Melancholy of a Flowering Plant

In 2007, Zai Kuning composed a series of meditative and melancholic music for the film Wonderful Town, directed by Thai director Aditya Assarat. Together with Koichi Shimizu, who focused on digital sound layering, this is Zai’s first attempt at film sound design.

The film, which a ‘lingering, hushed air of apprehension’ (Kelly Vance, San Francisco International Film Festival) runs prominently throughout, has won 2008 Rotterdam International Film Festival Tiger Award and screened in many film festivals such as the Pusan Film Festival and LA Film Festival.

At the Rotterdam Film Festival, Zai and Koichi were invited to play for the opening.

The soundtrack was then recorded as the album: Melancholy of a Flowering Plant. (click for soundtrack)

Seeing further development in his compositions, Zai continues to explore the evocative music from acoustics to folk punk. He has most recently played in an art gallery, Loop-Line, in Tokyo.

Date: 12th July.2008.Saturday
Time: 5pm, 8pm
Venue: Singapore Management University (SMU)
Arts and Culture Centre (Basement of School of Economics)
Entry: $6 or Free Admission with Purchase of Album (at the door sales)