ASIA NEWS

Hyori Lee: running things


TUPNews can report that, when in comes to Asian music, Korea runs things.

Thankfully, I flew Singapore Airlines to Singapore, rather than Virgin, which I fucking hate. I can’t recommend Singapore Airlines highly enough: good food, good inflight entertainment, friendly service. The flight attendants all wear those patterned dress things, making them look much more dignified than Western “trolley dollies.” The male attendants wear snazzy light blue sports coats, making them look like game show hosts. Excellent. And I got to sit next to a couple from Bristol, although of course that’s not part of the service.

Best of all, however, was the audio, which featured a wide selection of Asian popular music. Here’s the deal:

Canto-Pop is over: it has become very thin and plasticky.

J-Pop is also feeling flat: very ballad-y and tame.

K-Pop is fucking heavy. I give you Hyori Lee, former leader of girl-power pop group Fine Killing Liberty, whose second album “Dark Angel” kept me amused at 30,000ft. The Neptunes have clearly been the latest victims of Asia’s relaxed attitude to intellectual property: in fact, Hyori stopped promoting the album (launched in February) after Britney Spears sued her. I really hope this doesn’t end her career, as she is basically better than Britney. Contemporary sound, local flavour: all good.

Not that Hong Kong doesn’t represent. If there is one Asian track you need to download immediately, it’s “One Person” by Sandy Lam, which is a Chinese-language cover version of New Order’s “Bizarre Love Triangle.” It was playing every time I got into a taxi in Hong Kong, it is phenomenal.