azn.music - Asian music for all!

Hello readers，

No, we’re not dead, and I have not forgotten about this site! Rather, （other than the fact I have finals in college right now), I’m working on moving the site to it’s own dedicated server, so that it can become even better (no more running out of bandwidth), and with a new look and organization and so on.

In truth, azn.music was never intended to be a full-fledged website - relying on random free services is really limiting and limits growth, plus the fact is I can’t run AdSense ads on a WordPress.com blog. Even so, azn.music still has gotten almost 100,000 hits since its inception.

So, look for us in early July at aznplay.com!

See you then!

-illuminance

Album: From Now On

Artist: 張棟樑 / zhang dong liang / Nicholas Teo

Release Date: March 2008

Here comes the Prince himself! Capping up a very successful last year with 王子 and 微笑Pasta, he’s released his first compilation album with three new songs. Check them out!

Buy Album | Songs from the album ↓

Continue reading ‘張棟樑 - From Now On / Nicholas Teo - From Now On’

Album: Red Cyndi

Artist: 王心凌 / wáng xīn líng / Cyndi Wang

Release Date: February 29, 2008

Another couple months, and another Cyndi Wang album comes out. Red Cyndi isn’t a studio album, but rather a compilation of her previous hits along with three new songs, which are featured here. (Also note that I have midterms, so I’m unlikely to be back until middle of next week). For those who like her, 看一看吧.

Hi Hi Bye Bye is one of those poppy, perhaps silly songs - take a look at the music video after the break to get an idea. Furthermore, it incorporates another children’s song into the melody. 因為是你, on the other hand, is a slow, romantic song, while 水仙 has a fair bit of 中國風 in it, with traditional instruments, but with a remixed Cyndi beat.

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Continue reading ‘王心凌 - Red Cyndi / Cyndi Wang - Red Cyndi’

Album: 原來我不帥 電視原聲帶 / So I’m Not Handsome OST

Artist: Various Artists

Released: February 1, 2008

When I first heard of 原來我不帥, starring JJ Lin - I thought, that actually makes sense. In an age where many people become famous music artists simply because they look good (both in the East and West), JJ Lin actually stands out as one of the not-so-good looking ones. (Some say Jay Chou as well) However, his musical talent is unquestioned, and as I have made clear in other blog posts around here, I think that looks should never be a limiting factor in determining someone’s talent.

So the OST to this TV series has one new song by JJ himself -  期待你的愛, and some other songs by Nicky Lee, Hu Ling, and Kym. An interesting playlist.

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Continue reading ‘群星 - 原來我不帥 電視原聲帶 / Various Artists - Pretty Ugly OST’

Song: So So

Album: Vivi And…

Artist: 徐若瑄 / xu ruo xuan / Vivian Hsu

Released: September 19, 2006

Continuing on with our coverage of great Chinglish songs, this leads us to 徐若瑄, or Vivian Hsu. An opinion my friends and I ended forming was that Vivian Hsu is like Catherine Zeta-Jones - sure, they’re old (Vivian’s 32, and Zeta-Jones 3 but they still look damn hot. (Feel free to disagree)

So, even after over a decade of acting and singing (and modeling for photoshots), her last studio album, Vivi And… (released in 2006) had many great songs - another favourite one of mine is 小女, but it’s not a Chinglish song so we can’t feature it here. But So So, featuring Nicky Lee (李玖哲) - I remember having a heated debate with classmates over whether he could speak Chinese or not… Turns out he can, of course, though in So So he primarily raps in English, and the most Chinese he speaks is “I Say Baby過來給我抱抱.”

I love this song - especially how the lyrics are structured, with two of the same words to accentuate “so-so”. Be sure to also check out Vivian’s incredibly sexy music video after the break.

Buy Album | Song Link | Lyrics and Music Video ↓

Continue reading ‘So So - 徐若瑄 / So So - Vivian Hsu’

Album: The Face

Artist: BoA

Released: February 27, 2008

Review By: illuminance

It’s 2008, and Korean/Japanese singer BoA has come out with her sixth Japanese album, The Face. Like albums before it, it is mostly a combination of the last few singles that she has released since the last album Made in Twenty (20) - namely Sweet Impact, Love Letter, Lose Your Mind, and be with you - with new songs.

Overall, I felt that this album was much better than Made in Twenty, which didn’t really pique my interest and I never really liked. The Face has more songs (other than the singles which we’ve already covered) that in my opinion are more interesting and fun - take Hey Boy, Hey Girl (featuring Seamo) for example - I love the beat in the song. The music video, err, not so much. (Incidentally, this song is usually only obtainable by getting the “deluxe” version of the album.)

Take a listen and see.

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Continue reading ‘BoA - The Face (Review)’

Chinglish Four:

Song: 等不及 / deng bu ji / Can’t Wait

Album: 天使 / tian shi / Angel

Artist: 徐懷鈺 / xu huai yu / Yuki Hsu

Released: June 1999

Here’s another nice oldie - this one, perhaps Yuki’s last popular song/album. (Her new one last year, Bad Girl, didn’t do too well and had the unfortunate misfortune of being released on the same week as S.H.E’s Play.) A collaboration with Korean artist Yoo Seung Jun (Hanja: 劉承俊), it is a mix of Chinese pop and English rap.

It seems to have become particularly popular among the ABCs, especially, perhaps because some of them can actually understand a “Chinese” song through the English.

Song Link | Lyrics and Music Video ↓

Continue reading ‘徐懷鈺 - 等不及 / Yuki Hsu - Can’t Wait’

Song: 子曰 / zi yue / Confucius Says

Album: 我愛阿亮 /wo ai a liang / I Love Ah Liang

Artist: 卜學亮 / bu xue liang / Charge Pu

Released: January 12, 2000

Talk about an old song - this song was released eight years ago! It is sung by Charge Pu, or better known as Ah Liang 阿亮, who is actually a comedian and TV show host. I love this song for a few reasons: One, the lyrics are fun - look at how many times there’s “子” in it! Secondly, the lyrics actually have meaning and are things we should generally aspire to. Third, it really expresses what most people feel when they read Confucian texts: “我聽不懂　看不懂　學不懂　都不懂.” (I can’t understand it, I can’t learn it… I don’t know anything at all.) This song never goes old.

Also check out the extremely weird (and green) music after the break. His hairstyle then makes him look like a carrot.

Song Link | Lyrics and Music Video ↓

Continue reading ‘卜學亮 - 子曰 / Ah Liang (Charge Pu) - Confucius Says’

Song: Super Star

Album: Super Star

Artist: S.H.E

Released: August 22, 2003

You can pretty much tell a song is going to be a Chinglish song if there are no Chinese characters whatsoever in the title or the artist’s name. Yet, Super Star was S.H.E’s biggest hit/single for many years, all the way until 中國話 came out last year. With an addicting chorus and beat, no wonder it was that popular, and even today it’s still often requested for KTVing. If you haven’t heard it before, well… You’re missing out.

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Continue reading ‘S.H.E - Super Star’

Song: Fly Away

Album: 飛兒樂團 / fei er yue tuan / F.I.R.

Artist: 飛兒樂團 / fei er yue tuan / F.I.R.

Released: April 23, 2004

This is perhaps the best example of Chinglish in a Chinese song - Nothing I Will Be Afraid… Seriously? Now, don’t get me wrong - I like this song very much, but couldn’t they used a line that sounds less cheesy? Like, perhaps.. I Will Never Be Afraid? Their debut album was definitely great (in fact, I know some of their fans wish their latest hits could be more like the original), but it’s unfortunate that one of the hits furthers the stereotype that Chinese people can’t translate. Music video after the jump (the English is in ALL CAPITAL LETTERS in the music video, hah!)

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Continue reading ‘飛兒樂團 - Fly Away / F.I.R. - Fly Away’