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21st Golden Melody Awards Nominations

Sunday, May 16th, 2010

I missed this coming out on Friday, though that’s not terribly shocking since my nifty Google Alerts have gone haywire given all the Google trauma here lately. Plus I spent all day yesterday at the Shanghai Expo (forget what anyone else tells you; the REAL “can’t miss” pavilions are Mongolia, with its awesome dinosaur bones, and North Korea, which features a propaganda video in which a woman ice skates while juggling live birds. The mind boggles), so I wouldn’t have had time to translate even if I’d seen it. But the time has come to consider the list, which has so much to bring joy to the masses.

First of all, Cowboy Jay didn’t release an album last year, so he’s absent from the whole thing. Yes, he’s been absent before, and yes, so are Mayday and Leehom (who also did not release albums), but a cowboy-free (and S.H.E./Fahrenheit-free) year is still meant to be savored. Second of all, look at sodagreen! Not to mention the Superband, Tanya Chua, Cheer Chen, Deserts Chang, David Tao, Crowd Lu, 1976, and Totem Band. There’s a lot to like here. I’m not sure I get the logic behind nominating sodagreen twice for Best Band – it’s not like an award for a specific song or album, and the number of nominees is rather high this year. Plus, it could end up working against them, like Ashin last year with the best lyrics dual nomination – it splits their vote. Of course, if it split their vote and, say, 1976, Superband, or Totem won, then no worries from me. :D

Now for my annual disclaimers: I’ve tried to use official English titles where I know them or can easily find them; otherwise, you get my best guess. I often give the name of the artist in brackets after the entry. Once we get into production categories, I list the songs or albums nominated, not the people (since for most of them, we don’t have any reason to know the producers). I also edit the list for the categories I’m interested in and where I know the artists (i.e. I leave out classical and non-Mandarin categories); you can see the full thing here. So without further ado, the nominations.

Song of the Year (最佳年度歌曲獎):
“Riding a White Horse (身騎白馬),” Lala Shu《徐佳瑩 LALA創作專輯》[Lala Shu]
“Come If You Dare (好膽你就來),” A-Mit 《A-MIT 阿密特 張惠妹意識專輯》[A-mei]
“Singing in the Trees (在樹上唱歌),” Singing in the Trees《在樹上唱歌》[Claire Kuo]
“Desperado (亡命之徒),” North Bound《北上列車》 [Superband]
“Fish (魚),” Immortal《太陽》[Cheer Chen]

Mandarin Album of the Year (最佳國語專輯獎):
If You See Him (若你碰到他) [Tanya Chua]
Hui Wei (回蔚) [Karen Mok - I can't find an English title, but the second character is part of her name, so like "returning to Karen"]
Lala Shu (徐佳瑩 LALA創作專輯) [Lala Shu]
A-MIT (A-MIT 阿密特 張惠妹意識專輯) [A-mei Chang]
Immortal (太陽) [Cheer Chen]

Best Music Video (最佳音樂錄影帶獎)
“Master (主人),” Innocent《赤子innocent》 [Mavis Fan & 100%]
“Daylight (日光),” Daylight of Spring 《春．日光》[sodagreen]
“Eat What You See (看見什麼吃什麼),” Senses Around《感官 世界》[Yoga Lin]
“Jimmy Baby (吉米寶貝),” Seven Days《七天》[Crowd Lu]
“I Come to the Seaside (我行來海邊),” Celebrations of Our Incomparable Selves – 2009 Taiwan Original Music Awards Album《98年臺灣原創流行音樂大獎作品輯「風神之歌」》[沈懷一]
“Come If You Dare (好膽你就來),” A-MIT 《A-MIT 阿密特 張惠妹意識專輯》[A-mei]
“A Trouble Like This (這樣的一個麻煩), Fifth Floor Bliss《上五樓的快活》[Eason Chan]

Best Composition (最佳作曲人獎)
Tanya Chua (蔡健雅), “Parabola (拋物線),” If You See Him《若你碰到他》
Shu Lala (徐佳瑩)、Su Tongda (蘇通達), “Riding a White Horse (身騎白馬),” Shu Lala《徐佳瑩 LALA創作專輯》[Shu Lala]
Qingfeng Wu (吳青峯), “Lost It (掉了),” A-MIT《A-MIT 阿密特 張惠妹意識專輯》[A-mei]
Chen Xiaoxia (陳小霞／), “Singing in the Trees (在樹上唱歌),” Singing in the Trees《在樹上唱歌》[Claire Kuo]
Cheer Chen (陳綺貞), “Fish (魚),” Immortal《太陽》[Cheer Chen]

Best Lyrics (最佳作詞人獎)
Yao Ruolong (姚若龍), “Needle in my Heart (心裡有針),” Dreamers《愛作夢的人》[Ricky Hsiao]
Lin Xi (林夕) “Getting Straight to the Point (開門見山),” A-MIT《A-MIT 阿密特 張惠妹意識專輯》[A-mei Chang; song title is literally, "Open the Door and See Mountains."
Qingfeng Wu (吳青峯), "Lost It (掉了)," A-MIT《A-MIT 阿密特 張惠妹意識專輯》[A-mei Chang]
Superband (縱貫線), “Desperado (亡命之徒),” North Bound《北上列車》[Superband]
Cheer Chen (陳綺貞), “Fish (魚),” Immortal《太陽》[Cheer Chen]

Best Arrangement (最佳編曲人獎 )
“Daylight (日光),” Daylight of Spring《春．日光》 [sodagreen]
“Slippery Love Song (溜溜的情歌),” Hui Wei《回蔚》[Karen Mok]
“A Tale of Two Chens (雙陳記),” A Tale of Two Chens《雙陳記》[Sandee Chan and Kimmy Chen]
“Riding a White Horse (身騎白馬),” Shu Lala《徐佳瑩 LALA創作專輯》[Lala Shu]
“Come If You Dare (好膽你就來),” A-MIT 《A-MIT 阿密特 張惠妹意識專輯》[A-mei]

Best Album Production (最佳專輯製作人獎)
Ricky Hsiao (蕭煌奇), Dreamers (愛作夢的人)
Tanya Chua (蔡健雅), If You See Him (若你碰到他)
Will Lin (林暐哲), Daylight of Spring (春．日光)
Zhang Yadong (張亞東), Hui Wei (回蔚)
Adizai (阿弟仔), A-MIT (A-MIT 阿密特 張惠妹意識專輯)
Zhong Chenghu (鍾成虎), Immortal (太陽)
Li Yunling (李昀陵)、Shi Jiahao (石家豪)、Yachun Asta Tzeng (曾雅君), Yachun Asta Tzeng (曾雅君)

Best Production of a Single (最佳單曲製作人獎)
“A Tale of Two Chens (雙陳記),” A Tale of Two Chens《雙陳記》[Sandee Chan and Kimmy Chen]
“Riding a White Horse (身騎白馬),” Shu Lala《徐佳瑩 LALA創作專輯》[Lala Shu]
“Master (主人),” Innocent《赤子innocent》 [Mavis Fan & 100%]
“Mulan’s Passion (木蘭情),” Hua Mulan Original Motion Picture Soundrack《花木蘭電影原聲帶》[Stephanie Sun]
“Not So Simple (沒那麼簡單),” Tiger Huang, Simple or Not?《黃小琥 簡單/不簡單》[Tiger Huang]

Best Male Mandarin Artist (最佳國語男歌手獎)
J.J. Lin (林俊傑), J.J. Lin 100 Days (JJ林俊傑 100天)
David Tao (陶喆), Opus 69 (六九樂章)
Eason Chan (陳奕迅), Fifth Floor Bliss (上五樓的快活)
Khalil Fong (方大同), Timeless (可啦思刻)
Jam Hsiao (蕭敬騰), Princess 王妃

Best Female Mandarin Artist (最佳國語女歌手獎)
Tanya Chua (蔡健雅), If You See Him (若你碰到他)
Karen Mok (莫文蔚), Hui Wei (回蔚)
A-mei Chang (張惠妹), A-MIT (A-MIT 阿密特 張惠妹意識專輯)
Deserts Chang (張懸), City (城市)
Tiger Huang (黃小琥), Simple or Not (黃小琥 簡單/不簡單)
Cheer Chen (陳綺貞), Immortal (太陽)

Best Band (最佳樂團獎)
Kou Chou Ching (拷秋勤), Kou Chou Ching Presents: Unsung Heroes (拷秋勤Presents：無名英雄)
Superband (縱貫線), North Bound (北上列車)
sodagreen (蘇打綠), Summer/Fever (夏/狂熱)
sodagreen (蘇打綠), Daylight of Spring (春．日光)
Mavis Fan & 100% (范曉萱、100%樂團), Innocent (赤子)
Totem Band (圖騰樂團), Shephard Boy (放羊的孩子)
1976, Manic Pixie Dream Girl (不合時宜)

Best Performing Group (最佳演唱組合獎)
Marshmallow Katncandix2 (棉花糖), Fly Away (小飛行) [I'm totally making up their English name - I tried to find it, but came up empty. (Thanks for the help, hobielover!)]
Come On! Bay Bay! (來吧！焙焙！), Fearlessness and Tolerance (無所畏懼與寬容)
DaXiMen (大囍門), DaXiMen X Album (大囍門X專輯)
SUPER JUNIOR M, SUPER GIRL
Power Station (動力火車), Moving On (繼續轉動)

I skipped the new artists – I just don’t know any of them and have lost momentum on looking things up. If I find the time, I may add it later!

Update: Christine very kindly supplied the new artists translation in the comments (thanks so much, Christine!):

Best Newcomer (最佳新人獎)
Shadya Lan (藍又時), Shadya Lan Secret First Album (藍又時 秘密 1號創作專輯)
A Chord Hsieh (謝和弦), Nothing But A Chord (雖然很芭樂)
Shu Lala (徐佳瑩), Lala Shu Self-composed Album (徐佳瑩 LALA創作專輯)
Alisa Gao (高以愛), Alisa (Alisa高以愛)
Soft Lipa Dan Bao (蛋堡), Soft Lipa presents: WINTER SWEET

Posted in Chang Chen-yue (A-yue), Cheer Chen, Mandopop, Sodagreen | 12 Comments »

“Fat Mum Rises”?

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010

In January, some sort of “Golden Melody Awards Committee” – which is not, I believe, actually affiliated with Taiwan’s Golden Melody Awards – named their ten best Mandarin (and Cantonese, etc.) albums of 2009. I though this list was particularly worth sharing, largely because a full five of the albums on it were also on my list, and there’s usually not that much overlap.

Ten Outstanding Mandarin Albums (国语十大)：
1. Wang Feng (汪峰) Belief Flies in the Wind (信仰在空中飘扬)
2. Zuoxiao Zuhou (左小祖咒), Big Deal (大事)

Right. So these two were obviously not on my list. I’ve at least heard of Wang Feng, though I never listen to him, but the second one had me stumped. I looked up his website, and look, he’s a Nanjinger! Like P.K.14, and me, in my heart of hearts. But the fact that I didn’t know either of these albums serves as a reminder that I’m neglecting mainland Chinese rock.

3. Cheer Chen (陈绮贞), Immortal (太阳)
4. sodagreen (苏打绿), Daylight of Spring (春·日光)

Kudos to them for being able to pick one of the two sodagreen releases from 2009; I suspect this one really is better – at the very least, the melodies are a lot more original than Fever – but I rarely listen to it on its own.

5. Eason Chan (陈奕迅), 5/F Blissful (上五楼的快活)

I keep saying that I’m going to give Eason Chan a try. Then I don’t.

6. Tanya Chua (蔡健雅), If You See Him (若你碰到他)
7. David Tao (陶喆), Opus 69 (69乐章)
8. Icy (曹方), Hum a Song as the Sun Sets (哼一首歌 等日落)

Erm, Icy? But seriously, how many singers are there from Xishuangbanna? That’s pretty cool.

9. A-mei (张惠妹), Amit (阿密特)

I forgot that came out. I had meant to listen to it….

10. Deserts Chang (张悬), A City (城市)

Now the really cool thing about this particular awards article is that they listed all the albums nominated that didn’t win. Right away, Crowd Lu’s latest album Seven Days popped out at me – I meant to buy that! It was on my list of albums I wanted last year, but since that list is not an actual list but rather something I think to myself every so often when I’m doing odd tasks, I forgot all about it. Hmm, I wonder if it would push an album off my 2009 list, or if it’d be settling for honorable mention?

But then, there’s more: I had not realized that both New Pants (新裤子) and Hedgehog (刺猬) came out with new albums last year. See, I told you I’ve been neglecting mainland Chinese rock. Other than periodically wondering if Fusion still exists, I haven’t been doing much to keep track of the mainland scene, and as a result, I’m missing things. (To be fair, I think it’d be a hell of a lot easier to keep track of the mainland scene if I lived in Beijing or Shanghai. I’m just saying.) For another example, I’ve never heard of Re-TROS (重塑雕像的权利) before, but I admit I’m a little intrigued by the idea of an album called, Watch Out! Climate Has Changed, Fat Mum Rises…. On the Modern Sky label, of course. Couldn’t you just tell?

The Superband and sodagreen also made the nominated list, along with the latest from reality show stars Jam Hsiao (萧敬腾) and Yoga Lin (林宥嘉) (not having been bowled over by the earlier efforts from either of these guys, I did not pay much attention to those albums when they emerged). Karen Mok is back, I see; I’m still bitter that she beat out sodagreen for that best album award two years ago. I’ll let it go when I’m ready to let it go, okay?

Cosmos People (宇宙人) is on the list of nominees; that’s another one I keep meaning to sample to see if I like. On the other hand, I’m having a hard time buying the DNA Live album as a best album nominee. To me, that’s starting to get into the “okay, what WASN’T nominated?” territory. (With my apologies to Mayday.)

Maybe I need a real list this time, not a mental one.

Posted in Cheer Chen, Mainland China Bands, Mayday, Sodagreen | 1 Comment »

2009: Total Girl Power Year

Tuesday, January 5th, 2010

Yeah, I absolutely didn’t realize it at the time. But I was just trying to think of my 10 favorite Mandopop album purchases from the last year, and I came up with (in no particular order):

1. Cheer Chen (陳綺貞), Immortal (太陽)
2. Deserts Chang (張懸), A City (城市)
3. Tizzy Bac, If I See Hell, I Won’t Fear the Devil (如果看見地獄，我就不怕魔鬼)
4. Tanya Chua (蔡健雅), If You See Him (若你碰到他)
5. Mrs. This (這位太太), Am I Not Good Enough (我是不是還不夠好 )
6. Won Fu (旺福), Won Fu Loves You (旺福愛你)
7. Joanna Wang, Joanna & 王若琳
8. sodagreen (蘇打綠), Daylight of Spring / Fever – Heat of Summer (春.日光/ 夏.狂熱)**
9. Totem Band (圖騰), Shepherd Child (放羊的孩子)
10. David Tao (陶喆), Opus 69 (六九樂章)

Honorable Mention: Superband (縱貫線), North Bound Mega EP (北[上]列車). It didn’t make the list because it’s only an EP (albeit a six-song “mega” EP), not a full album. But seriously, “Desperado” is fantastic, as is pretty much anything those four men touch. I smile every time I remember their concert in Chengdu.

**To be totally honest, I’m not sure if sodagreen’s Spring or Summer would make the list by itself on its own merits, but my iPod playlist that combines the two and leaves out the really bizarre English sections from the latter album is pretty great, so I cheated and included them as a duo. I continue to suspect that all the “Vivaldi Project” albums together will probably equal either one stellar disc or a great two-disc set… leaving the rest of the songs inescapably as filler. Thanks to Xinyi, though, sodagreen is part of the Girl Power trend, making it an impressive 8 out of 10. Compared to my list from last year (below), that’s a HUGE change.

Now, I’m sure there were other fantastic albums released last year, but these are my top ten based on what I know and have heard. Somehow, even living in China has not prevented me from being perpetually behind on new releases, probably because I work to much. (And that, by the way, is the Official Blogging Theme of 2009, because my post count was way down this year. My new year’s resolution: post when I can, and stop making excuses for the rest of the time.) But anyway….. what good albums did I miss??

Now, just because I never did manage to post it, here’s my list of my top ten album purchases in 2008:

1. Mayday (五月天), Poetry of the Day After (後。青春期的詩)
2. Fusion, If the Future (如果未來)
3. P.K.14, City Weather Sailing (城市天氣航行)
4. backQuarter (四分衛), World (世界)
5. 1976, Asteroid (這個星球)
6. Milk@Coffee (牛奶@咖啡), The Older, the Lonelier（越长大越孤单）
7. Crowd Lu (盧廣種), 100 Ways of Living (100種生活)
8. sodagreen (蘇打綠), Sing With Me (陪我歌唱)
9. Cape No. 7 Original Movie Soundtrack (海角七號 電影原聲帶)
10. 13 Band （拾參樂團), The Horse-Faced Sailor’s Summer (馬臉水手的夏天）

Honorable Mentions: Xu Wei (许巍), Love Like Youth (爱如少年). The Bob Dylan of mainland Mando-rock/pop/easy listening. Leehom Wang (王力宏), Heart.Beat (心。跳). Half cheesy pop, lots of dodgy lyrics, some innovations that don’t quite work, but man, the boy can sing. And he is constantly reinventing himself, which I admire and respect even when I don’t like the outcome.

Albums I’m looking for in 2010: Fusion’s second album will come out eventually, right? Leehom should be releasing something new soon, and he’s supposedly staying with the “chinked-out rock” concept, which I like in theory even if I cannot stand the first effort (“What’s Wrong with Rock… and the whole world when I’m hearing this song…”). Autumn and/or Winter should be on deck from sodagreen over the course of the year (late in the year, I’d imagine). I haven’t seen Peng Tan’s acoustic album (slated for December) yet, so we’ll see when that materializes. Hmm, I must be missing people, but I’m not sure who. Certain cowboys who shall remain nameless have albums coming in the next two months, but that’s more of a “can’t turn away from a train wreck” curiosity than actual anticipation.

Posted in Chang Chen-yue (A-yue), Cheer Chen, Fusion Band, Leehom Wang, Mandopop, Mayday, Sodagreen | 4 Comments »

The Association of Music Workers in Taiwan is showing painfully bad judgment

Tuesday, May 12th, 2009

Oh, this is bad. Really bad. So, so, SO wrong. The Association of Music Workers in Taiwan has released its annual list of the top ten Mandopop albums and songs released in 2008. The problem is that they’re really wrong. You’d think they’d know better, but apparently they’ve been paid off.

The albums:

Jay Chou, Capricorn.

See, stop right there. The fact that a music professional could think ANYTHING about this album is worth celebrating automatically destroys his or her credibility. Seriously, what does Cowboy Jay have on these people that they are so unwilling to pass over an album that does not deserve the award? What, did they get in trouble last year? Except this album is even worse than On the Run. It just is, I’m sorry to Cowboy Jay fans, but it just is.

ARGH. Well, on with the list:

Khalil Fang, Orange Moon
Eason Chan, Don’t Want to Let Go
Sandee Chan, If One Thing Is Important
Joanna Wang, Start from Here
Crowd Lu, 100 Ways of Living
The Chairmen, Used Up All His Money
MC Hot Dog, Mr. Almost
30 Band, Horse-Faced Sailor’s Summer
Xiao Yu, I’m Classmate Xiao Yu

Okay, I don’t have huge problems with the rest of the list, to be honest. I’m happy to see Crowd Lu, Joanna Wang, and 30 Band on the list (I finally bought Horse-Faced Sailor’s Summer in Taiwan… love it). But… if I was Leehom, I’d be seriously pissed off. I didn’t think Heart.Beat was the absolute greatest thing ever, but it was better than the Monument to Mediocrity that Jay halfheartedly threw our way.

Now, the list of the 10 best songs:

Jay Chou, “Mr. Magician”

Seriously. They must have been high. Either that or Jay has blackmail pictures of them. There is no other explanation for calling this yodeling madness good music.

Eason Chan, “Don’t Speak”
Eason Chan, “Mr. Rewind”
Mayday, “You’re Not Truly Happy”

Now, I love Mayday – you know I do – but that was by no means the best song on that album. I’m just saying.

Cheer Chen, “Wing of a Loser”
Crowd Lu, “I Love You”
Aska Yang, “Onion”

Oh, score two for Ashin, at least – he also wrote “Onion.”

Yoga Lin, “Color”
MC Hot Dog, “Mr. Almost”
MC Hot Dog, “Ocean”

Okay, if you’re not thoroughly indignant yet, might I point out that not only did Poetry of the Day After and Heartbeat come out in 2008, but so did 1976’s Asteroid and Backquarter’s World. Heck, I wasn’t over the moon over Jam Hsiao, but I thought his work was significantly better than the stuff bandied about by the likes of Yoga Lin and Aska Yang.

Okay, I’m seriously disgruntled, and now very much in fear of the Golden Melody Awards nominations.

Posted in Cheer Chen, Cowboy Jay, Mandopop, Mayday | 6 Comments »

I <3 Taipei

Monday, April 6th, 2009

You know, I love China. I really do. I live in a city that’s neither too big nor too small, but close enough to Shanghai for an escape to all things western if I really need it (mostly, I go to Shanghai for the concerts, bookstores, and the Mediterranean deli). I could sit all day and list things I really love about living in China – actually starting with the challenge of it, and how much better I’ve gotten at being both assertive about what I need and easy-going about what I actually get, and going all the way to the one street stall vendor who makes the completely unidentified but incredibly tasty snack/roll/pancake thing. But even so, MAN is it nice to be back in Taipei for the week.

Oh, the relief of seeing traditional characters. And an unblocked internet (YouTube!!!!). And night markets with stinky tofu and scallion pancakes made the RIGHT way, all torn up, sorta crispy and sorta chewy, with egg and hot sauce. Okay, I’m actually eating at least four meals and three snacks a day here, but I can run it all off on the university track when I get back to the mainland next week. :)

Anyway, I’m in Taipei and loving it. Today I bought a copy of a book I’d read about a few months ago, The 200 Greatest Taiwan Pop Music Albums, 1975-2005 (台灣流行隱約200最佳專輯， 1975－2005), and I look forward to translating a few things in it. I was actually especially gratified to see that Mayday had three albums that made the cut (the first album, Viva Love, and Time Machine), and that David Tao – not Cowboy Jay – was the most celebrated male artist of the modern era. That actually sounds about right to me, and I feel comfortable saying this given that I really do have all the albums from both David and Jay that would have qualified for the list. (And, of course, among the most celebrated women: Cheer Chen. Good taste, so far.) More on that coming, as I’ve only barely started to page through it. I also bought a book about Taipei’s underground bands that featured such favorites as 1976, 30 Band, and Mrs. This, so I’ll let you know how that is too once I’ve read it. And yes, I actually am planning a pilgrimage to the Stayreal store. Wouldn’t you?

So far, I’ve only purchased the new 2009 albums from Tizzy Bac and Cheer Chen, but I’m going to try to get the 30 Band’s Horse-faced Sailor’s Summer and that Mayday DVD set with the Poetry MVs and concerts (these being things not yet available on the mainland – I have another backlog of albums I want that I can get back at home). Then, of course, I almost always buy some random-indie-band-that-I’ve-never-heard-of’s CD, so who knows who that will be this time. Now that backQuarter is no more, I hope to find some of their older albums, though so far I’ve struck out completely (there used to be three CD shops at Gongguan – where have they all gone?!?). In short, fear not: I am doing my part to bolster the Taiwanese economy. :P

Anyway, I started this post because there was news to report, and not just my personal comings and goings. Like, REAL news. (I’m all about the capital letters for emphasis today. No clue why.) Now, this past weekend two of the big spring music festivals were held in Kenting (nope, didn’t go – I actually worked on Friday, and only flew over on Saturday. The joys of adulthood and all that). 61 dumb youths were arrested for drug use, which is almost a cliche – I mean, if you want to be a true hipster, shouldn’t you get arrested for something more original than drugs at an outdoor music festival? Not that I’m advocating lawbreaking – just the opposite, and no, I’ve never been arrested myself – but I’m just thinking that has far as free-thinking original actions go, this is not a fine example. Anyway, all that aside, the festivals went well. Okay honestly, that report only tells us about the arrests and the fact that when Mayday and A-mei took the stage, fans were really “high” (unfortunate choice of words, that), and most of the reporting is equally standard. Maybe that means Ashin didn’t forget the words to any songs this time.

So, the official scoop: over 120,000 music fans hit Kenting this weekend for Spring Scream and Spring Wave. Big acts like Mayday, sodagreen, Wu Bai, Fish Leong, etc. were there, along with Crowd Lu and Joanna Wang (who everyone is talking about these days). Then, of course, Spring Scream had a special act: the band from Cape No. 7, which sounds just like the end of the move.

Mayday followed up their festival performances by playing more campus concerts, this time in Miaoli. They played for two hours, starting in light rain for fans who had waited in a sudden downpour for the concert to start. Hmm, sounds like the old days, when Mayday did its outdoor tours during hurricane season.

In other news, Oasis played in Taiwan last week, and Mayday, sodagreen and Chang Chen-yue all attended the show. I haven’t seen Oasis in concert since…. um… 2000? Yikes. And to be honest, I remember being more impressed with opening act Travis. But I’m sure it was fun – I still pull out my old albums every once in a while when I need a “Don’t Look Back in Anger” fix.

Okay, that’s all I’ve got for now, but I’ll try to take advantage of my access to Taiwanese websites this week. :)

Posted in Cheer Chen, Cowboy Jay, Mayday | 13 Comments »

The economic impact on Mandopop?

Thursday, February 26th, 2009

So if you read a lot of news in the US (or anywhere else, I imagine), it’s all about the economic crisis. Now normally, I try not to think about it. But finally it is starting to hit where it really hurts: in the sodagreen and Khalil Fong concert schedules. Ouch.

This past Valentine’s Day weekend, sodagreen was scheduled to perform in Hangzhou and Khalil was heading to Shanghai; neither concert was scheduled for a particularly large venue, but both were canceled. Naturally, this raised a fair number of questions among the disappointed fans, and with another Hangzhou concert canceled in January, fans started wondering if the economic crisis means that fewer concerts will be held overall. To help these confused fans, one intrepid reporter is trying to get to the bottom of it.

The answer is that while big stars won’t be affected, some of the second or third tier stars will be. Having just passed the New Year and all the festivities that entailed, people have less money to spend on things like concerts. Both sodagreen and Khalil Fong are obviously very popular right now, but neither is really mainstream, and even if the stars’ managers are confident in the ticket sales, the local promoter might not be. In Hangzhou, the promoter got cold feet on the size of the venue, thinking the stadium chosen for the band was too big; in Shanghai, Khalil was up against bigger name acts like Fish Leong.

But, promoters say, take heart: they do expect some big acts to come. Hangzhou promoters expect to hold a concert for the Superband this year in April (explaining that this age demographic is more likely to continue to buy tickets) (hmm, I might be free in April… it’s only five hours on the train…); they also note that they never got to do a Mayday concert last year, and plan to try to get it done in May this year. (Yes! I’ll go to Hangzhou in May! Just please, pretty please do not make it the weekend of the 10th, because I have to go to a conference in Guangzhou then. Thank you Mr. Promoter Man.) Plans are also in place for visits from western acts like Oasis and Sarah Brightman.

Okay, now in oddly incongruous news, tickets for Cheer Chen’s upcoming Shanghai concert are selling so well the organizers were hoping to add another show, though she’s busy getting ready for her show in Hong Kong this weekend and is not yet considering it. She’s got a tight schedule, of course, and she is also adamantly opposed to repeating herself for the sake of the fans who will attend both shows, so adding another concert would mean extra preparation. On the other hand, she is already planning multiple versions of each song, so that she can choose which way she wants to sing it based on her mood at the time. Well, we can await news on this, and also the news that the almost sold-out show is sold out. (I have not purchased a ticket, still wary from my Chang Chen-yue experience… I’m still choosing courses of action.)

　　

Posted in Cheer Chen, Mandopop, Sodagreen | 7 Comments »

Beginning the catch-up

Monday, February 16th, 2009

…and I’m back from my extended hiatus. I was looking at the calendar, and I’ve been in a new city every two days for the last three weeks. Basically I feel like a pop star, but without all the adoring fans. :P Anyway, what has Mayday et al. been up to of late?

First off, this is just a tiny little snippet of a news story, but it has me intrigued: Ashin joined TV hostess Sisy Chen and author Jiang Xun at Taipei Book Fair for an extended discussion on history, life, and the current state of the economy. Seriously, someone please tell me this has made it to YouTube.

Cheer Chen is heading to Shanghai for a concert on March 21, her first in four years. Tickets are already selling fantastically fast, and I might need to go to Shanghai (oh wait, that part is not actually news, is it?). They’re calling it the “Sun Concert,” for her latest single. (It doesn’t seem like Mayday news, does it? But I found the news based on the mention in the article that her most recent visit to Shanghai was to be the special guest at a Mayday concert.)

Ashin has been accused of plagiarizing a fifteen-year-old movie theme with the song “You’re Not Truly Happy,” though never having heard the original I’m not sure how legitimate the claim is. (The film is, um, “逃学威龙三之第七感抓财神.”) Such rumors were thrown around on “Mickey Mouse” on the last album, though to the best of my knowledge, this has not resulted in any kind of action against the man or the band.

Fish Leong was performing in Shanghai for Valentine’s Day (Ding Dang was the special guest), and speculation mounted about her boyfriend, who came to see her. She made a big point of saying that she would far rather not have any surprises coming, because it makes her nervous and she forgets lyrics. In other words: don’t follow the example of Stone or Guanyou and make major declarations during concerts.

StayReal and MSN have joined forces for a new pair of t-shirt designs. Playing off the theme of fantasy versus reality, one is sort of surrealist, and the other is more cute. MSN is using the t-shirts to mark their tenth anniversary in Taiwan.

Okay, more to come now this week. Really.

Posted in Cheer Chen, Fish Leong, Mayday | 7 Comments »

Mandopop History

Wednesday, February 4th, 2009

I flitted away all weekend in Brussels drinking beer and visiting museums and historic sites… okay, mostly drinking beer… hey, there’s really good beer in Belgium… and now I’m off again to head back to my current home base in China, but I’ll spend the next week stopping off in Harbin and Beijing, so I don’t expect to be doing much in the way of posting. Which is really not unlike last week. Ah well, we all take vacations, right?

Well, there’s a lot of vacationing going on in the Mandopop world at the moment as well. The B’in Music crew sans Ding Dang (who is maybe just back home for the holidays?) play the big lantern festival concert in Kaohsiung tonight.

Meh, not so exciting. But today I stumbled upon something I find really interesting: the top twenty Mandopop albums (from Taiwan and Hong Kong) in the last twenty years… according to one critic, anyway, but still an interesting read (part two is here). I’m always joking with my friends and family that one day I’m going to put my history Ph.D. to good use and write the definitive history of Mandopop… it doesn’t *quite* fit in with my current research agenda, but someday. In the meantime, I’m a bit of a sucker for articles like this, which then make me want to go track down all the albums. :)

Without further ado, the most influential albums of the last twenty years, 1989-2009, in chronological order, with paraphrased notes half from the article, half from other sources:

1：Blacklist Studio 黑名單工作室, Songs of Madness〈抓狂歌〉- 1989
They voiced the true feelings of many people in Taiwan, Taiwanese rock, with a heavy dose of the taste of alcohol and smoke.

2：Lim Giong 林強, Marching Forward〈向前走〉- 1990
Mayday fans will remember the title track of this album from the reunion concert in 2003; in the beginning, he was at the heart of the Taiwanese folk-pop-rock genre.

3：Sarah Chen 陳淑樺, Talk to You, Listen to You〈跟你說，聽你說〉- 1990
First album to go platinum in Taiwan, and contains classics that pretty much the whole island of Taiwan can sing (including “Dream to Awakening (夢醒時分)”).

4：Delphine Chin 娃娃金智娟, Heavy Rain〈大雨〉- 1991
Once a part of a group, she went solo and met Jonathan Lee of Rock Records, who wrote the title track of this album for her.

5：Stella 張清芳, Light〈光芒〉- 1992
All of her albums sold so well it is hard to pick the most important, but this one really established her, and everyone learned the songs contained on this album.

6：Jacky Cheung 張學友, Kiss Goodbye《吻別》- 1993
An absolute classic, one of the best-selling albums of all time, and Jacky’s successful introduction into Mandopop (from Cantopop). Though I may never forgive Danish easy-listening band Michael Learns to Rock (MLTR) for their English version of the title track (“Take Me to Your Heart”), which was the absolute bane of my existence when living in China in late 2004 and into 2005.

7：Jeff Chang 張信哲, Vexed〈心事〉- 1993
Jeff Chang was the first male singer in Taiwan to break free of the “military service curse” – returning to top the charts with this album after his stint with the ROC army. One of the kings of the pop world in the 1990s.

8：Jody Chiang 江蕙, Post-Drinking Desires《酒後的心聲》- 1993
After years with untraditional Taiwanese language labels, she fled for a better opportunity and won the best female signer award at the Golden Melody Awards the first year it was not separated out between Mandarin and Taiwanese singers. This was her follow-up album to that, and apparently everyone over a certain age in Taiwan can sing the infamous “I’m not drunk, I’m not drunk, not drunk (我沒醉我沒醉沒醉).”

9：Shirley Wong (Faye Wong) 王靖雯 (王菲), Sky《天空》- 1994
Every song better than the last, a rarity for mainstream pop. Such is the place of Faye Wong in modern Mandopop that pretty much everything she’s released is important, so it is a bit hard to name a single album.

10：Chang Yu-sheng 張雨生, Karaoke Live. Taipei. Me《卡拉ok 台北 我》- 1994
He turned to writing all his own music after his military service with this album; it might actually be his worst selling, but it has turned into a model album over time.

11：Sandy Lam 林憶蓮, Scars〈傷痕〉- 1995
Another important (and best-selling) collaboration with Jonathan Lee, though Sandy took it one step further and married him (they divorced in 2004).

12：Faye Wong 王菲, Restless〈浮躁〉- 1996
See, I told you it was hard to pick only one. Written by Faye herself, it takes new risks and remains a fan favorite, while proving to be something more true to who she really was than her past efforts.

13：David Tao 陶喆, David Tao〈陶喆〉- 1997
One of the earliest artists to bring western-style R&B to Taiwan. With simple, melodic songs, good beats, and meticulous production done by Tao himself in his house in LA, he was well established as one of the leaders of the trends of R&B and self-production in Taiwan music.

14：Cheer Chen 陳綺貞, Still Lonely〈還是會寂寞〉- 1997
I doubt anyone needs to read a justification for the inclusion of this album, but the folk singer’s second studio release introduces electric guitar to the mix, but maintains her indie cred and simple, straightforward vocals.

15：A-mei (Chang Hui-mei) 張惠妹, Bad Boy – 1997
Another million-plus selling album, A-mei’s powerful voice (combined with producer Chang Yu-sheng’s brilliance) sent her soaring to the top of the music world.

16：Faith Yang 楊乃文, One – 1997
A rare female voice singing rock. Interestingly, back then she was working with producer Will Lin, who would go on to form his own company, then sign and produce for sodagreen.

17：Chang Chen-yue 張震嶽, This Afternoon Is Very Boring〈這個下午很無聊〉- 1997
That gravelly voice on those very direct lyrics. But then, all of his albums are this direct and straightforward, even now; they just add new ideas and innovations.

18：Jin Men-wang and Li Bin-hui 金門王‧李炳輝, Wandering to Tamshui〈流浪到淡水〉- 1997
An incredibly unusual group: both blind, Jin lost his hand as a child on Jinmen, but he learned the guitar and teamed up with the accordion-playing Li nonetheless, for a bright career playing Taiwanese folk.

19：Wu Bai 伍佰, Lonely Tree, Lonely Bird〈樹枝孤鳥〉- 1998
A Golden Melody Award winner for best album, it combined Wu Bai’s personal style with the conventions of Taiwanese rock. A leader in bringing guitar-based rock music into the forefront in Taiwan.

20：Jay Chou 周杰倫, Fantasy〈范特西〉- 2001
Wow, remember when Jay was still really good? Back when he was focused on his music, he was almost untouchable on the pop scene. (Side note: an interesting choice, to make this the only post 2000 album.)

So, who should be added if we work forward into the 2000s? (Maybe: sodagreen; Stanley Huang, MC Hotdog, or Tripoets for rap?) Fun things to think about, anyway.

Posted in Chang Chen-yue (A-yue), Cheer Chen, Cowboy Jay, Mandopop | 5 Comments »

On to a new year…

Monday, January 26th, 2009

First of all, Happy New Year! We’ve got a few hours yet before midnight hits here in the American midwest, but of course the countdowns have already come and gone in Asia, and we are decidedly in the year of the ox. Here’s hoping it brings us a bull market. ;)

Mayday recently held a fan meeting for the premiere of their new video, “Like Smoke (如煙),” and while there they ran contests to see who in the band could act the best… with losers forced to drink bitter tea. Monster – who has played the lead in the most videos – was the big winner, with Stone being the one to drink the most tea, making exaggerated faces all the while. Guanyou was absent, likely caring for his now heavily pregnant wife.

B’in Music held their end of the year banquet, and although they didn’t have as much money to put into it, it still looks like a good time. They had a costume party, and a picture there reveals Monster as Captain Hook and Fish Leong as a curlered, house-coated old lady, along with assorted Champion dudes and roadies in costume.

Back to the subject of videos, this Leehom video is worth watching just for the teddy bear pajamas, though it also removes any doubt as to whether Leehom intended the song “我完全沒有任何理由理你” to make a jab at Xiao Chong for his comments on Leehom’s unoriginality as a songwriter on mainland Chinese television.

Now, back to the sales figures (less controversially though, I hope). Here’s the top twenty bestselling albums in Taiwan for 2008:

1. Mayday 五月天 Poetry of the Day After《後青春期的詩》4.58%
　　2. (Cowboy) Jay Chou 周杰倫 Capricorn《魔傑座》2.17%
　　3. Jam Hsiao 蕭敬騰 Self-titled Album《同名專輯》2.08%
　　4. Aska Yang 楊宗緯 Dove《鴿子》2.00%
　　5. Yoga Lin 林宥嘉 Mystery《神秘嘉賓》1.01%
　　6. S.H.E FM S.H.E.《我的電台FM S.H.E》0.92%
　　7. Original Motion Picture Soundtrack for Cape No. 7 電影原聲帶《海角七號》0.83%
　　8. Lollipop 棒棒堂 Gyashan (Not Afraid)《哪裡怕》0.78%
　　9. Show Luo 羅志祥 Trendy Man《潮男正傳》0.72%
　　10. Jing Wong 黃靖倫 Jing’s Note《倫語錄》0.72%
　　11. Joanna Wang 王若琳 Start from Here 0.71%
　　12. Fahrenheit 飛輪海 Two-Sided Fahrenheit《雙面飛輪海》0.70%
　　13. Rainie Yang 楊丞琳 Not Yet a Woman《半熟宣言》0.69%
　　14. Gary Cao 曹格 Super Sunshine 0.63%
　　15. Kenji Wu 吳克群 Poems for You《為你寫詩》0.63%
　　16. Leehom Wang 王力宏 Heart. Beat《心 跳》0.61%
　　17. F4 Waiting for You《在這裡等你》0.61%
　　18. Fish Leong 梁靜茹 Today is Valentine’s Day (New songs + Live)《今天情人節 新歌+Live》0.58%
　　19. Show Luo 羅志祥 Show Your Dance《舞所不在》0.57%
　　20. Aska Yang 楊宗緯 Star! Star! Live Concert CD《Star! Start!星空傳奇Live Concert 2CD》0.53%

Wow, is that really NOT anything like my list of my favorite 2008 albums. I should really post that list, actually – this is a good week for it, because Mandopop activities will come to a grinding halt so everyone can celebrate the New Year.

On a side note, though, after “Showtime,” “Expert Show,” “Hypnosis Show,” “SPESHOW,” and “Show Your Dance,” I suppose we should at least commend whoever writes Show Luo’s albums for him for coming up with an album title that isn’t a painfully bad pun.

Finally, G-Music for this week puts the girls on top – Fish Leong’s latest is on top, and number two is Cheer Chen – okay, that is unquestionably going to be a must-buy album for 2009. The first of many, I hope!

Posted in Cheer Chen, Cowboy Jay, Fish Leong, Leehom Wang, Mayday | 5 Comments »

A-yue cracks the whip

Wednesday, December 10th, 2008

Last weekend was the “Simple Life 2008″ concert in Taipei, and some of my favorite Taiwan artists were in attendance: Chang Chen-yue, Cheer Chen, and sodagreen. Khalil Fong also came in from Hong Kong for the event, and he asked A-yue to be a special guest for his portion of the concert. The two guys sang “Intersection (路口)” and “Love me don’t leave (愛我別走)” together, and in between rehearsals even managed to sneak in some bike riding:

a-yue and khalil on wheels

Khalil called himself a huge fan of A-yue, but had his own take on the songs; generous A-yue in return told him that any way he wanted to sing or arrange them was fine by him. Yeah, he just seems so easy-going.

Anyway, speaking of A-yue biking news, he was called out by Genie Zhuo to act as her “trainer” when she was on a get-in-shape bicycle outing. He tried and failed to teach her how to do jumps and tricks on her bicycle, but the really bizarre twist to the story is that when she biked to slowly or otherwise misbehaved, he gave her a spanking. He also used a whip to push her along, and praised her lovely legs as looking “good enough to eat.” Genie teased him that she’s even more “open” during outdoor concerts. The whole thing sounds a bit Goodness, how… naughty.

Posted in Chang Chen-yue (A-yue), Cheer Chen, Sodagreen | 2 Comments »

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