Canadian musician Matthew Lien is to perform songs from his new album, The Romantic Route 3 — Hakka Music Map of Matthew Lien (浪漫臺三線 — 馬修連恩的客家音樂地圖), at a concert in Miaoli County on Saturday.
Romantic Route 3 refers to a government initiative aimed at promoting and reviving Hakka culture along Provincial Highway No. 3.
The artist residencies that are part of the initiative seek to bring out traditional Hakka culture from a new perspective, Hakka Affairs Council Minister Lee Yung-de (李永得) told a news conference in Taipei.
Photo: CNA
The album, which is to be released on Thursday next week, was created during Lien’s residency there, Lee said.
Lien collaborated with several Hakka-language artists for the album, including Golden Melody Award-winning Emily Guan (官靈芝), Yachun Asta Tzeng (曾雅君), Misa (米莎), Huang Zi-xuan (黃子軒) and Lai Ren-jen (賴仁政), the council said in a statement.
One of the songs, Revolving Doors (旋轉之門), also features vocals by Lee, it said.
The song’s lyrics were written by Lien and 17-year-old Hakka hip-hop artist Yappy, it said.
Hakka artist Flyflyfly (飛飛飛) designed the cover for the two-CD album, it added.
“Using an avant-garde and bold design, [Flyflyfly] turns each musician into a mountain,” the council said.
“The children of [Provincial Highway No. 3] are the children of the mountains,” Flyflyfly said.
The highway is “like a paradise of culture,” Lien said.
“For a musician, it is like a buffet. A buffet for the soul,” he said.
“Through culture, we can understand a place’s people, a place’s history ... and music is the voice of the culture,” he said.
“Many new musicians are also creating their own music, so it’s always changing,” Lien said.
Revolving Doors represents this quality, he added. “The older generation and the younger generation: it’s always turning, it’s always changing.”
“When you listen to the album, at the end of Revolving Doors there is the sound of a train, because it’s going on and on, to the next station,” he added.
The concert, which is to start at 6pm at the Northern Miaoli Art Center, is to include an autograph-signing session, the council said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A magnitude 4.9 earthquake struck off Tainan at 11:47am today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The hypocenter was 32.3km northeast of Tainan City Hall at a depth of 7.3km, CWA data showed. The intensity of the quake, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, measured 4 in Tainan and Chiayi County on Taiwan's seven-tier intensity scale, the data showed. The quake had an intensity of 3 in Chiayi City and County, and Yunlin County, while it was measured as 2 in Kaohsiung, Nantou County, Changhua County, Taitung County and offshore Penghu County, the data showed. There were no immediate reports of
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) is maintaining close ties with Beijing, the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) said yesterday, hours after a new round of Chinese military drills in the Taiwan Strait began. Political parties in a democracy have a responsibility to be loyal to the nation and defend its sovereignty, DPP spokesman Justin Wu (吳崢) told a news conference in Taipei. His comments came hours after Beijing announced via Chinese state media that the Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Eastern Theater Command was holding large-scale drills simulating a multi-pronged attack on Taiwan. Contrary to the KMT’s claims that it is staunchly anti-communist, KMT Deputy
RESPONSE: The government would investigate incidents of Taiwanese entertainers in China promoting CCP propaganda online in contravention of the law, the source said Taiwanese entertainers living in China who are found to have contravened cross-strait regulations or collaborated with the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) could be subject to fines, a source said on Sunday. Several Taiwanese entertainers have posted on the social media platform Sina Weibo saying that Taiwan “must be returned” to China, and sharing news articles from Chinese state media. In response, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) has asked the Ministry of Culture to investigate whether the entertainers had contravened any laws, and asked for them to be questioned upon their return to Taiwan, an official familiar with the matter said. To curb repeated
RSS