TK's Rock Collection (台客搖滾百萬驚險輯)
Various
Rock
Released to coincide with the recent Taike Rock Concert (台客搖滾演唱會), Rock Records' TK's Rock Collection (台客搖滾百萬驚險輯) features tunes by all the artists involved in the event that was billed as a celebration of taike chic but was instead a musically confused evening in celebration of an ambiguous
adjective.
The 28 track double CD features numbers by Wu Bai (伍佰), potty-
mouthed rocker Chang Chen-yue (張震嶽), folk rock combo Baboo, pub crooner and self confessed boozer and ladies man Bobby Chen (陳昇), madcap all-rounder Joy Topper (豬頭皮) and one-time pop star Lim Kiong (林強).
None of the material is new and for those who already own albums by any of the aforementioned acts then its probably best avoided. The album offers listeners an interesting selection of taike tunes, but in reality it is little more than an excuse for Rock Records to re-release material from its overflowing library.
Some of the album's better tunes include Wu Bai's hugely popular The World's First (世界第一等), Chang Chen-yue's recent single Malasun (馬拉桑), Lim Kiong's top-selling hit Move Forward (向前走) and Joy Toppers' sardonic self parody I'm Mad (我是神經病).
Sadly, better so-called taike moment has been omitted and the album has its faults. Instead of giving us Baboo's brilliantly haunting Xiaonien Anna (少年 -- 安啦), listeners are subjected to two of the combo's lesser-known numbers. And in a rather condescending move Wu Bai's backing band, China Blue doesn't even warrant a mention.
The sole original tune on the album is the Taike Anthem (台客頌), which is a studio-engineered dance mix of half a dozen numbers by the artists involved with the taike project.
It's in your face from the off and does take some getting used to, but it is so kitsch that it works well and would be the perfect musical complement to any late night taxi ride through the streets of Taipei.
LTK Commune IV (天涯棄逃人)
LTK Commune (濁水溪公社)
TCM
Taiwan's madcap masters of non-musical mayhem, LTK Commune (濁水溪公社) came out of a four-year hiatus last month and released Ten Yai Chi Tou Lang (天涯棄逃人), or LTK Commune IV as it has been called in English. The album is arguably the politico-punksters finest vinyl outing in their 15-year history.
Known more for its hard-hitting political satire and onstage antics than for its musical ability, those familiar with LTK's anti-music stance of old will be left open-mouthed from the off.
Rather than packing the album with simplistic punk and nakashi numbers, LTK, which boasts a new line-up and three new members, has gone all out to impress with a smorgasbord of tunes that range in style from acid jazz to comic pop.
Calm Smile (安定的笑容) has the band toying with a hybrid blend of pop andnakashi and, however outlandish the tune seems, it succeeds in being both entertaining and original. On less experi-mental tunes like The House Sparrow Hero (麻雀英雄) and Picture of Treasure Island (寶島風情畫) LTK kick up a power pop-based racket and on the album's opener, Lullaby (後搖籃曲) LTK does something it has never done before and manages to pull off a great lounge number.
Of course, the album isn't without its more gnarly sounds and the album's finest moment, the 11-minute long Narawan (娜魯灣), is just one such track. A barrage of buzzsaw guitar and heavy percussion creates a wall of sound that chops and changes and never stays in one place. From a pseudo spaghetti western-like theme to more hard-hitting nu-metal and onto post-rock riffs, the track is without doubt LTK's best musical moment.
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