By: Michael Madavi
Artist: Abigail Washburn and The Shanghai Restoration Project
Title: Afterquake
Label: Undercover Culture Music
Genre: Electronic : Chinese
Release Date: 5/12/09
UPC: 884501138567
Territory: World
Hot off the success of his sophomore album, Zodiac, The Shanghai Restoration Project producer Dave Liang teams up with celebrated American clawhammer banjo player and singer, Abigail Washburn, for a brand new project. The Album, Afterquake, produced in cooperation with Sichuan Quake Relief, is a folk/electronic project remixing voices and sounds from the China earthquake zone to raise awareness for victims still in need. This unique album features on site recordings of student voices and playground sounds from the relocated Wenchuan Shuimo Middle School in Emeishan, as well as the voices of parents, reconstruction sounds, Sichuan Opera percussion, and Monk vocals from Wenshu Monastery. Though the quake happened in May of 2008, the victims still need considerable relief from this rare natural disaster. A portion of all proceeds to benefit Sichuan Quake Relief.
The Shanghai Restoration Project is an electronic group formed by Chinese-American producer Dave Liang. The group’s first eponymous release, inspired by the Shanghai jazz bands of the 1930s, combines traditional Chinese instruments with modern hip-hop and electronica. The release gained recognition globally, rising to the top 10 in several electronic charts, including Amazon, iTunes, and MSN Music. Liang’s music has been used in advertisements and promotions for Kenzo Parfums (a division of Louis Vuitton), Microsoft, Rhapsody, TiVo, and SanDisk. In 2007, SRP partnered with China Records (the Chinese government’s record label) to release Remixed and Restored, a project remixing select classic Chinese hits from 1930s Shanghai.
Abigail Washburn is a talented clawhammer banjo player and singer. She performs and records as a soloist, as well as with the old-time bands Uncle Earl and Sparrow Quartet. After entered a songwriting contest at MerleFest (a bluegrass festival in North Carolina) and winning second place for her song “Rockabye Dixie”, Washburn gained the attention of the Nettwerk record label. Her first solo album, Song of the Traveling Daughter (produced by Bela Fleck) featured two songs recorded in the Mandarin Chinese language, which she learned while living in China, pairing her well with Liang’s music. She was also Colorado College’s first Eastern Asian studies major!
Washburn and the SRP will be featured on NPR’s All Things Considered this Friday, May 8th to talk about Afterquake; you should definitely check it out to hear this unique and inspiring album.
