Album review: 'Story of a City' opens new chapter, blending Chinese instruments with hip-hop, jazz

Finding an identity is something many Asian Americans struggle with. But Dave Liang seems to have found his niche.

In 2006, the music producer reinvented the way Chinese instruments are heard with the album, The Shanghai Restoration Project – named one of AsiaXpress.com's top-five Asian-American albums for the year. Fusing the traditional sounds with modern hip-hop and jazz flavors, he created something he said mirrored his upbringing as a Chinese American.

Continuing with the formula, his latest album, Story of a City, is latest next chapter in his musical journey. Liang teams up a bevy of musicians to create a compilation filled with rich, tranquil tracks that produce chilled euphoria.

The lyrics aren't the strongest elements in the album, but they add an uplifting tone and are a vast improvement over those in its predecessor. For some songs, such as "Voices," the words add to the track's depth: "In our eyes we seek an answer / That our minds already know / That the truth lies not in secret / But the stories that are told."

Only one song, "Touchdown," becomes lost with the ramblings. Rather than having any reason, its filled with verses that simply rhyme. Then at 2:04, it sounds as if Natural Fact runs out of things to say with an awkward pause to the song.

Di Johnston, one of the staples of the debut album, reunites with Liang in the song, "Preface." It opens with simple string plucks overlaying a snapping percussion loop. A rolling piano melody enters with Johnston's synthesized and harmonized vocals, adding to richness of the music.

One of the best songs is "Last Night Of The Dynasty." It opens with sharp horns that are played over subdued rattling percussion with a hollow kick. Low piano notes enter with Julie Anne Sgroi's sweet vocals, as the song adopts a mellow tone. Soft bell notes play along with various synth sounds in the background.

According to his MySpace, Story of a City is based on Shanghai's tale at the turn of the 20th century – a step forward from the '30s Shanghai jazz that influenced his first album. Keeping stride with his album's theme, Liang has himself progressed, creating a soothing set of aurally pleasing songs that sets a new standard in the genre he invented.

In Theaters: 'The Eye'

Jessica Alba plays Sydney, a blind violinist who receives a cornea transplant that helps her see for the first time in 15 years.

But she soon discovers that there's more than meets the eye when she starts to see dead people.

Based on the 2002 Hong Kong movie of the same name, "The Eye" is the latest in Hollywood's long line of Asian-movie remakes. While most of these reinterpretations are absent of the original's essence, directors David Moreau and Xavier Palud stay true to the storyline. While the exaggerated horror build-up music is overused and some questions remained unsolved, its interesting premise and simple, straightforward storytelling creates a mildly entertaining, uncomplicated viewing experience.

Despite Moreau and Palud's effort, "The Eye" is not a horror movie. It wasn't in the 2002 Hong Kong version and it isn't now. It moves more like a psychological thriller since Sydney is the only one who is directly affected by this. But it seems like every couple of minutes, the rising orchestral sounds enter, building up to nothing. After 20 minutes, the effect becomes washed out.

There were many plot sequences that raised questions, but were ultimately left answered. In one scene Sydney ends up at a burned down Chinese restaurant, but there's no reason why she was there. True it was an element to show that she could see dead people, but so were about half a dozen other scenes before it.

However the movie's premise is interesting and the directors' told it in a way that draws the audience into the film. Rather than trying to complicate matters by adding elaborate backstories to flesh out the characters, they accepted the story as what it is: a woman gets an eye implant, sees dead people and wants to know why. No sappy love stories, no forced family dilemmas, just a straightforward plot-driven story.

"The Eye" is by no means a masterpiece, but it's not supposed to be. It's engaging and stays relatively faithful as a remake to a solid film – that's about all that can be asked. And if nothing else, Jessica Alba provides nice eye candy.

In Theaters: 'Summer Palace'

Yu Hong's just a small-town girl, living in a lonely world. But when she leaves to go to a university in Beijing in the fall of 1988, she meets her lover, Zhou Wei, and her life completely changes.

Director Lou Ye ("Purple Butterfly") follows the story of the young couple's relationship amid the backdrop of the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests in "Summer Palace." Drawing parallels between Yu's sexual exploration and China's political system, Ye creates an intriguing character case study with socio-political undertones. While certain parts of the film dawdles, its unhurried pace is an inviting lull as the characters' growth and regressions unravel onscreen.

Serving as both a strength and a weakness, the film's gradual pace produces a slice-of-life tone. Certain scenes, such as those building the relationship between Zhou and Yu, overstay their welcome. It's one thing to show them riding bikes together, but it becomes monotonous when they just keep going. But more often than not, the tempo allows viewers to absorb the movie.

The backbone of the film resides in its ordinary, yet complex characters. Yu, played by Lei Hao, is confused about what she wants in life, leading to rash decisions that affect others in her life. At times it's difficult to understand her off-beat mindset, but therein lies her charm.

"Summer Palace" is a captivating, albeit slow film into Yu's and Zhou's worlds. This isn't a feel-good movie, nor is it one that is dark and depressing. Rather it's a viewing into the lives of intricate individuals who are trying to figure out who they are in this world.