If you're yet to discover the wonders of Xu Wei, then this compilation is a great place to start. The Day comes with 15 selected songs from the Mainland singer-songwriter's last three albums - Ai Ru Shao Nian, It's New For Every Moment, Through the Time - covering a good portion of his music from 2002 to 2008, or what I would call his mellow years.

Critics quip that Xu Wei's albums all sound the same, and the observation is not unfounded. But Xu Wei's hearty, heart-tugging folk and guitar rock numbers don't just pitch a common sound, but rather a common sentiment, a continuing story of living and moving, crying and dreaming, and staying true to self in an aging, changing world. Since 2002's Through the Time, Xu Wei's music has mellowed down from the moodier, more alternative youth outcries of his early years to wispy, soothing, lyrical anthems for life's freedom-seeking drifters, or at least freedom-seeking commuters.

Xu Wei's easy-flowing notes and heart-soaring lyrics offer peace of mind at 8 a.m. on a crowded subway train. There's an escapist tranquility in the mesmerizing percussion and ethnic music-inspired arrangements and chanting of "Distant Sky" (Track 11), or the laidback rhythm and carefree rock of "Through the Time" (Track 7), or the steady guitar chords and poetic huskiness of "Perfect Life" (Track 2). Strumming away somewhere between pop and poetry, Xu Wei is certainly one of the best mainstream singer-songwriters in Chinese music today, even if he's still nary known outside of the Mainland.

As China Version compilations go, The Day goes the extra inch with new photography and album packaging. Song lyrics are divided onto three foldouts featuring the original album cover. Scattered among the song lyrics are comments from 15 notable figures including Zhang Yadong, Huang Lei, and Kevin Tsai about their views on Xu Wei's music. The font and layout of these comment boxes, however, were apparently not designed by people who intended for the squint-eye text to be read.

Since I already have all of Xu Wei's albums, I mainly purchased this compilation out of curiosity about the DVD, a 29-minute documentary containing interviews with different people about what Xu Wei's music means to them. The documentary isn't all that interesting, but at least it shows there are other people out there who find meaning and inspiration in Xu Wei's music.