While Chou's forays into Mando-rap have paid dividends thanks to his already whopping fan base, Nan Quan Mama's attempts to emulate their idol fall sadly flat. Listeners are subjected to one wishy-washy tune after another. So same-same are the album's openers that doctors should prescribe them for sleeping disorders.
The only tune on the entire album worth a real mention is the Beastie Boys-influenced musical spoof of the classical Chinese tale Journey to the West (嘻遊記). If the boyz of Nan Quan Mama could have used this as a basis for the entire album, then things would have been very different.
Chou may well continue to dominate the Chinese pop scene for many years to come, but if Nan Quan Mama's drib-drab unimaginative debut is any indication of its future, then the four-piece act will fade away into easily forgettable oblivion.
Lin Jun-jie 林俊傑
Haven 第二天堂
Yellow
If record company executives in the Chinese-speaking world have their way, then Singapore born Lin Jun-jie (林俊傑) -- or Wayne Lim as he's known at home and in Hong Kong, JJ as he's known to adoring fans in Taiwan -- looks set to be the flavor of the year.
Haven is Lin's second album and will, no doubt, climb high in the local pop charts for no other reason than that people like and will buy whatever tripe record companies choose to plug.
Voted "Best Newcomer" at the 15th Golden Melody Awards in Taiwan earlier this year, Lin is packaged like every other record industry created act. There's nothing original about his clean cut and well polished photogenic image and there's even less to say about his studio-crafted style of Mando-pop. What does distinguish Lin from so many of his peers, however, is his ability to hold a tune.
The material on the album is not bad and makes for inoffensive listening and, whether you like it or not, it's virtually guaranteed that Lin will become a pin-up for giggly pre-pubescent girls throughout the Mando-pop world this year.
RSS