No Man Is An Island -

With Power Comes Responsibility: Joi Lau on “Gaia in Trouble”

·May 25, 2022·4 min read

Brian Hioe spoke to Hong Kong producer Joi Lau by e-mail about their new release on FuFu Records, “Gaia in Trouble.” The following article originally appeared on Electric Soul, a Hong Kong-based electronic music magazine and ticketing platform, on May 20th Read More

評論：漂泊的巴黎

English Life

·May 21, 2022·1 min read

艾先生的作品對時尚所做出的評註，正是讓人眼睛為之一亮的地方。他的攝影作品是戶外經過了風吹雨打的時尚海報，這些海報想要表達的時尚宣言，看起來很空虛。 Read More

Ethnography in the Club

English Music

·May 18, 2022·2 min read

Dance Music Spaces: Club, Clubbers, and DJs Navigating Authenticity, Branding, and Commercialism, by Danielle Antoinette Hidalgo, aims to add to the relatively sparse genre of English-language ethnographies of dance music from a sociological perspective. Apart from examining dance spaces, the work focuses on three female artists, Peggy Gou, Honey Dijon, and The Blessed Madonna (formerly known as Black Madonna) in terms of how the three balance authenticity and commercialism Read More

Stylistically Innovative and Thematically Bold

English Film

·May 14, 2022·3 min read

Everything Everywhere All At Once is a triumph. The film can be categorized as “Asian American film,” but it is much more than that—Everything Everywhere All at Once is bold, innovative, and high-concept, while managing to engage with personal themes Read More

Review: Drifting Paris

English Life

·May 10, 2022·6 min read

Fashion is where Cèdric Alviani’s work shines in its commentary. The photographs were of outdoor fashion posters. Having been through the elements, the fashion statements the posters aimed to make look hollow. The superficiality associated with fashion photography in this context looks absurd. The colorful photographs scream out criticism of our contemporary consumerist world. This subversive commentary of our contemporary “fast fashion” culture is very self-aware, and in fact, is how the exhibition introduced itself Read More

Thiann, lán ê kua-siann: ‘Listen to the Song of the People’

English Music

·May 6, 2022·10 min read

Historically overshadowed and politically marginalized, indie rock bands such as Sorry Youth have helped spark a revival of Taiwanese Hokkien rock and gain mainstream significance Read More

Vietnam’s Lighthouse During COVID

English Music

·May 3, 2022·5 min read

Brian Hioe spoke with Steffen Sonnenschein about how The Lighthouse in Ho Chi Minh City has fared during COVID-19. The following article originally appeared on Electric Soul, a Hong Kong-based electronic music magazine and ticketing platform, on April 7th Read More

Multi-Genre Sonic Landscapes

English Music

·April 29, 2022·1 min read

Fellsius’ five-song EP, Mesa, on Dome of Doom is a remarkable piece of work Read More

A Portrait of Youth on the Precipice

English Film

·April 26, 2022·4 min read

Although there have been several short fiction films about the 2019 Hong Kong protests, such as “Night is Young” and “Lost Pearl,” May You Stay Forever Young (少年) is perhaps the first full-length fiction film to address this tumultuous time in recent Hong Kong history. Given increasing censorship in Hong Kong, as with protest documentary Revolution of Our Times, May You Stay Forever Young could only see nationwide theatrical release in Taiwan. The film was in the running for "Best New Director" and "Best Editing" at the 58th Golden Horse Awards. Though it won neither, it did win the Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema award at the Golden Horse Film Festival in 2021 Read More

The Many Repetitions of Hong Kong History

English Film

·April 22, 2022·2 min read

There are few words fit to describe Blue Island, apart from “masterpiece.” The film stands out as an example of its genre, while also managing to be highly powerful and personal Read More

Sound, Image, and Religious Experience

English Film

·April 19, 2022·1 min read

“Shunyata” sets high ambitions, with a frame narrative suggesting religious or spiritual undertones. Likewise, the film aims to dazzle through sound and image. Consequently, it demands concentration in order to mine out meaning Read More

A Miao Church Choir Thrust into the Spotlight

English Film

·April 16, 2022·2 min read

The documentary "Singing in the Wilderness" is a look at a church chorus thrust into China's national stage after fame from participating in a televised singing competition. What makes this chorus especially interesting is that all its members are Miao—one of China's officially recognized ethnic minorities. Unlike the Muslim Uyghurs and Hui or Buddhist Tibetans, the Miao receive little international focus, which makes this documentary especially notable Read More