Fans of Taiwan's number-one musical son longing to relive the action of Jay Chou (
The double-CD package features a selection of tunes recorded on that balmy autumn night. Chou warbles, croons and, of course, mumbles his way through 25 numbers that range in pace and style from slow, hypnotic Mando-rap numbers such as My Construction Site (
The recording has quite obviously been re-mastered and any and all bloopers and duff notes have been erased, which gives Incomparable Live 2004 more of studio recording-like live effect rather than a raw one.
Not that this spoils the fun, however. Fans can still close their eyes and imagine they were there, as Warner's studio engineers made the wise decision not to omit Chou's between-song banter. It might not be complete and it is cut short in parts, but you've got to hand it to Warner for adding a personal feel that all too many local live albums lack.
And if all that isn't enough to satisfy one's cravings for Chou, then those looking for more can purchase the special Incomparable Live 2004 CD set that comes complete with a VCD featuring music videos for Common Jasmine Orange as well as a glossy poster of the wonder boy himself.
Never able to stand still and gestate musically, Wu Bai (
Veering away from the tried-and-tested rock/blues format, Wu Bai has set out to capture the hearts and minds of the electonica/dance crowd with his latest mixed bag of material.
Packed with loops, edits and a host of dance music-like effects, it might sound as if the grand-old-man of Taiwan alt-rock has forsaken his roots. Scratch just under the surface of the tunes, however, and you'll find a host of well-produced, well-executed guitar-driven rock numbers.
The album's opener, Li Hai (
There are a couple more standard Wu Bai ballads thrown in for good measure, but for the most part Two Faced Man is an electronica/rock crossover album.
The material may be far removed from anything Wu Bai and China Blue have ever previously attempted, but the album is, without a doubt, an exciting and original piece of work from one of Taiwan's best musicians.
Over the past 15 years, award winning actress and songstress Wan Fang (萬芳) has released 17 solo albums, appeared on countless compilations and amassed a whopping library of tunes.
While wading through these recordings must surely have given the compilers at Rock Records a real headache,they have still managed to do a pretty good job of bringing out the best in Wan Fang.
The album is concise and expertly plots the singer's highs and lows, luckily with a greater emphasis on the former rather than the latter. The double-CD set contains nearly all of Wan Fang's Top-10 hits and proves that time has been kind to Wan Fang's brand of Mando-pop. Regardless of whether Wan Fang is in soulful or standard mature bubblegum Mando-pop mode, there's not one duff tune on the CD, which places her in the top of the Mando-pop acts.
Sure, you might not find her vocal prowess as sexy or sultry as that of other female acts, but Wan Fang remains one of the few songstresses in Taiwan who can hold a tune and, more importantly, who writes her own material.
The Great Leap Forward 2005 (
Rumored to be the first part of a trilogy of albums that will see Tao exploring "new and exciting musical directions," some of the tunes are a far cry from his more mainstream studio releases such as 2002's hit Black Tangerine (
To create his new sound, Tao has teamed up with a host of performers, songwriters and studio gurus including leggy classical crossover female ensemble 12 Girls Band (
The result of these musical couplings has enabled Tao to mix and match various contrasting musical genres. None of the album's 13 tunes follow the same musical path and, while there's still an underlying R&B/soul feel to many of the numbers, the creative collaborations have paid dividends.
Tao successfully blends rock, R&B and Mando-pop basics with elements of classical Beijing Opera and electronica. Tracks like the weird and wonderful opener Ghost Overture (
The highlight of the album, however, is the marvelous piece of 70s glam-rock, Sula & Lampa (Sula
June 9 to June 15 A photo of two men riding trendy high-wheel Penny-Farthing bicycles past a Qing Dynasty gate aptly captures the essence of Taipei in 1897 — a newly colonized city on the cusp of great change. The Japanese began making significant modifications to the cityscape in 1899, tearing down Qing-era structures, widening boulevards and installing Western-style infrastructure and buildings. The photographer, Minosuke Imamura, only spent a year in Taiwan as a cartographer for the governor-general’s office, but he left behind a treasure trove of 130 images showing life at the onset of Japanese rule, spanning July 1897 to
One of the most important gripes that Taiwanese have about the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) is that it has failed to deliver concretely on higher wages, housing prices and other bread-and-butter issues. The parallel complaint is that the DPP cares only about glamor issues, such as removing markers of Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) colonialism by renaming them, or what the KMT codes as “de-Sinification.” Once again, as a critical election looms, the DPP is presenting evidence for that charge. The KMT was quick to jump on the recent proposal of the Ministry of the Interior (MOI) to rename roads that symbolize
On the evening of June 1, Control Yuan Secretary-General Lee Chun-yi (李俊俋) apologized and resigned in disgrace. His crime was instructing his driver to use a Control Yuan vehicle to transport his dog to a pet grooming salon. The Control Yuan is the government branch that investigates, audits and impeaches government officials for, among other things, misuse of government funds, so his misuse of a government vehicle was highly inappropriate. If this story were told to anyone living in the golden era of swaggering gangsters, flashy nouveau riche businessmen, and corrupt “black gold” politics of the 1980s and 1990s, they would have laughed.
It was just before 6am on a sunny November morning and I could hardly contain my excitement as I arrived at the wharf where I would catch the boat to one of Penghu’s most difficult-to-access islands, a trip that had been on my list for nearly a decade. Little did I know, my dream would soon be crushed. Unsure about which boat was heading to Huayu (花嶼), I found someone who appeared to be a local and asked if this was the right place to wait. “Oh, the boat to Huayu’s been canceled today,” she told me. I couldn’t believe my ears. Surely,
RSS