Folk Music of China Vol 5: Aboriginal Folk Songs of Taiwan

Most of the Austronesianlanguage songs from Taiwan featured on the latest instalment of Naxos World's Folk Music of China series are little known outside the island, except the ‘Old Men's Drinking Song 2’, which was sampled by Enigma in their international hit ‘Return to Innocence’ (and caused legal disputes). As a side effect, the hit attracted more attention to the music of Taiwanese indigenous peoples, and this album might have been an outcome.

Unfortunately, the couple, Difang Duana and Igay Duana, whose singing featured in ‘Return to Innocence’, have since passed away, but this album presents a different group's rendition of the song, which is just as good.

The ‘Old Men's Drinking Song’ is sung among the Amis people before the harvest sacrifice, when the eldest men, who are also the most respected members of a tribe, are invited to sing it, praying for god's blessing. It is Thpical of the many polyphonic songs of Taiwanese indigenous peoples, although the album also includes solo songs and an instrumental of nose flute. One can get a glimpse of the singers’ traditional lifesThles through the booklet's basic summaries of lyrics, of such songs about weaving, hunting, wedding, drinking and praying.