12. Sa Dingding- The Coming Ones (International Version)
Wait, WHAT? Wasn't this my number 1 last year???
That's right. But this year, we got a new version of the album for us international folk. What's different you may ask??? Well,
pretty much EVERYTHING. All these songs have been remixed from the ground up, with different melodies, different track order and even 2 new songs.
So how does it compare against the original (an album I deem a
masterpiece)? Well... it's not as good. But... that said, it's still an excellent listen. If I hadn't already heard the more exciting original version, I woulda probably creamed my pants over this one.
Some remixes are better, some are not as great, its a bit of a mixed bag in that regard. What is nice though, is that this version is far more
beat heavy, so it can fit easier on a playlist than the original version (which mainly needs to be listened to as a whole). The strong beats come with the sacrifice of a lot of the traditional Chinese instrumental work that made the original so damn great (it's still there obviously, but not so in your face). This may actually appeal to people who find the original too
wanky- (HEATHENS!!!)
Still, the 2 new tracks are great, it's also awesome to get the DVD with newly added English subtitles, it makes the whole concept of the album even MORE fascinating when hearing it from Dingding herself.
Best to be taken as a counterpart to the original and seen as a whole, this album certainly is worth your time if you dug the old one. If you didn't, it may still be of interest to people who are into more 'western' style electronica, it's more Bjork-y than the original (to put a cliche generalization for a reference point :-p)
I may sound quite negative on the whole, but don't get me wrong, I still love this version of the album a lot, I just don't think it's quite on par with the original. It still would be a sin to not include it on my top 20.