There is nothing more rewarding than exploring the sounds and culture of another country. The Far East has always been a very interesting area of the world musically and has a deep, rich culture and history. The Pipa is a Chinese instrument that is very distinctive in its sound and requires multiple fingers in a fingerpicking motion to play. This instrument has been around for many centuries to this very day. Liu Fang is an accomplished Pipa player and this is an album release showcasing her skills and dexterity on this instrument. Let’s hear it.

The Great Wave Washes The Beach launches right into it, with some sparse and beautiful tones from the Pipa. It sounds moody, diverse and excellent from the start. There are some brilliantly plucked melodies that sound super awesome and wonderful to hear. Of course, this music is somewhat of an acquired taste, but still, it is beautiful and brilliant. The playing evokes deep emotion and sounds just brilliant. This is the true definition of painting a picture or writing a story, set to music. A pleasant and different listen from the depths of China, this simply sounds fluid and works a treat. The music present is awesome and brilliant, changing tempo and playing in a fairly freeform way. Nonetheless, this is a joy to hear. The music at hand sounds fantastic, and the playing and knowledge of certain types of music theory are both here. It speeds up right towards the end, which sounds sweet and awesome. Liu Fang goes into overdrive mode near the end, before slowing right down and concluding this four minute long piece. Excellent.

Flying Snow Decorating The Green begins with some super quick Pipa playing and sounds moody, yet beautiful. A really dramatic listening experience, and something that touches the soul. The playing sounds absolutely fantastic, although it follows a tempo of its own. A really dramatic and pretty listening experience, this is very memorable and worthy of your time. Lovely music is present here, along with some intricate playing and Pipa harmonics. Sure, the Pipa is only the main instrument here, but it sounds really awesome, even on its own. Professional playing is present, and this is perfect to hear if you ever wish to visit the Middle Kingdom (i.e. China itself). Great and awesome playing will melt your heart here, and this tune sounds really awesome and fantastic. A lively and animated listening experience, this is world class music and fine listening to hear. Gloriously good, the skill and expertise of this Pipa played by Liu Fang is fantastic. A really classy and historic listen, and definitely worth your time. Marvellous from start to finish.

Melody From A Bamboo House sounds brighter and more uptempo than the previous piece from the start. With some insane Pipa playing, this sounds very beautiful and fluid. Traditional Chinese music obviously has a great deal of depth and soul within it, and this piece of music is no different. With some descriptive and rolling Pipa playing, Liu Fang shows the depth and emotion that is in Chinese music. Seriously excellent to listen to, and very much not too far away from Rock Guitar shred, the music here is amazing. It should bring tears of happiness to your eyes. That’s how good it is. In the middle, this changes tempo and structure somewhat whilst still continuing the great story of Chinese Pipa playing. A really excellent listen, one can truly appreciate the effort in this album and indeed, the individual songs. A pretty and lively listening experience, this sounds fresh and awesome, to this very day. Towards the end, this slows right down and finishes very beautifully. Fantastic.

The Love Of The River is an extended piece over eight minutes long. It begins with some interesting chords and playing on the Pipa, taking one’s mind elsewhere. It is beautiful music, once again, that takes one’s mind to Asia and more specifically, China. This is deep soulful music that is rooted in history and beauty. From the start, one can hear the tremendously awesome and wonderful effort that Liu Fang puts into her Pipa playing. A really awesome and adventurous listening experience by Liu Fang, it never makes one lose attention to this music for a moment. A pleasant and different listening experience, this is really fantastic listening musically to listen to. The dramatic picking is a stunning listening experience as well. A great, great listen. This sounds super awesome and really emotionally deep. Towards the middle, a reoccurring musical motif occurs, which sounds really sensational. A pleasant listen all the way from China, this is underrated music that should be more deeply explored by music fans of all kinds out there. Really pretty and lovely sounding, this is a fantastic and animated listen throughout. It suddenly stops a little after the midsection, before building up a great pace and returning to action. A really cool listen, and dramatic, too. Chinese instrumental music is not seen as highly regarded as Western Classical music, but it is still listenable and just as important otherwise. In any case, the music here is really awesome and fantastic from start to finish. Towards the end, the playing becomes very intense and frenetic and is highly impressive. A really top-notch piece of music, it eventually continues at a fast pace well, before concluding gently. Brilliant.

The Dance Of The Yi People is a traditional Chinese instrumental piece. It begins with a repeated refrain and a gradually sped-up tempo for this piece. Liu Fang will very likely impress you with her majestic playing here. The speed runs on the Pipa present sound really well done and amazingly played, and this reveals an amazing amount of intricate runs on the instrument. Soon into it, a slower and more laidback section emerges that sounds really fine, emotional and excellent. Really awesome to hear, this is an amazing and powerful musical listening experience. There is a lot going on here for simply one instrument being played, and is proof that you don’t need a Phil Spector styled approach musically to impress others. Simplicity is the keyword here. After the tune reaches the midsection, it stops suddenly, before returning to the speed picking of this piece. Again, this is very captivating. A really thoroughly great and energetic tune to listen to, the Pipa playing in the second half of this tune is mindblowing in its orientation. Great, refreshing and fantastic to hear, this is a real work of art musically. This is one of the signature pieces from this album. Towards the end, it returns to a slower and pretty melodic section to gradually wrap up this piece with. A fine and fantastic listening experience, and it ends beautifully. Great job.

Spring Rain is fairly lengthy at over seven minutes long. It begins with some gorgeous Pipa harmonics being played and just sounds magical in the process. Soon enough, proper Pipa playing emerges and this image-evoking piece slowly gets going. Again, this is beautiful and deeply emotional as well. A really awesome and great listening experience, this is pretty, lovely and colourful. It sounds a little sad (likely being played in a minor key for that reason) but is still definitely 100% worth your time and ears. Dramatic playing is here, and the note-for-note precise Pipa playing by Liu Fang sounds really great for what it is. This is a great snapshot of Chinese music and culture in a suitable musical setting. A really awesome listen, this should take the mind and ears to a different place. Of course, Chinese Classical music is not everyone’s cup of tea, but this is a great starting point for traditional Chinese music. The second half has a dramatic shift in musical tempos and playing, and for an instrumental solo, this is truly divine. A wonderful and lovely listening experience, this should move you emotionally. In the process of listening to this, you can be inspired enough to book a flight to Beijing or Shanghai. Towards the end, the playing gets extremely frenetic and varied, just sounding really great. The picking and plucking of the Pipa is extremely awesome listening. A brilliant example of instrumental expertise, this is great to hear, any time. Right near the end, the tune gets mellow and subdued, finishing again with harmonics. Brilliant.

The Romance Of The Red River Valley is a shorter piece with some more frenetic playing of the Pipa from the start. It sounds very beautiful and different, utilising sounds and scales that are not overly present in Western music. Eventually, this launches into a really cool riff based piece of music that sounds really awesome. Nonetheless, the music here is really sensationally good and the Pipa plucking by Liu Fang is extraordinarily good throughout this album, and here as well. A fantastic and rather catchy listening experience, this shines bright above other kinds of postmodern music out there that easily disappoint. A very pretty and historical listen, the Pipa playing is very high pitched here and frenetic as well. A really awesome and tuneful listening experience, this sounds extraordinarily great. Towards the end, the riff based section returns and this piece concludes gently. Excellent.

The Moon Is High is well over 12 minutes long. It begins with sweep picking on the Pipa, and quickly launches into a very memorable and beautiful piece of music. Liu Fang plays wonderfully on this track, and the music is really amazing and well-played, especially given that this is a lone Pipa performance. The dexterity and wonderfully agile playing leaves a rewarding musical experience for us to all hear. This is perfect music to calmly listen to and/or meditate along with. The playing follows its own path in this piece, showcasing great ability and agility from our Pipa master. The sweep picking of the Pipa sounds absolutely solid gold here. Nonetheless, this is another A Grade winner of a piece of music. A picturesque and very wonderful listening experience is present here. As it progresses, it gets very deep and emotional throughout. The tone of the Pipa is fantastic, just as much as the playing of it. Excellent, memorable and awesome, this sounds really fantastic to listen to from start to finish. Refreshing and awesome, there is never a dull moment on this instrumental. In any case, if there is a very slight flaw, it is the length of these instrumentals. Sometimes this does go on for a bit too long, but that is very forgivable. By the middle of this piece, the tune is in super frenetic mode with splashes of melodic riff styled work throughout. Excellent and enjoyable, all the same. The music present is highly imaginative and timeless throughout. That is how good this music is. This is the real sound of China, not C-Pop sell-outs. The melodic and fluid riffing in the second half will dazzle you. A real adventure and journey through music, this is awesome listening. Liu Fang definitely knows how to play the Pipa. Her skills on the instrument are almost unmatchable. After about three-quarters of the way through is a frenetic playing section that sounds really awesome and brilliant. Nonetheless, this music is worth your time. Towards the end, the fast pace continues, until it slows right back down and re-emerges, gaining speed. A great and fantastic listening experience, even for outsiders of Chinese music, it works incredibly well here on a listening and emotional level. The Pipa style shredding here is ridiculously good. A fine piece of music, and very unforgettable. The ending is fairly abrupt, but this is worth listening to, from start to finish. Great.

The Flower Festival is the last piece on this album and is only four minutes long. It begins as virtually a continuation of the previous piece but sounds really fresh, fantastic and amazing. Especially unusual, since this was released back in 1997. Regardless, this does sound really awesome and fantastic for the job at hand. Some sweet melodies from the Pipa enter, followed by frenetic playing by Liu Fang. The music here, once again, is of a fantastic quality and just sounds superbly great. A lively and interesting listen, this is a great recommendation for anyone interested in anything China based or interested in the Far East. The second half of this piece powers along nicely, and just sounds extraordinarily good. A wonderful listening experience, all the same. This eventually begins to wrap up with a huge amount of suspense and finger plucking, before finishing gently. Nice.

This album is a very good recommendation to those of you out there who dig Chinese culture and would like to hear some of the best music from that country. China is now a world power, and interest in its culture has increased dramatically over the past few decades. Should you listen to this? It is highly recommended for those who like Far East culture. Otherwise, you may not enjoy this, especially given the length of some of these performances and the limitations of these recordings. Still, this is impressive, without a doubt.

Excellent Chinese instrumental music.

8/10