strange format for sure and somehow skirts the world of post-rock, post-metal, noise rock, classical, traditional Chinese folk music and math rock without ever really becoming any of the above. It's rather hard to latch onto but because it sounds so unique however the twangy tones and timbres of the guquin are so unique it's actually captivating.

Given the entire first ten tracks add up to only 5 minutes and 25 seconds followed by the entire track as one track at another 5 minutes and 25 seconds, it's really impossible to get bored or think the tracks have outstayed their welcome! It's a fairly innovative experience and although this is only my first dip into the band's larger canon, it's intriguing enough that i will certainly be exploring more developed albums like "Birds Contending" featuring only one track at over 43 minutes! A pleasant quickie this one but i wouldn't say essential by any means.