Saturday, February 26, 2011

Soul Mate
Della Ding Dang
China-born Ding Dang is nothing if not consistent.
This is her fifth album in five years and it does not veer too far from the formula of her recent releases: Ballads tacked to drama series for mass appeal, with some uptempo numbers to shake things up.
The lass with the powerhouse vocals fares better on the emo material and Cold-blooded Animal is a standout in that department: “I keep turning over the map you gave me/But I can’t find the place I belong to”.
As for the faster numbers, More Love, Less Strangeness is competent. But in the English version Back-up, the chorus sounds oddly stilted: “So I don’t need a back-up baby you were more than enough/I know you’ve got your back-up and you’re putting her in front”.
The disc is pleasant enough for casual spinning, but she will have to dig deeper if she wants to be your musical soul mate.

Alone Doesn't Mean Lonely
Ricky Hsiao Huang-chi
A Beautiful Morning is the most joyful song about breakfast since Crowd Lu’s Good Morning, Beautiful Dawn!.
Composed by local songwriter Peter Lee, with lyrics by Huang Jun-lang, it will get you fired up at the break of day: “Oh the half-cooked yolk is oozing the taste of sunshine/The air is as crisp as the Chinese lettuce on the table...”
It is a definite highlight on Taiwanese singer-songwriter Ricky Hsiao’s fourth Mandarin album.
Things start off well for the blind singer with the poignant Seeing With Your Heart, on which he sings: “I believe that dreams make life special/Eyes that look at me differently/My loneliness, my courage, I undertake”.
But somehow, things are just not the same when the multiple Golden Melody award-winner sings in Mandarin. When he croons in Minnan elsewhere, the twang approximates that of a vernacular country and western sound. It sounds exaggerated the first time you hear it, but, soon enough, you wouldn’t want it any other way.
It’s also a pity that too many tracks here fall into a middle-of-the-road groove. The moving Last Train, however, shows you what Hsiao is capable of. It’s an emotional ride you don’t want to miss.
(ST)