Yoga Levitates to the Top of the G Music Charts

There's a new number one on the G Music album charts, Yoga Lin (林宥嘉, pinyin: Lín Yòujīa) with his second studio album Senses Around (感官/世界), accounting for 33 percent of all album sales in Taiwan for the week 30 October to 5 November. Lin ends Elva Hsiao's impressive three week reign at the top with the album Diamond Candy which drops to third position. Apart from Jolin with a six-week rule at the top no other artist has had more consecutive weeks at number one.

Yoga Lin, still only 22 years old, was the inaugural winner of the Taiwanese singing contest One Million Stars (超级星光大道) back in 2007. In that competition he obtained a perfect score from all five judges in the final, a performance that included a rendition of Radiohead's Creep, to show off his alt-rock creds. The following year he released his debut album, Mystery, which like Senses Around was an immediate best-seller and critical success.

Lin's musical style is a bit hard to pin down, as he incorporates several genres in his work including Mandopop, R&B, rock and jazz. The first single from Senses Around, You Are What You Eat (看见什么吃什么), is a good example of his eclectic style. Lyrics that ruminate on cannibalism (!) are set to a swinging tune that mixes 12-bar blues and rock with a big brass backing. The music video is pretty out there too. A review of Senses Around can be found on the Urban Voices website.