Suede/ A New Morning / Sony

       With the guidance of gold metal producer Stephen Street for this production, bass player Mat isn't the only one describing this piece as gentle and easy. At the same time, critics are already saying that "A New Morning" goes back to the popular guitar basics for Suede while abandoning the electronic experimental genre of their last album, "Head Music". The first single, "Positivity", has a smooth and romantic style similar to the popular "She's In Fashion" from Suede's last album. Alex Lee, who plays the harmonica in "Obsession", creates a mix of the songs "New Generation" and "Trash". "Beautiful Loser" reminds people of "We Are The Pigs". Oxide and Neutrino wrote "Streetlife", which also is a mix between "Metal Mickey" and "Can't Get Enough". Suede's style of handling medium-slow pieces is not excessive, but still touches the spirit.--Provided by books.com.tw

Beck / Sea Change / Universal

       Expressed in this album's 12 songs are Beck's feelings after breaking up with his girlfriend after a relationship of many years. The whole album flickers with heartbreaking melodies and deep gooey-ness. "The Golden Age" displays uncertainty, which goes along with the slow beat and easy-to-listen-to melody. In the introduction, the audience is already infected by the sadness and the blue feelings. Compared to "Lost Cause", "Already Dead", "Guess I'm Doing Fine" and other songs on the album, however, "The Golden Age" touches on a much happier subject. The song's beginning features the inharmonic beat of the piano and guitar, while the coda uses disorderly drum sounds and ends with a distorted guitar. Beck displays open-hearted feelings and his personal heartbreaking experience to created "Sea Change", making it is a work that you should not miss out on.--Provided by books.com.tw

Kit Chen/ Dream Scape/ Ocean Butterflies

       "Dream Scape" marks Kit Chen's first foray into producing. To produce her first album in two years, the operatic Chen teamed up with fellow Asian Casewoo, a house music specialist, to create the first Asian version of SoFa music. On this album, Chen's voice carries a lilting quality that creates a cozy ambience and combines with the hallucinogenic, unhurried nature of house that allows listeners to dissipate every hint of tension from their bodies as they relax (where else?) on their living room sofa. The lyrics on the album's 10 songs alternate between English and Chinese, but there's no sense of schizophrenia here. Another disk is a collection of popular songs from Chen's 1994-to-1998 period. Songs on this album include "Hurting", "Cheerful No More", "Worrying", and "I Like You".--By Selena Huang

Dong Yun-chang/ At the 33th Street Corner/ Wind

       This is the fourth release by Golden Melody Award-winning musician Dong Yun-chang. Dong arranged this instrumental album and plays guitar on all of the tracks. The mellow, yet complex, compositions include an interesting mix of instruments such as drums and accordion. Dong's ideal for this album was to use music to take the listener far away from the stresses of daily life on a trip to romantic Europe. In fact, many of the track titles have to do with traveling, such as "Blue Sea", "One-Way Ticket" and "A Traveler on the Platform". For more on this outstanding artist, see this month's In Yer Ear.--By Cheryl Robbins