晴空万里的"天空" [the sky is the limit]

2v1g did a sold-out showcase in esplanade singaproe last weekend.
more pictures to come but here's one of the best songs of the night.

綻放 1 [bloom part 1]

"bloom" is meant to be a collective milestone for us.

it comes in parts/volumes, so whenever we think it is appropriate, we take stock of our progress and achievements.

well, you can think of it as the done-to-death "audiophile voices", just that it has more class and sincerity for the sole reason that this is 100% of our own production and we don't buy tracks from third party to fill up the album.

you will be re-acquainted with the all-new 2v1g, who will be making its debut appearance in esplanade this weekend. this new 2v1g had me thinking about releasing a 3rd album next year, that much it inspires me.

it has the ever-sensuous and fabulous lydia chew, the all-season uncle-killer. lydia may hate us for teasing her with that unflattering title. but truth be told, most people will buy this album with no hesitation if he listens to the two tracks from lydia. dang, they may just buy the album just because lydia sings in it!    

then we have our regular winnie ho showcasing you why she is the crowd's choice to handle some really funky and kick-ass tunes.

also making a return is the ever sweet and sassy bossa princess. her second bossa album may be long overdue but she quenches your thirst here with a very likeable track.

not forgetting about our newcomer, serena chong. she is gonna show you why she is chosen to join the ranks of winnie ho and lydia chew. this unassuming lady has a gem of a voice that is worth your time listening.

two bonus tracks, instrumentals from maestros tay cher siang and roger wang respectively.

together, we have here for you, our report card for the first 5 years.      

p/s also for the first time ever, we are gonna have 3 vocal coaches in one album. one for lydia, one for winnie, one for serena and zyan.  

女神來了! [goddess is here!]

life is stressful of late, with so many projects on-going simultaneously. then there's the GE13 to worry about....

i don't care, i am gonna put aside all the work and go watch my goddess sing at the bee, publika on friday 8pm.

yes, freya lin fan is here today. baffled me why rock records chose the bee, such upmarket place to do a meet-n-greet. but who am i to complain? right, i would even pay RM100 to watch freya in PGRM (sarcastic smile)

freya is enjoying a wonderful comeback, with her recent two albums. if everyone can discern great voices, then freya would be the undisputed diva in today's chinese pop scene. unfortunately, she needs some really good pop songs to propel her back to the forefront of the game again.

i would say, freya is a late bloomer but it is always better late then never. with a voice like her, she could compete with cai qin when she goes into her 40s, 50s.

i guess most probably she will be singing 3-4 songs at most but even that is enough to spend my friday night meaningfully. 

will you be there?   

亞庇文化街 [banyak gaya, party play]

the same poster given a new text!

we love kota kinabalu. and it is not because of roger wang!

in our third visit 3 months ago (the previous two were KK jazz festival so not much time to discover the place), we fell in love, hook, line and sinker.

the most happening place is this street called gaya street, as some of you may know. it is nothing like any other street anywhere else in malaysia. it has a broad boulevard feel and the shops on both sides of the street are a queer mix of old and new cultures. you could feel plenty of vibes in the air, a vibrancy waiting to explode in the not-too-distant future.

along the street, we find a cool pub/cafe called party play. we sat down for a drink and guess what was being played on the PA system? bai an! if the boss likes bai ann, then he must be some unique boss, not your china-pek type. so our instinct told us to go up and find out who the boss is. lucky enough, dominic was sitting in one corner and we introduced ourselves.  dominic is a totally cool chap, he buys a lot of CDs and he listens to "high society" stuff and a bit of audiophile music, so we hit right where it matters!

a couple of emails later, we found ourselves on the list of live acts in party play!

after our nation-wide tour of 2v1g, we found only several states worthy of our further development, apart from our HQ in KL, of course. penang, is on top of the list, though even penangites themselves admit to being stingy about paying but hey, 100+ people paid to watch us in china house last december! so, i think they are willing to pay if they know they can get quality shows.

second, it has to be KK. people here are slightly different from us money-chasing stressed-to-the-max folks. they are down to earth, easy-going, relaxed and they love arts & culture immensely. have you ever wondered why so many great musicians come from sabah?

third, and a far third, is melaka. melaka has potential but it is gonna take a long long time, compared to penang and KK.

so, come may 3rd adn 4th, we will be performing live at party play! i think it is the first ever chinese jazz gig in KK, another record is made!

banyak gaya in gaya street!
      

榴蓮之旅 [the durian trip]

we don't expect malaysians to go, but there are some who are going!

for the esplanade concert,  2V1G will be presenting many classic mandarin hits of the 70s, 80s and 90s. the best part is, there will be a segment dedicated to famous singaporean singer-songwriters like liang wen fu and kit chan. their music will get the special 2V1G treatment!

another bonus:  singapore pretty and multi-talented singer-songwriter tay kewei is the special guess, how can you not be excited? we definitely are!

綻放 2013 [bloom 2013]

this year we are not gonna release an individual artiste's album. instead, it will be a various artiste collection featuring the family artistes of pop pop music.

so, there will be the new 2V1G (with serena chong), zyan, roger wang, tay cher siang and yes, yes, yes, i know you are waiting, lydia chew.

initially we wanted to insert some old songs from the back catalog, then we thought carefully, most of you got all the albums already, so we decided to make all 12 songs new.

it is unfathomable to release a full-production album in such undesirable climate, but as you know, we always have other plans ;-)

target release timeframe would be before july, before all the regional hi-fi shows start. well, we don't rely much on audiophile sales but still, it is no harm to sell some 500+ copies to recoup back some production money.

we are busy, really busy, but we change our production strategy for this album. we don't produce one whole album in a fixed timeframe, instead we record single by single, based on our inspirations. truth be told, we have accmulated some 4 singles since last year, all ready to be included in this milestone album.

it is cool to reflect on how we started back in 2008 and how we progress to what we are now. we are grateful for everything, and to every singer and musician in the family.

if we were driving, we are now shifting from 2nd gear to 3rd third, quickly picking up the momentum in the music highway.  the chaotic climate in the music world suits us best. it is only in such crazy times, you get to stand tall and mighty.

so, "bloom 2013" will be easily the most talked-about chinese album in malaysia in 2013.  we don't care that about the sales (it will be silly to even think we can repeat the phenomenal numbers of past years), we care about how much mileage we get out of it.

we shall report all the activities on the "making of" starting now.....     

狂熱工程師 [cult engineers]

cheer chen and cohort-cum-boyfriend tiger chung has shown the pop world what can be achieved with quality indie music, done the cultish ways.

there used to be a cynical joke in the boardroom of big record labels in taiwan in the early 90. the top executives used to be making sarcastic statements about cheer chen's record sales: "it is only 50,000 copies compared to our jay chou/wang-li-hom of 300,000 copies", so they remarked. fast forward to 21st century, the joke has fallen flat on the faces of the big label record executives because "cheer chen is still selling 50,000 copies whereas jay chou and wang-li-hom have fallen below 10,000 copies". you get the joke, don't you?

so, cheer chen, under the new label "team ear" has conquered pop with her own unique ways, with very little A&P money spent, very little sensationalization and rumor-mongering and even much less publicity and media attention. to the media all over the chinese entertainment world, cheer chen is not newsworthy and even boring actually.

now having achieved a grade-A report card, she and tiger could finally go back to their roots of indie music, doing things that only come-of-age musicians dare to do, much like the post-OK computer radioheard did in "KID A". total experimentation, total pushing of boundaries and full spirits of indie music. "verse", an album of indie electronica, is the product of this spin-off project from the wonderful couple team from taiwan. add another electronica wizard in chen jian qi, the trio is technically complete and musically unbeatable.

we are not here to review the album. suffice to say, it is hugely satisfying and totally refreshing as far as the marriage of indie electronica with commercialism goes. what we are more keen is to analyze how this super couple practically "engineered" the cult movement since the late 90s.

few important elements in this cult movemment/label that any aspiring artiste or even wannabe must follow if they were to emulate their success:

1) intellectual photography, writing and videography 

cheer, herself, a graduate of psychology, writes poems, prose and beautiful lyrics. this itself separates her from dozens of singer-songwriters from the rest of the chinese world. coupled with her keen sense of the shutter, she photographs beautifully. she is also backed up by a team of very very artistic people who are good in video, editing and artistic compositions. watching cheer live, whether in small venues or big stadiums, has become a pursuit of beauty and perfection. she looks good, more so with the photography and videos.

2) leadership quality and influencing power

intellects like to follow intellects. cheer has influenced decades of university students and social intellects who are not contented with commercial chinese pop music. cheer becomes their leader, their spokesman. her music becomes their religion. she represents the voice of intellects and the learned. who else could have such influencing power in taiwan? mayday, probably but mayday is a pop group, commercialized and properly strategized. i don't think cheer chen actually strategized her road to succcess.

3) merchandising

cheer learns merchandising from western indie acts. so from early days, she serialized her singles, created limited editions and made her singles precious and only available to the very few. she writes books, produces memorabilia... these are all influences from the the west. well, many have copied this formula and failed, because he or she does no have the mental quality of this petite little indie queen, nor their fans have this appreciation of such intellectual novelty.

4) coolness, image and fan-buidling

when you are considered cool, naturally you attract fans. how to be cool? it is not like you purposely act cool and you attract fans. in real person, cheer is quiet, demure and soft-spoken but beneath that shy exterior is a lady with a heart of steel, a mind of a giant and creativity that is boundless. of course, her recent works showed signs of stagnation, but every artiste hits a bottleneck once in a while, hence the birth of this album "verse" to totally change directions and take a break, we guess as much.

5) total ignorance of mainstream media

 when you have your own reach, do you need the mainstream media?  

6) total absence of rumors, sensationalization and media ass-licking

again, cheer doesn't give two hoods on these. terminally cool.

7) supreme technical and musical knowledge

it is true to say without tiger chung, cheer chen would not have progressed this far. tiger is a technically accomplished musician that's unlike many mainstream producers in taiwan. i believe he is made of different mettle.

8) constant influences from the western music

this fab couple listens a lot to western music and borrows the best from them and infuses into their music. the best thing about cheer chen is how smart she "borrows" chord progressions from famous western hits and improvise into something totally her own. she has been accused of plagiarizing but seriously, even if it is true, it is always done with genius touches.

THE VERSE(陳綺貞＋鍾成虎＋陳建騏)_52赫茲 @ 2012簡單生活節綠意舞台 from Marty Yamada on Vimeo.

disclaimer: the above opinion expressed is solely the blogger's. it has nothing to do with pop pop music's artistes or musicians. there is no association with them as far this blog is concerned. read and make your own wise and mature judgement.  
     

守的雲開 [rewards come to those who wait]

every aspiring malaysian artiste or artiste manager dreams of "going overseas", but how many actually achieve that by sheer virtue of musical merits?

some purposely "sends" himself - at his own or the company's expense - to overseas for the sake of "going overseas" and having that coveted recognition when he returns to malaysia. well, you know my drift, that's the normal game in the pop industry la.  everyone does that to win media recognition.

truth is, "going oversea" not only needs musical merits, a lot of luck but a lot of connections as well. there is no point to "go overseas" when you don't know the market conditions in the foreign land and don't have a local agent who is well versed in the local culture and media connections.

so, "going overseas" is not as simple as it seems. it takes patience and good timing too.

is 5 years too long a wait to "go overseas"?

not at all, when your music is a timeless genre. 5 years in music is way too long, for a less fortunate singer could have been umemployed or forced to retire from the business by then. again, you get my drift.

it is all the more difficult when your trip to overseas is not aided by the normal channels, i.e. pop commercialism and succcesses and recognition by the mass media, like fish leong, michael wong and gary chow.

so, the fact that 2v1g is going to singapore's esplanade comes as priceless as dato' lee winning the olympics gold. sure, a bit of exaggeration but again, you get my drift. :-)

esplanade is an international arena for many many visiting overseas artistes. they also support many local artistes. they have many halls, many festivals and many presentation formats. normally the ticketed events are reserved only for the very good ones, or visiting international artistes.

we attempted to perform in the esplanade in 2008, when 2v1g was at the peak of their fame. but it was merely an attempt with no strong follow-up.

so, 5 years is not really a long time to those who wait.  patience is our strongest virtue, timeless is our music.

mark your calendar, 19th of may 2013, a malaysian chinese acoustic trio is gonna perform infront of many critical singaporean and malaysian audience.

and in all likehood, 2v1g will score, like they always do, given the best environment and appreciative audience.
  

alternative thinking [另類思維]

many local pop producers are struggling to make ends meet. i mean, after spending some RM200K on an album plus the associated A&P,  what's there to recoup? nothing. absolutely nothing. in the past a local chinese pop album can still hope to chalk 1,000-2,000 copies but now, now the figure is reduced to 100 or 200 copies at most.

we have been approached by a couple of producers to share ideas on how to rescue this dire situation, how to make sustainable income in this cut-throat music industry.

some of these producers are tired of commercial pop music and they wanna do something different, like creating a joanna wang, a bai an, a olivia ong, or a zee avi for the malaysian market.

we feel too willing to help but we warn them that a complete paradigm shift, or a total alternative thinking,  is needed to do something like this, in a cultural desert that's malaysia.

       
1)  throw away traditional media, build your own media reach

that's not to say, ditch those newspapers reporting but rather don't rely too much on that. your fans that you are targetting don't read newspapers anymore!

once you internalize this fact, then you would stop worrying about creating sensationalized news for your singers, like who's she is dating currently and whether she was pregnant at the age of 14. don't waste time on creating headlines like these in the chinese gossip columns. we want substance. put your all energies on the music, and music alone.

start embracing the blogs, facebook, twitter... or just simple email marketing.  using the new media, create your own media reach.

2) be an hardcore opinion leader, start a cult group.

you have to be hardcore as a leader of the movement. your speak fervently of your passion, your ambition to renew the scene in your country. people who are gonna follow your music want to respect you for your spirits, courage and vision. you have to be very hardcore in the music you lead and promote. very hardcore. only then you can lead a cult and revolution.

3) be an authority in the music you promote

you want to create another zee avi? you have to give reasons why. you have to be good in creating a new genre of music. you have to know who inspire you and who you inspire in return. you have to be the authority of your own brand of music. nothing short of top-notch confidence can make you the leader of the pack. talk your walk, walk your talk.

make things happen. make people respect you as the authority in your brand. 

4) once you have all these, get the best musicians you can afford
  
stop thinking that only vocalists matter in a song. the crowd that follow zee avi know how to listen to instruments and arrangements as well.

this is no longer chinese karaoke territory where only the chorus matters. start spending thoughts on arrangements, instrumentations and vocal presentation and lastly, recording quality. it does not need to be audiophile level but at least it has to be decent, well mixed and well mastered.   

your crowd is a demanding one, not the those kids who prefer downloads.   


5)  be business and marketing savvy

most producers are hardcore musicians and they are not the best people for business. in such cases, get someone else to handle the business aspects.

doubling role as a producer and a sale-n-marketing directors always spells doom for the business.  
 
really, if you have a good product and you fail to market it , it is as good as failure.   
 
6) choose your battleground

remember to abandon your formal playground of pop music.

you are to build a new fan base using your new genre of music.

this group of people are discerning, they don't read gossip columns and they don't download. they are not interested in whether your female vocalist is single or engaged.

identify these people and lure them into your music.  influence them, lure them, educate them, very soon they would stick to your brand.

爵士， 絕對不是！ [don't blame it on jazz!]

we have always felt that being a reviewer in music and hifi is a lonely hobby, cos very few writers are true to themselves. glad to know, now we have another blogger with a critical view, who writes in mandarin! well, if you don't read mandarin, can try google translator to get the gist of his writing.

song is music

song shares the same passion in music, particularly jazz. and he has the same sad sentiments about some of these jazz albums coming out in the market in the last two years. just like what we wrote in our last blog spot. so, we are not alone. we never think we are alone, just that most of those who agree with us prefer to keep it silent.

one thing that song forgot to add was, how shocking the vocal quality of some of these so called audiophile jazz albums! this has been our observation all along, we suspect some of these little indie audiophile productions (from HK, in particular) do not engage a vocal guide/coach, a specialist who guides the singer in the studio. this role is all-to-important but eclipses audiophile producers as they think they don't need one or don't have budget for one.

a good vocal guide would bring out the best out of the singer. he or she would know how to coax the singer to sing a certain verse with emotion, or how to phrase certain words, whether too add lib or scat at the right places, what kind of feel he wants for the song, to pick up the accurate diction and identify pitching problems... just too many to list, he is just too indispensable .... a singer, no matter how professional or how great he/she is, would need a vocal guide in the studio!        
 

何苦 [why bother]

while everyone is looking to do something different, churning out a jazz album seems like one of the more popular choices.

we are not sure what these record executives have in mind, all these jazz albums had the chinese singers sing in english. while ABC (american born chinese, a term widely used in the chinese entertainment industry to denote english educated ones) ones like karen mok and gary chow can pull it off half-convincingly (if not all)  becasue their mother tongue is english, the rest like taiwanese yoga lin and jam xiao, come across as poor attempts. taiwanese are never known to be good english singers!

 
to make it worse, they cover english standards which have been done to death by decades of jazz crooners and songstresses alike. so, what make you special? what make you think you can sing better than them?

so it is no surprise that these albums receive lukewarm feedback in the market.

it is difficult for a pop artistes to penetrate into jazz. the kids who buy your pop CDs don't know what you are singing, and the ones who are really jazz aficionados won't think you are good enough.

major labels are really in deep coma, they no longer know how to play the game. the more desperate they are, the more chances they give to unscrupulous small indie labels to milk more more money on this jazz/pseudo-audiophile genre .

there are plenty of pseudo-jazz CDs on the market disguised as jazz CDs. the label owners usually go overseas "shopping" regularly to buy "cheap" cover licence that could be as low as RM10K per album, compared to RM70K-RM80K we need for normal big scale production. by buying the cover licence cheap, the risk is so much reduced. you just need to sell 200-300 copies, and you can start making money. that's why you see so many of those generic, anonymous "acoustic jazz for late night", "ukulele for lovers" etc etc. 

this trend continues unabated, cos from a business point of view, it makes sense, though artistically it is killing the industry silently. but customers are not demanding, if they see "how deep is your love" being sung in acoustic with a bossa swing, even without knowing the singer, it is enough to lure them into buying. so, it is a supply and demand thing.

very soon, the whole market will be flooded with "engineered-for-profits" albums, that does little to help the ailing industry.
one exception, though, is a little indie album that has been creating waves in the local scene of late. "platform 11" is a bunch of passionate musicians who have diverse backgrounds. led by vocalist keith tan, this group is creative, marketing savvy and technically savvy in promoting their unique art form. music-wise, it may sound like they are inspired by damien rice and lisa hannigan, but sung in chinese, they do sound refreshing and and decidedly different from the rest of the chinese scene. at least, the chinese music lovers here seldom hear such a genre being played by a little ensemble of 7 people, and sometimes, backed by choir.

apart from having sold-out mini concerts, platform 11 represents a new generation of music makers that manage to blend indie music, with savvy marketing and creative use of the new media and networking . there is plenty of creativity in the team, as evidenced in their promo videos, as well as their exposures in mainstream media. seldom do you see an indie band being interviewed by BFM radio!

so, we hope more and more people come out and doing things like what platform 11 do. you stand out easily because you are unique, and people, mostly tired of mainstream manufactured and formulaic music, are sure gonna lend you a ear.

disclaimer: the above opinion expressed is solely the blogger's. it has nothing to do with pop pop music's artistes or musicians. there is no association with them as far this blog is concerned. read and make your own wise and mature judgement.  
     


  

相信音樂 [believing in music]

that mainstream chinese pop has reached a bottomless pit is a fact, whether you want to admit it or not.  if you keep making chinese pop music like in the 80s or 90s or short-changing the increasing fickle listeners, you are doomed.

we have just started 2013, and it is high time to "ubah" (change), whether in politics or music making.

believing in music (b'in music) is a spin-off label (but totally different company) from the once-revered rock records taiwan. two of its senior managers founded it and vowed to revolutionize the ailing music industry with a total fresh concept and approach. b'in music offers one-stop services encompassing own album production team, own A&R team, own pool of composers, own merchandise business, own concert production team .... to great success. cult pop-rock group, mayday (五月天) is its biggest money spinner and most likely the financial pillar of this aspiring music label.

while major labels are crying (cos their superstar idols are not selling CDs anymore) , b'in music seems to be thriving, and none of the success come sweeter than their latest creations in bai ann (Ann) and jia jia.

let's start dissecting the bai ann phenomenon. bai ann, like joanna wang before her, kicks the industry pundits' arses in all the right places. she is the kind of indie artiste often neglected or sidelined by major labels because she may not have idols looks or a G-cup bustline and her music is not "balladry" enough for the mainstream market.

to be absolutely frank, bai ann's fresh mix of electronica+folk+ indie is nothing new if you ask the typical indie players in taiwan or china, it has all been played before, only less commercialized and less widely promoted. the thing that separate the two is of course, bai ann's unusual tone and singing style. you either find it refreshing or totally weird (if you are a hardcore chinese listener who is picky on diction and accent), and she would not be admitted in the 1980s or even in the 1990s where "traditions" are highly valued. but hey, we are in the new world now, where fusion of cultures, musical genres are more easily accepted by the increasingly discerning listeners. so, who say rules can't be re-written or redefined?

if an indie band has a lead female vocalist like bai ann, they too would go somewhere, especially with the support of a creative music label like b'in music.

bai ann's album  took  a lengthy 4 years to produce, with a bit of help and blessing from tai-kor jonathan lee. if a veteran like jonathan lee is inspired by her, who are we to say she is non-conformist and non-chinese? worthy of mention is malaysian maestro mac chew's wizardry in electronica arrangement which is really superb. mac's mastery of programming is second to none.  

fact is, we love bai ann and her music. it comes at the right time when things have gone from bad to worse and many music makers haven't quite woken up from their deep slumbers.

bai ann's music can relate to the youngsters who want something fresh and unconventional. it would even relate to the more discerning bilingual crowd who demands something more from chinese pop.

it is sad that joanna wang retired so early, it is great that we have bai ann. we hope more of such genre of singers come along to brighten the dull scene.

jia jia, another singer from b'in music, goes a different path altogether. jia jia is older and is more experienced, she is touted as "taiwan's answer to adele", a bit overboard, if you ask us . her brand of R&B is nothing new, but she has some great tunes and a cool attitude. this debut album is good but not to the extent of the greatness achieved by bai ann. she still needs to find consistency in her music and a stronger identity, things which bai ann has in spades.

so, we are happy to see b'in music churning out great stuff that are most welcomed by discerning music lovers. if a music label can produce this kind of cool stuff, you can be sure they would keep making great music continuously.

disclaimer: the above opinion expressed is solely the blogger's. it has nothing to do with pop pop music's artistes or musicians. there is no association with them as far this blog is concerned. read and make your own wise and mature judgement.  
     

新的思維模式 [new paradigm shift]

new company profile

the whole chinese entertainment industry in malaysia and in overseas is moving towards live performances, and mind you, ticketed live performances. we did that four years ago, leading the way for more people to appreciate high-standards of live performances. this force must continue unabated, for us to survive and build bigger fanbase.

as we progress along, we are also building more "products", through the recruitment of more maestro-level musicians and potential great singers, to cater to different markets and demographics.

at the same time, we are also scouting good original compositions for us to perform in our live circuits. we don't want to be known only as great performers singing "covers", we want to own or own songs too. soon, we would start a campaign to invite people to submit their compositions.     

one heartening thing to know, the chinese pop music is heading towards a new market, they are more willing to accept new music like bai-an (video below)， a new genre of electronic-folk ballad which is definitely refreshing and welcoming.  this is good for the music and for the industry. chinese ballads need to improve in order to win back the fans, else they deserve to be banished!
 




a week in summary....

1. 2v1g heading to esplanade singapore

2V1G to sell "durians" in singapore on 19th may 2013!
highly anticipated debut performance in esplanade singapore
do watch out for ticketing info in sistic website soon!

2. NTV7 magseven documentary to feature pop pop music

NTV7 MagSeven documentary will be making a short feature of "A Chinese Jazz Story" starred by 3 main protagonists : tay cher siang, winnie ho and leslie loh.

no idols needed but true musicians making music, the filming was done last week in the ark studios as well a six inch cafe in setapak. the documentary will be screened in mid-march during prime time TV of 7-8pm. watch out for the slot!

in the mood for jazz

好預兆 [happening times]

a week in summary...

1) Concept Audio chooses us!

Proudly announcing that pop pop music is the "Choice Entertainment Partner" of Concept Audio, one of the largest Audio, Visual, Lighting Systems Distributor cum System Integrator in Malaysia. In the upcoming NEXO STM speaker launch on 14th March, pop pop music's artistes have been invited to perform live!

2)  Winnie Ho danced samba in One-Utama CNY media launch! (it's a tough industry)



3)  2V1G to sell "durians" in singapore on 19th may 2013! highly anticipated debut performance in esplanade singapore. do watch out for ticketing info in sistic website soon!

for more up-to-the-minute updates, please join our FB

pop pop music's facebook fanpage

敷衍 [perfunctory]

 

不懂要寫什麼 一切都盡不再言中

don't know what to write, just a perfunctory update of 2v1g's astounding comeback last week.

http://www.poppop-music.com

 

那些年我們喜愛的歌手 [singers we love those years]

despite knowing these iconic singers are well past their prime, we braved the rain and went on consecutive nights, marathon-style, to watch 3 out of the 5 concerts. we asked ourselves, this is most likely our first time and last time to watch them. how many more years will jiang yuheng and julia su rui gonna sing, both of them over 60 now?   

there is no need to praise the quality of their songs, else why do you think they are still in business after 30 years? can you say the same thing with today's singers?

what we found precious is the sharing with their audience. every legendary singer has life's stores to tell and most of them, very touching and inspiring.

when jiang yuheng sang the song for his mum, he remembered how his family struggled thru his childhood and he made a promise to himself that he wanted to make more money so that his mum could lead a more comfortable life. one year after he made that promise, his mum left him. jiang's songs are the crowd's favourites. from the start till the end, it was a mass sing-along. it makes you wonder how much these uncles and aunties (yours truly included) missed him all these years. such a wonderfully tear-jerking concert. we love every bit of it.

sky wu is the most youthful and handsome of them all. in his late 40s, we guess, he still maintains his voice pretty well and his slim figure tells everyone that he cares for his body. his music still sends happiness to our ears but to be absolutely frank, after watching jiang yuheng, we realize sky's music is not as "big" or "memorable" as jiang's. the goose bumps moments were not as frequent as jiang's concert. of course, we know sky's music is more poppish and youngish but here lies the truth: in terms of longevity, it is jiang's music which can pass on for generations. sky's has many good songs but some of them, shall we say, sound dated by now. nevertheless, we enjoyed the show too.

the finale is of course, julia su rui. julia drew the most crowd, filling more than 90% of the capacity of arena of stars, genting. so, she has gained a bit of weights. so, she has lost that powerhouse high-octave voice. it never ever bothered us. she is su rui, the su rui who inspired so many wannabees, including zhang hui-mei. watching and hearing julia makes us wonder how she was like in her prime; she must be commanding and awe-inspiring. we guess she manage to hit 60% of the high notes and that was good enough for us. song after song, our goose bumps were raised. of the 3 singers, su rui's songs were the most classic, most everlasting and most memorable. many of her songs are already in the "hall of fame" for chinese pop music.

julia told touching stories about why she eluded concerts and live performances. because she wanted to take care of her 93-year-old mother, who could not even remember her name sometimes. she feels obligated to take care of her till she dies. also, she has a growing child and watching the kid grows up gives her so much satisfaction, more than money could offer. she lives a meaningful life because of her family. she said she hardly performs in concerts and we were lucky to see her live. she treated every concert as her last.

so, that 's it. a good singer can sing. a great singer has stories to tell. don't just become a good singer. learn to live and share. 

we left genting on a rainy sunday night in total satisfaction and a wee bit overwhelming emotions. we fell sick the next day, but heck, it was worth it. 

something we must add: all the three singers have almost perfect pitching on stage. that was simply amazing, considering their age.     
      
we want to groom singers like them, everlasting and great story teller.

規劃 2013 [forward planning 2013]

apologies for the lack of blogging due to my poor health, as a result of late nights and irregular sleep.

there is so much to look forward to in 2013, as we strike more synergistic partnerships....

first thing first, we would be releasing, for the first time, a compilation album~!  it would be something totally different again, not the usual "female audiophile voices" variety...

second, we would do more gigs at NBT, especially cantopop, since we now have the amazing trio. really we don't see any venue - now and in the future - that can challenge NBT in terms of ambience, affordability and crowd pulling. in fact, doing live gigs is the only way for us to build wider fan base and gain direct access to corporate entertainment.

third, we also plan to bring our team to tour several states in malaysia, like what we are doing now with 2v1g. we are progressing on this, as we speak.... when you think about it, only music lovers in KL get to see live performances at this level. we want to make it more accessible to fans in other states.

on 2v1g tour, the penang leg at china house is already a full-house, how amazing. considering that 2v1g has been silent for two years since the last album, this shows that plenty of penang folks are looking forward to watch the trio.

our main objective for 2013 is to bring chinese jazz to an even more layman level, like what we did with jacky cheung tribute, which everyone can appreciate. we have accumulated a fan base large enough to ensure that every gig is a full house, which is something that we are so grateful of.

at the same time, we would recruit more new talents to complement our talent tool. again, as we speak, we are planning for the "heavenly voices quest 2013", a talent quest for unique talents that suit our music styles and directions.... stay tuned for more developments on this.....

one thing for sure, we would keep renewing and re-shaping our business model to keep up with the music industry. no more focus on releasing CDs, as that is too resource-intensive and financially draining, and worst of all, almost a sure-loss-making venture.

music listening behavior is changing every second, every minute so must our business model. but one thing for sure, life performances are still irreplaceable. and that would remain the main stay of our business direction.

the best thing about maintaining an independent music label is that we are agile and nimble, able to switch direction/angle without much difficulty, and that would ensure longevity in the cut-throat music business.

before we forget, there will also be a longest-awaited project in the pipeline, something that many of you are looking forward to....

above all, we pray for global economic recovery and political stability. when these two are absent, people have no mood to listen to music, no matter how good it is.

to you who are reading, please continue to appreciate the music you like and support local artistes!   



   　     

最佳新人 [best newcomer]

this week's youtube sensation is our newcomer, yeh foong!

http://www.poppop-music.com

our new artiste, yeh foong,  is one who comes in a complete package: singer, jester and entertainer all rolled in one. what more do you want?

yeh foong has the stage presence that many veterans would dream of. even at her debut performance at NBT (the jacky cheung tribute), she did enough to convince everyone that she is a not just a new discovery, but a talent who has been waiting for a chance to shine.

many have witnessed how she conquered the stage with impressive singing, and unique brand of humor. this kind of talent starts from small age, definitely.

yeh foong has plenty of expressions in her singing. she has character, a very strong character. she has natural charm on stage, coupled with bone-tickling humor, she would be a valuable performer where "entertaintment" is the foremost criteria.

she would be the new genre of singers that would help pop pop music to further strengthen and add variety to our artiste pool.

welcome to the family, yeh foong!

不鳴則已，一鳴驚人 [amazing feat]

this is ah fei's best performance to-date

yeh foong: the singer, jester and entertainer all rolled in one

it took us some time to write this post, cos we needed time to digest what happened at the last NBT gig.

we saw something precious, something that never happened before.

another star is born. this time, it takes on a totally different package: singing, jesting and entertaining all in one package. the amazing trio that comprises of jeffery lim, worm lee and our most stunning newcomer, yeh foong.

the fact that they could sing cantonese even to the approval of some HK guests on the spot is not enough, they managed to tickled the funny bones and really brought the crowd to a musical orgasm, as what we promised earlier.

what a night, what a memorable experience. we are sure NBT seldom had such rapturous response before, we are damn sure.

this trio has everything going for them. they have chemistry on stage, they harmonize perfectly and their jokes worked on the crowd. and it is only their debut! debut, my goodness! imagine how far they could go given more exposures and stage experiences.

the crowd feedback is 100%, in fact, some said they wished the music could go on all the way until dawn. almost everyone likes our newcomer, yeh foong, she has such natural charm on stage. this woman is a gem of a find, many friends told us that night.  

we have a trump card on board now, make no mistake.   

do expect more stage performances from this amazing trio next year, finger crossed. 

唱將三人組 [solid trio for jacky cheung tribute]

each of them has more than 10 years in singing.

each of them is a solid singer in his/her own right.

in an entertainment industry full of mediocrity and superficiality, it is hard to find real substance.

we steadfastly believe that substance triumphs over style and packaging.

on wednesday and thursday night at no black tie, you will find out what substance is all about.

"cantopop solid gold: a tribute to jacky cheung" kicks off this week, and just on the eve of,  the supposedly End-of-The-World doomsday....

if that really happens, what better way to end it in a mass musical orgasms!

see you at NBT!    

last minute booking: 012-2083790