The term “world music” gets banded around a lot. But more often than not, it is applied to music of a specific culture or geography, such as the music of Bulgarian choirs or Cuban jazz bands. It is the sound of the preservation of traditions and a nod to the past, or at least some people’s willingness to keep it there, boxed, labelled, and hermetically sealed in time.
So, what makes “Watch The Sunrise” so cool is the sound of cultures colliding, of sonic traditions being blended, of the past and the present coming together to create a forward-thinking sound. In the case of Tian Qiyi, it is the mixing of Chinese and Celtic sounds, of the musical timeline being re-ordered, of Occident meeting Orient in a startling musical fusion.
As the lead single from their forthcoming sophomore album, Songs For Workers, it’s a brilliant taste of what’s to come: a blend of eastern sounds, Chinese and Mongolian instruments, zen-like lyricism and danceable dub-infused grooves.
Tian Qiyi is a duo comprised of John Tian QiWardle who deals with the drumming and percussion which he creates from the rich sounds of both hemispheres and his brother Charlie Tian QiWardle who plays most of the traditional instruments, but who weilds them in both progressive and traditional ways.
Their father, John Wardle, joins them, handling most of the bass duties on the album, though not on this single, and who you will know better as Jah Wobble, an artistic moniker derived from a mishearing of his name back in the day.
Reference points are hard, such is the uniqueness of what they do, and if not sonically, they certainly undertake a similar quest as brought the likes of Afro-Celt Soundsystem,Asian Dub Foundation and Imagined Village to their own, equally unique, sounds.
Yes, the term “world music” is thrown about a lot, but this is perhaps world music for the modern age, music that, rather than being of a place and tradition, instead spans the globe. It is music of the world, but it is also music for the world, music that, instead of demanding labels and compartments, or that you can point to on a map, actually defies genre and geography, style and sound, and even era.
Forget world music, welcome to a truly global sensation.
