2v1g - the songs

When you visit my site, you will hear the songs by 2v1g. Below is the commentary by the producer on the 6 songs previewed.

Its probably unlikely that an "english" blog would highlight a Mandarin album. Asians in particular have this inferiority and stupid attitude. Especially those who are English educated. You'd find them across Asia, not just Malaysia. They would have no problems giving "foreign music" a listen, even though they do not understand the language - you'd find them giving a lot of leeway to appreciate Salif Keita's African lingo and music, or Laura Fygi's Latin songs, or German opera or Italian opera, or Tibetan esoteric music, or Korean music, needless to say Japanese music, Celtic fusions, Gregorian chants, and the very popular rainforest world music festival thingee ... you get my drift. Do they understand the language, generally no. I am not saying these music are worthless, far from it, I think we all should be open to appreciate the wonders and creativity from all corners of the world.

But give them their own music, in their own language - the Mak Yong, Mandarin songs, Cantopop, Hakka song styles, Hindi songs, dondang sayang, kabuki, Bejing opera, dangdut, etc... you get the drift, they'd frown immediately. Music is universal. To discriminate against your own is to be shallow and pretentious, not worldly or westernised. I am not even asking all to deliberately give their roots a chance - just regard all with the same open-mindedness. Treat all music as equal. Its not a matter of preserving or valuing your culture, its a matter of being true to your identity as a person of the planet earth. Not just music, but in all things, be it cultural or racial. Its pretty silly to see some regard with disdain their own local musical culture, but then they find many foreigners appreciating them. Just go to the rainforest world music festival and you will find plenty who are open and embrace the goodness in all of us.

Good music is good music. Whether we understand the language or not is secondary.

[1] coming home - this is winnie ho's award-winning song; it is also the song which many people associate her with. unlike previous versions sung by winnie, this version has a slower build-up and milder climaxes. winnie has purposely lightened up the song with less emotional intensity. she has grown up as a singer and she wants the audience to appreciate a more mature version of this classic song. roger's guitar is light and simple, fully letting the vocalist to take the center stage.

[2] snowy love - this is a tracy huang's classic, made popular by faye wong. regine's rendition is appropriately sweet without overdoing it. this is one of the most accessible love songs in the album. nothing complicated, just pure sweet music.

[3] endless love - this is the boldest interpretation in the whole album! a passionate love song being transformed into a bossa nova, roger's creativity is most evident on the guitar solo where he infuses a decidedly latin feel to the song. the two singers also ad-libbed a lot in the last part (not in the edited version here), making the whole rendition rather adventurous and fun.

[4] airport at 10:30 - a david tao's r&b classic, this song will make most guitarists frown in frustration on working out a groove/rhythm in the guitar solo. i suppose only roger wang can do it. winnie ho is having a hell of good time in singing this song; she doesn't seem like she wants to stop.

[5] tempting hearts - my fave in this album. there is so much outpouring emotions in this song that makes it memorable. regine's rendition made me weep the first time i heard it (she also broke down after singing this song in the studio) and roger's guitar solo is so heartbreakingly gorgeous. try to listen to this song alone at night with your hifi on, a glass of red wine, lights dimmed, and you will understand.

[6] march - my producer, chow's original work, march is not easy to sing at all. roger has attempted many arrangements for this song. at the end, we settled for one with a bit of "swing" feel. there is a certain sadness of helplessness in this song, if only you know the meaning behind the lyrics.

p/s you can click on the photo to read the full article on 2v1g