The Shanghai Restoration Project

The Shanghai Restoration Project

The Shanghai Restoration Project is a New York-based group active since 2006, led by producer Dave Liang with Sun Yunfan as a member. It works in the area of asian underground and ethnotronica, and its music combines electronic production with Chinese instrumentation and rhythms alongside hip-hop, jazz and pop influences.

Style and concept

The project draws on the sound of 1930s Shanghai jazz bands, using that period’s East-meets-West blend as a starting point. Its music explores contrasts between tradition and modern life, and between Chinese philosophy and contemporary urban culture. Liang presents the project as an attempt to reinterpret the old Shanghai jazz hybrid in a contemporary form.

Career and releases

Liang, who is Chinese-American, has produced for artists on Bad Boy, Motown and Universal Records. In 2005, he signs a licensing deal with ESL Music, Thievery Corporation’s label. The Shanghai Restoration Project appears in the Top 100 Electronic Albums on iTunes in the US, Canada, the UK, Europe, Australia and Japan, and reaches No. 1 on MSN Music’s Top 100 Electronic Albums in January 2006.

Media appearances and reception

The project’s music features in film and broadcast contexts, including Red Doors, which wins the TriBeCa Film Festival in 2005, and in KCRW’s Morning Becomes Eclectic. The track The Bund (Instrumental) is used as background music during BBC coverage of the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Liang’s work also circulates in clubs and lounges internationally.