Eastern Energy

This release includes a bonus DVD.
Twelve Girls Band: Bin Qu Liao, Shuang Zhang, Ting Sun, Song Mei Yang, Ying Lei, Li Jun Zhan, JIng Jing Ma, Yan Yin, Bao Zhong, Jian Nan Zhou, Kun Zhang, Yuan Sun.
This ensemble is the Eastern equivalent of the British all-female classical quartet Bond, who blend well-known pieces from the European classical music canon with World Music rhythms and dance beats. However, as its debut album, EASTERN ENERGY, demonstrates, China's Twelve Girls Band differs from its Western counterparts by including three times as many members, and by grafting pop rhythms and arrangements on to classical Chinese pieces--along with an intriguing medley of Mozart, Rossini, and others--played with traditional instruments.
If the girls' white-clad image isn't as overtly flirty as Bond's sultry rock-chicks-play-Bach pose, their pulsating renditions of the dramatic "Miracle" and the spirited, Eastern European-sounding "Freedom" make it clear that they're more than equal to Bond in technique and enthusiasm. Demonstrating its versatility, the group adds new dimensions to Coldplay's "Clocks" and Enya's "Only Time," even adding a stirring version of "Reel Around the Sun," from the Irish musical RIVERDANCE, for good measure.