The title of my most recent mix CD is shamelessly stolen from a talk by film scholar Zhang Zhen on the recurrent orphan figure in postwar Sinophone cinemas. Just as orphans abound in Chinese-language film, so too are they scattered throughout Chinese-language music. No, this isn't exactly a holiday-themed mix, but I've been sitting on this list for some time. This collection is loosely collected around the subjects of orphans, filial piety, and families of both the idealized and dysfunctional sort... read more
