One Voice: The Songs Of Chage & Aska - Various Artists (EMI) Asian artists doing cover versions of foreign compositions are common enough but the reverse is an obvious rarity. So, for a group of international artists to record a 'tribute' of sorts to popular Japanese duo Chage & Aska is a high honour for the duo, especially when you throw in names such as Maxi Priest, Lisa Stansfield, Chaka Khan, Michael Hutchence, Apache Indian, Boy George and Richard Marx.
This is an effort by the duo's recording and management company to lift them to international status as most of the songs have been re-worked and remixed to give them a more Western feel.
Take Me Away, in which Stansfield's husky vocal is melded with Aska's high-pitched voice, is a perfect example of how well East and West blend. Chaka Khan makes it hard to tell that Raspberry is a cover of a Japanese song, and the same goes for Hutchence's Red Hill, were it not for the familiar chorus lines.
Perhaps the most radical change would be Apache Indian's reggae-fied version of Pride. Chage & Aska make two appearances with their original English compositions, The River, and Castles In The Air, but it is the foreign interpretations that grab attention here.
Concerned About You - Andy Lau Tak-wah (New Melody/BMG) Guess who is having a concert run? And, then guess who has a new album out? In Hong Kong, one thing leads to the other and that is why Andy Lau Tak-wah has released this Cantonese album on the heels of his Mandarin one.
Fortunately for him (and us), Concerned About You is a huge improvement on the Mandarin-language Lovesickness Becomes A Disaster, released two months ago. This is a collaboration between Lau and producer Kong kong-sang - and a number of new writers - which has wrought a fresh turn in Lau's songs.