Before T.I. could release King Uncaged, he was caged again for another eleven months on a parole violation. Although the album has been changed to No Mercy, some of his deep thoughts are about redemption. On “Get Back Up,” he offers his “apologies to [his] fans and [his] closest friends / I’m sorry for letting you down, I won’t take you down this road again.” As much as he tries to sound sincere, the track turns out to be irrelevant for the obvious reason: T.I. has done some dumb shit again.

No Mercy offers some softer sides of T.I., but with half-assed delivery. He is at his best when he talks shit. He rips through “I Can’t Help It” with his virtuosic swag about getting money. “Amazing” is a compelling track that laced with some of the most pornographic rhymes ever: “Turn her to a dick monster, nut muncher / sperm cum dumpster, left amongst her / Bitches in the past, pretty titties, plenty ass / they just drink up what we give them / Take shots without any glass / fuck her in the face till it fall off her till she gas, gas, gas.” Sure, his misogynistic lyricisms sound so wrong on many levels, but his flow is just too damn incredible.

That’s it? Two years in making Li Ti and Tung Duong could only come up with six songs. To make the album sounds complete, he has to add two instrumental tracks.While the quality of the productions are superb, what makes Li Ti a disappointment is the lack of inventiveness.

Whereas his previous album, Nhung O Mau Khoi Lap Phuong, was an imaginative exploration of electric music, Li Ti is more like running on electric circulation. As if NOMKLP was way too far out, Tung Duong dumbs down his music for a wider audience. The lead-off “Troi Cho” is impressive in setting up the ambient vibe with rock, but the rest aren’t up to Tung Duong’s envelop-pushing, evolving style. He sounds restraint on “Con Co.” His delivery doesn’t flow with the orchestration, which would have made a gorgeous score alone. In contrast, Tung Duong’s flow is fantastic on “Giang To” but the production never takes off. The title track, on the other hand, goes nowhere vocally as if the composition was not written for singing.

While Li Ti is much more accessible than his previous releases, it is also the dullest. In addition, Li Ti is a sign that Tung Duong’s electric experimentation has run dried. It’s time to return to the acoustic blues and jazz styles that he was so damn good at.

I was at Barnes & Noble this morning for some last minute holiday shopping and overheard a Puppinized rendition of Mariah Carey’s “All I Want For Christmas.” I headed over to the music department and treated myself a copy of Christmas With The Puppini Sisters. Right off the opening track, the Sisters “Step Into Christmas” with a joyful, up-swinging tempo. Then “Santa Baby” gets a Puppini’s soulful, sexy makeover. While “White Christmas” gets into the cold, winter spirit, “Mela Kalikimaka” gets a sunshine season’s greeting from the land where palm trees sway. “Holy Night” closes out the whimsical album with the Sister’s wonderful harmonized vocalization.

Wishing you all a joyful spirit for the holidays. Thanks for hanging out with me at Visualgui.com. Now go spend time with your family.

Who would have known, Nao Co Ai Biet, Phuong Thanh and Duc Tri make a fruitful collaboration? From a producer standpoint, Duc Tri makes a wise decision to record an acoustic album of his own tunes. The intimate setting showcases Phuong Thanh’s rough voice and raw emotion. Accompanied by Duc Tri’s sentimental strumming guitar, Phuong Thanh pours her heart out on slow ballads including “Co Bao Gio,” “Nao Co Ai Biet” and “Khi Giac Mo Ve.” On more powerful ballads, however, Duc Tri gives Phuong Thanh more room to do her roaring. “Ta Chang Con Ai” and “Co Quen Duoc Dau” takes listeners back to Phuong Thanh’s golden days when she stormed the pop scene with her vigorous voice. Nao Co Ai Biet displays the platonic connection between the two musical friends.

Before Duc Tuan, singers who get Duong Thu’s approval for his music were mostly women: Hong Nhung, My Linh, Khanh Linh, Thanh Lam, Tran Thu Ha, Nguyen Thao and Bang Kieu. To this reviewer’s ear, Hong Nhung and Nguyen Thao were the two most successful in articulating Duong Thu’s nature-inspired lyricism. They sing his music in a very easy-going approach. Duong Thu coached Duc Tuan to do the same in Bay Gio Bien Mua Dong, Duc Tuan’s latest album. Unlike Hong Nhung and Thao Nguyen, Duc Tuan has lost that natural instinct after his second album. The major different between Duc Tuan and the two female singers is that he forces himself to sound effortless. Throughout the album, but “Bai Ca Dao Mua Dong” and “Cua So Mua Dong” in particular, listeners can tell that he tries his hardest not to break a sweat. Bay Gio Bien Mua Dong is a proof that natural singing is something that cannot be trained. You either have it or you don’t.

Unlike your distance “twin,” you understand the meaning of “cay” (spicy), but you don’t believe us when we tell you so. At several Pho houses, you kept pointing to the Sriracha hot chili sauce bottle and say ketchup. You insisted on dipping it with the meatball. Mom finally let you tasted yesterday at Pho 495 and now you know not every red-looking condiment is ketchup.

The last issue of 2010 for GWSB newsletter gets a new design. The redesign goes back to table layout and shorter width to accommodate email clients.

So Bao Han posted her final letter on her web site. I admit I didn’t read the whole letter because not only the white text on the dark transparent background is hard to read, but also the background music is so damn distracting. She pointed that BaoHan.com will get a complete facelift. I hope that the new design will lift off that horrendous use of Flash as well. It took me a minute to find the damn scrollbar. Ok, enough of the web site. Let’s get on with the real deal.

Bao Han has been creating quite a bit of attention around her departure from the music business. She had the spotlight on Paris By Night to say goodbye and the whole farewell tour. I know she has captured quite a bit of fans, but really what will we really miss beside not seeing a skinny chick gets wild on Paris By Night. She has been singing for 18 years and yet not a single song from her impressed me. Her voice and range are paper thin, but what bugs me the most is that she sings Vietnamese as if it is her second language after almost two decades into the game.

Like her BFF Nhu Loan, I will probably miss seeing her on stage, but I doubt that I will miss her singing. Still, I wish her the best of luck in her next endeavor.

Someone has not only found the key to her heart, but also picked up the falling leaf and the elegant onyx drop.

Glad they found a new home: the luscious wild berries and pink quartz faceted briolettes & aquamarine rondelles.

We’re also pleased that our sweet friend enjoys our simple gift.