Something for you to read:
Mai Tran and Christopher Goffard’s “A Desperate Mother Ignores the Odds” (Make sure you have a piece of tissue on hand)
Greg Tate’s “Eulogy for Black Caesar” (James Brown is truly free)
Andy Nguyen’s “Cuoc Tinh Dau…” (Sure beats the shit out of my first love)
What’s the difference? I’ll let Mr. I-Got-99-Problems-But-a-Bitch-Ain’t-One breaks it down for y’all.
A successful singer needs both vocal and aural skills. She has to be able to sing as well as hearing what she sings. Van Quynh has a fantastic voice, yet lacks the ear for good tunes. Her debut Uoc Mot Ngay kicks off with a dynamic, hypnotic rendition of “Mot Thoi De Yeu” giving the album a promising start. Unfortunately, even her powerful vocals couldn’t save the rest of the lackluster tracks. She’s still young and inexperienced at crafting an album, but Thuy Nga’s producers should have known better.
Just when I am about to let Visualgui.com fades to black, your encouraging words keep me going. Thank you for “a gift from the heart…” I sure appreciate it.
On Tinh Khuc Cho Em, Quang Dung throws Thai Ha a bone. She’s only a passable singer with soft and rangeless vocals. On their duet “Vung Lay Cua Chung Ta,” Quang Dung pulls her out of the mud. Her insomnia-cured voice only makes his sounded more superior than it actually is. Charity is the only reason he made this album. Whether he did it for the kids or for her, the profit should (as she has claimed) go to help the children in Viet Nam. So if you cop this album illegally, you should go to hell. Fuck it, I’ll be there with ya.
Produced Bonjour Viet Nam and Ao Dai Trang A Oi.
Designed Department of Dance, Dean of Freshmen, Campus Life Office and Learning & Teaching Center.
Reviewed Ha Tran’s Doi Thoai 06, Nguyen Khang’s Dong Doi, Thanh Lam & Hong Nhung’s No, Tran Thai Hoa’s Tinh Khuc Le Uyen Phuong, Bang Kieu & Minh Tuyet’s Boi Vi Anh Yeu Em and The Duke of Jazz.
And can’t forget this fun stuff.
Meet Larissa Meek, sexy model turned Web designer. Her paintings are mad hot too.
The Official Jay-Z Mixtape presented by Rob E Rob. Impressive cuts, DJ!
On her fourth solo, Nuoc Mat Mua Thu, produced by Asia Entertainment, Ngoc Ha brings back the nostalgic vibes. What makes her covers of the classic tunes sound so damn fresh are the youthfulness in her performance and authoritativeness in her voice. With such passionate power, she makes me wonder how tones like that could come from petite a physique. I guess it is true that good things do come in small packages.
On the title track, “Nuoc Mat Mua Thu,” Ngoc Ha proves once again that she is one of the best female vocalists in her generation when it comes to covering Pham Duy’s compositions. With brilliant use of vibrato, Ngoc Ha pours her tearful soul out like autumn rain. Her emotional transformation could easily place next to Le Thu’s rendition. Pay particular attention to the way she expresses “troi oi,” and you’ll know what I mean.
Beside her voice, Ngoc Ha’s other strength is the wide range in her repertoire. Soaring like songbird on Pho Duc Phuong’s “Ho Tren Nui,” she demonstrates her skills for handling traditional folks. With an astonishing breath control and a sleek maneuverability around ballroom beats, she rocks the dance floor with Khanh Bang’s “Ngay Ve Que Cu” in paso-double style. Backing up by an orchestra, she gives Pham Duy’s “Kiep Nao Co Yeu Nhau,” a striking semi-classical recital.
Weakest track on the album is Van Phung’s “Gia Tu Dem Mua.” The imperfection is more on the arrangement than Ngoc Ha’s delivery. The cha-cha groove is jerky and weirdly mixed with the acoustic guitar riffs. Still, Ngoc Ha’s vocals and Asia’s productions are a wonderful coil to one another. What I want to hear next from Ngoc Ha is a Pham Duy’s album with the collaboration of Duc Tuan. Imagine that!
In “The La Qua Du,” Kim, a fifteen-year-old chick straight from Ha Noi, attempts to rhyme, “Doi voi toi, hip-hop la mot phan tren co the / Khong the mat no, chac toi se thanh nguoi tan phe.” After listening to her debut album, Kim Vol. 1, I raise the question, “What hip-hop is she talking about?” She can’t ride the beat. She has no flow. Her lyric is elementary. Shortie needs to get her ass back to school and stop fronting like she got game.