ERIC MOO

DAVID TAO

 ANDY HUI

TANYA

E JUN

 MINDY KE

"Xun Xian Qi Shi" Collection

 I'm OK

We Want Happiness

Luck

Deep In Love

Beauty

As Eric Moo (or Wu Qi Xian) is still unable to set foot in Taiwan for another three years due to work-permit reasons, his old record company EMI has released this 3-CD compilation to remind the Taiwan listeners of his music existence.  Containing a whopping thirty-six tracks, they include two brand new recordings, namely "Don't Think That Guys Don't Cry" and "I Don't Have Money I Don't Have Face".  

This is a  very comprehensive collection which has practically all of Eric's hits when he was still with EMI, such as "Too Silly" (or Tai Sha), "Love Too Heavy" (or Ai Na Mo Zhong), "Waiting For You Until My Heart Aches" (or Deng Ni Deng Dao Wo Xin Tong), "Love Puppet" (or Ai Qing Kui Lei) etc etc.  

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MUSIC STYLE : R&B / ROCK / RETRO / TECHNO DANCE

OVERRIDING THEME : LOVE

It's always a tough act to do a follow-up album if the predecessor one has been a success.  This is especially so for David Tao (or Tao Zhe and not Tao Ji Ji) since his first album has already made him the Best Male Vocalist and Best Record Producer of the Taiwan Golden Melody Awards (note : Asian Music Pop has also awarded a five-star rating for his self-titled debut release - refer to "My Thoughts - Five-Star Albums").  In preparing for his second release, he reportedly deleted some of his new works from his computer and re-do it again in the hope of creating better music.

Containing eleven vocal numbers and two half-minute tracks, they are mostly David's own works and that includes the lyrics portion (note : lyricist Wa Wa was the largest lyrics contributor in his debut album but she also wrote a few tracks in this new offering).  Unlike the first album which is peppered with R&B/soul music, more variety can be found in the current release such as retro, rock and techno dance.  The whole album is also single-handedly produced by David.

Coming to the question most people will be asking "Is his second offering better?", I must admit that if I compare it back to back with his debut album, his new work comes as a bit of disappointment to me personally.  However once I cast away any comparisons with his past works, this new album by its own is nonetheless a good production output.

Let's talk about the bright side first.  Most of the tracks are highly listenable and his vocals shine throughout.  The first single Track 2 "Rain" is a radio-friendly light-tempo song which sounds like a funky mix of R&B and rock.  The second single Track 3 "Small Town Girl" is another recommended blues number which he reportedly recorded using a walkie-talkie thereby resulting in the somewhat static vocals effect.  The third single Track 5 "Regular Friends" is an acoustic R&B number which only further reinforces his reputation as a brilliant Asian composer in R&B music.  

His crossover to other music genre is equally impressive.  For example Track 12 "Angeline" is a wonderful British techno dance track whose production does not pale in any way to its Western music counterparts.  Another instance is the title track 6 "I'm OK" which starts off with an unsuspecting but attention-grabbing Teochew opera music before blasting into a catchy rock number which is augmented by David's powerful and let-it-all-out vocals.  This is one rare Asian singer who sounds equally good in entirely different music categories such as soul/R&B and rock.  

Now coming to the other side of the coin.  Having done a wonderful cover of the Hokkien song "Watching The Winds Of Spring" last time, he has attempted another one here, this time it's the oldie Mandarin hit "Tuberose" (or Ye Lai Xiang) which has been given an accapella changeover.  However it is a lacklustre cover which does not bring out the same awe and amazement I experienced when I first heard "Watching The Winds Of Spring".  In the first place, I personally find "Tuberose" to be a boring choice of cover material, furthermore the momentum and flow of the song is severely hampered halfway through when a barely-audible radio-effect vocal sample piece is interjected.

Next up are two retro-sounding songs Track 9 "Thank You" and Track 10 "Circus" which seem to be arranged one after another deliberately so as to bring about some lighter listening moments as both numbers sound cheeky (though not of the same kind of effect as his previous hit "Idiot" or "Wang Ba Dan"), however they are too frivolous to me to warrant any repeat listening and I also personally think that David is trying to "act" cute here but fail miserably (no offence, Dave).

All in all, I'm glad to say that the pros outweigh the cons here and "I'm OK" is a worthy follow up to his debut work and is highly recommended to anyone who wants to get a taste of the kind of Asian pop music that is being churned out by one of the most promising Chinese musicians today.

(Side-Note : David has completed a sell-out concert in Singapore's music festival just last month November.  The tickets to his recent mini-concert in Hong Kong were also hot favourites not only among his fans but also within the showbiz circle as many prominent artistes attended his show.  Finally he is reportedly involved in the music project of Sandy Lam's forthcoming Mandarin album - with two brilliant R&B music performers working together, both of whom coincidentally have albums being merited five-star ratings in Asian Music Pop, I really can't wait to hear the final product.)

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MUSIC STYLE : MAINSTREAM POP TRACKS

OVERRIDING THEME : LOVE

After the smashing success of his last Mandarin offering "Faith In Love", Andy (or Xu Zhi An) has come out with a new album in less than a year.  Produced by Huang Yun Ling, Chen Zi Hong, Chen Wei and Jim Lee (note : the latter two also produced his "Faith In Love"), this new release provides a healthy dose of mainstream pop ballads and fast tracks.  

Altogether there are ten songs here.  The first single is the ballad Track 2 "You Decide" which is of chart-quality material but nothing quite compared to his jackpot song "Why Do You Love Someone Else Behind My Back" from his last album "Faith In Love".  There is also a bonus version of "You Decide" contained here, the record company calls the bonus track a live version although it's actually a studio recording but given a different music arrangement. 

The second single Track 3 "Samba Love Cha Cha" is a chirpy and catchy song composed by Chen Zi Hong and Yu Guang Zhong.  Another nice light-tempo number is Track 5 "Save Me" composed and produced by Chen Wei, what draws me to it is the music arrangement (also by Chen Wei) which sounds like a James Bond 007 theme-track. 

Most of the slow songs here are of good quality and they make good listening companions at night.  They include the third single Track 6 "Unfaithful", the light-blues Track 7 "Don't Cry" composed by singer Huang Pin Yuan and Track 4 "Love That Can't Be Saved" with its slightly new-age arrangement.  One particular ballad that I like is the moving acoustic title Track 1 "We Want Happiness" composed by Chen Xiao Xia and written by Yao Ruo Long, there's one poignant verse in it which strikes a chord in me "..... the one that you love most may not be the most suitable one to be with .....".

Andy has reached that stage in his singing career whereby he sounds comfortable and natural when interpreting Mandarin songs.  

On the whole, "We Want Happiness" a much better and more consistent pop album than his previous Mandarin outings.

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Tanya Chua (or Cai Jian Ya) has released her second English album.  All the twelve vocal tracks plus one prelude track are written by her.  Generally laid-back and radio-friendly, her music is a mix of retro, country, folk and a bit of techno.  Over half of the tracks are recorded in L.A. where she's doing her music studies.

There are three tracks here which have already been covered as Mandarin versions in her self-titled debut Mandarin effort early this year : "All Right' which is the English equivalent of "How Boring" (or Hao Wu Liao), "Cipher" whose Mandarin version is "Shadow" (or Ying Zi) and "You" which is covered as "Stop By The Side" (or Kao Bian Ting) in Mandarin.

David Tao (or Tao Zhe) co-produced one song here, the retro-feel "The Wicked Signs Of Trying To Be A Superstar" whose lyrics embody a wry humor about the "pains" of being a superstar ...... Tanya's own experience I guess?

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E Jun (or Li Yi Jun) has recorded a new album containing ten cover versions.  A common thread running across all these tracks is that they are originally sung by male singers (note : an ironical coincidence is that Wen Zhang has also recently released a cover album "To Be Continued" but his cover tracks are all originally performed by female artistes).

The song selection includes the first single "Moon's Fault" (or Yue Liang Re De Huo) originally sung by Phil Chang, You Hong Ming's "Meng Po Tang", Zhang Zheng Yue's hit "First Taste Of Love" (or Ai De Chu Ti Yan), Chyi Chin's "Don't Let My Tears Keep Me Company Overnight" (or Bu Rang Wo De Yan Lei Pei Wo Guo Ye), Richie Ren's "Sad Pacific Ocean" (or Shang Xin Tai Ping Yang), Andy Lau's "Ice Rain" (or Bing Yu), Power Station's "Not Willing To Give Up" (or Bu Gan Xin Bu Fang Shou), Andy Hui's "Why Do You Love Someone Else Behind My Back" (or Wei She Me Ni Bei Zhe Wo Ai Bie Ren) and William So's "I'm Sad For You" (or Wo Wei Ni Shang Xin).

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The newly-wedded Mindy (Ke Yi Min) has released her brand new Mandarin album.  Produced by, among others, Lin Long Xuan and Zhang Pei Shen, it contains ten tracks which are mostly slow and mid-tempo ballads.  The sentimental title track "Beauty" is written and produced by Lin Long Xuan, the song is clearly a signature of her marriage bliss as part of the lyrics goes like this "..... I've become beautiful all because of you ....." *shucks*.

Two Singaporean works can be found here and they are both ballads : "Endless Life" is composed by Liang Wen Foo while "That's It" is composed by Chen Zhi Wei (the same guy who wrote Jeff Chang's "Won't Be Your Lover" and more recently newcomer Ruby's "Say You Love Me Now").

There's a sincerely-done Big5 Chinese and English website on Mindy, you can visit it by clicking here. 

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