KINK GONG ZOMIA vol 1

Kink Gong is back with his unique take and re-interpretation of the music he’s been recording and documenting for years in the South East Asian highlands.

Zomia Vol.1 takes the conceptual idea of ZOMIA, proposed by James C Scott in The Art of Not Being Governed, an Anarchist History of Upland South East Asia, to construct its very own mythological soundscape inspired by a semi-utopic region where state rules don’t apply. Zomia might be (almost) gone but Kink Gong is keen keep its spirit alive by releasing a series of albums celebrating the region’s quasi mythological features.

‘’Zomia is an idea, a concept that, not so long ago, there were two very distinct worlds in southeast Asia, the valley VS highland/hinterland, the civilisation VS the primitive, paddy rice VS slash and burn agriculture, Buddhism VS Animism, fixed territory VS movement/migration, written system VS oral culture, the state VS anarchy, property VS squat, controlled population VS autonomy, bricks VS bamboo and wood and, at my level museumified traditional mainstream music VS real emotions/songs of devastated lives and/or gongs ceremonies with buffalo sacrifices, extreme heat in the valleys VS shade in the jungle. I could go on and on but let’s not forget that ZOMIA is disappearing fast, if not altogether already. How many of the people I’ve recorded are still alive?

As you might know, before composing new music from my own ZOMIAN experience (from 2001 to 2014 in Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Thailand and China) I had to find those musicians, be able to communicate with them, record them as good as I could with very limited finances and gradually release a collection of 160 CDrs. It is very important for me to make sure you listen to the fantastic original recordings before or after you’ve listened to this experimental reconstruction I called ZOMIA!

Expect more volumes to come, this is my biggest source of inspiration, and the reason why I’ve been involved for years in constructing a mythological experimental musical ZOMIAN soundscape.’’
Laurent Jeanneau, Berlin 2020

A1 KHMU MIAO QIANG based on :
JIAKOOT prepared green bamboo tube hit on the palm of the hand by Nang YANG a KHMU woman in Weipa village, Phongsaly Laos 2012
LAO KHENE 14 bamboo tubes mouthorgan by Kink Gong Berlin 2015
SHUI MIAO woman mountain s song from Guizhou in Dali Yunnan China 2007
HE SHI BI ( a QIANG shaman), plays a drum, in Bai chi village Sichuan China 2013
MOUTHHARP by Kink Gong Berlin 2015
KHMU mouthorgan + woman s voice Phongsaly Laos 2012

A2 BAMBOO CHICKEN based on :
GAWDING a stringed bamboo tube played by YA KHAMDENG a BRAO KAVET man in Phouhom village, Attapeu Laos 2006
PREPARED STRING Instrument by Kink Gong Berlin 2018
LAO LAY JIO woman s song Sapa Vietnam 2006

A3 TIBET FLAUBOSAX YI based on :
TIBETAN BUDDHIST CEREMONY with 2 different percussion ensembles ( large drums, long horns with one ancient DUNGCHEN (long horn) having an extraordinary sound, cymbals, bells) in SANG YE Temple, Tibet, China 2018
FLAUBOSAX played by LORENZO COLOCCI Berlin 2018
WHITE YI POLYPHONIC SINGING performed by 2 men and 2 women in DALA village Guangxi China 2017

A4 KEY DINGBOO based on :
ELECTRONIC KEYBOARD by Kink Gong Dali China 2008
DINGBOO Played by 2 BRAO KANYING women. One woman hits her palm against the opening at the end of one of the sections, and another woman claps her hands in a cupped fashion at the other end of the bamboo section. In Nam Souan (Dak Joor) Village, Attapeu Laos 2006.

A5 SWAMP based on :
PIPA played LI DAIGUO Dali Yunnan China 2012
PREPARED STRING Instrument by Kink Gong Berlin 2014
WA Jungle ONGDING village Yunnan China 2010
HMONG crying woman during a funeral, Ha Giang Vietnam 2013
DONG man playing a NUITUIQIN 2 stringed bowed instrument and sings in Shuizhai, Guizhou, China 2007

B1 CLEAR KHMU MIAO based on :
ELECTRONIC KEYBOARD by Kink Gong Dali China 2008
SHUI MIAO 3 women s song from Guizhou in Dali Yunnan China 2007
TOT a fresh bamboo tube with 2 holes for fingers and one hole for blowing and singing performed by THENE Phongsaly Laos 2010

B2 KINK EPPLAY based on :
SOUND TREATMENT & PERCUSSIONS by VINCENT EPPLAY Paris 2019
DAP (UYGHUR handdrum) by Kink Gong Berlin 2016

B3 TAPREU MEUTMOUAN based on :
PREPARED TAPREU (KATU string instrument) by Kink Gong Berlin 2018
BRAO man performing MEUTMOUAN lying down singing in Taveng, Ratanakiri, Cambodia 2005

B4 JARAI 63 based on :
GAWDING a stringed bamboo tube played by YA KHAMDENG a BRAO KAVET man in Phouhom village, Attapeu Laos 2006
ELECTRONIC KEYBOARD + PREPARED STRING Instrument by Kink Gong Berlin 2018
JARAI woman s song (J.DOURNES) Vietnam 1963