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Nan
Pong Nan (Singer)
Out of the ill-fated 2004-2005 wave of Hong Kong male singer-songwriters, Pong Nan has emerged as a curious survivor. As a low-profile singer-songwriter on a major label, he has largely stayed out of media attention in the last four years - an occasional face in the crowd at charity and award shows, an occasional name in song credits, an occasional poster on the wall for new releases. Without the populist appeal of pre-fab idols or the buzz of indie champions like Chet Lam, Pong Nan has nonetheless managed to stick around somewhere left of mainstream, quietly accumulating a loyal following of listeners with his earthy vocals, politely outspoken lyrics, and moody brooding melodies. Apparently... [read more]
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The Happy Life (DVD) (DTS) (First Press Limited Edition) (Special Edition) (Korea Version)
Jung Jin Young
| Jang Geun Suk
| Lee Joon Ik
| Kim Yoon Seok
Road trips, adultery, and rock bands are the most common cinematic remedies for male mid-life crisis, and director Lee Jun Ik and writer Choi Suk Hwan go for the latter in the eminently enjoyable The Happy Life. Much like Lee and Choi's 2006 hit Radio Star, their latest film is an intimate, entertaining, music-laced, and wonderfully acted tale of male camaraderie and aging dreams. Don't miss the chance to see pre-Chaser Kim Yoon Seok with eyeliner, spiked hair, and a Batman tattoo rocking out on bass. Jung Jin Young, who portrayed the king in Lee's King and The Clown, leads the cast as Gi Young, an amiable unemployed layabout living off his wife's salary. The death of his college bandmate... [read more]
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Big Bang : 3rd Mini Album - Stand Up
Big Bang
After the curious strategy of trying to enter the Japanese market with English albums, Big Bang has returned to their native fighting ground where their quirky fashion, oversized sunglasses, and ridiculously catchy rhymes are best appreciated. The group's third mini album Stand Up largely follows the formula of last year's Always and Hot Issue, which means six hip-pop dance numbers that get stuck in your head very fast. The integration of rap and hip-hop into mainstream pop has long been a unique aspect of K-pop since the days of Seo Tai Ji and Boys, but Big Bang has really embraced the genre and taken it to a new commercial pop high. Title track Stand Up (Track 1) and the following Haru... [read more]
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I am Your Singer (First Press Limited Edition)(Japan Version)
Southern All Stars
It's hard to think of another artist or group that has given as much to Japanese music over the last 30 years as Southern All Stars has. With a laidback, rugged pop rock appeal that crosses generations and genres, the legendary band has been topping charts and cheering hearts for three decades. Life wouldn't quite be the same without the music of Southern All Stars. Marking the band's 30th anniversary, their latest single I Am Your Singer opens happily with jovial beats and a carefree trumpet, creating a blithe and relaxed mood as Kuwata Keisuke's familiar voice rolls in. The song's opening lines - "I am your singer/My reason for living/Is to see your countless smiles" - brought an immediate... [read more]
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God Man Dog (DVD) (Deluxe Edition) (Taiwan Version)
Tarcy Su (Actor)
| Jack Kao (Actor)
| Jonathan Chang Yang Yang (Actor)
| Chang Han
Taiwan director Singing Chen waxes lyrical about religion, relationships, and stray dogs in her poetically quirky sophomore feature God Man Dog. This modern allegory follows a group of disparate souls who are very different and yet the same as they make sense of their fragile beliefs and bungled lives. Exploring self, questioning faith, and affirming life, God Man Dog's uncommon method of storytelling and odd leaps of faith should strike chords with both the doubtful and the devoted. The first half of God Man Dog is slow moving, if not downright depressive, as the characters and their various unhappy states of existence are introduced. Pianist Ching's (Tarcy Su) mental health and marriage to... [read more]
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Faces Of FanFan (3CD)
Christine Fan (Singer)
Fan Wei Qi is a singer who's easy to like, and yet also easy to let slip by. With her down-to-earth image and personality and comfortable, low-key numbers, she doesn't have the pop diva appeal of singers like A-mei Chang, Stefanie Sun, Elva Hsiao, and labelmate Angela Chang, but at the same time falls short of the full-fledged singer-songwriter acclaim of Tanya Chua and Cheer Chen. This might be why it took me so long to purchase my first Fan Fan album. Though I've always liked her music, come checkout time, I'm too easily lured away by the big name albums or the small indie releases. I didn't quite realize how many great hits she has, how familiar her songs are, until I sat down to listen... [read more]
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Cupia Vol. 1 (Japan Version)
Japan Various Artists
| Rentrer en Soi
| Versailles
| Dio
In October 2007, Cure and PIA magazines organized a concert at the C.C. Lemon showcasing up-and-coming visual kei bands. Along with the concert, the compilation Cupia Vol. 1 featuring songs from the 14 participating bands was released. As only a casual follower of visual kei, most of the bands featured in Cupia are new names to me, and I found the album to be a great collection for those who want to scratch beyond the surface of the familiar big acts. Catch these bands before they go big, go missing, or go soft for Oricon consumption. Four-man band Nega starts things off loudly with hard rock and creepy whispers in altar (Track 1). While the song's composition itself is average, the... [read more]
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Pia EP - Urban Explorer
PIA
Straying farther and farther from their origins with every release, PIA's new album Urban Explorer again sees the band evolving and embracing a new amorphous identity. By now, I've almost forgotten that PIA started out as a metal band as they haven't been doing too much screaming lately. Compared to their 2001 debut album Pia@arrogantempire.xxx, Urban Explorer sounds like the work of a completely different band. If their music has gotten less defined over the years, it has also become more agreeable and diverse, indicative of the band's willingness to explore and experiment with new styles and elements. Seo Tai Ji continues to be an important influence over PIA as he serves as executive... [read more]
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Wong Kar Kui Memorial Album (CD + DVD + Photo Album)
Wong Ka Kui (Singer)
| Steve Wong Ka Keung
I don't remember much about the summer of 2003, but I remember June 30th. That was the day I arrived in Hong Kong for vacation, and that was the day Wong Ka Kui left the world. As someone who grew up listening to Hong Kong music in the 80s and 90s, Beyond and Wong Ka Kui hold a special spot in my - and I'm sure many other people's - memories. I was quite young when he passed away so I didn't really understand back then what Wong Ka Kui represented for Chinese music, and what his premature death stole from Chinese music fans. But as the years passed, where the idol crushes fade away, Beyond's music remains. Already, it's been 15 years since Wong Ka Kui passed away, and three years since... [read more]
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Giniro no Season (DVD) (Standard Edition) (English Subtitled) (Japan Version)
Tanaka Rena
| Eita
| Tamayama Tetsuji
| Aoki Munetaka
Considering I didn't even particularly like Hasumi Eiichiro's box office-topping Umizaru films, my expectations were fairly modest as I walked into the theater, wondering why I got up early on a Saturday morning to catch the Hong Kong Film Festival's screening of Giniro no Season. Thankfully, Giniro proved to be every bit as entertaining as it is lightweight. The people are pretty, the snow is fluffy, the scenery is beautiful, and skis fly high into the sky for an enjoyable commercial sports film with an undemanding story and high rewatch value. I'm glad I woke up early to see the skiing and snowscape on the big screen. Eita, who got an extra shot of popularity after Nodame Cantabile, gets... [read more]
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Throw Down (DTS Version) (US Version)
Aaron Kwok
| Tony Leung Ka Fai
| Johnnie To (Director)
| Louis Koo
The world of Throw Down can only be described as judo jiang hu meets contemporary Hong Kong. Johnnie To's amusing tribute to Kurosawa and the hard-boiled samurai flicks of yesteryear, the film is an engaging, whimsical action melodrama filled with quirky, earnest characters floundering about in odd, yet oddly compelling, situations. Aaron Kwok plays a wide-eyed judo enthusiast who wants to challenge former judo champion Louis Koo to a duel, but instead finds a mumbling, stumbling, drunken man, a shadow of his former self. Refusing to leave without a match, Kwok stays on at Koo's bar as a saxophonist alongside a sexy-cute aspiring singer, played by the sexy-cute Cherrie Ying. For Kwok, Koo,... [read more]
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Super Junior - Happy 1st Mini Album - Cooking? Cooking!
Super Junior
Every time I turn around, a new Super Junior unit has sprouted from nowhere. Certainly with three Super Junior albums released in about a month's time, it seems Father SM is testing the patience and wallets of even the most faithful. At first gander, Super Junior Happy does have the suspicious air of being slapped together - an antidote to occupy members not in Super Junior M and to distract fans still chanting "Only 13" - but their mini album has turned out to be a very agreeable release. If pop music is meant to be happy, harmless, and entertaining, then Super Junior Happy's Cooking? Cooking! passes with flying colors. In comparison to the picture-perfect boy band image of Super Junior M... [read more]
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Choice is Yours (Japan Version)
AAA
Although my overall feelings for AAA are fairly neutral, I volley between loving and hating their music with every other single they put out. It's almost uncanny how they keep reeling me in with a completely fun and fresh eurobeat pop dance track, and then scaring me away with their next strangely shrilly, off-tempo, eurobeat-jackhammer dance track. Still, AAA's distinctive style makes them consistently interesting, and compels me to at least listen to every release they put out. Their latest Choice is Yours is a mini album from only the five male members of the group. Although the group has recorded "boys-only" and "girls-only" tracks before, this is the first time AAA has divided out by... [read more]
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With A Girl Of Black Soil (DVD) (Korea Version)
Jeon Soo Il
There are few cinematic settings that assure depression as much as "coal mining town". Add children to the lot, and you're just about guaranteed a gloom ride. Indie drama With a Girl of Black Soil, however, is not so much gloomy but devastating, using minimalist storytelling to maximum effect. Director Jeon Soo Il, who previously impressed with Time Between Dog and Wolf, has certainly crafted a minor masterpiece completely deserving of the accolades it received on the festival circuit. With a Girl of Black Soil revolves around spunky young Young Rim, an energetic girl with an easy smile and maturity beyond her years, brilliantly portrayed by child actress Yoo Yeon Mi. Though only nine years... [read more]
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Smile - Seiya no Kiseki (DVD) (English Subtitled) (Japan Version)
Jinnai Takanori (Director)
| Iijima Naoko
| Hara Sachie
| Sato Koichi
For anyone who's ever thought that The Mighty Ducks would be better if Emilio Estevez tap danced, Jinnai Takanori has got the movie for you! Smilers is about a failed tap dancer who has to coach a scrappy junior hockey team to victory in order to win over his prospective father-in-law. He can't skate, the kids can't win, and the stage is set for some good 'ol sports movie action. The journey Smilers takes is certainly tried and true, but director Jinnai Takanori dots the film with his own peculiarities. For one thing, the coach (Moriyama Mirai) guides play with the rhythm of his tap shoes and assuages his team's insecurities with child psychology. Smilers also angles for sniffles as much as... [read more]
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Mystery (CD+DVD) (Taiwan Edition)
Yoga (James) Lin (Singer)
Afalean Lu and Aska Yang may have beat him to the solo debut, but patience has proven to be wise for One Million Star's first season winner Yoga Lin. After all, Afalean Lu's debut album was buried quickly after being rushed out with cover songs and an awful cover. Aska Yang fared much better, of course, but chart-topping sales can't quite hide the feeling that his debut album is carried by spectacular vocals and hindered by unspectacular songwriting. Yoga Lin's debut album could easily have gone in the same solid, but subdued direction as Aska Yang's, and no one would have complained considering the young singer's proven vocal talent and popularity pretty much guaranteed sales. But Yoga... [read more]
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Always - Sunset on Third Street 2 (DVD) Standard Edition) (English Subtitled) (Japan Version)
Tsutsumi Shinichi
| Yoshioka Hidetaka
| Koyuki
| Suga Kenta
With Always - Sunset on Third Street 2, director Yamazaki Takashi has achieved the near impossible: he's made a sequel equal to the original. In comparison to the first film, Always 2 is neither better nor worse, neither bigger nor smaller, but very much the same. It's not just a matter of replicating the success, quality, and formula; Always 2 actually looks, sounds, and feels exactly like the first film. This kind of consistency, continuity, and welcome familiarity feels less like a franchise and more like a family drama - like a 70s family sitcom where every episode is set in the same small world with the same people and same problems, and the audience eagerly tune in everyday to see what... [read more]
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Lowell Lo 08 Suddenly A Magic Moment (CD+DVD)
Lowell Lo (Singer)
I'm a fairly frequent visitor of the Hong Kong Coliseum, but something felt different on May 17 as I settled into my mountain seat at Lowell Lo in Concert 2050. For one thing, the woman next to me looked like she might be giving birth any second. Instead of the excited teenyboppers and disaffected headboppers that populate the idol and indie concerts I usually attend, this time I was surrounded by middle-aged couples, smiling seniors, and families with children. It was an event that made me feel simultaneously young and old; young because I was a good 15 years lighter than the people next to me, old because I first listened to Lowell Lo when I was the same age as the children being brought... [read more]
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Radio Dayz (DVD) (Director's Cut) (Limited Edition) (Korea Version)
Kim Sa Rang
| Ryoo Seung Bum
| Lee Jong Hyuk
| Hwang Bo Ra
Chungmuro has popped out so many half-baked efforts lately I'm beginning to dread watching Korean films, which is why I'm very glad to have found some consolation in director Ha Ki Ho's debut feature Radio Dayz. Coming on the coattails of one too many movie about cheating partners and dying parents/kids, Radio Dayz quietly affects and amuses with a lighthearted story in serious times. Set in the 1930s during the Japanese colonial period, the film follows a ragtag team of characters working at Korea's first radio station as they throw together the country's first radio drama while dealing with pressure from above, internal squabbling, writing blocks, revolutionary activities, and general... [read more]
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Shion (Japan Version)
Mucc
I suspect (okay, I know) that one of the reasons I like MUCC more than other J-rock bands of similar sound and stature is because their name is fun to say out loud. More importantly, the band is also easy to like. MUCC's comfortable reach over hard and soft rock offers something for everyone without coming off as disconnected. Their latest release Shion sees the band going in a moodier and more experimental direction. The album displays the band's usual eclectic range of rock, but the arrangements and genre crossovers are more ambitious and theme-driven, bringing diverse sounds together into a forthright rock album that gets better with every listen. Shion kicks off with a wonderful... [read more]
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