Rock From Taklamakan Desert

The Taklamakan Desert is situated in the south-east of Xinjiang – a province in northwest China that serves as the autonomous region of the Uyghur minority group. The name Taklamakan is often translated as ‘place of ruin’ and a theme of abandonment permeates much of this debut release by Uyghur rock band Qetiq. Ostensibly consisting of rearrangements of traditional Uyghur and Kazakh songs, as well as three originals by bandleader Perhat Khaliq, this album deals with joy and melancholy in equal measure. Songs about loss, longing and disaffection sit next to ecstatic dance tunes that evoke a different kind of abandonment – the carefree abandon of youth.

They were first discovered performing in a bar in Urumchi, the capital of Xinjiang, and the band's efforts to bring their music to a wider audience have been a true labour of love – the album being recorded between two cities across a period of three years. Given the position of Urumchi – lying as it does near the ancient Silk Road trading route – it comes as no surprise as to how diverse this recording is. Turkish percussion is blended with bursts of clarinet courtesy of Syrian musician Kinan Azmeh, as beautiful throat-singing improvisations segue into blissful psych-rock grooves. Much of the album is held together by Khaliq's extraordinary voice, not to mention those of bandmates Ershat Dilshat and Pazilet Tursun. Coupled with the occasional excursion into country & western territory, this makes for an album that is invariably surprising, sometimes generic, though at its best when maintaining equilibrium between the traditional and the modern.