Through a meticulous curation demonstrating the wide variety of experimental practices taking place in China, Unexplained Sounds Group presents one of its most comprehensive anthologies to date.

The compilation work by the Italian label, USG, is something that we have already celebrated on more than one occasion, but it is important to highlight it, as it provides the space for projects that are not so widely disseminated to reach more audiences. His curatorship tends to focus on drone, dark ambient and dark-hued sound art, however, after the publication of the Indonesian, Mexican, Peruvian anthologies, as well as the second volume of the Iranian compilation, more styles are being covered, but always preserving that mysterious air that distinguishes the label.

As far as China is concerned, this sampler opens a window to the different tendencies of experimentation, but among all the avant-garde leanings, there is also room for tradition. This balance has always been USG’s goal, and along with Indonesia, this is the anthology that best achieves it.

There are really few contributions that turn their backs on their roots, and those pieces with a more modern language keep a certain attachment to the spiritual. Chunyang Yao emits melismas and screams that multiply creating a ghostly polyphony, while accompanied by field recordings and manipulated timbres in an excellent introductory cut. “Stranded” makes use of traditional instruments and electronic effects, creating a fusion of folklore and avant-garde, by taking advantage of, and highlighting, each of its instruments’ resonance (we can hear strings, cymbals and flutes). Similarly, Liang YiYuan uses a bawu, but its execution goes beyond what would be acceptable in a formal context. The instrument becomes erratic -thanks to digital manipulation- until it takes shape again, accompanied by a gentle drone.

Perhaps it was deliberate, but the album can easily be divided into two parts: the first half, which contains practices that distort tradition but maintain their endemic elements; and the second, where the focus is more on the abstract. The equator of this work - Yingshui Dijang’s contribution- makes a perfect allusion to this break with its crazy (but functional) mix, in a piece with a rather ceremonial beginning, a bridge that detours into the avant-garde, and an ending that leans towards electronics.

The pieces that stray away from home by not incorporating (or at least not in a recognizable way) autochthonous elements, do not affect the aesthetics of the compilation, but rather complement it by demonstrating all the directions that sound experimentation has taken in the country. This part of the anthology is also concerned with exploring and expressing the effects modern urban life has on people, as well as their imminent detachment from the spiritual. Broken Thoughts expresses this nostalgia by taking us through hauntological passages; Vavabond, Aplx and Sun Wei explore concrete music with recordings of desolate places, while Hong Qile makes an ambient contribution that creates a strong sense of isolation.

The album closes with a return to folklore, with a fairly straightforward track that contrasts with the previous cuts, but ends up reaffirming the importance of USG's curatorship expanding to more styles. Probably the previous concern was that the albums would not be as cohesive when moving from one style to another, but in fact, in a compilation of this nature, this feels more organic, because you can really appreciate the evolutionary process and how the vestiges of tradition gradually give way for something completely new to come alive.