Tired of looking at the muthaflowers; therefore, I am taking Visualgui.com back to square one – plain and simple.

Sure, Luu Chi Vy’s debut album, Mong Nguoi Ta Luon Tot… Luon Yeu Em (Hope He Will Always Be Good… Aways Love You), makes a perfect coffee-shop music. It has all the right hooks, melodies, and lyrics. Yet, catchy as hell is Luu Chi Vy’s charming, sweet, and vestal voice. He sounds more convincing for a pretty boy who has been dumped for the first time than a handsome guy chasing after girls.

The album showcases seven most pathetic songs written by Nhat Trung. After listening to the whole joint, the chorus that sticks out is “Va the la anh sang sang cu café / Va the la anh toi toi cung café / Chi muon gap em de anh xin so phone / Nhung sao anh chang thay em.” Even for none-Vietnamese listeners, they could easily understand the lyrics if they could pick up the words café and phone. Nhat Trung should be able to go to any coffee shop in Viet Nam and drink for free since “Chay Theo Co Be Yeu” (Chasing the Lovely Girl), a cha-cha-inflected groove, is a coffee-shop anthem.

Nhat Trung has not only written some of the elementary lyrics with lengthy titles – “Mong Nguoi Ta Luon Tot… Luon Yeu Em,” “Nguoi Ay va Toi Em Phai Chon” (Him and Me You Have to Choose), and “Hom Qua Khac… Hom Nay Khac” (Yesterday was different… Today is Different) – he has also injected Chinese melodies into his compositions. Every song has the smooth and syrupy Chinese vibes that would enhance the bitter coffee without adding sugar and extra spices.

Even though I don’t like my coffee black, sugary pops aren’t the right flavor for my cup of coffee either. But that’s just me, an old guy who isn’t moved by Luu Chi Vu’s pathos. Ladies are probably crying their hearts out while listening to the emotional “Khong The O Ben Nhau” (Can’t Be Together). The trick is that if he could get the girls to come, the boys will follow. The formula works like a magic stick.

You’ve read my review on Thuy Tien’s debut album. Here is a chance to watch her cool video, “Vang.” She’s cute, huh? (Via Tram).

Too hungry to describe. Let the photo speaks for itself.

Candy – keo
Goat Jesus – de chua
Freaky gang – dam dang
Eye duck – mat dich
Lost education – mat day
Mouth tongue – mieng luoi
Many stories – nhieu chuyen
Whored horse – di ngua
Kick fish roll mellon – da ca lan dua

Anything else, folks?

I have underestimated Thu Minh, the chick with a cute face and a voluptuous figure. Her third album, Neu Nhu, has a few hits, and she knows how to revamp old popular songs, such as “Anh Sang Cua Doi Toi” (The Light of My Life), “60 Nam Cuoc Doi” (60 Years of Life) and “Va Con Tim Da Vui Tro Lai” (And The Heart is Happy Once Again) sound new and bouncy without loosing the aesthetic quality. She has an effervescent voice, a stage charisma, and she can work that sexy body too. Yet, I predict that she could not get further then where she has been on Neu Nhu – a trendy album that rocks the crowd for a short period of time. Therefore, when her forth album, Tinh Em, drops (within only seven months apart), I pay no mind to it, until I encounter her refreshing rendition of Van Cao’s “Song Lo” (Lo River). I picked up the album and utterly surprised by how high she has stepped up from her previous work.

Tinh Em (My Love) is not about the average boys-and-girls-romantic love. The album is about patriotism. Now, ladies and gentlemen, don’t get all hype up because I am praising “communist music.” As long as the production is crisp and the performance is tight from song to song, screw the politics. If expatriate Vietnamese can write about their mournful lost, the communist can write about their pride too. As far as I am concern, music has no border. So just listen and enjoy the work itself.

With the politics out of the way, let’s jump right into the blazing tracks. Once again, Thu Minh revives the traditional village music (nhac dan toc) by making “Bong Cay Ko-Nia” (Shadow of Ko-Nia Tree) lively and contemporary with her sultry vocals and ingenious arrangement. The lyrics on “Thuyen va Ben” (Ship and Sea) have some charming metaphors: “Chi co thuyen moi hieu / bien menh mong nhuong nao / Chi co bien moi biet / thuyen di dau ve dau” (Rough translation: Only ship knows / how wide the sea is / Only sea knows / where ship goes and returns), and Thu Minh gives a poignant delivery with her cogent voice. “Dem Nay Anh O Dau?” (Where Are You Tonight?) is about pride, patriotism and love: “Em dang bay vao trong mo / Thay em duoc ra chien truong / Cung anh chien dau / quyet song chet cung co nhau… / Voi niem tin anh thang giac / du bao nam thang / du nang mua em van cho” (Rough translation: I am flying in my dream / See myself in battlefield / By your side / live or die together… / With a belief that you will / defeat your enemy / Even when it rains or shines / I’ll still be waiting). When she sings that chorus, Thu Minh commends our attention with the courage in her vocals.

If “Gui Nang Cho Em” (Sending Sunshine to You) and “Ha Noi Mua Thu” (Fall in Ha Noi) are too sentimental and forlorn, Thu Minh closes out the album with the upbeat remix of “Nho Thanh Pho Hoa Dao” (Remembering the City of Blossoms) to balance out the vibe. So I was wrong about Thu Minh. She is not only a hot babe, but she also has some real talent, and Tinh Em proves it. The album is striking from hits after unexpected hits.

Ngoc Dai’s second installment of his Solar Eclipse series should be called Nhat Thuc 1.5 instead of Nhat Thuc 2. The album has seven tracks total, yet three of them are republished from the first release with the lyrics rewritten. Even though Tung Duong and Khanh Linh have done their best to keep the record on lock, it still falls short.

Fortunately, the remaining four tracks are galvanizing. Tung Duong gives an unforgettable performance on “Mo” (Dream). His voice fits Do Bao’s jazz arrangement like a glove. On “Tu Tinh” (Self Expression), he maneuvers his delivery to match up with the rock fusion, and the result is irresistible. As for Khanh Linh, she invigorates Ngoc Dai’s contemporary-folk “Tam Dem” (Night Bath) with her emotional strengths and playful phrasings. Together, Tung Duong and Khanh Linh transform “Co Trang” (White Stork) into a masterpiece that showcases Ngoc Dai’s craftsmanship. The arrangement is exotic; the voices are exquisite; and the lyrics are eccentric.

Despite how many genres (jazz, rock, pop, and folk) infused into the songs, the album never gets distracted. It still remains coherent from start to finish. If Nhat Thuc 2 continues the journey by going forward and not looking back, it would have been as successful as the first one. Sure, I don’t blame Ngoc Dai for rewriting the lyrics because of the copyright controversy on the first album; however, to reissue them on the second part is not working.

Oh no, Vu Tuan Duc is married to Thanh Truc. What a lucky bastard!

Wow! Check out Nhu Loan. This snap (the 10th from the top) makes me wish I could get a lap dance from her.

No, not the Thuy Nga’s babe Thuy Tien, I am talking about the twenty-year-old Thuy Tien from Kien Giang who is the newest eccentric female singer in Viet Nam. Similar to Ngoc Khue, she establishes herself a unique style right from the beginning of her career. Axing out the trendy tunes, her debut, Ngot va Dang (Sweet and Bitter), goes straight to the dark and solitude corner.

While young singers, like My Tam, Ho Quynh Huong, and Trish Thuy Trang, write about their banal relationships, Thuy Tien composes simple but poetic rhymes to express herself. On the lullaby, “A Oi,” she sings about her fatherless life – “Ngu ngoan di nhe nao ta khuya roi / Vong dong dua nhe ru doi mo coi” – as she lulls herself to sleep. Also from her own pen, her mournful voice floats on “Bong Toi” (Shadow) like a ghost creeping by our side. The best part about these two tracks is that they do not follow a certain melody, yet they come together in a weird way.

Quoc Bao is the man behind the remaining seven songs on the album. The lead-off “Cho” (Wait) starts off soft, but quickly turns into a hardcore punk rock like it has been waiting to explode. Then “Vui” (Joy) mellows out the mood with just her soulful vocals accompanied by the sonorous piano accents. “Ta Da Yeu Trong Mua Gio” (We Fall in Love During the Wind Season) is another quiet track in which her voice is melting the lyrics around the soft and gentle melody. The a cappella “Dieu Ru Vuc Sau” (The Deep Lullaby) is an innovative folk song that has two voices weaving together in an indelible conversational tone.

Thuy Tien is obviously new, her breath control and inexperienced phrasing show it; however, her passion along with her unorthodox style make her a rare gem among today’s pop singers. Ngot va Dang is an exotic album not only to listen but also to feel. It’s not about technique; it’s about soul.

As the temperature goes up, my motivation goes down. Lately all I do is hiding in my air-conditioning apartment, sleeping, relaxing, and listening to jazz. I have collected about 150 jazz albums and give each one at least a spin. Of course, I need more time to digest them all, but here are a few albums that jump right at me.

Benny Goodman’s The Best of Benny Goodman and His Orchestra
Billy Holiday’s Lady Sings the Blues
Carmen McRae’s Carmen Sings Monk
Charlie Parker’s Cool Blues
Clifford Brown & Max Roach’s At Basin Street
Coleman Hawkins’s Body and Soul
Diana Krall’s Steppin’ Out
Dinah Washington’s How to Do it
Duke Ellington’s Black, Brown And Beige
Ella Fitzgerald’s The Complete Ella Fitzgerald Song Books
Ella Fitzgerald & Louis Armstrong’s best of Fitzgerald and Armstrong
Jane Monheit’s Taking A Chance On Love
John Coltrane’s A Love Supreme
Lena Horne’s Love Songs
Lester Young’s Kansas City Sessions
Louis Armstrong’s I Like Jazz: The Essence of Louis Armstrong
Miles Davis’s Bitches Brew
Norah Jones’s Come Away with Me
Ornette Coleman’s Change of the Century
Sarah Vaughan’s Embraceable You
Thelonious Monk’s Criss Cross