It’s hard to tell whether Mando-pop superstar Wang Lee-hom’s new film Love in Disguise (戀愛通告) is the cinematic accompaniment to his new album, or if Wang’s new album The 18 Martial Arts (十 八般武藝) is the sound track to his directorial debut, since the two projects are so tightly knitted together.
Mostly a formulaic vehicle that breaks little new ground, Wang builds on his self-coined “chinked-out” sound on The 18 Martial Arts, his 15th studio album, and further promotes his own signature sound in contrast to the output of Mando-pop’s two other heavenly kings (the R ’n’ B of David Tao (陶) and the “Chinese flavor” (中國風) of Jay Chou (周杰倫)).
The album’s “chinked out” sound is mainly established by a few tracks that merge hip-hop defiance with the serenity of traditional Chinese music. The opening track Dragon Dance features snippets of drumming from Chinese dragon dances in a titillating declaration of cultural pride. Last Verse of Boya (伯牙絕弦) is the result of yet another sparkling collaboration between Wang and Mayday’s (五月天) front man A-hsin (阿信), who previously elevated Wang’s hip-hop driven Along the Plum Blossoms (在梅邊) with classical Chinese literary prose.
Wang’s fusion music reaches new heights on the album, with traditional music elements performed by the China Broadcasting Chinese Orchestra (中央廣播民族樂團).
On the single Match, Rice, Oil, Salt, Soy, Vinegar, Tea (柴米油鹽醬醋茶), Wang extols the virtues of life’s ordinary pleasures. The lyrics, written by songstress Vivian Hsu (徐若瑄), detail the bliss of everyday happiness in an unexpectedly poetic way.
Hard-earned hip-hop credibility aside, Wang’s forte continues to be his soaring R ’n’ B ballads rendered in his unique ABT accent in the vein of You’re Not Here (你不在) and The Only One (唯一). The two theme songs from Love in Disguise, Things You Didn’t Know (你不知道的事) and Until the End of the World (天涯海角), are the latest entries in Wang’s romantic pop canon.
Though lacking innovation, The 18 Martial Arts does boast Wang’s polished musicianship and his newfound confidence in staking out his own signature style.
— ANDREW C.C. HUANG
Three indie bands worth a listen released new EPs this summer, and all three offer a current glimpse of a maturing scene feeling its way through Western rock influences.
Orange Doll (橘娃娃), a four-piece group from Kaohsiung, which put out its first recording in 2003, has the standard sound that appeals to Taiwanese youth outside the mainstream.
The three-track A-Ming’s Songs (阿明之歌) is full of showering distortion from electric guitars, metronome-like post-punk rhythms and spacey interludes.
But Orange Doll’s post-rock noise is balanced by breezy chord progressions and dreamy melodies carried by the airy voice of female vocalist and guitarist Wama Chen (陳力寶).
She sings in accented English, unapologetically, on the chorus to I Don’t Mind If You Forget Me. Her choppy phrasing works because it sounds honest and personal. The song has a melancholic undertone, but the mood is liberating: Chen sings with abandon, as if she has discovered solace in the song’s rousing cadence and retro-pop jangle.
Orange Doll’s music speaks to a youthful innocence, but it hints at more than just mere escapism. One of the EP’s more memorable tracks, Little Donkey (小毛驢), deals sensitively with the topic of suicide through a child’s imagination.
The Tic Tac’s sound displays an equal amount of polish, but with less noise. The four-piece Taipei band plays indie-pop full of lush orchestration, melodrama and big rock ’n’ roll drums.
Pianos, synthesizers and violins adorn this four-song release, U Have to Go. On the title track, the band’s male lead singer and guitarist, who goes by the name Xiao Cha (小茶), croons with bittersweet urgency, and the song’s deceptively catchy chorus will stick in your head.
With its busy drumming and some impressive classic rock-style wailing from Xiao Cha, On the Road (在路上) goes deep into prog-rock territory. Though the band borrows from Radiohead’s heart-tugging, world-weary attitude a little too much on Tranquil Universe (寧靜的宇宙), right down to the quiet interlude with just acoustic guitar and vocals, the song is well executed thanks to its arrangement and the band’s judicious use of distortion and sampling.
The Tic Tac sounds surprisingly cohesive and tight for only having started in 2008. One of the best tracks on the EP, though, shows the band at its loosest and most jubilant. Noah’s Ark (諾亞方舟), a piano-driven rock number, proves that Taiwanese indie rock can be quirky and make you feel good.
Green!Eyes calls Sleeping Bag a single, but the CD also comes with two additional tracks, which provides a fuller picture of this trio’s brand of modern rock.
The brainchild of singer and guitarist Yuchain Wang (王昱辰), Green!Eyes also includes two seasoned musicians from the indie scene. Bassist Levon Hsu (�?�) is a member of the beloved group Tizzy Bac, and drummer Luo Tsun-lung (羅尊龍), who goes by the name Johnlien, plays with Boyz & Girl and Sunset Rollercoaster (落日飛車).
Wang, who writes and sings in English, is a talented young musician with a keen ear for atmosphere. He surrounded his whispery quiet, ethereal vocals on Sleeping Bag with warm, glassy tones from the Mellotron (a vintage synthesizer) and layers of acoustic and electric guitars. The song has a dreamy quality, and it probably helped that Wang had the EP mastered at Abbey Road Studios in London.
Old Time Lovers and Pirate Song, which were recorded live, offer a more realistic picture of the band. Wang’s vocal timbre brings to mind Death Cab for Cutie’s Ben Gibbard, while the drawn-out, noisy guitar jams nod to Wilco. Johnlien’s funky, syncopated drumming and Hsu’s solid bass lines provide the right space for Wang’s admirable guitar skills and lyrics, which come across
as intensely personal and sometimes cryptic.
— DAVID CHEN
After an eight-year hiatus, Mando-pop veteran rocker Chyi Chin (齊秦) returns to the music scene with A Beautiful World (美麗境界), an aptly titled opus that flaunts his polished vocals and new state of mind.
Formerly known as a singer-songwriter with a penchant for rock anthems and infectious ballads, Chyi this time returns as an interpretive singer.
With nine covers and only two new tracks, Chi makes each of A Beautiful World’s songs his own with his subliminally emotive voice.
The opening track Happystance (偶然), a movie theme song from 1976, features Chyi’s spine-tingling vocals with background vocals by Chen Chou-hsia (陳秋霞), who first sang the number.
The Song of Zhangsan (張三的歌), originally sung by folk icon Li Shou-chuan (李壽全) in 1987, is an inspirational anthem that has been transformed by Chyi’s lovelorn vocals into an ode to romance.
The inclusion of overly familiar pop tunes such as Leave Me (離開我) (originally by Momoko Tao (陶晶瑩)) and How I Envy You (我多麼羨慕你) (originally by Maggie Chiang (江美琪)) come across as a bid to up the album’s salability. However, even when tackling Faye Wong’s (王菲) Chess Piece (棋子), Chyi proves that he
is capable of putting his personal stamp on other people’s work.
What Chyi displays on this album is his astonishing knack for taking previously esoteric folk or rock tunes and rendering them elegantly accessible to fans of pop.
The two new tracks, Like Madness (像瘋了一樣) and Long in Hatred and Short in Time (長恨苦短), are well chosen gems.
The album features work by the string section of Beijing’s China Philharmonic Orchestra 中國愛樂), which is balanced well with pop melodies.
—ANDREW C.C. HUANG
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