TIAN QIYI ‘SONGS FOR WORKERS’ ALBUM

I am constantly listening for new sounds in the world of music. There is a wealth of good music available on the vast web, so I narrowed my search to albums for which I receive promotional links. That is a large, but manageable field of listening.  I have a wide range of musical styles, and I seldom dislike what I’m hearing. Having said that, what do I post here as opposed to the number of links I get in an average week? The answer is this: I sample all the posts by skipping through the tracks to get a feel for what I’m listening to. If I like it, I save it to the file. Do I dislike the others? I don’t necessarily dislike them; they just didn’t catch my attention and pull me in to listen to the whole album. They could be too top ten oriented, I seldom go there. They could be death metal, or in that vicinity, I do listen to samples of it, and a few make it to the saved stack.

This album, Songs For Workers by Tian Qiyi, hit my inbox on June 27. That was a hectic week for me on multiple levels. I got enough free time today to listen to it, and it certainly fits the mould for new sounds. Those sounds were created by Tian Qiyi, which is more than just a band; it is the bringing together of brothers John Tian Qi Wardle and Charlie Tian Yi Wardle with their father, Jah Wobble (John Wardle). Their unique sound reflects their rich family heritage, blending their father’s pioneering work in post-punk and dub with the Chinese cultural influences of their mother, Zilan Liao.

I am leaning towards labelling this as world music with modernization, whatever the heck that means. Dang, it is music. It is music with a distinct Eastern ethos. It is Eastern music with beats and bass. It’s beats and bass with lyrics that require a lyric sheet to read as you listen. It is lyrics that go beyond the standards of finding love, living in love, losing love, etc.

This is an album that is new, fresh, and different from the standard three-minute, radio-friendly pop that is so prevalent at this moment in time. Songs For Workers is a breath of fresh air. It is the equivalent of pop that Sturgill Simpson’s album Metamodern Sounds in Country Music is to Country Music. It is new, it is grating at times, it asks us to pay attention as we listen, and it rewards us in the run-out groove as a time well spent.

I am a sucker for the violin, especially the electric variety, and Songs For Workers gave plenty of that. They provide us with a variety of different instruments and distortions; their songs’ distorted sounds often walk arm in arm with the original sounds of the instruments. It is a whirlpool of sound that must have been a joy to engineer and produce. Hats off to the many people who worked behind the scenes to bring this music to us.

In the lead-up to this album’s release, Tian Qiyi shared the stellar singles ‘Watch The Sunrise’, ‘Mongolian Dub’ and ‘Dharma’, each offering a captivating blend of Eastern psychedelic melodies and Charlie’s ethereal vocals, underpinned by a hypnotic fusion rhythm and beautiful percussion. As groovy as it is addictive, the trio serve up a truly grounding experience.

“‘Songs For Workers’ is an album where we have moved away from influences and inspiration, instead embracing instinct and familiarity. Our background played a crucial role, from the traditional Chinese music we learned with our grandad and mum, to the improvisational, instinctive playing we developed from performing and recording with our dad,” says John Tian Qi Wardle.

I have grown to enjoy this album more with each listen. It may not be your cup of tea this morning, but you will never appreciate different music if you don’t listen to it. Songs for Workers is also an album that entertained me, and I hope you will give it a chance to entertain you as well.

Songs for Workers features the legendary Jah Wobble on bass, a worthy addition to the soul of an album that is filled with so much good music. Tian Qiyi have taken elements from dub, to soul, to ethnic eastern music. There is so much going on that I had to listen to the album numerous times to fully appreciate it. And I don’t think I’ve done it fully yet.

Recorded at Pagoda Studio, Airtight Studios, and Pressure Drop.

Engineering by John Tian Qi Wardle with Seadna McPhail (on ‘At the Beginning’, ‘Mongolian Dub’, ‘Dharma’ & ‘Dharma AMBIENT’)and with Will Farley (on ‘Songs For Workers’)

Mixed by John Tian Qi Wardle, with additional mixing by Charlie Tian Yi Wardle & Jah Wobble on ‘At the Beginning’, ‘Dharma’ & ‘Dharma AMBIENT’Special thanks to Sean Leonard, Pagoda Arts, Will Farley, and Antony Walsh at Pressure Drop

Published by Domino Publishing / 30 Hertz

Publicity by Shameless Promotion PR

‘Songs For Workers’ album pre-save / pre-order  https://ffm.to/songsforworkers
Bandcamp  https://wearetian.bandcamp.com/album/songs-for-workers
Spotify  https://open.spotify.com/album/5F7Bo9gHjAR6DqdYhZTSNp
‘Dharma’ ft. Jah Wobble https://ffm.to/tianqiyi-dharma
YouTube  https://youtu.be/YWrH130NxxU
‘Watch The Sunrise’ single  https://ffm.to/watchthesunrise
YouTube  https://youtu.be/uLCyuyOmvyI
‘Mongolian Dub’ ft. Jah Wobble  https://wearetian.bandcamp.com/track/mongolian-dub

On the heels of Songs for Workers, we have legendary bass player and vocalist Jah Wobble presents ‘Dub In The East‘, a groovy dub offering and the first track from his new album ‘Dub Volume 1’, a solo effort that sees him write, play and arrange everything. Drawing inspiration from his East London upbringing, the artist’s latest song is a deep dive into the historical influences that shaped his community, from the waves of Irish immigration to the perilous lives of his ancestors, who were watermen on the River Thames.

Known for his original rock-reggae hybrid, forged through a deep embrace of reggae, punk, world music, and a DIY ethos, Jah Wobble’s heavy, hypnotic bass lines have defined a whole musical era and influenced many musicians for over forty years.

Born John Wardle, his career has encompassed genres ranging from post-punk, dub, and world music to experimental rock and electronic music. An original member of Public Image Ltd (PiL) from 1978 to 1980, he contributed to two groundbreaking albums with the band, including the iconic ‘Metal Box’ (1979). He continues to tour with ‘Metal Box in Dub’, presented as a two-hour show with Jon Klein.

Wobble launched his solo career even before leaving PiL, forming Invaders of the Heart in 1982 and collaborating with Can’s Holger Czukay and Jaki Liebezeit, as well as U2’s The Edge and producer François Kevorkian, soon after. By the 1990s, he had achieved public notoriety, including chart success and a Mercury Music Prize nomination for his ‘Rising Above Bedlam’ album. After releasing the top-40 album ‘Take Me To God’ and ‘Heaven and Earth’ via Island Records, Wardle fled record company constraints, returning to more experimental and non-commercial sounding records.

He was part of the industrial supergroup The Damage Manual, worked with Julie Campbell aka LoneLady on ‘Psychic Life’, and worked with his wife Zi Lan Liao (guzheng player and harpist) on the award-winning album ‘Chinese Dub’, for which they won the Songlines Magazine World Music Award and toured with a large group of Chinese performers.

More recently, he has been playing and recording with Tian Qiyi, a group formed by his sons, Charlie and John Wardle. Debuting in 2023 with the album ‘Red Mist‘, he once again joins them for their newly-released sophomore effort ‘Songs For Workers’.

On the album Dub Volume, Jah Wooble presents a more jazz-oriented mix that retains his trademark electronics. Combining these two elements has resulted in a very enjoyable album. I was listening to it as I typed, and when it was done, I thought it had passed by way too fast, which is a good problem because I like the album.

‘Dub Volume 1’  https://wardle.bandcamp.com/album/dub-volume-one
Vinyl order  www.normanrecords.com/records/209059-jah-wobble-dub-volume-1
Vinyl & CD order  https://www.resident-music.com/productdetails&product_id=127177
‘Dub In The East’  https://youtu.be/OvApXq_4Clg
Bandcamp  https://wardle.bandcamp.com/track/dub-in-the-east
‘Tyson Dub Mix’  https://wardle.bandcamp.com/track/tyson-dub-remix
YouTube  https://youtu.be/c84zGfYmy2U
Spotify  https://open.spotify.com/artist/5jhqwsWfRaETrWPWI0Rc7uWebsite | Facebook | 

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