[碟評] 100種生活BY The Straits Times (新加坡報章)

Life!Music
Asian Pop
100 Ways Of Living
Lu Guang-chong
Team Ear/Rock
★★★★☆

This week's picks come from a goofy nerd from Taiwan.

Lu Guang-chong, whose English name is either Vitas or Crowd,makes a deliberate attempt to be anti-fashion.

His standards get-up - which is so unhip it hurts - comprises -a mushroom hairdo, geeky plastics-rimmed glasses, slogan t-shirt with shorts,sneakers and striped white sports sockd of a length that can only beeuphemistically described as retro.

It works as a perfect foil to his brezzy brand of indie-pop that is ironically fetching & trend-setting.

While Crowd Lu's looks certainly won't kill, his talent just might.

The songs on his debut full-length offering, 100 Ways Of Living, are producedby Cheer Chen's Beau the Golden Melody award-winning collaborator Tiger Chung.

Featuring Crowd Lu's lackadaisical drawl & dexterous guitar playing, thesehoned gems leave you gobsmacked.

Flirting with folk, jazz, swing, pop ballads and just a teeny bit of noise-rock,he cooks up veritable audio feast that have earned the attention and praise ofthe Taiwanese media.

Chow down on the cheeky Campus Beauties 2008, the David Tao-esque title track,and the cool Don't Kill Me, which kicks off with a cuckoo clock going off.

By: Samuel Lee@The Straits Times