Di-Dar | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|
Studio album by | ||||
Released | 22 December 1995 | |||
Recorded | 1995 | |||
Genre | Cantopop | |||
Length | 42:58 | |||
Label | Cinepoly | |||
Faye Wong chronology | ||||
|
Di-Dar is the ninth Cantonese studio album by Chinese recording artist Faye Wong, released on 22 December 1995, through Cinepoly. The album marked a shift from Wong's earlier style as she incorporated British psychedelic rock and ragga into her work, showcasing her evolving alternative musical influences. [1] Di-dar featured compositions by Wong with arrangements by her then-husband Dou Wei, production by Zhang Yadong and lyrics by Lin Xi. [2]
The album was both a critical and commercial success, selling 1.5 million copies across Asia; [1] with its title track "Di-dar" and "Ambiguous" (曖昧) becoming well-known songs. [3] Di-dar peaked at number one in Hong Kong according to the IFPI and Billboard magazine. [4]
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Pitchfork | 7.9/10 [5] |
Di-Dar ranked at number 27 in Ming Pao Weekly's list of "40 Classic Cantopop Albums of the Last 40 Years" published in October 2008. Music journalist Fung Lai-Chee described it as "the best psychedelic and best-selling avant-garde work in Cantonese pop, with songs that are self-centred, ignoring market and others' work. Abstruse, obscure and mysterious."
In a 2023 review of four reissued Wong albums ( Please Myself to Fuzao ) by Pitchfork , Michael Hong called it Wong's "finest Cantonese album" and "more atmospheric, almost psychedelic" than her previous work. [6]
Japanese edition bonus track
Chart (1996) | Peak position |
---|---|
Hong Kong Albums (IFPI) [7] | 1 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Hong Kong (IFPI Hong Kong) [8] | 3× Platinum | 150,000* |
Summaries | ||
Asia | — | 1,500,000 [1] |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
Region | Release date | Label | Format(s) |
---|---|---|---|
Hong Kong | 22 December 1995 | Cinepoly Records | |
Taiwan | 1996 | Linfair Records | CD |
China | 1996 | Jindian Audio and Video |
|
Japan | 25 February 1996 | Polydor | CD |
26 September 1997 | CD (reissue) | ||
Hong Kong | 7 May 2003 | Cinepoly Records | DSD |
9 September 2004 | SACD | ||
26 October 2010 | Universal Music Hong Kong | CD (Golden Disc Anniversary Series) | |
12 November 2020 | CD (24K Gold series) | ||
15 December 2021 | LP (ARS series) | ||
Japan | 27 September 2023 | Universal Music Japan | LP |
Cantopop is a genre of pop music sung in Cantonese. Cantopop is also used to refer to the cultural context of its production and consumption. The genre began in the 1970s and became associated with Hong Kong popular music from the middle of the decade. Cantopop then reached its height of popularity in the 1980s and 1990s before slowly declining in the 2000s and shrinking in the 2010s. The term "Cantopop" itself was coined in 1978 after "Cantorock", a term first used in 1974. In the 1980s, Cantopop reached its highest glory with fanbase and concerts all over the world, especially in Macau, Mainland China, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, and Japan. This was even more obvious with the influx of songs from Hong Kong movies during the time.
Faye Wong is a Chinese-Hong Kong singer-songwriter and actress. Early in her career she briefly used the stage name Shirley Wong (王靖雯). Born in Beijing, she moved to Hong Kong at the age of 18. She debuted with the Cantonese album Shirley Wong in 1989 and came to public attention by combining alternative music with mainstream Chinese pop. Since 1994, she has recorded mostly in her native Mandarin.
Sally Yeh, sometimes credited as Sally Yip or Yip Sin-man, is a Hong Kong Cantopop diva and actress.
Dou Wei is a Chinese musician, singer-songwriter, composer and music producer. He is a representative figure in Chinese rock music. Alongside rock singers He Yong and Zhang Chu, they were collectively known as the "Prominent Three of Moyan Record Label" in the 1990s.
Samuel Hui Koon-kit, usually known as Sam Hui, is a Hong Kong musician, singer, songwriter and actor. He is credited with popularising Cantopop both via the infusion of Western-style music and his usage of vernacular Cantonese rather than written vernacular Chinese in biting lyrics that addressed contemporary problems and concerns. Hui is considered by some to be the first major superstar of Cantopop, known as the God of Song. As an actor, he is well-known for portraying the main character "King Kong" in five installments of the Aces Go Places film series.
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Fable, alternatively titled Legend, is the eighth Mandarin-language studio album by Chinese singer Faye Wong. There are 12 songs in total: ten in Mandarin and two in Cantonese. The lyrics of two Mandarin songs on the album were rewritten in Cantonese to cater for the Hong Kong market. A "Deluxe" version included a VCD with footage of Faye Wong's commercial for Head & Shoulders shampoo.
Faye Wong is the fifth Mandarin-language studio album by Chinese singer Faye Wong. The first album to hers to be released under the umbrella of EMI, it was released on September 26, 1997. There are ten songs in total, one of which is a cover. Unlike her last studio album Fuzao, which was an artistic attempt, this time the album's style is more focused on the balance between mainstream and avant-garde. The album, which was produced by Alvin Leong, is generally languid, mellow and pervaded by an attitude of contentment.
Coming Home is the fourth Cantonese studio album recorded by Chinese singer Faye Wong. It was released on 13 August 1992, after her return to Hong Kong after her year-long stay in New York City.
Fuzao is the fourth Mandarin-language studio album by Chinese singer Faye Wong. It was released on June 3, 1996, through Cinepoly. Wong took more artistic risks with her work as she approached the end of her record contract, resulting in the experimental nature of Fuzao. The album was positively received by critics, with The Straits Times considering the album as Wong's boldest and most artistically coherent effort to date.
Mystery, alternatively translated as Riddle, is the debut Mandarin studio album recorded by Chinese singer Faye Wong. It was released through Cinepoly Records on April 8, 1994.
Random Thoughts, alternatively Thinking Here and There or Wondering Music, is the seventh Cantonese studio album by Chinese recording artist Faye Wong. It was released through Cinepoly Records on 29 June 1994. It confirmed her move into alternative music and covers songs by the Cocteau Twins, whose influence she readily acknowledged.
Decadent Sound of Faye, also translated as Faye Beautiful Music, is the third Mandarin studio album by Chinese singer Faye Wong. It was released through Cinepoly Records on July 3, 1995. It consists entirely of rearranged versions of songs originally released by Teresa Teng.
Please Myself, also translated as Ingratiate Oneself, is the eighth Cantonese studio album by Chinese recording artist Faye Wong. Using the stage name Shirley Wong, the album was released on 20 December 1994, under Cinepoly.
Lovers & Strangers, also translated as Only Love Strangers, is the seventh Mandarin-language studio album by Chinese singer Faye Wong. It was released on September 10, 1999, by EMI. The album contains a total of 12 songs and was produced by Alvin Leong.
Toy and Help Yourself are two Cantonese extended plays (EPs) by Chinese recording artist Faye Wong when she was based in Hong Kong. In 1996, the last year of her recording contract with Cinepoly Records, Wong recorded ten original songs in Cantonese, all with lyrics by Lin Xi but composed by others such as Wong Ka Keung, Adrian Chan, and Chan Xiao Xia.
Yat yan fan sik leung gok is a 1995 EP recorded by Chinese Cantopop singer Faye Wong when she was based in Hong Kong.
Chan Fai-young is a Hong Kong Cantopop composer. Chan was born in Macau in 1970. He attended Berklee College of Music, an American college in Boston, Massachusetts.
The discography of Chinese singer Faye Wong includes 20 studio albums and 5 extended plays (EP). Wong began recording when she was a high-school student in China, releasing six albums during these years, including many cover versions of hits by Teresa Teng. In 1989, she began her official recording career in Hong Kong with Cinepoly Records. They gave her the stage name Wong Jing Man along with an English pseudonym, Shirley Wong, which was the title of her debut album.
The Comeback Tour was a concert tour in Asia by Chinese recording artist Faye Wong, marking her return to public performance after several years of concentrating on her family.
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