#10. S.H.E.
[quote=“slurpcheese”]
Oh I’ll just stop this right now. It isn’t worth continuing. Taiwan pop music blows goats.[/quote]
No, actually it doesn’t. However the music that you seemed ready to fill your top ten with certainly do. There’s some pretty interesting stuff out there if you are willing to dig.
One of Wang Fei’s albums is one of my favourite albums. OK it’s HK< not Chinese, but… I’ve got a coupel fo Zhang Zhengyue (sp?) CDs which are good. Mo Wenwei can be good (oops HK again). MC Hotdog for a laugh.
Brian
Elva rules! :lovestruck:
K, I was being ever so sarcastic, what with the explosion of “best albums” posts and all. Seriously, though, I’m always on the lookout for good local music. I’ve taken quite a liking to aboriginal music, esp. Difang and Samingad. Will check out the above recommendations. Any more?
Powerstation are ok live. Saw them a couple of years ago. Walked to the bathroom and they said hey there’s a white guy in Chinese.
Aboriginal music? (Should this get a thread of its own?)
-
Samingad’s albums are both good, and she used to be great live.
-
Panai is fantastic… very blue. Hope to see another album from her soon, but no plans that I’m aware of, although she’s better live anyway.
-
Samingad’s little sister Jia-Jia has an incredible voice; while her older sister excels with indigenous numbers, she’s amazing with jazz and blues. You’ll have to catch her in a rare live appearance, though, because she doesn’t have any solo albums. Alternatively, you can hear her here and there on Samingad and Chen Jian-nian’s albums (doing harmony, and singing a couple solos).
-
Chen Jian-nian, (their uncle, and a Lanyu policemen) is pretty good on CD, and great fun live–very shy, funny, cute. Makes his own instruments sometimes.
-
Hu Defu (aboriginal name: Kimbo) has a strong American feel to his music, love to hear him sing that song about the mountain being your mother… He’s in the process of cutting his first real solo album. I hope he’s got other backup other than a synthesizer.
-
Not a big fan of Beiyuan Shanmao.
-
If you want more toward the aboriginal end of the spectrum, Betel Nut Brothers are great. Biung’s not bad. “A-gong” Difang was wonderful when he was singing traditional stuff, but it’s sad how everything he did towards the end got remixed.
-
If you want 100% traditional, the Wind Records CD set is the most complete, but I prefer the CDs put out by Ooh-la-la… amazing stuff by the Amis and Bunun Tribes (haven’t heard the others), and the sound quality kicks ass.
-
But now, for one of my all-time favs–try a CD of cello music by David Darling, mixed with vocals by the Wulu Bunun Tribe. AMAZING. They are going to the UK in May for a 6-concert tour, and it should be fantastic. I’ll let you know how it is if you are interested.
-
And if you want pop by aborigines: Dai Ai-ling has a voice to kill. Amei used to be better but I still love her, and if you like Taiwanese music, Hsiulanmaya rocks. I think she’s up there with Jiang Hui, but whatdoIknowanyway?
Very probably.
At the very least, your recommendations are appreciated immensely - will begin foraging post haste!
BTW, have you heard Am Dao Tian Liang (am until the sunrise)? I think they still play out sometimes. Have that CD they did for tcm, one of those CD-in-an-EP-sized-sleeve jobs, and it kicks ass. Samingad was/is one of the vocalists.
I listened to one aboriginal group from Taidong for a few songs at last year’s MTV battle of the bands called Totem 圖騰.
I kinda enjoyed their music… quite …happy. But I don’t think they made it into the finals, so don’t know if anyone will ever hear from them again. If you have any info, let me know.
Thanks for the suggestions above, btw…!
That was a pretty dumbass thing for me to say.
Modlang, perhaps you could have a listen to some of the recommendations above?
I’m suprised Wu Bai Live hasn’t been thrown in. Brilliant Taiwanese pop.
HG
[quote=“slurpcheese”]#10. S.H.E.
Very probably.
At the very least, your recommendations are appreciated immensely - will begin foraging post haste!
BTW, have you heard Am Dao Tian Liang (am until the sunrise)? I think they still play out sometimes. Have that CD they did for tcm, one of those CD-in-an-EP-sized-sleeve jobs, and it kicks ass. Samingad was/is one of the vocalists.[/quote]
Yup. Many of the people on that album were on my list above. I actually met many of them/became friends right around the time that album came out. Unfortunately you probably missed them last night at Riverside (?) HeAn Liuyan. There will be plenty more, though–most often at Witches (Nu Wu Dian).
ML get your head out of your ass. I don’t know what aboriginal music is “mostly drumming and chanting”… maybe TWO of the things I mentioned on that expansive list in my original post. Are you thinking of aboriginal music from another country? Maybe Australia? There is plenty of danceable music in here. And if you want complex–try the 8-part harmonies of the Bunun tribe, a complexity that is nearly impossible to match or immitate. It has international ethnomusicologists scratching their heads to this day. Go and listen to all the stuff on my list and come back. We’ll talk then.
What? Where’s the Wang Lihong/Lee-hom love? o/~ Baby, ni jiu shi wo de weiyi… o/~
(Okay, he’s an American, but whatever! His crooning voice makes me wish I were deaf time and time again.)
Second that. Got their first double CD (Disc 1 is a Papuan band, Disc 2 is BNB) and their most recent, Brothers Who Lost Their Land. They did a workshop a few months back that was really really good.
I got a copy of that at the last book fair in a box set with an accompanying DVD documentary of how Darling made the CD. Very interesting.
Hiya newbie here… what about Zaizai Zhou Yu Min’s album Remember, I Love you? it’s a good one…
They broke up? Thank Christ for that.
And come on, I know it’s probably tacky and obvious, but Jay Chou is brilliant, I reckon.
LA Boyz?! … isnt it that they have a new group called “MACHI”?
Scooter has my music collection!
Also see Zhutoupi, most creative musician in Taiwan and a sarcastic SOB.
LTK Commune
Gangster Nakashi ( Pro-Labor songs)
Mountain A ma (Latin-abo)
MC Hotdog
DJ Orange aka Zhang Zhen Yue
Zhang 43
New Formosa band with Chen Shen
and the Ultimate in Taiwanese music: Jin Men Wang and Lee Bing Hui
Ho Da La!