May 9,2008 00:19
Taipei Times 樂評 拷秋勤最新專輯!!
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http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/feat/archives/2008/04/30/2003410585
CD REVIEWS: TAIWAN
Adventurous listeners will appreciate Kou Chou Ching’s (拷秋勤) first full-length record, Kou! It’s Coming Out!!! (拷!!出來了!!), a two-CD set that successfully fuses traditional Taiwanese musical sounds with hip-hop music.
The group mostly raps in Hakka and Hoklo, two Chinese languages that flow nicely on top of hip-hop rhythms, in comparison to the stiff inflections of Mandarin.
The record has two very different moods: the first CD — the band’s musical statement on Taiwanese culture, has a folksy, down-to-earth feel with its emphasis on traditional music samples. The second CD is basically a modern re-mix of the first CD, recast in a range of different hip-hop and electronica styles.
Sampling old recordings and traditional music can come across as gimmicky, but Kou Chou Ching manages to avoid this with a strong mix. MoShang does a good job of drawing out the musicality of each sample — for example, the droning riffs of the suona (嗩吶), a trumpet-like instrument, and the ruan (阮), a two-stringed lute, fit nicely with the beats and enhance the groove on many of the tracks.
The album is impressive because each half — one traditional and one modern — could stand on its own as a separate record. For the sake of comparison, however, the first CD lacks cohesion in some places — some of the longer dialogues between songs disrupt the album’s musical flow. The second CD sounds more dynamic, as each track flows together seamlessly. Web site: www.kou.com.tw.
