The slow and gentle #3 could be seen as a take on unrequited love. When Hwang sings “love is such a wonderful thing,” it sounds as if she’s just learned a sad truth. But she isn’t always feeling dejected. On another song of yearning, December Night, Hwang waxes optimistic that “I’ll be yours for a long, long time.”
A few idiosyncratic numbers add spice to the album. Sister ... Couple Things About Her Vege Garden, which sounds like she’s channeling Juliana Hatfield, is a funny vignette about a holier-than-thou vegetarian sister. Cultural Shock is an agitated rock number, and one wonders whether the title is inspired by Hwang’s background: Taiwan-born, raised and educated in the US.
While most of Hwang’s songs are in English, she has a few Mandarin tunes that carry their own and are well suited to her voice and character. Elope (私奔), the lyrics of which are credited to “Finninipannini,” is a beautiful, atmospheric number with piano backing.
In 15 Second Practice Tune (15秒鐘練習曲), which actually clocks in at 48 seconds, Hwang packs a story within a single moment. The entire lyrics read “You had me standing here for three hours and 20 seconds/ But you were just hiding at home, watching TV, with the AC on/ You broke my heart.”
No Budget is also a throwback to the beginning of the do-it-yourself days. Hwang got started at a time when the speed of distribution and recording process for an indie musician was much slower without the instant access of MySpace or affordable home computer studios offering relatively high production values and quick turnover. Originally released on cassette, Hwang and her friends individually hand-packaged each of the 200 copies.
Even today, Hwang, who, hasn’t released an album since 2001, remains one of a kind.
— DAVID CHEN
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