Silk Stalkings

A really cool lost group on late 60s ABC - a bit psych, with maybe a slight UK influence - able to turn out some nicely varied, but nicely focused songs throughout this debut set! The record's one of those great lost sides from the time - a group who've clearly got chops and plenty of ideas of their own - lucky enough to get some time in the studio with a label who gave them the space to try out new things - which they do to great effect here on both the lyrical and instrumental sides of the record! The set's got some larger arrangements by producer Bill Szymczyk - a name we don't know, but who also gives the record a superb sound overall - augmenting the ideas of the group in just the right way, while never burying their identity.

Continuing their explorations on Silk Road Journeys: When Strangers Meet, Yo-Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble go even deeper into cross-cultural studies on this 2005 soundtrack album. Produced for a 10-part series on Japan's NHK television network, the CD's 15 tracks are arranged in three suites, entitled Enchantment, Origins, and New Beginnings, more reflective of inherent musical affinities than of the way the music was used in the program. The musicians tap into the variously overlapping musical styles of lands stretching from China and India to Iran and Turkey, and the arrangements by Zhao Jiping and Zhao Lin include a mix of instruments from around the world, to add greater color and sonic dimensions. The album's exotic and meditative qualities may attract fans of both international and new age music, though there is perhaps little crossover appeal for Ma's classical devotees.