Cold Fairyland
Encyclopedia
Cold Fairyland, is a C-rock music group based in Shanghai
, China
. Their style combines Eastern melodies and rhythms with Western symphonic rock
and classical music. The band has two sides; classical and rock, which allows them to play in concert halls as well as in rock clubs. CFL's music has influences from Portishead, Dead Can Dance
, Radiohead
, early Genesis
, Jethro Tull
, Wong Faye and Dou Wei
, and their genre is best described as progressive rock
.
Cold Fairyland was established 2001 by Lin Di
(Vocals/Pipa
/Keyboard) and Su Yong (Bass). They reworked several songs they had each previously written and made a demo. Unofficially released online, it was soon picked up by an underground record company LStape and released on cassette. This demo became later available as their first CD “Flying Over the City”. Later the same year drummer Li Jia joined the band, and with a few others who came and went, they had their first show at a bar called NowhereTown. In September 2001 they played a cancer benefit at XinTianDi’s ARK Rock Club in Shanghai; thus began their long relationship with the club, playing most months at least once. They have played in many clubs and festivals across China, including The Beijing MIDI Music Festival, often referred to as the Woodstock of China. CFL began a rotation of guitarists until 2003 settling on Song Jianfeng, a MIDI device engineer who works with Su Yong. Next to join in 2004 was the cellist known as Yao Yao (Zhou Sheng'an) from the Shanghai Opera. Xi Jin'e was added as a keyboard player in summer of 2008, and Seppo M. Lehto replaced Su Yong on bass guitar in August 2008.
The name Cold Fairyland comes from a Chinese translation of one of Haruki Murakami
's books (known in English as "Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World") favored by Lin Di. The name reflects sometimes dark tones of their music.
Composer/arranger/keyboardist and pipa
player Lin Di
has been playing pipa since she was 4 years old. Her arrangement skills are bringing out often very surprising elements from the mix of cello/pipa/keyboards/bass/drums and guitar.
Cold Fairyland has released six albums, two in Taiwan
(as Lin Di / Cold Fairyland) and four in China.
Performances include concerts in Europe, Japan and around China including The Beijing MIDI Music Festival 2004, 2006 and 2009 (in Zhenjiang).
In 2004, Cold Fairyland contributed to the John Lennon
Tribute of Yu Yin Tang Music and performed & recorded the song "Eleanor Rigby
".
Mostly acoustic songs with drums and some electric guitar, no keyboards. The music is written in Sonata Form
. This CD shows the classical side of Cold Fairyland, and depending on the venue will be performed either in its original form or in heavier electric style.
1:Seeds on the Ground 地上的种子
2:Shadow Play 光影游戏
3:Five Travelers 五人同游
4:Puzzle 缭乱
5:Solemn, Silent Circle 肃静的旋转
6:Moon at the Fortified Pass 关山月
7:Reawakening 苏醒
8:Cloud Riding 腾云驾雾
9:Forest Dance 轮舞
10:Ice Castle 冰封之国
11:Ghost Town Nightmare 荒城梦魇
Seeds on the Ground )A( Acustronik Mix by Seppo M. Lehto 2008, download only.
Seeds on the Ground )B( Acustronik Mix by Seppo M. Lehto 2010, download only, bass tracks re-recorded.
Recorded live in ARK Music Club 2005, Shanghai.
1:Mirror Theater 摹仿剧场
2:Dead Children In Newspapers 死在报纸上的孩子
3:Mosul 摩苏尔
4:Puzzle 缭乱
5:The Blessed Place 福地
6:The Flood 洪水
7:Assassination 暗杀
8.Paris Cat 巴黎猫
9:Class cutter 玻璃刀
10:A Seed On The Ground 地上的种子
11:A Desperate Flower in Your Hand 手心里的绝望花
12:Waiting For Farewell 等待告别
Modern Chinese sensibility, magical lyricism, and trance-like synthesizers make this album 'Enigma of Shanghai', but it is really a new species in eastern musical ecology.
1:The First Day: Dance of Seduction 诱惑之舞
2:The Second Day: Repentance Day 忏悔日
3:The Third Day: The Blessed Place 福地
4:The Fourth Day: A Desperate Flower in Your Hand 手心里的绝望花
5:The Fifth Day: The Flood 洪水
6:The Sixth Day: Slaves 奴隶们
7:The Seventh Day: Mirror Theater 摹仿剧场
8:The Eight Day: The Dusk In The Deep Green Prairie 绿草原深处的黄昏
9:The Ninth Day: Wake 守护
10:The Tenth Day: Reincarnation 循回
An epic album with a touching story: a young girl's journey to marry a man afar becomes a quest of her own destiny and her life. Deserts, oasis, exotic natural scenes, wars and dreams all emerge in the magical music. Cello, guitar, bass, Chinese flute, pipa, erhu
and zheng blend so well in surreal images that you can no longer tell the East from the West.
1:Yilang Yilang 依蘭依蘭
2:Marriage 嫁
3:Mountain Song of the High Lands 高地山歌
4:Riddle in the Bronze Mirrors 謎語銅鏡
5:Speechless in Forest 失語叢林
6:A-jia-li-yalai 阿加裡亞萊
7:Love 愛
8:Mula-shabel War 慕拉沙貝大戰
9:Colorless Sun 陽光褪去了顏色
10:Heal the Wounds of Time 療治時間的創傷
1:3AM 凌晨三点
2:Soaring 飞翔主题
3:Autumn sleep 沉睡秋天
4:Glass Cutter 玻璃刀
5:Dead Children In Newspapers 死在报纸上的孩子
6:DuDu! You Say 嘟嘟对你说
7:A Desperate Flower in Your Hand 手心里绝望的花
8:Paris Cat 巴黎猫
9:Little Fairy Girl 小仙子
10: Color of Sunset 暮色
1:Morning 晨
2:Sea Rose
3:Black Wing 黑色的翅膀
4:Who Knows 谁知
5:Only One 唯一
6:Very... 很
7:Waiting For Farewell 等待告别
Remastered 2008, available only as a download, including 2 additional songs:
Child and a Feather (acoustic studio live),
Black Wing (Karaoke)
Shanghai
Shanghai is the largest city by population in China and the largest city proper in the world. It is one of the four province-level municipalities in the People's Republic of China, with a total population of over 23 million as of 2010...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
. Their style combines Eastern melodies and rhythms with Western symphonic rock
Symphonic rock
Symphonic rock is a sub-genre of progressive rock. Since early in progressive rock's history, the term has been used sometimes to distinguish more classically influenced progressive rock from the more psychedelic and experimental forms of progressive rock....
and classical music. The band has two sides; classical and rock, which allows them to play in concert halls as well as in rock clubs. CFL's music has influences from Portishead, Dead Can Dance
Dead Can Dance
Dead Can Dance are an ethereal neoclassical duo formed in Melbourne, Australia, in August 1981, by Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry. The band relocated to London in May 1982 and disbanded in 1998. Their 1996 album Spiritchaser reached No. 1 on the Billboard Top World Music Albums Chart...
, Radiohead
Radiohead
Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke , Jonny Greenwood , Ed O'Brien , Colin Greenwood and Phil Selway .Radiohead released their debut single "Creep" in 1992...
, early Genesis
Genesis (band)
Genesis are an English rock band that formed in 1967. The band currently comprises the longest-tenured members Tony Banks , Mike Rutherford and Phil Collins . Past members Peter Gabriel , Steve Hackett and Anthony Phillips , also played major roles in the band in its early years...
, Jethro Tull
Jethro Tull (band)
Jethro Tull are a British rock group formed in 1967. Their music is characterised by the vocals, acoustic guitar, and flute playing of Ian Anderson, who has led the band since its founding, and the guitar work of Martin Barre, who has been with the band since 1969.Initially playing blues rock with...
, Wong Faye and Dou Wei
Dou Wei
Dou Wei is a Chinese musician, singer-songwriter and composer. Dou Wei is a multi-instrumentalist and produces music across many genres. He first came to prominence as a member of the heavy rock group Black Panther . His album Dark Dreams draws influences from The Cure and Bauhaus, was a landmark...
, and their genre is best described as progressive rock
Progressive rock
Progressive rock is a subgenre of rock music that developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s as part of a "mostly British attempt to elevate rock music to new levels of artistic credibility." John Covach, in Contemporary Music Review, says that many thought it would not just "succeed the pop of...
.
Cold Fairyland was established 2001 by Lin Di
Lin Di
Lin Di is a Chinese musician, composer, and vocalist.Her current band is Cold Fairyland, a progressive rock band in which she plays pipa and keyboard synthesizers, and also sings.Lin began playing pipa at age 4...
(Vocals/Pipa
Pipa
The pipa is a four-stringed Chinese musical instrument, belonging to the plucked category of instruments . Sometimes called the Chinese lute, the instrument has a pear-shaped wooden body with a varying number of frets ranging from 12–26...
/Keyboard) and Su Yong (Bass). They reworked several songs they had each previously written and made a demo. Unofficially released online, it was soon picked up by an underground record company LStape and released on cassette. This demo became later available as their first CD “Flying Over the City”. Later the same year drummer Li Jia joined the band, and with a few others who came and went, they had their first show at a bar called NowhereTown. In September 2001 they played a cancer benefit at XinTianDi’s ARK Rock Club in Shanghai; thus began their long relationship with the club, playing most months at least once. They have played in many clubs and festivals across China, including The Beijing MIDI Music Festival, often referred to as the Woodstock of China. CFL began a rotation of guitarists until 2003 settling on Song Jianfeng, a MIDI device engineer who works with Su Yong. Next to join in 2004 was the cellist known as Yao Yao (Zhou Sheng'an) from the Shanghai Opera. Xi Jin'e was added as a keyboard player in summer of 2008, and Seppo M. Lehto replaced Su Yong on bass guitar in August 2008.
The name Cold Fairyland comes from a Chinese translation of one of Haruki Murakami
Haruki Murakami
is a Japanese writer and translator. His works of fiction and non-fiction have garnered him critical acclaim and numerous awards, including the Franz Kafka Prize and Jerusalem Prize among others.He is considered an important figure in postmodern literature...
's books (known in English as "Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World") favored by Lin Di. The name reflects sometimes dark tones of their music.
Composer/arranger/keyboardist and pipa
Pipa
The pipa is a four-stringed Chinese musical instrument, belonging to the plucked category of instruments . Sometimes called the Chinese lute, the instrument has a pear-shaped wooden body with a varying number of frets ranging from 12–26...
player Lin Di
Lin Di
Lin Di is a Chinese musician, composer, and vocalist.Her current band is Cold Fairyland, a progressive rock band in which she plays pipa and keyboard synthesizers, and also sings.Lin began playing pipa at age 4...
has been playing pipa since she was 4 years old. Her arrangement skills are bringing out often very surprising elements from the mix of cello/pipa/keyboards/bass/drums and guitar.
Cold Fairyland has released six albums, two in Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
(as Lin Di / Cold Fairyland) and four in China.
Performances include concerts in Europe, Japan and around China including The Beijing MIDI Music Festival 2004, 2006 and 2009 (in Zhenjiang).
In 2004, Cold Fairyland contributed to the John Lennon
John Lennon
John Winston Lennon, MBE was an English musician and singer-songwriter who rose to worldwide fame as one of the founding members of The Beatles, one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music...
Tribute of Yu Yin Tang Music and performed & recorded the song "Eleanor Rigby
Eleanor Rigby
"Eleanor Rigby" is a song by The Beatles, simultaneously released on the 1966 album Revolver and on a 45 rpm single. The song was written primarily by Paul McCartney and credited to Lennon–McCartney...
".
Lineup
- Lin Di 林笛 : PipaPipaThe pipa is a four-stringed Chinese musical instrument, belonging to the plucked category of instruments . Sometimes called the Chinese lute, the instrument has a pear-shaped wooden body with a varying number of frets ranging from 12–26...
, RuanRuanThe ruan is a Chinese plucked string instrument. It is a lute with a fretted neck, a circular body, and four strings. Its strings were formerly made of silk but since the 20th century they have been made of steel...
, Keyboards, Vocals - Su Yong 苏勇 : Bass, Background Vocals (2001-2008.8)
- Seppo M. Lehto : Bass, (2008.8-2011.3)
- Jaygo Renard : Bass (2011.3-)
- Zhou Sheng'an 周圣安 : Cello, Background Vocals
- Li Jia 李佳: Drums and Percussion, Background Vocals
- Song Jianfeng 宋建丰: Guitars
- Xi Jin'e 奚近萼 : Keyboards (2008.6-)
Discography
- Seeds on the Ground 地上的种子 - 2007
Mostly acoustic songs with drums and some electric guitar, no keyboards. The music is written in Sonata Form
Sonata form
Sonata form is a large-scale musical structure used widely since the middle of the 18th century . While it is typically used in the first movement of multi-movement pieces, it is sometimes used in subsequent movements as well—particularly the final movement...
. This CD shows the classical side of Cold Fairyland, and depending on the venue will be performed either in its original form or in heavier electric style.
1:Seeds on the Ground 地上的种子
2:Shadow Play 光影游戏
3:Five Travelers 五人同游
4:Puzzle 缭乱
5:Solemn, Silent Circle 肃静的旋转
6:Moon at the Fortified Pass 关山月
7:Reawakening 苏醒
8:Cloud Riding 腾云驾雾
9:Forest Dance 轮舞
10:Ice Castle 冰封之国
11:Ghost Town Nightmare 荒城梦魇
Seeds on the Ground )A( Acustronik Mix by Seppo M. Lehto 2008, download only.
Seeds on the Ground )B( Acustronik Mix by Seppo M. Lehto 2010, download only, bass tracks re-recorded.
- Live at ARK- 冷酷仙境 2005现场 - 2006
Recorded live in ARK Music Club 2005, Shanghai.
1:Mirror Theater 摹仿剧场
2:Dead Children In Newspapers 死在报纸上的孩子
3:Mosul 摩苏尔
4:Puzzle 缭乱
5:The Blessed Place 福地
6:The Flood 洪水
7:Assassination 暗杀
8.Paris Cat 巴黎猫
9:Class cutter 玻璃刀
10:A Seed On The Ground 地上的种子
11:A Desperate Flower in Your Hand 手心里的绝望花
12:Waiting For Farewell 等待告别
- Ten Days In Magic Land - 魔境十日 - 2004, Solo Album by Lin Di
Modern Chinese sensibility, magical lyricism, and trance-like synthesizers make this album 'Enigma of Shanghai', but it is really a new species in eastern musical ecology.
1:The First Day: Dance of Seduction 诱惑之舞
2:The Second Day: Repentance Day 忏悔日
3:The Third Day: The Blessed Place 福地
4:The Fourth Day: A Desperate Flower in Your Hand 手心里的绝望花
5:The Fifth Day: The Flood 洪水
6:The Sixth Day: Slaves 奴隶们
7:The Seventh Day: Mirror Theater 摹仿剧场
8:The Eight Day: The Dusk In The Deep Green Prairie 绿草原深处的黄昏
9:The Ninth Day: Wake 守护
10:The Tenth Day: Reincarnation 循回
- Bride in Legend - 迷路新娘 - 2004, Solo Album by Lin Di
An epic album with a touching story: a young girl's journey to marry a man afar becomes a quest of her own destiny and her life. Deserts, oasis, exotic natural scenes, wars and dreams all emerge in the magical music. Cello, guitar, bass, Chinese flute, pipa, erhu
Erhu
The erhu is a two-stringed bowed musical instrument, more specifically a spike fiddle, which may also be called a "southern fiddle", and sometimes known in the Western world as the "Chinese violin" or a "Chinese two-stringed fiddle". It is used as a solo instrument as well as in small ensembles...
and zheng blend so well in surreal images that you can no longer tell the East from the West.
1:Yilang Yilang 依蘭依蘭
2:Marriage 嫁
3:Mountain Song of the High Lands 高地山歌
4:Riddle in the Bronze Mirrors 謎語銅鏡
5:Speechless in Forest 失語叢林
6:A-jia-li-yalai 阿加裡亞萊
7:Love 愛
8:Mula-shabel War 慕拉沙貝大戰
9:Colorless Sun 陽光褪去了顏色
10:Heal the Wounds of Time 療治時間的創傷
- Kingdom of Benevolent Strangers - 陌生仙子国 - 2003
1:3AM 凌晨三点
2:Soaring 飞翔主题
3:Autumn sleep 沉睡秋天
4:Glass Cutter 玻璃刀
5:Dead Children In Newspapers 死在报纸上的孩子
6:DuDu! You Say 嘟嘟对你说
7:A Desperate Flower in Your Hand 手心里绝望的花
8:Paris Cat 巴黎猫
9:Little Fairy Girl 小仙子
10: Color of Sunset 暮色
- Flying Over The City - 2001
1:Morning 晨
2:Sea Rose
3:Black Wing 黑色的翅膀
4:Who Knows 谁知
5:Only One 唯一
6:Very... 很
7:Waiting For Farewell 等待告别
Remastered 2008, available only as a download, including 2 additional songs:
Child and a Feather (acoustic studio live),
Black Wing (Karaoke)
Compilations
- John Lennon Tribute - Give Live a Chance - 2004 - Shanghai
- Rock and Roll Music Mag Issue 2006.4 insert CD and booklet with Zhou Sheng'an on both covers. www.xmusicmag.com
- Everyday You Live, Another Day I Die...Vol 3 - CD - 2011
DVD and video
- Cold Fairyland, Finland Tour 2008
- Collection of bass guitar study sheet music videos:
- http://www.youtube.com/user/unclezeppy?feature=mhee#p/u/7/m4Rmps9MBcw
- http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/MPLBpnqUEg0/
Awards
- 2008 Shanghai City Weekend Magazine, Bar and Restaurant Awards, Editor's Pick "The Best Locally Based Band"
- 2009 China Music Awards -Lin Di- "Strength For New Life" Award
External links
- http://www.coldfairyland.com/
- http://www.miyadudu.com/main.htm
- http://www.myspace.com/coldfairyland
- http://www.purevolume.com/coldfairyland
- Cold Fairyland @ RiC Wiki, complete biography
- Interview of RiC with Cold Fairyland