Taiwan CD Reviews

A-Mei (張惠妹)

Maybe Tomorrow (也許明天)

Warner

Since it's release two weeks ago, Maybe Tomorrow (也許明天), the new album by Taiwan's most talked about, adored and admired diva, A-Mei (張惠妹) has already shot straight to the number one spot in the local pop charts.

In a break from tradition the songstress veers away from her standard pop format and her latest venture sees her mixing it up with a blend of heavy rock riffs, mild dance loops and moody love ballads.

Numbers like Crucial Moment (關鍵時刻), on which A-Mei employs a mish-mash of power pop and gnarly post-rock riffs, the guitar-based faux aboriginal tune Mountain Song (那魯灣情歌), the prog-rock inspired Who Can be Greater than Me? (誰與爭鋒) and the swing/rockabilly number Love Those High Heels (只愛高跟鞋) maybe a far cry from the A-Mei of yesterday, but they are all tight, well-produced and faultless in both vocal and instrumental execution and delivery.

Sadly, none of the aforementioned new and original numbers have attracted much attention and the album's only current claim to fame is the tune Fire (火) which has received less-than-favorable reviews.

The jerky grinding mild techno tune on which A-Mei teams up with popular singer/songwriter Wong Lee Hom (王力宏) has been panned by the critics and even likened to the sounds of "a person on the toilet grunting and groaning." And while the tune is not Maybe Tomorrow's greatest moment it's certainly not as bad as that.

Icat (翁宇君)

The Mirage in Time (時光魅影)

TCM (角頭音樂)

Self-produced and recorded earlier this year, multi-media artist, Icats's (翁宇君), debut mini-album The Mirage in Time (時光魅影) has just been released nationally by indie label TCM (角頭音樂).

Icat is better-known for her complex multi-media installation art that has been exhibited throughout Asia and won her acclaim in the Asia Digital Arts Awards rather than for her musical abilities. The debut release is, like her art, both abstract and thought provoking.

Employing the talents of an oddball bunch of very contrasting musicians, including award winning new age guitarist Dong Yun-chang (董運昌), several members of Taiwan's leading downbeat concept album creating combo Swingjack and bassist Wei Wei (緯緯) from Taiwan's foremost metal act the Assassins (刺客), the material is a melancholy blend of new age and downbeat.

From the folksy new age opener, Hide-and-Seek Cat (捉迷藏貓兒) to the mild electronica fused and downbeat @*_(!^&)@#$* and on to the final cut, the masterfully dreamy The Branch of Time (時間的歧路) Icat's creations never miss a beat and are worth checking out.

Various

The Outsiders II (鬥魚II)

Warner

When it was released two years ago, the soundtrack to GTV's (八大電視台) smash hit soap opera, The Outsiders (鬥魚) sold more than 300,000 copies and became one the best-selling Asian TV soundtrack albums of all time.

At a mammoth 17 tracks long, The Outsiders II (鬥魚II) incorporates a collection of previously unreleased material from the show. Including both vocal material by some of Taiwan's up-and-coming young singers as well as instrumental score segments from the popular TV drama, the second album, while picking up where the first album left off, is a predominantly slow and moody affair.

It features songs by the drama's three leading actors, Alan Luo (羅志祥), Dylan Kuo (郭品超) and Zhang Xun-jie (張勛傑), as well as tunes by songstresses Tanya Tsai (蔡健雅), Renee Chen (陳嘉唯), Jenny Yang and Candice Chen (陳科好). Tunes that stand out include the show's them tune, Grey Space (灰色空間) sung by Alan Luo, Respond (答應) by Dylan Kuo, Tanya Tsai's False Enemy (假想敵) and Renee Chen's Your Answer (你答應過). All of them are moody Mando-love ballads that, while offering little in the way of originality, are reasonably well performed and produced.