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chang hung liang

CHANG HUNG LIANG (STILL DREAMING) (ROCK RECORDS) (NOV00)
打造百萬銷售奇蹟情歌聖手
10首絕對經典新作就要狂亂你的愛慾情仇
It has been more than three years since we last heard of Chung Hung Liang (or Zhang Hong Liang).  During this period of absence, he has been studying a movie course in New York and at the same time writing chart-topping hits intermittently for other singers such as Karen Mok's duet hit "Guang Dao Zhi Lian", Chiang Mei Chi's "How I Envy You" (or Wo Duo Mo Xian Mu Ni), Andy Hui's "Why Do You Love Someone Else Behind My Back" (or Wei Shen Mo Ni Bei Zhe Wo Ai Bie Ren) and more recently, newcomer Fan Wei Qi's "Can't Reach The Destination" (or Dao Bu Liao).  

He finally completed his studies in May this year and six months later, he released this brand new album "Still Dreaming" under his very first record label Rock Records.  All the songs here are single-handedly written, arranged and produced by Chang himself.

His fans may be glad to know that most of the songs here still retain his trade-mark style, namely, ballads (with a tinge of classical flavour) backed with strong story-telling lyrics.  His first single "Epiphyllum" is a case in point.  He also tried something slightly different, such as the slow-rock second single "In My Dream When You Were" which has Hokkien verses sprinkled here and there.

Putting his film academic training to use, he directed the music videos for the above-mentioned singles.  The album comes with a bonus VCD containing karaoke versions of the Karen Mok duet "Guang Dao Zhi Lian" and his last single "The Manhattan Bridge" (or Qing Ding Ri Luo Qiao).  Too bad it doesn't contain his new music videos.

If you have RealPlayer , you can click below to preview four of the new tracks.
Epiphyllum  曇花  --------  

In My Dream When You Were  你是我的青春夢  --------  

A Marketplace Amoretti  夜市小戀曲  --------  
A Taste Of Cherry  櫻桃的滋味  --------  

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beauty 4

BEAUTY.4 (BEAUTY.4) (EMI MUSIC) (NOV00)
驚歷傳各界最具爆炸性的團體
聽感美感性感動感四感魅力爆炸登場
Taiwan can now boast of having their own Spice Girls.  EMI Music has just unleashed an all-female foursome group called "Beauty.4" (Side-Note : BMG Music has also come out with a four-gal group called "4 In Love".  Their debut album "Fall In Love" is not introduced in Asian Music Pop).

Beauty.4 is made of up : Belinda (the only Chinese girl who is an ABC herself), Djavan (who looks like a black to me but she is actually a full-fledged Taiwanese who speaks Mandarin/Hokkien and only a bit of English), Ayesha (the blond American girl who speaks basic Mandarin) and red-hair Anji (another Mandarin-speaking American).  A note-worthy mention is that the group is discovered by Taiwan saxophonist Gao Pei Hua.

I admit I was a bit apprehensive about listening to their debut Mandarin offering because I have serious doubt over their ability to pull-off the language.  Imagine my surprise when I therefore found out later that their Mandarin vocal diction is surprisingly accurate and clear.

I also quite enjoy this Western-flavoured album which is fun-packed with melodious dance tracks and ballads.  It is produced by, among others, Chen Zi Hong, Huang Yun Ling and LA-based Korean musician Jae Chong.

The first single "Bang Bang Boom" is a cover of The Moffats' hit of the same name.  The second single "Love Love Love" is a nice R&B ballad written by Shen Bai Se.  One of the members Belinda even wrote an interesting light-tempo song called "Gay Guy" which is based on her real-life observation that most of her male friends (including the one she fancied) are gay.

If you have RealPlayer , you can click below to preview five of the new tracks.
Bang Bang Boom   --------  
Love Love Love  愛愛愛  --------
Gay Guy --------
Moon Party  --------
Healthy Separation  分手要健康  --------

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joi tsai

JOI TSAI (JOI) (SONY MUSIC) (NOV00)
淳佳的聲音是棉裡針
清純女聲用歌聲陪伴孤單的你
Our second local music export to Taiwan in this year alone : Joi Tsai (or Cai Chun Jia).

Background info : she first started out as a part-time singer in local folk-song lounge The Ark (or Mu Chuan) while her previous full-time occupation in Singapore was as an optometrist; her 1999 cover of Jeff Chang's hit "Love Is Like A Tide" (or Ai Ru Chao Shui) struck a chord among Taiwan listeners a few months back after it was featured in a Sony compilation release "Sony Shining Star"; and she has signed up with local musician's Billy Koh (or Xu Huan Liang) music production company thereby making her a colleague of fellow singer Kit Chan.

Produced wholly in Singapore, her debut album contains mostly sentimental numbers which suit her soothing vocals just fine.  Altogether there are eleven vocal tracks, including the first single "Love Is Like A Tide", the second single "Heart-To-Heart Talk" which is a light-tempo duet sung with Chris You Hong Ming, and the third single karaoke-friendly ballad "Caring Person, Lover" composed by Chen Yao Chuan and written by Yao Ruo Long.  Two of her performing friends from The Ark (Liang Wei Feng & Tang Yu Xuan) also wrote a track "Hair" for Joi.  

If you want to know more about Joi, you can click here to get more info in Big5 Chinese.

If you have RealPlayer , you can click below to preview all of the eleven tracks.
Love Is Like A Tide 愛如潮水   --------
Heart-To-Heart Talk 談心   --------
Caring Person, Lover 有心人,有情人   --------
Eye 眼睛   --------
Missing Home 想家   --------
Don't Wanna You To Leave 不想你走   --------
Self-Paid Trip 自助旅行   --------
He & She 他和她   --------
Hair 頭髮   --------
Where Does Love Come From 愛從哪裡來   --------
Eternal Flame --------

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jin xiu

JIN XIU (ROMANCE 1) (ROCK RECORDS) (NOV00)
最純情的錦繡
帶你回到最純真的初戀
Taiwan's female duo Jin Xiu (or Jin Xiu Er Chong Chang) has gone retro by coming out with a cover album containing famous oldie tunes mainly from the seventies.

Produced by Xie Zhong Ming, Li Zheng Fan and Li Xin Yun, the album has a total of fourteen tracks which were chosen painstakingly from an original list of over one hundred golden oldie selections.  A common thread among most of these songs is that they are movie theme-songs.  Although the cover tracks are given a new coat of music arrangement, the producers promise to retain the essence of the original recordings.

Some of the songs that I'm more familiar with include the first single "Cold Weather Nice Autumn" (or Tian Liang Hao Ge Qiu), "Together Apart" (or Ju San Liang Yi Yi) and "Fire In The Winter" (or Dong Tian Li De Yi Ba Huo).

The album comes with a bonus CD which has as much as seven new karaoke tracks taken from their current release.

If you have RealPlayer , you can click below to preview three of the oldie covers.
Cold Weather Nice Autumn 天涼好個秋   --------  
Sparrows On The Trees 雁兒在林梢   --------  
Fire In The Winter  冬天裡的一把火  --------  

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