Even though my parents came to the US from Taiwan in the 70s, I’m not a fan of Taiwanese pop music; maybe it’s because so much of it seem to come from Boy Bands from mainland China or consist of numbingly slow love ballads with videos of forlorn looking couples looking sad at each other in some random-ass wheat field. (Seriously, why are there so many Taiwanese ballad music videos of someone standing in a field? They have buildings, right?)
But this music video by Taiwanese indie-pop band WonFu — not to be confused with Asian American product company Wong Fu Productions — I can get behind, mostly because it takes all of that bubble-gum cheeriness that Taiwanese people love so much and puts it behind a bassline; imagine the catchy hooks of Puffy AmiYumi put through the wringer of a Taiwanese variety show, goofy sound effects and all. If you think they’re good enough to catch live, they’ll be touring cities and venues up and down the West Coast, including Seattle, Portland, San Francisco and schools like Cal Berkeley and UCLA.
What next?
Other posts you may be interested in:
Recent Comments
- Daul Kim: One Sassy ‘n Smart Bitch
- KFC vs. KGC: WTF???
- alienation: This is a great thread! I grew up eating Kentucky Fried Chicken. My family would make an effort to get it in East L.A., over by the King Cole Pizza. It was way better than the Kentucky Fried over in MPK and up in SG. I...
- Proof that Russell of Disney/Pixar’s Up is Asian: The Color Scripts
- Mending Broken Glass: Khmer Rouge History Now to be Taught in Cambodia
- kbok: it may seem shocking to other people that kids don’t believe their elders when hearing about khmer rouge atrocities, but if your mother told you that soldiers shot at her, pushing her off a mountain and into landmine paths...
- Chinese Adoptees: Stolen or Abandoned?
- Dan: CSLI, I think my previous comment stated that I “hope” not “should”. It was not meant to belittle anyone and yes I can imagine just like most people, adopted or not. Though the effect will not be the same as...
- Obama Bows to Emperor Akihito
- JC: @ Eric: Not only that, he’s half brother lives in China and is married to a Chinese woman. There’s a lot of Asian in his family
Recent Events
- [Nov 3] NORTHERN CA: Intro to Movietelling (Neo-Benshi) with Dennis Somera
- [Nov 14] SOUTHERN CA: Grace Kim & the Spiders From Mars
- [Nov 20] NORTHERN CA: CATS 9th Annual Asian Comedy Night starring 18 Mighty Mountain Warriors
- [Nov 21] SOUTHERN CA: BANANA: Where Infamous Asian-American Bloggers Unite to Chop It Up
- [Nov 22] TORONTO: S.M. Global Audition
7 Comments to “Taiwanese Indie-Pop Band WonFu to Tour the West Coast”
joshchau wrote:
OMG Why didn't you tell me sooner?!?!?!?!?!?
Ever since Pizzicato 5 broke up when I was in college there was a hole in my heart for this kind of music. If it's not improper to do so, I would say that Won Fu is like a Taiwanese Pizzicato 5.
It's nice to hear happy Shibuya Kei-esque music but in a language I understand.
Has anyone else noticed that they like to stick Taiwanese lyrics here and there (I noticed it on Do Re Mi, I also speak Min Nan Hua)?
I'd appreciate any links to a site where I can order their album. I already tried YesAsia.com and they have a long delivery time.
Posted on 11-Oct-09 at 7:05 pm | Permalink
facebook-1576770034 wrote:
Dang… this really makes me wish I was on the West Coast again. Seattle!! So close, yet so far.
Props to WonFu for touring the US.
Posted on 11-Oct-09 at 7:25 pm | Permalink
Dan W wrote:
Most Chinese pop songs are full of very sappy love lyrics of whatever music genre but there's some that are not bad and there are quite a lot of MVs where it takes place in and around “building(s)”. I'm just guessing, not in a mean way, that you haven't really caught up with the Mando-pop scene for a while.
Indies are cool too. I saw a couple of clips of Rock bands from the Mainland a couple of weeks ago.
Posted on 11-Oct-09 at 8:30 pm | Permalink
Stan Eggroll wrote:
Catchy song! Oddly enough, the sound is very similar to Latin-American and Spanish pop bands that have hit the scene recently. The style, unfortunately, hasn't translated to the U.S. yet. Joshchau definitely hits it on the head with the Pizzicato 5 similarity. Isn't it so much fun?
While growing up in Singapore, Taiwanese pop bands always seemed to be bad imitations of what was “hot” in the U.S. at that time, like really bad rap.
Posted on 12-Oct-09 at 3:33 pm | Permalink
catherine_sr wrote:
What a fantastic post. I love Won Fu. I was just wondering what they were up to the other day, since they haven't come out with a new album in a bit, and am glad to see they are touring the US.
There's a burgeoning indie music scene here in Taipei… my hypothesis is that it is in reaction to the the fact that there is also a lot of truly crappy Mandopop, as you pointed out. The amount of great indie bands really blows me away… the problem is that their CDs and singles are hard to get in the US. You might want to explore White Wabbit's Web site: http://www.wwr.com.tw/. They are a indie record label in Taipei that also operates a couple record stores and their Web site has a lot of tracks you can sample.
Posted on 14-Oct-09 at 6:19 am | Permalink
Dan W wrote:
These indie artists are more creative with their work than the ones in the “Artist Garden”.
However, I'm kind of confused at the appeal. Maybe it's just personal tastes but I listened to more Won Fu songs. I need to take my time translating the lyrics since Mandarin isn't my first tongue but soundwise, it's a little similar to other songs I've listened to around Asia. Not sure what their status in the music industry is. They seem to be just having fun and letting their creativity flow, I'm not sure if it's a reaction to anything.
Just being curious, any indie artist you think is worth listening to and what are some of the crappy mando-pop songs out there?
Posted on 14-Oct-09 at 12:53 pm | Permalink
avaorac wrote:
Boy band from Mainland China? Which one? Taiwan is the where the boy band comes from, mainland girls are the consumer of Taiwanese boy bands like F4, Fahrenheit (Fei Lun Hai), Lollipop, etc. Although not as prolific and entertaining as Korean boy bands like Big Bang, they hold a huge piece of the world-wide Chinese teen market. Japanese boy bands are declining in popularity due to the Johnny's monopoly and Johnny's own taste for pretty, feminine boys. They still rely on old-standby like SMAP to carry the load. I may not enjoy their sounds, but like boy band everywhere, they are influential in in the lives of Asian teenage girls.
I also enjoy quite a bit of Taiwan's indie and live concert scene. I was part of the scene back when Mayday was the biggest undie band in Taipei… the good old days when you can chat with A-Shin between songs. Now that they're huge, it's not the same for me any more – just like Soda Green. Taiwanese youths are increasing become the most creative out of the East Asian nations due to the liberalized education in the recent years – prepare for more WonFus to come.
Posted on 15-Oct-09 at 3:01 pm | Permalink
Post a Comment