Like most established singers from Việt Nam who settled in America, Hà Trần caught the oversea disease: covering old ballads to death. Hà Trần released the first Tình Ca Qua Thế Kỷ under Thúy Nga productions in 2007. Despite the mechanical arrangements, it was a huge success in bringing her closer to the Vietnamese-American audience that would never give the idiosyncratic side of Hà Trần a chance.

Seven years later she follows up with the sequel under her own label with much better arrangements from Vũ Quang Trung, Ignace Lai and Thanh Phương. Her reinterpretation of “Cho Em Quên Tuổi Ngọc” is one of the best performances of one of Lam Phương’s most covered ballads. She soars like a songbird over the grandiose semi-classical orchestration. Likewise, her rendition of “Hương Xưa” (Cung Tiến) is exceptional. She maneuvers her way around the string-ladden arrangement with ease and emotion. In addition, her excellent take on Từ Công Phụng’s “Giọt Lệ Cho Ngàn Sau” makes me wish she stayed in this orchestrated realm for the entire record.

“Xin Thời Gian Qua Mau,” another one of Lam Phương’s beloved ballads, gets a fresh bossa-nova makeover, but it isn’t quite like the stringed pieces. Both “Ảo Ảnh” (Y Vân) and “Vết Thương Cuối Cùng” (Diên An) don’t have the Hà Trần’s peculiar and the arrangements are stale. The upbeat medley consisted of “60 Năm Cuộc Đời” (Y Vân) and “Nếu Có Yêu Tôi” (Trần Đức Duy & Ngô Tịnh Yên) comes of as an oblivious attempt of making something different. Her silly scatting should have been gutted completely.

Although Tình Ca Qua Thế Kỷ 2 has a few sidetracks, the album is definitely worth listening particularly the semi-classical numbers, the bluesy “Người Em Sầu Mộng” (Y Vân & Lưu Trọng Lư) and the heart-rending, acoustic “Nỗi Lòng Người Đi” (Anh Bằng).

Found this old treasure in the basement and could not stop reading it. Flesch and Lass had indeed penned a classic writing guide. I find their techniques on how to save words, find the right word, give it a punch, and get the most out of words to be useful. Not sure why I have not cracked this book open all these years.

After four years on hiatus, Hà Anh Tuấn returns with a production-driven album. The process begins with producer Nguyễn Hoàng Gia coming up with the beats. Then composer Nguyễn Hoàng Anh and Nguyễn Bá Hùng Lân write the melodies and arrangements before returning them to Nguyễn Hoàng Gia for the lyrics. As a result, the beat is the major force behind the album.

After two minutes of pointless intro, the album starts with “Cuộc Chiến,” a strong, hip-hop backbeat complementing lyrics about self struggles: “Cơn đau hôm qua không còn dấu vết / Chỉ còn lại nổi sợ và hoan mang / Chẳng thấy bống dáng của ai kia / Tự mình lại làm mình đau.” “Vô Hình” begins with a lonesome piano stroll before the thumbing drum bass kicks in. The story of battling oneself is now shifted to invisible love. “Thủy Tinh” continues with a pop-rock progression. The theme stays on the heart-broken territory: “Vỡ tan dễ như chiếc ly thủy tinh tự mình đánh rơi trong một cơn mê say.”

“Nhịp Si Mê” switches to an infectious reggae groove before “Cứ Thế,” the only slow joint on the album, takes down the vibe. Xanh Mãi (Forever Young) picks it up again with a R&B-rap collaboration and a positive message: “Tuổi trẻ luôn đi tới không nên rút lui / Vẽ lên những giai điệu cho bạn cho tôi / Để sau này nhìn lại ta không tiếc nuối.”

The title track closes the album with futuristic rock production. Although the concepts and the styles are all over the map, the beats keep the album coherent. It’s always a treat to hear a Vietnamese album with quality productions.

On the album cover Uyên Linh and Dũng Đà Lạt fused into a single entity like El Lissitzky’s 1929 poster “USSR Russische Ausstellung.” In the album Uyên Linh’s voice and Dũng Đà Lạt’s guitar weaved together like a pair of lovebirds.

With an entire record penned by Dũng Đà Lạt (five out the seven tracks are specifically for Uyên Linh), the two make Ước Sao Ta Chưa Gặp Nhau for themselves and no one else. The title track kicks off with just Uyên Linh’s voice accompanied by Dũng Đà Lạt’s picking guitar to give the sense of intimacy: “Em, đưa tôi đến xa xôi bình yên / Nơi tôi đã sống bao tháng ngày yêu dấu.”

“Ước Muốn Tàn Phai” continues with the dead-slow tempo expressing their love-hate relationship. “Trông Tình” brings the vide up a notch with a funk arrangement. The bass guitar combined with the electric keyboard is hypnotizing. “Ngày Mưa” returns to the simple guitar accompaniment, but “Như Cánh Hoa Đêm” switches up the tempo with Dũng Đà Lạt’s savory obstinato dancing around Uyên Linh’s vocals. The last two tracks, “Tình Lại Đến Như Vừa Bắt Đầu” and “Nơi Cuối Chân Trời,” are arranged and accompanied by Hoài Sa.

Because Dũng Đà Lạt and Uyên Linh have crafted an album for themselves, they have no interest in bringing their stories to you. You have to come to them and the album might take some time to get into or might not at all. Furthermore, Uyên Linh’s style is more of a traditional pop singer. She has a big voice, but barely gets out of her comfort zone. Then again she doesn’t need to for this up close and personal record.

Listening to Quang Dũng’s newest record makes me want to smack the sense out of him. What is the purpose? Sure, he wants to give over-sentimental standards (Nhạc Trữ Tình) a try. I get it, but he brings nothing fresh to these bolero ballads. His stiffed delivery, particular in “Tiếng Còi Trong Sương Đêm” (Lê Trực), combined with his lack of emotion and versatility make him sound incredibly stodgy. The trite productions are not helping him either. Released just a week before the holidays, Bài Thơ Không Đoạn Kết has managed to make the list of one of most pointless albums of 2014.

A good overview of implementing responsive design into WordPress templates. Joe Casabona has done an excellent job of balancing the concepts and the codes. He also managed to keep the book brief to help you get started. An essential read for designers who are new to WordPress.

Robert Irwin is the Los Angeles artist whose work has been stripped down to its pure essence: lines, dots, discs, and light. The concept of progressive reduction is fascinating, but I find the reading to be hard to grasp. For one, I don’t know anything about the artist and his art before reading the book. For two, the author, Lawrence Weschler, keeps the narration very conversational. Readers get to hear the story from Irwin’s own voice, but the flow isn’t so smooth.

As for the book design, Sandy Drooker has done an excellent job of combining Adobe Garamond text with Univers display. These two classic typefaces make the reading experience pleasurable. I’ll definitely revisit the book in the future when I learn a bit more about Irwin’s work.

For the final project in Experiential History of Graphic Design, we had to do a post binding with all the class workshops (calligraphy, relief printing, photogram, letterpress, paste-up, screen printing) we had done and our research paper.

Even though the professor had gone through the demo in class and we watched a very useful instructional video, I was extremely nervous. We only had one shot and I am still terrible with handcrafting design. I had to take three days off work before Thanksgiving to focus on this project. The entire process went better than what I had expected. The book was not as perfect as I wanted to be, but it met my satisfaction. I am proud of the final result.

Colophon

The body text in this book is set in Sabon designed by Jan Tschichold. The headings are set in Clarendon designed by Robert Besley. The captions are set in Univers designed by Adrian Frutiger. The book is made by Donny Truong under the guidance of professor Don Starr. The publication is produced in the fall of 2014 as a final project for a course titled Experiential of Graphic Design at The George Mason University’s School of Art.

To keep with the tradition, I want to post the best of Vietnamese albums each year. This year, however, I didn’t get a chance to listen to many albums like I had in the previous years. With my limited selection, I can only list my 10 favorites of 2014.

1. Đức Tuấn – Requiem: From concept to production, this album was crafted with high standard. Đức Tuấn gave his best performance in years.
2. Danh Việt – Chẳng Có Tình Ca: With Danh Việt’s debut, composer-producer Quốc Bảo gives the Vietnamese pop scene the middle finger. It strands away from the current pop trends. All tunes are new and original.
3. Nguyên Hà – Địa Đàng 2: Although Nguyên Hà has a limited vocal range and a few minor issues of enunciation, she is a compelling storyteller. Quốc Bảo recognizes her strength; therefore, he crafts minimal arrangements with generous space for her to tell his tales.
4. Bạch Yến –Hát Tình Ca Lam Phương: The man who has contributed priceless treasures to Vietnamese music deserves an album like this.
5. Phương Vy – Khi Ta 20: This is the album I listened to the most in 2014. It gives a grown-ass man like me nostalgia. Phương Vy and her tasteful, talented musicians reinvigorated the old pop collection by returning to the basics.
6. Thanh Lam & Tùng Dương – Yêu: The best part of Thanh Lam and Tùng Dương’s collaboration is the spellbinding orchestral work. Lê Phi Phi’s elegant, captivating arrangements, which lift the vocalists to a higher level, stand out by themselves.
7. Võ Thiện Thanh – Trung Nguyên Lounge Music: A double set to chill out with. Whether in shopping malls or coffee shops, these two albums will calm your nerves and melt your soul.
8. Nguyên Khang – Tình Hờ: A beautiful ballad album that showcases Nguyên Khang’s mature vocal delivery.
9. Asia Icons – Mai Lệ Huyền: Mad kudos to Brian Morales for his brilliant work of reinterpreting her popular hits in the 60s to 70s and giving them a fresh, new makeover.
10. Bằng Kiều, Thiên Tôn & Đình Bảo – Đời Đá Vàng: Bằng Kiều with a soaring falsetto, Thiên Tôn with a charming tenor, and Đình Bảo with a delightful baritone. Using their various tones and individual strengths, they have found a way to harmonize themselves as a group.

I am proud to launch the new version of I Love Ngoc Lan a few weeks before the holidays and her birthday (December 28). The new design returns to large, beautiful photography. One of the feedbacks from fans is that they alway liked to see their idol every time they pay her a visit. Her photos are now paired up with big, bold, sans-serif typefaces to strengthen the design.

Speaking of typeface, another major change is the body text, which was previously set in Open Sans designed by Steve Matteson. The new layout is set in Adobe Arno Pro designed by Robert Slimbach. The choice was chosen for readability, but also to complement the sans serif faces on the images.

I must admit. I have not spent as much as I should on the site. Doing a redesign once a year is the least I could do to keep Ngoc Lan’s legacy alive. Still miss her dearly after all these years.