Eastern Energy [CD+DVD]

Twelve Girls Band | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (December 19, 2005)
• Number of Discs: 2
• Format: CD+DVD
• Label: Platia Entertainment USA
• ASIN: B0002KQO3U
• Also Available in: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (37 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #50,057 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Miracle

2. Clocks

3. Liu San Jie

4. Earthly Stars (Unsung Heroes)

5. Freedom

6. Shangri-La

7. Reel Around The Sun

8. A Girl's Dream

9. Forbidden City

10. The Great Valley

See all 14 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Shangri-La (DVD-Live From Budokan)

2. Alamuhan (DVD-Live From Budokan)

3. New Classicism (DVD-Live From Budokan)

4. Forbidden City (DVD-Live From Budokan)

5. Freedom (DVD-Live From Budokan)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

57 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Refreshing energy from the East, by 12 talented ladies, October 4, 2004

By 

Daniel J. Hamlow (Narita, Japan) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Eastern Energy (Audio CD)

OK, want something different and exotic? Disillusioned of Bond posing as classical but in fact drifting more into that oontsa-oontsa music? Tired of waiting for another Charlotte Church album? Look no further, and look also to the East, and of twelve women who play instruments that date back 1500 years, meaning the time when China was divided into the Northern and Southern Dynasties in the pre-Sui and pre-Tang era. They play the dizi (bamboo flutes), the yang qin (dulcimer), the gu zheng (zither with movable strings), the erhu (a two-stringed Chinese fiddle), and the pipa (a large four-stringed lute with a pear-shaped body). Put together, this delightful dozen, coming from different ensembles in the People's Republic of China, produce a unique and exotique sound.

"Miracle" serves as an intro to the 12GB's sound, decidedly Chinese, harking back to centuries of tradition while melding within it pop and classical sensibilities, as the lively orchestral arrangements demonstrate.

They then do an equally strikingly exotic cover of Coldplay's "Clocks" that totally outdoes the original while retaining the melody and the sense of longing within. The liner notes state how the 12GB infuse the "ardent wish to overcome so many of life's difficulties" in their version. Don't we all? Those opening dizis and erhus give a weird but outstanding ambience.

Other tunes are more thoughtful, such as "Liu San Jie," based on a Chinese story of a girl who became a fairy, "Shangri-La," and "Forbidden City," conjuring the mystic and mysterious aura of both the utopia from James Hilton's novel and the city of Beijing, which became the capital of the Chinese empire from the Ming Dynasty.

Their trademark song, "Freedom" is a bouncy revamp of Turkish composer Santuri Ethem Efendi, which has similarities to "Allegretto" performed by Bond and Myleene Klass. This is one of the better songs here, as is the playful "Alamuhan," with its wailing erhus, piping flutes which trade off in the verses.

Only Twelve Girls Band could do a wonderful instrumental cover of Enya's "Only Time" with the dizi setting a reflective tone that the original did, as well as the stringed erhus replacing Enya's vocals and doing justice to one of the Irish songstress's best ever songs.

The band finishes off with a medley of Mozart's 40th Symphony G Minor, Allegro Molto, Beethoven's Fifth Symphony in C Minor, and part of the overture of Gioacchino Rossini's The Barber of Seville. What's cool about it is that a funky backbeat plays as the girls do their things on "New Classicism," amusing considering "A Fifth of Beethoven" from the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack also used Ludwig van's Fifth.

As for the DVD, the main goodies are excerpts from their sellout concert at the Budokan in Japan, where they perform "Shangri-La," "Alamuhan," "New Classicism," "Forbidden City," and "Freedom." What's noticeable is their concept of symmetry, embodied in the performers playing in three rows. The three yang qin players in the rear, the three pipa players in the middle, and the six dizi, gu zheng, and erhu players up front. There's even a reverse pyramid motif in their "Freedom" video, where there's a five-four-three arrangement while they play in the desert. And they sure enjoy performing, if pipa player Shuang's vivacious smile is anything to go by.

No cheesey musak in a Chinese restaurant here. This is exotic stuff. Oh, by the way, the women on the front cover and the instruments they're holding are as follows:

1. Kun (pipa)
2. Yuan (dizi)
3. Jian-Nan (gu zheng)
4. Bao (pipa)
5. Yan (erhu)
6. Jing Jing (gu zheng)
7. Li Jun (erhu)
8. Ying (erhu)
9. Song Mei (guzheng)
10. Ting (erhu)
11. Bin Qu (dizi)
12. Shuang (pipa)

Thanks, ladies.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars New age with Chinese instruments and a bit more groove, August 19, 2004

By 

J. Lund "jazzbrat" (SoCal, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Eastern Energy (Audio CD)

After hearing EASTERN ENERGY several times I found quite a few aspects to like, while a few areas left a bit to be desired. Yet the latter should be weighted against the fact that this is their debut USA release and as such there's lots of time for them to reach their potential with music of greater artistic impact. I'm not really into "new age" music, but I do recognize that there is an audience out there that is emotively impacted by this genre. And despite it not being my normal listening fare, I do feel an emotive connection with a fair amount of the material on EASTERN ENERGY. On the other hand, I find that impact negated at times by either the tunes and/or the somewhat sterile by-the-numbers new age sheen (obtrusive on some tracks moreso than others).

However, overall EASTERN ENERGY is to me a bit more intriguing brand of new age due primarily to the colorations of the traditional Chinese instruments. At its best, certain tracks remind me either a bit of the folkier tunes that Weather Report and similiar jazz fusion groups composed (e.g., "Lu San Jie"), or of other intriguing Asian/electronica fusions (e.g.,"Freedom"). In the future their music might gain greater interest if they stepped out of unison more often (they do at times, but I'd like to see it happen more frequently). And on the accompianing DVD there is a section where several of the women start improvising much like jazz musicians do. More of that would be a step forward, too.

Despite my intermittent reservations, overall I'm happy with the CD...this group certainly deserves to be a pop culture phenomenon moreso than many others currently creating a buzz in the upper reaches of the pop charts. What would really amaze me though would be if in the future they collaborate with some truly provocative world and/or groove producer/musicians. A few that came to mind are The Angel, Talvin Singh, Ryuichi Sakamoto ... and if I thought about it longer I could probably come up with others (like they care what I think!). Lastly, don't be surprised if children find the music and the 12 Girls' visual appearance quite captivating, particularly on the bonus DVD which has a videoclip and concert footage.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic!, October 23, 2004

By 

E. D. Garcia "Biggie-E" (San Francisco, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Eastern Energy (Audio CD)

If you're interested in purchasing Eastern Energy, you're paying for the CD, not the DVD. The DVD is really not much more than a few tracks recorded from a live performance at Budokan, and an introductory "commercial" for the band.

Now that the DVD is out of the way, the audio CD:
To put it bluntly, their covers of ColdPlay's "Clocks" and Enya's "Only Time" are nearly worth the purchase price alone! Add to that some of the other gems on the CD:
Earthly Stars (Unsung Heroes), Freedom, Reel Around the Sun, Forbidden City, and Mountains and Rivers. Each of these tracks have something a little different to offer and all very catchy. Whether it's esoteric and calming, or upbeat and driving, the band's performances and orchestrations are nearly perfect.

Personally, I found Alamuhan and New Classicism to be the only flat tracks on the CD. Neither of them moved particularly well and the intonation of New Classicism was flat. (Perhaps J.S. Bach's Prelude from Suite No. 1 in G-Minor, or Vivaldi's Summer: Presto from The Four Seasons would be better for these instruments?)

While I agree with other reviewers that the CD (and DVD) were over-produced, it's only a minor distraction. I can't fault the band for a mixer-happy producer.

If you like what you hear from the samples available, you will love the CD.