Premiere: Corrado Bucci summons transcendent spirit on ‘Yushan Hu (Silk Road Remix)’
The sumptuous club cut arrives as part of a stunning EP inspired by Bucci's travels through China
Corrado Bucci serves his latest round of finely-crafted compositions, weaving eastern melodies into crisp electronic soundscapes on the ‘Far East Tales’ EP. Among the most club-focused from the set is Corrado’s kinetically-charged ‘Silk Road’ version of ‘Yushan Hu’, a track we’re delighted to premiere here.
The gorgeously melodic track arrives as part of a five-track collection inspired by Bucci’s 2019 travels across China, with each track imbued with a traditional Eastern aesthetic while finessed for modern audiences. The EP marks the artist’s return to Rebirth Records after something of a hiatus, during which time he’s produced work for a string of respected labels, including underground standard bearers Compost, Local Talk, Wonderwheel, and BBE. Embracing previously uncharted sounds while expressing the profound sensations and emotions he experienced on the trip, the allegorical EP is rich with imagery and a tangible sense of wonder.
“'Far East Tales' is an EP written with the heart,” says Corrado. “A set of tales from the Far East translated into music. A set of nuances, colours, scents, flavours and traditions of a land — for us Europeans very distant — that changed and renewed me.”
The EP features three originals alongside a pair of remixes, with each title alluding to his time spent voyaging through China. Opening the EP is a track called ‘Shantaram’, a name full of noble intention that Bucci tries to distil into the music. “Shantaram means ‘man of peace, bearer of light’, and so I was defined during my journey. A somewhat demanding name to bear, and with this EP I would like to convey a sense of peace and light.”
Next is ‘Ma’anshan’, another carefully chosen title directly tied to his transformative Chinese travels. “‘Ma’anshan’ represents a moment of transition, of awareness of my growth. The beginning of a new path [that] helped me to grow, to be more aware and conscious.” Named after a city in the Anhui province in Eastern China, Bucci further elaborates on how his experience there helped inform the music. “An infinite stairway allowed me to reach one of the temples where I experienced a sense of calm and stillness that I had never encountered before. The cries of the children outside the school, playing in the park, rang out with an incomprehensible language but so musical. Ma'anshan filled my heart and soul, made me feel at home.”
Finally, we come to ‘Yushan Hu’, which appears in a mesmerising downtempo original version as well as Corrado’s club-primed ‘Silk Road Remix’. “The Yushan Hu Lake — which can be reached with a walk from the city centre — is an oasis of peace and tranquillity, bringing with it a set of contrasts between incisive and ethereal sounds that allow the listener to immerse himself in the part while breathing [in] the atmosphere.”
You can listen to ‘Yushan Hu (Silk Road Remix)’ here:
Corrado Bucci 'Far East Tales' is out February 17 on Rebirth Records
Patrizio Cavaliere is Mixmag Asia's Music Editor. Follow him on Instagram
