Currently listening to: Mo Wen Wei (Karen Mok) - Shi Er Lou (Twelfth Floor)

Prolific.

Now that's not a word that usually doesn't describes most singers, but when it comes to most Chinese artists, the word fits...just the way Karen's smokey voice floats over the piano and drum programming from this track. I can't get over how quick the Chinese music industry can be. Whether it be in HK or Taiwan, artists can put out as many as 2-3 albums a YEAR! Which is a real shame, because it usually means that their record company is forcing them to churn out songs with sounds that are "hot" right now at breakneck speeds; perfect and flawless, yet sterile, without much soul. Kind of like Singapore...*grin*

Not to say that all Chinese music is like that. I find it really hard to see why we like what we do, and how my tastes differ so much from what gets put on commercially. Far from being a musical purist (okay, I take that back...), I just have my own tastes, which just happen to differ greatly from the mainstream. That doesn't mean I'll give up listening to hip-hop in a knee-jerk reation just because it's now 'hot'. That's like selling your soul for a doughnut...

A great music video can do a lot for a song. Think any Dr Dre or Nelly video clip. And speaking of clips, sorry about the last link on my last update, I'll try to get the video up and working...it's well woth the download time! *wink* However, my addiction to watching Channel [V] has past me (at least in Australia), so my media isn't very multi at all these days. All that on-sceeen booty isn't selling me anything either...Listening closer to the way Karen wraps her vocals in the track, the quiet energy she brings, the beauty in the imperfection of her voice, you can feel the soul...just like Mary J. Blige, who is one of the most soulful I've ever heard, these women go to show that you don't need to have a perfect voice to make soulful music...

No offence to other "Diva's" and "prolific" artists, but it's a shame...is perfection really worth the price of your soul...?