At Contact, we're all in favour of cultural exchange so it's nice to be able to give you a Taiwanese singer who makes music in Japan and a Japanese singer who makes music in Taiwan.

小鹿藏刀, which almost certainly doesn't mean Small Deer Tibetan's Knife as Google Translate appears to think it does, is taken from Kawashima Makiyo's brilliant Magic Age CD. A Japanese singer popular in China, she moved to Taipei last year to record a Mandarin-language album which fizzes with the kind of ultra-catchy guitar-pop Puffy excel at. The Japanese album she released at roughly the same time, Garden, is worth having as well.

Buy Magic Age




Taiwan's Vivian Hsu has had a rather varied career - including a fair bit of nude modelling and a stint as the voice of Blossom in the Chinese version of Powerpuff Girls. Although not exactly a superstar in any one field, she's well respected as an actress, pop star and catwalk clothes-horse.

決定愛你 (Decide To Love You) is taken from the marvellous "neo girlie-pop" album The Secret To Happiness Is Love , her first for Max Matsuura's Avex records (home of Ayumi Hamasaki and Lee Jung-Hyun).

Much of her other work, in Japanese, Mandarin and Korean, rewards seeking out as well, especially the Bùbài De Liànrén album which features the wonderful, Ars Amatoria, half way between J-pop and the sound of 60s France.

Buy Vivian stuff.