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CD Review

Chang Fei

A designer of kitsch theatrical costumes, an artist, a musician and more recently a cult clothing manufacturer, Chen Bo-wei (陳柏維), or Mr. Eyeball as he now calls himself, made his musical debut two years ago with his comedic take on Japanese enka and Taiwanese nakashi, in the Banana Flower (香蕉花) EP.

Chen's debut longplayer, which was released last month and is aptly titled Mr. Eyeball (眼球先生), doesn't dally in the past and sees Chen tackling some very different and modern musical styles.

Instead of trying to recreate the sounds of yesteryear Chen sets out to woo listeners with an interesting blend of easy listening numbers that incorporate elements of jazz, folk and pop. The tunes are all pleasant enough and Chen manages to create a wide range of original and differing musical atmospheres.

Chen takes the listener in a series of musical directions that include the slow, moody, orchestrated and moving My Ears (我的耳朵), a spoof take on 1920s style Chinese popular dance music Prelude (序曲二) and the downbeat and spacey theme from his recent stage play, Don't Forget the People in the Shadows (勿忘影中).

Swingjack

While all very interesting, the ever-changing musical moods appear so haphazard at times that Mr. Eyeball is a difficult album to access and one that has the feel of a concept album as opposed to a collection of well-balanced and free flowing tunes.

Shine

Although not on the cutting edge of the Hong Kong music scene, power pop act Shine has received more than its fare share of accolades from the Hong Kong music industry since it debuted in 2002 with the mini-album, Movie Boys (電影男孩).

Mr. Eyeball

Long a favorite with Hong Kong's commercial guitar pop/rock oriented breed of music fan, the combo recently crossed the Taiwan Strait in the company of Canto-pop bad boy, Nicholas Tse (謝霆鋒) to promote its first all Mandarin release, Shine.

While Tse's name continues to be dragged through the mud in the gossip columns of magazines and newspapers [including this one], Shine is busy making friends and clawing its way to the top of the local pop charts with the single We Are ... (我們是...), which was taken from the album.

Packed with some great riffs and plenty of punch, Shine's self-titled Mando power pop debut longplayer packs a lot of clout and grabs the listeners attention from the outset with the jerky brass-section infused Assuming You're Next to Me (若是你在我身邊). Other tracks of note include the fast and furious What to Do Without You (沒有你怎麼辦) and the moody acoustic rock ballad, Wounded by Love (愛情傷兵).

Mando power pop performed by Canto power pop stars might not be everyone's cup of tea and local rebel rockers will, no doubt, dismiss Shine simply for their cutesy boy band looks. This would be a mistake, however, as many local bands could learn a valuable lesson from Shine's polished performance.

Influenced by lounge/electronica/fusion jazz acts such as Saint Etienne, Pizzicato Five and St. Germain, local dance combo, Swingjack has released a staggering 10 albums since it was formed in 2002 by two ex-music industry buddies disenchanted with the local dance/trance scene.

Like many bands formed by people proficient in recording studio know-how, Swingjack is an intangible mish-mash of ideas and concepts rather than simply a group. The combo's dance-styled art-rock esthetics incorporate elements of Mando-pop, dance-pop, jazz, funk, bossa nova, lounge-pop, movie soundtrack and 1970s disco, as well as modern electronica.

For the group's latest studio venture, Level 5, Swingjack has once again brewed up a heap of hypnotic and well-looped rhythms with melodic, at times moody and yet always mesmerizing singsong vocals. Level 5 follows the same musical path as the combo's previous Level projects and is packed with a variety of musical creations that touch on contrasting genres.

From the album's downbeat influenced opener, Devil Queen (魔幻女王) and on through the melancholy Mando-pop soaked You Say Me (你說我), the drum 'n' bass heavy filler F108 and the basic, yet chic, dance pop number Hope (期待), Swingjack's sound remains fresh throughout and the combo once again pulls off a master stroke by throwing well-rounded musical curve balls at the listener.

Love him or loath him, you have to hand it to TV host and master of the natty one-liner, Chang Fei (張菲) for having the chutzpah to attempt to pass himself off as Taiwan's answer to a prototypical Italian-American crooner of the 1950s on his recently released album, When I Fall in Love.

Famed for his risque humor, his tight perm and garish outfits Chang is also a pretty capable crooner when vocalizing in Mandarin or Taiwanese. Sadly he tackles his latest album in English and, needless to say, this is where it all comes unstuck.

Chang's somewhat dubious command of the language means that he sounds more like one of those embarrassingly tune deaf and inebriated blokes you hear at a Karaoke bar in the early hours of the morning rather than a respected and talented all-round entertainer.

The backing musicians are spot-on and don't miss a beat, but Chang's delivery of the moody lounge love tunes is somewhat slurred. Vic Damone, Dean Martin or any one of a number of well-balanced crooners, Chang is not. With the exception of a couple of tunes the album has an intoxicated feel to it.

The album does have its moments, though, and Chang manages to pull off two masterstrokes. He hits all the right notes on his renditions of Percy Faith's Theme from A Summer Place and the Frankie Valli hit, Can't Take My Eye off You.

Although hard, if not impossible to take seriously, When I Fall in Love, the album, is still worthy of at least a 7/10 for its sing-a-long value.

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