Love and Hate

Wow, I haven't blogged for such a long time! Well, there's a lot of work waiting for me since I came back from HK and some of it quite troublesome, arrrghhh! I also had to sort out my photos, upload them, and choose some for printing (still doing that!). And of course catching up with all the posts in the forums and practising chords for new songs.

A detailed account of my adventures in HK will have to wait, but meanwhile let me just say that I bought a really nice album in HK, "Love and Hate" by Ping Pung. At first I wasn't sure if I would like the whole album, since I've only heard a few songs - 殺她死 (Kill Her), 我話事 (I'm the Boss) and of course my favourite 愛是最大權利 (Love is the Greatest Right) - from it. Then after playing the CD once, I played it again and again over the weekend. I have just one word for it - great! Possibly the best album from 2004 that I've heard so far.

Kary is remarkable; she has really blossomed as a singer. And I like the good quality and interesting mix of songs in the EP, especially the simplicity of 二十世紀少年 (20th Century Teenager). It is the unplugged version, which makes me wonder whether there is an original version and if so where I can find it.

I just wonder if they can keep up the good work in the next album (it's always hard to make a follow-up to a successful first album, just look at FIR as a recent example), or if there would be a next album in the first place, considering the dire state of the music industry. A rock band like Ping Pung may not be the most profitable outfit in a scene more geared towards commercial ballads, where bands are mostly short-lived. Still, I hope for more good stuff from them.

"Life is too short to hate...let's spread more love!" ~ Ping Pung