Chui Wan
Far Out Distant Sounds! Chui Wan : White Nights (CN,2012)****
When you didn’t hear from something that it would exist yet, that does not mean that it doesn’t. Chui Wan are the first psychedelic band from China that I have heard of, and apparently they are even very good and even rather original in their approach. The band is from Bejing and they also toured in Scandinavia.
Their band name is taken from Daoist philosopher Zhuangzi’s text “Qiwulun”, which is represented in the modern Chinese idiom, ‘when the wind blows, every sound may be heard therein’.
I am sure that their musical style definitely will be described as being psychedelic, while this is not necessarily the description of their full range and approach. On the first three tracks track I hear immediately how they show talent and an ear for combining different pedalled sounds on the electric guitar with also an attention to spatial evolutions. The drum knows how to add grooves with lots of changes, while layers of guitar rhythmically progress, also leave longer notes speak for themselves. There definitely remains an element of space jam rock, keeping an attention to detail and to change. Besides this present jam groove (with even small twang guitar) there’s some sparse singing/vocals too, placed perfectly in its musical space, with a few ahaa’s with a rather 60s harmony vocals effect. On the end of the third track there’s an interesting outro of sonic experiments with the guitars. On the fourth track there’s an outro with different saxes. The last two tracks show more contribution of keyboards, including electric piano. The space rock element here remains present, in the last track this element becomes much more hazy to the most definite psychedelic effect. The 6th track still had a different orientation via the use of an oriental/rather Middle Eastern theme with repetition, ahaa vocals and still with a psych outcome in style. Chui Wan surely are an original band and a fresh wind amongst psychedelic group sounds in/from the whole world.
Recommended.
