Taiwanese/Chinese music appreciation thread

[beni 2149]

We've got a Jpop thread, J-indie thread, Japanese oldies thread and even a Korean indie thread. How about we add Taiwanese and Chinese music to the mix? Anyone with me?

 

Here's a few of my favourites (Taiwanese wise) to kick start this off.

 

 

 

 

I think it goes to show my favourite genre when it comes to Taiwanese music is Mandopop (honestly when is it not right? aha~). But I also enjoy a few rock bands too. I've got plenty of pop artists on the tip of my tongue to name, but I'll need to dig into my library more for others. When it comes to Chinese music, I don't know as much with that but I'm also interested in it. So for now, who are your favored musicians from Taiwan and/or China?

 

Feel free to contribute, share and discuss anything Taiwanese/Chinese music related~

[doombox 4421]

I've been out of the loop on Taiwanese music but I'm always up for learning about music from pretty much anywhere... So I may stalk this thread to catch up on the scene.

 

One of the few bands I used to follow was 旋轉蝴蝶/Dizzy Butterfly (previously 潑猴/Monkey Insane). 

 

Edit: Also that Cyndi Wang video looks like something you played in plug.dj before. All those songs are pretty sweet to listen to, but that video was really cool.

[beni 2149]

^ You got that right girlfriend! I've played her before in plug with that exact vid, aha. Also, loving what you've shared. It's the kind of music I don't know a lot about when it comes to Taiwanese music so thank you for posting. ;;

[Kaye 296]

I've been out of the loop for a while now but I'll never not like some Jay Chou. Nan Quan Mama had a real nice track too. Or Anthony Neely's whole first album ._.

 

 

[saishuu 3220]

I've always wanted to find more Taiwanese stuff, but they're all so damn hard to find online for me. ): The only things I know are Frandé (which I was lucky to find online) and Hello Nico (from a few YouTube videos). Other than that, I'm pretty much new to the scene.

[enyx 903]

大象體操 (Elephant Gym) are a pretty decent Taiwanese math-rock trio. I believe they have two releases thus far: an EP released in 2013 and an LP released in 2014.

 

[beni 2149]

I've been out of the loop for a while now but I'll never not like some Jay Chou.

 

Omg, he's sooooooooooooooooooo good! Love, love, love it. Apart from him, everyone else noted is new to me, aha. Nice to see some shared likes for artists too as well as discovering new ones.

So I'm going to go ahead and make this a Taiwanese/Chinese appreciation thread. Think that might work better, hopefully it won't look too cluttered for others. As a starter for the Chinese picks, I simply adore Fifi Rong. A recent find, but one of my favourite atm for non-Japanese music.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBwCmuB3MnE

[nullmoon 784]

Repping Mayday

[Nagisa 131]

The first Chinese music that I listened to of my own accord were the theme songs for Red Cliff by Alan:

 

心・战 ~RED CLIFF~; Heart, War ~RED CLIFF~ and 赤壁 〜大江東去〜; Red Cliff: Great River Gone East

 

And I only stumbled upon them after hearing the Japanese versions and realizing that the singer was Chinese.

 

I also like Frances Yip's 上海灘 (Shanghai Bund). I heard it a few times as a kid and it stuck with me. 

 

It's funny that my ethnicity is Chinese but I have listened to almost no Chinese music.

[colorful人生 2777]

I thought of making a thread like this for Tai-pop a while back, but I felt that it might of been a bit niche (underestimated that, lol).

Like others, I've only dabbled in the genre since my only gateways were F4 when Meteor Rain/Garden aired ages go and Crowd Lu's Vitas shenanigans (both artists included below).

 

A couple of my Tai-pop/C-pop favorites:

(btw, Crowd Lu is amazing, check out "100 ways for living", one of my fav. albums)

 

 

(God... F4 those sexy bastards. Great music too.)

 

Edit: Wow, I absolutely love Kimberley's voice. Thanks beni!

[Fin Paulux 17]

Lonely China day are worth the listen I think. 
Glorious pharmacy 美好药店 are awesome as well, completely different style and vibe, kind of folk-ish. 
As to pop music...Eason Chan, YiDa Huang, a teeeny bit of Aaron Yan and 东城卫, maybe 苏打绿 as well as my personal favourite Leslie (张国荣）. 

[chewi 54]

Some of my fave songs:

[hiroki 5521]

I listen to quite alot of mainstream mandopop. Some songs I like:

 

Jay Chou(obviously), though I prefer his earlier stuff. Most ppl i know either love or hate how he mumbles his way through a song haha.

 

 

Xiao Yu. An amazing singer-songwriter who's quite underrated imo.

 

 

I like Fish Leong's songs as well. There are alot of Chinese songs titled 彩虹 (Rainbow), but hers is my favorite. Btw this was written for her by Mayday's vocalist.

 

 

Ah-Fu - a really talented singer-songwriter with a unique voice. This may sound heavily edited but she actually sounds quite close to this live (minus the reverb effects).

 

 

For pop-rock I like IO乐团:

 

 

Not gonna spam more links, but I also enjoy Faye Wong, JJ Lin, and a handful of more obscure singers from mainland China and oldies singers. I also like Aaron Yan but he's kinda atrocious live (I literally just saw him last week at the Countdown live).

[freesia 714]

Some of my favorite Taiwanese indies:
 
Electro Summit Gun 頂級電子手槍 

 

We Save Strawberries 草莓救星

 

1976

[monkeybanana4 1732]

Necro-ing this thread, lol. Saw some super great choices above  When it comes to Mandopop/Taiwanese music, I mainly listen to mainstream artists, including some oldies, although it sort of blends in with Cantopop, lol. Some have already been mentioned, but I listen to artists like Jay Chou, Fish Leong, Cyndi Wang, JJ Lin (technically from Singapore, but sings in Mandarin), Fahrenheit, S.H.E., Tank, Magic Power, and a bunch of others xD I'll just post some videos, lol ^^;

 

JJ Lin - Tales of Red Cliff - It's somewhat based on the Chinese novel, "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and has wonderful incorporation of traditional Chinese instruments. I think I once read somewhere that the person who wrote Jay Chou's lyrics wrote the lyrics for this song.

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Cyndi Wang - When You - A sad love song with a nice vocalist

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A-Mei - Full Name - She's known as the "Mandopop Queen" with a lovely, evocative voice

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Wilber Pan and Rainie Yang - Bu De Bu Ai - It's based off of the Korean song, Please Tell Me Why by Y

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Fahrenheit - Only I Have Feelings for You featuring Hebe (from S.H.E.) - A cute anime-like MV where all the guys have hopelessly fallen head-over-heels over a girl and each try to woo her heart. The song is written by JJ Lin.

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Magic Power - Who am I - A band that has two singers who complement each other with a DJ in their group

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F.I.R. - Crescent Bay - A band that has a female vocalist and a nice incorporation of traditional Chinese instruments (I think xD)

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Tank - Three Kingdom Love - It incorporates traditional Chinese instrumentals and (I think?) Chinese opera singing techniques.

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Mayday - 入陣曲 - They have lots of great songs, so I just chose a random one for this, lol. I posted two different videos, but they're the exact same song.

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S.H.E. - Loving You - The bittersweet love song was featured in a love drama called Down with Love. S.H.E. is a girl group with Hebe Tian who I believe is also a solo artist. I posted two videos of the same song; one is the official music video while the other contains the lyrics and unofficial English translation.

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Edited June 18, 2019 by monkeybanana4

[secret_no_03 959]

The only Chinese songs I know are 24Herbs, Jin and this song by everyone's favorite Chinese grandpa.

[nullmoon 784]

Tie Shu Lan are dope if anyone wants some loud shit! Interestingly the vocalist is the same one from Supper Moment, a very tame pop band

 

 

 

[sangan 70]

I love this taiwanese band, they are already disbanded tho.

 

[ghostpepper 158]

For taiwan music ELVA is my favorite, check out her "super girl" or "shut up and kiss me" videos. 

 

For underground taiwan music 脆弱少女組 is really great, got to perform with them on tour in taiwan. They like Japanese city pop alot ( 'ω' و(و"♪

[yurameki24 99]

According to me from the locals, according to my many years of experience, 奈落～ナラク～ is a band I think is pretty good in Taiwan.

 

Free appreciation :

 

 

[plastic_rainbow 2162]

holy crap, BOYZ & GIRL are awesome! some good stuff here.

here's what i've enjoyed over the years.

 

pretty good post-rock band from dalian

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this band is probably the chinese equivalent of j-indie band Redrum. their 2015 album is completely post-rock tho so i would recommend their earlier two albums. (music starts around 1 min)

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a few more indie bands

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still don't know much about this band, or where to even find their music but they're good

edit: found out they're called Freckles and the vocalist, benben, is the same as BOYZ & GIRL! i thought they both sounded pretty similar

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shoegazy/post-rock/black metal band

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Edited February 25, 2020 by plastic_rainbow