Ocean Butterflies 25th Anniversary Concert Compilation

Various artists

What better way to tell the story of a record label than through its music?

Home-grown Ocean Butterflies marked a quarter of a century in existence with a big bash concert at The Max Pavilion on June 25, and has now released a commemorative album.

The title is somewhat misleading as the songs collected here are not from the gig but are mostly the original studio versions.

The heavily nostalgic Disc One points to the label’s xinyao or Singapore folk roots, and the opening strains of Liu Ruizheng’s Tracks In The Desert will immediately transport you back to the genre’s 1980s heyday.

The compilation format also harks back to the company’s first releases such as The Earliest Dream.

If you need more help travelling back in time, check out the photographs of those bygone days in the commemorative magazine, which is sold bundled with the discs only at CD- Rama.

Disc Two marks the label’s ventures into pop territory with the inclusion of the now-defunct 2Girls’ Da Sao (Cleaning), Joi Chua’s Kan Jian (See) and By2’s World Of Adults.

The label’s big guns are easily identifiable as they are represented by at least two songs and include xinyao pioneer Liang Wern Fook as well as regional successes Kit Chan, A-do and JJ Lin.

The Straws trio, who co-founded Ocean Butterflies, also get two numbers here.

The collection is a rich and diverse offering. But even this selection is a mere taste of what the record company has put out over the years.

Dive right in.

Reform

Jane Zhang

This is a big, bright, glossy pop album from China’s Jane Zhang. The dubious sartorial choice of a bodysuit for her cover shot aside, it is a move in the right direction.

It is certainly more engaging than her fourth record Believe In Jane (2010), which was over-long and too generic in parts.

Things get off to a stomping start as she declares on My Looks: “My time, is now on stage, come on”. Crazy For Love is slick R&B, while the Adia-penned Love Just Love is a definite highlight even with its echoes of Rihanna.

Zhang is equally at home with ballads such as If It’s Wrong Then Let It Be Wrong. And she is confident enough of her vocal abilities to not over-sing.

On the album-closing title track, she pronounces: “I say I want to change, so I’ll change, If you see a flaw, you should build it over.”

Can’t go wrong with that attitude.

(ST)