Amy’s 2011 Music Highlights
10. Laure Shang – Nightmare/in
Mainland China singer Laure Shang Wenjie released TWO — not one, but two — 9-track albums this year. Nightmare, released in early January, and in, released in August. This has nothing to do with the signed copy that Laure gave us — which is still in China because Cyrus hasn’t shipped it yet.
I loved parts of both albums. I loved Love Warrior [1] and I loved The Way ! Am [MV], but I don’t think the albums fully worked as wholes. I don’t know if both would have worked as one album either because they seem like such different projects — though there were some crossover songs. I still think it’s commendable that Laure is releasing Cantonese, French and English versions of some of her Mandarin songs — I can’t wait to listen to her singing in Spanish!
I have no idea where to purchase Laure Shang’s albums, but you can listen to both of them on Xiami [1][2].
9. Oh Land
I am aware I’m probably going to regret this pick in about a year or two, like I’ve done with The Ting Tings or Lily Allen. But there’s just something about this indie pop sound that gets stuck on you and you can’t help but hum to it and sway to the rhythm like an idiot. That’s what Oh Land’s second album — self-titled as if it were its big reveal to the world — has done to me. I can’t help it.
It’s perfect indie pop with some pretty looking music videos like White Nights [MV] and Sun of a Gun [MV] — except for Rainbow [MV], which is so low budget. LOL
Listen to the album on Xiami. Get the album as a CD or as MP3s on Amazon.
8. 2 Cellos
Oh, man~ You gotta love rock music and classical coming together. Of course, symphonic rock has been done before by rock bands or rock solo artists with big symphonic orchestras — Metallica’s S&M comes to mind [1] as does Seo Taiji’s Symphony [1].
With their self-titled 2 Cellos, the Croatian cello duo is taking rock music to classical levels — or is it backwards? I hope there are more pop/rock/classical experimentations in the future [1], like the Chinese Orchestra version of Wonder Girls’ Nobody, the Orchestra version of SNSD’s Gee, or this Abba Medley by the Marsiling Chinese Orchestra. LOL
Listen to the album on Xiami. Get the album as a CD or as MP3s on Amazon.
I still can’t believe Salyu’s album didn’t make your list. And I thought you’d have at least one Hong Kong/Taiwan album in your list, but all your spots are taken by Mainland singers.
Also how do you feel Oh Land? Her discography isn’t like the ones you mention… this is supposed to be her 2nd album, so maybe she has more-than-one-album staying power.
@ghost, like I say. At the moment, I love Oh Land’s album to put on while working. But then again, that’s exactly what happened to me with The Ting Tings, and I mean it like the WHOLE album not just That’s Not my Name. I thought they were the shit, and now I barely listen to the album.
Same with Lily Allen. I thought that was the funniest album ever, now I barely listen to it. I have fond memories of it.
I have a lot of “debut albums” in my collection and they stay as lone albums because I just don’t like the other albums.
About Salyu, I liked about half the album – but then again, I was really hyped for it. I can’t wait to get the Live concert DVD though – it looks amazing. And she also has a new album coming out – both around my birthday, so I hope the Yen settles at a better price by then.
2 cellos remind me of Apocalyptica, their music videos may not be that good, but I love them. I believe is a little bit more extreme since they also do symphonic metal.