CD Reviews

A Moving Sound 聲動劇場

Pacu's Trip

A Moving Sound Theatre

The first full-length CD from popular multimedia performance troupe, A Moving Sound, Pacu's Trip is an eclectic blend of instrumental ethnic harmonies, atmospheric ambiance and highly distinctive vocal techniques.

Formed in 2001 in New York, Moving Sound productions have since become regular crowd pleasers whenever it takes to the stage at venues such as Taipei's Witch House.

Embracing the talents of the troupe's three core members -- US national Scott Prairie, Taiwan's Mia Hsieh (謝韻雅) and Alex Wu (吳政君) -- and with the help of guest musicians such as Belgian Pieter Thys and Brazilian Eduardo Campos, the CD makes for a harmoniously pleasing listen.

Enticing listeners from the off with Rain Forest, a tune that lulls the listener into a false sense of new age-ness only to burst into life after three minutes with a magnificent salvo of Gypsy/Middle Eastern tinged vibes, Pacu's Trip exposes the listener to a smorgasbord of world-beat sounds.

Be it the African influenced Mongani, the Aboriginal-sounding Crossing Usuli, the off-center and Tom Waits-like Cabaret, the Balkan/Adriatic sound of The Crying Song or the jerky indie pop-like City Adventure, A Moving Sound creates an audio space that arouses, amuses and bemuses.

Hsieh Yu-wei 謝宇威

[I-SA] 一儕花樹下

Wadeculture

Although not a new release, as the surprise package at yesterday's Golden Melody Awards (第十五屆金曲獎) Hakka singer/songwriter Hsieh Yu-wei (謝宇威) and his [i-sa] (一儕花樹下) certainly warrant a mention.

First hitting the scene as a solo underground/indie artist in the mid-1990s, Hsieh debuted in 1998 with Crystal Records' rough-and-ready production, I'm Hsieh Yu-wei. Remember Me? (我是謝宇威 你記得?).

A regular fixture at the time at many of Taipei's dimly lit spit-and-sawdust underground music venues, Hsieh quickly built up a strong following due to his stage presence and his ability to croon in Mandarin, Taiwanese as well as his native Hakka language.

Along with his solo career the heavily bearded and instantly recognizable Hsieh also worked with pub-rock combo Mountain Dog (山狗大樂團) and has shared the stage with a host of well-known folk artists including Chen Ming-chang (陳明章).

Like his 1998 debut, [i-sa] is a mournful folk-oriented piece of work that sees Hsieh flexing his acoustic muscle and crooning his way through a selection of original tunes and reworked traditional Hakka numbers.

Offering pleasing moment after pleasing moment, the album's tracks, whether traditional tunes or original works, are joy to listen to. From It Comes From Head (從頭來過), a moving orchestral tune that employs mild pop riffs to Glistening Moon (月光光), a soulful, lounge-like reworking of a Hakka child's poem,[i-sa] comes up trumps time and time again.

The highlight of the whole affair is Hsieh's fantastic and unique brass section backed and electric guitar solo fueled reworking of the time-honored Hakka tune, Mountain Song (山歌).

Eric Clapton

Me and Mr Johnson

Reprise

Eric Clapton makes a welcome return to record store shelves with an album featuring a selection of tunes penned almost 70 years ago by the late Mississippi blues master, Robert Johnson.

According to legend, Johnson, who passed away in 1938, sold his soul to the devil in exchange for his aptitude on guitar. Whether you choose to believe this piece of folklore is up to you, but what is undeniable is that without Johnson there would be no blues artists like B.B. King and Jimmy Page would have been playing a very different tune.