Xinjiang, Uyghur Automomous Region

Shirley and Spinoza Internet Radio presents part one of
the Xinjiang: Uyghur Automomous Region field recordings LIVE mix,
Royal Oakland Gramophone: Under a Dim Crescent Moon

download archived show in several formats
[playlist / sourcelist]

For most of 2003, I lived in the northwestern-most province of China - officially known as Xinjiang: Uyghur Automomous Region. I'd received a generous grant to document the folk music (as opposed to the classical muqam music) of the Turkic Muslim cultures traditionally native to the region - focusing mainly on the largest group: The Uyghurs, but also including the Kazakhs and Kyrgyz.

For this show, I'll be live-mixing right to your ears many of these field recordings, which while mostly consist of music, also include ambiences, regional pop & traditional sounds on cassettes & CDs I picked up - plus recordings of shortwave radio.

The field recorded music you'll hear was, with only a few exceptions, performed by common folk (farmers, carpenters, (incl. mystics and beggars)) demonstrating something that's very much a cultural part of everyday life. With east China's ever accelerating blitzkrieg development of it's claimed west though, these cultural traditions are going up in smoke fast.

The recordings were done with head-worn binaural microphones - in yurts, homes, under grape trellises, in mud brick courtyards, orchards and in the streets of oasis towns and villages in areas surrounding the expansive Taklimakan desert.

Several of these recordings - in purer yet more carefully curated form - will be released later this year on the fantastic Sublime Frequencies label. (!!!)

-Fausto (s of s&S)

» photos of and related to these recordings
» Xinjiang regional info
» more info on Uyghur music
» Sublime Frequencies

On January 22nd, a sister show to was created live with still more s&S field recordings. Read that post here. Also, Fausto told his tale in words in and recordings about Arabekry Seley Music Store in Kashqar at Blogio. These and other live Sunday shows are available via the Shirley and Spinoza archives.

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