Graham Reid | | <1 min read
First Thunder of Spring
Perhaps a little confusing so let's explain: A Moving Sound is a group from Taiwan with singer Mia Hsieh, and Ethel is a New York-based string quartet.
As the title suggests, this is a concept album which is Buddhist in inspiration and is about the soul's journey from out there and into this world then out again after death.
It can be melancholy (Crying Song) or – because A Moving Sound is a percussion ensemble – a whirlwind of rhythms.
And, of course, to Western ears Hsieh's vocals can be a challenge. A Moving Sound has tested us previously.
Given the musical and emotional breadth here you suspect that this would work better with a visual presentation of dancers.
In places (Dynasty Falls where Hsieh tests listeners, the earnest Water of Life with vocals also in English by Moving Sound's Scott Prairie) it certainly sounds like music for interpretative dancers.
Not without interest, but of specialist interest we would conclude.
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You can hear and buy this album on CD with gatefold liner notes at ARC Music here
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