Ice Kacang Puppy Love
A-niu

The concept of the star-studded ensemble cast gets transplanted to this region with the debut feature of singer-turned-film-maker A-niu.
The cast is a veritable who’s who of Malaysia-born pop stars, including Angelica Lee as A-niu’s onscreen crush, Fish Leong as a silent admirer, Gary Chaw as a cowardly bully and, most memorably, Eric Moo as a blustery ne’er-do-well.
While most of the actors are already in their 30s, it is to their credit that nothing about their portrayals of high- school students is particularly jarring.
And writer-director A-niu’s choice of leading man was no ego-stroking exercise but clearly a case of the right man for the right job. With his crooked teeth and sadsack face, crew cut and get-up of singlet and flipflops, he makes you root for the underdog. Then again, the role should not be too much of a stretch given that the story was based on A-niu’s own experiences.
Apart from the pleasures of pop star-gazing, the film also lovingly evokes the simple joys of life and is as much an ode to small-town Malaysia as it is to first love.
(ST)

DNA Mayday World Tour (2010 Unlimited Edition)
National Stadium
Last Saturday

When Taiwanese rock band Mayday performed here for two nights last August, they busted the midnight mark on both occasions with high-octane shows that celebrated the 10th anniversary of the quintet’s first major concert.
It was such a high point that topping it was always going to be a massive challenge. The lads have made things even tougher by hitting the road again without a new album and essentially touring a spruced-up version of their previous gig.
This time round, the venue has shifted from the Singapore Indoor Stadium to the National Stadium.
Still, things started off on a familiar note with the same opening video of the band members breaking free from the shackles of humdrum lives. While the rigged stage seemed to be on a larger scale, the globular screen was also another recycled element.
But lead vocalist Ashin, guitarists Monster and Stone, bassist Masa and drummer Guan You quickly pumped up the energy level with fast-paced numbers including The Yell Of Spring and Minnan track Hosee.They had the 15,000-strong crowd on its feet and singing along from the get-go and once again proved why they are currently the biggest Chinese band around.
Even the appearance of a 2.7m-tall Transformer-like robot did not dwarf their presence on stage. Then again, it did little beyond lifting its arms, though there was a cute exchange in which it said: “Hi everyone, I want to dance too but if I do, the stage will collapse.”
All the stops were pulled out for the closing number Tenderness at the end of the three-hour-long concert as fireworks and confetti showered the dark red sky in an unexpected and exuberant touch.
The National Stadium was an entirely fitting venue as it placed Mayday in the illustrious company of stars such as Michael Jackson, Mariah Carey and A-mei who had performed there.
Despite sweating it out on stage, the band were in their element in the outdoor setting and had no problems connecting with a larger audience.
Guan You made the crowd feel special when he revealed that he had brought his baby daughter Rose with him and that this was her first overseas trip.
There were also several good-natured references to Taiwanese girl group S.H.E’s gig, which was taking place at the same time at the nearby Indoor Stadium. Ashin asked: “Do you want us to end later than next door?” and the crowd roared “Yes!” He smiled and chided the audience for being competitive before admitting that Mayday were equally so.
And despite the muddy conditions after an afternoon downpour, the flying insects and the frustratingly long line to get into the stadium, the fans cheerfully put on another stellar showing.
It is this bond between band and fans that makes Mayday concerts special. And it is why this gig was still a worthwhile experience even if it did not top last year’s peak.
Many of the songs are earnest and optimistic and offer encouragement or escape from sometimes humdrum lives. The atmosphere is electric when you are part of a thousands-strong chorus belting out the lyrics: “I really wish to fly/Escape from this crazy world/If you do find me/Don’t bring me back”.
For the duration of a Mayday song, album or concert, one is happy to be lost.
(ST)

Monga Original Soundtrack
Various artists

Given that the hit Taiwanese film is about hot-blooded gangsters, the soundtrack is surprisingly mellow.
It also boasts a cool, alternative-scene vibe, thanks to producer Sandee Chan who has rounded up an intriguing line-up of acts, including critics’ darling Deserts Chang, Singaporean singer-songwriter Tanya Chua and indie rock band 1976.
Chan also wrote and contributed vocals to a couple of songs. Even the stars of the film, Ethan Juan and Mark Chao, chip in for a passable duet on Tonight Tonight.
The other half of the first disc, however, falls into the usual trap of soundtracks and turns into a grab bag of disparate tunes, including two versions of the Air Supply ballad Making Love Out Of Nothing At All and J-rock number Sweet Dreams.
Disc two features evocative, mood-setting instrumental tracks composed by the ubiquitous Chan while the DVD includes trailers for Monga and behind-the-scenes snippets on the making of the soundtrack.

I Am Jocie
Jocie Guo

After singing about rodents (The Mouse So Loves The Rice) and cockroaches (No More Panic), local singer Jocie Guo is ready to move on from cutesy ditties.
Her third album opens with Gimme Me A Call, a tricky number that switches tempos between stanza and chorus, and she also offers up several upbeat dance tracks, including Countdown To Happiness, Attitude and Tell Me.
It is nice to see her stretching herself as she also composes three tracks here – the ballads Clear Blue Sea, Love Him For Me and Wishing Tree. They are pleasant enough despite having a faint whiff of deja vu.
Perhaps a venture into lyric writing next? Then the transformation from kiddy bopper to grown-up singer-songwriter will be complete.

Chasing Dreams
Kelly Chen

Has it been five years since her last Mandarin offering, Eternal Sunshine?
Truth be told, Kelly Chen’s absence has been barely felt. The Hong Kong singer-actress has been releasing albums since 1995 but one would be hard-pressed to name her hits.
Chasing Dreams tries to remedy that dire situation and almost succeeds with ballads such as Contentedness That’s Forever and A Glimmer Of Light.
On the latter, she sings: “Don’t be scared, don’t feel lost, I’ll be by your side to accompany you through the night and protect this glimmer of happiness.”One could well imagine this as a lullaby for her baby boy who was born last July.
Too bad the album ends on a bum note. Look Love, a duet which pits Chen’s sharp, almost brittle vocals against Alan Tam’s Cantonese-accented Mandarin, is an exercise in futility
(ST)

Prince Of Tears
Yonfan

The story: Taiwan’s White Terror period was at its peak in the 1950s. During that time, thousands of people suspected of being communist spies and sympathisers were arrested and interrogated. When their father Sun Han-sun (Joseph Chang) and mother Ping (Zhu Xuan) are taken away, sisters Li (Cai Pei-han) and Zhou (Yan Xin-rou) find their lives irrevocably changed and they have to depend on family friend Uncle Ding (Fan Chih-wei) for help. Zhou is also shown kindness by her schoolmate Rainbow Liu (Lee Bo-shiuan) and her mother Ouyang Liu (Terri Kwan).

One would never have guessed that the film-maker responsible for the risible howler that was Colour Blossoms (2004) is the same man behind the restrained and measured drama that is Prince Of Tears.
The earlier movie by Yonfan, which explores various sexual relationships, was scattered, lightweight and indulgent – everything that Prince is not. It is as though the heft of history has anchored this film and curbed the worst of his excesses.The feature was in the running for the prestigious Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival last year but lost out to the war drama Lebanon.
The story here is based on the life of actress Lisa Chiao Chiao, a Shaw Studios star in the 1960s and 1970s who was in films such as the noir thriller A Cause To Kill (1970). The director-playwright also drew on his childhood memories of a period that is still painful to revisit for many in Taiwan.
The anti-communist White Terror refers to the political suppression that took place while Taiwan was under martial law from May 19, 1949 to July 15, 1987. During this time, more than 3,000 people were summarily executed, and more than 8,000 others were imprisoned for real or imagined support of the communists. Others who have drawn on this turbulent time include Hou Hsiao-hsien in City Of Sadness (1989), the first film to do so.
Prince makes it clear that there was flagrant abuse going on in the name of cracking down on communism and it was not uncommon for innocent folks to be hauled off on trumped-up charges.
This miscarriage of justice is particularly poignant here because much of what happens is portrayed from the children’s point of view. Their loss of innocence is devastating as they try to piece together what is happening around them and learn bitter lessons about betrayal.
As an audience member, one identifies with them as one is also trying to figure out the tangled web of relationships among Sun, Ping, Uncle Ding and Ouyang Liu.There is much that is left unsaid in the ellipses but the holding back works as a dramatic device to keep one invested in the tale, which unfolds at a leisurely pace.
The cast does a good job. Chang brims with vigour as a pilot with the picture-perfect family and Fan passes muster in the trickier role as the secretive and possibly despicable Ding. Newcomer Zhu and previous Golden Horse Award nominee Kwan are elegant and intriguing. The child actors are self-conscious at points but are generally convincing and deeply moving in a few scenes.
Leaving aside the aberrant Colour Blossoms, one can see echoes of Yonfan’s other works here. He has previously tackled the subject of doomed relationships among languid women and handsome men in films such as Peony Pavilion (2001) and Bishonen (1998).
Then there is the beautiful art direction and the penchant for the voice-over which, in Prince, invites the question of who the narrator is exactly.
Despite the tragedy that envelopes the characters, Yonfan does not cloak Prince with defeatism but instead presents an enigmatic ending that lingers on long after the credits have rolled.
(ST)

Time Flies
Eason Chan

Times flies, but not fast enough between Cantonese releases by Eason Chan.
On them, the Hong Kong singer goes for broke in his choice of material in a way that he just does not do on his more mainstream Mandarin releases. Add to the fact that he performs an act of alchemy whenever he sings in Cantonese. Somehow, the timbre of his voice and the tones of the language seem made for each other.
His back catalogue is replete with examples of this magic from the stellar balladry of Guilty Conscience on H3M (2009) and Under Mount Fuji on What’s Going On... ? (2006) to the all-dance album Listen To Eason Chan (2007).
No Man’s Land, the first single from this six-track EP, tackles the unlikely subject of infidelity head-on. And this is after Chan himself was rumoured to have been embroiled in an affair with fellow married Cantopop star Kay Tse.
Wyman Wong’s incisive lyrics cut into the heart of illicit desire: “I want to lie without batting an eyelid, this love is inhumane.”One wonders how much to read into such lines as “If we had met three or five years earlier, there wouldn’t be this struggle in my heart/I believe nothing can develop if we were to continue this entanglement/But I want to be entangled with you”.
The controversial lyrics and a striking video of the singer struggling underwater have turned this into a smash hit in Hong Kong.
Given the brevity of the record, there really are no filler tracks, though the inclusion of the ad jingle for McDonald’s is a little jarring.
Regardless, there is no doubting that Chan is at a creative peak right now, but he is not one to rest on his laurels. Instead, he will dress up as a human salamander for the cover just to show you that he is willing, and able, to go out on a limb.

Shero
S.H.E.

On April 17, girl group S.H.E and rock band Mayday will be battling it out in Singapore with concerts at different venues. But really, it is all good off-stage. After all, singer-songwriter Ashin wrote the lyrics to their 12th album’s title track Shero.
This reviewer though is not convinced by such lines as: “Can’t see, can’t find, can’t wait for your hero/Why not be a shero who props up the sky with her own two hands?” The trio’s message of female empowerment has always seemed too glib and opportunistic.
The highlights are instead the Minnan track I Love Rainy Flower Night which is cloaked with nostalgia and Desert Island, the JJ Lin-composed romantic duet (or is it quartet?) with One Million Star alumnus Judy Chou, Desert Island.
Despite not having the strongest vocals, Selina, Hebe and Ella have proved to be surprisingly resilient with a smart choice of commercial pop and by diversifying into idol dramas and lucrative endorsement deals.
The accompanying DVD of their Taipei concert built around their previous album FM S.H.E (2008) actually shows them up when it comes to live performances but it will probably only serve to whet fans’ appetites for their upcoming gig here.
(ST)

The Adult Storybook Live Concert
Joanna Wang

In last year’s album, Joanna & Wang Ruo-lin, Taiwanese singer-songwriter Joanna Wang decided to stretch herself. She covered oldies such as Don McLean’s Vincent on one disc and delivered kooky original compositions including Adult Crap on the other with her band New Tokyo Terror.
This concert album contains recordings from her Asian tour which saw her perform in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Taipei. Her husky throatiness sounds just dandy in a live setting and she fully does justice to her own songs.
The choice of covers, though, leaves much to be desired. She leaches the campy fun out of Dead Or Alive’s You Spin Me Round and drains the brash sexiness from Olivia Newton-John’s Physical.
Disappointingly, the DVD does not add much to the release. One gets to see quirky costumes and whimsical sets, but she is not the most engaging of entertainers. Her phrasing seems a bit rote too, but then she is just 21. She might sound like an old soul, but is far from one.

The Recording Diaries
Crowd Lu

At 50 minutes long and retailing for about $30, this DVD about the making of Taiwanese singer-songwriter Crowd Lu’s latest album Seven Days, out last year, is strictly for fans.
We get to see how the lyrics for Oh Yeah!!! were written on the fly and also his very first performance of the song where he urged the audience to forget about it after hearing it. Unfortunately, there is footage of only the first few lines included here.
Still, the writing and recording process is largely not a very exciting one and there is little light shed on his creative process. But you do get to see the key role producer Tiger Chung plays in this enterprise.
The scenes of Lu singing his new songs for his parents and younger sister at home are quite sweet and heartwarming. The cheerful, idealistic and optimistic young man you see on stage is the same person off it, and that is the most heartening thing about watching these diaries.

Nayuta To Fukashigi
Sukima Switch

Japanese jazz pop duo Sukima Switch hit the ground swinging with third album opener Double Star Prologue.
Core members Takuya Ohashi and Shintaro Tokita handle vocals and various instruments including guitar, harmonica and keyboard, with studio musicians chipping in when needed.
The jazz influences can be seen in the use of brass instruments on a couple of tracks and in a strong sense of rhythm but the sensibility here is undoubtedly pop.
Not surprisingly, Niji No Recipe and Golden Time Lover, from the popular anime Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood were both top five hits on the Japanese singles chart.
It is also impressive that Sukima Switch write, arrange and produce all of their material. They certainly are a winning combination.
(ST)

Liao Zhai Rocks!

The Theatre Practice

Drama Centre Theatre

Saturday

For a collection of supernatural stories dating back to the 17th and 18th centuries, The Strange Tales Of Liao Zhai continue to exert a strong stranglehold on the imagination.

There have been adaptations aplenty, ranging from Ching Siu Tung’s classic A Chinese Ghost Story (1987) on film to TVB’s Dark Tales (1996) on the goggle box.

The Theatre Practice has now added a twist to the plot by turning Liao Zhai into a rock musical with original songs by hit-makers composer Eric Ng and lyricist Xiaohan.

Playwright and co-director Wu Xi has also distilled its colourful cast of characters in hundreds of tales into several key archetypes – philandering scholar Sang Xiao (Ric Liu), captivating vixen spirit Ying Ning (Joanna Dong), wandering ghost Feng San Niang (Celine Rosa Tan) and earnest Taoist exorcist Cheng Ban Xian (Project Superstar 2 finalist Sugie).

Sang Xiao falls for Ying Ning but later succumbs to the wily charms of Feng San Niang. When Sang Xiao is cast into the underworld, it is Ying Ning who risks everything to rescue him even as Cheng Ban Xian is hunting her down.

The cast members handled their roles well and Liu and Dong exuded an easy chemistry. He had a deft touch for light-hearted comedy while she held one’s attention as the impish, mischievous and foxy Ying Ning.

Tan got to show off her lovely pipes while Sugie contributed some well-timed comic relief as the bumbling exorcist. Radio 100.3 deejay Huang Wenhong was unrecognisable beneath his make-up and in his imperious get-up as King Yama, lord of hell.

What was commendable about the production was the way the various elements – costumes, set, sound design and lighting – all came together in service to the story. Even little details such as the transformation of Ying Ning’s father (an excellent supporting turn by Chongqing native Xu Bin) into a fox were able to evoke a response from the audience.

As for the all-important music, Ng and Xiaohan’s numbers were by turns energetic and thundering and then melodic and emotive, though it could be difficult to make out the lyrics without the aid of the surtitles.

Highlights included Show Time, which led into an engaging game show-like finale held near the border between hell and the land of the living; and the closing ballad, Embrace.

Alas, certain melodies were overused.

Amphibian, which was written for local singer Tanya Chua by the duo, was given a make-over with new lyrics. It helped audiences familiar with pop music to be instantly drawn into the musical. Unfortunately, it kept cropping up at intervals and it began to seem as though Ng had simply run out of time to write new tunes.

Also, some of the lessons about relationships and loyalty were a tad unconvincing as the musical did not quite hit the mark at some key epiphanic points.

Still, that should not take away from the fact that Liao Zhai Rocks! is an entertaining show that starts off as a light-hearted romp and ends up as a sweet story about true love.

As in the original tales, the humans came off mostly as selfish and weak-willed, while the spirits were the self-sacrificing and loyal ones.

The tales’ continued popularity is due to their continued resonance and author Pu Songling’s satire of human society still has zing and bite today.

(ST)

Island Song

Tang Xu

My Lonely Planet

Chet Lam

Rum Hee

Shugo Tokumaru

Sometimes, things slip through the cracks, particularly when it comes to indie and import-only titles. But good music deserves to be heard and it is worth the effort to track down these titles at CD shops or on online stores.

China singer-songwriter Tang Xu is only 22 but she is already on to album No. 3. There is a lilting warmth to her voice and her songs are intimate, unvarnished affairs.

On the title track, she croons wistfully: “Island song, drift along with the wind/Take my tears away as well”. Her voice is a soothing balm even though her heart is sore and aching.

There is also a touching simplicity and sincerity to her lyrics on songs such as Mom, Thank You: “Mom, don’t be afraid/I won’t let you go to the doctor alone/Mom, your smile is so beautiful/You must have had so many suitors in your youth.”

Perhaps her music philosophy is best espoused by Making Music Is Being With You: “Let’s make this life more beautiful together/Even if there is a little sadness/It also shimmers brightly.”

While stylistically more diverse, the double-CD Mandarin album from Hong Kong’s Chet Lam is equally cohesive. This is the prolific singersongwriter’s ninth record since his debut in 2003 and he returns to his favourite theme of travel.

Opener Victoria pays homage to his home and asks: “Whose home are you and who is your home?” Lam then takes us on a trip around the world on the Outward Bound disc with the bouncy groove of Shanghai, New York, the jazzy noir of English number Last Exit To Brooklyn and the evocative Dublin.

On Visa.Time Difference.Air Mileage, he laments over a light-hearted melody: “Visas remind you time and again that the world is not your home.”

Disc two is titled Homeward Bound, and in Homesick, he asks: “Is it me creating the journey or the journey creating me?” There are no easy answers here, though the questions themselves can be beguiling.

Lam’s lyrics are an integral part of his songs, but in Japanese singer-songwriter Shugo Tokumaru’s case, they really do not matter as the music is so gorgeous and emotionally direct.

The stirring Rum Hee features Tokumaru’s trademark use of sparkly instrumentation that has been lovingly layered. Alaska is gently bucolic and buoyant rather than icy while Inatemessa is a more experimental piece for toy piano and voice.

The EP also comes with alternate versions and remixes as well as an accompanying DVD with a couple of music videos and footage of Tokumaru’s 2008 American tour.

It serves to satiate some of the hunger for new material since 2007’s Exit until the album Port Entropy is released in Japan next month.

As disparate as these various offerings are, they share one thing in common – they take you to places you have never been. And soon, you will not want to leave.

(ST)

Shugo Tokumaru

Esplanade Recital Studio, Last Friday

It is impossible to recreate Japanese singer-songwriter Shugo Tokumaru’s albums in a live setting. Working with 50 or so instruments, he created densely textured soundscapes that are simply a sheer pleasure to lose oneself in on Exit (2007), L.S.T. (2005) and Night Piece (2004).

At the sold-out gig, he played the guitar while four other musicians played the drums, the toy piano, the accordion, various percussion instruments and a whole lot of bells and whistles.

Exact replicas were clearly out of the question but that did not diminish one’s enjoyment because the child-like sense of wonder and spirit of joyful discovery in his music were all there.

Coming across like a shy, earnest boy, the petite Tokumaru did not say much in his tentative English and there was no need to when he conjured up music that made you smile in delight, then tugged at your heartstrings and made your pulse race. It mattered not one whit that his songs were in Japanese and that most of the audience had little idea what he was actually singing about.

In one key respect, watching him live was preferable to listening to the CDs as one had the thrill of seeing the incredible dexterity of his finger-work on the guitar, such as when he flung himself into Parachute at breakneck speed and it was exhilarating to see his fingers racing along the instrument.

He had another surprise in store when he switched to the ukulele for the encore and sang British synthpop band The Buggles’ Video Killed The Radio Star. Somehow, with his exaggerated emphasis on the line “You are a radio star”, he managed to tickle the crowd’s funny bone.

Tokumaru live ended up being a rather different experience from Tokumaru on record, and happily, they are both to be cherished.

(ST)

Vashti Bunyan

Esplanade Concert Hall, Last Friday

It is remarkable that British singer-songwriter Vashti Bunyan’s musical aesthetic has remained so strikingly consistent over the years.

She released her debut folk album Just Another Diamond Day in 1970, thought it was a failure and then disappeared from the scene entirely until Lookaftering came out 35 years later.

In the interim, musical trends came and went, and she has gone from singing about the pain and joy of love and wanderlust to singing about her children. Yet, songs from the two albums blended into one seamless whole.

Backed by three musicians who played the guitar, violin, flute, accordion and piano, she created bucolic music that would not have sounded out of place in, say, 16th-century Elizabethan England. And her voice, ethereal and gossamer-light, was a thing of fragile beauty in the sparsely filled hall, its whispery vulnerability echoing the delicacy of human connection.

Within the confines of such a tightly defined sound, she was able to pour her life into song and the soft-spoken mother of three told the audience the story behind each composition.

She revealed a charmingly self-deprecating sense of humour, saying that Feet Of Clay was about “how I can’t dance”, and also poked fun at the fact that her music struggled to find an audience back in the day: “Train Song was released as a single in 1966 and nobody ever heard it.”

Things took an unexpected turn when Just Another Diamond Day was re-released in 2000. She became muse and mentor to purveyors of the neo-folk movement such as Devendra Banhart and eventually had the opportunity to put out another record and perform live.

It was touching when she said: “I’ve always dreamt of life on the road and now my children are grown and I’m back on it, and it’s lovely.”

For sharing her happiness, sadness, hopes and dreams through the finely-wrought beauty of her music, the appreciative audience thanked her with a standing ovation at the end of the evening. It was also as if to say: “Welcome back.”

(ST)

Disgraced film-maker Jack Neo has defiantly said that he might consider making a film based on the scintillating events of recent weeks. His previous movies include the comedy Money No Enough 2 (2008) and the body-swapping fantasy Just Follow Law (2007).

The story so far:

Model Wendy Chong dropped the first bombshell about Neo when she revealed that they had a two-year affair. The 22-year-old helpfully provided colourful details of what, where, when, and how, though the why remains elusive.

Then actress-singer Foyce Le Xuan, 29, and French student Maelle Meurzec, 21, came forward and accused Neo of hitting on them.

Later, unsubstantiated reports linked the director to at least 10 other women.

Dramatic highpoint:

Neo, 50, appeared with his wife Madam Irene Kng at a press conference on March 11. It created more controversy when his wife collapsed and he did not apologise.

Given the abundant material, LifeStyle humbly proposes some suggestions on the different directions a big-screen outing might take.

HONEY NO ENOUGH

Comedy

Hong Kong’s Raymond Wong hams it up as a womanising director who is rejected by an unending stream of actresses with names such as Foxie and Saucie.

He finally finds happiness in a family sedan with model Wendie (brash comedienne Patricia Mok) after promising to enter into a three-month relationship with her.

The film ends with a dose of morality when the philanderer is found out but gets a second chance when his wife forgives him. There is a preachy message about wayward husbands and sacrificial wives and everything ends happily.

Except that the film is an unmitigated flop.

Soundtrack: MC Hammer’s U Can’t Touch This splicing in Zou-zou-zou-zoukai! (Go go go go away!) from the press conference.

Sponsor: Tinted windows and curtains for cars

HURT LOCKER

Drama

Spurned mistress Wendie (former MediaCorp actress Fiona Xie) and sexually harassed actress Foycee (freelance actress Lynn Poh) deal with the pain and fallout of the entire affair.

A tense highlight is the showdown between Wendie and director Jackie and his family where everyone, and everything, blows up.

Soundtrack: Wendie’s anthem is a mash-up of You Don’t Bring Me Flowers and All By Myself.

Sponsor: Smudge-proof mascara

I SPIT ON YOUR GRAVE

B-grade exploitation

Hell hath no fury like a woman who has been sexually harassed. Foycee, Foxie and Saucie takes things into their own hands and hunt down the lecherous boss who laid his grubby fingers on them.

Soundtrack: Mariah Carey’s Touch My Body with the line “I will hunt you down” played up in the remix.

Sponsor: Anti-spitting campaign

BEING WOMAN

Fantasy

A gender-swapping gambol in which Jackie (Gurmit Singh), the most lascivious boss in Singapore, JB and some say Batam, switches bodies with aspiring actress Wendi (Fann Wong).

This is a breakout role for Fann who gets to play both sexual harassment victim and then a crass boor who hits on other women when Jackie is in Wendi’s body.

Soundtrack: Man! I Feel Like A Woman

Sponsor: Calling cards with low roaming rates

I NOT STUPID LEH

Arthouse

A beleaguered film director (Jack Neo) hits upon the perfect publicity plan for his new film. He pretends to get embroiled in a sex scandal but soon loses control of how the story is being played up.

Worse, he discovers that he has a doppelganger who has been having tawdry affairs in cheap hotels by impersonating him.

At the end, he wakes up and realises that it was all a bad dream. Then he reaches for a copy of the newspaper and sees his face on the front page.

Soundtrack: The Great Pretender, Man In The Mirror

Sponsor: Tonics to improve brain power and bed mattresses guaranteed to provide restful sleep.

(ST)

Kings of Convenience

Esplanade Concert Hall/Thursday

They proclaimed, softly, with their debut album in 2001 that Quiet Is The New Loud. Since then, Norwegian folk-pop duo Kings Of Convenience have steadily stayed the course even if the new acoustic movement has waxed and waned.

Erlend Oye and Eirik Glambek Boe’s low-key approach was reflected in how they casually strolled onto the stage which held four guitars and a grand piano.

Over the gentle strumming of guitars, Boe sang the sombre opener My Ship Isn’t Pretty from their latest album Declaration Of Dependence (2009), while Oye’s delicate falsetto blended harmoniously.

As the liner notes for the record helpfully pointed out, this was how they usually sang together with Boe taking the lead with his lower, lightly textured voice and Oye chiming in with a brighter tone on the higher registers.

Thus began a mellow, melodious and mellifluous evening. Watching them perform live, it became clear that apart from the vocals intertwining, there was also a dialogue going on between the two guitars as the two singer-songwriters plucked and strummed along.

Both of them also had their turns on the piano while Oye surprised the full-house crowd by imitating a trumpet during Peacetime Resistance. He also paid tribute to rock band Big Star’s recently deceased Alex Chilton with a moving rendition of Thirteen.

For the most part, Oye and Boe were so smoothly in sync that it was surprising to learn that they did not prepare a set list as they “like to keep themselves nervous”.

If they were, it did not show. Instead, they displayed a dry sense of humour when they engaged in conversation. Announcing that “earthquake” changes had taken place in the band since they last played here in 2006, they proceeded to cheekily swop guitars for three songs.

They encouraged audience participation by having their fans snap their fingers and also getting them to sing along on the chorus for Know-How, off their second album Riot On An Empty Street (2004).

Unfortunately, it was a lacklustre response and Oye sounded a little vexed when he said that only in London had it been this bad.

Perhaps stung by his comment, there was an enthusiastic reaction when Oye asked the crowd to stand up. The energy level went up noticeably during the rollicking Boat Behind and the more uptempo Misread.

The encore for the 100-minute-long show featured the exquisite Homesick, the jangly jauntiness of Toxic Girl and ended with fan request Cayman Islands.

I could not help but feel though that their concert here had been more enjoyable. Somehow, the vibe was different then, sweeter and more innocent, and their joy at performing here was irresistible.

Still, there is no denying the allure of “two soft voices blended in perfection” and with their beautiful tunes and lovely harmonies, the Kings quietly, but firmly, held court.

(ST)

Fear No More

A-Do

Olivia

Olivia Ong

Music Mantra

Monochrome

A friend who had heard the first plug on the radio wondered why in the world local singer A-Do was singing about denim jeans (niu2 zai3 ku4). Truth is stranger than fiction as he is actually crooning about a Crying Ox (niu2 zai4 ku1).

Anecdote aside, this is a rather puzzling choice for a lead single for the local singer who has been focusing his energies on the China market in recent years.

The inclusion of a Hokkien phrase in the chorus harks back to Stefanie Sun’s Cloudy Day. But whereas the latter’s refrain was a well-known folk ditty, the couplet here, “An ox is being sold for five thousand, want to use five thousand to buy an ox”, is more likely to furrow eyebrows.

Eight years after his debut album was released, A-Do faces a crucial mid-career hurdle. His husky voice is no longer a novelty but a familiar fact and he needs to break new ground in order to remain relevant.

This is something he is well aware of. At the Singapore Entertainment Awards 2010 at The Float@Marina Bay last Saturday, he performed his best known hits He Must Have Really Loved You and Hold On. The thing is, though, they were from his first two albums which came out in 2002.

Unfortunately, Crying Ox sounds like it is trying too hard while the rest of the album does not generate much excitement. Werewolf comes across as gimmicky while The Trail could pass for a theme song from a dated gongfu series.

I Wanna Go Home is one of the rare tracks that evokes some genuine emotion perhaps because it taps into something real for A-Do.

Despite the album title, I am afraid this is not the breakthrough he needs.

While A-Do has been charging ahead in China, Olivia Ong has been jazzing things up in Japan. The local lass made her successful debut there in 2005 with A Girl Meets Bossanova and has now signed with a Taiwanese label better known for its Mandopop acts such as Yoga Lin and S.H.E.

Interestingly, she continues to sing in English even though she had previously recorded Like A Swallow, the Mandarin theme song to the hit MediaCorp series The Little Nyonya.

The self-titled album begins promisingly with You And Me, which was composed by Dick Lee, with lyrics by Ong. The sweet song is the perfect showcase for her breezy and soothing vocals.

Bittersweet, the other original number, feels slight in comparison and is also saddled with clunky lyrics: “Oh, it’s friends we’ll remain till the end of the day/Platonic doesn’t change a thing for me.”

Disappointingly, the rest of the album is an inoffensive selection of songs, including I Feel The Earth Move (no, I didn’t), which is politely rendered and veers dangerously close to muzak territory.

What is offensive is the take on Luka, Suzanne Vega’s classic song about an abused child. Here, it has been inexplicably reworked with an upbeat arrangement. Shudder.

The final local offering this week comes from new group Monochrome. They alternate between Mandarin and English on their album Music Mantra with female vocalist Alia penning most of the Mandarin songs and drummer Darren Karma composing in English.

This band of five musicians certainly have their hearts in the right place. They are behind Heart Rock, a non-profit initiative to reach out to the less fortunate through music.

Some of their youthful energy is captured on the record but it would help if there was greater variety in the music, beyond the rock tunes flavoured with buzzing guitars.

Also, the lyrics tend towards the prosaic and generic, such as on Drop Me A Sign: “So I sit here alone/Thinking back on the times/When you used to be mine/That’s when I started to cry.”

Monochrome’s raw, earnest effort could have done with a splash more colour.

(ST)

Harmony

Sa Dingding

Sa Dingding, who was born in Inner Mongolia, sings in Mandarin, Sanskrit, Tibetan and even her own self-created baby-talk language.

It sounds suspiciously precious but the marriage of electronic beats and ethnicinspired music works surprisingly well even if her voice can be more schoolgirl shrill rather than earth-mother rich.

The beguiling first track Ha Ha Li Li begins with the gentle jangling of bells and then over a throbbing synth line, her voice floats in and builds up to a full-throated ululation.

It is paired with fable-like lyrics about a utopian state of nature: “Legend says that sky and earth were joined together as one, never to be separated/Hardworking men and mystical animals lived in the caves.”

The titles alone of the other songs, Pomegranate Woman, Blue Horse and Little Tree/Big Tree, point to a strong association with the natural living world, adding to Sa’s earth-mother vibe.

Steer clear though of the howlingly bad Lucky Day in which she breathily mangles pretentiously portentous lines in English such as “To live outside of time is to be free/Have a nice day”.

Harmony was out of whack on this one.

Shall We Dance? Shall We Love?

Hotcha

Anchored by the sparkly Big Occasion and the funky Enlarged, this third album from Crystal, Winkie and Regen offers slickly packaged Cantonese dance pop.

The manufactured girl group – they were put together by the record label – want to venture beyond their signature fast songs though, so we also get slowerpaced numbers such as Have Feelings For Me.

The accompanying bonus DVD featured a somewhat spotty live performance so they might want to think about working on their vocals. They could even try some harmony work instead of simply singing in unison.

After all, with Twins mounting a comeback after a two-year hiatus resulting from Gillian Chung’s involvement in the Edison Chen sex scandal, the competition among girl groups is about to heat up.

WU FA WU TIAN

Lena Yang

Who gives a flying kick that newcomer Lena Yang is a dancer with a background in martial arts?

Apart from inspiring the odd lyrical reference and an awkward pun for the album title which plays on the idiom for lawlessness, doing splits and wielding wushu moves can’t jazz up the aural experience of an album.

Pugilistic girl needs more than a gimmicky handle to stand out and a so-so voice taking on blandly passable songs just won’t cut it. It is a worrying sign when the calculatedly commercial duet Curved Moon with Gary Chaw is one of the stronger tracks here.

And despite the moniker, she is styled as either a playful showgirl or teasing nymphet in the lyrics booklet.

With multiple personas in the mix, one would have expected the album to show more character.

(ST)

Nodame Cantabile: The Movie

Hideki Takeuchi

The story: Orchestral conductor Chiaki (Hiroshi Tamaki) and aspiring pianist Nodame (Juri Ueno) are pursuing their musical dreams in Europe. He needs to prove himself with an upcoming concert while she wants nothing more than to perform on the same stage as him.

First the manga, then the TV adaptation and next, the big- screen wrap-up.

Nodame Cantabile follows a well-trodden path that romantic comedy Boys Over Flowers (2008) and school drama Gokusen (2009) have recently taken in Japan.

One of the things these films have to decide is whether they want to broaden the audience base beyond those who were fans of the small-screen offerings.

The answer here is a clear no. There is no sense of history of Nodame and Chiaki’s relationship or how they got to Europe.

You would have to already be a fan to know that they met at a music college in Japan, fell in love and then moved to Paris for him to start a career as a professional conductor while she continued her piano studies at a conservatory.

What is even more discordant is the introduction of supporting characters from the TV series in the final spool, which feels like a shout-out to pander to fans.

There is also a problem here with the wildly varying tone.

The introductions to well-known pieces such as Ravel’s Bolero and Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture and the explanation detailing the difference between the French and German bassoons give off a Classical Music 101 vibe.

The rest of the time, the film feels like a live-action cartoon.

When characters blush, their cheeks turn a fervent shade of pink and Nodame has elaborate fantasy sequences featuring animated dancing teddy bears.

Sometimes, this over-the-top approach works, as in a scene of her cooking a pot of dubious and lethal curry. For the most part, it feels overdone and Nodame comes across like an idiot savant rather than an endearingly eccentric pianist.

Death-metal comedy Detroit Metal City (2008) proved that it was possible to maintain manga’s outlandish tone and yet have characters who feel real and believable, but Cantabile is unable to strike that balance.

In addition, the story here is weak. Faced with a ragtag patchwork orchestra filled with wacky one-note characters, will Chiaki be able to transform the ensemble into a musical force to be reckoned with? Oh, the suspense.

Since there is not much drama there, there is instead a last-minute rift between Nodame and Chiaki leading to an abrupt ending that sets one up for Part Two of the big-screen conclusion.

But by that point, one is too dissociated from the dissonant offering to care.

(ST)

Resistance, Book 1

Carla Jablonski and Leland Purvis

In Quentin Tarantino’s film, Inglourious Basterds (2009), the resistance effort against the Nazis during World War II was a colourful and violent campaign which involved double-crossing agents, scalping and blowing things up.

The resistance recorded here is at the other end of the spectrum, with ordinary folks risking their lives with acts of quiet heroism.

Paul Tessier and his sister Marie are living in a village in the “free” zone in the south of France, carved out after an armistice agreement between the French and the Germans on June 22, 1940.

The shadow of the war looms large over their childhood and encroaches directly on their lives when the parents of their Jewish friend Henri Levy disappear without warning one day.

The Tessiers come up with a plan to keep Henri safe from the Germans and this leads to Paul and Marie’s eventual involvement in the underground resistance movement.

By looking at the horrors of war through a child’s point of view, writer Carla Jablonski brings added poignancy to a subject that can seem overly familiar.

The frame of reference is strengthened by a clever device, the incorporation of sketches by the fictional Paul into the narrative.

Ironically, those rough drawings end up being more evocative than the rest of the artwork by the self-taught Leland Purvis.

Faces, in particular the eyes, are not his strong suit and this distances one from the rather straightforward, if well- meaning, story.

Jablonski’s note at the end makes the point that hindsight is always perfect and terms such as resistor and collaborator were much less clear-cut then.

Instead of black and white, there were ambiguous shades of grey and it was by no means obvious what was the right thing to do.

If only the graphic novel had captured more of this moral complexity.

If you like this, read: The deeply personal and moving Alan’s War by Emmanuel Guibert, about a young American soldier’s experiences during World War II.

(ST)

The Last Station

Michael Hoffman

The story: Near the end of his life, Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy (Christopher Plummer) creates a new religion in which he espouses egalitarianism and celibacy. His friend and fierce champion of the cause, Vladimir Chertkov (Paul Giamatti), bitterly battles Tolstoy’s wife Sofya (Helen Mirren) over his will and legacy. Valentin Bulgakov (James McAvoy) is the idealistic young man caught in the middle when he is sent by Vladimir to serve as Tolstoy’s assistant.

Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. This famous first line from Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina (1873-1877) announces the tragedy that is to follow in the novel and in this film.

After almost 50 years of marriage, Tolstoy and Sofya know exactly how to push each other’s buttons and theirs is a tumultuous relationship.

Despite being a count, he is against the concept of private property and is planning to gift his works to the public after his death.

She is bewildered by what she sees as a betrayal of his family and constantly harangues him about his new will.

While Sofya has grounds for concern for herself and her children, it is also clear that she is not an easy woman to deal with. At one point, Tolstoy chides her: “You don’t need a husband, you need a Greek chorus.”

At the same time, there is a deep and enduring connection between the two, one that extends to a playful sensuality in the bedroom.

Mirren goes from shrewish to vulnerable on the turn of a dime and has been nominated for an Oscar for Best Actress. She had previously won for the titular imperial, if less imperious, role in The Queen (2006).

Her sparring partner Plummer plays Tolstoy as a lovable eccentric and has got a nod for Best Supporting Actor, even though there are shades of his last role in Terry Gilliam’s fantastical adventure The Imaginarium Of Doctor Parnassus (2009).

Working with Jay Parini’s 1990 biographical novel of the same name, director and scriptwriter Michael Hoffman also gives the viewer a fascinating look at celebrity culture circa 1910.

Tolstoy was no unknown, starving writer but a literary giant whose every move was closely photographed and chronicled by the media. His spats with Sofya, in particular, were fodder for the paparazzi mill.

For all the shenanigans and almost farcical family drama underway, The Last Station feels scattered. Its focus is all over the place as there is also Bulgakov’s burgeoning romance with the free-spirited Masha (Kerry Condon) and his divided loyalties to Chertkov, Tolstoy and Sofya to tease out.

The relationship between Bulgakov and Masha seems to be meant as a counterpoint to the one between Tolstoy and Sofya but the thinly sketched characters make the link less than compelling.

What remains powerful is seeing how love can sour and how it can bring people together as well as tear them apart.

(ST)

Up In The Air

Jason Reitman

The story: Ryan Bingham (George Clooney) flies around firing people for a living. He has been tasked with showing the ropes to young upstart Natalie Keener (Anna Kendrick), who wants to change the way things are done. On the personal front, he bonds with fellow frequent flyer Alex Goran (Vera Farmiga) and decides to invite her to his sister’s wedding as his date.

I f there was an Oscar given out for casting, Up In The Air would definitely be a front-runner. The tricky thing here was to get the audience interested and invested in the story of a person who, frankly, is not very likeable.

After all, who better to paint as a villain in these still uncertain economic times than someone who fires people for a living?

Enter George my-middle-name-is-charming Clooney. The actor first came to attention as Dr Doug Ross on the hospital drama ER, which he starred in from 1994 to 1999. He left at the height of his popularity to take a stab at the big screen and to prove he was more than just a pretty face. He chose his roles carefully, alternating between commercial flicks such as romantic comedy One Fine Day (1996) with more challenging fare such as the war drama, Three Kings (1999).

Having honed his acting chops, he turns in a finely tuned performance here that makes you root for Ryan. The surface charm is still there and it draws one in. But beneath that is a touching portrait of a man who, as the tagline puts it, is ready to make a connection.

As a road warrior who spends over 300 days of the year away from home, Ryan is a man who has no meaningful relationships. Sure, he has the airport routine down pat and he has even distilled his outlook on life into a glib philosophy about the physical and emotional baggage people lug around.

But he is a stranger to his own family and the awkward moments at his sister’s wedding illustrate this.

Clooney, who picked up the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 2006 for the political thriller Syriana, has received a nod for Best Actor for deftly underplaying this latest role.

As the enthusiastic reformer who soon realises she is not as tough as she thinks she is, Kendrick turns out to be adorably vulnerable while Farmiga brings a hard-edged sexiness to the role of the cynically practical Alex. They do a good job fleshing out the script which was co-written by Jason Reitman and based on the 2001 novel of the same name by Walter Kirn.

This is not the first time that the film-maker is tackling a prickly topic. He put the spotlight on spin in Thank You For Smoking (2005) and on teenage pregnancy in Juno (2007) and left an impression with his deliciously acerbic sense of humour.

Here, he raises questions about what a globalised and efficient economy means and the price it exacts and makes it relatable through Ryan’s story.

Pity, though, that he also dials down the caustic wit and Ryan gets an epiphany that life’s “better with company”. It seems rather pat but Reitman is too canny to traffic in sentimentalism, and Ryan comes to terms with who he is and what he does in a clear-eyed ending that keeps the film grounded in reality.

(ST)

in::music - Peggy Hsu

Esplanade Recital Studio

Last Saturday

There was a welcome whiff of winter at singer-songwriter Peggy Hsu’s gig.

After all, it was chilly back in Taiwan and the 29-year- old confided that she was still celebrating Christmas as she loved festivals.

It’s Snowing In Germany, off her second album Peggy’s Wish Box (2007), was accompanied by visuals of a fir tree and a blanket of white. She also sang several numbers from her latest album, the seasonally titled Snowman (2009).

Her lilting vocals were as clean as freshly fallen snow and she was ably backed by a drummer, a guitarist and a bassist. There was also a cello added to the mix and the warm, melancholic strings heightened the drama on tracks such as Fly (the insect, not the action) and chill-out dance number Downfallen Aristocrat.

Even Hsu’s dressing evoked colder climes, as the elfin singer had on a cloak of black and grey stripes and comfy-looking boots.

She was at her most moving when she sang about the simplicity and strength of love in the beautifully spare You Love Me, while a harmonica solo underscored the sweet sentiment of the lullaby-like You Are In My Heart.

This was followed by a cover of Butterfly, which she had produced for local singer Joi Chua.

In return, Chua taught her the Singlish term “steady pom pi pi” which Hsu endearingly used to praise the audience when they gamely clapped along during Romantic Solitude.

The mood might have been wintry but temperatures were far from frigid, thanks to her radiant smiles and the warmth of the full-house crowd.

The only trace of bitterness over the six years she was silenced as a singer because of a contractual dispute with her previous record label came when she sang Lunatic, a track into which she had poured out her frustration.

But she had clearly put that unhappy period behind her and she also showed a sunnier side of her personality in the sprightly spring of Tick Tick Tick and the bossa nova-influenced Sunlight Lover.

After hearing from fellow musicians such as Cosmos People about their great experiences here, the gamine Hsu was clearly chuffed to be performing in Singapore herself. She joked that she now had bragging rights since she sold out two shows.

The set ended with the vocally demanding Balloon.

The song soars high and also requires excellent breath control. As Hsu sang and played the keyboard, it brought back memories of the music wunderkind who made her debut with that song back in 2001.

She had a treat for the audience during the encore as she trotted out White Wedding, her first single that was promoted in Singapore.

It is a track she seldom performs nowadays but “if I don’t sing this, I will go back to Taiwan with regrets”.

The 80-minute show ended appropriately with Fine, the touchingly tender title track from her third album.

Outside, it was sweltering, but in here, it was winter, it was warm and it was fine.

(ST)

in::music – The Carrchy

Esplanade Recital Studio

Last Friday

It said The Carrchy on the ticket but one could have been forgiven for thinking it was a show by another band.

On their debut album Sunshine Over The City (2007), female singer-songwriter Keli and producer Fly concocted electro-pop that showcased her delicate and ethereal vocals that were reminiscent of Heavenly Queen Faye Wong’s.

The title track was shot through with an airy lightness yet enveloped in sadness. But the two had greater ambitions than simply mining this vein of sunny melancholia. Over the course of the record, they proved to be adventurous musicians who were willing to take unexpected twists and turns.

In a live setting, the duo decided to go for a more muscular sound and added a drummer, a guitarist and a bassist to the line-up. Unfortunately, this only served to pummel Keli’s voice into submission.

The pixie-ish singer struggled to make herself heard and also had problems with pitch. At one point, her brows furrowed in concentration as if straining in competition against the music. It made watching them a somewhat stressful experience.

They never seemed to settle down completely after that shaky beginning and transitions between songs were clumsily handled.

There was also little audience interaction as Keli was not one for much banter while the others barely uttered a word. While introducing their new song Ripple, she admitted that they were reserved people who did not know how to express themselves when they liked someone.

She added self-deprecatingly: “I think we’re so boring.”

The switch to acoustic guitar on this and another new song provided an all-too-brief respite, as the reduced volume and the melodic mid-tempo numbers finally gave her voice room to breathe.

It seemed rather odd that the new material was headed in the opposite direction of the harder edged sound that was unleashed for most of the night.

Still, this was probably a good thing as the rock band persona was only convincing in parts. It worked, for example, on the track Red, where Keli seemed to let loose a little instead of being engaged in battle against the music.

Despite covering more than 10 songs during their 65 minute set, they inexplicably omitted Sunshine Over The City. Perhaps they were saving it for an encore that the three quarter filled recital studio was not exactly hankering for after a disappointing showing.

While the new songs were promising and boded well for The Carrchy’s next record, as a live act, they were very much still a work in progress.

(ST)

Can't Be Half

Jason Chan

The Hong Kong- born, Canada-raised Jason Chan may be a relative newcomer but he has heavyweight help in the songwriting department.

Master lyricist Lin Xi penned one of Chan’s biggest hits You Conceal, I Conceal from the EP Close Up (2009), which is thoughtfully included here. He also wrote the lyrics to the standout ballads on this disc, Half Dating and No Wrong Done.

The latter laments a love that ends due to no one’s fault: “It is more painful that there wasn’t someone to steal you away than simply losing you.”

Chan’s voice feels guy-next-door enough that it is pleasant to listen to but it does not quite plumb the emotional depths here.

Smart of him then to vary the material with the pop-rock The Last Embrace and the more light-hearted Imaginary Love by singer-songwriter Chet Lam.

He shows how even if one does not have the strongest voice around, having good taste in collaborators and song choice can make a difference.

Before, After

A-Lin

The A-mei comparisons came from the get-go partly because of A-Lin’s aboriginal background and partly because of her big voice.

A-Lin’s vocals, though, are less husky, with a sinuous sensuousness that is explored on Complete Romance when she croons: “I am only woman/You are only man.”

They are also in fine form for the big ballads such as I’m Very Happy Now and Before, After, which kick into an arena-sized chorus after a low-key start: “Happiness shouldn’t be like rainbows/To be held briefly after the storm.”

The disco surprise of Next Please is a welcome one and continues the mini- trend that has also seen Landy Wen and Tiger Huang get down and boogie.

It may take some more time for her to shake off those A-mei comparisons but A-Lin definitely proves she is her own woman here.

01:59PM

2PM

FOR MUZIK

4Minute

Complaining that Korean pop is slick is like grousing that rain is wet. It is simply a fact of life.

One might as well expend that energy trying to tell them apart given the rate at which they proliferate.

For example, both 2PM and 2AM were originally part of the soccer team-sized One Day. After the split, 2PM ended up with six pretty boys and 2AM with four.

Apart from the numerical disparity, it might help you tell them apart if you have seen Thailand’s tourism campaign as the theme song is performed by Thai American Nichkhun is part of 2PM.

The story for 4Minute, which comprise five sassy girls, is a little simpler. They came together officially in May last year and the line-up includes Hyun A from Wonder Girls, who had the ubiquitous hit Nobody.

As for the music, 2PM offer R&B with blandly generic titles such as Back 2U and All Night Long while 4Minute serve up energetic dance tracks, with the slinky Funny leaving an impression for deviating from the mould somewhat.

It is all quite serviceable if unexceptional.

With groups splitting up and reconfiguring faster than you can say “Anyonghaseyo”, 4Minute’s moniker seems to be a tacit acceptance of the fact that that is all anyone can expect to have of the proverbial 15 minutes of fame.

(ST)

Dear John

Lasse Hallstrom

The story: While on home leave in South Carolina, Special Forces soldier John Tyree (Channing Tatum) meets college student Savannah Curtis (Amanda Seyfried) and the two fall in love. They keep up a steady stream of correspondence when he heads back into service but events, political and personal, keep them apart.

Author Nicholas Sparks is turning into a one-man industry the way John Grisham dominated the 1990s with his legal thrillers.

Dear John is the fifth of his 15 published novels to be adapted for the big screen and another, The Last Song, is on the way.

In works such as The Notebook and Message In A Bottle, fans have swooned over this idea of a pure love that endures, often in the face of personal tragedies and other obstacles.

Clearly, they cannot get enough of Sparks as Dear John even ended Avatar’s two-month reign atop the American box office when it was released early this month.

While the new film revisits a similar theme, there is some freshness in the casting of the appealing actors Channing Tatum and Amanda Seyfried. Ex-model Tatum (Public Enemies, G.I. Joe: The Rise Of Cobra) is looking more square-jawed with each film and he exudes a reserved, military bearing that strikes the right note for the character. Seyfried, from TV’s high school detective series Veronica Mars (2004 - 2006), proves she is ready to step into leading lady roles.

The two make for a believable couple and almost get away with a hokey bit where they say something about the moon being the same size regardless of where one is in the world.

The problem is the curveball that is thrown at the audience simply for the sake of keeping them apart. It involves Tim (Henry Thomas, best known as the boy from 1982’s E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial), a family friend of Savannah’s. The development makes no sense even when Savannah tries to explain to John what happened.

There is a moving love story here but it is not the one you think. Rather than the romance, it is the relationship between John and his father that tugs at the heartstrings more.

It is suggested that Tyree senior is autistic and Richard Jenkins, nominated for an Oscar last year for Best Actor for the drama The Visitor, turns in an understated performance.

Swedish director Lasse Hallstrom has been accused of mawkish sentimentality but he handles the prickly familial relationship admirably.

It is touching and true in a way that John and Savannah’s thwarted love never is.

(ST)

Hot Summer Days

Tony Chan, Wing Shya

The story: As temperatures climb, passions boil over and five intertwining love stories play out in several cities across China. The couples include Jacky Cheung as an ersatz Ferrari driver, Rene Liu as a masseuse, Daniel Wu as a sushi chef and Vivian Hsu as a gourmet.

People meet cute, act cute and have cute epiphanies about love in this compendium of romantic tales. It can be too much to take, especially in the weaker segments.

But first, the good news. As a chauffeur and a masseuse, Cheung and Liu play their working-class characters with a welcome light touch. In particular, he makes you root for the single dad who tries to make ends meet while earning his daughter’s respect.

His romance begins when he sends Liu an SMS by mistake. This slowly develops into a friendship and then something more even though they both hide the truth about what they do. Yes, it is cute but the two actors have a charming chemistry together.

For the same reason, the segment with Jing Boran as a young man working in a sleepy little shop and Angelababy as a factory worker clicks.

She agrees to be his girlfriend if he stands in the hot sun for 100 days. Your eyes may roll at this outlandish request but there is a sweet simplicity to the story and they have the excuse of youth on their side.

Which is more than can be said for Hsu’s character, who behaves like a giddy, petulant schoolgirl instead of a woman in love.

She also happens to be nicknamed Wasabi while she calls her sushi chef love interest (Wu) Soy Sauce. The message here being that if it is written in the condiments, it is clearly meant to be.

Another weak link in the chain focuses on an overbearing photographer (Duan Yihong) who starts to go blind after he fires a model (Michelle Wai). Believing he was cursed by her, he and his assistant (Fu Xinbo) try to track her down.

Besides sticking out like a sore thumb in terms of mood and plot, it also seemed like there was more of a connection between the photographer and his assistant than in the forced, late-in-the-game romance which pops up from nowhere.

Given the film’s myriad threads, it is hard for actors to stand out but Nicholas Tse manages to do so as a kind-hearted mechanic, even though it is a variation of the role he recently played in the historical thriller Bodyguards And Assassins (2009).

Alas, he is paired in an unimaginative scenario with a tough biker chick (Barbie Hsu) who has a heart of gold.

Speaking of standing out, the much- missed Maggie Cheung was luminous in a cameo as a heartbroken woman.

Some credit has to go to co-director Wing Shya, one of Hong Kong’s top celebrity photographers, for making everyone look good and lovingly art- directing all those drops of perspiration.

But surely there is more to love than glossy cutesiness.

(ST)

Private Corner

Jacky Cheung

On his last Mandarin release, By Your Side (2007), the God of Song flirted with jazz on the track An Unfinished Lesson.

It has proven to be no passing infatuation. For his first Cantonese release since 2004’s Life Is Like A Dream, he has chosen to deliver a full-on jazz album.

Instead of a half-hearted inclusion of a saxophone or piano, Cheung immerses himself in the jazz idiom, singing the blues on Infatuated With You, swinging on the big band sound of Double Trouble and even scatting on In Love With Your Back.

And even though it is not quite the season, he makes the English number Everyday Is Christmas, complete with lyrics about Santa’s sleigh and reindeer, work.

The versatile singer can be smooth as silk as he caresses each syllable or bright and brassy when the number calls for it and proves he is not just winging it.

You have to credit one of popular music’s biggest stars for doing his thing instead of just giving the people what they want. The closest thing to a pop confection here is Not Just Fated, so fans looking to make an easy transition to the new Jacky Cheung should head here first.

As they get drawn into the album, they will soon discover that Cantonese jazz is not a contradiction in terms but a perfectly natural combination.

Snowman

Peggy Hsu

There is a fairy-tale quality to this disc which opens with a story read in French. According to the translation in the lyrics booklet, it is about a snowman who reaches out for human contact but starts to melt as his heart grows warm.

Despite being a little twee, it does set the tone for this autumn-winter companion to the spring-summer release of Fine which Hsu put out in June last year.

On Punk, easily an album highlight, a wild, raging passion is played out against swirling strings and icy beats as she croons delicately. The singer-songwriter then evokes a beautiful picture of doomed romanticism on Cherry Blossom Snow and later serves up chill-out dance track Downfallen Aristocrat: “Elegant crystal ornaments/Covered in spider webs/As if they have wasted their entire lives.”

For all the variety in style and subject, this, Hsu’s third release in 31/2 years, feels remarkably coherent. After being mired in a contractual dispute which prevented her from releasing records for six years, it must be a relief to pour out her feelings again.

It would seem that her journey is mirrored in the snowman’s who, in his darkest moment, finds salvation in music and, in turn, becomes a beacon of hope.

One Two Three

Da Mouth

Taiwanese hip-hop combo Da Mouth want to party and that is just fine.

Tracks such as Rock It, Future Party and Turn Up The Music state their intent upfront and will have you grooving to the electronic beat, while Make Out urges you to “Get it on rite now!”

Skip the shamelessly pandering Happy Birthday My Dear, though, and try not to cringe at the inane lyrics of “Shining shining shining/O U got bling bling/O we got bling bling”.

The futuristic theme is also rather hokey. The use of Auto-Tune does not make a song forward-looking. In fact, 3010 and Back To The Future sound more retro than space age.

More interesting is the commercial tie-up between sports lifestyle brand Puma and Aisa, Harry, MC 40 and DJ Chung Hua. Posters of the foursome togged out in the label’s sportswear are plastered all over town and Puma is prominently mentioned on the album cover.

Is this the future face of music?

(ST)

The Answer Is... Stefanie Sun 2010 Resorts World Sentosa Chinese New Year Concert

Resorts World Convention Centre,

Compass Ballroom

Tuesday

When local singer Stefanie Sun held her concert at the Singapore Indoor Stadium seven months ago, she seemed subdued for much of the time on stage. This time around, the 31-year-old appeared to be much more comfortable and it made all the difference.

It could be the fact that this is essentially a scaled-down rehash of her July show, one she is intimately familiar with by now.

Or perhaps she felt less pressure to dazzle because, as she herself indicated, many tickets were given away by Resorts World Sentosa and attendance was not a direct reflection of her box-office draw.

There were, in fact, several hundred empty seats gaping conspicuously in the choice area up front – they were reserved for the casino’s VIPs who did not turn up.

A paying audience abhors a vacuum, especially if the void is closer to the stage than where they are seated. So the moment the lights went down, fans from the tiered seats at the back of the ballroom surged forward.

The darkened atmosphere also proved to be a boon in other ways. For one thing, the audience no longer had to look at the tacky flower-shaped lights on the ceiling. For another, the stage no longer looked dwarfed by the cavernous hall, which was configured to seat 4,500 people for the show.

The relatively low ceiling of the venue rules out elaborate stages so the vibe of the place is decidedly more Suntec City Convention Hall than Indoor Stadium. This meant that Sun did not have to compete for one’s attention against a set-up with a whole lot of bells and whistles.

Whatever the reason, it was a transformed performer on stage, one brimming with confidence as she delivered hit after hit from 10 best-selling albums.

The choreography was tight on the fast-paced numbers such as Magic and Dreams Never Fail while her distinctively textured voice was in fine form for signature ballads such as My Love and I’m Not Upset.

The acoustics of the hall were clean and clear, and unlike the Indoor Stadium gig, there were no microphone problems to mar her delivery.

A key element that was retained from the previous show was the whimsical and outre costumes, courtesy of Hong Kong’s William Chang, best known for his work on director Wong Kar Wai’s films.

During the 90-minute-plus show, Sun shimmered and glittered in a sparkly outfit straight out of a 1960s sci-fi flick and then preened and posed in a get-up consisting of an origami headpiece and a cream short dress with oversized sequins.

Clearly in a relaxed mood, she gave out hongbao on this third day of the Chinese New Year and, in a reference to media interest over her relationship status, quipped that this did not mean that she had gotten married.

Her easy command of the proceedings was most clearly demonstrated at the start of the joyous First Day.

She simply said “You can stand up now”, and the audience duly obeyed.

I had wondered after watching her last concert whether she would fare better in a smaller setting.

On Tuesday night, she had the songs, she had the voice and, crucially, she had the attitude. The answer was clear.

(ST)

Rainie & Love...?

Rainie Yang

Rashomon

Show Luo

My Love Story

Linda Chung

Actors often feel the need to multitask and pick up a mike as well. It is such a natural progression that it is encapsulated in the phrase “yan er you ze chang”, which means acting well and hence moving into singing.

Too often, though, what triggers that leap is something as prosaic as cheque book considerations.

Two of Taiwan’s hottest stars Rainie Yang and Show Luo are currently starring in the idol drama Hi My Sweetheart. This means the timing is perfect for the release of their new albums, both featuring the obligatory duet In Your Eyes.

The best thing about Yang’s album is that the priestess of cute sounds less whiny when singing than acting and she does a decent job on ballads such as Anonymous Good Friend and Rainy Love, the end theme song from Sweetheart.

But the appropriately named Yao Wo De Ming (It’s Gonna Kill Me) had me stabbing the fast-forward button, while lines such as “Girls need love/In order to become beautiful” do her no favours.

You have to wonder what happens when cute no longer cuts it and the music stops?

Luo, resorting to a different route, tries to be more gaga than Lady Gaga with funky eyewear and adventurous outfits on his seventh album. The nimble-footed entertainer is known for his slick moves and the album kicks off with dance numbers Luo Sheng Men (Lover’s Puzzle) and Ai De Zhu Chang Xiu (The Leading Role). Got You Nailed dishes up some retro disco vibe while closer WOW has him sharing the limelight with label mate Elva Hsiao.

There is an element of campy fun to the fast numbers, which also do a better job of diverting attention from his unmemorable voice. But there is no getting away from ballads, so he ploughs through I’ll Get Used To It, Hazardous Idea and You Won’t Be Alone.

Although he might be the bigger star, there is no question that Alien Huang, his co-host on the variety show 100% Entertainment, came up with the superior album with Love Hero.

Also jumping on the multi-hyphenate bandwagon is Hong Kong TVB actress and former beauty queen Linda Chung. To her credit, she has a hand in composing some of the songs but that does not quite compensate for her reedy voice. Worse, the dated arrangements make the tracks, in particular Sheng Si Ye Wei Ai (Live Or Die, It’s All For Love), sound like theme songs to drama serials of yesteryear.

She messes with the classics on a remake of Fly Me To The Moon and a Cantonese version of Sandy Lam’s I Heard That Love Had Returned but the results are not particularly revelatory.

Sometimes, it is better to just stick with one thing and do that well.

(ST)

Re:Kindle Love

Ko-Nen Creative Arts House and The Arts House

The Hall @ The Arts House

It is hard to put one’s finger on exactly what emotion this Mandarin musical fanned the flames of most, but it definitely was not love.

Was it the incredulity one felt when 20something protagonist Feng Qi (Trey Ho) and single mother Ai Ling (Renee Chua) bump into each other and, in the next breath, are crooning a love duet even though she has barely registered his presence?

Or perhaps it was the bewilderment one experienced when Feng Qi buys a bracelet with the words Zai Jian Ai for the one he loves? The show translates the phrase awkwardly as Rekindle Love but the first translation that popped into mind was actually Goodbye Love.

When not engineering convenient run-ins between characters, film-maker Gloria Chee’s script merrily marries old-school melodrama with eyebrow-raising inanities. We get an orphan with a terminal disease, three women entangled with one man and a confrontation at the cemetery that had even the unusually forgiving 60-plus members of the audience tittering.

Add to the mix the heavy-handed direction by Jalyn Han and it is little wonder that the fresh-faced cast, including Ho, Regina Tey as Feng Qi’s good friend Mei Qin and Lee Qian Yu as Ai Ling’s rebellious daughter Ai Ai, never stood much of a chance despite some promising singing.

Given that singer-songwriter Jiu Jian was part of the 1980s xinyao movement and has also penned compositions for the likes of Jacky Cheung, his musical numbers in the show should have been engaging.

Unfortunately, they were not always cogent to the admittedly challenging plot.

The best number was The Seventh Day In The Desert, which was previously recorded by Taiwanese singer Cyndi Chao. But alas, given that most of its lyrics were too location specific to be shoehorned even into this show, we had to be content with just the chorus as Ai Ling mourned her late husband.

This musical purports to be an earnest exploration of love but it falls far short of its lofty intentions.

In the end, it was the English surtitles, with their cavalier attitude towards punctuation, grammar and meaning, which proved to be more entertaining.

(ST)

True Legend

Yuen Woo Ping

The story: Su Can (Vincent Zhao Wenzhuo) is the creator of the legendary martial arts skill Drunken Fist. What lies behind this achievement is a tragic tale of betrayal and loss set in China in the late 19th century.

Like a wooden pillar struck by Su Can’s sword, this movie splits neatly into two.

The first part deals with Su’s betrayal by his adopted brother. Yuan Lie’s (Andy On glowering scarily) father was killed by Su senior for his evil ways, so he holds a grudge against the Su family.

He eventually exacts a terrible vengeance and while Su Can and his wife Xiaoying (Zhou Xun) survive, their son is held hostage by Yuan Lie.

The unfolding of all this presents many opportunities for tightly choreographed fights and the fluid mayhem is a thing of beauty.

One scene that stands out is the showdown sequence between Su Can and Yuan Lie in a well. One can only marvel at the athleticism on display as they manoeuvre for advantage and balance while scuttling up and down the wall of the well with limbs outstretched.

Then again, one would expect no less from Yuen Woo Ping. Despite helming the classic Jackie Chan gongfu flick Snake In The Eagle’s Shadow (1978), he is probably best known for being an action director non pareil and his choreography can be seen in such diverse films as the Wachowski brothers’ sci-fi dystopia flick The Matrix (1999) and the Oscar-winning Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000).

Zhao handles the action adroitly and while he is a more expressive actor than, say, Donnie Yen, he seems more suited for playing the debonair, gentlemanly warrior that Su Can is at the start of the film rather than the drunk and unkempt beggar he later becomes.

Still, there is at least a degree of believability to him and Zhou Xun being a loving couple.

True Legend though is not content to leave well enough alone after the climactic showdown between Su Can and Yuan Lie as the film has yet to account for the creation of the Drunken Fist.

This is where things get out of whack and we are suddenly watching an Ultimate Fighting Championship in Heilongjiang which pits Chinese fighters against towering Caucasians.

It gets even more surreal when the late David Carradine, best known for his 1972 TV series Kung Fu, inexplicably shows up as Anton, the dastardly manager of the Westerners.

Despite some competition from music star Jay Chou as the God Of Martial Arts and actress Michelle Yeoh as the kindly Sister Yu, Carradine wins hands down for the most distracting cameo.

When Su Can finally comes up with the Drunken Fist, it feels more like an afterthought than an integral part of the story. Instead, it is the bizarre turn taken by the film that will floor you.

(ST)

Little Big Soldier

Ding Sheng

The story: A foot soldier from Liang (Jackie Chan) and a general from Wei (Wang Lee Hom) are the sole survivors of a bloody battle between the warring states in China (3rd to 5th century BC). The soldier plans to take the wounded general back to Liang for a reward but he soon finds that there are others on their trail.

After the dismal Hollywood detours of recent years – some griped that The Tuxedo (2002) was a limp rag – it is a pleasure to see that the Jackie Chan of old is back.

It used to be that having his name above the title of a movie would guarantee healthy returns at the box office. Each new movie from the action-comedy superstar was eagerly awaited in the 1980s and early 1990s, as he sought to outdo himself with ever more elaborate death-defying stunts.

The daredevil fell from a clock tower and crashed through a series of cloth canopies in Project A (1983), and leapt into the air and slid down a pole of twinkling Christmas lights in Police Story (1985). But he always sprang back no matter what he was put through.

Just as important as the action was the comedy. Chan’s goofy underdog persona endeared him to one and all and had audiences rooting for him.

So meeting the Liang soldier Chan plays in this movie feels a little like meeting an old rascally friend.

He is a bit of a trickster and he survives the battle by pretending to get shot by an arrow, a gag that gets recycled to better effect later on in the film.

The pragmatic fellow seizes the opportunity when he comes across the wounded Wei general and decides to lug him back to Liang for a reward.

One wonders what could have been if Chan had acted opposite his own son Jaycee, a casting choice that was nixed by Mrs Chan, 1970s Taiwanese screen idol Lin Feng-chiao, as they were too similar in character. She may be right as there is some engaging odd-couple chemistry between Chan and actor-singer Wang Lee Hom, happily much improved in his first big-screen outing since the racy espionage thriller Lust, Caution (2007).

At first, there seems to be little in common between the principled general and what he sees as a snivelling foot soldier who dreams only of having his own plot of land where he can grow crops and settle down with a family.

But the two bond, inevitably, as they try to escape from the general’s dangerously ambitious brother Prince Wen and when they fall into the hands of a fierce tribe of warriors.

And by the end of the film, the yearning for peace and domesticity achieves an unexpected poignancy.

The movie, by China director Ding Sheng, moves along fairly briskly. This also means that discordant elements – the lines of Korean actor Steve Woo (Prince Wen) are not dubbed over – do not get too annoying.

Do stay for the out-takes, which are something of a Chan trademark. He may no longer be risking life and limb to thrill audiences but it still takes precision and ingenuity to choreograph a seemingly simple scene of him and Wang fighting over a sword.

Perhaps it is time to start looking forward to Jackie Chan movies again?

(ST)

While I

Shin

Let's Smile!

F.I.R.

Chris Lee

Chris Lee

Magic Power

Magic Power

Do Chinese people have rock? If they do, what should Chinese rock be like?

Singer Zhao Chuan posed this query in the song Fen Mo Deng Chang, meaning “to put on make-up and go on stage”, back in 1991 and it is something that artistes still grapple with today.

On his third solo offering, Shin, previously of Shin Band, takes the rock ballad route and topped the Taiwan album charts for his pains.

Come Back and Can’t Be Without You exemplify this approach: dramatic mid-tempo songs that have him wearing his heart on his sleeve as he wails and scales his falsetto range.

It gets wearying, with the growling and snarling coming across as so much posturing and the musical arrangements merely a recycling of the most hackneyed rock cliches.

Zhui Gan Shi Jie (Chasing After The World) provides a brief respite from the theatrics but is buried deep in the album. Shin should take his own advice when he sings: “I’ve never been afraid of change, bravely challenging what’s new.”

So should pop-rock trio F.I.R., who smile determinedly in the face of familiarity.

The whiff of deja vu on opener Find My Way only grows more pronounced over the course of the album. The trio are stuck in a rut they cannot seem to get out of.

When they do try something different on the summery Surfing Season, they end up sounding like Won Fu instead. Mostly though, the conundrum for F.I.R. is how to create music that does not sound like what they have done before.

Chris Lee has the opposite problem as she struggles to create a distinctive sound. Better known as Li Yuchun, the winner of China’s singing competition Super Girl in 2005 tries everything on her third, self-titled album.

The end result is a scattered effort that goes from the dance-rock of A Mo to the breezy pop of See You, Next, Corner to the cutesy Little Universe.

She even throws in snatches of Cantonese on Serves You Right and also tries her hand at rap. She has always stood out for her androgynous look and voice but the material she writes does not always gel with those singular qualities.

Which leaves newcomers Magic Power to cast a spell with their energetic debut.

These six guys in their 20s may look like a boyband but they write their own material, with most of the compositions from vocalist Yen Yen.

Purists may sniff, but this refreshing record mixes rock, dance, rap and hip-hop into an irreverent and irresistible whole. Check out Busy Man where the boys have fun with a jokey use of falsetto as they take a dig at the bustle of modern life and then give advice to take it easy.

Their optimistic outlook on tracks such as Be OK, Going Back In Time and New World is a welcome ray of sunshine, though Get Out strikes a contrarian note by railing against society’s injustices.

Still, the lads get what Zhao Chuan sang about: “You said rock can sometimes be an attitude towards life/Do as you please with the melody but the rhythm must be clear.”

(ST)

14 Blades

Daniel Lee

The story: When the imperial court of the Ming Dynasty falls into the clutches of evil eunuch Jia, Qinglong (Green Dragon, played by Donnie Yen), head of the Jinyiwei elite squad of secret agents, becomes the most wanted man in the country. He seeks the help of an escort agency to smuggle him out of the capital and strikes up a tentative romance with Qiao Hua (Zhao Wei), daughter of the agency’s chief.

There are as many elements simmering away in this potboiler thriller as there are blades in the title. This makes for a long and clunky exposition in which the background has to be laid out.

The audience learns about the unscrupulous Xuan Wu (Qi Yuwu) who is in cahoots with eunuch Jia (Law Kar Ying) and is part of Prince Qing’s (Sammo Hung) conspiracy to overthrow the court.

Then, in a lengthy aside, it is told about the titular blades. Given to Qinglong, eight of them are for torture, five for killing and the last one for committing suicide if the mission fails.

It takes a good while before the film settles down into the pursuit of Qinglong by rogue agents.

And there is still more to come with the introduction of Tuo Tuo (Kate Tsui), a highly skilled femme fatale who is the adopted daughter of Prince Qing, and The Judge (Wu Chun), the warrior leader of a band of desert brigands.

Given director Daniel Lee’s professed love of, and previous experience in, martial arts flicks, the pay-off is that the moviegoer gets a number of stylishly executed fight scenes. But there are too many jarring ingredients for the whole thing to come together as a whole.

Yen is a reliable action leading man and he has been on a roll in recent years with hits such as cop thriller Flash Point (2007) and biopic Ip Man (2008). He is equally adept at wielding a gun or sword but still seems uncomfortable when a role demands more than fisticuffs.

Despite Zhao Wei’s best efforts, the blossoming romance between Qiao Hua and Qinglong is not very convincing and instead of providing the film with its emotional centre, is just another plotline to be accounted for.

There is also the snigger-inducing name of Tuo Tuo (which means to undress) who actually disrobes as she darts about in so-fast-the- viewer-needs-to-see-this-in-slo-mo fashion around her hapless opponents.

Wu Chun takes the cake, though, when he turns up looking like a reject from the Pirates Of The Caribbean sequels in his dreadlocks, chunky earring, bandanna and a vest two sizes too small in order to flaunt that taut midriff.

Having introduced all these disparate components, Lee then follows through on all of them, making it seem as though the film would never end.

With 14 Blades at his disposal, he could have considered using one or two to cut the movie down to size.

(ST)

Amit Live First World Tour

Singapore Indoor Stadium

Last Friday

What’s in a name? Plenty, it seems, when it comes to Taiwanese diva A-mei. The 37-year-old singer released an album under the moniker of Gulilai Amit last June, and in so doing liberated and energised herself to make music with a more adventurous sound.

In a way, the exercise was about going back to fundamentals since Amit is none other than her Puyuma aboriginal birth name.

The album sold well enough for the singer to launch a world tour in the guise of her new-yet-old persona. At her Singapore stop, she made her entrance in a winged and feathered concoction of black and white, holding court as she performed the Puyuma track, Amit.

From the start it was clear that this was going to be a rock concert. Black and silver outfits were de rigueur and long-haired male guitarists flailed away on stage.

Some of the best moments were her delivery of the thrillingly fast-paced Black Eat Black and the exhilaratingly brash Minnan track Come On If You Dare.

I actually wished for ear plugs at some point, a rare and not altogether unpleasant thought at a Mandopop concert.

Score one for Amit.

Her new identity did not reject the old entirely, as the album also included several slow-burn ballads such as Alter Ego, Falling and After The Sentimental Love Of Animals, harking back to the A-mei that the near-capacity crowd of 7,500 knew and loved.

She acknowledged that, as Amit, she did not have enough material to put on a full concert and so she proceeded to borrow songs from A-mei’s back catalogue.

The power balladeering on Can I Hold You?, Can’t Cry and especially on the lesser-heard gem, Chen Zao (While It’s Still Early) enthralled the crowd.

The obliging singer also proceeded to take requests and sang, a cappella, the classics Listen To The Sea and I Want Happiness. In addition, she crooned Jie Tuo (Release) as it was composed by Singaporean Xu Huaqiang, who had turned up for the show.

Score another for A-mei.

Was it A-mei or Amit, though, who donned a billowing leopard print cape and then wowed the fans with the Turandot aria Nessun Dorma in a drama queen moment? It showcased the vocal prowess of the versatile artist who had performed in a production of that opera in 2008.

And was it Amit or A-mei who drew on her bottomless reserve of strength and kept up the energy level right till the evening’s rousing final number, Kai Men Jian Shan (Straightforward)?

But really, what’s in a name? A-mei, or Amit, by any other name, would be just as entertaining.

(ST)

Simple, Or Not

Tiger Huang Hsiao-hu

Aftertaste

Karen Mok

Slowness

Kay Tse

I am woman, hear me roar. This could well be the rousing cry of Tiger Huang Hsiao-hu.

Best known for her 1990 hit Not Just Friends, her rich, husky vocals have grown only more evocative, burnished, one imagines, by nights in smoky pubs and the vicissitudes of the passing years.

Not So Simple sounds like the 46-year-old’s manifesto as the lyrics by Daryl Yao are tailor-made for her. She is by turns strong, “The things others say, just take a listen, the decision is still mine”, and vulnerable, “Don’t love loneliness, but you get used to it”.

Ultimately, she comes to terms with who she is at this stage of her life: “Past the age for dreaming, I would rather have peace and quiet than blazing glory.”

The tough-but-sensitive contrast is a little predictable on Shell but Huang makes you feel her pain when she asks: “Who would know?/It’s only a protective coat of colour.”

This class act blows every 20something pop idol out of the water.

There is more good news with a covers album that finally gets things right. With a delicate dusting of electronica, producer Zhang Yadong transforms stodgy folk ditties and dusty oldies and makes them cool once more. And Hong Kong singeractress Karen Mok brings to the table her distinctive vocal stylings.

There are highlights aplenty on this disc which was first available as a digital download in June last year.

The joyful whimsy of the Xinjiang folk song Playing Hand Drum Singing Song is irresistible and the music video complements the track perfectly.

Shanghai songbird Zhou Xuan’s Blooming Flowers And The Full Moon gets updated with a jazzy arrangement and Mok drawls and scats her way through this classic.

Even the eyebrow-raising mash-up of Half A Moon Rising and a snatch of Mozart’s opera Don Giovanni as well as the re-imagining of Kangding Love Song work.

Also hailing from Hong Kong is Kay Tse, Cantopop’s unlikely star.

She is the mother of a two-year-old boy and her big 2008 hit Wedding Street Invitation came three long years after her 2005 debut. The late bloomer has taken the slow and steady route to stardom and she continues to do things her way on her new album.

Slowness luxuriates in one of the loveliest voices in Cantopop right now and avoids the route of obvious radio hits. There is a luminous sweetness to Tse’s vocals, and the fact that they are edged with throatiness only adds to the allure.

On the first track Alive, she bemoans the rush and ruckus of modern life: “Hurrying about for a living, it’s like stepping onto the highway/Pressing forward without being able to take a pause/Burying our heads in work, we finally forget how to live.”

The lyrics also evoke the glacial majesty of Iceland, where she went for the CD’s photo shoot. If even such breathtaking vistas fail to inspire us to stop and stare, then something is seriously awry.

And if these singular offerings fail to find an audience, it would be a crying shame. So go ahead, linger over Slowness, savour the Aftertaste and brace yourself for Tiger’s roar.

(ST)

The Boys Are Back

Scott Hicks

First there was Korea’s Mother and Hollywood’s Motherhood, now it is time for fathers to have their turn in the spotlight.

After the death of his second wife from cancer, sports writer Joe Warr (Clive Owen) has to learn to build a connection with his five-year-old son Artie (Nicholas McAnulty).

His parenting skills are further stretched when Harry (Rupert Grint-lookalike George MacKay), his 13-year- old son from his previous marriage, comes to visit him in Australia.

Joe has a stubborn, reckless streak and can be as petulant as a child himself, but Owen brings a rough-round-the- edges, roguish charm to the role. Some might consider his child-rearing philosophy rather slack though he himself proudly proclaims: “I run a pretty loose ship.”

There is some late drama when an episode of child-sitting by Harry ends badly and he scuttles home to England but this sweet, low-key film, based on journalist Simon Carr’s memoir, is ultimately an ode to unconventional fatherhood.

(ST)