The UrbanWire      

While some of Korea’s most popular male idol groups like Dong Bang Shin Gi and Big Bang remain away from the Korean music scene in order to focus on individual pursuits, the influx of new groups taking advantage of the situation (such as B2ST and MBLAQ) seems to be continuing into 2010.

Star Empire Entertainment, which manages the female idol group Jewelry, introduced their latest production, Children of Empire (力惫困酒捞甸) on Jan 7 with the release of Nativity.

Also known as ZE:A, the group faced controversy prior to their debut due to complaints by fans of the ever-popular Brown Eyed Girls that their names sounded far too similar, and could be confused with the girl group’s member, JeA.

Naming controversy aside, the group’s debut was also a long time in the making due to Star Empire Entertainment’s financial difficulties. In an effort to gain fans prior to their official launch, the group performed on the streets.

However, the 9-member group finally held its official debut showcase on Jan 13 at a club in Kangnam, Seoul. In a show of support for their label-mates, Jewelry’s Seo In Young and Park Jung Ah hosted the event.

According to various Korean news portals, the group performed songs such as “Love Coach” and “Mazeltov” from their debut album, Nativity. They also performed “Billie Jean” as a tribute to the King of Pop, Michael Jackson.

ZE:A reportedly entertained the 150 fans amongst the audience present at the showcase through their “nice choreography and brilliant vocal performances”.

“We finally made or debut,” ZE:A said during the event. “We’re really happy and we’ll do our best to work hard and show our best. We hope to become to best singers in Korea. We will work hard from now on.”

The group does seem slated for success, with their efforts paying off to a strong start for their career. Already, they’ve signed a contract with the mobile phone company, Sky, and filmed a commercial endorsing the Jamband phone, which was released just weeks after their official debut.

Mazeltov, which is an expression of congratulations in Yiddish/Hebrew, is the clear stand-out track in their latest release.

Though the music video for the song was criticised for being unoriginal, with the dark, manliner-ed look being too similar to SS501’s “Love Like This” and 2PM’s “Heartbeat”, it did the job of establishing a link between these more popular groups and ZE:A as a player in the industry.

The song follows the latest trend of ‘hooks’, making it catchy and easy to remember. This is done through an electronic feel, an addictive bass and repetitive lines such as “Friday Saturday Sunday”. However, MTV Iggy criticised the song for having such heavy autotunes that the boys’ original voices become difficult to hear.

For those with other tastes, the single includes a dance track (Love Coach) and an electronic RnB track (New Star).

Overall, this single receives 2.5 UrbanWire stars.

Title: Nativity
Artist: ZE:A
Language: Korean
Record Label: Mnet Media
Release Date: Jan 12

Tracklist
1. Love Coach
2. New Star
3. Mazeltov

Sources: Sookyeong, SSTV, Osen, S:asiae

9 months after their second album, Bring It Back To The Old School, U-Kiss has released a new single, Man Man Ha Ni, on Nov 6.

The third album has driven their fans crazy, as the boys have come back from the hiatus they took for their international activities, not only with better vocals, but also with a new, more manly and edgy look (think Super Junior during their Don’t Don promotions) and a new member.

18 year-old Lee Ki Sub came as a major surprise for U-Kiss’ fans, whose reactions ranged from excited to pleased, and unfortunately, to unhappy. However, despite some of the fans’ disapproval, his participation in Man Man Ha Ni continued, and has slowly started to warm up to the fans with his boyish appeal.

Man Man Ha Ni Official MV

“Man Man Ha Ni” seems to be the big break that U-Kiss has been waiting for, attracting the attention of the audience with their new, more mature look and their performances’ eye-catching choreography. The song, which features Bravesound, possesses a catchy bridge that hooks the listener in, reminiscent of the intro for the Brown Eyed Girls’ Abracadabra. The beat is addictive, and gets into the listener’s head after just a couple of listens.

On the contrary, the other full-track song on the single, “O.K.“, is brighter with a light, electronic undertone. It seems to contain elements that are uniquely the group’s, as evident from U-Kiss’ previous singles, which featured a lot of cheery, upbeat songs. However, it’s no less satisfying to listen to.

Overall, the single is solid, with a well-used, but effective concept that will excite audiences. It would’ve done well to be longer, and leaves the listener wanting. UrbanWire is looking forward to any new releases from U-Kiss.

Tracklist:

1. Intro

2. 만만하니 (Man Man Ha Ni)

3. 오케이 (O.K.)

4. 만만하니 (MR)

Title: Man Man Ha Ni

Artiste: U-Kiss

Language: Korean

Release Date: Nov 6

Record Label: NH Media

A year and a half after their last release as a group, SS501 is back with their mini-album, Rebirth. Despite plagiarism issues that led to the Korean boys having to find a new song and re-record their track while they were on their first Asian tour, they managed to churn out the album just 2 months after the initial scheduled date.

Rebirth doesn’t really live up to its name since SS501 has stuck with the tried and true, and almost all 5 tracks are reminiscent of previous releases, in terms of both lyrical content and concept.

Contrary to the edgy, man-linered album images in Rebirth, the songs in the album are mostly upbeat, typical boy band fare, with dance-pop beats and romantic ballads that will make their female fans swoon. This doesn’t come as much of a surprise, as the award-winning Steven Lee, who has written songs for top Japanese idols such as Johnny’s Entertainment’s Arashi, V6 and Do As Infinity, also produced all the songs for Rebirth.

Another name to boast about is Hollywood’s Ken Lewis, famous for working with Usher, Kanye West, and John Legend, who mixed the songs on the album. While the full MV is yet to be released, DSP Entertainment, the SS501’s management company, has said that a former colleague of Michael Jackson, AJ, choreographed SS501’s new dance.

While the buzz created by such big names has been significant, what has excited the fans was the lyricist for the song “Obsess“—none other than SS501’s leader himself, Kim Hyun-joong. According to him, the words in the song are dedicated to SS501’s fans.

“Obsess” is enjoyable, with a mellow beat and electronic undertones. it also allows the listener to appreciate the member’s voices, as it explicitly demonstrates the improvement of the boys’ vocals have undergone since their debut in 2005.

However, the solid favourite will have to be “Wasteland”. It has a heavier beat than the other songs, though nothing like their previous release, “Déjà vu“. It brings across a melancholy, slow-rock feel, though essentially it’s still meant to be a dance track.

Another notable number is “Love Like This”, which is also the first single of the album. So far, only the MV teaser has been released, although it has been performed live by the group on several music shows. As a contemporary-R&B-slash-dance track, it’s not what fans usually expect of SS501.

Although it’s for the sake of trying “different things”, they have proven more adept at heavier songs, and UrbanWire would’ve preferred another song similar to “Déjà Vu” or “UR Man“, both of which have proven to be catchy chart toppers.

Love Like This LIVE

Regardless, Rebirth has done well, hitting 30,000 unit sales on its first day on the market in South Korea.

For those looking forward to listening to the multi-talented idols, (Hyun-joong is most well-known for his role in the Korean version of the drama, Boys Over Flowers, and Jung-min had a role in the Korean version of the musical Grease) they have yet to finish their Asia tour.

Concerts in Shanghai and Hong Kong have been confirmed, and there are plans for stops in Beijing, Thailand, Malaysia and, believe it or not, Singapore.

Tracklist:
01. WASTELAND
02. Love Like This (네게로)
03. 하루만
04. Obsess (중동…)
05. 완.두.콩.

Title: Rebirth

Artiste: SS501

Language: Korean

Release Date: Oct 23 2009

Record Label: MNet Media

The “Be The 12th Player” roadshow was held consecutively over two days at Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s NP Orchard, grabbing the attention of students who walked past.

The venue was decked up with banners, posters, Hellgate figurines and even a popcorn machine.

Students were able to play small games to win some prizes. They had to go past 3 tests before they could walk away with $30 worth of Hellgate prizes. They had to dribble a soccer ball round several cones, bounce the ball on their head for a minute and finally aiming a kick into a goal post.

Of course, the main objective of the roadshow was to attract students to join the NP Cyber Soccer Cup, a FIFA Online 2 LAN tournament based in Ngee Ann Polytechnic. Helpers gave out flyers to passing students.

Students were also able to have a shot at playing the popular online football game. Soccer matches were screened on a 42 inch LCD screen, attracting the attention of students.

The top 2 players from each school will represent their schools at the StarHub Cup, the Singapore Qualifying tournament for the One Asia Cup. In addition, the top 4 players of each school will represent their Polytechnics in a friendly Inter-Varsity Polytechnic Challenge (IVP Challenge) match between Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Singapore Polytechnic, Singapore Management University and Nanyang Technological University.

The StarHub Cup will be held on 17-18 September 2009 and the regional One Asia Cup on 19 September 2009. The IVP Challenge will be held on 20 September 2009 which will feature players from Singapore Polytechnic, Ngee Ann Polytechnic, Nanyang Technological University and Singapore Management University. Both tournaments will be held at the Suntec Convention Centre.

Who or what do you think the 12th player is?

The top 3 submitted answers will stand to win a mystery IAHGames Mystery Hamper.  In addition, the best answer will get a FIFA Online 2 Cash Card.

Send in your answers to contest.urbanwire@gmail.com along with your Name and Email, with the subject title: [12TH PLAYER]

Contest ends 30th Sep 2009.

The EA SPORTS™ FIFA Online 2 NP Cyber Soccer Cup kicked off on 27 July 2009 with preliminary rounds running through 3 days at Ngee Ann Polytechnic Film and Media Studies block.

After 1 month of publicity of try out booths at NP Ourspace@72 and roadshows at NP Orchard, more than 100 students signed up for the NP Cyber Soccer Cup. They were then randomly sorted into 4 days and most students had to play against strangers.

Students were in for a surprise when they played against their schoolmates. Matches were played furiously as people pitted their online soccer skills against each other.

“It was a great opportunity where I could see my level of skill when I challenge other people,” Anthony Tan, 19 said.

Gino Lee, 19, also commented that he was able to feel “how competitve the whole tournament is”.

Some students also took the opportunity to make new friends when playing against each other, offering a friendly handshake to each other after every match, and cheering each other on in the following matches.

The last day of the preliminary round and Top 16 will be held at E2Max Cine-L9 on 15 August 2009, from 12pm – 5pm.

ASEAN, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, turns 42 on Aug 8. To celebrate this milestone, Singapore’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs will be organising the ASEAN Cinematic Showcase over 3 days, beginning on Aug 4.

5 specially selected movies produced in Southeast Asia will be screened to salute ASEAN’s diversity. Organised by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Singapore in partnership with m:idea, Singapore’s first student-run media conglomerate from School of Film & Media Studies at Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP), the showcase aims to expose students from tertiary institutions and the general public to stories in the region.

Singapore’s My Magic and Thailand’s The Tin Mine will be the curtain-raisers of the event at NP on Aug 4, followed by Malaysia’s Goodbye Boys and True Love produced by Myanmar the next day. My Magic director Eric Khoo was nominated for the prestigious Golden Palm Award at the recent Cannes Film Festival, and the movie’s Francis Bosco won a Best Actor award at the Asian First Film Festival.

The closing film Rainbow Troops, will be screened at the National University of Singapore’s University Cultural Centre. The Indonesian film, a hopeful and heartwarming story about a group of students and teacher fighting against all odds to prevent their school from closing down, promises to leave audiences charmed and touched. It will bring the showcase to a fitting finale, making a symbolic statement about the hopes, struggles and dreams of ASEAN to rise above all challenges in order to become a force to be reckoned with in the region and beyond.

To secure your free tickets, email asean.cinematic@gmail.com.

Event Details

Date/Time: 4 August 
1900-2230

Venue: Ngee Ann Polytechnic
 Preview Theatre, School of Film & Media Studies, Level 9

Film: My Magic (Singapore) & The Tin Mine (Thailand)

Synopsis:

My Magic

By Eric Khoo / Singapore / PG / 75 min

Francis is a broken single parent who struggles to win his son’s respect and love as he makes a bizarre return to magic in a bid to seek redemption and acceptance. My Magic addresses issues of love, life, family ties, redemption and magic.

My Magic was nominated for the Golden Palm award at the Cannes Festival.

In Tamil with English subtitles

The Tine Mine

By Jira Maligool / Thailand / NC 16 / 110 min

The Tin Mine is adapted from Ajin Panjapan’s collection of semi-autographed short stories about a young man who learns about life while living in a mining camp. The movie brings to screen the mining life set in southern Thailand in the 1940s and more importantly, a story about earning respect and growing up.

The Tim Mine was the official entry from Thailand for Best Foreign Language Film at the 78th Academy Awards.

In Thai with English subtitles

Date/Time: 5 August 
1900-2230

Venue: Ngee Ann Polytechnic
 Preview Theatre, School of Film & Media Studies, Level 9

Film: Goodbye Boys (Malaysia) & True Love (Myanmar)

Synopsis:

Goodbye Boys

By Bernard Chauly / Malaysia / PG / 88 min

Set in 1990, Malaysia, Goodbye Boys is about a gang of pimply guys with raing hormones, undecided ambitions and formative identities. They set out on a grueling five-day journey though the Kinta Valley that changes friendships and themselves.

In English, Cantonese and Malay with English subtitles.

True Love

By Kyi Soe Tun / Malaysia / 128 min

True Love portrays the love story between a Japanese man and a  young Burmese woman. Mee Mee, the girl, travels to Japan  to live with her father, and in the process, meets the Japanese love of her life. It is a story abouy sacrifice and the different facets of love.

In Burmese with English Subtitles

Date/Time: 6 August
 2030-2230

Venue: National University of Singapore, University Cultural Centre

Movie: Rainbow Troops (Indonesia) BY INVITATION ONLY

Synopsis:

Rainbow Troops

By Riri Riza / Indonesia / PG / 125 min

Based on a best-selling novel written by Andrea Hirata, Laskar Pelangi (Rainbow Troops) is a heartwarming tale about a  group  of  students  and their teacher who struggle against all odds to keep their  school from closing down in the village.

Set in the quaint Belitong island of Sumatra, the film is a real inspiration to all, as  it  captures both the values of friendship
and the many struggles of  humanity  to  come  together  for  a  common cause.  This memorable and poignant film will leave audiences touched.

In Indonesian with English subtitles.

How to Get to Ngee Ann Polytechnic

Directions if you are travelling by public transport:
Buses stopping at Ngee Ann Polytechnic Main Bus Stop: 52, 61, 74, 75, 151, 154 & 184
MRT Station to alight: Clementi MRT Station. Take bus 154 or 184 towards Ngee Ann Polytechnic

Ushers will be stationed at various checkpoints beginning from the bus stop and along the walkway to guide all visitors. Ushers will be decked in black polo shirt.

Directions if you are travelling by car:
1.    Enter through the main entrance (refer to map) and turn left after the zebra crossing.
2.    Turn right and drive up the slope.
3.    Turn right upon seeing School of Film & Media Studies and Chapman University.
4.    Turn left into the car park at Blk 52/53 School of Film & Media Studies and Makan Place.

Until 17 Jul, tryout booths for the Fifal Online 2 Asia Cup Qualifiers (Ngee Ann Polytechnic) will be set up in Ourspace, with helpers going to Makan Place and the Atrium to distribute flyers.

At Ourspace, those interested can try out the game, FIFA Online 2 on a “42 LCD screen and get FIFA Online 2 installation CDs, completely free. On top of that, the first 30 people who sign up can receive Hellgate figurines.

Registration is free, but a $2 fine will be imposed upon withdrawal before preliminary matches. For more details, visit the official blog, the tournament twitter or the facebook group!

Fifa Online 2!

Let’s face it. While on the world stage, ‘Asia’ is considered a nest of skilled gamers, the term ‘Asia’ tends to refer more to Korea, China and Taiwan. After all, these countries have steadily churned out big-name cyberathletes, from Fifa Online player Lee Ji-Hun to Li “Sky” Xiaofeng of Warcraft III fame.

As a matter of fact, spectators from a recent international gaming competition in Korea, in which Singapore and Malaysia participated, had one common sentiment: by comparison, our gamers have a long way to go.

Well, by comparison, Korea’s gamers are professionals. Their lives revolve around gaming, relying on their skills as a career. Singaporean gamers don’t quite have that amount of time, as they juggle their lives, their (more typical) careers, and their passion for gaming.

With the Fifa Online 2 tournament, Director/CEO of IAH games, Roland Ong, aims to give Singaporean gamers a chance to make a name for themselves.

From various polytechnics to online applications, the best of the best compete for a chance to finally get on the gaming world stage.

How the tournament works

The best 6 players from Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam and Singapore each, will meet in the finals, with a purse of US$12,000 up for grabs.

For Singapore, the qualifiers offers almost $10,000 in purse, and will be made up of a selection held during the Game Convention Asia, 17 – 20 September at the Suntec City Convention Hall.

Prior to that, there will be qualification rounds held in various polytechnics in Singapore.

The One Asia Cup series is as follows:

• 1 v 1 Group League
• 2 v 2 Group League
• Country v Country Mixed 2v2

For more details, visit the official website.

Earning almost US $90 million in its first two days of release, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen has had people swarming cinemas for a serving of giant-monsters-kicking-ass and a side of Megan Fox. Its popularity speaks for itself: this writer had to book her tickets two days in advance.

Giant Ass-kicking Robots: What You Need To Know

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is the sequel to the 2007 box office hit, Transformers. Set a certain amount of time after the whole Megatron incident, Optimus Prime and the other autobots are helping protect the human race from the increasing number of decepticon attacks. Meanwhile, the Fallen, who was once defeated by the Primes, is revealed to have machinations for world domination.

Credits as watermarked.

How We Feel…

Let us warn you now, if you’re looking for plot, emotional depth, or anything besides cool action sequences and gratuitous boob-bouncing, walk away. Don’t forget that Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen features alien robots, and unlike its true-to-the-books predecessor, this movie is based off a franchise catered to kids (and the kids-at-heart).

With that in mind, this movie is a thrilling ride filled with more explosions, more robots, more cool visual effects, more catchy one-liners, more sex appeal, more… everything. It doesn’t quite make up for the lack of a plot, or the farcical plot twists and the somewhat insulting, repeated use of deus ex machina, but it’s entertaining, and at the very least you’ll leave the movie theatre feeling oddly satisfied.

The Good

As far as movie sequels, go, this is a pretty good one.

Michael Bay stepped up and made the movie more marketable to the common denominator. While this has drawn some negative comments from fanboys, it has become something everyone can appreciate.

The scenes involving autobot and decepticon battles were less dizzying this time round, delivering more boom and pow. The highlight, of course, would be the final showdown between the Fallen and Optimus Prime. Watch out for the cool transformations too– this time, there’re more vehicles than the repetitive black GMs that appeared in Transformers.

There were also more funny moments in this movie, a few one-liners and several PG-13 jokes that sent the audience laughing. The main source, surprisingly, were Major Lennox and Master Sergeant Epps (played by Josh Duhamel and Tyrese Gibson respectively). Yes, some of the jokes involved balls, sacs and scrotums, and may come across as ‘crude’, but let me remind you again that this is a movie for kids about alien robots, pardon the scriptwriters if they didn’t include subtextual repartee.

The Bad

I’ve mentioned that this is a movie for kids, and to not expect much in way of plot, but still, kids are kids, not imbeciles.

The plot devices pile up right from the beginning. Essentially, the movie starts because Sam Witwicky (Shia LaBeouf) doesn’t do his laundry, and ends with a mystic matrix that brings not one, but both the main protagonists back to life.

…To wrap it all up, the movie script probably reads like fanfiction.

The… Notable

One thing that didn’t cease to amaze me throughout the movie is the sheer single purposed-ness of Mikaela Banes (Megan Fox). Be it running across the desert in an inter-continental adventure in a low-cut tanktop that never reveals more than it should and white pants (freaking white pants) that never get dirty, or lying across a motorcycle’s saddle in what must be the most awkward (and possibly painful) position for the most advantageous cleavage view.

I realise that this paragraph probably doesn’t contribute much in terms of a review, but let it be said that if you’re a Megan Fox fan, you cannot miss this movie.

In Conclusion…

This movie will satisfy any urge to see something explode, or fight or go boom, but nothing else.

Rating: 5/10
Release Date: 24 June
Rating: PG
Genre: Action/ Adventure/ Sci-Fi
Running Time:
Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, John Turturro
Director: Michael Bay

Trailer

Based on the 2000 anime movie of the same title, Blood: The Last Vampire is exactly just about that: blood and vampires.

If you’ve watched the animated movie, or read any of the manga and novels adapted from the original animation, don’t get your hopes up too high just yet. While the opening sequence (where Saya sits in a shadowed train, waiting for her prey) stays true to the original animation, down to the tiny details of camera angles, dramatic shadows and gratuitous profile shots, the rest of the movie follows merely the anime’s style, not necessarily its plot.

If you, however, are looking for neat action scenes and mindless slash-bash-splat-ouch sequences, this is the movie for you. Just… ignore the odd digital visual effects of blood globules spouting from severed necks. Otherwise, this film features a neat combination of sword-wielding and karate-kicking characters, leading to very exciting (if a bit dizzying) action choreography.

The lead actress, Gianna (alias Jeon Ji-hyun of My Sassy Girl fame), surprisingly did all her stunts, which is no mean feat. Besides the sheer amount of fighting her character, Saya, had to do, a lot of her action choreography was physically-demanding.

Another surprise is that she could actually speak English comprehensibly- at least at the beginning. As the movie progresses and the predominantly Caucasian cast shifts to several key characters (namely Kato, played by Yasuaki Kurata and Onigen, played by Koyuki), the amount of coherent dialogue seems to decline. I wouldn’t have minded, seeing as I expected a bit of ‘engrish’ already anyway, but it did ruin the final scenes.

Where the movie should have come to a decent conclusion, with questions being answered through Onigen and Saya’s final battle, I just stood there with a huge “???” expression, barely keeping up with the fight sequence while trying to process what they were trying to say. I gave up the moment I heard Saya’s distinct “NEBER!” What I did understand, however, were mind-numbingly cheesy lines, okay for an animated character to say, but somewhat humorous for a real, breathing actress in the throes of a violent supercharged sword fight.

Far from being an Asian version of the popular vampire fiction Twilight, Blood: The Last Vampire is more comparable to Wesley Snipes’ Blade Trilogy. While it doesn’t have the plot development that the Blade Trilogy has had the opportunity to develop over several installments, Blood: The Last Vampire admittedly has far superior action sequences.

This movie is entertaining, at the very least. Blood: The Last Vampire a satisfactorily gory film to de-stress to. However, despite cool action scenes and a passable plot, it’s something I’d watch it only if I were either impressed by the admittedly well-made posters plastered all over, or if I were a fan of the original anime, which it tries its best to follow. Otherwise, I’d suggest waiting for the dvd version to come out.

Overall, I’d give this movie 2.8 stars.

Movie Details
Release Date: 4th June 2009
Language: English
Running Time: 91 mins
Rating: M18
Genre: Action
Starring: Gianna Jun, Masiela Lusha, Allison Miller,
Directed by: Chris Nahon

The National Champions! Team Magnifique (NTU)
Left to Right: Britney Cheong, Jessica Ong, Ng Yi Han

115 teams, 8 finalists, 1 winner.

After a long and competitive trek to the Singapore L’Oreal Brandstorm finals, Singapore’s representative to the International Branding contest has been selected.

Team Magnifique from NTU wowed the panel of judges that included Isabelle Svartstein-Boujarde, General Manager of Luxury Products Division, L’Oréal Singapore, Nicolas Pauthier, Human Resource Director of L’Oréal Singapore & ASEAN, Deborah Tan, Editor of CLEO Magazine, Dr Mark Ingrouille, Region Director of McCann Worldgroup in Southeast Asia & CEO of Singapore & Thailand, and Adisak Boonyakitjinda, Regional Creative Director for the Fine Fragrance and Beautycare Category.

Their brief was to conceptualise and market Maybelline’s first perfume product, and Team Magnifique, comprising Britney Cheong, Jessica Ong, Ng Yi Han stood out with their elegant and feminine concept.

“We are extremely impressed with this year’s finalists. The winning team outshone their competitors as they had an in-depth understanding of the Maybelline New York’s brand values and presented a globally viable concept. Besides displaying strong marketing finesse and originality, they’ve managed to win the judges over by their strong team spirit,” Pauthier commented on the all-girl team, who were close to tears as the winners were announced.

However, after beating 115 teams from Singapore, Team Magnifique still has a way to go, as they’ll be flying off to Paris to compete against representative teams from other countries. The stakes are higher this time, as they’ll be fighting for a trip worth € 10,000 (S$ 20,000) to any city of their choice.

The pressure is on. After all, Singapore has a good record in the International Brandstorm competition, with 2 teams already having won the grand prize before.

Good luck to Team Magnifique!

-edit-
Also, check out our interviews with Elvia Suryadi and Michael Wong here!

After six months of activity to reaffirm their spot amongst the elite of the Korean entertainment industry, TVXQ! has finally taken up their alias, Tohoshinki, once more. With the release of their fourth Japanese album, ‘The Secret Code‘, they seek to cement their position at the top of the Japanese charts.

This album does not disappoint. Besides including songs from their chart-topping singles such as ‘Why Did I Fall In Love With You‘ and ‘Beautiful You‘, Secret Code contains a couple of the members’ self-penned songs such as ‘Without Forgetting‘ (by Jaejoong Kim) an ‘Kiss The Baby Sky‘ (by Yoochun Park).

The most notable track in this album is the mysteriously-titled ‘9095‘. Composed by Jaejoong Kim, the lead vocalist of Tohoshinki, the song speaks of a mysterious love that is rumored to resonate with his own past experiences. 9095 is a mixture of Japanese and French, oddly poetic lyrics such as Trois, the spider web which entangles and entangles like this, continously/ The sandclock which started to go backwards to 9095. It comes with a dripping beat and synthesizer effects, which enhance the relaxing, but still undoubtedly enigmatic feeling of the piece.

Speaking of poetic, Jaejoong Kim also amazes with the lyrics of ‘Without Forgetting‘, which he wrote in Japanese despite having learned the language for only a couple of years. Unrequited love seems to be a running theme in the songs of which he is involved in producing, and Without Forgetting is not an exception. This dredge of a memory grows stronger/ A short message from you/ Tightens my chest a little but/ I want to continue watching over an eternal happiness, he writes, causing much speculation amongst his fans as to whether he drew from his own experiences when writing this song. Paired with Tohoshinki’s experience in singing ballads, the song sounds painfully believable.

With impressively composed songs such as these, it leaves me to wonder why songs such as Survivor and Box in the Ship are still included. While undoubtedly catchy enough to stay stuck in one’s head for a few days at the least, in contrast with Without Forgetting, the lyrics seem juvenile and superficial, to the point of being silly.

(Though, silly- or ‘young’, for lack of better words- might be the point for songs such as We Are! and Share The World, both of which were used as opening songs for the popular Japanese animation, One Piece.)

However, it is understandable that, having Japanese as a second language, the song-writing process would be tedious and take a far longer time. It does give hope though, that the group’s future albums would have a greater portion of meaningful, self-composed songs.

What I find less-than-stellar about the album, however, is the inclusion of songs such as

Purple Line and Mirotic, which are both translated versions of their Korean chart-toppers. While the songs do remain catchy and their singing doesn’t fail to impress, the words ofttimes sound awkward and ill-fitted to the melody, which was originally tailored for a set of Korean lyrics, instead.

Also, I was disappointed by the absence of any bonus a capella tracks, which is what Tohoshinki was initially known for.

With a whopping 19 tracks overall, The Secret Code is a good balance of ballads and catchy pop songs, and though some cater more for the 13-16 year-old age group of their audience, the others do reveal Tohoshinki’s better-than-expected song writing abilities.

9095 Lyrics and Translation from Minsarang

Without Forgetting Lyrics and Translation from Moonlightunes

Corinne Gibbons’ latest album, ‘Melt’, sets out to do just that.

The established artist, whose 2002 release, ’Dusk’, peaked at #2 on Australia’s Independent Jazz Charts, launched her album in Singapore yesterday at Golden Village Vivocity. Accompanied by an acoustic guitar, performed four songs, ’Speak of the North’, ‘Switch Off’, ‘Precious Girl’ and ‘Rise’.

It was a relaxed affair. She started her performances smiling, and continued to do so throughout. Her voice, a soothing jazz lilt reminiscent of Colbie Callait, was amazingly steady, and gave the audience a feeling of comfort as they watched music videos comprised of clips featuring arctic wildlife by the Lindblad Expedition (National Geographic), with whom Corinne collaborated for the DVD version of Melt.

Overall, Melt is a refreshingly unprocessed album, full of meaningful lyrics that, when partnered with Corinne’s heartfelt singing, bring forth an emotional resonance. Teamed with the DVD’s complementary footage, the combination is a thought-provoking, sentimental moment reaching between the listener and herself.

The standout track on the whole is ’Precious Girl’, which, according to Corinne, is a letter to her sister, whose passing away affected her greatly.

I feel tender for the world that has suffered for your loss/ I am I am I am / I am touched by gentle inspiration/ And I confess to appreciate the smallest things, she sings, accompanied by footage of girls and women, sisters and mothers, from all over the world.

But it is not just personal sentimentalities that fill Melt.

One of the reasons the album has been named so, after all, is “because the world is melting,” according to Corinne.

With the song ‘One Voice’, ‘Animals die and the forests are weeping/ children are starving/ nations are bleeding/ do you wanna wait/ don’t hesitate’, Corinne reaches out with a plea to stop the world from going down the slippery slope of self-destruction, starting to change the world by changing oneself.

All in all, Melt is a peek into Corinne Gibbon’s life. “I followed my instinct and intuition rather than having a preconception of what kind of album is would be,” she says. According to her, there’s no set genre for Melt, and as such, if you’re looking for something banal and predictable, this is not the album for you.

However, if you’re looking for something to relax to, appreciate meaningful lyrics and that precious connection with the artiste that seems to hard to come around these days, do give Melt a try. It’s available at Gramophone and HMV, as well as iTunes, Amazon, Rhapsody and the official Corinne Gibbons website.

Or, if you feel like hearing her sing live for yourself (it’s quite the experience), Corinne will hold three Melt performances at the DBS Arts Centre, from Jun 11-13. Starting May 8, tickets will be available at all SISTIC outlets.

Tracklist
1. Speak of the North
2. Silver Flame
3. Switch Off
4. Precious Girl
5. One Voice
6. Life Goes
7. Good Days
8. Silty Wine
9. Rise
10. Melt

Rating
UrbanWire gives Melt 3.8 Stars.
★★★.8

Extras

Corinne Gibbons singing ‘Rise’

Corinne Gibbons ‘Switch Off’ performance

Corinne Gibbons on Asia Uncut