Triple Tap
Derek Yee
The story: After winning a competition, sharpshooter Ken (Louis Koo) drives off – right into an ongoing robbery. He kills the perpetrators, save for one who gets away. Meanwhile, the traffic cop who responded to a distress call ends up in a coma. The case lands in the lap of detective, and fellow shooting competitor, Jerry (Daniel Wu), and he decides to charge Ken with illegal possession of firearms.
The term triple tap is used when a marksman is so skilled that he is able to fire three on-target shots and leave only one hole. It is not a description that would be applicable to this film since it veers wildly off the mark in its concluding third.
A pity since the set-up is actually intriguing. Ken seems to be the unwitting everyman who is reluctantly thrust into the role of citizen hero but there is more here than meets the eye. Is it really coincidence that led him to the robbery taking place on a deserted stretch of highway? Does he really have nothing to gain?
The more one learns about Ken, the more one gets the feeling that something is not quite right. He is a high-flyer in the financial world but he seems like the kept man of his territorial female boss (Li Bingbing). At the same time, he has a girlfriend (Charlene Choi), who happens to be a nurse at the hospital where the traffic cop is being monitored.
Director and co-writer Derek Yee (Shinjuku Incident, 2009) doles out the information in dribs and drabs and tosses a couple of red herrings into the mix.
But after all that work, the script seems to have exhausted itself. When Jerry (above left) asks a more senior officer Miu (Alex Fong) for help, the last thing this reviewer expected was a re-enactment of the crime scene so that Fong could somehow telepathically get into the head of the criminal. It came across like the rejected premise for a show that crosses the psychic TV show Medium with the FBI profiler series Criminal Minds.
Also problematic is the casting of Koo who is grim and glum throughout. As in Accident (2009), he has to shoulder a central role of great ambiguity and once again, he is less than fully engaging.
Those who have seen Double Tap (2000) might be even less enthused since the concept of sharpshooter versus cop is taken straight from there. Yee was co-writer but did not direct that earlier film while the late Leslie Cheung was the marksman to Fong’s CID officer.
Triple Tap can in fact be seen as a “sort of” sequel as Fong reprises the role he played, but the focus has moved on to a new pair of adversaries.
Yee strains to give the Ken-Jerry rivalry an epic feel as they try to outwit each other. Unfortunately, the relationship between the two is more contrived and bland rather than electrifying and grand.
The final shootout is a wildly ludicrous affair in which the measured ambiguity of the beginning has no place and any semblance of plot coherence is utterly blasted to bits.
(ST)
Friday, June 25, 2010
Immortal Tour
Cheer Chen
This handsomely packaged box set is the complete audio-visual keepsake of Taiwanese indie darling Cheer Chen’s Asian tour last year.
There is no denying her sincerity and charm in a live setting but the recording of her last concert tour Poses (2007) made her sound rather reedy. Recorded by famed mixer Dave Yang and produced by her beau and regular collaborator Tiger Chung, there is a richer quality to her vocals in this release.
The material spans her entire output from 1998’s Let Me Think to 2009’s Immortal. Her last album was a breakthrough of sorts as she moved away from musings on relationships to embrace broader concerns about the people and the world around her.
As if to mark that turning point, it was a grittier Chen fans saw at the gigs – a rocker girl with one arm covered in tattoos and who stood her own in a live Guitar Hero segment.
All of that is captured on the DVD. Other highlights include Chen mingling with the audience and happily taking pictures during 1234567, being moved to tears during Travel Is Meaningful and singing her encore right in the midst of all those adoring fans.
For the dedicated fan, the second DVD offers peeks of her in rehearsals and on the road, as well as interviews with members of her live band.Short of being there, this is as good as it gets.
Goodbye Prince
katncandix2
The title of the Taiwanese duo’s second album is a reference to Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s fable about innocence and loss, Le Petit Prince.
Given that vocalist-lyricist Hsiao Chiu and composer-producer Shen Sheng-je frequently deal with youthful themes of dreams and growing up, the association is entirely apt.
Musically, the vibe here picks up where their debut album Little Flight (2009) left off. The mood is breezy and light – even their melancholia is sunny – with Hsiao Chiu’s slightly raw vocals adding to the folksy feel.
It came as a surprise then to find out that she is an incorrigible chatterbox during live performances. Those who went for their unexpectedly lengthy and endearing gig at the Esplanade in January would have heard the new track, 22.
Together with songs such as Goodbye Prince, we get to see a more contemplative side of katncandix2. Hsiao Chiu muses on Prince: “The child always speaking of forever/Slowly grows up/Uses tears to water the seed which will grow into happiness.”
On opener Nice Day, however, we get a glimpse of the cutesy singer. It could easily be irritating in anyone else’s hands but hearing it, you cannot help but wish that youth and innocence be held on to just that little bit longer for her and, maybe, even for us.
KEEP!
Tay Kewei & Lee Ein Ein
Local lass Tay Kewei is stepping out from the shadows of singing back-up for Mandopop’s big hitters such as David Tao.
She has a lovely set of pipes and gives a loose-limbed and jazz-inflected rendition of the English track Come Closer, which she penned.
The other two songs are the Mandarin numbers That’s How I Am and A Love Song, both composed by her musician friend Lee Ein Ein.
The accompaniment is kept simple – a guitar, a piano – all the better to showcase the voices, in harmony or solo. Lee takes the lead here and her clean and emotive voice works well for the plaintive tracks.
My interest is certainly piqued and the teaser EP has done its job of whetting one’s appetite for more.
(ST)
Cheer Chen
This handsomely packaged box set is the complete audio-visual keepsake of Taiwanese indie darling Cheer Chen’s Asian tour last year.
There is no denying her sincerity and charm in a live setting but the recording of her last concert tour Poses (2007) made her sound rather reedy. Recorded by famed mixer Dave Yang and produced by her beau and regular collaborator Tiger Chung, there is a richer quality to her vocals in this release.
The material spans her entire output from 1998’s Let Me Think to 2009’s Immortal. Her last album was a breakthrough of sorts as she moved away from musings on relationships to embrace broader concerns about the people and the world around her.
As if to mark that turning point, it was a grittier Chen fans saw at the gigs – a rocker girl with one arm covered in tattoos and who stood her own in a live Guitar Hero segment.
All of that is captured on the DVD. Other highlights include Chen mingling with the audience and happily taking pictures during 1234567, being moved to tears during Travel Is Meaningful and singing her encore right in the midst of all those adoring fans.
For the dedicated fan, the second DVD offers peeks of her in rehearsals and on the road, as well as interviews with members of her live band.Short of being there, this is as good as it gets.
Goodbye Prince
katncandix2
The title of the Taiwanese duo’s second album is a reference to Antoine de Saint-Exupery’s fable about innocence and loss, Le Petit Prince.
Given that vocalist-lyricist Hsiao Chiu and composer-producer Shen Sheng-je frequently deal with youthful themes of dreams and growing up, the association is entirely apt.
Musically, the vibe here picks up where their debut album Little Flight (2009) left off. The mood is breezy and light – even their melancholia is sunny – with Hsiao Chiu’s slightly raw vocals adding to the folksy feel.
It came as a surprise then to find out that she is an incorrigible chatterbox during live performances. Those who went for their unexpectedly lengthy and endearing gig at the Esplanade in January would have heard the new track, 22.
Together with songs such as Goodbye Prince, we get to see a more contemplative side of katncandix2. Hsiao Chiu muses on Prince: “The child always speaking of forever/Slowly grows up/Uses tears to water the seed which will grow into happiness.”
On opener Nice Day, however, we get a glimpse of the cutesy singer. It could easily be irritating in anyone else’s hands but hearing it, you cannot help but wish that youth and innocence be held on to just that little bit longer for her and, maybe, even for us.
KEEP!
Tay Kewei & Lee Ein Ein
Local lass Tay Kewei is stepping out from the shadows of singing back-up for Mandopop’s big hitters such as David Tao.
She has a lovely set of pipes and gives a loose-limbed and jazz-inflected rendition of the English track Come Closer, which she penned.
The other two songs are the Mandarin numbers That’s How I Am and A Love Song, both composed by her musician friend Lee Ein Ein.
The accompaniment is kept simple – a guitar, a piano – all the better to showcase the voices, in harmony or solo. Lee takes the lead here and her clean and emotive voice works well for the plaintive tracks.
My interest is certainly piqued and the teaser EP has done its job of whetting one’s appetite for more.
(ST)
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Dennis To plays Ip Man in the prequel while Donnie Yen donned the robes twice as the wing chun master.
Acting chops
To: Brings a stoic gravitas to the role of Ip Man
Yen: Brings a stoic gravitas to all his roles
Looks
To: Resembles Donnie Yen
Yen: Resembles Dennis To
Romantic scorecard
To: Has two women falling for him and even more impressed by his skills. Generates some chemistry with co-star Huang Yi. He’s the man.
Yen: Maintains a polite distance between him and Lynn Xiong who played his wife in parts one and two. Was her alleged beau Aaron Kwok lurking around the set?
Relationship to Sammo Hung, who appears in different roles in the prequel and in part two
To: Would have called Hung master if To had played Ip Man as a child
Yen: Calls Hung a thorn in the side at first and later embraces him as a true friend. Yes, Ip Man 2 had character development.
Fighting skills
To: He is the winner of various international martial arts competitions and is well-versed in different forms of martial arts including wing chun and taiji. But he lost to an 86-year-old Ip Chun in the film. Tsk.
Yen: Jet Li was a fellow disciple – they both trained under master Wu Bin at the Beijing Wushu Academy. Woe to anyone who tries to mess with him.
Body tally
To: Assorted bullies and riffraff fall by the wayside
Yen: Assorted bullies and riffraff fall by the wayside. Multiplied by two films
Patriotic index
To: Obliterates the nefarious Japanese agents trying to infiltrate China
Yen: Annihilates the Japanese karate expert Colonel Miura in part one and an arrogant British boxer in part two. Take that, Dennis.
(ST)
Acting chops
To: Brings a stoic gravitas to the role of Ip Man
Yen: Brings a stoic gravitas to all his roles
Looks
To: Resembles Donnie Yen
Yen: Resembles Dennis To
Romantic scorecard
To: Has two women falling for him and even more impressed by his skills. Generates some chemistry with co-star Huang Yi. He’s the man.
Yen: Maintains a polite distance between him and Lynn Xiong who played his wife in parts one and two. Was her alleged beau Aaron Kwok lurking around the set?
Relationship to Sammo Hung, who appears in different roles in the prequel and in part two
To: Would have called Hung master if To had played Ip Man as a child
Yen: Calls Hung a thorn in the side at first and later embraces him as a true friend. Yes, Ip Man 2 had character development.
Fighting skills
To: He is the winner of various international martial arts competitions and is well-versed in different forms of martial arts including wing chun and taiji. But he lost to an 86-year-old Ip Chun in the film. Tsk.
Yen: Jet Li was a fellow disciple – they both trained under master Wu Bin at the Beijing Wushu Academy. Woe to anyone who tries to mess with him.
Body tally
To: Assorted bullies and riffraff fall by the wayside
Yen: Assorted bullies and riffraff fall by the wayside. Multiplied by two films
Patriotic index
To: Obliterates the nefarious Japanese agents trying to infiltrate China
Yen: Annihilates the Japanese karate expert Colonel Miura in part one and an arrogant British boxer in part two. Take that, Dennis.
(ST)
Ip Man: The Legend Is Born
Herman Yau
The story: As children, Ip Man and his adopted brother Ip Tin Chi (played as adults by Dennis To and Fan Siu Wong respectively) are sent to learn wing chun martial arts in Foshan, China. Years later, their lives and loves are played out against the historic backdrop of Japanese encroachment into mainland China in the 1910s.
Wing chun has certainly come a long way. No longer is it likely to be greeted by that cry of erroneous recognition: “Wang Chung? The group which sang Everybody Have Fun Tonight?”
The fact that the prequel is striking less than two months after Ip Man 2, starring Donnie Yen, hit screens here is as good a measure of its popularity as any.
Legend is being billed as a semi-biographical account of the youth of Ip Man, teacher of action superstar Bruce Lee. The key word here is “semi”.
Despite being based on an actual person, the various elements in the film feel mighty familiar.
The two brothers grow up fighting alongside and getting into mischief with Li Mei Wai (played by CJ7’s Xu Jiao and upcoming actress Rose Chan). No prizes for guessing that the set-up leads to romantic entanglements down the road.
When Ip Man takes on a bully and impresses the well-off Cheung Wing Shing (a spunky Huang Yi) and later stands up to a mocking Caucasian while studying in Hong Kong, it all seems like requisite checkpoints on the road to deja vu.
There is a missed opportunity when Ip Tin Chi’s poignant tale of sacrifice and emotional conflict is eventually revealed. Alas, it is quickly glossed over perhaps because it would have taken the focus away from Ip Man.
What keeps the film watchable is the graceful fluidity and excitement of the close-quarter hand-to-hand combat. The competent action scenes are courtesy of Tony Leung Siu Hung who, together with actor Sammo Hung, won last year’s Golden Horse and Hong Kong Film Award gongs for Best Action Choreography for Ip Man (2008).
Instead of action star Yen though, moviegoers get newcomer Dennis To who had small parts in the other two Ip Man flicks. The physical resemblance between the two actors ties the films together and To’s competition-winning martial arts skills certainly come in handy.
Director Herman Yau (True Women For Sale, 2008) steps in for Wilson Yip who helmed the first two instalments and he could have done a better job with the episodic and choppy pacing.
Legend also boasts a turn by Ip Chun, eldest son of the real-life Ip Man. The 86-year-old gives a cheekily spirited performance and gets to put the reel-life Ip Man in his place.
With auteur Wong Kar Wai reportedly working on a movie on the same subject matter, one wonders if this is going to be a case of overkill. The day could well come when the mention of wing chun is met with: “No thanks, I’d rather Wang Chung tonight.”
(ST)
Herman Yau
The story: As children, Ip Man and his adopted brother Ip Tin Chi (played as adults by Dennis To and Fan Siu Wong respectively) are sent to learn wing chun martial arts in Foshan, China. Years later, their lives and loves are played out against the historic backdrop of Japanese encroachment into mainland China in the 1910s.
Wing chun has certainly come a long way. No longer is it likely to be greeted by that cry of erroneous recognition: “Wang Chung? The group which sang Everybody Have Fun Tonight?”
The fact that the prequel is striking less than two months after Ip Man 2, starring Donnie Yen, hit screens here is as good a measure of its popularity as any.
Legend is being billed as a semi-biographical account of the youth of Ip Man, teacher of action superstar Bruce Lee. The key word here is “semi”.
Despite being based on an actual person, the various elements in the film feel mighty familiar.
The two brothers grow up fighting alongside and getting into mischief with Li Mei Wai (played by CJ7’s Xu Jiao and upcoming actress Rose Chan). No prizes for guessing that the set-up leads to romantic entanglements down the road.
When Ip Man takes on a bully and impresses the well-off Cheung Wing Shing (a spunky Huang Yi) and later stands up to a mocking Caucasian while studying in Hong Kong, it all seems like requisite checkpoints on the road to deja vu.
There is a missed opportunity when Ip Tin Chi’s poignant tale of sacrifice and emotional conflict is eventually revealed. Alas, it is quickly glossed over perhaps because it would have taken the focus away from Ip Man.
What keeps the film watchable is the graceful fluidity and excitement of the close-quarter hand-to-hand combat. The competent action scenes are courtesy of Tony Leung Siu Hung who, together with actor Sammo Hung, won last year’s Golden Horse and Hong Kong Film Award gongs for Best Action Choreography for Ip Man (2008).
Instead of action star Yen though, moviegoers get newcomer Dennis To who had small parts in the other two Ip Man flicks. The physical resemblance between the two actors ties the films together and To’s competition-winning martial arts skills certainly come in handy.
Director Herman Yau (True Women For Sale, 2008) steps in for Wilson Yip who helmed the first two instalments and he could have done a better job with the episodic and choppy pacing.
Legend also boasts a turn by Ip Chun, eldest son of the real-life Ip Man. The 86-year-old gives a cheekily spirited performance and gets to put the reel-life Ip Man in his place.
With auteur Wong Kar Wai reportedly working on a movie on the same subject matter, one wonders if this is going to be a case of overkill. The day could well come when the mention of wing chun is met with: “No thanks, I’d rather Wang Chung tonight.”
(ST)
Friday, June 18, 2010
Man In The Mirror
Eric Suen
The Hong Kong-born Eric Suen first found fame as a teeny-bopper Mandopop idol back in 1993 with his debut album It’s So Nice To Know You. But the pressures of the industry got to him and his popularity fizzled out after a few years. He remade himself as an actor and then returned to the music scene in 2007, this time in his native Cantonese. Then came a nasal operation and complications with his vocal cords.
It is enough to make a man look in the mirror and take stock of his life.
Hence tracks such as My Story (Part One) and 36, a reference to his age when he wrote the song last year. He bares his emotions on the former, “I’ve cried silently before, suddenly afraid of losing it in a moment”, and gives a humorous spin on his search for love in the latter.
Still, he can take comfort in the fact that he is no washed-up has-been but has instead survived the vagaries of the entertainment business for almost two decades.
It bodes well for his career that Suen had a hand in crafting all 11 tracks, including the hits If Life Still Has A Song and Walled Hometown, a contemplation on urban alienation.
He can definitely look his reflection squarely in the eye.
Your Friend
Claire Kuo
Surprisingly, Claire Kuo’s Singing In The Trees, from her previous album, has been nominated for Best Song Of The Year for the 21st Golden Melody Awards.
No doubt it has its charms but it just seems too slight for such a weighty category. Which rather sums up how I feel about the sweetie-pie Taiwanese lass.
The opener Encore La La, used for a lingerie ad no less, has her declaring: “See sexy back/We r the sexy mama.” But neither she nor the music has the conviction to carry off such a line. Throughout her fourth album, what could be light-hearted breeziness merely comes across as bland inoffensiveness, a fate that befalls the ballads as well.
I don’t think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
Can't Not Love
Eddie Peng
This atrocious trend has to stop right now. First Joe Cheng, now Eddie Peng. What is it about pretty-boy actors that makes them think that they can hack it as singers as well?
Peng flits from the dance pop of Can’t Not Love to balladry for That Is I Love You to rap on Chameleon and manages to come up with duds across the board.
If you are a fan of the 28-year-old with the sunny good looks, check out the drama Hear Me instead, the highest-grossing local film in Taiwan last year.
And boys, leave the singing to the professionals.
(ST)
Eric Suen
The Hong Kong-born Eric Suen first found fame as a teeny-bopper Mandopop idol back in 1993 with his debut album It’s So Nice To Know You. But the pressures of the industry got to him and his popularity fizzled out after a few years. He remade himself as an actor and then returned to the music scene in 2007, this time in his native Cantonese. Then came a nasal operation and complications with his vocal cords.
It is enough to make a man look in the mirror and take stock of his life.
Hence tracks such as My Story (Part One) and 36, a reference to his age when he wrote the song last year. He bares his emotions on the former, “I’ve cried silently before, suddenly afraid of losing it in a moment”, and gives a humorous spin on his search for love in the latter.
Still, he can take comfort in the fact that he is no washed-up has-been but has instead survived the vagaries of the entertainment business for almost two decades.
It bodes well for his career that Suen had a hand in crafting all 11 tracks, including the hits If Life Still Has A Song and Walled Hometown, a contemplation on urban alienation.
He can definitely look his reflection squarely in the eye.
Your Friend
Claire Kuo
Surprisingly, Claire Kuo’s Singing In The Trees, from her previous album, has been nominated for Best Song Of The Year for the 21st Golden Melody Awards.
No doubt it has its charms but it just seems too slight for such a weighty category. Which rather sums up how I feel about the sweetie-pie Taiwanese lass.
The opener Encore La La, used for a lingerie ad no less, has her declaring: “See sexy back/We r the sexy mama.” But neither she nor the music has the conviction to carry off such a line. Throughout her fourth album, what could be light-hearted breeziness merely comes across as bland inoffensiveness, a fate that befalls the ballads as well.
I don’t think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.
Can't Not Love
Eddie Peng
This atrocious trend has to stop right now. First Joe Cheng, now Eddie Peng. What is it about pretty-boy actors that makes them think that they can hack it as singers as well?
Peng flits from the dance pop of Can’t Not Love to balladry for That Is I Love You to rap on Chameleon and manages to come up with duds across the board.
If you are a fan of the 28-year-old with the sunny good looks, check out the drama Hear Me instead, the highest-grossing local film in Taiwan last year.
And boys, leave the singing to the professionals.
(ST)
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Thanks Your Greatness
Yen-J
This fresh jazzy debut from Los Angeles-born Taiwanese Yen-J sounds different from what is out there, no small achievement given how conformist much of Mandopop is.
Little wonder he was bewildered at first by the scene. Stuck In Taipei recounts his initial frustrations: “From a college student to a wanderer with no job/I feel more and more guilty spending my family’s money... I begin to doubt myself and wonder if I’m doing something wrong?”
He questions in the hip-hop track Saviour: “Didn’t think there would be no one who would be accustomed to my music in Taipei/I can’t catch up with what’s popular... or have I gone ahead of it?”
He makes a good case for the latter. Chasing After opens with the tinkling of ivories and then segues unexpectedly into a tongue-twister of a stanza, followed by a chorus that has fun with word sounds. It’s a heady mix of youthful exuberance but it’s one that works.
On the deliciously playful Love Is Curry, he samples the jazz standard Take The A Train and revs it up with Mandarin, Minnan and English lyrics.
The title track Thanks Your Greatness though reminds me of R&B diva Alicia Keys’ No One. It’s a rare misstep in an album in which even the love songs are sweet rather than saccharine. Smile along as he croons I Like (No, I Love) and Summer Romance.
It is all the more impressive given that the 22-year-old wrote and arranged the material and also played the keyboard parts.This is indeed a great start worth giving thanks for.
No. Eleven
Hins Cheung
There is a modernist feel to Guangzhou-born Hins Cheung’s 11th release. He sports a sculpted, cropped hairdo and dons deconstructed clothing while posing with cut-out shapes of translucent blue and red.
Unfortunately, the same could not be said of the music. While the Cantopop singer shines on ballads such as Zero Degree Celsius, where his delicate vibrato suggests a forlorn man shivering as love grows cold, he is let down by dated arrangements elsewhere. The retro vibe is perfect though for his take on the Paula Tsui classic, Behind The Wedding Gown.
The album has already spawned two chart-toppers – the melancholy Spring Autumn and the sprightly Tea Meditation Song. Which means to say that there will certainly be a No. 12 on the way.
(ST)
Yen-J
This fresh jazzy debut from Los Angeles-born Taiwanese Yen-J sounds different from what is out there, no small achievement given how conformist much of Mandopop is.
Little wonder he was bewildered at first by the scene. Stuck In Taipei recounts his initial frustrations: “From a college student to a wanderer with no job/I feel more and more guilty spending my family’s money... I begin to doubt myself and wonder if I’m doing something wrong?”
He questions in the hip-hop track Saviour: “Didn’t think there would be no one who would be accustomed to my music in Taipei/I can’t catch up with what’s popular... or have I gone ahead of it?”
He makes a good case for the latter. Chasing After opens with the tinkling of ivories and then segues unexpectedly into a tongue-twister of a stanza, followed by a chorus that has fun with word sounds. It’s a heady mix of youthful exuberance but it’s one that works.
On the deliciously playful Love Is Curry, he samples the jazz standard Take The A Train and revs it up with Mandarin, Minnan and English lyrics.
The title track Thanks Your Greatness though reminds me of R&B diva Alicia Keys’ No One. It’s a rare misstep in an album in which even the love songs are sweet rather than saccharine. Smile along as he croons I Like (No, I Love) and Summer Romance.
It is all the more impressive given that the 22-year-old wrote and arranged the material and also played the keyboard parts.This is indeed a great start worth giving thanks for.
No. Eleven
Hins Cheung
There is a modernist feel to Guangzhou-born Hins Cheung’s 11th release. He sports a sculpted, cropped hairdo and dons deconstructed clothing while posing with cut-out shapes of translucent blue and red.
Unfortunately, the same could not be said of the music. While the Cantopop singer shines on ballads such as Zero Degree Celsius, where his delicate vibrato suggests a forlorn man shivering as love grows cold, he is let down by dated arrangements elsewhere. The retro vibe is perfect though for his take on the Paula Tsui classic, Behind The Wedding Gown.
The album has already spawned two chart-toppers – the melancholy Spring Autumn and the sprightly Tea Meditation Song. Which means to say that there will certainly be a No. 12 on the way.
(ST)
Saturday, June 05, 2010
Go South
Super Band
Four veteran musicians, one limited-edition super-group.That was the conceit which brought Lo Ta-yu, Jonathan Lee, Wakin Chau and Chang Chen-yue together in 2008.
It resulted in them touring for 10 months and playing to more than one million fans, and also led to the release of two EPs, North Bound and Go South.
I have never found them fully convincing as a band, however. There are a handful of tracks on which they come together as a cohesive whole, including Desperado from North Bound and Coming Home from Go South.
The rest of the time though, be it on stage or on disc, it is about each singer-songwriter doing his own thing. And hence Hand Holding is very Lo Ta-yu, Art Of Love is very Chang Chen-yue, There’s Light is very Wakin Chau and Jonathan’s Song is, well, very Jonathan.
Sure, they wrote songs for one another but that is a form of collaboration that could easily have taken place outside of the framework of this grouping.
They have since officially split up, but is this really the last we’ll see of Super Band? I wouldn’t bet on it.
55:38:7
Serene Koong
We all know how important that first impression is and newbie Singaporean singer Serene Koong gets it right with opener Charlie. A jaunty piano riff, a breezy cascade of whistling and then a voice that swings: “I like your Chaplin-esque black humour/ I’m about to burst into flames like a poem”.
The tune was composed by Koong, a contestant in the inaugural Singapore Idol in 2004, while Xiao Han wrote the lyrics. There is a lightly quirky vibe and welcome sense of playfulness to their collaborations which also include Voodoo Doll and Like A Freak.
The TV drama theme songs such as Knowing and Protected are more conventional but, to Koong’s credit, the album is consistently listenable thanks to her inviting pipes.
Despite it being a jingle for a soda, Lala, the duet with label-mate Wu Jiahui, is effectively effervescent. I prefer it to her ballad with Jaycee Chan, To:, even though that too has its charms.
All in all, a promising debut. One suggestion though – ditch that Lolita-esque styling.
(ST)
Super Band
Four veteran musicians, one limited-edition super-group.That was the conceit which brought Lo Ta-yu, Jonathan Lee, Wakin Chau and Chang Chen-yue together in 2008.
It resulted in them touring for 10 months and playing to more than one million fans, and also led to the release of two EPs, North Bound and Go South.
I have never found them fully convincing as a band, however. There are a handful of tracks on which they come together as a cohesive whole, including Desperado from North Bound and Coming Home from Go South.
The rest of the time though, be it on stage or on disc, it is about each singer-songwriter doing his own thing. And hence Hand Holding is very Lo Ta-yu, Art Of Love is very Chang Chen-yue, There’s Light is very Wakin Chau and Jonathan’s Song is, well, very Jonathan.
Sure, they wrote songs for one another but that is a form of collaboration that could easily have taken place outside of the framework of this grouping.
They have since officially split up, but is this really the last we’ll see of Super Band? I wouldn’t bet on it.
55:38:7
Serene Koong
We all know how important that first impression is and newbie Singaporean singer Serene Koong gets it right with opener Charlie. A jaunty piano riff, a breezy cascade of whistling and then a voice that swings: “I like your Chaplin-esque black humour/ I’m about to burst into flames like a poem”.
The tune was composed by Koong, a contestant in the inaugural Singapore Idol in 2004, while Xiao Han wrote the lyrics. There is a lightly quirky vibe and welcome sense of playfulness to their collaborations which also include Voodoo Doll and Like A Freak.
The TV drama theme songs such as Knowing and Protected are more conventional but, to Koong’s credit, the album is consistently listenable thanks to her inviting pipes.
Despite it being a jingle for a soda, Lala, the duet with label-mate Wu Jiahui, is effectively effervescent. I prefer it to her ballad with Jaycee Chan, To:, even though that too has its charms.
All in all, a promising debut. One suggestion though – ditch that Lolita-esque styling.
(ST)
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