Taiwan CD Reviews

Like most soundtrack albums, The Outsiders II is not something you'd slap on the CD player and pay close attention to, but it is one to think about if you're looking for a reasonably palatable Mando-pop compilation to provide some inoffensive and at times sultry background music.

Da Di (大地樂團)

The Very First of Da Di (大地首張同名專輯)

Sony

While the music press has likened Da Di (大地樂團) to Power Station in the sense that the band comprises two guys -- one of whom vocalizes while the other plays guitar, and who began their musical days playing in pubs -- there the parallel ends.

Unlike the long-serving longhaired Paiwan blues inspired rockers Da Di's music is geared towards more sophisticated, less mainstream audiences.

There are still trappings of pop and rock, but vocalist Chen Gang (陳剛) and guitarist Liu Chi-ning (劉吉寧) draw much of their inspiration from the odd pairing of heavy guitar riffs and mild electronica orientated lounge music.

It might sound rather oddball, but the vocal prowess and guitar smarts of Da Di's inventive pair avoids pit falls and the end result works well.

The highlights of what is, on the whole a passable and pretty good 10-track debut, include the hypnotic and pumped-up Air-like Expect (期待), the jazzy soulful Dignity (尊嚴) and the pulsating guitar- fueled opener, Setting Out (出發).

The Very First of Da Di is not without its duds, though. And what a blooper it is. By adding new lyrics to the Steve Miller Band's kitsch Abracadabra, Da Di's Love Me Don't Hurt Me (愛我別害我) is, as you can probably imagine, one whopper of a flop.