Shan Shan 160

Hong Kong electronic musician FINGERGAP is often accused of walking too fast.
The lyrics of the musician's first original album "Shan Shan 160" are all about stumbling through life, but just as he is enthusiastic about translating Chinese love songs into rapid and robotic Footwork tunes, his new music, while exasperated and melancholic, still manages to maintain a high speed. The tracks in the album are presented chronologically from a dawn, in which Kazakh-born singer Fedor Yury's placid voice is deliberately misplaced on the hasty and turbulent beats of Footwork music, as a synecdoche for a restless yearning to rush through the crowded city.
The 160 in "Shan Shan 160" represents the frigid and precise footwork/ juke rhythm of 160 beats per minute; while "Shan Shan" in Cantonese may mean to stagger ('跚跚') or to lag ('姍姍'), the latter being a ubiquitous given name in Hong Kong, reflecting a frustration of being born mediocre in a city where sluggish and maudlin music never ceases to play.
The album interweaves the silky melody and texture of Cantonese songs with the reckless rhythm and speed of footwork music. The final song, "May Not Understand," represents a dawn after midnight; the cold electronic synth and instrumentals, as well as the hurried percussion, somehow manage to give serene warmth like a rising sun.

mehr anzeigen