20th Century Boys 3

Yukihiko Urasawa

The story: In the year 2017, masked world leader Friend prophesies that aliens will destroy humanity on Aug 20 and claims that only those who believe in him will be saved. Among those trying to stop him are Kenji (Toshiaki Karasawa), his niece Kanna (Airi Taira) and old schoolmate Occho (Etsushi Toyokawa).

Fret not if you did not catch the previous two instalments of this trilogy based on the popular Japanese manga. There is a quick recap at the beginning to bring you up to speed.

In Part One, catastrophic events described in The Book Of Prophecies, an innocent schoolboy concoction by Kenji and his mates back in the summer of 1969, inexplicably start coming true. It ends with cult leader Friend engineering the destruction of Tokyo via a virus- spewing giant robot on Dec 31, 2000.

Part Two picks up 15 years later as Friend plots to ascend to godhood, and hope for humanity rests on Kenji’s niece Kanna and his mates who survived Bloody New Year’s Eve.

While the summary is helpful in getting the major plot points across, it cannot change the fact that those who had previously missed out would be less interested in the fate of the characters.

This seemed to be no major hindrance as the movie was a huge hit in Japan. Released last August, this live-action adaptation of Naoki Urasawa’s award-winning manga went on to spend six straight weeks at the top of box office charts.

Some may wish to debate the symbolism behind 20th Century Boys and its themes of power, control and heroism. But really, there is only one thing that the rest of us want to find out – who, exactly, is Friend?

Director Yukihiko Urasawa knows this and teases us by cutting to another scene every time it seems as if the mask will be ripped off.

Before we get to the final revelation, there is also the sprawling cast of characters to account for and their stories to delve into.

But whenever the film veers away from Friend, Kenji, a much-missed Karasawa in Part Two, or the stylish outlaw Occho, you get the feeling that it is merely treading water.

There is even one last feint as the rolling credits signal – not the end of the film, but the start of a 15-minute coda that lays it all out.

This ending, which is different from the manga’s, was so closely guarded that it was cut from press screenings in Japan.

Over the course of the movies, the director has pointed us to the pivotal events that took place in 1969, and all signs indicate that Friend is, in fact, someone from Kenji’s boyhood.

Suffice to say that those who sat through all seven hours-plus of the trilogy will not feel cheated by the denouement.

(ST)

Super Band 2010 World Tour Final Voyage In Singapore

Singapore Indoor Stadium

Last Saturday

The long and winding road has led Mandopop’s Super Band back to Singapore, six months after their last concert here.

Since their first gig in Taipei last March, the fab four have been touring constantly, trekking as far afield as Vancouver and Las Vegas, and performing for more than 1.3 million people.

In the process, they have honed their act and, last Saturday, before a near-

capacity crowd of 7,500, they presented a slicker show compared to their early gigs.

Dressed in coordinated outfits of black and white, singer-songwriters Lo Ta-yu, 55, Jonathan Lee, 51, Wakin Chau, 49, and Chang Chen- yue, 35, stepped on stage from a train carriage mock-up and launched into their new song, Return.

The lyrics were a reflection of their life on the road and also captured the spirit of the group: a few wanderers chasing their dreams.

After an opening medley of songs, each performer had his turn. Lo rocked out on East Wind and Shaking Hands, his distinctive voice pitched halfway between growling and singing.

Chau, best known for his easy-on- the-ear hits, obliged with three ballads in his clear and warm tenor and had the whole stadium singing along when he crooned Hua Xin (Flower Heart) and Friends.

Chang played the harmonica and upped the tempo with the party-hearty Malasang. Vocally though, he seemed the least assured and his twang was a little too flat in The Feeling That I Want. He did provide, though, some of the night’s highlights with the down-to-earth, slice-of-life lyrics on He Jiu (Drinking) and The Experience Of First Love.

Lee showcased his songwriting flair by taking on hits he had written for others. The guitar and violin arrangement worked best for Zhao Chuan’s I Am A Little Bird, while Lee’s gruff-voiced interpretation of Winnie Hsin’s Understanding and Sylvia Chang’s The Price Of Love came across as flippant.

You began to wonder where Super Band were and this was not helped by the fact that they did not perform much of North Bound Mega EP. This was their sole release as a short-lived band as they will break up after their final two shows in Taipei on Friday and Saturday.

One is tempted to be cynical about the entire enterprise and see it as a gimmicky attempt to revive flagging careers rather than a musical labour of love.

However, the project has been fruitful for those involved.

Chang has taken to drumming and intends to pursue it seriously, while musical collaborations have sprung up among them and are likely to continue even if the moniker of Super Band is retired.

The time together has clearly strengthened their camaraderie. A video presentation had them taking the mickey out of one another by mimicking one another’s gestures.

The concert ended with Desperado, the first song they wrote together, which is a rap-rock collaboration fusing their individual strengths as musicians to deliver something different, and lending some credibility to the notion of the band.

Just do not announce a comeback tour six months down the road.

(ST)

Love Hero

Alien Huang

The third time is the charm for actor-singer Alien Huang.

The host of the popular Taiwanese variety show 100% Entertainment was once part of two short-lived groups.

Both TV Asahi’s Japanese boyband HC3 and Taiwanese boyband Cosmos disbanded after releasing one record each.

His hip, catchy solo effort has topped the album charts in Taiwan.

It has attitude to spare, with compositions from popular band Mayday’s Monster and Ashin, rocker Chang Chen-yue and up-and-coming band Fun4.

The titles Toy Gun And Roses, I Don’t Want To Live Forever and Losers In Love Club place the album firmly within the youthful zeitgeist.

It calls to mind another debut, Achord Hsieh’s Nothing But Achord. While that singer’s vibe is more indie hip-pop, this Alien wants to rock your world.

Poetic Rock

Wu Bai and China Blue

Wu Bai has such a distinctive sound that he often leaves his stamp on material he writes for other people. His collaboration with pop queen Faye Wong for her 2001 self-titled album, for example, was not quite a success for that same reason.

(Incidentally, Wong has made her long-awaited comeback with the theme song to the upcoming film, Confucius. Next, a full-length album please.)

Sometimes, though, Wu Bai manages to surprise. Who would have thought that the polished pop of If This Is Not Love by God of Song Jacky Cheung and starlet Cyndi Wang’s I’ll Be Fine came from his pen? Then you hear his take and it all makes sense.

The album works best if you have heard the versions by the singers the songs were written for.

Otherwise, it just feels like a haphazard collection of songs by Wu Bai.

Forgive Me, I Didn't Say...

Sam Lee

The gymnastics theme of the photos featured in the lyric sheet is misleading because, instead of energetic offerings, you get mostly ballads on Sam Lee’s sixth album.

The first plug, My Grandfather’s Clock, is the Mandarin version of Japanese singer Ken Hirai’s take on the American oldie of the same name. And it had already worn out its welcome then.

Things don’t improve with the bland lyrics on Sorry: “Why only after losing someone does one understand/Does one realise that you are most important to me.”

It is the heartfelt Minnan track The Most Agonising Feeling which saves the day while the karaoke metaphors in Cut Off The Song are at least a sporting attempt to try something different.

(ST)

Crowd Lu 2010 Singapore Live

Dragonfly, St James Power Station

Last Saturday

The crowd embraced him like an old friend the moment Taiwanese singer-songwriter Crowd Lu stepped on stage.

He was togged out in his signature geeky look – bowl-cut hairstyle, oversized black-rimmed glasses, T-shirt, shorts, socks pulled up to mid-calf and canvas shoes, and he hailed the audience with his favourite interjection, an animated “Yeah!”.

As the 24-year-old did at the Esplanade in February last year, he again delivered a feel-good show that had people singing happily along. If anything, it was an even more intimate performance this time, as 800 standing fans were packed into the cosy venue that was Dragonfly.

Backed only by a percussion musician, Lu played the guitar and took on songs from his two albums, opening with the new record’s title track, Seven Days.

His voice was bright and brimming with sincerity, drawing you effortlessly to his heartfelt tales about love and life.

His optimistic brand of tuneful indie pop has won him a fervent following, particularly among the young, and the fans at the show were mostly in their 20s with several sporting “Oh Yeah!” T-shirts. They sang along with gusto, even though the lyrics were not displayed on screens as they usually are at Chinese pop concerts.

The 75-minute gig felt less like a performance and more like a gathering of friends as the endearing Lu engaged his fans. He invited those with questions to raise their hands and ask away and also shared stories about his life and the inspiration behind the songs.

We learnt that his optimistic streak came from his family and when he started writing songs, he wanted people listening to them to feel the same positive vibe. He urged: “When you smile, your heart opens up, just try it.”

This led into I No, on which he declared with conviction as his falsetto soared: “So it’s decided, we want to use smiles to face what’s ahead/Even if nightmares surround the entire world/Please don’t leave, love is always/By your side”.

The obliging singer also sang Happy Birthday to one lucky fan and, on request, tossed off a couple of Minnan tracks, including the anthemic To Win You Must Fight and rock band Mayday’s classic ballad Zhiming Yu Chunjiao (Peter & Mary).

Fans were treated to a new song as well, Come With Me To Qingkang To The Highlands, a lovely ballad about escaping to a beautiful spot 5,000m above sea level.

The set ended with the joyous Zai Jian Gou Gou (Goodbye, Pinky Swear), which triggered exuberant dancing from a few fans who had mastered the moves from the music video.

Lu came back for two encores and ended the evening with the title track of his debut album, 100 Ways For Living.

Looking at the sea of rapt faces, it was hard to tell who was more wrapped up in the moment, Crowd or the crowd.

(ST)

Jump

Stephen Fung

Sometimes, just sometimes, a film will surprise you when you have few expectations of it.

In the first place, the storyline did not seem promising. Kitty Zhang plays country lass Cai Feng who heads for the bright lights of Shanghai to realise her dream of becoming a hip-hop dancer.

The plot might be conventional but the treatment was anything but. You realise that something different is going on with the first musical number that takes place amid the fields.

The film was produced and based on a story by funnyman Stephen Chow and it bears his fingerprints all over.

Actor-turned-director Stephen Fung seems to have channelled Chow’s mo lei tau (nonsense) sensibility with sight gags such as Zhang’s becoming fuzz on her upper lip.

At the same time, the humour is not mean-spirited and even a fellow villager with a mysterious gender gets to make a point about diversity and acceptance.

The film is also lifted by Zhang’s buoyant performance. Looking like another Chow ingenue, Cecilia Cheung, she gives a star-making turn as the enthusiastic girl with the indomitable spirit.

Cai Feng subsequently falls for a playboy entrepreneur played by Singaporean Leon Williams, who filled in for Edison Chen after the sex scandal broke. The film’s romantic detour is less than convincing though, and worse, it veers away from the madcap antics.

Still, there is such a cheery vibe emanating from the film and Zhang’s performance that even a somewhat pat finale fails to dampen the mood.

(ST)

David Tao In Space – The Talk & Rock Show

Singapore Indoor Stadium

Last Friday

Singer-songwriter David Tao was happy to show his age at his concert.

The video introduction solemnly listed the momentous events of his year of birth, 1969 – the premiere of popular children’s TV show Sesame Street, the seminal music festival Woodstock and man landing on the moon.

The last segued into his appearance on the stage, which was decorated to resemble the cosy living room of his youth, complete with lampshades and a television set from the 1970s.

His first song was David Bowie’s Space Oddity (1969), with the lyrics tweaked to “Ground control to major Tao”.

Welcome to the world David Tao grew up in. The American-centric slant of the narrative is a little strange since he was born in Hong Kong, grew up in Taiwan and only attended high school and college in California.

No matter, it gave him the frame to delve into Western pop songs of that era such as Procol Harum’s A Whiter Shade Of Pale (1967), the Commodores’ Easy (1977) and Soft Cell’s Tainted Love (1981).

It was for Tao’s songs, though, that the 5,000-odd audience saved its biggest cheers. He sang his Mandarin R&B hits such as his first single Airport In 10.30, crowd-pleaser Regular Friend and the jangly Rain.

He seldom did just straightforward renditions of his songs, preferring to play around with the arrangements to offer something new for his fans.

So, Small Town had a rock makeover while the bombast of A Big Mess was upped a notch with a backing children’s choir.

While he had no problems with belting it out, the elegiac Seasons Of Loneliness could have done with more delicacy. And perhaps his falsetto was not quite what it used to be and he skirted the highest notes, most noticeably on Regular Friend.

It was also telling that his most popular songs were from his earlier albums rather than from his latest, Opus 69, which provided one of the evening’s high points. RE: DT (Regarding David Tao) worked better in a live setting rather than on disc, where it can sound a little indulgent.

On the clear-eyed number, he rapped about his career, “It’s okay even if I’m not number one now” and added “This time I’m really gonna make a movie”, taking a dig at his own oft-stated proclamation to go off and make films.

Between songs, the personable singer shared anecdotes of his youth. He jokingly recalled that he used to be traumatised at home by the clashing strains of Elvis that his father listened to and the Peking opera his mother sang.

He also showed a cheeky side when he urged “Come on, Singapore, let me hear you” when the line “We don’t need no thought control” came up for Pink Floyd’s Another Brick In The Wall.

While the classic rock detours were mostly welcome, Tao’s Guitar Hero moment with the Eagles’ Hotel California came across overdone.

On the whole, this was a fairly entertaining show that offered some unexpected surprises even if it was not exactly one for the ages.

(ST)

Music Life

Anson Hu

It is rare indeed for the hermetic world of Chinese pop to tackle current affairs, which is why Shanghainese singer-songwriter Anson Hu’s latest album, his sixth, stands out.

Over the slinky synth lines of opener You Pay The Bill Or I Pay The Bill, he laments: “The financial crisis has forced me to take a loan from happiness.”

Unemployment Love Song is about a man under siege at work and in his love life. The only escape he has is in denial: “I can only pretend that my boss will change his mind tomorrow/Pretend my girlfriend will love me more than that trinket.”

This promising start to a concept album gives way to a more loosely knit offering with tracks such as the R&B-tinged Roman Holiday, the whimsical Sister Lin (referring to A Dream Of Red Mansions’ Lin Daiyu) and a remake of folk-rock singer-songwriter Lo Ta-yu’s Brilliant Days.

Still, this is one young man who need not worry about being out of a job.

review asian pop

You Talkin' To Me?

Leo Ku

Hong Kong singer Leo Ku is a survivor. Since his first album came out in 1994, he has chalked up more than 20 releases. Ku’s slightly nasal tone and falsetto forays are now a familiar part of the Cantopop soundscape.

For a while, though, it seemed that the distinguishing feature of his output was the elaborate packaging and gimmicky themes of albums such as Games (2003) and Nobita (2004).

The first release on his new label shows some welcome restraint on the packaging front. The running theme remains – the album name is a quote from the film Taxi Driver (1976) and all the song titles are inspired by memorable lines.

The sense of playfulness extends to the music as well. On I’m Not Well Educated, the pairing of piano chords and a disco beat works surprisingly well.

Earth Is Dangerous sounds more like a conventional ballad, with master lyricist Lin Xi lifting it a cut above the norm with poetic lines such as “When it’s difficult for a thousand paper cranes to fly with you/Toss them towards the starlight.”

It is in the tale of an ill-fated romance on A Bird Without Feet that Ku finally soars.

review asian pop

H2H

Cyndi Wang

Having done sweet, Taiwanese popster Cyndi Wang has decided to try her hand at sexy. There she is with tousled hair and a come-

hither glance on the album cover and the first words she purrs are: “Coffee, tea or me?”

On Heart 2 Heart, she trills: “Kiss my forehead, bite my left ear/A strange hormone is making my face red.”

Really, though, it is the same mix of cover versions of dance hits and treacly ballads the wannabe sex-kitten has been peddling before. Wang is at her best on disposable, light-hearted fare such as I Like You What Can I Do?, the theme song for her idol drama series Momo Love which has her pondering: “How should I dress/So as to leave a good impression on you?”

How about focusing on the music instead?

(ST)

Motherhood

Katherine Dieckmann

Eliza Welsh (Uma Thurman) is the frazzled mother of a six-year-old girl and a toddler boy. She is trying not to lose her identity by writing and she needs to come up with a short essay on motherhood for a shot at landing a column.

Naturally, the deadline is on the day she has to put together her daughter’s birthday party.

Thurman (Kill Bill: Vol. 1, 2003) manages to look good despite being harried by her husband (Anthony Edwards) and harassed by a movie shoot taking place on her street. She even makes the sometimes selfish Eliza sympathetic.

Writer-director Katherine Dieckmann also uses the New York setting to good effect. She works in celeb-spotting (Jodie Foster in a game cameo) at a public park playground and gently pokes fun at neurotic parents. However, she does not have much to offer beyond generic motherhood statements and Hallmark sentiments on the subject of parenting.

For a more rewarding exploration of the maternal instinct, check out Bong Joon Ho’s Mother instead.

(ST)

The Wild Things

Dave Eggers

Book adaptations of films are often rushed hack jobs with a shelf-life as short as that of the movie’s run. Not this one.

It all started with Maurice Sendak’s seminal 1963 children’s picture book Where The Wild Things Are, about the adventures of a young boy named Max.

That was adapted into a well-received feature film by director Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich, 1999), who co-wrote the script with Dave Eggers, author of the feted memoir A Heartbreaking Work Of Staggering Genius (2000).

Which brings us to this book, which takes the story in the movie and develops it in different directions. Max here is “some combination of Maurice’s Max, Spike’s Max, and the Max of my own boyhood”, explains Eggers in his acknowledgements.

Happily, all that pedigree has led to a worthy work in the notoriously tricky genre of child-centric fiction. It is often all too easy for writers to be condescending or be guilty of simplifying their protagonists, thoughtlessly equating childhood and childishness.

The best books, however, tap into the rich emotional lives of youngsters and Eggers’ portrayal of seven- year-old Max has the ring of truth about it as the boy struggles with an often confusing world that leaves him feeling powerless.

Dressed down by his mother for deliberately flooding his older sister’s room and frustrated by what he feels to be the injustice of it all, Max dons a wolf costume and sails away to a strange island.

He finds a group of rambunctious giant beasts there and declares to them that he is their king. They could be seen as the id of the psyche made manifest and one of them declares: “We want what we want. We want all the things we want. Oh, and we want no more want.”

Max has to think of a way to satisfy all these desires and live up to his responsibility as king in a chaotic world that is sometimes frightening, sometimes exhilarating and often unpredictable.

It turns out that growing up can be the wildest adventure.

If you like this, read: Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle. This 1993 Booker Prize winner looks at the world of Barrytown, north Dublin, through the eyes of its 10-year-old protagonist.

(ST)

Hundred Days

JJ Lin

OK Man

Huang Jinglun

A Whole New World Of My Music Journey

Maggie Theng

Sang Penyanyi

Hady Mirza

Here’s a cheery start to 2010 with offerings from four local singers.

On his seventh studio album, JJ Lin seems to have found a comfortable groove.

He delivers a canny mix of hip, urban tunes (X and Go!) and big, sweeping ballads (Hundred Days and Back To Back).

The title track, a chart-topper here, is paired with poetic lyrics by Daryl Yao: “I let my heart turn into flames/So that you, afraid of the dark, can embrace the warmth as you sleep.”

It is the slinky R&B tracks that prove to be more alluring, though. Go!, with its upbeat message of encouragement, is a standout and features a rap by MC Hotdog.

It is also the only set of Chinese lyrics written by Lin though he composed all the music.

He has been making a mark in the competitive Taiwanese scene along with the likes of Huang Jinglun.

Even though Huang came in sixth in the third season of One Million Star, he was voted the most popular contestant.

With his foray into acting in idol drama Momo Love, his stock has risen even further.

The follow-up to his 2008 debut, Jing’s Note, sees the singer’s wellknown sense of humour intact. He declares in the title number: “Want to eat supper and not get fat/Leave it to me, Ok! Man.”

He plays up his geeky image with Our Show, rapping about not knowing where to place his hands when seated next to a girl he likes in a cab.

The cheekiness disappears in sad-sack ballads such as Old Wound and, unfortunately, we are left with the clunky duet Can’t Win as the closer.

Far more consistent is Maggie Theng’s album of jazzed-up covers which includes her own hit Qian Yin (Leading Along) as well as takes on Tracy Huang’s Spring Light and Eason Chan’s Your Backpack.

The intimate recording makes you feel as though you have wandered into a small, smoky joint with a lone light focused on the singer.

While you wish there was a little more oomph to the voice, it is still heartening to find a covers record done with imagination and passion.

With more than 50 albums to her name, she certainly has a thing or two to teach the younger singers about staying power.

On album number two, Singapore Idol winner Hady Mirza guns for the regional market with a largely Malay- language release. He wrote eight of the 10 tracks, with fellow champ Taufik Batisah contributing two songs.

Hady also served as producer and the material here has been picked to showcase his emotive vocals.

The first plug, Angkasa, is a gorgeous showstopper that gives him space to soar and swoop.

There is a preponderance of ballads, though, and it would have been nice to see Hady rock out more often.

With the dust just settled on another season of Singapore Idol, we can expect to see more home-grown debuts down the road.

So here’s to a vibrant and exciting local music scene in the year ahead. Cheers!

(ST)

The Treasure Hunter

Kevin Chu

The story: A legendary treasure hidden deep in a desert attracts the attention of relic protector Qiao Fei (Jay Chou), author Lan Ting (Chiling Lin), opportunist Chop (Eric Tsang) and an archaeologist with a past, Hua Dingbang (Chen Daoming).

How does this annoy me? Let me count the ways. There is the lazy characterisation, the hammy acting and a garbled plot which has little interest in making sense.

Perhaps this is the result of having five scriptwriters attached to the project. The producers are obviously not familiar with the notion of quality, not quantity. The several strands of plot have only one thing in common – they are all half-baked.

Qiao Fei and Lan Ting were childhood sweethearts but she felt betrayed after he disappeared from her life to apparently return to the desert where he came from. The reason was possibly the fact that he is part of a tribe who are responsible for protecting the ancient tombs.

If this seems like a rather murky and convoluted explanation, it is because much is left unexplained and unaccounted for.

There is also the rivalry between Qiao Fei and the Desert Eagle, head of the guardians, as well as a rote romance between Qiao Fei and Lan Ting to further muddy the waters.

The sparks never fly as model-turned-actress Lin is stiff before the cameras and seems to be still coming to grips with the notion of acting.

Admittedly, risible lines such as “Tears can’t roll down your face when you’re looking up at the sky” would challenge the most dedicated thespian.

The best thing you could say about director Kevin Chu is that he did not play favourites in this film – he managed to bring out the worst in everyone. Tsang, spewing lines in Mandarin, Cantonese and English, is at his most irritating. And veteran China actor Chen turns in an embarrassingly amateurish performance.

Meanwhile, Chou looks vaguely ridiculous dressed in a studded leather jacket with slicked-back long hair .

Maybe this will mark the end of Chou’s collaboration with Chu. They last worked together on the basketball flick Kung Fu Dunk (2008), which at least had some idea of what to do with its star’s boyish charms.

Do not feel too sorry for Chou, though. Even without releasing a new album this year, he has once again emerged as the top money-spinner in the Taiwanese music industry. He earned NT$554 million (S$24 million) from starring in films, as well as from endorsements and royalties.

If you must contribute to his overflowing treasure chest, wait for his 10th studio album and pass on this piffle.

(ST)

Best Live Chinese Music

In::Music – Crowd Lu

Esplanade Recital Studio, Feb 7

It was a small show that took place at the beginning of the year but the indie singer- songwriter simply delivered the most moving gig in 2009 by performing with his entire being.

Crowd Lu sang with his eyes closed, feet tapping and body crouched over his guitar. He was enraptured by the songs and we were enraptured by him.

Aaron Kwok De Show Reel Live In Concert 09

Singapore Indoor Stadium, May 30

At the opposite end of the spectrum is this slick, well-oiled machine of a show whose centrepiece was a slick, well-oiled machine.

And it is not Hong Kong Heavenly King Aaron Kwok we are talking about, even though he danced, sang and flaunted his well-toned body tirelessly.

It was instead the giant revolving stage that has raised the bar for those seeking to dazzle audiences with hardware wizardry.

Mayday DNA World Tour, Singapore 2009

Singapore Indoor Stadium, Aug 28-29

The hardest-working band out there delivered two sizzling shows which busted the midnight mark. If their exhilarating concert in Taipei was any indication, the five lads once again proved that they can always be counted on for a rousing good time.

Let’s not forget their promo gig here on Jan 4, a free event which became a 21/2-hour concert. Mayday’s willingness to go that extra mile for their fans is why they have some of the most fervent supporters around.

(ST)

Keep Going

Jeanie Zhang

The debut album from China’s Jeanie Zhang begins with an in-flight announcement to secure your safety belt. Thankfully though, this ride is free of turbulence or vocal histrionics as the 23-year-old takes a more restrained approach.

Her clean, clear voice has a hint of sadness which gives the defiant title track an added layer of emotion when she sings: “Let the wind blow harder/Let the storm lash out/Feel how terrifying the world is/Actually my courage is not lonely/It has company wherever it goes.” She also gets bonus points for composing it.

Equally comfortable with ballads such as I Don’t Understand and uptempo numbers such as I’m OK, the promising newcomer wants you to know that she is in it for the long haul.

Wonfu Loves You

Won Fu

The band emits such a sunshiney, summery vibe it feels a little out of sync to listen to them during this cool, rainy season.

Still, try sitting through such goofy, cheery numbers as Summer Dusk Summer Scenery (“The sun broke the bottle of ketchup escaping/The stars and moon came out and did the cleaning”) and Motorbike (“Sitting on my motorbike/I’ll never exceed the riding capacity/Will the one I like please hurry up and tell me”) without breaking into a grin.

However, two-thirds of the way through, from way out of left field, comes a bizarre Hare Krishna chorus and the mood grows increasingly frenzied and manic. Maybe all that summer sun got to them.

D.N.A Live!

Mayday

It is easy to take Mayday for granted because they are so consistently good. Mayday deliver concert after concert and September’s 2009 Taipei Arena gig was no exception.

The recording captures the excitement of the event as well as the energy and charisma of the band with lead vocalist Ashin in fine form in all 29 tracks here.

For those who were there, this is the perfect keepsake. For those who were not, the accompanying DVD gives you a condensed, tantalising version of what went down.

The Classic

Eric Moo

Harlem Yu, Jam Hsiao, Abin Fang and now Eric Moo. Men doing cover albums of women’s songs? It’s getting old.

They are even starting to record the same songs such as Mavis Hee’s Regrets, which Fang also took on. I prefer Fang’s sparer, more emotionally naked version as Moo’s tendency to belt a song into submission is on full display here. There is nothing delicate about his forceful blasting of lines such as “Rather than let you wither in my embrace” and “Rather than let you grow haggard in my love”.

The disc ends with Too Foolish, a megahit for Moo back in the day but it may surprise you to learn that it was Mindy Quah who first sang the Moo-composed ballad in 1993. He shows some unexpected restraint here but it’s a classic case of too little too late.

(ST)

Dancing Queen

Landy Wen

There is no chance that you will forget who you are listening to. That is because Wen keeps spelling out her name L.A.N.D.Y.

In a nutshell, that spells out her problem. She is a versatile singer with a lightly husky voice but she needs more distinctive material in order to step out of the shadows of dancing divas such as Jolin Tsai, Elva Hsiao and Coco Lee.

Over nine years, Wen has moved from R&B and hip-hop to dance and is now a self-styled Dancing Queen. She dishes out attitude on Wide-Angle Beauty and D.I.S.C.O is a retro-sounding call to get your groove on.

But she can also take it slow on mid-tempo numbers such as Adia’s slinky Love Has No Right Or Wrong and Kenji Wu’s ballad I Believe It All.

Perhaps the constant shift in styles from album to album explains why it is hard to get a fix on her as a singer. The ever-changing hair and eye colours do not help either. It closes with Don’t Fall In Love With Me but somehow you get the feeling that it is the exact opposite of what Wen wants.

Love Has Always Been

Rachel Liang

Another week and yet another release by a One Million Star alum.

As they jostle for short attention spans and album sales, the ex-contestants have all had to decide how to differentiate themselves from one another.

Rachel Liang has chosen the safe-if-boring sweetie-pie route.

The second season’s runner-up titled her debut album Love Poem and her follow-up is Love Has Always Been. No prizes for guessing what she sings about.

Among the TV reality show’s female cohort, it is Lala Hsu who stands out for her willingness to try different approaches and keep things interesting.

The highlight of Liang’s romance-heavy disc is the title track for which local singer-songwriter Hagen Tan composed the memorable tune and contributed to the lyrics: “I know/My love/Has always been/Without you the tears can’t stop.”

To her credit, she mixes things up with the breezy Sixth Sense and the intriguingly titled Man-Biting Cat. And even that is about love: “My love is so troublesome/Like a man-biting cat that cannot be shaken off.”

One wonders if she would be a more interesting proposition if she shakes off that syrupy image.

review asian pop

All About Rynn

Rynn Lim

On first glance at the cover, one could be forgiven for thinking that MediaCorp rising star Dai Yangtian has branched out into singing.

It is hard to decide if this is a good or bad thing for Rynn Lim. On the one hand, the CD could turn more heads as a result of the physical resemblance.

On the other hand, is this really the way for the Malaysian singer-songwriter to get more attention after releasing three albums?

He is, after all, the winner of the Best New Artiste at the Golden Melody Awards in 2006.

All About Rynn is a retrospective of his past work including Kong Qiu Qian (Abandoned), Re-married and the novelty Malay/Mandarin duet Melodi with Sheila Majid. In the lyric sheet, Lim adds little anecdotes about the songs closest to his heart. Oddly enough, he chose to omit Working Girl, the lead single off his last album Homely Life (2008).

The collection also includes five new songs. From the lightly jaunty Within 7 Days to the ballad Gently, they are all pleasant but maybe not enough for people to start comparing Dai to him instead.

(ST)

Love Moments

Jam Hsiao

Regrets

Abin Fang

Record of Emotion

Cui Xia and Hong Shaoxuan

Forward

Jade Liu

When will these young upstarts learn to leave the inimitable Faye Wong alone?

First it was soulboy Khalil Fong remaking Red Bean and now Jam Hsiao is covering The Last Blossom.

Abin Fang, of the defunct Malaysian duo Island, takes on not one but two tracks – Chess and the Cantonese number Ambiguous.

At least Fong gives the song an R&B makeover, while Fang takes a decidedly stripped-down acoustic approach. Hsiao’s choice of song may be more adventurous but he does not do much with it arrangement-wise.

None of them, though, makes you forget for a second that Wong did it first and better. Please, just come out of your retirement already, and show these whipper-snappers how it’s done.

Actually she already did so on Decadent Sounds Of Faye (1995) in which she covered the songs of Teresa Teng with attitude and imagination.

The problem with both Hsiao and Fang’s offerings is that there is hardly any sense of surprise or discovery in the material even if the delivery is competent.

Hsiao is so confident of his vocal prowess that he chooses to cover chart hits of the recent past without bothering to tweak the songs much.

This is the third version of Rewind after Jolin Tsai and Jay Chou.

At least Tsai and Chou’s versions had the added dimension of how much one should read into the lyrics about a break-up.

Only the unexpected inclusion of the touching Minnan track Wordless Flower stands out.

The mildly interesting thing about Love Moments and Regrets is that they are packed with women’s songs.

For Sandy Lam’s It Doesn’t Matter Who I Am, the gender has been switched so Fang sings “How tragic it is if men have no one to love/Even if someone cries when they hear my song”. This is as audacious as it gets.

Compared to the commercially minded discs above, Record Of Emotion is a more curious proposition. It features home-grown xinyao singer Hong Shaoxuan and 1983 Talentime second runner-up Cui Xia as well as a mixed bag of selections.

Once you get past the opening Huangmei opera track Country Road, there is much to savour here in the beautifully pristine voices showcased in classics such as Qiu Shi Pian Pian (Deep Fall) and Sui Hua (Broken Blossoms).

The songs on Jade Liu’s EP are also an eclectic lot. In her case, it is because three of them are from TV serials, including Lonely Light Years from MediaCorp’s The Ultimatum. Because she liked the melody so much, she penned a new set of lyrics and re-recorded the song as Gift.

What is more impressive is the trick Liu pulls off on Adore You in which she channels the composer – her laid-back crooning sounds exactly like Tanya Chua.

This is the first part of a planned Growth Trilogy and this EP whets the appetite for her next disc which is exactly what a good offering should do.

But when it comes to reworking songs, here is some parting advice – just because it’s nice doesn’t mean you have to sing it twice.

(ST)

The Storm Warriors

The Pang Brothers

The story: Powerful warriors Whispering Wind (Ekin Cheng) and Striding Cloud (Aaron Kwok) have to prevent the evil Lord Godless (Simon Yam) from taking over China in this adaptation of a story from Ma Wing Shing’s comic series Fung Wan. The reclusive Lord Wicked (Kenny Wong) agrees to instruct Wind in the path of evil to boost the latter’s skills, while master pugilist Nameless (Kenny Ho) helps Cloud create a new style of sword-fighting.

It is comforting to know that in this fickle and ever-changing world, there are some things people can still count on – such as lovingly art-directed hairstyles in a Fung Wan movie.

In 1998’s The Storm Riders, Aaron Kwok sported electric blue curls while Ekin Cheng had luscious flowing locks. This time round, Kwok has ditched the dye and gone for a perm that adroitly frames his face while Cheng is still keeping to his battle- tried-and-tested coiffure.

But all that hirsute detail is not just for show – it is also an important signifier. After all, only highly- skilled martial artists can afford to devote that much time and effort to maintaining their hairdos.

Even Kenny Ho as the legendary Nameless gets to strut his stuff in front of a wind machine, tresses billowing heroically.

While the hair motif is familiar, what has improved from 11 years ago are the special effects. The Pang brothers, taking over from Andrew Lau (Infernal Affairs, 2002) at the helm, seem to have benefited from their Hollywood sojourn and their exposure to top-level computer-generated imagery (CGI).

The special effects in The Storm Riders were sometimes cheesy, particularly when seen in retrospect. Here, in addition to punching up the fight scenes and translating the look and feel of a comic book onto film, the CGI has been used to create spectacular vistas, as epic as the tale that is unfolding.

Given the fairly straightforward story, the directors do a good job with pacing and keeping the film flowing, right up to the protracted climactic battle with Cloud and Wind in which every trick from stylised freeze frames to extreme close-ups to blurred motion sequences a la Wong Kar Wai’s Ashes Of Time (1994) is thrown onscreen.

With all that technical wizardry going on, Kwok and Cheng do not have to do too much heavy- lifting in the acting department. Cheng, at least, has more to do as Wind has to pay a high price for venturing down the path of evil while the laconic Cloud lets his sword do most of the talking.

Chu Chu (Tang Yan), who is devoted to Cloud, is another character who reappears from The Storm Riders (then played by Shu Qi). But her presence here is token, like that of Second Dream’s (Charlene Choi). The women are merely foils for the grander drama played out by the men.

Some have criticised this film for being too similar stylistically to 300 (2007), Zack Snyder’s hit movie adaptation of a graphic novel about a key battle between the Spartans and the Persians.

While the two share a visual resemblance, The Storm Warriors trumps 300 in one respect: In contrast to the uber machismo and humourlessness of the Spartan flick, Warriors does not take itself too seriously.

Just check out those hairstyles.

(ST)

Adrian Mole The Prostrate Years

By Sue Townsend

Dear Diary,

Remember when we first met Adrian? The year was 1982 and we had inadvertently stumbled upon the secret diary of his 13¾-year-old self. How we laughed when we read about his futile attempts to paint his bedroom black as the Noddy wallpaper kept showing through.

We continued to faithfully follow his exploits as he went through his Growing Pains (1984), which charted the ups and downs of his relationship with one Pandora Braithwaite.

Alas, we drifted apart after that and all through the Wilderness Years (1993) and the Cappuccino Years (1999), our paths never crossed.

Running into him again after all these years brings both a deep sense of joy and a small jolt of shock to realise that he is now on the cusp of 40.

Some things have not changed. He still has literary aspirations and is now writing Plague!, a play set in the medieval countryside, for the local theatre group. But while illusions of grandeur were touching in a young boy, they seem a bit sad and pretentious in a grown man living in a converted pigsty.

Adrian may have his faults, including an inability to see the glaringly obvious, but he is also loyal, generous and kind-hearted. He continues to make friends with lonely pensioners and is unfailingly decent to those he knows, including the unapologetically rascally Bernard Hopkins, “the bookseller from hell”.

Meanwhile, he has to deal with his stubborn five-year-old daughter Gracie, unhappy wife Daisy and other assorted family drama, all the while still carrying a torch for Pandora, now an abrasive politician.

When he is diagnosed with prostate cancer, he faces the prospect of death with a poignantly turbulent mix of bravado, stoicism, fear, panic and petulance. Adrian Mole might be down, but we can never count him out.

P.S: If you like this, read: The Secret Diary Of Adrian Mole Aged 13¾ by Sue Townsend and revisit the agony and the ecstasy of Moley’s teenage years.

(ST)

Dreamer

Peter Pan

Set Meal For Three

Mi Lu Bing

Manic Pixie Dream Girl

1976

Play n Fun [1+1]

Genie Chuo

There is an understated homespun vibe to Peter Pan’s full-length debut that is really quite endearing. It could be due to the fact that the lyrics for all 10 songs are by veteran lyricist Daryl Yao, lending the album a cohesive feel.

The first plug, The Thing I Want To Do Most, is already a chart-topper here. Pan tugs gently at the heartstrings when he croons, “If thunderstorms rage in your heart, then I’ll turn into an umbrella”. Admittedly, that sounds better in Mandarin.

The One Million Star alumnus has smartly made use of his connection to the reality competition TV show as the song was composed and produced by resident judge Kay Huang.

There is no escape from the de rigueur duet but the harmonica-backed Mandarin/Minnan Happy Times with Ring Xu shows the tired format still has life in it when done with a little imagination.

Mi Lu Bing’s third album is a very different proposition but is happily also a cohesive effort, one that centres on the theme of food.

The trio wrote most of the music and kick things off with the youthful optimism of Swallow The Universe. From lines such as “Put your dreams in your left hand/Shout out loud if you’re unhappy/Use my voice to stun the planet”, it is clear that the boys are still hungry for success.

The rock stylings suit lead vocalist Nic Lee’s slightly gruff voice but a slow-burn recipe of Swallow The Universe paired with a different set of lyrics work as well.

On their sixth album, indie Taiwanese band 1976 serve up a melancholic helping of synth-pop that references the seminal British group The Smiths.

While the attempt to try something different is appreciated, the record needs greater variety in sound for tracks to stand out more. But their gutsy attitude – summed up by “There’s a youth with a defiant look/He once was me, he still is me” – is to be cheered.

Better gutsy than cutesy as Genie Chuo tries to look younger with each release. This best-of collection includes past hits Vanilla Lover and Castle Of Love along with six new songs.

There is a place for bubbly throwaway pop such as By Your Side but Chuo shows herself up on the English duet Especially For You with Leon Williams with cringeworthy enunciation.

Maybe this Genie needs to go back into the bottle.

(ST)

Couples Retreat

Peter Billingsley

A sure sign that the movie you are watching is less than engrossing is when idle thoughts begin to flit through your head.

In this case, these thoughts went along the lines of: “Wow, the resort looks great. Where did they film this? Is there actually a resort there? I wonder what the rates are.”

For the record, Couples Retreat was filmed on location on Bora Bora, a French Polynesian island in the South Pacific.

And yes, there is a five-star establishment there, the St Regis Bora Bora Resort.

In the movie, this stands in for Eden Resort, where four couples try to work out their relationship issues. Really, though, three couples would have worked just as well, maybe even two. At least the running time would have been shaved.

The sprawling cast, which includes familiar names such as Vince Vaughn, Jason Bateman, Jon Favreau, Kristen Bell and Kristin Davis, is not particularly well-served by the script co-written by Vaughn and Favreau.

Despite some funny moments, including a touchy-feely yoga session, the saggy middle and oh-so-neat ending will have you mentally whisking yourself off to the resort instead.

(ST)

Seven Days

Crowd Lu

This is one of the most eagerly anticipated releases of the year as it is the follow-up album by the worthy winner of the Best New Artiste and Best Composer accolades at this year’s Golden Melody Awards.

The good news is that Seven Days is a continuation of Crowd Lu’s previous record in terms of vibe – breezy insouciance – and a tuneful blend of folk, pop and rock.

That 100 Ways For Living was one of the best debuts in recent years is all the more impressive considering the singer-songwriter only picked up the guitar when he was hospitalised after a serious car accident in his first year at Tamkang University in 2005.

Even the song order was carefully thought out where the lyrics portray perfectly youthful confusion and indecision.

On the track 100 Ways For Living, he asks in earnest: “How is it that there are 100 ways of living that I wish to have?” The next number, Want To Splurge, has him professing: “There’s only one way of living that I want.”

After setting the bar so high, the first impression of Seven Days is that it is less immediate than its predecessor. For example, though Happy Restaurant is also a quirky ditty about food, it does not quite come close to the first album’s joyous paean to breakfast, Good Morning, Beautiful Dawn!.

But unlike many singers who are pretty much interchangeable, Lu is so strongly identified with his material that you could never mistake him for someone else. Album opener Oh Yeah!!! incorporates his favourite exuberant utterance in the title and its conversational lyrics about a burgeoning love affair will have you tapping your toes.

He has a bright, open and warm voice, and there is also something fearless about the way he sings, scaling the falsetto register and shooting for the high notes, though never showboating.

His live shows are a treat and for those who missed his performance at the Esplanade in February, look out for his upcoming gig at Dragonfly on Jan 16.

On songs such as The Loneliest Time, he shows a more vulnerable side: “This was today’s loneliest moment/Watching him hold your hand.” We get a peek into his creative process as he recycles musical motifs, or rather, develops them over time.

The sprightly bass line for Love, Exercise is the instrumental interlude PAZ from the previous album. I No, a jokey throwaway track on his College’s Blues EP (2007) turns up as the fully formed INO here. The lyrics: “So it’s decided, we want to use our smiles to face what’s ahead/Even if nightmares surround the entire earth” reflect the infectious optimism that courses through his works.

Sincere and honest are such overused words but Lu is the real deal. You feel that there is an actual person’s musings and thoughts behind the album instead of a record company’s calculated choices.

Be it Seven Days or 100 Ways, you can always count on Lu to deliver music that is heartfelt.

(ST)

Mulan

Jingle Ma

The story: For the sake of her ill father, Hua Mulan (Vicki Zhao Wei) dresses up as a man and takes his place on the battlefield to defend China against the marauding Rouran tribe in the year 450. She quickly rises up the ranks and falls in love with a fellow commander, Wentai (Chen Kun).

The story of Hua Mulan’s cross-dressing feat of filial piety is a familiar and well-loved one.
Since the appearance of the Ballad Of Mulan in the sixth century text Musical Records Of Old And New, the tale has been adapted for the screen and stage numerous times. It was even turned into a 1998 Disney animated film that incongruously featured comedian Eddie Murphy as the voice of a dragon, Mushu.
Alarm bells sound here when you recall that cinematographer-turned-director Jingle Ma’s previous update of another classic tale was the widely panned Butterfly Lovers (2008).
The sense of foreboding grows stronger when the film opens with a jarring shot of Russian pop singer Vitas singing in falsetto against the backdrop of a rugged landscape. This prominence is puzzling since he only has a small role as a prisoner of the Rouran people. Maybe there were Russian investors involved in the film.
Unfortunately, this is not an isolated example of Ma’s haphazard approach to film-making.
The subject matter offers an opportunity to examine issues such as the role of women in China’s history and the notion of bravery and heroism. Instead, we get bland platitudes about war and a distinct lack of interest in why Mulan does what she does.
Maybe it is not fair to expect this from a commercially-minded film but Ma does not deliver the goods in that respect, either.
The almost two-hour-long film suffers from poor pacing and an over-abundance of lazy whiteouts in the transitions between scenes.
Having been treated to spectacular battle scenes in Peter Chan’s The Warlords (2007) and John Woo’s Red Cliff (2008), the action sequences here have little new to offer and a sense of deja vu pervades the proceedings.
Instead of seeming gritty, the drab and dreary colour palette of dusty yellows and sombre greys merely looks tired.
Zhao Wei brings some welcome spunk to the title role, but is hampered by a script that would rather have her mired in a romantic relationship in order to pad out the story.
There is a banal point about there being no room for personal feelings on the battlefield, but Mulan is made to learn that lesson in an unconvincing plot development.
Jaycee Chan stands out in the supporting role of Fei Xiaohu, Mulan’s childhood friend – but not in a good way. His all-too-modern drawl sticks out in a sea of crisp Chinese enunciation, almost as bad as Chang Chen’s discordant diction in that polyglot of accents that was Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000).
The usually reliable Hu Jun is wasted here as the Rouran prince. He swans around as if he were in a parody of the film. Come to think of it, that is a much more inviting prospect.

(ST)

Senses Around
Yoga Lin
Cindy Yen
Cindy Yen
Diamond Candy
Elva Hsiao

Thanks to the television show One Million Star, Yoga Lin made it big and even held concerts before releasing his debut album Mystery last year.
While his continued willingness to try new things on his second record is to be lauded, his voice can sound rather affected at times.
Senses Around is a beautifully packaged and ambitious, if inconsistent, concept album, with commercial ballads such as Fairy Tale sneaking into the line-up.
The most intriguing track here is the jazzy number You Are What You Eat with Hong Kong lyricist Wyman Wong’s wicked take on (sexual) appetites. "Hey boys, why so picky, just eat what you see/Hey girls, what are you waiting for, a bad meal is better than not eating at all." Tuck right in.
For the most part, newcomer Cindy Yen plays it safe with a debut aimed squarely at the Sweet Young Thing genre, as unthreatening as the gleaming, toothy smile she displays on the album cover.
It is noteworthy that the overachiever not only composed and produced all 10 songs but also co-wrote some lyrics and played the piano and electric violin on the album. Alas, all that industry does not translate into a stellar offering.
The first single is the misfire Sand Painting, a duet with Jay Chou. The lack of chemistry is painfully apparent in the awkward music video in which they look, and sound, as if they have nothing to do with each other.
Maybe it is because Chou, co-founder of JVR Music, is her boss.
On Hot Air Balloon, lyrics such as "You’re the honey/I’m the sugar/Love is like a hot air balloon" mix metaphors with wild abandon to unintended comic effect.
Strangely enough, the more interesting tracks are buried at the end of
the album, including Dancing That Brings Threat, which at least threatens to swerve away from the middle of the road.
Diamond Candy being her 10th album, one would hope that Elva Hsiao might deign to venture off the well-trodden path, but no such luck.
She sticks to a safe mix of dance numbers and mainstream ballads, a formula established way back on her self-titled debut in 1999.
There isn’t anything that is terribly wrong with the material here, though the preponderance of thumping tracks makes it best to take this in small doses. The ballads such as No Hand In Hand are welcome breathers but they are not as catchy as, say, Impulse from 3-Faced Elva (2008) or Red Rose from the 2000 album of the same name.
The gaudily glitzy cover and lyrics such as "shining boy" and "let you shine bright" are consistent with the album title but perhaps she would do well to remember all that glitters is not gold – or diamond.
(ST)

Innocent
Mavis Fan & 100%

Night Cat
Della Ding Dang

Loneliness
Evan Yo

Welcome back, Mavis Fan.
It has been almost five years since her last album Is There Another Way?, and on her latest offering she shows up with a head of platinum blonde hair and a new band 100%.
It is hard to believe that the indie queen was once the Little Witch Of Music warbling cutesy tracks such as Health Song and Toothbrushing Song.
You wonder if the singer-songwriter is making an oblique reference to that juvenile past when she sings "A different me/Does not want to make the same mistakes" on opener Ghost Hits The Wall.
This adventurous and playful outing is stylistically diverse and includes the groovy genre-busting jazz-rock-hip-hop hybrid, Who Cares What Kind Of Music It Is.
Lyrically, Fan plays with contrasts on numbers such as Inside Outside ("Even though he’s wearing a suit on the outside/Maybe he’s thinking of surfing on the inside") and Understand ("I am very happy/Because I know what pain is").
Even on less successful tracks such as Where Do I Want To Go, you could never mistake her work for cookie-cutter pop. Mercifully, the atmospheric duet included here, Dark Is The Night, is miles away from the saccharine fare cluttering the airwaves.
While the two duets – Fireworks with Mayday’s Ashin and Suddenly Want To Love You with Wakin Chau – on Ding Dang’s third album Night Cat might be a little above-average, they also feel rather obligatory.
The standout track is the ballad Why Do You Lie, which plays to the big-voiced singer’s strengths as she belts out: "You keep asking if my heart is really here/Asking how I can lose love with no regrets/Why are my tears rolling down."
At the same time, the lace and leather gloves get-up point to a sexier and edgier sensibility and she delivers it on songs such as Night Cat, a cheesily entertaining dance number complete with Ding Dang mewing.
She might be rocking out and exploring her inner animal but Evan Yo has ditched the rock persona he adopted on his previous album.
Instead, there is a back-to-basics feel on this third album which features a memorable clutch of songs.
Still only 23, the singer-songwriter tackles a clever mix of ballads such as Blinking SMS and Eclipse and more youthful-sounding numbers such as Little Darling.
But the singer also sounds like he has done some growing up when he croons on Loneliness: "What do I do when night falls/Who is by my side when loneliness calls/My emotions are mixed up together/Thinking of her, missing her, hating her."
Maybe he can take consolation in the fact that he never had to sing kiddy ditties.
(ST)

Victor/Victoria
Zebra Crossing Productions
Esplanade Theatre

The central premise here is designed to make your head spin – a woman acting as a man who acts as a woman. It suggests a playful exploration of gender roles and a tuneful look at the slippery boundary between masculinity and femininity.
So we have Victoria Grant (jazz singer Laura Fygi), a down-and-out English singer in 1930s Paris, transforming into Count Victor Grazinski, female impersonator extraordinaire, at the suggestion of her friend, has-been actor Toddy (Matt Grey).
Things get sticky when Chicago mobster King Marchan (Jake Macapagal) falls for Victor/Victoria. Can King man up to the possibility that he has fallen for another man? Will Victoria reveal her secret and risk throwing away her resurgent career?
Unfortunately, what should have been compelling questions hardly piqued this reviewer’s interest because of major problems with casting. Physically, there was no doubt that Victor(ia) was a woman even when she was dressed in a tuxedo. There was no hint of androgyny in Fygi’s generous figure and, instead of ambiguous layers of gender role-playing, we got a straightforward portrayal of a woman in men’s clothes. It made all the floor-pacing and hand-wringing over her identity seem silly when it was so obvious that there was no Victor.
While her smoky and husky alto have won her fans in the jazz world, it was a stretch for the audience to accept her as a soprano who can hit a G flat and shatter glass. To make matters worse, there was no chemistry between her and Macapagal, who spoke with an odd affectation and sounded like lisping Tweety Bird at times. Almost A Love Song, a duet that is supposed to be moving, barely had any emotional resonance.
It was left to the supporting cast to step up and Nicole Stinton stole the show with her ballsy turn as King’s ditzy moll, Norma Cassidy, especially for the comic number Paris Makes Me Horny. Grey also impressed as the flamboyant and loyal Toddy.
The handsome sets and effective lighting helped convey not just time and place but also mood. The elaborate costumes were a visual treat and in a nifty nod to the theme, there were women in trousers and men in corsets at the nightspot Club Chez Lui.
After a rather sluggish first half, the pace picked up after the intermission. There was a competently staged set piece of slamming doors and intricately timed exits and entrances between two adjoining hotel suites as several characters tried to avoid running into each other. Still, the zip and zing of a perfect execution was not achieved.
The musical ended with an upbeat message of inclusiveness but this reviewer left with his head resolutely unspun, his funny bone tickled only occasionally and his heart largely untouched.
(ST)

Timeless
Meeia Foo

A Love Letter
Gary Yang

Heaven Walker
Eddie Chow

Joe's Singing For You
Joe Cheng

A debut solo album is an artiste's calling card to the world - this is who I am, this is what I do. Which makes Malaysian singer Meeia Foo's choice of material for Timeless both audacious and puzzling.
The runner-up of season two of Super Idol, singing contest One Million Star’s main rival, has chosen to tackle classic songs.
The good news is that she has the pipes to pull off most of the material, delivering quite a heartfelt rendition of the Minnan track Life Is An Ocean and very competent versions of English power ballads such as The Rose.
But some of the covers feel utterly pointless: Pan Yueh-yun’s compelling Am I The One You Love The Most? is still superior, while no one needs a remake of Celine Dion’s My Heart Will Go On.
In contrast, Gary Yang wrote all the music and most of the lyrics on his debut solo album.
He is not exactly a newcomer, though, since he was a founding member of pop group Nan Quan Mama. Which probably explains this relatively assured outing where he tackles salsa rhythms on Havana and takes a light-hearted look at romance on tracks such as Oh Why and In Love.
His good friend, superstar Jay Chou, also chimes in on the chorus of the laidback Moonlight.
Yang’s strong Taiwanese accent takes a little getting used to, though.
Like Yang, Eddie Chow also composed most of the music on his album, whose electronic elements are a welcome touch.
Unfortunately, the title track comes off like a cut-rate Jay Chou rap and only makes you appreciate Vincent Fang’s lyrical prowess all the more.
The lone Cantonese track Together suggests that, Chow, who grew up in Malaysia and is now a Singapore permanent resident, is more comfortable in Cantonese than in Mandarin.
The bigger problem, though, is his tendency to waver off-key on a few occasions.
Idol drama star Joe Cheng’s foray into music banks unabashedly on his prettyboy looks. The five-track EP comes with an accompanying DVD that is just as long. In it, we get to see Cheng acting cute as he traipses around Ishikawa prefecture in Japan, getting the locals to wave enthusiastically at the camera.
Without the background visuals, the tedious music and Cheng’s thin, bland vocals cannot bear much scrutiny or repeat listening.
As a singer, the last thing you want is to be seen and not heard.
(ST)

Vengeance

Johnnie To

The story: After his daughter’s family is wiped out in a gangland-style killing in Macau, French assassin-turned-chef Costello (Johnny Hallyday, right) shows up and vows to seek vengeance. He relies on hitman Kwai (Anthony Wong) and his partners to track down those responsible.

Hong Kong director Johnnie To is a prolific but erratic film-maker. In the last few years, he has been winning awards for his testosterone-fuelled, cops-and-crime adrenaline pumpers such as PTU – Police Tactical Unit (2003) and Election (2005).

He has ventured more recently, with mixed results, into the genres of supernatural romance with the uneven Linger (2008) and light-hearted caper with the buoyant Sparrow (2008).

With Vengeance, he is back on familiar ground. In the first scene, guns come out blazing as a scene of everyday domesticity is shattered by violence.

There are several other slickly staged set pieces, including a beautifully shot showdown in a wooded area at night, with volleys of gunfire and bursts of gunflare piercing the quiet darkness.

Costello is played by French icon Johnny Hallyday, complete with craggy face and tired eyes which have seen too much. Despite the fact that he is reliant on Kwai for help, there is not much of a connection between the two actors, although Wong is reliable as a stoic and honourable hitman.

Simon Yam steals the show with a nicely extravagant turn as the flamboyant crook George Fung.

If only the story, by To’s regular collaborator Wai Ka Fai, had been stronger.

Some of Costello’s early behaviour, including scribbling notes on Polaroid photos of people, seems eccentric until we learn that he is losing his memory due to a bullet lodged in his brain from his hitman days.

The memory loss proves to be conveniently selective. At times, this film almost feels like a rip-off of that superior thriller Memento (2000).

At one point, a hitman asks: “What does revenge mean when you’ve forgotten everything?”

But it is a red herring here, a throwaway question that is never really explored.

At the end, Costello goes after the mastermind, despite memory loss having set in. Still, there is something touching about an old man with the odds stacked against him facing down an army of bodyguards as he tries to take out his target.

The question of whether vengeance was finally wrought is one thing, but as to whether cinematic justice was served – not quite.

(ST)

My Girlfriend Is An Agent

Shin Tae Ra

The story: Lee Jae Joon (Kang Ji Hwan) breaks up with secret government agent Ahn Soo Ji (Kim Ha Neul) as he cannot tolerate her constant lies. Three years later, they meet again when both are tasked to stop the sale of a lethal biological weapon to the Russian mafia. Lee is now also an agent but their identities remain hidden from each other.

My Sassy Girl (2001), My Wife Is A Gangster (2001), My Wife Is A Superwoman (2009) and now My Girlfriend Is An Agent. Clearly, Korean women are not to be trifled with.

The template was set by Gianna Jun’s overbearing Sassy Girl. She makes her suitor jump through hoops and puts him through the emotional wringer.

Here, it is model-actress Kim Ha Neul who takes on the alpha female role, a far cry from the fragile young things she played in TV dramas such as Piano (2001). She slips easily into the tough-on-the-outside character of superspy Soo Ji, who is still in love with Jae Joon despite him walking out on her.

Kang Ji Hwan, best known for the hit TV series Be Strong, Geum Soon! (2005), is a hoot as the enthusiastic, if bumbling, neophyte agent. At the same time, he has to deal with the feelings he still has for Soo Ji.

It is a treat whenever the feuding couple show up on screen as both actors share a genuine chemistry that gives their bickering that extra kick. They also swing between mellow vulnerability and self-righteous rage with comic aplomb.

A running joke has the two agents running into each other at the most inopportune moments during their missions and ends with them getting dragged into the local police station where their squabbling rapidly escalates in front of bemused cops.

When the focus shifts to the biological weapon subplot, however, the film becomes more pedestrian.

Director Shin Tae Ra’s blend of comedy, action and romance has proven to be a winner: His version of the Hollywood hit Mr & Mrs Smith (2005) topped the domestic box office for two weeks after its April release.

But beneath the light-hearted surface, one can also read the film as a comment on how difficult it is for a person to balance her professional and personal lives. Even if one is a sassy gangster superwoman agent.

(ST)

In the Footsteps of Stamford Raffles
Nigel Barley

The loveliest surprise you get from reading this book is perhaps learning that the founder of modern Singapore was a humanist and a humanitarian.
In stark contrast to most of his Western peers, he was concerned about the well-being of the local peoples and sought to implement in South-east Asia measures – land reform, abolition of the government licence for gambling – that would benefit them.
More proof of his genuine interest in them: Raffles was fluent in Malay.
On top of his administrative work in the region, he was also a dedicated scholar. He published History Of Java in 1817, collected specimens to take back to London and gave his name to the Rafflesia parasitic flower.
Nigel Barley writes: “His pride is that of a true botanist. No one else could be as proud of being identified with such a hideous growth that stinks of rotten carrion.”
All together now: For he’s a jolly good fellow, which nobody can deny.
But as Barley finds on his travels to the places that Raffles had been to – Penang, Malacca, Jakarta, Solo, Yogyakarta, Bengkulu, Bali, Singapore – Raffles is reviled as much as he is venerated, or even largely forgotten. At times, he is simply lumped together as part of a wicked colonial past.
There is no doubt whose side the intrepid writer is on, as he draws parallels between his modern-day travels and Raffles’ 19th-century travails. His engaging and observant account is part travelogue and part detective story, tracing what remains of Raffles’ legacy at each stop.
He also makes excellent use of contemporary third-party accounts, weaving in impressions of the man by Mr Munshi Abdullah, a Malay teacher. There is also a sprinkling of passages in Raffles’ and Lady Raffles’ own words.
One wishes Barley had spent more time in Singapore and served up more of his piercing observations, which are limited to a few choice topics such as nationalistic songs and a trip to Raffles Institution.
On a separate note, more attention should have been paid to the text, which is riddled with bizarre punctuation and spelling errors.
The scholar in Raffles would not have approved.
If you like this, read: Letters And Books Of Sir Stamford Raffles And Lady Raffles by The Tang Holdings Collection and John Bastin. Learn about the man in his own words from letters he wrote to his mother, cousin and uncle from 1808 to 1826.

(ST)

Spread
David Mackenzie

Ashton Kutcher acolytes, rejoice. The star of sitcom That ’70s Show (1998-2006) seems to be better known these days for being a Twitter celebrity and being married to Demi Moore.
So this film would be seen as a treat for his fans as he preens about as a beautiful boy in Los Angeles who uses his looks and charms to get into the beds and homes of rich lonely women.
For everyone else, the film actually gets off to a decent start as the self-aware and narcissistic Nikki (Kutcher) narrates the tale of how he reeled in his latest catch, Samantha (Heche in an underwritten role).
The potential for a scathing black comedy falls apart though when Nikki has a change of heart and falls in love with a waitress, Heather (the pretty but bland Margarita Levieva).
While Kutcher is fine as a shallow Lothario, he cannot muster the acting chops needed when the script wanders off unconvincingly into romantic drama territory. A pity that Spread did not have the courage to follow through on the conviction of its initial cynicism.

(ST)

It was the most enjoyable of concerts, it was the most disappointing of concerts.
While I was exhilarated by the Taipei Arena show by Taiwanese band Mayday, I was less thrilled with Irish rock stars U2’s gig at Wembley Stadium in London.
There were several key differences between the two shows, which reinforced my sneaky suspicion that when it comes to concerts, East is East and West is West and rarely the twain shall meet.
First and foremost, there is the impact of karaoke culture where hanging out with friends to belt out the latest songs is a popular pastime in major Asian cities. The lyrics of popular hits are quickly disseminated and ingrained. It is not much of a stretch then for fans to sing along at a concert.
At Taipei Arena, the lyrics were even thoughtfully put up on two screens, turning the event into one giant karaoke session. This meant that even less familiar numbers could be followed with ease and everyone could chime in during the chorus.
A singalong session might not be everyone’s idea of a great concert but the warm, fuzzy feeling it fosters is undeniable and irresistible.
It so happens that a singalong was also the highlight of the U2 show despite a much-vaunted 360-degree Claw stage which featured a wraparound screen with several tricks up its sleeves.
The screen was stretched out, lowered, raised, though I would have been more impressed if the entire contraption, which could have passed for an alien aircraft, had actually lifted off.
Instead, it was the heartfelt rendition of I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For by 88,000 people that proved to be a near-religious experience.
Which brings me to the point that fans play a big part in how enjoyable a concert is.
At Wembley Stadium, the long, snaking lines were for food and beer. At Taipei Arena, fans were more interested in queueing for concert merchandise and buying light sticks.
Asians definitely seemed to be more dedicated concertgoers compared to Westerners.
At almost every Asian concert, for example, even the colour of the light sticks is carefully coordinated, taking the lighter-and-cellphone-waving moment to a whole new level.
For a group such as indie band sodagreen, the choice of illumination is clear. In Mayday’s case, there is a story behind the choice of blue.
In 2003, after their compulsory stints in the army, the lads held their comeback City Of The Sky concert. Their fans in Taiwan decided to give them a welcome gift. They gave out blue light sticks in exchange for those of other colours and surprised the band with a shining sea of blue.
Since then, any, um, true-blue fan would know what to do at a Mayday show. Even if you are just a casual attendee, you are likely to end up with blue light sticks as the street-side sellers of concert paraphernalia are all clued in as well.
And all this careful coordination pays off. It is a sight to behold when a darkened hall is lit by one single colour.
The night I saw them, Mayday busted the midnight mark and the venue cut off the power as lead singer Ashin was in the middle of a phrase from the Hokkien track Fool. The curfew for concerts is actually 11pm and the band was fined for exceeding it for each of the four dates they played.
Undeterred, the crowd continued to chorus along and the sea of blue undulated unwaveringly.
The band finally left the stage at five minutes past 12.
There is something to be said for the Asian work ethic when it comes to staging concerts. Asian artists regularly put on two- to three-hour performances and in the case of Mayday, it was a thoroughly satisfying four-hour odyssey.
On the other hand, U2 delivered a 90-minute set, which is probably the average for a Western act. When R&B princess Rihanna performed at the Singapore Indoor Stadium last November, she was on stage for barely an hour. Some people took longer to travel to and from the venue.
Size also matters as much as length, though bigger is definitely not better when it comes to concerts.
U2 played in front of a record-setting 88,000 fans at Wembley while 15,000 people packed the positively cosy Taipei Arena for Mayday.
While a bigger audience helps to generate a greater sense of occasion and excitement, the law of diminishing returns quickly sets in. Wembley Stadium was so huge that even the video projections of Bono and gang seemed small.
Compare this to the deceptively snug Taipei Arena which actually has a greater capacity than the Singapore Indoor Stadium, which can hold up to 12,000 spectators. The Arena struck that balance between having a sizeable crowd and not alienating a fan from the performers on stage.
So I have mixed feelings over Mayday’s attempt to gun for an audience of over 55,000 at Kaohsiung’s World Games Main Stadium come Dec 5. Well, maybe they can just do that one show for the record books.
The issue of size extends beyond the capacity of the physical venue. Perhaps U2 have simply become too big.
There is too much at stake with each mega-concert, too many interests and too much money on the line. As a result, the 360° gig felt choreographed down to the last minute, with barely any time for spontaneity or building a connection with the fans.
And really, when it comes right down to it, I go to concerts in search of that human connection with artists I like. Without it, I might as well stay at home and listen to their CDs where I can always be assured of the best of times and skip the worst.

(ST)

Ronald Cheng X William So Live 09
Max Pavilion @ Singapore Expo
Last Saturday

Whoever put Hong Kong crooners Ronald Cheng and William So together certainly has a wry sense of humour.
After all, what links the two men is the stain of scandal. They were among the top male vocalists in the late 1990s but their careers were derailed by different instances of men behaving badly. Cheng went on a drunken rampage on a flight in February 2000 while So was busted for taking the drug Ecstasy in June 2002.
They are now firmly on board the comeback train and while their voices were a little rough around the edges, particularly at the beginning of the concert, they also showed that they could still belt it out and put on an entertaining show. After trading snatches of each other’s songs in a playful start, So, 42, took the stage first.
There is a light sprinkle of jazz in his songs and it suits his mellifluous voice.
His Mandarin numbers, though, tend towards the maudlin and the mawkish, such as Men Should Not Let Women Cry. Thankfully, there is less of that cloying quality in his Cantonese hits Don’t Want To Be Happy Alone and Feeling Sadder With Each Kiss.
So also proved to be a canny performer, endearing himself to the audience of 5,500 early on by walking off the stage and into their midst. He was quickly swallowed by a throng of ardent fans and, for brief spells, could neither be seen on stage nor on screen.
Before he launched into Old Love Is Still The Most Beautiful, he was careful to say it did not reflect his current state of mind. The divorced singer is dating someone in the fashion industry.
Unlike So, Cheng fared better in the Mandarin numbers, reflecting the fact that the 37-year-old had first found success in Taiwan.
His sensitively wrought hits Don’t Say! Love You and Don’t Love Me were warmly received and the crowd sang along at peak volume. While the Cantonese number Rascal is one of his signature songs, he pointed out that far fewer people sang along to it.
It was a good thing that both singers could deliver vocally as the bare staging and ho-hum lighting afforded little distraction. The piddly, half-hearted effects – brief flowering of flares and a slight shower of paper confetti – did not help either.
The two performers also took on songs by other singers during the two-hour concert. In a rousing finale, they fired things up with a couple of fast-paced Cantonese classics such as Anita Mui’s Dream Partner and Leslie Cheung’s Stand Up.
In the end, Cheng and So proved their pairing was not a joke but a viable combination.

(ST)