The Shanghai Restoration Project - Flashbacks in a Crystal Ball (2019) [Hi-Res]

The Shanghai Restoration Project (SRP) is the Brooklyn based electronic duo of Dave Liang and Sun Yunfan.

Initially a solo project of Dave Liang, SRP was inspired by the 1930s Shanghai jazz scene. Having cut his teeth as a producer within the Bad Boy Records system, Liang’s early works such as Instrumentals: Day-Night stood out for their organic synthesis of Chinese instrumentation and hip-hop. With Zodiac, SRP began expanding stylistically and brought choral music, downtempo, electronica, and folk into its lexicon. In 2010, Liang met Shanghai jazz singer Zhang Le and the two hatched a series of contemporary interpretations of Chinese folk and jazz classics like The Wandering Songstress and Can’t Get Your Love.

In 2011 Liang met multidisciplinary artist Sun Yunfan and the two soon started collaborating - at first on music videos and live performance visuals and later on songwriting and production. The two co-produced Life Elsewhere, a playful album that weaves Zhang Le’s jazz vocals with electronica, samba, bossa nova, world music, and Chinese Taoist philosophy.

The duo’s latest album R.U.R. marks a shift from its more recent whimsical releases towards introspection, a reaction to the changing world. Setting out to find balance in chaos, R.U.R. plays with a more dissonant and polyrhythmic palette featuring atonal analog synth lines and samples including household items, Malaysian rainforest insects, China’s omnipresent in-store marketing chants, and the sounds of outer space.

Tracklist:
01. The Shanghai Restoration Project - Sudden Rush of Memories (2:38)
02. The Shanghai Restoration Project - Tactile Sonic Glide (14:23)
03. The Shanghai Restoration Project - Time Gambler (5:07)
04. The Shanghai Restoration Project - Jazzy Grandma (4:36)
05. The Shanghai Restoration Project - Dance School at Dusk (5:57)
06. The Shanghai Restoration Project - Soft Diamond (4:23)
07. The Shanghai Restoration Project - LIC Color Blast (5:15)
08. The Shanghai Restoration Project - Beeswax Chamber (2:46)
09. The Shanghai Restoration Project - Elegy for Wave Organ (4:22)