Deserts Chang releases new song

Long-time sodagreen friend Deserts Chang has released the MV of the main plug for her new album 'Games We Play'. Entitled 'Brilliant Fire' (艷火), it has a light rock-ish sound combined with an indie-like arrangement. Although the tune is nice, the lyrics make the song as beautiful as it is. Here's the Youtube link:

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According to media reports, Tsing-Fong was suffering from gastroenteritis as sodagreen recorded a programme in Taiwan, where the band performed many of their classic songs. During the recording, he frequently joked about his condition, leading to much laughter from the audience.

Because of his gastroenteritis, Tsing-Fong could only eat crackers, which led to (the host) Blackie Chen to say, "No wonder you're called 'sodagreen'!"*

During the show, Tsing-Fong criticised the government for saying they wanted to help the creative industry but not doing much to help, citing the expensive venue rental prices as an example. "(Does the government) actually use any of the money collected on us?" He asked. "We practically can't feel anything," Blackie Chen said.

Tsing-Fong also spoke about people flaming him on PTT, saying (jokingly, I hope) that he doesn't care about them because "these people don't have enough class; no matter how they do it they won't be able to attack me because they all aren't as mean* as me!" He also talked about how he become friends with a former critic after they managed to civilly exchange their viewpoints and gain respect for each other.

Source: ETtoday

(This is a translated article.)

Translator's notes (Yes, here too):
* This is a pun. 'Crackers' can be translated as 'suda bing' in Chinese, which literally means 'soda biscuits'.
* The term he used: 'jian suan ke bo' can mean 'mean', 'harsh', 'sarcastic', 'cold', or/and 'distant'. This may or may not (I may be too sensitive about this) also be a pun, as 'suan' was the word used to describe the action of disturbing, or in this context, flaming Tsing-Fong.

Meanwhile, in other news, the band's good friend Deserts Chang will release her new album, 'Games We Play', on the 10th of August. The first plug, 'Fireworks '焰火', was released to stations on the 2nd this month. I've heard it, and it sounds great like her other songs, and it's also the one she sang at the sodagreen concert in March. Do support her when the album comes out!

Spain wins Euro 2012

Unrelated, I know, but I just can't resist broadcasting my delight. Spain played classy football and Italy was just unlucky. Talking about sports, I think that almost all the members of sodagreen (except A-gong) were involved in sports at some point of time. A-fu was a school basketball player, and Tsing-Fong was briefly on the team as well. Xiaowei, Claire and Jiakai were in the swimming team in university. Those who say Tsing-Fong is girly can eat their words. :P

Sodagreen to feature in another short film

Sodagreen will appear in yet another mainland-produced short film, officially entitled 'I Love You to Love Me', and I don't know if this should be good or bad news for us fans. The band seems to have set their sights on conquering the mainland market this year, with their nationwide tour, the endless promotion campaigns as well as the two short films. All of these things would undoubtedly provide them with a lot of good exposure and good press, but once again, the prospect of 'commercialisation' looms. With the previous short film a platform for a car/soft drinks (I'm still not sure) firm to advertise their brand name, the new short film, set to be released on the 6th of July all around China, will feature products from brands like LG and Samsung, all sponsored by Suning Appliance, one of the largest privately owned electrical appliance retailers in China, according to Wikipedia.

The exposure may be a good thing for the band, but I'd rather them stick to what they do best- music. It's good for artists to branch out to other media to fully utilise their talents and skills, but exhaustion and pressure may get to them and it's never good for their health and productivity. Look what happened to Jay Chou, who insisted on releasing an album every year despite his busy filming schedule. His albums have (in my personal opinion, Jay fans, sorry and please don't be annoyed) steadily deteriorated in quality. They seem rushed and lack the passion and energy that could be heard on his earlier albums. I appreciate sodagreen's somewhat sudden interest in film work, but I'd love to hear that 'Autumn' album out soon, especially since autumn would soon arrive in Beijing, where the band plans to record the album.



According to the official synopsis, Mark (Zhao Youting) and Dizi (Yao Di) are a couple who fell in love at first sight at a concert by sodagreen, a mutual friend (?!). When the brightness and beauty of love runs into the complications and troubles of everyday life, tension mounts between the two of them. After a quarrel, Dizi chooses to leave temporarily, going far away to further her education. Would their love end like this? Can their dreams continue? You can find your answer in this short film.

According to the source, sodagreen's presence made the short film seem just like an MV, with the band performing many of their classic songs. Before the launch of the film, trailers would be uploaded onto media-sharing platforms like Youku, Sina, Tengxun, Wangyi and Souhu. At the same time, the producers would commence a 'Love Precepts' promotional activity on Weibo, sharing with fans the feelings the film seeks to bring across.

Despite my personal opinion that the band seems to be getting too caught up in the somewhat over-commercialised mainland entertainment scene, I am looking forward to the movie. I hope that it would be successful and would not feature too much blatant advertising. The news comes as a bit of a surprise to me as the band members have never mentioned anything about it on their Weibo accounts. Sodagreen released a new song together with the previous short film, so I'm hoping that they would take this opportunity to release another new song. This may be wishful thinking, though...