Bang Kieu & Minh Tuyet – Mot Lan Nua Xin Co Nhau

Two of Thuy Nga’s biggest drama queens are back, obviously by popular demands. What makes Bang Kieu and Minh Tuyet a great match is their preference for infusing syrups into sugary puppy-love ballads. Diabetics are advised to stay away from their second-collaborated Mot Lan Nua Xin Co Nhau.

Right off the title track, the duet wastes no time baking up the Crème-Brûlée melodramas. “Ngay em rat can anh thi anh o dau? / Trien mien voi noi co don,” Minh Tuyet sings in her caramelized voice, and then Bang Kieu responses with, “Thoi gian da giup cho anh biet rang / Anh yeu em nhieu hon the.” They both soar on the chorus. Actually Bang Kieu is doing the soaring. Minh Tuyet is wise enough to not compete with his big-ass, feminine falsetto.

The title of Minh Tuyet’s solo “Loi Xin Loi Kho Co That Kho Noi” should tell you what the track is all about despite her low notes are barely audible. Bang Kieu closes out the album with “Mua Va Anh.” His effeminate emphasis on “mai” and “gio” will guarantee to get deep under your skin.

36 Comments

  1. OMG Donny I enjoyed your descriptions tremendously ROFL :)
    Still moving slowly with my project due to the Holidays and
    all but I cann’t wait to share it with you and friends.
    If you are still interested in doing a jazz or jazz inspired
    concerts let me know I can connect a trio for you.

    Comment by Thu Hoai — 26 January 2010 @ 11:18 am
  2. Hi Thu Hoai, no, I am not interested in doing it anymore.

    Comment by donny — 26 January 2010 @ 2:02 pm
  3. Hehe, it seems like when it comes to Bang Kieu, you and I are just the opposites. I haven’t heard this album (or any other albums that you have blogged lately) but I can guess what you are talking about. What you call “effeminate emphasis” really makes him special and apart from other male singers who sing with a fake Northern accent. Bang Kieu’s pronounciation and accent are very authentic (da^’u ho?i, da^’u ng~a) and dramatic (his mother is a Hat Cheo artist). Remember how most overseas singers can’t sing Pham Duy’s Ngam Ngui? Not even those who are home-grown in VN like Quang Dung and Duc Tuan? One of the many reasons is because they can’t distinguish between “nang chia nua ba~i chieu roi” and “nang chia nua ba?i chieu roi”.

    When it comes to his high pitch voice, it’s not like he chose to be born with it. What is important to me is he has been able to make the best of it. Bang Kieu is 100 times more manly than those punks and pus**** who turn and twist and whisper in neo Vietnamese :P

    Speaking of being feminine, I don’t think he is at all (not that there is anything wrong with it). Now, this is what I call feminine:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoOE7v7J5oE

    :P One of my goddesses or (shall I say Boddhisavas?) LOL

    Comment by Suavemisito — 26 January 2010 @ 11:13 pm
  4. New Year’s eve in Madrid. More feminine than feminine (-:
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQz7sKLgqM0&feature=related

    Sorry I am getting off topi

    Comment by suavemencito — 26 January 2010 @ 11:27 pm
  5. “Mot lan nua xin co nhau” you have to listen to the original singers/ writer Phuong Uyen and Le minh
    Suave, how r u? Lucky u in Madrid on holiday!!! Enjoy!
    Though i have lots of respect for bK but i could never like his voice. Only song i liked was Buon oi xin chao mi! Sorry but i dont feel much emotions when he sings other songs.

    Comment by Lam Dien — 27 January 2010 @ 4:44 am
  6. Only “Buồn ơi ta xin chào mi”? Really? What about “Mưa trên ngày tháng đó,” “Em đến thăm anh đêm 30,” “Lắng nghe mùa xuân về,” “Chị tôi”…? No? Can’t believe.

    Comment by sadvalley — 27 January 2010 @ 11:12 am
  7. Lam Dien, I am OK despite the political climate which is being dominated by rednecks in the last few days. No, I wasn’t in Madrid (wishful thinking LOL). That was just a clip from youtube. However, I was in Madrid once on New Year’s eve and I will remember this as long as I live: while thousands of friendly Madrilenos were singing and kissing eachother at midnight, a group of US servicemen descended on the crowd and drowned them all out by chanting “USA USA USA”. I was like, “what the f***!” LOL

    Comment by suavemente — 27 January 2010 @ 11:38 am
  8. Oops. Thanks for asking. How are you? I like Bang Kieu’s Chuyen La (Strange Story/ Unusual Story?)which he wrote himself. My first him listening to it was on a taxi in Vietnam and someone was dedicating it to someone else. That was so damn romantic!

    Comment by suavemente — 27 January 2010 @ 11:43 am
  9. “Remember how most overseas singers can’t sing Pham Duy’s Ngam Ngui? Not even those who are home-grown in VN like Quang Dung and Duc Tuan?”

    Duc Tuan’s rendition of “Ngam Ngui” is one of the best around! :)

    Comment by ChrisDC — 27 January 2010 @ 1:29 pm
  10. That’s because you liked the person who sang it :P

    Comment by suavemente — 27 January 2010 @ 2:13 pm
  11. I have to agree with ChrisDC on that one.

    Comment by donny — 27 January 2010 @ 2:16 pm
  12. “Ngam Ngui”…I love Le Thu..and Duy Quang earlier recording..I dont mind Duc Tuan but Tuan Ngoc and Quang Dung doesnt get the job done..does not sound romantic enough.
    I’ve heard of Chuyen La. It is a nice song. Mua tren ngay thang do is alright too..but no i dont like BK Em den tham anh dem 30, Chi Toi….i dont hate it though.I guess seeing him life might be better than listening on cd.

    Comment by Lam Dien — 27 January 2010 @ 10:50 pm
  13. I hate Tran Tien’s “Chi Toi” and hate it more when Bang Kieu covers it. He dramatizes the shit out of that tune and I get sick of hearing “Chị tôi chưa lấy chồng” over and over again. So what if she wasn’t married. Big fucking deal. She decdicated her life to her mom and her siblings and all she was being remembered was an unwedded, virgin sister. Even when she is dead, she is being reminded as “Mộ người chưa có chồng.” If I were the sister, I would get myself out of my grave and beat the shit out of the little brother who can’t seem to remember anything good about me, except I was not married. :)

    Comment by donny — 28 January 2010 @ 12:40 am
  14. How do you know she was a virgin? :P

    Comment by suavecito — 28 January 2010 @ 1:13 am
  15. She was too busy taking care of her family. She didn’t have time to get her freak on.

    Comment by donny — 28 January 2010 @ 8:32 am
  16. I have to say the song “chi toi” is lame ~!

    Comment by thuhoai — 28 January 2010 @ 6:52 pm
  17. I myself never believed she was a virgin!

    Comment by suavecito — 28 January 2010 @ 7:28 pm
  18. hahaha…I think the song meant to celebrate the spirit of the Vietnamese woman, and the sacrafies that she’s willing to endure…but yeah, it is a bit lame and the lyric is overly dramatised, it isn’t very subtle and the poetry is very cheesy…

    There are better songs to celebrate the spirit of vietnamse woman i.e. con tuoi nao cho em (a growing up woman), ca dao me (a mother), bai khong ten so 4 (a woman before her marriage) etc…

    P.S I enjoy reading your blog too, but you seem to put in some very light efforts these days…your blog is still great though…if you have time, check out mine.

    http://www.thien-openwide.blogspot.com

    Comment by pop me up — 28 January 2010 @ 8:31 pm
  19. suave, what do you know about women? :)

    pop, looks like you got some good reads there. Keep blogging, dude.

    Comment by donny — 28 January 2010 @ 10:14 pm
  20. My neighbors are women!

    Comment by suavecito — 28 January 2010 @ 11:20 pm
  21. Donny, i got a feeling you hate Bang Kieu with a passion!!! Why? If you don’t like his voice, then don’t listen!!!

    Comment by toffees — 29 January 2010 @ 12:00 am
  22. “Why? If you don’t like his voice, then don’t listen!!!” Thanks for the advice, but I think I am capable of making my own decision.

    Comment by donny — 29 January 2010 @ 10:46 am
  23. Nice blog pop me up ! Donny is very busy man these days ~!

    Comment by thuhoai — 29 January 2010 @ 3:24 pm
  24. Donny, i know you are certainly capable of making your own decision. That’s why you’re still here and alive!!!

    Comment by toffees — 30 January 2010 @ 3:56 am
  25. Then let me decide if I want to hear BK or not. I am asking to you hate him. I am just writing my own opinion. That’s all. Thank you!

    Comment by donny — 30 January 2010 @ 11:21 pm
  26. my memory was Donny did like BK at early stage..but since BK over dramatised too many songs, Donny lost that lovin feelings..hehe..Same as DVH!….and may be soon Duc Tuan..kkk

    Comment by Lam Dien — 31 January 2010 @ 5:25 am
  27. Lam Dien, how DARE you –LOL– compare BK to DVH? DVH is like a Vietnamese Liberace to me. And Duc Tuan is all sugar with no anger, skepticism or despair. His singing is like a painting of just beautiful and in-shape women. Such one-dimensional emotions are at best decorative arts, that’s all :P

    Comment by suavemente — 31 January 2010 @ 11:43 am
  28. Open Wide,
    It’s nice to see that you’re wide open.

    Comment by suavemente — 31 January 2010 @ 11:55 am
  29. Its great someone can sing beautifully naturally…But if its a try hard…it may sound like Nhu Quynh. No i cant stand that fakeness.
    DVH did sound good on his first 3 albums! then down the spiral he fell. BK is awsome..huge voice.. but no i cant feel the emotions Suave.

    Comment by Lam Dien — 31 January 2010 @ 10:32 pm
  30. Lam Dien, you either have good memory or you been here forever :). Both are good.

    Duc Tuan did cut two outstanding albums: “Doi Mat Nguoi Son Tay” and “Ngam Ngui… Chiec La Thu Phai.” His version of “Ao Em Sut Chi Duong Ta,” “Tieng Dan Chai” and “Hoi Trung Duong” are some of best epic pieces both musically and vocally. Unfortunately, he, too, began to sing like a bitch after that.

    Comment by donny — 31 January 2010 @ 10:46 pm
  31. I think I’m too old for a forum like this, but all those songs that Duc Tuan sang as mentioned above by Donny (except for Chiec La Thu Phai written by TCS much later on) require certain bitchiness: a bit of bitterness, anger and despair – typical emotions of that war era. Duc Tuan is just too mellow, too soft, too sweet for my taste. But then you guys represent a younger generation, so you have the right to have a different perspective. Regarding Nhu Quynh, LOL, sorry, I’ve never paid much attention to her. I’d rather watch Cai Luong Ho Quang (-:

    Just taking a break from watching the Grammy and before feeding the neighbors’cars and doing my homework (-:

    Comment by suavemente — 31 January 2010 @ 11:11 pm
  32. But I love Pham Nhu Quynh, the older actress from Ha Noi!

    Comment by suavemente — 31 January 2010 @ 11:11 pm
  33. Sorry, feeding the neighbors’ cats, not cars LOL

    Comment by suavemente — 31 January 2010 @ 11:12 pm
  34. hey I just did a blog entry on Khanh Ly’s new album, nhu mot vet thuong, have a read if you guys are interested…
    http://www.thien-openwide.blogspot.com

    Comment by pop me up — 4 February 2010 @ 12:16 am
  35. Damn, you’re a good writer, pop. That’s a great review. Can’t wait to hear the album.

    Comment by donny — 4 February 2010 @ 1:02 am
  36. Wow. Strong emotions? I like your writing!

    Comment by masterbebu — 17 July 2010 @ 7:02 pm