The Taiwanese indie rock album I’m listening to now is Wubai’s latest album ‘One Way Ticket’… Wubai and China Blue have been around since the 90′s and really could be considered ‘mainstream rock’ for their success with consecutive hits such as ‘Wanderer’s Love Song’ and ‘The End of Love’ that impacted the whole Chinese speaking world.

But now in the age of Facebook, Youtube and the Korean pop wave they seem to cater more to a faithful indie-rock niche, albeit Chinese style. And I’m somewhat of a fan, having seen him twice in concert (once last year in Sydney) and I think I pretty much have all his albums.

I like Wubai’s attitude -he just writes what he wants to write and unashamedly claims to never cater to the record execs or even his fan base. So, naturally I don’t dig every single song but every album seems to have its gems (this album no exception) and he has a knack for infusing his songwriting with great sentiment and he searches for interesting melodies. And there’s a consistancy of style having kept the same band members since way back with drums, bass and keys.

One Way Ticket seems to be the ‘single’ of the album but my favourite tracks are perhaps more off-beat, such as ‘Knot’ and the dreamy opener ‘Blue Moon’. Anyways, I’m still absorbing this album but I think I’m liking it more than his previous record ‘Space Bomb’ …

http://itunes.apple.com/au/album/street-music/id470491396

And they don’t just record album after album, they infuse each one with a different theme or slant without sacrificing their down-to-earth songwriting style.  For example, one album they mixed electronic while another album they reflected a kind of local ‘gangster’ theme. In my mind they really reflect the local flavour of Taiwanese rock, with A-ji’s gutsy vocals, a tight and steady rhythm section and well-crafted twangy guitar jingles and counter melodies.  You can tell their music is a labour of love and not just part of the Taiwanese music factory that churns out dross for profit.

So since 2011 was an auspicious year as the 10oth anniversary for the Republic of China The Chairman have taken inspiration from the local Taiwanese theatre and opera culture by infusing their songs with local instruments and painting their faces for a visually exciting show as well. I can’t say I love all the songs on the album and I was disappointed there were only 9 tracks but I think they did a great job of infusing instruments and percussion of traditional music with their songs.

And speaking of this blog, I’ve rethought my blogging strategy. I have blogged on a couple of other sites -Blogspot and Myspace to be exact, but not very frequently. Now I’ve decided to just mirror what I have blogged here on those sites as well in order to spread the net a bit wider… I don’t get many hits on those sites anyways. Here’s to a happy 2012!

http://www.fbiradio.com/

http://www.ariaawards.com.au/nominees/2011/aria-awards/best-hard-rock-heavy-metal-album/

http://www.rockinchina.com/w/Hedgehog

http://itunes.apple.com/au/artist/hedgehog/id73251199

He and his band The Cold Blooded Animals were the first Chinese band to play SXSW. He’s also known as XTX

http://www.rockinchina.com/w/Xie_Tian_Xiao

I thought I wasn’t going to be able to make it to the gig but luckily I managed, with the help of a photographer who also took some great pics. There wasn’t a huge write up in the local street/music rag (Drum Media) but I did find something towards the end… Photos of the gig courtesy of Oliver Dunlop