caveat emptor - not many of my friends like teddy robin's voice but after listening to this album, they asked me to buy for them!

last saturday in s'pore, i must have grabbed the only copy of this cd in the entire country cos it is nowhere to be found, except in roxy music in adelphi. apologies to those who had asked me to buy for them.

teddy robin is a retired cantopop singer who made it good in the 70s with his own band, the "playboy". cantopop in the 70s was much simpler and melodious than cantopop today. this is not a comeback album, more like music net's (the recording label) invitation for teddy to do an audiophile album. and admittedly, teddy did a good job.

playing teddy robin's cd proves to be a challenge to my system, with its low recording level and potent dynamics (superb drum works!), i have to blast my preamp's volume way past 12 o'clock to have any semblance of dynamic. it seems to be sucking so much juices from my tube power amp, i am not sure if this is caused by the way the recording engineer do the miking.

this is a serious production that engages top-class musicians and that include laurence juber, the guitarist for paul mccartney & wings and some of hong kong's who's who such as the always reliable eugene pao, jazz maestro ted lo, drummer donald ashley and roel garcia. without doubt, superb musicianship and arrangement for you listeners.

first, the imaging is first-class, with palpability than you can touch. there is plenty of air too, making the whole event very live-sounding. the producer engaged 6 different drummers for the job and the result is magnificent with the drummer(s) stealing the limelight in many tracks. outstanding tracks are track #1, track #6, track #8 and track #9.

as much as it sounds great on my system, i would think it would be stellar in a 300-watt solid-state system with dynamic cone speaker. i have heard it in the RM200K avantgarde grosso mezzo horn speaker and the bass (drum) is lighting fast, much faster than my maggie pushed by tube amp. (note, that's what i meant by "loading" of the bass in my post about the spectral setup) i am looking forward to hear this cd being played in much more elaborate (read: high-end) settings.

as to robin's singing, what's there to complain? he is so effortlessly natural and musical. you may not like his voice but you cannot deny his sincerity.

this to me is simply the most live-sounding and kick-ass audiophile cd i have heard in recent years. must buy!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi,

This is what I mean original singer of the golden canto-pop era (mid 70s to mid 80s) re-sing their golden hits.

I like this Teddy's hit Dim Jee Ping Ping (DJPP) re-sing in rock style, tastily done, great stuff indeed. Nice drum! Suprisingly, Teddy's voice did't change much after 30 years:)

I CDR-ed to play in my car last few weeks.

Compare to the original (i mean in CD format), i like the warmer sound of the original. If possible you please get hold the original LP (cheap), the starting part of DJPP is very nice.

Overall I like this CD, Teddy, a very talented musician of the golden canto-pop era. But i dont see it in local CD shop.

maggielurva 愛美姬 said...

hi fanatic,

looks like we both like this cd! i think i am impressed by how natural and musical it sounds, with no pretensions like many audiophile cds (danny summer comes to mind).

do recommend to us if you come across other good cantopop stuff!

Anonymous said...

I think i am from the "older" generation, therefore not following much on the current batch of HK canto singers. But if you enjoy those of mid 70s to mid 80s, i have plenty. In fact i discovered that, after i pursue in this hifi hobby, there are many great canto albums/songs in great audiophile like recording. I see your interest in HK/Taiwan music scene. If i can have your email, i can share with you some of the great stuff (IMHO) lah. Again, YMMV (means great to me may be thrash to you, sometimes):)

maggielurva 愛美姬 said...

i am not young either but my tastes are quite young as i love to discover new talents. when it comes to cantopop, just like you, i like the 80s best, with danny chan, leslie cheung, jacky cheung, alan tam being my faves. danny chan is my favourite of them all. i have many danny chan albums in cd and LP format. others like sally yeh, paula tsui, roman tam, jenny tseng are not really my cup to tea tho' i know many of their songs.

sure, we can share our collection! my email is lesloh@yahoo.com

Anonymous said...

Finally, layed my hands to a copy of this CD!

This is really good stuff!

Thanks for recomending.

I am certainly much in to late 70's, 80's and early 90's Canto pop. But to me, thing kinda went down hill from 92-93 onwards.

This CD kinda rekindle my lost falme for canto pop.