May 27, 2004

Hong Kong Chinese Orchestra | Tang Capriccio |Hugo | China

Tang Capriccio is one of three CDs showcasing original works by Hong Kong composers. This particular CD focuses on compositions largely inspired by traditional Chinese music, performed on original and modernized Chinese instruments. There are five composers featured on the album, and while their styles range from playful to desolate, each piece manages to engage the listener in an almost visceral way.

May 13, 2004

Military Band of the People’s Liberation Army of China | Fissure |Hugo | China

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Fissure draws the listener into strange aural landscapes, where cinematic swells and driving percussion suddenly transform into melancholic, jazz-influenced harmonies, and strident voices are abruptly abandoned by all but a few ghostly chimes.

May 10, 2004

Various | Cambodian Rocks Volumes I and II |Khmer Rocks | Cambodia

Cambodian Rocks Vol. I: buy it
Cambodian Rocks Vol. II: buy it

The Cambodian Rocks Chronicles continue...

A new upstart label has taken the Cambodian Rocks name as its own, but can it take the title as the best compilation of 60s and 70s Khmer pop?

May 08, 2004

Huang Hong-ying | A September Story |Hugo | China

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It was 4 AM when I flagged down a taxi in front of Spin nightclub on Hoping East Road. As I tumbled in and looked around, I felt a little thrill--I had lucked out and hailed a space-age bachelor cab. The young driver swiveled his pompadoured head around to get my address, then put his white-gloved hands on the wheel, punched the gas and set us flying through the wet and nearly empty neon streets of Taipei. What a ride: finely tuned engine, new car smell, plastic seat covers, Christmas lights and a Buddha on the dashboard. And the music: loud but crystalline, seemingly at odds with the driver's youth and need for speed. Modern easy listening with a soothing Chinese female singer at the fore--a voice so beautiful I forgot the wet streets and the speedometer that was rotating like a second hand...