Viet Nam News has written an article called “Forget Hip-hop, War Songs Are Da Bomb.” I know the author tries to be down, but the slang being used here is inappropriate. War songs aren’t “da bomb.” They contain serious contents.

The young Le Quyen has a captivating timbre —powerful and perspicuous—with no breathe or pitch issues. While her technical skill is promising, her music selection is disappointing. The materials on her debut Giac Mo Co That do not bring out the aesthetics of her marvelous vocals. She is wasting her talent with the translated ballads (“Ve Ben Em” and “Phut Giay Hanh Phuc”) and saccharine pop tunes (Le Quang’s “Quen Mot Cuoc Tinh” and Vo Thien Thanh’s “Trang Chieu”). As much as I enjoy Tuan Nghia’s “Hay Tra Loi Em,” the performance doesn’t leave a lasting impact. With that strong and slightly raspy voice, she can do better to elevate her stature. I am looking forward to a wiser decision-making (musical choices) in her next work.

Big shout out to Diem Thuyen Ngoc Tran for her active involvement in the Vietnamese community. She will be participating in the Arizona Ao Dai Pageant 2006 and Miss Vietnamese USA 2007. Based on her extensive interests (thankfully not just sleeping and shopping) and insightful comments on this site, Miss Diem Thuyen is a well-rounded individual who not only strives to excel herself, but also is passionate in helping others. Yet, the most important characteristic of Miss Diem Thuyen is that she cherishes the beauty of our Vietnamese culture, especially in music. We’re proud of her, and we’re rooting for her.

“Blue Rondo A La Turk” (Love the odd timing, the polyrhythms, and the switching of tempos at the bridge)

“Three to Get Ready” (Dig Joe Morrello’s marvelous brushwork here)

“The Duke” (An invigorating tribute to Ellington)

“The Crossing” (An amazing piece that is filled with polytonality)

For more comprehensive experience of Brubeck’s unorthodox jazz style, Time Signatures: A Career Retrospective is highly recommended. The box set featured fifty-nine tracks selected by Brubeck himself including Time Out masterpieces, a Charles Mingus-collaborated “Non-Sectarian Blues,” and the silky-smooth “Summer Song” with Louis Armstrong on vocal.

I am not kidding. If Dinh Tien Dat’s D. is considered a hip-hop album, we’re in trouble. I hate to be so hard on someone who tries his hardest to bring hip-hop into the Vietnamese pop culture, but he does it all wrong. His hip-hop debut is straight artless. Even before listening to the album, I could predict the outcome, yet I still give it a shot to see if I could pick out something interesting. Apparently, I walk away with nothing but frustration.

One of hip-hop’s essential elements is the art of storytelling. Hip-hop is a canvas that allows artists to paint their personal stories, and Mr. Dee has none. He is not a lyricist, and the only tale he could tell is the bittersweet love of Romeo and Juliet, not even his own. Do we really need Mr. Dee to remind us Shakespeare’s classic romance? Come on Dee, give us something original, something that moves us, something that means deeper than the banal relationship you’ve penned on “Roi Xa,” which sounds like you’re trying to flip a romantic ballad. Nonetheless, I sympathize Dee’s limited subject choices. The true form of hip-hop is self-expression; however, that true form will never make its way to Viet Nam. I am not saying that we don’t have talented artists to do so, but it will never happen until there is such thing as Freedom of Speech in Viet Nam. If Dee or any other rapper expresses his political view, something like what Eminem did with “Mosh” before the election, he would be spitting behind bars instead of on stage.

Even if we can look past the lyrical content, the technique, which Dee has yet to master, is not forgivable. No matter how many times he tries to switch it up, his stilted flow still shows. His delivery is emotionless and he can’t ride the beat. Even on the club joints, which are plenty on this album, he tries to catch up with the beat instead of floats with it. Although his singing is horrendous, it is not the most disappointed thing on the album. What gets to me is that D. featured not one but four Korean-robbed tunes (“Roi Xa,” “Con Tim Tinh Yeu,” “Nguoi Da Khong Con” and “Biet Em Da Ve”). With saccharine Korean grooves overcoating lame Vietnamese lyrics, I don’t know what kind of music it is, but certainly not hip-hop.

I have read somewhere that Dee is working on his next release. Please man, learn to love and respect the music. Be original, be innovative, or stop making artificial hip-hop records. It’s really a damn shame.

Music: a bluesy “Nghien” music by Pham Anh Dung, poem by Tho Tho, arrange by Quang Dat and perform by Quynh Lan.

Thy Vi interviews Jazzy Da Lam on RFA (Radio Free Asia) in Vietnamese. The best part is when Jazzy demonstrates how she incorporates the harmony of “Da Co Hoai Lan” into her own “Vong Dem.”

Nguyen Khang gets the polygamous rumor off his chest on VOA (Voice of America) in Vietnamese, produced by Truong Ky. Although his response comes off inappropriate, I understand how he feels when people accused him of having five wives and six kids.

Flash Sites: True to its brand, Fluid Web site navigation is fluidly attractive. One of the best use of Flash menus since Joshua Davis’s PS3. The only thing that turns me off is the use of frames.

Wash-Design‘s minimal approach is not too striking until you hit the “Studio” section.

Vietnamese Hotties: Merina Tram Vo (damn… is all I can say)

Thuy Le Hong Phan (sweet and elegance, the type moms and pops would approve)

Barbara Nguyen (the one that passed the mic on the question “What are the three advantages and disadvantages of being a Vietnamese-American woman?” during the Second Annual Miss Vietnam Usa 2005 contest.)

Read: In his critical column, “Deceptively Conceptual,” on Ned Drew and Paul Sternberger’s By Its Cover: Modern American Book Cover Design, John Updike concludes, “You can, possibly, tell a book by its cover, but the cover isn’t the contents. ”

Cameron Moll‘s article, “Good Designers Redesign, Great Designers Realign,” elaborates on my earlier post about refining Visualgui.com.

West Coast Jazz is another noteworthy reading on jazz written by Ted Gioia, author of the invaluable History of Jazz. Unlike hip-hop, there was no beef between east and west jazz. Gioia is not interested in defining the territory, but the music itself: the sound of the West and the musicians. He delves into the lives of major jazz phenomena, whose works flourished in the west, including Dave Brubeck, Chet Beker and Art Pepper. He also mentioned the avant-garde sounds of Charles Mingus and Ornette Coleman as important contributors not only to the west but the entire jazz world.

Ang Lee, a versatile director, is always up for new challenges. In his latest film, Brokeback Mountain, he struck a bisexual chord. Two cowboys, Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) and Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal), work together as sheepherders. While on the job they have anal sex after profound drinking and smoking during a cold night up in the mountain. The special bond between the two grows stronger even after they went off on their own ways. Despite being married with children, the two would arrange to go “fishing” several times a year, and their relationship gets deeper over the decades.

Even though the film is a complete turn from what Lee has directed before, one thing still remains the same, and that is his sensitivity for the beauty of nature. The landscapes are gorgeous thanks to cinematographer Rodrigo Prieto; however, the heart and soul of the film is the breathtaking performances from Heath Ledger and Jake Gyllenhaal. The kisses are passionate; the tears are convincing; and the emotional expressions come through. These two guys deserve the recognition for their unbelievable work. I am not a homophobic, but it takes guts to kiss another man on screen.

Focus Features has created one of the most striking films of the year. The script, which is written by Larry McMurtry and Diana Ossana based on Annie Proulx’s short story, is tight. The acting is superb (Anne Hathaway added some visual aesthetics to the film while Michelle Williams is fantastic in her supporting role). The soundtrack is soul steaming (especially the finger-picking guitar of the folk songs). The story is heartrending. Brokeback Mountain makes a comeback for Lee after the flopping of Hulk.

5 Dong Ke, an eccentric name, signifies the individual characteristics from a group that made up of four (the fifth member, Giang Son, has moved on to be a solo songwriter) young and voluptuous ladies whose gorgeous voices blend together seamlessly to create breathtaking harmonies. What sets these girls (Bao Lan, Hong Ngoc, Thuy Linh and Lan Huong) apart from other bands is their willingness to explore new path. Their latest album, Tu Tinh Ca, which took two years to prepare, showcases their jaw-dropping a cappella techniques. And the most striking part about the band is the way these four talented musicians breathe together with a kind of connection that can only be accomplished through love, respect, practice and devotion.

Through Tu Tinh Ca, the girls transform familiar songs into their personal statements by daringly maneuvering around old song structures to create new sounds. With perfect intonations and rich melodic lines, they give Trinh Cong Son’s “Tien Thoai Luong Nan” a pure rejuvenation. Their a-cappella rendition, which filled with exquisite vocal harmonies, is one of the finest presentations on this particular composition. Their interpretation of “Ngau Nhien” is also an astonishing invigoration of Trinh’s work. The rhythm section is silky smooth; the tonal detail is exotic; and the snaring beatbox is off the hook. When the tempo doubles on the second half, the delivery is even more irresistible. The flow becomes instantaneous, and then the wordless vocals end the song with a stimulating novelty.

Besides Trinh’s music, 5 Dong Ke also recovers popular pieces of Nguyen Anh 9 and Tran Trinh. On the medley “Tu Tinh Ca”—which consisted of Nguyen Anh 9’s “Buon Oi Xin Chao Mi,” “Co Don,” “Loi Ve” and “Xin Nhu Lan May Trang”—the voices weave in and out of one another, complement each other’s thoughts, support each other’s lines, back up each other’s verses, share each other’s soul, and create a heart-to-heart musical conversation. Plus the changing in tempo, the whistling and the fingers snapping permeate tremendous energy and spontaneous vibes into the elivening performance. Even though their version of Tran Trinh’s timeless “Le Da” (lyrics by Ha Huyen Chi) is not the best I have heard, it is certainly a distinctive one.

With fruitful collaboration and tight integration between the members, the girls have created some of the most compelling and refreshing works in such a minimal style. Tu Tinh Ca is definitely impressive, but the length of the album is way too short (only four tracks, a medley and a bonus). An instant replay is almost required after the first spin. With a short list of tracks and without complicated orchestration, two years to complete the recordings seem like a long time, but the outcome is rewarding. It shows that the girls have invested a tremendous amount of time perfecting their vocal chords.

The Eatery section has not been updated for a while not because I ran out of tasty foods, but because I dropped my digital camera, and it is no longer functioning. Bun Moc is the last bowl captured at the commoner’s place in NYC. Although Bun Moc is not as distinctive as Bun Goi Gia or as savory as Bun Mam, it has its own flavor. The broth is a bit bland, but the fishballs are not so bad when plunging into straight fishsauce with a splash of lime. Anyway, this is temporarily the last entry for food until I get my hands on a new camera.