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CMU Approved
Approved: Li Yilei
By Andy Malt | Published on Tuesday 11 February 2020
With music tastes incubated in Chinese folk and American pop, musician Li Yilei eventually discovered psychedelic and avant-garde, which led them to the combination of electronic music and sound art that now makes up their own work.
“My music is composed of fragments and field recordings”, Yilei explains. “Anything from my environment can become material, from an acoustic recording to conversations on public transport. I want to create a way of listening that is available for all senses, not only the ears. I hope my music communicates better than words. Sometimes words are futile”.
Well, that makes my work here seem somewhat redundant. Yilei’s music is difficult to describe though. While the starting point may be a collection of natural sounds, in the finished pieces they are cut up, twisted and pulled apart. You may well be hearing a conversation recorded on public transport but, as Yilei suggests, any discernible words will be lost.
Yilei’s debut album ‘Unabled Form’ is set to be released through LTR Records on 28 Feb. Listen to new track ‘A Star Without Guidance’ here:
