Jay vs Chitose Hajime

Jay's new album has some Japanese influence, especially track 4, 花海! Reminds me of Chitose Hajime, the zhuan yin haha....nice try Jay hehe...

花海-周杰伦
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=areh8NJK8Dg

Chitose Hajime - Katari Tsugo Koto
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEbuI6FQC10

Chitose Hajime - Haru no Katami
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwFiMXzoscg

OVerall, I enjoyed his album. Feed-good album. Not the best, but makes me happy.

Especially 魔术先生and 稻香.

魔术先生 - from the conversation in the beginning, the yodelling, the circus-like music, the cheeky lyrics, the change in tempo, till the blending in of 不用麻烦了, seems to me like he's having lots of fun@!

稻香 makes me forget my worries, especially with pre-reg, and just do my best n not worry too much.

给我一首歌的时间 is the typical Jay-RnB song. Thought the pre-chorus singing style was quite interesting.the opera-like 拉音.. hehe.. nice surprise. The MV sucked though. Just him trying to "moon-walk" and shots of the pretty lead actress. Waste time...

说好的幸福呢is a touchnng song! great 周式芭乐...Jay-ballad... 100% KTV hit!

the 1st track sounds like a song for a RPG game...or even epic film? quite grand kind.na... too exagerrated..

the 中国风 song not to my liking... still prefer 发如雪 菊花台 东风破.

流浪诗人 reminds me of Jacky Cheung's 如果这都不算爱, but in a more Jay-ish way. There's even 闽南语 in it.. like 1 of his songs in 八度空间. Quite a cool song though... has the country-cowboy-laidback feeling...

时光机 is the kind where it's not easy to remember - not as much "commercial" hook, but it grows on you..

Hated 蛇舞. totally didn't finish listening to it.. reminds me of Jolin or other dancing-diva-wannabes...乔克叔叔 reminds me of 扯 which I didn't like too due to the female vocals. then this song also has that "fake" female vocals..also the intermittent laughters scares me haha...oh but the Spanish feel in the interlude is quite nice..

Despite that, the albunm's still on repeat mode for the past few days!
Yeah Jay rocks! ha...

王力宏 - 改变自己

I had wanted to wait for the gai ban, but couldn’t wait any longer. I just had to get my hands on the album.

I was really surprised & glad when I saw the album. It was super thin and was just a simple case made of recycled paper with the CD inside. But it was flimsy, so I must take extra care of it. Compared to his previous albums which were packaged “lavishly”, this is much more “down-to-earth”, and I mean it literally as well. I actually prefer simple CDs. I don’t like it nowadays when every artiste has such huge rectangular albums that are thick somemore – can’t fit into my rack! Furthermore, it’s such a waste of resources! Why must there be another paper cover when the contents are the same on the actual album itself and the useless outer paper cover…

Oops but I believe the pre-sale albums are huge. Lee Hom’s Taiwan presale albums I mean. (Singapore didn’t have any! =( )

After reading some reviews online, in the papers & in magazines, it’s time to write my own!

I just got it the day before I think, and I have been listening to it since. This and only this. I don’t think I gave 盖世英雄 Heroes of the Earth，his previous album, so much radioplay as this! Actually, everyone has been saying how great GSYX was, but frankly, I didn’t enjoy it so much, don’t know why.. I think cos it’s too new – the chinked-out style that Lee Hom invented, or that I’m not exposed to that kind of hip-hop music. But XZDRY was OK. Nonetheless, I still think XZDRY & GSYX were 2 definitive albums of creative Lee Hom. And I’m really glad actually that he didn’t continue this chinked-out 风格 haha.. Actually, the way he sort of temporarily leave his chinked-out风格behind and go on to 改变自己 was really bold, as some critics may say that he hasn’t found a niche or something. (actually there’s traces of 中国风here and there la). But this is the exact reason why I like him, as he is constantly thinking of how to bring newer and better music to everyone by changing his music style and music theme for every album. And it’s really nice that nowadays artistes actually think of a main theme for every album.

On the whole, I think it’s a very “down-to-earth” album. I feel as if he’s trying to return to the 90s, the earlier “era” of Mando-pop – easy-listening songs with melodies that can hook you up. I feel as if he’s trying to tone everything down, get back to what most Chinese-pop listeners are familiar with, but at the same time he has infused a modern feel into this music – as in you may feel like it’s a 90s song but you definitely know that it’s not. Haha I think my explanation sucks…I feel that he’s trying to connect with the listeners only through his music, his singing and his heart.

So what does this album have? Sad ballads, you got it. Feel-good songs, you got it. Party songs – you got it too. Rap – the “in” thing now, it’s there. In fact I enjoy Lee Hom’s raps. They are listenable, & you actually know what he’s rapping, not like Jay or Edison, & has his own style and rhythm. Of course I like Jay’s raps too, but wa can’t tolerate Edison’s raps. His accent is so strong I don’t know what he’s saying. Oops sidetracked..

Think I’ll just do a track-by-track rundown la..

1. Intro – a very apt intro song. I can anticipate this to be the opening song for his concert. Very grand and “pompous” haha..

2. 改变自己 –
upbeat song which makes me want to stand up and move to the beat. Catchy tune too. Main message – 你我的力量也能改变世界 – do your part to help reduce global warming. He’s jumping on the bandwagon to bring the “green” message across.

"今早起床了 觉得头有点痛 可能是二氧化碳太多 氧气不够”

Actually this is not the first time he’s mentioned about global warming. People may misunderstand him that he’s only making use of the trend now, to give his album more publicity. Traces of a “green” Lee Hom can be seen in “你和我” and an English song “Nature” written by him which I first heard of in his compilation album “Evolution”.

Watch the MV here! Handsome Lee Hom X 4! haha..
Introductory video of the “改变自己乐团"
part 1
part 2


3. 落叶归根 –
the opening strings – beautiful! The song – beautiful! Lee Hom’s voice – beautiful! Initially I thought it wasn’t written by him, as the lyrics booklet stated that it’s written by “Kuang Y.M”. I thought who is this songwriter? How stupid can I be! It’s written by his alter-ego la in the movie 色戒。The character he portrays in the movie is named “Kuang Yi Min”. hhaah..

I probably won’t have as much feel for this song as one who has been away from home. But it’s moving and beautiful.

4. 创作前言 –
it’s nice! A mixing of his different songs all these years - like a dedication of the next song to his fans

5. 我们的歌 –
I believe it’s for the fans. I still remember in GSYX there was this song his fans wrote for him. So now it’s a return gift? Haha..it’s a catchy song with “personalized” lyrics. Especially like this line – “如果世界太危险 只有音乐最安全 带着我进梦里面 让歌词都实现”. I think it’s so true – music is like a reclusion for everyone, a shelter from this crazy world.

6. 你是我心内的一首歌 –
duet with Selina! I never imagined that he would ask Selina to duet with him! Haha.. but their voices do blend! It’s a “pretty” love song which has the retro-feel and I prefer it so much more than David & Jolin’s “song of the year”! Yuck!

The music arrangement is nice and gives a romantic feel. I like the saxophone in the middle! But the ending I felt was quite abrupt – the “cha cha cha” beat haha..

watch the 58s MV here!
Watch the Behind-the-scenes shooting of the MV here!

7. 爱在那里 –
it gave me a feeling that I’m listening to Jacky Cheung / Andy Lau’s classic oldies. The music arrangement and all. But it has a modern feel to it, especially the way he sings it with the vocal backings. Very soothing and easy-listening. Has a bit of ZGF ba.. but the chorus’s a little repetitive towards the end.

8. Cockney Girl –
a hip-hop song with some raps and reminded me of 竹林深处. Talks about his “神奇的巧遇” with this London Cockney girl who can speak Mandarin during clubbing in London. Quite a fun hip-hop song which shows his “party mode”.
Other than that, he emphasizes his love for music again “想追也追不到 音乐是我的呼吸 不用想太多 它自然在我的身体里” & the main theme this time around –改变自己 - “带你从纽约到乌鲁木齐 从京剧昆曲现在到伦敦的Cockney 有些人只会重复自己但是 not me”。Er.. was he referring to Jay? Haha no la probably not. 我太多心了.

9. 不完整的旋律 –
this song grabbed my attention. The lyrics may be sucky to some, but I feel that he’s talking to us, sharing with us his love and passion for music in this song through the lyrics and his singing.

“心里有个旋律 不完整的歌曲 你是否听得出 来我拖了一拍” – I wouldn’t expect such lyrics in a Chinese pop song! And honestly, I couldn’t really tell how he dragged the beat ahhaha…
“不完整的旋律 没什么结局 却是我真实的声音” – how earnest & sincere can he be..

10. 爱的鼓励 –
a lively and upbeat song with a very suitable title. It’s really a song of encouragement. Love the piano in the background plus the jazzy piano interlude. And the piano’s played by him!

11． 华人万岁 –
a rap song which shows how proud he is to be a Chinese. Quite a fun and happy song, basically a “Woohoo I’m Chinese!” kind of song. I especially find these few lines funny :

“从来没有人说过中文 LIKE THIS 标准可是加了黄绿红的TWIST. 黄绿红! 王力宏!”If you don’t know, it’s actually his nickname which he kept adopting since the MacDonald’s advertisements ahha..

“做一个领袖 做一个领袖 领和袖 我都有” – funny lei…

12. 星期六的深夜 –
a moving love ballad. With just a piano and a guitar played by him, he brought out the whole feel of the song. It sounds like a Western song to me though. But it’s sad..

I feel that this album’s rather introspective – a consolidation of all that he’s done so far, and in turn, giving a new feel to his music. It’s like Wang Lee Hom reborn haha…there won’t be any tracks that you will skip, but I guess there may not be a song as memorable as Forever Love, Kiss Goodbye, or 唯一. But I love this album a lot – gives me a sense of familiarity, security and comfort.

Wa another long album review. It is only during the holidays that I can write such album reviews haha..

改变自己 Official Site

Ice Queen - Faith Yang, 杨乃文

I posted her MV in a previous post, and she has finally released a new album titled 女爵,"Continuation" after 5 long years! I like her new album a lot!

She is Faith Yang, 杨乃文, a Taiwanese singer very different from your usual sacharrine sweet Taiwanese girls. She's cool, and so cold, I think she's like an Ice Queen. Years ago, I watched her receive an award at a Taiwan music awards cereomony, and she only said 2 words, “谢谢。”and left the stage. I was so shocked...

I feel that her voice is just like her, so cold, so distant, but yet there's something that attracts me to her, that I want to listen to her sing. I think it's just like the line in her song, 女爵， “一颗热的心，穿着冰冷外衣

Anyway, I think her album is more of alternative rock.( Not so sure though), but there are no sweet lovey-dovey mid-tempo songs, more slow rock ballads, and some pop-rock，folk-rock. Love her singing style, and in the English song written by herself, "Be In Love", she sounded a tiny bit like Sarah Mclachlan

the 主打歌, 女爵 is written by the lead vocalist of an up-and-coming band, Soda Green (苏打绿）. (Another interesting band, with the lead vocalist's high-pitched voice haha..)I read somewhere that this Greeny Wu (haha... the lead vocalist) wrote this song with Faith in mind, and I think it's quite apt

I especially like the ballad with only a single piano accompaniment, 我离开我自己. Faith sang it with so much feeling, can feel the helplessness, emptiness and loneliness. 像倦鸟归去留下的空寂，安安静静
Watch video

分开，written by 黄韵仁, interesting lyrics by 冷玩妹(Coldplay Sister! haha).
后来下雨的时候，才看见你这把伞，好像留下迷信的答案.
read somewhere that this line is nicely written because superstitious people relate to 伞, 散(break-ups).

多想钻进你的脑袋，待上几天或许我就会明白。。。 / 多项研究我们的早餐，什么成份当时会那么快乐。。。Watch video

微笑着挥手 is another sad song.. 连说再见，我都要为难我自己，留微笑给你

The fast-tempo song 电视机 is another interesting one written by this interestingly-named band, Convenient Store haha...the lyrics expound on the wonders of TV, and how we like the tv so much haha..
Watch video

I like this stanza haha..
昨天我还站在寒冷的北极, 转眼间就到了热带雨林
买东西不能信还有 BBC, 暴风雨带来了宇宙的消息

Another song that caught my attention was 继续. It actually had a扬琴 accompaniment! I thought it was a banjo haha.. Interesting combination. She also caught on the 中国风 ? haha<

Lastly, the English song, Be In Love's really a surprise. Her singing actually exudes some kind of sexiness. Even the music arrangement's quite fresh..

And there's actually a hidden track, 女爵，宫廷版. There's actually a trumpet solo in the interlude.. quite cute haha.. It took about 8 more mins to appear haha..Prefer the original version

Oh no another long review.,.. but I'm glad that the Chinese music scene actually has some non-mainstream singers like her. Her voice's simply unique, and her music great!

依然范特西。 我不以为然。

Wow! I collected my album today. Was so excited. So, the first thing I reached home was to play the cd. And I'm playing it now still. Does this mean something? I think this didn't happen for November's Chopin(NC). i.e. I like it better than November's Chopin. But I think it can never be like his 2nd album, Fantasy. It's different. The "fantasical" touch is not there. There are no songs like 威廉古堡，爱在西元前 etc. 已经没有那么天马行空了。我觉得是到了另一个境界。比较成熟的周杰伦，音乐思想也比较广。Jay 竟然尝试唱 BOSSA NOVA! 真的让我大跌眼镜！ 但说他成熟，也不完全是啦！觉得有些歌曲真的很可爱。还是有蛮多惊喜的。

As usual, there are 3 main types of songs: raps, ballads and Jay-style 中国风. Jay actually tried another style this time - Bossa Nova! I was deeply surprised that he actually did this. Can you imagine??

The raps are as usual, very difficult with super long lyrics. I'm still very amazed at his rapping skills. The ballads, rather pop-rock kind. And very difficult to sing. Man! Those guys who can sing his songs, I admire you man! SO high...The Jay-style 中国风, still very Jay-ish.

Overall, I think the title "Still Fantasy" may not be very suitable. His songs are no longer so out-of-the-box. Rather predictable styles. As he said, he doesn't want to change, cos this is him. This album seems to be more romantic, with songs about love and relationships, and lots of songs using the beautiful string arrangments.

1) 夜的第七章：a typical Jay rap song which reminds me of 逆麟 in NC. However, judging from the music arrangment and lyrics, it reminds me of serial killers in Old London. Rather mysterious intro, like written for a thriller. Very interesting music arrangment. The solo violin adds to the atmosphere.I don't understand why he got a female voice in the chorus though. But the layers of vocals, rather interesting. I especially liked the last chorus, where he sang in total falsetto. Although not very strong (haha) but very haunting!

2) 听妈妈的话：rather light-hearted song. Warm and sweet too. What a filial boy, actually dedicated a song to mothers. Nice rap, nice rhythm. Cute rapping in the middle too.. However, the chorus seems very repititive to me.

3)千里之外：主打歌。His diction is so clear here.. Aiya already reviewd this song in my earlier post don't waste time & space haha

4) 本草纲目：This is an OMG song. Firstly, the song itself, I can't really say I enjoy it, but the intro music, sounds so "dancy, techno, hip-hop, bling-bling" type... Secondly, the lyrics. I was drawn to the lyrics! So many names of herbs, some that I know and have taken, some that I never seen before! "山药 当归 枸杞 go!" I laughed hard at this line man! How in the world did Vincent Fang write such lyrics?? My gosh...Thirdly, the music arrangment. They had some kind of flute at the end, quite cute.

5) 退后：typical Jay ballad. Nice lyrics too. Lots of hooks in this song. Definitely a K-song. And again he displayed his large vocal range haha..

6) 红模仿：At first I thought the title was 红磨坊, which I think is Moulin Rouge? Not quite sure. But I noticed the 模仿 later, which is to imitate, copy. So I read the lyrics and saw something about how people are following in his footsteps, with all the 中国风 songs coming up now etc. And plus the dialogue at the beginning, wa kao... He's like so complacent! OK I bet the beginning's just for effect purpose. But this song's quite interesting, and cute. It's just so him. So diao. loved the guitar though. Especially the beginning.

7)心雨：Very romantic song, with the string arrangements and all. Ballad la as usual. And super high. I think it's not as strained as 枫。Very radio-friendly too. 心理的雨倾盆而下，却始终淋不到她，寒风经过院子里的枝亚，也冷却了我手中的鲜花。 oh so sad...Genius 方文山。

8) 白色风车：Another very K ballad, with lots of strings. The lyrics's written by Jay himself, quite touching too..

9)迷迭香： This is my 2nd OMG song. OMGＯＭＧOMG!!! It's so not Jay!!! It's Bossa Nova!! His singing style's so differnt too! OMG. very sexy lei....And the lyrics complement very well too. About sexy lips, about his heart beating very fast, about him cannot taking it.. really sexy aye..

10)菊花台： OH my. This is the 3rd OMG song. It's so .. it's beautiful. And reminded me of CHinese oldies, those that our mothers and fathers would sing. Rather heart-wrenching. Love the music arrangment too. The Gu Zheng, the strings, and the HULU-shaped flute at the end of the song! Very 凄凉，凄惨。 I can imagine him wearing those long robes singing this song. His singing style - diction's clear, played with some zhuan3 yin1s, and the last powerful chorus! Nice!

Ok, it seems now that I'm convinced he can handle multi-tasking fairly well. This album wasn't a letdown afterall. Maybe cos I didn't expect too much in the beginning.

And thanks, if you have read my post up till now! =)