Looking for a New World (找一個新世界)
The Chairman (董事長樂團)
Click
It's been almost three years since Teh Chairman has graced record store shelves with a new batch of tunes, but the wait has been well worth it as the long serving rock combo is not only back with a new lineup, but, more importantly, with a new sound as well.
In a break from tradition, the group has veered away from the tried and tested punk/rock-based buzz-saw guitar and snarling vocals-driven format and instead opted to explore a more sophisticated post-rock oriented style of vibes.
Looking for a New World is a well produced, tight and, in keeping with all Chairman albums, an expertly executed piece of work. The combo successfully blends aspects of electronica, downbeat modern folk and post-rock to create what is by far its most expressive album to date.
Those familiar with The Chairman of yesteryear might be a bit put off by the opening track, New World (
Tunes like the high-octane, post-rock Just Give Me a Chance; the unhurried, hypnotic and stylized Tsunami (
Exposed
Coco Lee (李玟)
Epic
Having disappeared from the music scene for two years, Coco Lee is back with a new spicy image in which her cleavage and rear end both play big -- no pun intended -- parts. Along with her new more adult-oriented image, Lee has opted for a more fashionable musical route.
The one-time queen of Mando-pop has gone from bubblegum pop to mild dance/hip-hop. While it has its drawbacks and is not without its many faults, the sound on Exposed is far more befitting of the new mature Lee than that of the cutesy image she used to cut her teeth in the music business.
To ensure that everyone knows she's now grown up, the album sleeve is awash with titillating photos of the singer and every song revolves the same subject -- sex. Exposed is a racy album. Lee waxes lyrical about everything from her "belly dance" -- which we won't get into here -- to how "it's been too long since I've had some."
Lee weaves her sexual poetry over a backdrop of mild electronica and slow hip-hop loops. The album certainly has its entertaining moments, but sadly the tunes don't make as much of a lasting impression as the lyrics themselves.
Even with the help of Grammy-winning producer Rick Wake, the programmable smarts of Joon Park and several other members of the team that produced hits for Celine Dion and Jennifer Lopez, Lee's latest album fails to impress musically.
The problem is that it's almost impossible to take the material seriously, especially when Lee croons her way through tunes like So Good, the lyrics of which read more like a piece of pornographic literature than a would-be top-1 hit -- "lay back and just relax/don't mind the candle wax/with nails upon your back/I'll just do it like that/lust sitting on your face/tongue kisses my inner place/and as I start to shake/a sensual escape."
Unlimited (無限)
FIR (飛兒樂團)
Warner
Released only two weeks ago, FIR's second studio album, Unlimited has already shot to the number-one spot in MTV Taiwan music charts and looks poised to conquer charts in China, Hong Kong and Singapore in the coming weeks.
Like the band's 2004 debut, Revolution, Unlimited sees the hybrid three-piece power-pop/world-music combo employing a smorgasbord of musical genres in order to create its own highly stylized sound. Never standing still long enough to be categorized into one specific genre, FIR is without a doubt one of the nation's more original acts.
It's a hurdy-gurdy ride of musical ups and downs from start to finish. Yet, while the combination of world music, J-pop, Mando-pop, blues, rock and bubblegum pop might sound like some cataclysmic musical nightmare, the material is highly entertaining and, more importantly, both fresh and original.
From the cinematic grandeur of the world-music and heavily orchestrated 1,000 Years of Love (
Some of the album's highlights include the Mando power-pop epic Neverland, the high velocity bubblegum rock inspired Power of Love (
Regardless of this small blooper, Unlimited is good. You might not necessarily like what FIR does and you might loathe the band's new age-like image, but the combo should be applauded for daring to be different.
In a Flash (匆匆)
Kimbo Hu (胡德夫)
Wild Fire
If you've ever attended an outdoor folk festival or hung out in one of the nation's numerous folk rock bars, then chances are you have, at one time or another caught legendary Kimbo Hu in the act.
Released last week, Kimbo's latest album is a retrospective look back at the Aboriginal crooner's musical career. In a Flash is a slow melancholy affair on which Kimbo entices listeners with his operatic-like vocal prowess.
The tunes date from 1972 to 2001 and -- if you're a fan of Kimbo's -- they'll sound pretty familiar as they are all well known and are some of his most performed numbers. In a break from tradition the folk singer/songwriter doesn't perform any of the tunes on guitar, however.
The material all revolves around the piano with occasional backing from a mixed bag of percussion, strings and wind instruments.
The effect is quite stunning and the album's producers have done a masterful job of creating a leisurely and moody musical ambiance within which Kimbo conjures up romantic images of Taiwan and its peoples.
Social commentary is never far from any Kimbo performance or release and In a Flash is no exception to this rule. The orchestral The Long, Long Road (最最遙遠的路) tells of the plight of Aboriginals who move to the city for work; while Why (為什麼) is a jerky eulogy to the coal miners who died in an explosion in 1984 and Flying Fish, Clouded Leopard, Taipei Basin (飛魚, 雲豹, 台北盆地) is a masterly piece of folk that touches on environmental issues.
As I finally slid into the warm embrace of the hot, clifftop pool, it was a serene moment of reflection. The sound of the river reflected off the cave walls, the white of our camping lights reflected off the dark, shimmering surface of the water, and I reflected on how fortunate I was to be here. After all, the beautiful walk through narrow canyons that had brought us here had been inaccessible for five years — and will be again soon. The day had started at the Huisun Forest Area (惠蓀林場), at the end of Nantou County Route 80, north and east
Specialty sandwiches loaded with the contents of an entire charcuterie board, overflowing with sauces, creams and all manner of creative add-ons, is perhaps one of the biggest global food trends of this year. From London to New York, lines form down the block for mortadella, burrata, pistachio and more stuffed between slices of fresh sourdough, rye or focaccia. To try the trend in Taipei, Munchies Mafia is for sure the spot — could this be the best sandwich in town? Carlos from Spain and Sergio from Mexico opened this spot just seven months ago. The two met working in the
Exceptions to the rule are sometimes revealing. For a brief few years, there was an emerging ideological split between the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) that appeared to be pushing the DPP in a direction that would be considered more liberal, and the KMT more conservative. In the previous column, “The KMT-DPP’s bureaucrat-led developmental state” (Dec. 11, page 12), we examined how Taiwan’s democratic system developed, and how both the two main parties largely accepted a similar consensus on how Taiwan should be run domestically and did not split along the left-right lines more familiar in
A six-episode, behind-the-scenes Disney+ docuseries about Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour and Rian Johnson’s third Knives Out movie, Wake Up Dead Man, are some of the new television, films, music and games headed to a device near you. Also among the streaming offerings worth your time this week: Chip and Joanna Gaines take on a big job revamping a small home in the mountains of Colorado, video gamers can skateboard through hell in Sam Eng’s Skate Story and Rob Reiner gets the band back together for Spinal Tap II: The End Continues. MOVIES ■ Rian Johnson’s third Knives Out movie, Wake Up Dead Man
RSS