Higher Plain Music » Vienna Teng

Vienna Teng – “Dubway Days” Diary

Higher Plain Music — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 22:34:43 +0000

Vienna Teng has been the guinea pig for a new scheme called Dubway Days – where two artists are paired up to write and record a song in a day. The 5 part video blog is currently being upload and parts 1 and 2 are available already. It’s great to see the recording and song writing process and anything Teng writes is golden.

Part 1

Part 2

Tagged: Vienna Teng

Most Viewed For 2009

Higher Plain Music — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 17:36:04 +0000

Well the year is out and so we leave 2009 with our top 10 most viewed artists and here they are:

01) Lisa Gerrard: With more posts getting more than 150+ views than any other artist, Lisa Gerrard topped our most viewed list and she looks to stay high in 2010. Her Balibo soundtrack was amazing, and we’re still waiting for her 2009 album “The Black Opal” to arrive to review. Well done Lisa

02) Vienna Teng: Vienna went under the radar for me and is a surprise second. Her fourth album Inland Territory is absolutely stunning and we got our hands on her live DVD from a while back and loved that too. Hears hoping to more in 2010!

03) Brendan Perry: The anticipation for Ark continues and Brendan continues to clock up hits while we wait. Ark looks like hitting early 2010 and rest assured, HPM will be buying it on release day!

04) OverClocked ReMix: Well the biggest game music remixing project chalked up several releases but it was the FF4 project that really exploded over here grabbing the most viewed interview in 2009 with the project managers. 2010 will no doubt see tons of remixes for all and I’ll drink to that *glug*.

05) Akira Yamaoka: Well HPM did a lot of reviewing of Silent Hill soundtracks in 09 and that’s because the reviews always seem popular. Now Akira has left Konami (although Shattered Memories is still composed by him) it remains to be seen when we’ll hear of him next. Not too soon we hope!

06) Imogen Heap: Imogen actually had the most viewed post of 2009 with over 700 views of bizarrely the tracklisting for Ellipse. Sadly not as many read the review so that’s why Immi is down in 7th. 2010 looks like a year of touring so expect Heap to appear in the live vault!

07) Utada: This Is the One was one of pop’s best albums and was the third most read music review of 2009 and top of the non-game music reviews. Utada’s groove is definately on and maybe we’ll hear some more Japanese work in 2010.

08) Tori Amos: Tori strangely didn’t feature highly on the most viewed threads lists but constantly propped up just outside the top 10 and so ended up 8th overall. Abnormally Attracted to Sin and Midwinter Graces were fantastic albums that deserve much love and so 2010 should see Tori enjoy a break for a few months!

09) Hiroki Kikuta: The most read review of 2009 belongs to Hiroki and the Secret of Mana + Review that clocked over 500 hits. Hiroki was kind enough to send over one of his more obscure soundtracks which will be reviewed in 2010. Thank you Kikuta-san!

10) Christopher Tin: Sneaking in by just 2 views over Sarah Slean, Christopher Tin’s Calling All Dawns is simply devine and snatched the final spot on our top 10. Chris is a genuinely nice guy and deserves all the credit the albums recieved.

Top 5 Game Reviews

01) Battle Tanks (PS3)

02) Trash Panic (PS3)

03) Numblast (PS3)

04) Shatter (PS3)

05) Magic Ball (PS3)

Tagged: Akira Yamaoka, Brendan Perry, Christopher Tin, Hiroki Kikuta, Imogen Heap, Lisa Gerrard, OverClocked ReMix, Tori Amos, Utada, Vienna Teng

Most Viewed – September 2009

Higher Plain Music — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 16:51:17 +0000

Well due to my holiday and getting back into the routine, September was a very quiet month for HPM in general but towards the end we had a massive influx of visitors for one man – Christopher Tin! He grabs this months most viewed award with the review of his debut album and his interview afterwards. Lisa Gerrard also popped up the order with audio samples from forthcoming album Black Opal. Here’s the top 10 artists:

01) Christopher Tin (NE)

02) Lisa Gerrard (^)

03) Imogen Heap (v)

04) Lisa Germano (^)

05) Brendan Perry (v)

06) Hikoki Kikuta (^)

07) Module (v)

08) OverClocked ReMix (v)

09) Utada (v)

10) Vienna Teng (RE)

In the gaming front, Battl Tanks was the top read review this month and actually the second highest hit post this month too! We will be going really into game reviews from all old consoles from October and they will feature more prominantly, as the site will now be taking a much more active approach due to a change in circumstances of myself!

01) Battle Tanks (NE)

02) Shatter (v)

03) Numblast (v)

Tagged: Brendan Perry, Christopher Tin, Hiroki Kikuta, Imogen Heap, Lisa Germano, Lisa Gerrard, module, OverClocked ReMix, Utada, Vienna Teng

Most Viewed: August 2009

Higher Plain Music — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 02:43:50 +0000

And so to August 2009 where we had a four way fight for the top this month, won by Imogen Heap whereby more people actually viewed the tracklisting after the whole album was posted as a streaming audio on the website and people didn’t actually listen to the album itself! However, HPM has not reviewed Ellipse (although I personally love it already) because I’ve ordered the two disc edition and want to hold on until it comes through.

Behind it was all go for OverClocked Remix, Module and Brendan Perry.

01) Imogen Heap (^)

02) OverClocked ReMix (v)

03) Module (NE)

04) Brendan Perry (v)

05) Utada (v)

06) Kento Watanabe (NE)

07) Akira Yamaoka (^)

08) Hiroki Kikuta (v)

09) Vienna Teng (v)

10) Baiyon (NE)

Top 3 Games

01) Shatter

02) Numblast

03) Magic Ball

Tagged: Akira Yamaoka, Baiyon, Brendan Perry, Hiroki Kikuta, Imogen Heap, module, OverClocked ReMix, Utada, Vienna Teng

Most Viewed – July 2009

Higher Plain Music — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 10:11:29 +0000

Well was there really any doubt? OverClocked Remix absolutely smashed the charts with almost more views on OCR posts than the rest of the site put together! Only Imogen Heap’s track listing for her latest album Ellipse was able to pull in big numbers too. Interesting we had almost exactly the same number of visitors as June (14 difference) and it was our third most viewed month of the sites history. We did break one new record, our first day with more than 200 hits! August should be a great month too. Let’s enjoy the summer!

01) OverClocked Remix (RE)

02) Imogen Heap (v)

03) Brendan Perry (^)

04) Utada (^)

05) Vienna Teng (v)

06) Hiroki Kikuta (RE)

07) Akira Yamaoka (v)

08) Natalie Imbruglia (NE)

09) Patrick Wolf (v)

10) Dead Can Dance (v)

Top 3 Games Reviews

01) Numblast

02) Trash Panic

03) Magic Ball

Tagged: Akira Yamaoka, Brendan Perry, Dead Can Dance, Hiroki Kikuta, Imogen Heap, Natalie Imbruglia, OverClocked ReMix, Patrick Wolf, Utada, Vienna Teng

Most Viewed – June 09

Higher Plain Music — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:45:37 +0000

June missed being our most busiest month by just 21 hits so March 09 still holds the crown of busiest month – however for the first time ever one artist completely outrun everyone else by such a margin, their top post (our most viewed post this month) had more hits than the second, third and fourth busiest posts combined! Well done the Imogen Heap – everyone’s gone mad over the tracklist for Ellipse and we’ll be buying the album on release day so expect a sharp review on the day (provided its in shops – we couldn’t get a copy for Speak For Yourself in a store and had to buy online and wait). Patrick Wolf, Dead Can Dance & Vienna Teng’s album reviews all followed behind. Here’s the top 10 artists followed by the only two game reviews on site (we will be doing a top 5 game hits too). Congrats to Lisa Germano for making a new entry and Tori Amos, number 1 last month, dropped straight back out the charts again! June should be a busy month with lots of reviews not just here, but over on new site I Love Disaster Movies, which is another personal indulgence to another hobby of mine! Enjoy the summer!

01) Imogen Heap (1 Month)

02) Patrick Wolf (RE)

03) Dead Can Dance (RE)

04) Vienna Teng (-)

05) Akira Yamaoka (^)

06) Utada (v)

07) Brendan Perry (-)

08) Sarah Slean (v)

09) Lisa Germano (NE)

10) Yasunori Mitsuda (RE)

Tagged: Akira Yamaoka, Brendan Perry, Dead Can Dance, Imogen Heap, Lisa Germano, Patrick Wolf, Sarah Slean, Utada, Vienna Teng, Yasunori Mitsuda

Most Viewed – May 2009

Higher Plain Music — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 19:48:50 +0000

For the first time in HPM’s history there hasn’t been a clear-cut winner with two artists almost drawing for first place on the most viewed list. Tori Amos however nudged it just from Utada to take top honours for the first time. It was our third most busiest month with visitors yet it was our equal second quietest in posts. This will change in June with an action packed month ahead! Here’s the top 10:

01) Tori Amos (^) 1 Month

02) Utada (v)

03) Sarah Slean (^)

04) Vienna Teng (v)

05) Reiko Nomura (NE)

06) Akira Yamaoka (^)

07) Brendan Perry (v)

08) Seiji Honda (NE)

09) Hiroki Kikuta (^)

10) OCRemix (v)

Tagged: Akira Yamaoka, Brendan Perry, Hiroki Kikuta, OCRemix, Reiko Nomura, Sarah Slean, Seiji Honda, Tori Amos, Utada, Vienna Teng

Vienna Teng – “Inland Territory” Review

Higher Plain Music — Wed, 06 May 2009 08:59:40 +0000

Vienna Teng continues to know no bounds with her fourth album Inland Territory which manages to sound similar without retreading old ground or ever becoming stale. This partly because Teng’s vocals are silky smooth like a breath of fresh air, and the fact that all the songs on this album are absolutely captivating.

Opening with “The Last Snowfall”, Vienna relies on atmosphere and delicate vocal delivery to set the mood. This opener is beautiful and almost Christmas like without the holiday cheer. Wintry but in a warm log fire cabin way than an icy cold way. This gives way to “White Light” which is an up-tempo number. In each of the opening tracks its not piano but organ that dominants the track. “White Light” also contains a lot of electronic embellishments which really set the song off and the chorus is rousing.

Next up is the flowing elegance of “Antebellum” which is contender for favourite song on the album. The piano just keeps rolling, along with the percussion and sumptuous vocals. Her co-producer adds his own vocals towards the end which you’ll either love or hate but personally I think it goes perfectly. One of the finest songs in Vienna’s catalogue – as is in fact “Kansas” which is a slow baron piece with muted percussion and just minimal electric piano. It’s really very effective and heart wrenching.

Lightening the mood somewhat is “In Another Life” and the absolutely swinging round the kitchen table “Grandmother Song”. Both have a certain charm to them, the former a kind of bopping 20′s wind and brass backing and the latter is a finger clicking hand clapping country jig. While neither have particularly happy lyrics they are unique strings to Vienna’s every increasing bow of extraordinary talent.
“Stray Italian Greyhound” is next up returning to a fantastically catchy piano led band track with a chorus to die for and perky verses. However when it climaxes into its middle section the song takes full form and it just hits the spot perfectly. Following up in piano rock track “Augustine” which is simple but powerful and one to sing along to whilst driving along – very empowering.

“No Gringo” is the longest track of the album and fully deserves every second. From the slow enveloping piano intro you’re held captivated by the story being told. Gradually the slow builds into a final frenzied bursting climax where Vienna cries “No Gringo Aqui” before it all slips away again in a sloping upset. It’s really like building for the battle, losing and crawling away. A fantastic track.

“Watershed” is the slow smoky aftermath of No Gringo in my opinion and they fit perfectly together. This dark brooding song is all about the ambience and the sting in the tail. It leads into the quirky “Radio” which is like a schizophrenic song that doesn’t sit still and jumps around like a cat on speed. I personally really enjoy it but it may require a couple of listens to get into it for some. The album closes with “St. Stephens Cross” which is beautiful serene track that soothes you to sleep with understated swaying euphoria.

Inland Territory is a self assured fantastic album from an artist on top form and comfortable with herself and her style. By just moving her styles and sounds around slightly, Vienna is able to keep everything fresh whilst not alienating her core fans by being stale. Without doubt its in my top three releases of 2009 and just continues to grow upon each listen. A treat for all.

Tagged: Vienna Teng

Most Viewed – April 2009

Higher Plain Music — Mon, 04 May 2009 16:29:51 +0000

Slightly delayed it may be, but here are the top ten artists that have been viewed for April 2009 which saw a bit of a change at the top with Utada taking top step from Tori Amos, Vienna Teng & Sarah Slean! Congrats to everyone on the list and here’s to another great month which will be full of new content (and a bit more prolific than last month!). However, it was our second busiest month of the sites history despite it being one of the quietest in terms of new content. May will be a busy one!
01) Utada (RE)

02) Tori Amos (^)

03) Vienna Teng (^)

04) Sarah Slean (v)

05) Brendan Perry (v)

06) Dead Can Dance (NE)

07) OverClocked Remix (v)

08) PJ Harvey (RE)

09) Akira Yamaoka (v)

10) Hiroki Kikuta (RE)

Tagged: Akira Yamaoka, Brendan Perry, Dead Can Dance, Hiroki Kikuta, OverClocked ReMix, PJ Harvey, Sarah Slean, Tori Amos, Utada, Vienna Teng

Live Vault – Vienna Teng

Higher Plain Music — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 07:45:38 +0000

To celebrate the release of “Inland Territory” which we will be reviewing tomorrow, we have Vienna Teng as this week’s Live Vault. Performing a Mandarin song “Ru Guo” that was taught by her mother, I have no idea what the words mean but its a beautiful song nonetheless. Enjoy.

Tagged: Vienna Teng