Samuel Hui 許冠傑

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Semaine du 10 mars 2009 / Week of March 10th, 2009 Listen live to Radio Centre-Ville in Montreal. My part plays every Tuesday nights at around 11PM as part of the Chinese Cantonese musical show. 1. 鬼馬雙星 2. 天才白痴夢 3. 半斤八兩 Lorsque j’ai demandé à mes parents s’ils connaissaient Samuel “Sam” Hui, ils m’ont répondu … Continue reading “Samuel Hui 許冠傑”

Semaine du 10 mars 2009 / Week of March 10th, 2009

Listen live to Radio Centre-Ville in Montreal. My part plays every Tuesday nights at around 11PM as part of the Chinese Cantonese musical show.

1. 鬼馬雙星
2. 天才白痴夢
3. 半斤八兩

Lorsque j’ai demandé à mes parents s’ils connaissaient Samuel “Sam” Hui, ils m’ont répondu “bien sûr!”. Mon père m’a aussi dit que Sam Hui était remarquable notamment parce qu’il chantait en “zhuk yu”, c-a-d en langue parlée de tous les jours. Il m’a même fait le parallèle avec Les Belles-sœurs de Michel Tremblay, qui introduisit le joual dans le théâtre en 1965, et les musiciens de ces mêmes années comme Robert Charlebois et Beau Dommage qui chantaient en langue et en accent populaire. De la même façon, Sam Hui chantait en langue de tous les jours et touchait aussi des thèmes de la vie des gens ordinaires.

Pourquoi est-ce que je me mets à parler de Sam Hui, que j’ai probablement déjà entendu sans reconnaître? Parce que tout bonnement, l’autre semaine alors que je testais des trucs au travail, je suis tombé sur une page web de l’émission Fréquence libre à la Première Chaîne de Radio-Canada.

Philippe Fehmiu recevait cette semaine-là (c’était le 30 janvier 2009) Daniel Brière, le comédien et homme de théâtre qui joue aussi présentement dans la série humoristique Les Parent. Ce dernier avait son « plaisir coupable » à présenter, qui se trouvait à être une chanson de Sam Hui, qu’il avait entendu par hasard dans un resto du Quartier Chinois… (voir l’article)

Dans la chanson qu’il a présenté (半斤八兩 ou ben jin ba liang ou boon kun bat leung ou, comme M. Brière le traduit correctement, une expression qui veut dire à peu près « quatre trente sous pour une piasse » pour dire qu’on a pas tellement de choix dans la vie), Sam Hui parle en effet de la vie des travailleurs de Hong Kong dans les années 70, celles du miracle économique en Asie.

C’est une période obscure pour moi, étant donné que je n’ai jamais vraiment lu l’histoire de Hong Kong de cette époque et que tout ce que j’en sais vient des photos et histoires familiales et de la culture contemporaine hongkongaise qui y fait référence. (“ngo tei ta gong chai”, c’est “nous autres, les travailleurs”.)

Alors, quelle surprise que d’entendre du cantonnais à la Première Chaîne! (Surtout du bon vieux pop des années 70, hehe.)

SuperDay

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1. 巴士奇遇結良緣 (Strange Bus Here We Love) 2. 迷失超市 (Lost In Supermarket) 3. 有條尾 (Have A Tail) — Semaine du 3 février 2009 / Week of February 3rd, 2009 Listen live to Radio Centre-Ville in Montreal. My part plays every Tuesday nights at around 11PM as part of the Chinese Cantonese musical show. SuperDay is … Continue reading “SuperDay”

SuperDay 最新專輯 <<超級歲月>>

1. 巴士奇遇結良緣 (Strange Bus Here We Love)
2. 迷失超市 (Lost In Supermarket)
3. 有條尾 (Have A Tail)

Semaine du 3 février 2009 / Week of February 3rd, 2009

Listen live to Radio Centre-Ville in Montreal. My part plays every Tuesday nights at around 11PM as part of the Chinese Cantonese musical show.

SuperDay is a band from Hong Kong, which I discovered through the AMK cover album. They are a cool sweet cutie rock band, reminiscent of Tai Tau Fat, another Hong Kong band with squeaky vocals.

SuperDay were formed in 2002 by band members Superman and Brian. They were joined by Kwok Chi and Regine, specialist of the “cute female vocals”. Two years later, she dropped from the band, and was replaced by current member Winnie.

I like Lost In Supermarket, which refers to local Hong Kong supermarkets in its lyrics.

AMK (Adam Met Karl)

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1. 茘園 Lai Chi Kok Amusement Park 2. 山頂. 公仔. 波板糖 The Peak, The Doll and The Lollipop 3. Girls who don’t want to go home — Semaine du 27 janvier 2009 / Week of January 27th, 2009 Listen live to Radio Centre-Ville in Montreal. My part plays every Tuesday nights at around 11PM as … Continue reading “AMK (Adam Met Karl)”

(in the name of) AMK

1. 茘園 Lai Chi Kok Amusement Park
2. 山頂. 公仔. 波板糖 The Peak, The Doll and The Lollipop
3. Girls who don’t want to go home

Semaine du 27 janvier 2009 / Week of January 27th, 2009

Listen live to Radio Centre-Ville in Montreal. My part plays every Tuesday nights at around 11PM as part of the Chinese Cantonese musical show.

AMK seems to have a certain cult status among today’s indie bands in Hong Kong. AMK stands for Adam Met Karl, where Adam is Adam Smith, while Karl is Karl Marx. They describe themselves as “one of the most influential local indie bands in HK” on their MySpace, which could be agreed upon, based on the fact that a bunch of bands got together and released In The Name of AMK (as seen on the picture here above), a tribute to the band published by Harbour Records and unfortunately out of stock.

AMK’s song topics vary between urban life and politics. They sound a lot like a band from the late 80s, early 90s, because they are precisely that. Their sound is eclectic: they have louder, noisier songs like 納粹黨勇戰希特拉 (Nazis vs. Hitler) and some more melodic ones like 轉轉轉 (Pirouette) that have elements like the chorus and violin that remind me of Belle and Sebastian (although AMK in fact predates B&S). They did a mix of “post-punk, blues rock, neo-classical, noiseike, gothic (and even rap)”.

I chose the songs quickly for the pre-recording last week and even botched my intervention on air where I claimed that Anson Mak was a boy! You can download songs from Mak’s personal website (check the page’s source and you’ll find links to the mp3 files). 茘園 (Lai Chi Kwok Amusement Park) is an instrumental piece named after a now-defunct Hong Kong amusement park.

Then, I chose 山頂·公仔·波板糖 (The Peak, the doll and the lollipop), from their 1995 album 請讓我回家 (Please Let Me Home), a cute indie rock song covered by My Little Airport on In The Name of AMK. Since I did know that In The Name of AMK was a cover album, I was pleasantly surprised when I heard the original. The cover version played on a synthesizer and had even been my phone ringer for a long time.

The last song was “Girls who don’t want to go home” also from that 1995 album, which contains my favourite songs so far. It sounds like the kind of song you’d use as the ending song to some 90s (or pseudo-90s) satirical movie.

Judging on the length of this entry, you could say that I’m presenting one of my favourite bands in a long time!

Joyside – Booze at Neptune’s Dawn

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1. Booze At Dawn 2. Neptune Child 3. Sister Lunatic — Semaine du 20 janvier 2009 / Week of January 20th, 2009 Listen live to Radio Centre-Ville in Montreal. My part plays every Tuesday nights at around 11PM as part of the Chinese Cantonese musical show. The band of the week is Joyside, a relatively … Continue reading “Joyside – Booze at Neptune’s Dawn”

Joyside - Booze at Neptune's Dawn

1. Booze At Dawn
2. Neptune Child
3. Sister Lunatic

Semaine du 20 janvier 2009 / Week of January 20th, 2009

Listen live to Radio Centre-Ville in Montreal. My part plays every Tuesday nights at around 11PM as part of the Chinese Cantonese musical show.

The band of the week is Joyside, a relatively well-known band among punk/rock bands on the Beijing scene. They are regulars at D-22 and have been in some documentaries about the phenomenon of Beijing rock of the post-Cui Jian era.

I don’t know what to think of them, except that they are like you would expect from any rock band in the world: they like booze, women, are loud and outspoken.

Orange Doll 橘娃娃

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1. 熱血的男孩 Hot-blooded boy 2. 水果糖 Fruit Candy (Live) 3. 逃到墾丁去 (Jumping to Kenting) — Semaine du 13 janvier 2009 / Week of January 13th, 2009 Listen live to Radio Centre-Ville in Montreal. My part plays every Tuesday nights at around 11PM as part of the Chinese Cantonese musical show. One of the bands that … Continue reading “Orange Doll 橘娃娃”

Orange Doll 橘娃娃 at Spring Scream Double Rat

1. 熱血的男孩 Hot-blooded boy
2. 水果糖 Fruit Candy (Live)
3. 逃到墾丁去 (Jumping to Kenting)

Semaine du 13 janvier 2009 / Week of January 13th, 2009

Listen live to Radio Centre-Ville in Montreal. My part plays every Tuesday nights at around 11PM as part of the Chinese Cantonese musical show.

One of the bands that marked my trip to Spring Scream 2008 in Kenting, Taiwan, was Orange Doll (blog). It was one of the small bands that I discovered on my first night there. Hailing from Kaohsiung, Orange Doll is a three-girl, one-boy band that plays this sort of indie pop rock that I like a lot, with soft vocals provided by front-woman Wama. Another band member, bassist Yuco, cites HK’s My Little Airport as one of the bands she likes.

Earlier in January 2009, they were part of a show at Taipei’s The Wall livehouse called Voices from the South (Chinese).

Candy Monster

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1. Not Free 2. I’m Your Radio 3. Tiger Be Tough (Live) 4. Candy Monster — Semaine du 6 janvier 2009 / Week of January 6th, 2009 Listen live to Radio Centre-Ville. My part plays every Tuesday nights at around 11PM as part of the Chinese Cantonese musical show. An energetic Beijing-based punk, garage, hard … Continue reading “Candy Monster”

Candy Monster

1. Not Free
2. I’m Your Radio
3. Tiger Be Tough (Live)
4. Candy Monster

Semaine du 6 janvier 2009 / Week of January 6th, 2009

Listen live to Radio Centre-Ville. My part plays every Tuesday nights at around 11PM as part of the Chinese Cantonese musical show.

An energetic Beijing-based punk, garage, hard rock band, Candy Monster was one of the groups performing at D-22 the time I went to see Canadian band YSP!WSD!. I recently rediscovered them while listening to Neocha’s Next webradio.

Deserts Chang 張懸

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Semaine du 2 décembre 2008 / Week of December 2nd, 2008 1. 寶貝 (baobei / baby) 2. My Life Will 3. Outro Deserts Chang, who I knew by the Chinese name of Zhang Xuan, is one of the first “indie” musicians I listened to, back in ’06 I think. Her style is in fact standard … Continue reading “Deserts Chang 張懸”

Deserts Chang

Semaine du 2 décembre 2008 / Week of December 2nd, 2008

1. 寶貝 (baobei / baby)
2. My Life Will
3. Outro

Deserts Chang, who I knew by the Chinese name of Zhang Xuan, is one of the first “indie” musicians I listened to, back in ’06 I think. Her style is in fact standard alternative rock (standard coffeehouse style, says Wikipedia).

In fact, the funny thing is that I assumed her name to be “Desserts” until I payed attention when I visited Taiwan to actually see her perform live at Spring Scream 2008. If you listen to 寶貝 “Baobei”, her hit song, you can definitely believe that she definitely has well chosen her English name.

I said on air that the songs tend to be tougher, rougher, but I think it actually depends on the pieces that you listen to. The ones that I personally like are those tougher, rougher ones, more alternative than pop. “Outro” for instance, is one of them.

After her first album in 2005, independently-produced, she made two more in 2006 and 2007 with Sony BMG. That’s probably when a lot of people think she sold out… as if selling out was a choice to be successful in the Chinese-speaking music universe.

Nonetheless, she came to the “small” Spring Scream in Kenting, and I had no idea that she was performing until seeing the festival booklets (the website had originally listed her under her Chinese name, obviously, and as “DESERTS AND BAND” in English). The show was fine, but it was nothing really memorable like some other performers that night (notably the 88 Guava Seeds). It was still pretty enjoyable to hear that obscure indie music that you had been hearing for two years and finally got to listen live… (The Taiwanese however never have to come to Montreal to see Stars, becoz they go to them!)

My Little Airport – (Northern Europe is our last stop) & 窮人賣屎忽

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The My Little Airport of Hong Kong have two new songs. Get the mp3s from their website. The first one is called 北歐是我們的死亡終站 , or “Northern Europe is our last stop (death terminal)”, and is about young people discussing suicide and concluding that going to Finland to freeze themselves to death is the most romantic. … Continue reading “My Little Airport – (Northern Europe is our last stop) & 窮人賣屎忽”

Kid leaning outside the tram window

The My Little Airport of Hong Kong have two new songs. Get the mp3s from their website.

The first one is called 北歐是我們的死亡終站 , or “Northern Europe is our last stop (death terminal)”, and is about young people discussing suicide and concluding that going to Finland to freeze themselves to death is the most romantic. (The lyricist is not Nicole, but 阿雪?)

The second is a self-ad. MLA does gigs for money and this is an advert! “Despite the world economic crisis […], we are cheap, well-worth your money”, say the lyrics. (Edit 2008-12-03: It actually means “poor people selling their asses”.)

Music videos below the cut.

Continue reading “My Little Airport – (Northern Europe is our last stop) & 窮人賣屎忽”

Snapline / No Beijing

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Snapline, by Cisco Salvado Sebastiao 1. “Song #3” 2. “Song #4” The songs for Snapline were from a compilation called No Beijing, which cannot be found anywhere on Internet (the English one, at least), except on the Rock in China Wiki. Snapline must be a fun bunch, as their first and only album so far … Continue reading “Snapline / No Beijing”

Snapline, by Cisco Salvado Sebastiao
Snapline, by Cisco Salvado Sebastiao

1. “Song #3
2. “Song #4

The songs for Snapline were from a compilation called No Beijing, which cannot be found anywhere on Internet (the English one, at least), except on the Rock in China Wiki.

Snapline must be a fun bunch, as their first and only album so far was quoted by My Little Airport’s p in their hit “When the party is over, I miss my dear pornstar”, referring to Snapline’s own “Party is over, pornostar”, the name of that first and only album. I didn’t listen to the whole album – just bits and pieces over at their MySpace and Last.fm page. It might be possible to get their stuff over at iTunes, but I didn’t check.

In the Beijing scene, they are not *that* marginal, as crowds give worship status to their drummer (or is it guitarist?) Li Qing, also a band member of Carsick Cars, *the* biggest act in Beijing rock right now (or is it yesterday’s?). Snapline are with D-22, the shrine of rock bands in Beijing, close to Tsinghua ‘n Beida – surely the hippest area in Beijing for young people to hang out. (Their bass player is also on Carsick Cars, say the official webpage)

They released their album with Maybe Mars (Bing masi), the same label that released albums for Joyside and Carsick Cars, and obviously led by D-22 owner Michael Pettis who makes a living teaching and analyzing China’s financial markets over at Peking University (Beida).

What kind of music? Probably what you call post-punk. Snapline does have a sound that differentiate them from other known bands in the scene. They have (or had) two on their MySpace which starts with their leader going “Yi Er San Si…”, but the one that I like the most is , and unfortunately no longer on the MySpace.

Enno Cheng / 夏天的尾巴OST

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1. 世界的樣子 2. 夏天的尾巴 3. 小小的我 I picked up the music from a soundtrack to a coming of age movie from Taiwan called Summer’s Tail (夏天的尾巴). It has all the ingredients for a typical Taiwanese coming of age movie, complete with the heroine’s heart condition and that Japanese exchange student / love interest. I didn’t … Continue reading “Enno Cheng / 夏天的尾巴OST”

夏天的尾巴 soundtrack

1. 世界的樣子
2. 夏天的尾巴
3. 小小的我

I picked up the music from a soundtrack to a coming of age movie from Taiwan called Summer’s Tail (夏天的尾巴). It has all the ingredients for a typical Taiwanese coming of age movie, complete with the heroine’s heart condition and that Japanese exchange student / love interest. I didn’t see the movie, nonetheless, and bought the CD only because it was on the shelf at White Wabbit Records (see photos), a leading indie label based in Taipei close to that area of great universities near Taipower Building station. The soundtrack happened to be published by WWR as well.

While the soundtrack is dominated by a Taiwanese indie band called Aphasia (阿飞西雅), the songs that I wanted to put forth today are by singer Enno Cheng (鄭宜農), also the lead in the film. Her music (which she composes herself) varies from the alternative rock (song #1) to soft ballad (#3).