A Closer Listen
China’s Zhaoze may be new to Western audiences, but over the last two decades, the band has amassed quite an impressive body of work. Their immediate selling point is their incorporation of electric Gugin and xiao (bamboo flute) into a post-rock frame. This switch-up began mid-career and has been their defining feature ever since. But even without these timbres, the band has proven to be incredibly creative. In the past few years alone, they’ve released a ten-track album of 32-second songs, a live fifteen-minute version of the same album, and a forty-three minute, single track album. No Answer Blowin’ in the Wind may feature more tracks of more traditional length, but it is far from traditional in timbre.
The title, of course, is a response to Bob Dylan. But this is also a concept album on the theme of wind, with requisite titles. “Ask the Wind” leads off with solo xiao, joined by mallet keyboard. How many years can some people exist before they’re allowed to be free? To be fair, Dylan was likely answering, “I don’t know,” which means he and Zhaoze agree. At 3:08, this simple, languid piece is one of three radio-length tracks, although it bleeds directly into “Standing in Wind,” and is better heard as part of the whole. Here the post-rock tone is clearly apparent, swirling guitar and drums reaching heights unheard since Birds Contending, arguably the band’s signature work.
If “Dimension (Turning Point)” seems a reflection of its title, the impression stops mid-piece in an eruption of sound. From 2:33-3:58 the song is pure post-rock; then the song returns to the cavern of whistles and drones. The closing acoustic minutes demonstrate the band’s willingness to defy expectations, even within a single track. The heavier timbres stay on bed rest until halfway through “Wind Knows Me,” a slow-churning beast, the album’s longest and finest track.
It’s tempting to view the two-part “Birds Are Not True” as a take on the faux Birds Aren’t Real theory (great gear available now!). If not, it’s a remarkable coincidence. How many times can a man turn his head and pretend that he just doesn’t see? In a climate of questioning facts and truth, would we recognize the answers if we saw them? The two-minute closer, “Wind Rising Before Storm Coming.” operates as a warning: there are signs, if only we are willing to heed them. (Richard Allen)
Mon Jul 10 00:01:15 GMT 2023