long overdue post, especially for K

alok - 29 minutes from the end

a series of collaborations music and visual wise (dvd included in the foldout packaging). dark and psychedelic, i’ve been playing this a lot.

cheer chen - adventure

on my last day in hk, i finally found a copy of the limited edition booklet version. i used to run a mile away from this music, mostly because it was not rock enough! sentimental kills convinced me that cheer could have enough bite if she wanted to though.

there are also now three versions of the album - regular (bright blue cover), stab bound book (my one), and a box set with bonus dvd. it’s enough to drive you crazy, and the trend in general, as i contemplate ending up with more than one copy of several albums.

endy chow - light

he’s not obtuse rock at all, and i find myself apologising for liking something so straight. but endy writes some catchy songs, although i would prefer to scrub the ballads. he seems to have learnt a lot from joannes lam (black box), taking on more of the arrangement and production on this album.

he lists silverchair as an influence from the time he spent in new zealand, and it does come out in his singing style. also in his past two albums, he has done covers of hong kong indie bands, namely amk and anodize. there’s touches of the underground in his major label music, and his teenage band zarahn plans to release a cd in the future. i don’t know if he will be the first “hong kong rock artist to suceed” (whatever that means) since beyond but i’m glad for his presence on an otherwise band-less stage.

denise ho - butterfly lovers

the album is made up of the songs from the musical, loosely based on the butterfly lovers legend, but with a more modern interpretation (love exists in all forms).

in his review of the cd in esquire, pong nan gives credit to denise’s songwriting abilities, but also hopes that she uses less mainstream means to flesh out her songs. i would have to agree, although it’s hard to argue against the way she’s managed to put together an album that can do well commercially without being reductive, as well as being able to link up her artistic ambitions in the musical.

ketchup - in love again

acoustic tunes all sung in english, really quite lovely. i should’ve bought all the ketchup cds i saw while i was there, cos i sure can’t find them online either.

krusty - hello krusty

i can’t help but think of puffy when i see this duo. a lot of fun and the songs and production (courtesy of ho shan from pixeltoy and carl wong) are top notch. their first ep is a bit too short, but that’s because the new wave tunes and cute pop songs leave me wanting more.

my little airport - because i was too nervous at the time

the artwork and some of the songs make me think of nervous young love, naturally. nicole sings songs like gigi leung is dead, a pop idol used as a euphenism for the death of innocence (though fans of the real gigi leung were chucking a shit about the songtitle). i couldn’t really stomach the cutesiness of their debut album (the ok thing to do on sunday afternoon is to toddle in the zoo) but have found the guitars and drum machine of this one much more to my liking.

oliver - freddy and king

sorry, haven’t really been able to listen to this much. intense.

pixel toy - science of love

one thing that the artists in people mountain people sea and their signings (at17, pixeltoy) is that they’ve created their own signature sound while still managing to be commercially viable (the reality of the music business in hong kong). i’ve heard pixeltoy used to be less commercial before their debut album, and i have to wonder if it’s true.

nethertheless, their electronic pop is so fresh in the current musical climate, and their only real missteps are the vocal-less tracks where some of the cliched samples get tired.

pk14 - who and who

i was unable to find somewhere to buy this online (not even modern sky seem to have it), so was surprised when i spotted a copy in the panic. beijing punk is hackneyed, as if it’s either the sign of oppression or a new freedom. hang on the box has moved onto new wave. pk14 is somewhat unexpected then, as they look more to mission of burma and gang of four than nofx and the sex pistols.

yumiko cheng - yumiko’s space

produced and written mostly by eric kwok and carl wong, this album has been quite surprising coming from a cantopop singer. it would be interesting to see the sales, if the public used to their dosage of ballads and an occasional fast song could stomach it. it’s not revolutionary - akin to kylie minogue, though on a much smaller budget. no amount of production could hide yumiko’s thin voice though…