** REVIEWS ** "What counts here are memorable melodies, strong hooks and a catchy chorus. The standard of musicianship is high... it's given me a great deal of listening pleasure over the past few weeks and I really couldn't ask for much more from a CD." GEOFF FEAKES - Dutch Progressive Rock Page http://www.dprp.net/reviews/200752.php#ria ** AWARDS ** CREATIVITY 37 AWARDS - 2007 (Printed in the Creativity 37 Annual, published spring 2008 by HarperCollins.) Category: Video/CD/DVD Packaging Award: SILVER AWARD ---- Summary: Since the 1960’s rock music has made a profound impression on popular culture, influencing attitudes and aesthetics with its unapologetic audacity. The influence of rock music on fashion, film, art and literature throughout the decades has been seen around the world. Asia has been no exception. This compelling album demonstrates the power and passion of the rock music wave and its pervasive effect on artists and music in Asia today! The album opens with Zettaimu’s ‘Oiran’ which both assaults and seduces with its innovative blend of progressive rock and traditional Japanese melody and timing. It is followed by ‘The Boohoorah Theory’, a heartbreaking alternative rock gem from Seven Collar T-Shirt’s hit Malaysian album Drones. Feel the nu metal energy of Microwave from Ho Chi Minh City before moving onto ‘Jesselton Tonight’, a folk rock tune off an award winning album by Pete Teo, the most popular independent singer/songwriter in Malaysia. Adenosine Tri-Phosphate has been called the ‘greatest unknown band in Asia ’. Their potent track ‘Itsuka Kit’ reverberates with the same emotional intensity as their cult hit of 2000 ‘If you ever held’, which secured the #1 spot in Asia for over three months on MP3.com and was downloaded more than one million times. Singapore’s Ugly in the Morning brings sultry funk and saccharine harmony to the mix with ‘Stupid ‘A’ Song’, while Pentagram from India delivers brutal energy with an electronic edge that sticks in your head and shakes you to the core in ‘Fear’. Rita Lestariani’s powerful and soulful voice glimmers on her acoustic rock track ‘Keraguan’, the opening song from the Indonesian songwriter’s debut album. Swackhammer is arguably the first rock waltz to come out of Asia - a haunting song reminding one of times past. Hang Tian’s ‘Cold Water on My Head’ blends blues, folk and rock traditions with the tonal quality of the Chinese language. The result is simultaneously groundbreaking and reassuringly familiar. The album ends on a poignant note with ‘Take My Hand’ by The Curtis King Band, a song of hope for Vietnam’s Agent Orange victims still suffering from the long-term effects of the chemical used by the U.S. military during the Vietnam War. Rock in Asia presents a heady blend of Asia ’s finest contemporary music. It is not the world music or Bollywood mayhem you’ve all heard before but a definitive and diverse mix of styles, languages and genres united under the mantle of rock. The album places your finger on the strong pulse of Asia’s original music scene by featuring some of the best known artists in Asia alongside some of the region’s future stars, all of whom are distinguished by the authenticity of their music and originality of the approach to their art! *********************************************************** CHARITY ASPECT: 10% of proceeds from the sale of Rock in Asia will be donated to India ’s leading child rights advocate CRY- Child Rights and You. Cry uses grassroots initiatives to address the violation of children’s rights at a community level. The organisation has worked for 28 years to eliminate the deprivation, exclusion, exploitation and abuse of children. *********************************************************** FULL TRACK LIST and BAND INFO: 1. ZETTAIMU ( Japan ) – Oiran www.garando.com www.myspace.com/garandorecords 2. SEVEN COLLAR T-SHIRT ( Malaysia ) - The Boohoorah theory www.scts.tk www.myspace.com/scts 3. THE OCEAN BAND ( Singapore ) – Change www.theoceanband.com www.myspace.com/oceanband 4. MICROWAVE ( Vietnam ) - Chien Tranh www.microwave5.com 5. TYPECAST ( Philippines ) - Will You Ever Learn www.typecastmusic.org www.myspace.com/typecast 6. PETE TEO ( Malaysia ) - Jesselton Tonight www.peteteo.com www.myspace.com/peteteo 7. ADENOSINE TRI-PHOSPHATE ( Japan ) - Itsuka Kit www.atpmania.jp 8. PENTAGRAM ( India ) – Fear www.pentagram.in www.myspace.com/pentagramindia 9. UGLY IN THE MORNING ( Singapore ) - Stupid ‘A’ Song www.uglyinthemorning.org www.myspace.com/uglyinthemorningband 10. ST12 ( Indonesia ) - Rasa Yang Tertinggal 11. THE OLD KINGS ( Singapore ) - Trying To Be Calm www.theoldkings.com www.myspace.com/theoldkings 12. RITA LESTARIANI ( Indonesia ) - Keraguan www.ritalestariani.com www.myspace.com/ritalestariani 13. SWACKHAMMER ( Vietnam ) – White Horses www.myspace.com/hammeredtunes 14. SUZUKI BAND (Japan/Singapore) - All Night Long halhead@mac.com 15. NAMES ARE FOR TOMBSTONES ( Philippines ) - Dreams of Grandeur http://nameless.ph/ www.myspace.com/tombstones 16. HANG TIAN ( China ) – Cold Water On My Head www.jingwen.com 17. THE CURTIS KING BAND ( Vietnam ) - Take My Hand (A Song of Hope for the Victims of Agent Orange) www.curtiskinglive.com *********************************************************** Produced and compiled by Amith Narayan for High on Chai Productions Pte. Ltd. Co-produced by Curtis King Mastered by Sven Heise at Apollo-Studio.de , Hamburg, GERMANY