That Oriental Guy [Remastered]

Bridging the musical gaps between Boston and Chicago and his last album and his next, the underrated singer/songwriter star, Kevin So, tells it like it is on That Oriental Guy. And there is a lot of "it." From the gentle textures of "Different," "Stay With Me Tonight," and the beautifully and contemporarily traditional "Ballad of Amy Xu" to the Steve Brooks-assisted vaudevillian jaunt of "Walkin' Down the Avenue" and "Hot Tub" to the South Side soul of "Times of Confusion" and the Fender-fed raunch of "Porn Star," So belies his own closing track, the jangly "Nothing's Changed at All." Ever politically minded, So points out the foibles of the industry and the world in which "There's a War Goin' On" and vents his frustrations epistemically in "Dear John" but then cleverly capitulates in "Middle of the Road." Paying tribute to his heritage with the beautiful biography "Dragon Lady" and "Walter Lee" (another well-delivered political message), So smugly rages against the great walls he has hit in his career in the side-handed tribute "Standing in the Shadow of Ellis Paul." Though the rest of the album demonstrates ways in which So might escape, his chosen direction is unclear. Such is the problem of a diversely talented performer.