Canadian musician Matthew Lien is to perform songs from his new album, The Romantic Route 3 — Hakka Music Map of Matthew Lien (浪漫臺三線 — 馬修連恩的客家音樂地圖), at a concert in Miaoli County on Saturday.
Romantic Route 3 refers to a government initiative aimed at promoting and reviving Hakka culture along Provincial Highway No. 3.
The artist residencies that are part of the initiative seek to bring out traditional Hakka culture from a new perspective, Hakka Affairs Council Minister Lee Yung-de (李永得) told a news conference in Taipei.
Photo: CNA
The album, which is to be released on Thursday next week, was created during Lien’s residency there, Lee said.
Lien collaborated with several Hakka-language artists for the album, including Golden Melody Award-winning Emily Guan (官靈芝), Yachun Asta Tzeng (曾雅君), Misa (米莎), Huang Zi-xuan (黃子軒) and Lai Ren-jen (賴仁政), the council said in a statement.
One of the songs, Revolving Doors (旋轉之門), also features vocals by Lee, it said.
The song’s lyrics were written by Lien and 17-year-old Hakka hip-hop artist Yappy, it said.
Hakka artist Flyflyfly (飛飛飛) designed the cover for the two-CD album, it added.
“Using an avant-garde and bold design, [Flyflyfly] turns each musician into a mountain,” the council said.
“The children of [Provincial Highway No. 3] are the children of the mountains,” Flyflyfly said.
The highway is “like a paradise of culture,” Lien said.
“For a musician, it is like a buffet. A buffet for the soul,” he said.
“Through culture, we can understand a place’s people, a place’s history ... and music is the voice of the culture,” he said.
“Many new musicians are also creating their own music, so it’s always changing,” Lien said.
Revolving Doors represents this quality, he added. “The older generation and the younger generation: it’s always turning, it’s always changing.”
“When you listen to the album, at the end of Revolving Doors there is the sound of a train, because it’s going on and on, to the next station,” he added.
The concert, which is to start at 6pm at the Northern Miaoli Art Center, is to include an autograph-signing session, the council said.
The Taipei Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) Wanda-Zhonghe Line is 81.7 percent complete, with public opening targeted for the end of 2027, New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) said today. Surrounding roads are to be open to the public by the end of next year, Hou said during an inspection of construction progress. The 9.5km line, featuring nine underground stations and one depot, is expected to connect Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall Station to Chukuang Station in New Taipei City’s Jhonghe District (中和). All 18 tunnels for the line are complete, while the main structures of the stations and depot are mostly finished, he
The first global hotel Keys Selection by the Michelin Guide includes four hotels in Taiwan, Michelin announced yesterday. All four received the “Michelin One Key,” indicating guests are to experience a “very special stay” at any of the locations as the establishments are “a true gem with personality. Service always goes the extra mile, and the hotel provides much more than others in its price range.” Of the four hotels, three are located in Taipei and one in Taichung. In Taipei, the One Key accolades were awarded to the Capella Taipei, Kimpton Da An Taipei and Mandarin Oriental Taipei. Capella Taipei was described by
Minister of Economic Affairs Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) yesterday said that private-sector refiners are willing to stop buying Russian naphtha should the EU ask them to, after a group of non-governmental organizations, including the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), criticized the nation’s continued business with the country. While Taiwan joined the US and its Western allies in putting broad sanctions on Russia after it invaded Ukraine in 2022, it did not explicitly ban imports of naphtha, a major hard-currency earner for Russia. While state-owned firms stopped importing Russian oil in 2023, there is no restriction on private companies to
President William Lai (賴清德) is expected to announce a new advanced “all-domain” air defense system to better defend against China when he gives his keynote national day speech today, four sources familiar with the matter said. Taiwan is ramping up defense spending and modernizing its armed forces, but faces a China that has a far larger military and is adding its own advanced new weapons such as stealth fighter jets, aircraft carriers and a huge array of missiles. Lai is expected to announce the air defense system dubbed “Taiwan Dome” in his speech this morning, one of the sources said. The system
RSS