An amazing indie/pop female singer 陳綺貞

[rose~]

I got a great CD recently by a female singer called 陳綺貞 Chen2 Qi3 Zhen1, it's called 華麗的冒險 hua2 li4 de0 mao4 xian3 (or "A Beautiful Risk", that's my translation and not the English title)...I love it!

I think a lot of other foreigners would like this CD as it is non-ballady and the production standard is high. It's also not bad for learning Chinese as her pronunciation is clear.

She plays the guitar! She is cool!!!

花的姿態 hua1 de0 zi1 tai4Flower: (opens player)

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旅行的意義 lv3 xing2 de0 yi4 yi0 Travel is Meaningful (acoustic):

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旅行的意義Travel is Meaningful video:

watch

华丽的冒险 hua2 li4 de0 mao4 xian3 Adventure:

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Self (no Chinese title!):

watch

太多 tai4 duo1 Too Much:

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[semantic nuance]

Personally, I'm fond of this singer very much. She's quite of her own style. I like 太多 in her latest album. The lyrics are like a poem.

[mr. fanglang]

agree. she also had a compilation album that directly preceded the cd mentioned above which covers material from her first 3 albums. also worth getting.

[x_o 88]

does she have a blog?

[liuzhou]

does she have a blog?

More importantly, does she have a boyfriend?

[gato]

Any other Chinese indie pop groups you'd recommend, Rose?

[gato]

She sounds a little like Rose Melberg, the singer from the Softies:

Listen to

http://www.it4book.com/2Listen/Prodigy/Oldies/003.wma

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000003RNW/104-0372531-0354360?v=glance&n=5174

[need1head]

Yes, indeed. They sound quite alike.

Still Chen is more like a Jewel to me.

[rose~]

Can't think of anyone as consistent through a whole album as Chen Qi Zhen is on "Huali de Maoxian", but 重播 chong2 bo1 by John Yuan 袁惟仁 Yuan2 Wei2 Ren2 is good, if you haven't heard it before...I don't know a good way to translate this title.

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Also, I like 旅行 lv3xing2 Travel:

and 生日禮物 sheng1ri4 li3wu4 Birthday Present

listen

And do you know 五月天 Mayday? And some songs by 竇唯 Dou Wei?

上帝保佑 shang4di4 bao3 you4 by Dou Wei:

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Oh hang on, 張震嶽 Zhang1 Zhen4 Yue4 is consistently good but I guess you probably know him already!If not:

認輸 Ren4 Shu1:

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Anyone else got any reccomendations?

[need1head]

sound toy 声音玩具, you can call them a progressive rock band, well, some ppl say they sound like Pink Floyd..but i think区波(the leading vocal/guitarist)plays like( or at least trys to play like) Jimi Hendrix..seems this band is all like the 70s..and they've got profound lyrics also.. this band keeps reminding me of Portishead( i konw it's weird...but you would know when you see them live)....and they are still underground..so far only released one demo cd-"the sweetest trip/最美妙的旅行'...崔健said no way this good a band got no record deal...maybe they wanna stay that way...but, who knows? one thing i know is this did made them even more popular among the indie fans.

The Verse, a really good funk rock band, you should always see them live..

Hopscotch/跳房子， the first ever trip-pop band in mainland, highly recommended by Shinead O'Cornor(she said Hopscotch is the best Chinese rock band) but i don't really think they are that good, maybe Shinead hadn't listened much Chinese rock music and Hopscotch happens to be the only Chinese band writes songs in English..tho i think Tian Yuan's english lyrics do need improving...

sound fragment/声音碎片， the so called "Chinese Radiohead"...I think their music is just ok....still much better than those angry metal bands....gotta know there's just TOO MANY heavy rockers in mainland...any other band that's doing alternative- post- are automatically more favored(at least by me)

周云蓬，a blind poet. I like his album as much as i like his poetry...but just that much...he often plays at 高地.I haven't saw him live yet,but will...

左小诅咒，i spent a lot of time trying to figure out why he is so popular and respected....but never once got a clue...eauch time i try a new album..i dis him a little bit more...but you can try him cos he's REALLY important in the Chinese rock scene in the post-Cui Jian era.( hope Cui's fans are not mad about this "post-Cui Jian "talking) some say诅咒is like Nick Cave or Tom Waits...i don't agree...........well ,maybe Tom Waits.....but not Nick Cave....no way

for better chinese modern music...you can always check out the releases from the label"mordern sky/摩登天空'.....it's a promising label(and the only in my opinion)...won't let you down....some individual releases are surprisingly good....some suck(guess this happens everywhere)

for techno/atmosphere/down tempo fans....the label Subjam/观音唱片might be your choice.....my personal favorite artist is 虎子...but maybe you'll find sth more interesting cos i really don't know much about electronic music....

for punk fans.....sorry i don't know where to start....almost every band in Beijing is punk.old school,new school,hardcore,radical,pop.....haven't seen any genuine ...reflector/反光镜 is ok......they toured US with Anti-Flag in 2003/04?? Subs is ok too....their front woman rocks.

[Lu]

Subs' frontwoman rocks indeed. And she had more style than any other Chinese woman I've seen. Their lyrics are also in English, by the way, although they might as well have been in Swahili, I saw them live and didn't understand a word she sang. Was an awesome concert though.

I like Zhang Zhenyue's 'Renshu' but I'm not sure if he's really that good a singer. He has some songs I really like (Renshu, Xiang tai duo), but also some really bad ones.

For punk: I like Aiyo (Ouch), ska-punk.

And if someone can explain to me what exactely would be 'indie', maybe I have some more recommendations. I like music but am not very good at categorizing.

[rose~]

周云蓬，a blind poet. I like his album as much as i like his poetry...but just that much...he often plays at 高地.I haven't saw him live yet,but will...

hey just listened to that song 盲人影院, love it thanks, where is he from?

What/where is 高地?

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Subs' frontwoman rocks indeed. And she had more style than any other Chinese woman I've seen. Their lyrics are also in English, by the way, although they might as well have been in Swahili, I saw them live and didn't understand a word she sang. Was an awesome concert though.

who is Subs' frontwoman?

And if someone can explain to me what exactely would be 'indie', maybe I have some more recommendations. I like music but am not very good at categorizing.

hmm, I was just thinking of music that is guitar-based or electronic really, not ballady, where sometimes there's a great song, which is ruined by some guy kicking in on an eighties synth after eight bars?

Does anyone know what I mean?

[Lu]

Then how about:

Zheng Jun 郑钧

Xu Wei 许魏

Cold Fairyland 冷酷仙境 (not sure if they have guitars, but they do have an electric cello)

My Little Airport (a duo from HK, sings in Cantonese and Chinglish)

Edit: SUBS' frontwoman is 'Kangmao' 抗猫.