Moving Sound

Personnel: Scott Prairie (vocals, bass guitar, zhong ruan); Mia Hsieh (vocals); Hua-Zhou Hsieh (guitar, zhong ruan); Zheng-Jun Wu (erhu, percussion); Tang-Hsuan Lo (erhu).
Audio Mixer: Domingo Sun.
Liner Note Authors: Scott Prairie; Mia Hsieh.
Recording information: Domingo's Live Studio, Taipei, Taiwan (2006-2010); Red Line Studio, Taipei, Taiwan (2006-2010).
Photographers: Huai Huei Zeng; Lin Sheng; Craig Ferguson .
Arranger: Scott Prairie.
A Moving Sound are a pretty unique group, blending traditional Taiwanese music with subtle elements of Western pop and presenting the result using a mixture of song, dance, and subtle dramatization. Led by singer/dancer Mia Hsieh and multi-instrumentalist Scott Prairie, the group has been recording since 2004; this self-titled album brings together ten tracks recorded for various projects between 2006 and 2010. One thing is immediately clear: some of this music is intended to be part of a stage performance and doesn't translate especially well to an audio recording. "The Market Song," for example, is a fun call-and-response tune that eventually degenerates into what sounds like heated haggling, and the episodic "Dynasty," with its dramatic sprechgesang and splashy ceremonial cymbals, sounds like it probably accompanies stage elements that would help give it more meaning if they were visible. (There is a video track encoded on the CD that gives a nice idea of what listeners are missing.) On the other hand, many of these songs work very well as songs: "Flying Dombra" blends Eastern and Western elements beautifully, guitar and erhu complementing each other seamlessly beneath Mia Hsieh's soaring vocals, and "Howling Wind" (despite its title) is for the most part gentle and quiet before suddenly gaining in intensity toward the end. The program ends on an almost ambient note, with multi-tracked vocals, some throat singing, and droning instrumental accompaniment. It's a lovely end to a rewarding, if sometimes slightly befuddling, album. ~ Rick Anderson