Angela Lin, aka Angie QQ, producer and A&R behind the Sounds of Taiwan compilation, returned to Taiwan in May 2019 seeking refuge after the loss of her mother.
Angela Lin，又名 Angie QQ，《台灣之聲》合輯的製作人與 A&R。2019 年 5 月失去母親後，她選擇回到台灣，尋找心靈慰藉。
What she discovered in Taroko National Park became the seed for this mix: a meditation on grief, memory, and the way certain places hold us when we need holding most.
她在太魯閣國家公園的體悟，成爲這張混音作品的起點：一段對悲傷與記憶的沉思，也是一種在最需要依靠時，被某片土地溫柔擁抱的感覺
Taroko’s hidden temples and fervent lushness offered Lin sanctuary. She describes the experience as feeling “totally alive” – each leaf, each butterfly, each beam of light made sharp from grief. High in those mountains, she felt her mother could finally see her. Later, her father revealed that Taroko was one of her mother’s favourite places in the world. Though earthquakes have since closed many of the park’s paths, this aural journey captures what it’s like to walk and meditate there: spiritual, powerful, introspective, and healing.
太魯閣隱密的廟宇與蓊鬱的山林，給了 Angie QQ 一處心靈的庇護。她形容自己在那裡感到「完全活著」——每一片葉子、每一隻蝴蝶、每一道光，都因悲傷而變得格外清晰。在高聳的群山之間，她彷彿覺得母親正在看著她，那份被看見的感覺，不只是來自母親，更像是一種對自己悲傷的覺察與釋放——她終於能正視自己的情感，並感受到母親的慈愛與支持。後來，父親告訴她，太魯閣其實是母親生前最喜愛的地方之一。儘管地震封閉公園裡許多步道，這張聲音作品呈在那裡漫步、冥想的感受：靈性、深刻、內省，並帶著療癒的力量。
Understanding how music can hold both landscape and loss, the mix moves like a meditation, like the scene in Totoro where they dance to make their garden sprout, capturing the moment when grief sharpens everything into aliveness, when even the sound of light becomes audible.
音樂可以同時承載風景與失落，這張混音作品如同一場冥想般的流動——就像《龍貓》裡，他們隨著舞蹈讓花園萌芽的場景，捕捉到悲傷將一切都銳化、化為生命力的瞬間，連光的聲音也彷彿能被聽見。
Angie QQ is a Taiwanese American cultural producer based in Los Angeles. With her label Pure Person Press, she “creates and collects records that preserve the spirit of Taiwan.” Her latest collaboration with composer Lim Giong, Sounds of Taiwan, is an ambient record that invites artists to sample Lim Giong’s personal field recordings of Taiwan – a sonic landscape of the island’s people, nature, and spirituality. Through her other company, East Never Loses,, she has transformed mahjong into a cultural movement. Whether through music or mahjong, her work seeks to connect people to Taiwanese culture.
Angie QQ 是一位定居洛杉磯的台美文化創作者。她透過自己的公司 Pure Person Press，創作並蒐集保存台灣精神的唱片。最近，用和作曲家林強合作的作品《台灣之聲》，是一張環境音專輯，邀請藝術家取樣林強在台灣田野間錄下的聲音，呈現島上人文、自然與靈性的景象。透過另一家公司 East Never Loses，她把麻將變成一場文化運動。不管是透過音樂還是麻將，Angie QQ 的創作都希望把人們帶回台灣文化的懷抱。
Lin describes herself as “a little living thing” here for the same reason a flower blooms in a garden. She’s happiest when completely present with the people she loves, and gravitates toward plants that teach her about letting go – like the Money Tree she once tossed outside while dying, which grew back strongest when left alone.
林形容自己是「一個小小的生命」，她在這裡的原因就像花朵在花園中綻放一樣。她最開心的時刻是當她跟愛的人在一起時。她總被那些教她學會放手的植物吸引—比如她曾經在它快死時扔到戶外的發財樹，反而在外面送長得益發茁壯。
“This mixtape was inspired by my time in Taroko National Park in May 2019. My mother had just passed 6 months ago, and to mourn, I returned to nature. Taroko has hidden temples and places of meditation tucked in all of its crevices. I was able to disappear and hide in its fervent lushness. Inside Taroko’s incredible energy, I felt totally alive. Up high in those mountains, I knew my mother could finally see me. I found out later from my father that Taroko was one of my mother’s favourite places in the world. Sadly, Taroko in recent years has been decimated by earthquakes. Many paths and roads are no longer accessible. Nature reclaims nature. I hope however, this mix offers a feeling of what it would be like to meditate and walk in Taroko: spiritual, powerful, introspective, and healing.”
這張混音作品的靈感來自我在 2019 年 5 月太魯閣國家公園的時光。那時母親剛過世六個月，為了悼念，我回到大自然的懷抱裡。太魯閣的山谷裡藏著隱密的廟宇和冥想之地，我得以在這片蓊鬱的綠意中消失、隱匿自己。在太魯閣那股令人震撼的能量裡，我感覺自己完全活著。在高聳的群山間，她彷彿覺得母親正在看著她—她終於能正視自己的情感，並感受到母親的慈愛與支持。後來父親告訴我，太魯閣其實是母親生前最愛的地方之一。可惜近年地震破壞了許多步道和道路，自然，最終還是屬於自然。我希望這張混音作品能帶給大家在那裡漫步、冥想的感受：靈性、深刻、內省，並帶著療癒的力量。
Sounds of Taiwan was manufactured in Taiwan and is primarily sold there, as a conscious effort to create a record by Taiwan, for Taiwan.
In the USA and internationally, it’s available exclusively at In Sheep’s Clothing which ships worldwide.
Listen and read the interview below:
《台灣之聲》在台灣製作，是一張為台灣而做的專輯，所以主要在台灣販售。美國及國際市場，僅透過 In Sheep’s Clothing 發行，並提供全球配送。
訪談
Ransom Note · Seeds Mix #6: Angie QQ – A Meditation Through Taroko (Taiwan)
Who are you?
你是誰?
A little living thing
一個小小的生命
Why are you here?
你為什麼在這裡?
The same reason why a flower blooms in a garden
就像花朵在花園中綻放一樣
When are you happiest?
你什麼時候最快樂?
When I am completely present in the moment with the people I love.
跟愛的人在一起時
How do you feel when you see the first sprouts emerge when planting a seed?
看到種子發芽時，你有什麼感覺?
Like the scene from Totoro when they dance to make their garden sprout
就像《龍貓》中他們跳舞讓花園發芽的場景
Congrats, you’ve won the plant lottery! You can choose anything you want, what is it?
恭喜你贏得植物樂透! 你可以選擇任何你想要的，那會是什麼?
I would choose Calla Lilies. They remind me of my mother.
我會選擇馬蹄蓮。它們讓我想起我的母親。
What instruments or sounds to you evoke the feeling of nature and growth most effectively?
什麼樂器或聲音最能有效地喚起自然和成長的感覺?
The sound of laughter, the sound of birds, the sound of water, the sound of breath, the sound of light.
笑聲、鳥鳴聲、水聲、呼吸聲、光的聲音。
What types of plants do you enjoy growing the most, and why?
你最喜歡種植什麼類型的植物，為什麼?
I like low-maintenance, easy-to-grow, long-limbed plants like the Pothos.
我喜歡好照顧、容易栽種、長枝條的植物，像黃金葛。
What do you find most challenging about caring for new plants?
照顧新植物時，你覺得最具挑戰性的是什麼?
Understanding how much water they need. I tend to overwater and overcare. I currently have a Money Tree that I once tossed outside because it was dying and I couldn’t stand to see it losing its leaves. It grew back strongly once I left it alone. I brought it back inside after 3 weeks. It’s quite happy and healthy now.
最具挑戰性的是要「澆多少水」。我以前總是澆太多、照顧過度。最近我有一棵發財樹，曾經因為它快枯死、我無法忍受看到它掉葉子，就把它丟到戶外。結果它竟然長得很茂盛。三週後我又把它搬回屋內，現在它非常健康、快樂。
Are there specific genres or styles of music that you feel naturally complement the act of planting seeds?
有沒有哪種音樂風格，天生適合種植？
Music created from breath: flute, bells, voice
由呼吸創造的音樂:笛子、鈴鐺、人聲
If you were a plant, what would you be and why?
如果你是一株植物，你會是什麼，為什麼?
I would be a peony – they have a flair for dramatics.
我會是牡丹，因為它們總帶著點戲劇氣息。
Sounds of Taiwan is out now and had just had a repress. In the USA and internationally, find it here.
TRACKLIST
稷廬 (jì lú) — 六妙 (Six Wonders)
Satomimagae — Numa
綠松 (Green Pine) — 菩提雨 (Bodhi Rain)
林強 許志達 (Lim Giong & Hsu Chih-ta) — 穿過黑夜的漫長旅途 (Long Journey Into Night)
點. (Point.) — 觀 (Contemplate)
天馬 (Sky Horse) — 生命波 (Life Wave)
代々木公園 (Yoyogi Koen) — +++++, +++++, +++++.
蘇聰 (Cong Su) — 隨筆…廣西采風回憶 (Odyssey…Memories Of Goang-Shi)
A.J. Alex & Yan One — PART.1
Silent Jeff — 黃泉 (Yellow Springs)
Mong Tong — Rain Maker
虛極 (Bliss-Illusion) — 宙甲 (Recovery of All Things)
雷光夏 (Lei Guangxia) — 小鎮之海 (Ocean of the Small Town)
No Translation — 白沙屯媽祖到西螺大橋 (Baishatun Mazu to Xiluo Bridge)
Go Kurasawa — green thing
Wu Zhuoling — We’ll Follow the Wind
