SRP debuted as
MSN Music's "New Artist of the Week" in January 2006. The group's first eponymous release, inspired by the
Shanghai jazz bands of the 1930s, combines traditional Chinese instruments with
hip hop and
electronica. The release gained recognition globally, rising to the top 10 in several electronic charts, including
Amazon and
iTunes. The first track from the debut album, "Introduction (1936)", was selected as the theme song for a worldwide TV advertising campaign for
Kenzo Parfums (a division of
Louis Vuitton) in early 2007. In late 2007, SRP partnered with
China Record Corporation (the Chinese government's record label) to release
Remixed and Restored Vol. 1, a project remixing select classic Chinese hits from 1930s Shanghai. In 2008, SRP's
Instrumentals: Day & Night, a 24-song soundtrack for modern day Shanghai, was featured on
NPR. Several songs were regularly featured during
BBC's coverage of the
Beijing Olympics. In 2009, SRP visited Sichuan, China with Abigail Washburn to create a folk-electronic record called Afterquake to raise awareness for victims of the Sichuan earthquakes. The two artists partnered with Sichuan Quake Relief and discussed their work on NPR All Things Considered, The San Francisco Chronicle, and NY Times. In 2010, SRP earned a New York Emmy Award for the special entertainment news coverage of "New York 360 Angle: Shanghai Restoration Project" produced by Limei Wang. That year, SRP partnered with the Chinese creative community site Neocha to release eXpo, a compilation of Chinese electronic artists that was highlighted in The Fader, Wired.com, and PRI's The World. In 2011, SRP released
Little Dragon Tales, a collection of classic Chinese children's songs set to electronic and hip-hop beats. The album was recommended by
Jeff Yang as the "year’s best culture-savvy stocking stuffer" in the
Wall Street Journal. Songs from the album were also featured on compilations released by
Starbucks and
Putumayo. That same year, Liang began collaborating with multimedia artist Sun Yunfan, first on music videos and live visuals and eventually on songwriting and music production. In 2014, SRP released
The Classics, a collection of 1930s and 1940s Shanghai jazz standards remade in an electronic format. The album features vocals from Shanghai jazz vocalist Zhang Le and was featured on both NPR's All Things Considered and Last Call with Carson Daly. The group embarked on a multi-city tour of China and performed at the
Smithsonian Folklife Festival and the Toronto's
Harbourfront Centre. In 2016, SRP released ''What's Up with That?'', an electronic collaboration with Chinese animator Lei Lei and Life Elsewhere, an album with Chinese jazz singer Zhang Le. Life Elsewhere was the first album Liang co-produced with Sun Yunfan. In 2017, the duo released
R.U.R., which imagines a world in which AI has replaced humankind. The group also contributed music to the film
Have a Nice Day, which premiered in competition at the
Berlin International Film Festival. SRP is currently based in Barcelona. ==Discography==