{"product_id":"lost-in-china-off-the-beaten-track-from-beijing-to-xinjiang","title":"Lost in China - Off The Beaten Track From Beijing To Xinjiang","description":"\u003cp\u003eFrom the bustling chaos of Beijing to the deserts of Xinjiang, \u003cem\u003eLost In China\u003c\/em\u003e celebrates a new generation of artists who, united by their desire to explore and at times confound local traditions, have not previously been heard outside their homeland.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThe ethnic and cultural diversity of the world's most populous country is often overlooked in an age where media images of grey conformity, polluted cities, and military parades dominate our impressions. However, music, like almost nothing else, has the power to capture the imagination and promise a different world beyond these images.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eLost In China\u003c\/em\u003e is a compilation of music that blows away stereotypes of what Chinese music can be, revealing the ethnic patchwork that lies quietly below the surface of the national narrative and leaving us wondering if we really know anything about this country at all.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eAs a new generation of Chinese struggles to define itself in the modern age, a determined new voice is emerging. It can barely be heard over brash punk rock, electronica, and mandopop, but if you listen carefully the tinkle of a lute, lilting and mesmerizing, is quiet yet persistent.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eA small but growingly influential group of artists are reviving folk traditions, rediscovering what is lost or dying, and most of all making a statement that this music has relevance despite Chinese culture's relentless tilt towards modernity. For many of them, it has been a hard road, an uphill struggle against social ambivalence and financial uncertainty. This struggle, in turn, now defines the genre.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eFrom the steppes of Inner Mongolia to the deserts of Xinjiang and Central China, the bustling chaos of Beijing to the remote mountains of Yunnan, the voices are different but the message is the same - \"\u003cstrong\u003eDon't forget who you are!\u003c\/strong\u003e\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eThis album features artists that are seminal in this movement alongside undiscovered gems, barely known even in China. From the best-known to the least, none have been heard overseas before, from the Wild Children who walked out of the deserts of Gansu in the nineties to capture the imagination of the generation and help lay the foundation of Chinese alternative music, to the shy folk ensemble Manhu, who've rarely been seen outside of their Stone Forest enclave in Yunnan.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eWhether it is South City Second Brother, capturing the spirit of Beijing's street opera or Kox, a group of professional Kazakh musicians playing traditional music in their spare time that they never thought anyone would be interested in hearing, these are artists who have been waiting to redefine China's musical relationship with the world.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003eSo be prepared to be bewildered and intrigued. Forget everything you thought you knew. Throw out the roadmap and get \u003cem\u003eLost in China\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Riverboat","offers":[{"title":"CD","offer_id":50471237779787,"sku":"1007448","price":5.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0867\/1120\/6219\/files\/5507dde9-c61d-43ac-b03e-b4719ad097a7_thumbnail_4096.jpg?v=1727396546","url":"https:\/\/shop.roughtrade.com\/products\/lost-in-china-off-the-beaten-track-from-beijing-to-xinjiang","provider":"Rough Trade","version":"1.0","type":"link"}