Whenever we take stock at the end of the year, we will find that there are still many good albums this year. In the era when short videos are popular and "traffic is king", musicians and singers who are still making albums seriously and solidly are worthy of respect.
We still value the album and believe in the concept and aesthetic of a complete album. "Divine songs" have been popular in recent years, but few people mention "divine songs" anymore, because the patience to listen to the entire album is wearing thin; singers mostly release singles, or only singles. If singles are "Small composition", the album is a book; if the single is a joke, the album is a special performance with a more theme.
In 2023, although many people are busy holding concerts, attending large and small music festivals, appearing in variety shows or commercial performances, Wu Bai, the "busiest", still released an 11-song album "Pure White" "The Starting Point"; Caodong No Party also released a new album "Wahe" for the first time in seven years; Zhang Weiwei's iterative physical album "Shamuli" may also become a "financial management product" like "Silver Hotel".
We are very pleased to see Dou Jingtong, Xia Zhiyu, Wachi and other musicians or bands in their "prime years" expressing that they have not lowered their interests and insist on continuing to explore in their respective fields. And seniors like Lu Guanting, "goddess" like Yang Naiwen, and veteran independent bands like Marsh, have not rested on their laurels and are pursuing their own pursuits and aspirations.
If you like music, please listen to more albums, or even more physical albums. When listening to the album, it is easier for people to immerse themselves in it and feel that the songs are with you. It is a dialogue or resonance, communication or resonance, rather than a simple BGM or an accessory to a short video. There’s nothing wrong with short videos, it’s just that the song feels better when you are with it.
no.1
vacancy
Although in 2023, many kings and queens released albums, which were quite popular, they did not produce the blockbuster masterpieces that everyone expected. We can see the efforts of the musicians and their intentions in different dimensions, but unfortunately, the work lacks enough convincingness to be ranked first.
Of course, the "vacancy" only represents our choice. In a sense, popular music, like social and cultural trends of thought, has entered an era of "ideological stock". From content to form, it is accumulating and digesting the existing achievements of predecessors. This is due to the genes of the times and is innovative and forward-looking. It needs more precipitation to be unstoppable. When it comes to creation specifically, the realistic meaning of pop music has become confusing, so it wanders more among retro and nostalgic images. Senior musicians appear to be self-consistent, while new talents are not sharp enough.
If "vacancy" is also an attitude, we prefer it to be a "blank space" and an expectation.
no.2
Yang Naiwen's "flow"
Ten groups of orchestras and musicians have tailored songs for Yang Naiwen to interpret their respective interpretations of Yang Naiwen. The list of collaborators includes independent Taiwanese groups with considerable accumulation, such as Sunset Speed, Fools and Idiots, i Mean Us, and Crispy Band, as well as established bands such as Wu Bai, Huang Guanzhong, and Fo Tiao Qiang, or rock stars who came from bands. Although the ten groups specialize in different genres of music, the songs they submitted when put together rarely present a rather consistent artistic conception, with both independent and pop temperaments. Yang Naiwen's aesthetic and production coordinator Ge Dawei and album producer Chen Junhao's control are all indispensable. The album
uses a lot of deep and prominent bass lines and psychedelic and cold synthesizer sounds to create a cold and alienating main tone. But whether it’s the obscure and confused murmurs in “The End of Thought” by Fools and Idiots, the crispy band’s “Don’t Mind Me”, or the direct expressions in “The Fall” or “Half of Loneliness” by The Night Watchmen. The pain or loneliness in the chest, as well as Yang Naiwen's unique voice characteristics, all make the songs always sound detached and indifferent rationality - this cold current will not be overwhelming.
Under the cold current, there are also hot springs surging. "Can't Say It", a collaboration with Wu Bai, and "Flow", the album's title track contributed by Sunset Speed, are the highlights of the album.The two groups of musicians themselves have distinct and strong styles. When the retro Taiwanese rock and new wave meets the cold Yang Naiwen, a familiar and fresh flavor unexpectedly collides. The album is a mixture of light and dark, distinguishing between cold and warm, and finally converges to form a flow that is unique to Yang Naiwen.
no.3
Xia Zhiyu "Young Fresh Chin II"
A very meaningful album, recording growth and redemption, the coexistence of anger and cruelty. Facing cruelty with cruelty, being very brave and resilient, this seems to be what hip-hop should be. As a living record in Xia Zhiyu's "Non-Existential Movie Series", it not only creates a sense of cinema, but also creates a sense of existence. In his own words, "It is a collection of relatively light and exaggerated sketches that has been extended into a complete and serious feature film." The degree of completion is very high.
Photography: bigarsecity
"Existence" or "non-existence" is a topic that "young fresh chin ii" seriously explores, personal scars and group portrait sketches, small towns and jungles and human alleys, time and space, human feelings and sophistication, this is The eternal creative motif, but specific and microscopic to one aspect, one detail, one scene, one section, is the living reality. Xia Zhiyu's perspective of a small town boy is discovering and confirming, regaining and reshaping a reality.
In terms of musicality, this album retains the production techniques of hip-hop music close to the 1990s, and deliberately uses Chinese pop music as the sampling source, and uses it as the output of the movie concept. Although Xia Zhiyu has been dubbed "Jia Zhangke in the rap world", it is a bit strange, but it also shows his creative pursuit. This album is the most vigorous Chinese rap work in 2023 and has the mark of the times.
no.4
Dou Jingtong's "Spring Outing"
Although she is reluctant to attribute the birth of a good work entirely to the talent of the creator and to obliterate her acquired diligence and seriousness, Dou Jingtong showed outstanding performance in her first Chinese album "Spring Outing" His aura is truly enviable. After the accumulation of the first three all-English albums, Dou Jingtong is more relaxed and comfortable in this album, and he "plays" with music thoroughly.
uses the concept of "spring outing" and the chronological order of a day to connect ten songs, from "Good Morning" to wake up the ears in the morning, to following her on the slightly "old-fashioned" dating behavior of the millennium, to drinking coffee and drinking in the afternoon. Orange Soda, after "Intermission", into the night's rambling whimsy. The first half of the album is bright in spring, and the second half is ambiguous at night. The whole album is lively and cute, showing the unconstrained, playful and funny nature of Generation Z. It’s also worth mentioning that, from everyday sound sampling to the construction of soundscapes over the millennium, each song hides many ingenious details that are worth listening to carefully. At a time when metaphors, symbols, and abstract narratives are popular in album concepts, such a specific, subtle and even trivial creative perspective can be regarded as a kind of precious innocence. Therefore, we can be more confident that Dou Jingtong does not have to accept the expectation of becoming the second Faye Wong or Dou Wei, she only needs to be herself.
no.5
Caodong No Party "Wahe"
Caodong No Party has released a new album "Wahe" after seven years. It has a more metallic heavy arrangement, a more complex drum set, richer sound effects, and more The distinct opening and closing make this album, to a certain extent, a continuation and upgrade of its predecessor. "Vat" and "Empty" continue the background of "Brave Man" and "Strong Wind", and "Man Cave Mountain" sings "I hope the mud can bloom", which is like a callback to the previous work "Mud".
However, compared to the outright cynicism of the first album "Ugly Slave", "Wahe" retains sharp criticism of the outside world while also showing inward exploration and softness. The English title of "Bed" is translated as lie, which means lying down and lying, brokenness and yearning. Trapped in bed, you can face yourself honestly. The two new songs "Bud" and "Dan" written after the death of drummer Fanfan can better understand this. The former is replaced by a guitarist to create the lead vocal. The arrangement rarely uses drums, but only warm acoustic guitar. The gentle female voice is also different from the lead singer's rough voice, just like a new sprout growing out of the past.From "Let Yourself Go" in "Bud" to the ending of the album with "So We Are No Longer Young" in "But", it is a lament that things have changed and people have changed, but also a relief that we can move on.
If Caodong, who was just starting out seven years ago, was a young man who "forced himself to express sorrow in order to compose new lyrics", then now they have experienced ups and downs such as sudden fame and the sudden death of group members, and they have fatefully coincided with Xin Qiji's "Ugly Slave" The "prophecy" in the original poem is "Now that I have experienced all the sorrow, I want to stop talking". And this is probably the path that every generation must go through from youth to middle age - as the name of the new album indicates, different paths lead to the same path of "breaking the tiles to make up for each other" and surrendering to oneself and following the crowd.
no.6
Zhang Weiwei's "Shamu Li"
was completed with a synthesizer, and its roots are still folk music. It may not please electronic music fans, and may make folk music fans feel unfamiliar or even confused, but Zhang Weiwei firmly "reforms" Compared with the customary folk singing and the chorus and literary sense of "Midian", he may value an illusory beauty, the psychedelic and detachment that traditional folk songs do not have.
Musicians are growing, progressing, and sublating. Zhang Weiwei has literary and artistic pursuits. "Shamuli" is the step of this pursuit, and it is even the most appropriate way for him at the moment. In terms of experimentation, perhaps his companion Xiaohe has gone further. A very important twist is that the timbre of the synthesizer makes up for the shortcomings of Zhang Weiwei's voice to a considerable extent. Although the projection of external emotions is very important, he is looking for A way of expressing personal transcendence.
"Shamu Li" is beautiful, with a retro feel, and can even be simply felt to be pleasant to the ear. The challenges and provocations to the audience are deeply hidden in the text. There is weirdness in the calmness, and sadness in the warmth. If you hear it, you will hear it. It doesn’t matter if you don’t hear it. Obscurity is also the support of tension. What is more realistic is that "Shamuli" is very suitable for live presentation.
no.7
Swamp "No Answer Gone in the Wind"
Swamp, which has been in the band for more than 25 years, has released this meaningful album. And when 2023 was coming to an end, they suddenly announced that they would be "suspending the group" indefinitely, without giving any further explanation. They only said that farewells in life are always "caught off guard", and there is no answer to the reason for "suspension". Blowing in the Wind .
Photography: Shirakawa
creator Hai Liang said that we are facing a period of huge changes, and the change process is very fast. As a musician, I feel that the more fragmented the era is, the more we should insist on making concept albums. "No Answer Gone in the Wind" takes wind as the theme, and the eight songs have some internal connections. It starts with "Ask the Wind" and ends with "The Rain is Coming and the Wind Fills the House", but the last track is not the end. Guitarist Xihui's The noise suddenly stopped, echoing the original state, as if traveling through time and space, a cycle. The
track is not the end, and the "hire" is certainly not the end, but it also gives this album more heaviness and sadness. On the surface, the album is based on the theme of wind, but in fact it is about people. In the final analysis, it explores our nature as human beings, as if from an existential perspective, but music itself cannot solve problems or provide answers. Being able to empathize, bring spiritual comfort, and make the listener no longer lonely is already a great kindness.
no.8
Wu Bai & china blue "The Starting Point of Pure White"
In recent years, Wu Bai, who has been in the Chinese music scene for 30 years, has become popular among the new generation of people twice. One time was because of the popular Taiwanese drama "Want to See You" on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. The episode and "Last Dance" written by Wu Bai more than 20 years ago made this generation of young people go crazy. One time happened in 2023, when Wu Bai held a concert that was "bad" and became a phenomenon-level meme. This generation of young people are following the stars of their parents' generation, singing "local love songs" that may be older than themselves, and they have gone from questioning their parents to understanding them and becoming parents.
Even though he already has countless golden songs that can "rest on his laurels" to retire, Wu Bai can still deliver a work that makes people "ear" bright in his 15th studio album "Pure White Starting Point".Taking "Sunny Day", a duet with Tanya Tanya, as the dividing line, the strong experimental color of the first half shows Wu Bai's technology and ambition. In the dramatic narration and melody line, he wanders like an old naughty boy, sometimes going crazy. , sometimes quiet. The second half starts with "Sweet Rope", which is Wu Bai's signature guava love song. The catchy melody writing is still Wu Bai's specialty. No matter which appearance he has, they are all unified in his highly recognizable singing voice and artistic personality. Returning to the starting point of pure white, this creator who is over fifty years old is still using his imaginative exploration to add multiple colors to this pure white.
no.9
Lu Guanting's "together as one"
Another excellent full collaboration album in 2023. The 73-year-old Lu Guanting still has abundant creative energy and composes the entire album. The team of collaborators on stage and behind the scenes span different generations, including singers and musicians such as Lin Zixiang, Li Zongsheng, Lu Fang, Chen Jiling, Tai Chi Band, Zhou Yiu Fai and Tang Shuchen who have experienced the golden age of the music industry with him, as well as Lin Jiaqian and Shun Ning'er. , Mak Chun-lung, Chan Wing-him and other creators who are now regarded as the mainstay of the Hong Kong music scene. Lu Guanting is interpreting "unceasing sound" in his own way.
8 songs are like 8 scenes of movie life. It kicked off with "Two People Sitting Opposite on a Train". The chorus between Lu Guanting and Lin Jiaqian was like a dialogue between an older man and a young man. The scenery in their eyes was that one was moving forward and the other was regressing, mirroring each other; It's also like the same person is having a conversation with himself at different ages, aggressive, curious, sentimental, and open-minded. In the end, as the album title indicates, they all merge into one "I". The lineup of
that is particularly worth mentioning is Li Zongsheng, who Lu Guanting collaborated with again after 30 years. In "The Past Like the Wind" 30 years ago, the two were in their prime, looking back at the ups and downs of their lives, with laughter and tears intertwined, and still wishing to "roam through the joys and sorrows of their lives." Thirty years later, both of them have entered old age, and their perspective has changed from the individual joys, sorrows, and joys of the past to thinking about the "source of life" and praising the beauty of nature, which clearly shows the change of mood. The full album of
is a bit chicken soup, a bit old-school, and the style may be incompatible with the current music trend. However, this affectionate look back at the 40 years since his debut and the open-mindedness of having lived through seventy years of life are worthy of collection in 2023.
no.10
frog pond "Outing"
The band's first full-length album is completed in a special way. I spent the past three years polishing this work and completed it at the Jiao Mian Si Recording Studio managed by Magnum Youth Hostel. Zhang Shouwang, the lead singer of carsick cars, served as the recording producer. Most of the songs in the album came from the rehearsal studio. Improvised, some fans were confused for a short time.
It is said that during the creative process, the band members sense each other and respond immediately. The words, melody, and rhythm are all moving forward in the rehearsal room, looking for each other and growing together. The nine songs in the album constitute a journey from that time to the present, looking at, singing, and wandering around in the language and musical form; the vocal melody also roams freely. If you like Miao Fei Ge, just learn to sing it. If you are uncomfortable with your native language, just sing it. In Spanish; the two guitars sometimes talk to each other, and sometimes move side by side, playing together and competing at the same time; the drums and bass steadily find the weight of the melody, driving the rhythm in the vigorous.
Compared with the highly acclaimed works such as "River" and "Dumb Cow", the "Outing" album is more experimental and vital, full of fictitiousness and reality. But they are exploring more appropriate expressions. Children's words and national sentiments are just outerwear, and the helplessness is also a kind of realism.
Producer: Rong Mingchang Liu Jiangtao
Planning: He Bei
Coordinator: Peng Simin
Writer: Nandu reporter Ding Huifeng Zhong Xin
Pictures: Interviewee provided, network
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