Lin Di album review and disclaimers

Also in this month's That's I reviewed Cold Fairyland's Lin Di aka Miyadudu's new solo album, Meet in Secret Garden.

Two disclaimers: first, Lin's a pretty good friend of mine, and I realize that makes my reviewage less than completely objective. But, regardless of the person, I quite like her music, and did long before I knew her well.

The second is an issue I take with the editing: some That's editors feel obliged to infuse everything with snark. While I'm a big snarker too, snark has its place, and in the wrong place it comes off as mean-spirited. I got them to remove most of the mean, but a "sappy" before "sentimentality" snuck in.

I don't think all sentimentality is necessarily sappy, nor is it in this album. I think it's sexist to brand a very feminine take on topics of love, life and loss as such. I also quite like the tracks about the cats, and rather resent (and resemble) the editor's implication that loving one's cats enough to write songs about them makes one a stupid little girl. Rock on, cat girls!


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Album review: Miyadudu 米亚嘟嘟
Written by Lisa Movius
Meet in Secret Garden

Miyadudu is the alter ego of Cold Fairyland singer Lin Di, who was formally trained at the Shanghai Music Conservatory and is a skillful composer, arranger, keyboardist and pipa player. Along with Cold Fairyland's six albums, Lin previously recorded two solo albums, 2002's Ten Days in Magicland and 2004's Bride in Legend (both produced by Shanghai folk music legend Liu Xing and originally released by Taiwan's Wind Records).

Her latest effort, Meet in Secret Garden (Mimi Huayuan de Xiehou), from Jiuzhou Audiovisual, is distinct from the band releases as well as Lin's prior solo albums, with ten songs of ethereal electronica executed in shades of nostalgia and longing. Sappy sentimentality seems to be a major theme, if the lyrics on the cover are any indication: "Quietly listen to the flowers wither…" Love and cats also play a major part, with pictures of a white kitten dotting the liner notes (the singer's late pet Lumi, also immortalized on the track 'Lumi Pumpuli'; likewise, Lin's first cat Baibai is the subject of '3am (Lingchen San Dian)'), while 'Perfect Ghost I & II' delves into the supposed dreams of the ideal lover.

Still, the album's slower songs incorporate zings of Lin's folk and rock inclinations, as well as her latest experiments in electronica; the latter finds full bloom with the catchy, danceable and decidedly unsentimental 'Counting (Shushu).' Ultimately, a sense of contemplative melancholy runs throughout the album (which also features four instrumental tracks, including the title song). Consider this a softer, feminine, and more introspective side of Lin's persona.