Jay Chou – Capricorn / Mo Jie Zuo

Track listing
1. Long Zhan Qi Shi
2. Gei Wo Yi Shou Ge De Shi Jian
3. She Wu
4. Hua Hai
5. Mo Shu Xian Sheng
6. Shuo Hao De Xing Fu Ne
7. Lan Ting Xu
8. Liu Lang Shi Ren
9. Shi Guang Ji
10. Qiao Ke Shu Shu
11. Dao Xiang

Jay Chou’s latest album was definitely a commercial success, selling over 1 million copies just in the first couple of weeks despite previous leaking online. But that’s not really a surprise. I think the real question is does the album match up to its huge sales?

If every song on the album was as good as the opening track, Long Zhan Qi Shi, then yes. The arrangement and the beats are superb, his rapping is smooth and the chorus is awesome. This track is an excellent example of his rock/R&B/hip-hop fusion style. She Wu is also fusion track but not as strong as the opening. It uses traditional Chinese sounds mixed with some beats. Actually after a while, the chorus gets a little annoying, but the rapping during the verses is not bad.

Khalil Fong – Ai Ai Ai

Tracklist
1. Ai Ai Ai
2. Shu Li Zhen
3. Ge Shou Yu Mo Te Er
4. Ai! Feat. Fama
5. Si Ren You Feat. Fiona Sit
6. Shou Tuo Shou
7. Tou Xiao
8. Goodbye Melody Rose
9. Shi Ren De Qing Ren
10. Tuo Nan Dai Nu
11. Love Interlude
12. If you leave me now
13. Chun Feng Cui Zhi Cui Cui Feng (Mix)

Ai Ai Ai uses an interesting mix of strings and Khalil’s calm beats. The strings give the song a real classical feel but the rhythms are clearly soul, and it combines for a really pleasant song. I love everything about this song: the melodies, the lyrics, and rhythms. Even though “ai” is repeated, it doesn’t sound old or repetitive. Around the end, he’s backed up by a bunch of people and it sounds great.

Fahrenheit – Fahrenheit

Tracklist
1. Wo You Wo De Young
2. Xia Xue
3. Zhi Dui Ni You Gan Jue – featuring Hebe from S.H.E.
4. Yi Ge Ren Liu Lang
5. Zhao Xing Fu Gei Ni
6. Ai Dao
7. Chu Kou
8. 2 Yue 30 Hao Jian
9. Qing Zai Wo Hou Hui Zhi Qian Li Kai Wo
10. Bu Si Zhi Mi
11. Zhi Dui Ni You Gan Jue – remix

Even though I’ve said that Fahrenheit as a group is pretty different from Johnny’s group, music-wise, they’re not much different. They’re well produced, supported by good songwriters, and most importantly – well marketed. Vocally, they’re not bad, but of course there’s always room for improvement. Also, when you first start listening to them, it’s difficult to tell the different between their voices except for Wu Chun who’s bass; the rest are all tenor.

Jay Chou – Wo Hen Mang / On the Run

Tracklist
1. Niu Zai Hen Mang
2. Cai Hong
3. Qing Hua Ci
4. Yang Guang Zhai Nan
5. Pu Gong Ying De Yue Ding
6. Wu Shuang
7. Wo Bu Pei
8. Che
9. Tian Tian De
10. Zui Chang De Diang Ying

Wo Hen Mang (I’m really busy)/ On the Run is Jay Chou’s 8th album. It was released on November 2, 2007 and peaked at #1 on the Mandarin charts for two weeks. It contained songs from his semi-recent movie, Secret, and was also Jay’s first release on his newly formed record label.

Fish Leong – j’Adore / Chong Bai

Tracklist
1. Chong Bai
2. C’est La Vie
3. Mei Tian Di Yi Jian Shi
4. Hui Hu Xi De Tong
5. 101
6. Yi Miao De Tian Tang
7. Gei Wei Lai De Zi Ji
8. Zhi Duo Shao
9. Shen Ming Zhong Bu Ke Cheng Shou De
10. San Cun Ri Guang
11. Yuan Lai Ni Ye Chang Guo Wo De Ge

I have a bit of a soft spot for Fish because she was one of the first Chinese artists I ever listened to; my first Fish album was Sunrise Wo Xi Huan…oh memories!! I don’t remember what I liked about her, but the next time I visited relatives in Taiwan, I made sure I bought another one of her albums. I don’t think I’ve ever listened to a Fish song that I hated. Sometimes, she surprises me with an amazing song, but most of her songs are just beautiful, so there’s really nothing to complain about.

Khalil Fong – Soulboy

Tracklist
1. Prologue
2. Mei Mei
3. Chun Feng Chui
4. Mei Tian Mei Tian
5. Nu Ren
6. Jiao Wo Zen Me Shuo
7. Na Pa
8. Nan Yin
9. Wo Men Neng Bu Neng
10. Tiao
11. Zong Jie
12. Gan Chang
13. Deng Zhe Ni Hui Lai

Soulboy is Khalil Fong’s debut album, released on November 18, 2005. It’s in Mandarin, despite the fact that he is actually based in Hong Kong. The compositions are a mix of soul and R&B and though I don’t usually like genres like this too often, I really enjoyed this album. It’s worth a listen even if you don’t like soul too much.

JJ Lin – Xi Jie

Tracklist
1. Du Bai
2. Sha Shou
3. Sha Shou @ Xu
4. Xi Jie
5. Wu Liao
6. Dan Tiao
7. K-O
8. Da Nan Ren – Xiao Nu Hai
9. L-O-V-E
10. Fa Xian Ai
11. Bu Liao Lei De Ji Chang
12. Baby Baby
13. Zhi You Bu Bian

West Side is JJ Lin’s fifth Mandarin album. It was released on June 29, 2007.

Du Bai starts off the album with a nice interlude first featuring a Chinese instrument then fading into piano. After, there is a monologue of sorts that introduces the next song, Sha Shou.

Sha Shou is definitely one of my favorite Chinese songs to listen to. It starts off with a simple piano melody and slowly blends in the rest of the elements. JJ’s vocals are somewhat muted the whole time, never getting too loud. I love the chorus, it’s pretty catchy and the echoing is really nice (there’s even a bit of French!). The song itself it quite morbid, as it depicts a guy murdering a girl because he loves her. As the lyrics go: “Why do killers exist? It’s because of love.” The next track Sha Shou @ Xu is pretty much a continuation of Sha Shou. If you played one after the other, you wouldn’t be able to tell that they are actually two separate tracks. Sha Shou @ Xu just features a slight change in pace with a little variation in the rhythm.

Cherry Boom – Guai Guai

Tracklist
1. Guai Guai
2. Ni Ai Wo Ma
3. Green
4. Qi
5. Ting Yuan
6. Shou Gou
7. Zai Yi Ci
8. Liar
9. Se Cai
10. Hu La La

Guai Guai (roughly translating into Goody-Goody) is Cherry Boom’s second album. It was released on June 4, 2007.

Guai Guai is a really catchy pop rock number. The rest of the band is also in the backing vocals more clearly, which I actually really liked about this song. The chorus is pretty catchy and the interlude after the first chorus is really nice. My favorite part is the short section where they all say ‘fin shou’ at different times; it’s pretty cute and sassy. One of my favorite Chinese songs.

Cherry Boom – Qin Ai De Wang Zi

Tracklist
1. Qing Xin De Zao Chen
2. Qin Ai De Wang Zi
3. Mi Mi Hua Yuan
4. Zai Jian Wo De Ai
5. Shi Yue
6. I Wanna Rock
7. Wo De Kong Qi
8. Xiao Chou Shi Jie
9. Bu Dui Ye Yao Ai
10. Hei Ye Lai Lin

I recently was in Taipei, Taiwan for a little over a month and discovered a great punk-pop-rock band. I was rather surprised to find them, since Taiwan has little to no rock. The music industry there is more R&B, hip-hop, and pure idol pop, which I can enjoy, but only to a degree. Not only is Cherry Boom an actual band, it’s a girl band! I picked up their second album first because it was a new release, and after listening to it a few times decided to buy their first album the next time I saw it.