by Grant Morrison, Frank Quitely & Jamie Grant (DC)
To be honest, ever since I started reading comics again as an undergrad, I have found Superman to be the most boring superhero character. Despite John Byrne’s Man Of Steel retcon, Superman never quite made sense for reasons I wouldn’t dream of jading you with.
However, I must say that the 12-issue run that Morrison and Quitely had on All-Star Superman certainly proved to me that it was indeed possible to make Superman, not only interesting, but a character one could identify and emphatize with. Basically freed to create stories “out of continuity” (I really hate that term – none of these stories are “real” to begin with), Morrison decides to dig deep into Superman’s past (specifically, the 50s & 60s) for his inspiration. Yes, the era of multi-coloured kryptonite, multiple supermen (bizarro, future Supermen etc), Kandor (the bottled city) and so on. Instead of shying away from these more embarrassing plot elements, Morrison celebrates them and with great aplomb and storytelling effect.
The greatest flaw in the Superman story has always been his indestructibility. So Morrison attacks this inherent defect from issue one as Superman succumbs to a devious Lex Luthor plan which renders him terminally ill. So there is definite drive and purpose in Superman’s actions as he seeks to carry out and complete 12 Herculean tasks before his demise. As Superman faces his own mortality, he confronts his own fears and battles an urgency to resolve relationship issues with Lois Lane, his parents, his colleagues, his doppelgangers and of course, his arch nemesis Lex Luthor.
Artist Frank Quitely has been one of my favorites since I first noticed him in Flex Mentello, there is a certain grace in his work despite his characters appearing slightly squat & squarish. As usual, Quitely’s art is impeccable and flesh out Morrison’s fantastical concepts well whilst keeping the mundane fresh, with his rendition of an obese (?) Clark Kent particularly compelling.
Probably written with the long time comic book enthusiast in mind rather than the casual reader, All-Star Superman is still worth picking up by even the newbie, so that everyone might be enthralled by the possibility of Superman magic.
I was reading a news item on Channel News Asia online about Joan Chen doing something or rather at this year’s Singapore Sun Festival when almost as an afterthought, the article mentioned that singer-songwriter Elvis Costello will also be performing.
WHAT!?!
I could not believe it and I scoured the internet for news on this and sure enough, the man who is one of my chief musical inspirations, will be giving a solo performance on 5th October at the Esplanade Concert Hall! What fantastic news! And so, the moment the tickets were available, I got mine – third row centre with early bird discount to boot!
So… with the new Costello album – Secret, Profane & Sugarcane – out now (kick-ass country-folk-blues), the months leading up to 5th October will be a time when I will be reflecting on the man’s recorded highlights. I am so excited!
It’s hard to believe that rapper Eminem aka Marshall Mathers aka Slim Shady has been around for more than ten years now. Since his low-key debut Infinite (1997), Eminem has gone on to sell more than 75 million records and in doing so has cut for himself a controversial path. Like Elvis Presley before him, Eminem has been accused for being yet another white boy who stole the blues. In addition, Eminem’s graphic representations of violence, misogyny and anti-homosexuality in his “music” has courted criticism and has been described as a negative influence on youth. However, there are also those who argue that Eminem is merely a commentator, highlighting (and thus, lampooning) the ills of society and not celebrating the topics of his “songs”.
Personally, I find it hard to listen to rap in general, for the fact that it’s not music (in my humble opinion) but merely words spoken rhythmically over a repetitive score, without musical value. Of course, in the 50s and 60s, I’m sure many shared these views about rock ‘n’ roll. Not to mention, the shock tactics that Eminem employs in communicating attitudes against women and homosexuals. Yet again, the same accusations of misogyny were levelled against the Rolling Stones and KISS in the 70s. So…
Let’s give Eminem the benefit of the doubt then. Having been on hiatus since 2005 amidst persistent rumours that he had retired as a performer, his first album in 4 years is not characterized as a “comeback” but rather humorously described as a “relapse”. The opening track – Dr. West (featuring actor Dominic West) – introduces us to the concept i.e. Eminem is out of rehab but the evil Dr.West tempts Eminem’s alter ego Slim Shady out of the cage and all hell breaks loose. Reading between the lines, is Eminem’s mega-selling rap act, a disease and an addiction? Hurm.
And thus, over the course of this 20-track album, Slim Shady is up to his old tricks. On Bagpipes from Babylon, Slim Shady obsesses over Mariah Carey – “I mean I really want ya bad ya cunt”, on My Mom, he goes all confessional as he gushes – “My mom loved Valium and lots of drugs”, on Insane, he reminisces about his step-father’s abuse – “we going out back-I want my dick sucked in the shed”, on Stay Wide Awake, he expresses his own violent inclinations – “see whore you’re da kinda girl I’d like to assault and rape and figure why not try to make your pussy wider/fuck you with an umbrella then open it up when the shit’s inside you” and… need I go on?
In the final analysis, reading these lyrics can be pretty stark although the impact is mitigated somewhat when you hear the silly music and the cartoony way in which Eminem delivers the words. You may say that Eminem has his finger on the pulse of US society and is merely reflecting reality (perhaps exaggerating for effect) in the same way as popular TV shows, films and video games do. Or you can dismiss him as an exploitative hatemonger. The choice is yours, as always.
Me? I’m sitting firmly on the barb-wire fence. Strictly for hardcore rap fans only.
It’s a bitch being a musical genius. The last couple of years have not been kind to singer-songwriter David Mead. After spending 2007 living in Brooklyn, Mead separated from his wife and returned to his native Nashville in early 2008, initially landing in a room in his father’s basement for a few months. Mead confesses “The change was a little paralyzing. I had left pretty much everything but my books and a few lamps in Brooklyn, and there I was, back in Nashville, well into my 30’s, doing manual labor and wondering what was supposed to happen next.”
Having been twice released from recording contracts, by RCA and Nettwerk, you would be surprised to learn that Mead hasn’t packed it all in. And what is the man’s crime? The ability to produce sophisticated pop that touches you in the heart, mind and soul. That’s what! Of course, the problem with the music business is that critical reviews only go so far if the unwashed masses aren’t forking out cash for your albums.
Really, folks, the kind of music that Mead delivers is a rare commodity and his dilemma has been shared by peers like Aimee Mann, Jon Brion, XTC, Eric Matthews, the High Llamas, the Aluminium Group et al. On Almost and Always, Mead’s fifth album, he is joined in the songwriting department by Bill Demain, best known as an integral part of soft pop duo Swan Dive. The result is an album of the highest quality in every aspect and listening to it, you cannot but come to the inescapable conclusion that it is nothing short of a travesty that Mead does not receive the recognition that he deserves.
The beauty of Almost and Always is that most of the tracks here are pretty stripped down, with little to accompany Mead’s gorgeous high-register larynx but acoustic guitar and piano. In such environments, melodies are severely tested and in this respect, Almost and Always passes with flying colors. And when Mead deems it necessary to embellish his captivating songs, he does so with aplomb with baroque instrumentation that will send chills down your spine.
This is an album that must be experienced from start to finish, and its difficult to name highlights but I certainly have fallen head over heels in love with Blackberry Winters, with its incredible chorus and its breath-taking vocal harmonic middle-eight; Rainy Weather Friend, with its jaunty demeanour and incandescent tune; From My Window Sill, with its rustic melancholia and breezy personality; Last Train Home, with its 70s country inflections and Jimmy Webb-channeling melody and Little Boats, a old world piano ballad with a smidgen of a Disney movie theme vibe.
2009 has been a good year for good old fashioned pop-rock, and certainly David Mead’s Almost and Always is up there with the year’s best. The highest PoP recommendation!
I can’t imagine not playing music. For some reason I always wanted to, since my early childhood. I even remember having desperately tried to build a guitar myself as a child because it was very difficult to get hold of one in the former GDR (East Germany), where I come from.
2. Who are your influences?
The famous ones, whose influence probably some people might notice are songwriters from Nick Drake to Elliott Smith or bands from The Kinks to Travis. But there are also a lot of influences coming from less known great songwriters in my neighborhood who I meet and play with from time to time.
3. What is success?
To me success starts in my own room after having written a song that I really like. If that song will become successful in terms of how many people will like it or even buy it, is something I don’t really think of too much, but of course I’m very happy when they do!
4. Why should people buy your music?
Because they like it, I hope! I’ve talked to a few kids lately who said they would never buy any music and I can understand their point of view in a way. However I’m sure every artist knows how expensive it is to record and produce an album. So if you’re a music lover you should support the music you love.
5. Who do you love?
I have the feeling, the word “Love” is being used slightly different in German compared to American language. You don’t hear it as often here. So, of course I do love a few people around me but that probably doesn’t answer your question. Of the more well-known people I love Elliott Smith for not having written one bad song in his tragically short life, Alfred Hitchcock for his great sense of using shadows and lights in his black and white movies and Paul Auster for having written some of my favorite books.
6. What do you hope to achieve with your music?
I hope to bring joy into other people’s lives, like some artists do bring joy into mine. It’s a great feeling to see people dance or hug or just enjoy themselves while you are playing!
7. Who comes to your gigs?
Sometimes there are only 10-12 people in the audience. Then I have a chance to meet everyone. But fortunately there’s usually a bigger crowd. In general it seems like our music reaches a wide range of people, 14 years old as well as 60 years old, which I consider a great luck!
8. What is your favorite album?
It used to be “Abbey Road” but for the last few years it’s been “XO” by Elliott Smith I would say.
9. What is your favorite song?
That’s hard to say but if I had to listen to only one song for the rest of my life I probably would pick “Strawberry Fields Forever”.
10. How did you get here?
It’s been a long journey which started by learning how to play the guitar at the age of 12 and trying to find out all the chords to almost every Beatles song, then it continued by studying jazz guitar in Berlin and writing my own music which eventually led to the collaboration with lyricist Charlie Mason and awoke the interest of the headmasters of the Words On Music label, Eric and Marc Ostermeier. I must say I enjoyed the journey very much so far and I hope it will be continued for a long time!
Almost Charlie’s new album, The Plural of Yes is out now!
Before The Karl Maka, Jonathan Fong was in a band called Jellystone Park. And before that, it was formerly known as “Tyranno-Vision”. In 1997, Jonathan formed a band with his secondary school friends, Fabian Lim and Peter Tan, and was joined later that year by Jon’s skateboarding friends, Aloysius Lim and Previn Naidu.
They started out by jamming on Saturdays and Sundays, and before the summer of 2000, a demo was recorded at TNT Music Productions. The demo was kept aside, until it was re-surfaced in 2009.
I came across Road Song when I asked Charan from Unpopular Radio if he had any songs from The Karl Maka to play. He didn’t, but said he was playing Road Song by Jellystone Park. I managed to get my hands on the link for Jellystone Park’s demo, Tales of Talcum.
The songs have elements that everyone can relate to at some point in time while their lyrics reflect the energy and hopefulness that comes with being youthful. Their songs are beautifully crafted about things we went through as teenagers a reflection in retrospective about growing up, relationships and life. My favourite tracks are Open Fields and Forever, For A While, its lyrics invoking nostalgia and taking me back to memories long abandoned.
What I like about Jellystone Park is how honest their lyrics is and how everyone can relate to it. Those of you who follow The Karl Maka would realise how different Jellystone Park is from The Karl Maka. Their musical styles are worlds apart, but The Karl Maka still has similar song-writing elements of Jellystone Park. Tales of Talcum is the perfect album to kick back to on a lazy Sunday if you’re not out catching gigs.
(Rebecca Lincoln)
For those of you who are interested in Jellystone Park, you can download the demo here.
In case you’re still unaware of Beth Ditto, here’s the 411: She’s a rotund American songstress, champion of LGBT rights, and positive body image advocate, who, somewhere between these social undertakings, happens to be the vocalist of indie-rock darlings Gossip — a band you really need to know by now.
I know what you must be thinking. “Oh lord, not another one of those bands.”
Let me assure you, Gossip’s music is far from self-indulgent, in fact it is exceedingly compelling, particularly on their latest offering… and I don’t mean that in a lookit-the-queer-band sense of the word.
Music For Men is essentially a distilled version of Gossip’s body of work so far. That is to say, an amalgamation of punk attitude, soul-sista pipes, and jaunty indie-rock stylings, accompanied by a frenzied cornucopia of drums laid down by seemingly tireless hands. Not bad, considering that four albums on, Gossip (albeit with the loss of earlier-incarnation prefix “The”) have managed to retain a distinct sound that most other trios spend a large part of their career trying to achieve. All without losing much in the way of momentum, I might add.
The most aurally apparent observation one might draw from initial spins of the record is how polished it sounds, even though the vocals melody and rhythms register as oddly disjointed. There is a method to Gossip’s madness, one that lends itself to instantaneous identification upon consideration of the entire piece of music. It’s as if the band have reached a common consensus to steamroller through their convictions as a unified front, with their constituent idiosyncrasies providing the ruffled, worn-in character so often associated with some of the finest music ever made.
Gratifying, if I do say so myself. It’s refreshing to see a band that can truly stick to its guns. Highly recommended listening.
Performing, writing, and learning about music is all we’ve wanted to do since we were young kids listening to our parents records. Our education backgrounds are in music, and it’s all we know how to do skillfully. On top of that, our friends are all involved with music in one fashion or another. So basically, peer pressure.
2. Who are your influences?
As a band we really bond over bands like Television, The Replacements, Wilco, CCR, The Band, Pavement, Neil Young, Crazy Horse and Elvis Costello & The Attractions; Bands that like to play with the building blocks of rock and roll and invert them into songs with a lot of heart. Sound collages, the contrast of rural and urban America, elements of Phillip Glass’ simplistic repetion of themes, and the lo-fi unabashed sincerity of Guided By Voices and Daniel Johnston also affect our songwriting.
3. What is success?
Ideally, success is to be a touring, recording, constantly creative rock band and pay our rent and quit our day jobs.
4. Why should people buy your music?
Well hopefully they hear some tunes, feel a connection, and think it’s a fair trade.
5. Who do you love?
Jon Stewart. Who else is there?
6. What do you hope to achieve with your music?
I think most people can think of a local band, or a record they unearthed from some closet, and when those first notes come out they feel part of some great secret, or club, and feel that song is them to a tee. We’d like to be that band.
7. Who comes to your gigs?
Lots of people of all ages and drinking habits.
8. What is your favorite album?
On our recent tour Battles album Mirrored was played a lot, so maybe that’s our current favorite.
9. What is your favorite song?
Home On The Range.
10. How did you get here?
Eric, Dave, and I have been good friends since high school, and were a trio for a year or so. Brent Miller works at a local music store and offered to do some recording and eventually joined the band in 2007.
Trashed On Fiction’s new album, Words Trails Maps is out now.
And so, a week of gigs ended for me with two satisfying solo acoustic sets at the Esplanade Outdoor Theatre. I got Nick Tan and Narisa Chan, two young singer-songwriters to open each set for me with two songs and it was rather affecting, I must say, to watch them delivering their own originals to the crowd.
Narisa seemed rather nervy but I think she handled herself well. Just needs more experience. Nick more seasoned now and his new song together with You (one of my favorites) pleased the audience. More to come from these two I predict.
I felt the first set was a little hard going for me – although the crowd was always appreciative – for some reason, I felt the songs weren’t coming across, especially the Singapore-referencing ones, which surprised me. Or maybe it was my own imagination. In any case, set list - Jealous Guy, I Love Singapore, High Cost of Living, The Offender, Pasir Ris Sunrise, Lament, Here, Beautiful, My One & Only.
I started with the electric piano for my second set. Was a little apprehensive about this, I don’t usually do this live but I thought that Texas and My Life went down well. And that pleased me no end. So from that point in time to the end, the set went very well and I could see many mobile phones raised recording my performance. Always a good sign! Also very much enjoyed the debut of (It’s Not A) Fact after all these years. Yes, it’s time to record some of these babies! Set list – Hey Jude, Texas, My Life, Beyond the Ashes, (Its Not a) Fact, Easy, Heaven, My One & Only, Gum.
Thank again to Chloe (and all at Esplanade) and of course to Nick and Narisa.
It has been a fruitful week for Kevin Mathews/The Groovy People as we played two gigs in five days!
On Sunday, 21 June, we play an half-hour set at St James Powerhouse in aid of Mercy Relief’s humanitarian effots in Pakistan. Even not feeling 100% well, the (rock) therapy of playing with the Groovy People more than carried me through. It was a kick watching Mike Cho, Ark Analogy and my pals, King Kong Jane doing their bit for a good cause, as well.
Set-list
Jealous Guy, I Love Singapore, Orchard Road, Easy, Heaven, My One & Only, Gum
Thanks to weetz for the youtube videos!
On Thursday, 25th June, our mini-tour concluded with an appearance at Milestone at Empress Place for the 1990s segment. Appearing as Watchmen we took the stage after legendary 90s bands, Concave Scream & Force Vomit. It was a fun time although for some reason I totally screwed up the lyrics of Damaged and fluffed chords here and there. Whatever…
Set list – Hot Burrito #1, I Love Singapore, Orchard Road, The High Cost Of Living, Climate of Fear, Easy, Jealous Guy, Damaged, Heaven, My One & Only, Gum.
Videos of the Milestones gig can be seen on Facebook. Thanks to Narisa for uploading!
And today, Saturday, 27th June I’ll be playing two solo sets at the Esplanade Outdoor Theatre from 7.30pm to 8.15pm and from 8.45pm to 9.30pm. See ya there!
Two years in the making, the Fire Fight’s maiden full-length album – Henri – is well worth the wait, believe me. My review copy dropped just this morning (Thanks, Esmond/WMUM!) and already I am feeling very good about Henri.
An ambitious concept album about a bear named Henri as he encounters the city of Elemenopee, Henri contains NEW recordings of songs previously featured on the Green Single viz. Fires At Night, Candela, Hours & When Spring Comes Home as well as popular live favorites like Traing Son (yes!) and Beware! Monster.
Not only that but the story of Henri is also told through art pieces specially created by the insanely talented Jon Chan (yes, the Plainsunset dude), see picture above, which truly adds to the overall enjoyment of this musical work.
The band will launch this exciting new album at the Esplanade Recital Studio on 31st July 2009. Tickets are now available at SISTIC. Don’t miss it!
More updates to come on Fire Fight at Power of Pop with review and interviews to come.
There are a few things that a casual listener should take note of, concerning German band, Almost Charlie.
First, singer-composer Dirk Homuth possesses a nasal vocal style that is borrowed heavily from the late great John Lennon. Uncannily so, in fact.
Second, lyricist Charlie Mason is not part of the band and in fact has never even met Homuth before! These song collaborations have been carried out over the internet. What will they think of next?
Music-wise, Almost Charlie (oh, I get it now!) parlays a chamber-folk-pop sensibility that is pleasant enough without being too deeply affecting. I suppose you could make comparisons between the musical approach here and the Beatles’ own folk-pop excursions on Rubber Soul & Revolver. Or you could easily discern references pointing to another late great, Mr Elliot Smith.
Overall, the vibe one gets from The Plural of Yes is a likable evocation of Beatles circa 1965, and if you’re into that era then this album is for you. Simply put, good music for those melancholy rainy Sunday afternoons.
Trashed on Fiction sound old. That’s not meant as a derogatory description of any sorts, more a matter of fact sort of thing. On their new record, Words Trails Maps, the four-piece Brooklyn outfit play roots rock in the grand tradition of Creedance Clearwater Revival, Them and Crazy Horse. This means lots of massive sounding guitar riffs, crashing drums that sound magnificently gleeful, and a studio ethic that takes the lo-fi aesthetic of the indie scene and turns it into a manifesto of intent to bring the listener back to the days when rock and roll was fresh and vibrant instead of the tricked-out cliché it is today. The aforementioned studio ethic is a double-edged sword of sorts: at certain moments it sounds energetic, live and infectiously immediate, while at others it sounds home-made and beat-up, as if it was recorded in a music store, a kitchen, the back of a van, and two bathrooms. Oh hey, waddya know, it was!
Moving on past the sound, though, the songs are surprisingly good. Without much studio trickery to lift up the songs, Trashed on Fiction have only the palette of rock and roll’s three primary colors (drums, bass and guitar) to paint from, and they don’t disappoint. The record opens with the aptly-named January, with a tom boom and guitar explosion leading into a rollicking riff that threatens to blow open the puny mp3 file holding it together. Matador, too, is reasonably good, with a punchy middle section that is enjoyable headbangable. All high octane stuff that still manages to infuse typical indie melody into the mix. So far, so good. By the third track, though, the band’s lo-fi home made sound is getting rather grating, which is a pity because Safety Net is a lovely number with washes of rootsy melody exemplified in the song’s nostalgic refrain, “darling, did I love you?”
Fourth track, Killing Grounds, is a relatively quiet and down-tempo country-drenched number that gets particularly mesmerizing towards the end, where the crashing cymbals and lyrical guitars intertwine to shush a throbbing bass to sleep. Seventh track Beggar sees stabs of fuzzed out guitar punctuate the air menacingly before revving up into a melodic march highlighted by humming keyboards that slowly builds up to a beautiful climax. Beatification takes an unexpected detour into bossa nova, almost sounding like a looser and rootsier version of Radiohead before firing into more familiar territory with Unfit/Unzip, a number that brings to mind early Kings of Leon. The album closes with the noise-stretching, experimental and epic sounding number One A Side, a whirlwind of distortion and howling winds that quiets down after four minutes to reveal acoustic guitars and shuffled drums at the eye of the storm.
Gutsy and vibrant, Words Trails Maps is a record that will demand your attention almost as much as it rewards it. It’s a record that captures both the heat of the sex as well as the post-coital embrace afterwards, a record that is as lived-in as it sounds. Invest a few hours into repeated listenings; you won’t be disappointed.
When you live in a tiny tropical island in the midst of the Malay Archipelago, the stretched out parched valleys of the old westerns seem awfully far away. Put on Do Wrong Right, though, the latest release from Santa Cruz three-man outfit The Devil Makes Three, and one is guaranteed to be instantly transported to the dusty cracked deserts of old-time America, where men who speak in gruff whiskey splinters break with their tough-guy image and invite you to join in their raucous cowpunk country romps.
The band, consisting of Pete Bernhard on guitar and vocals, Cooper McBean on guitar and banjo, and Lucia Turino on stand-up bass, is an anomaly and anachronism in today’s age of Autotuned radio, but what a delightful anachronism they are. The youth of today, born and bred on a mixture of grunge, punk rock, indie and R&B music might find themselves baffled at first listen, but closer inspection will reveal that The Devil Makes Three is just as thoroughly punk rock as anything on radio today. Simply substitute furious distorted guitars for pluck and strum acoustics, crashing drums for a stand-up bass and half-shouted singing for a warm southern drawl, and hey presto! A hillbilly punk wielding a banjo with a wicked glint in his eye and mayhem on his mind.
The record opens with All Hail, an energetic chugging rhythmic number topped off with fiddle and banjo flourishes that nonetheless manages to name-drop contemporary terms in a odd juxtaposition that works brilliantly, and sets the tone for the rest of the record. The title track is a gleeful exhortation to screw up gloriously and a tribute to the devil-may-care attitude of the old times, as is Gracefully Facedown, a drinking song updated for modern times. For Good Again is an utterly charming number that narrates the tale of a band struggling to overcome their own inertia, with laugh out loud lines like, “We drank and we threw up, sometimes we practiced and played, our drummer couldn’t figure out whether he was straight or he was gay.”
The record hits a small road bump on Johnson Family, a track that, with its European influences, sounds oddly out of place amidst all the Americana. Thankfully that road bump doesn’t last beyond one track. Help Yourself channels the good sense and sensibility of the common folk and snippets of biblical narrative into the simple reminder that “the Lord helps those who helps themselves”. The Devil Makes Three continues to reflect the sentiment of the people into Working Class Blues, a song that, with its apocalyptic streaks of howling harmonica, updates the protest song from the Great Depression into the 21st century’s own Great Recession. The somberness continues in shades until the album closer, Car Wreck, a mournful, pensive track that ends the album with a stirring reminder of the times we live in.
One will need some time to slip into and out of the charming oddball record that is Do Wrong Right, but the band should be applauded for having made old time country music relevant in this technological day and digital age. Impish, infectious, and sorrowful by turns, The Devil Makes Three reminds us that heart and soul is timeless and that good music speaks past genres and decades.
CHRIS MCKAY & THE CRITICAL DARLINGS C’mon Accept Your Joy (Side B Music)
McKay is probably better known as a photographer than a rock musician but you can’t keep a good artist down. C’mon Accept Your Joy is actually a re-issue of the Critical Darlings’ debut album and is a revealing introduction to the band’s interpretation of 70s powerpop and 80s new wave. Thus, astute listeners will find references to Big Star, the Raspberries, the Knack, Cheap Trick, the Cars and the Smithereens sprinkled across this competent album. Personally, the songs that caught by ear are the Doug Fieger-channelling Sometimes I’m Sam, the sweetly balladic “Down”, the blistering raucous Until the Road Ends and of course, the irresistible opener Towel Cape Song. Recommended for all members of the pop underground who did not pick up on this fine album the first time around.
Check out the band’s Myspace page. A video of Towel Cape Song is embedded below.
DEEP PURPLE History, Hits & Highlights ‘68-’76 (Eagle Vision)
The finest hard rock/heavy metal band of all time. No contest. In my humble opinion. Yeah. more than Led Zeppellin and Black Sabbath. Well, I’m a little biased as after the Beatles, Deep Purple would be the main inspiration of the first band I played in. I think we may have even called ourselves, Blue Lightning…
This DVD focuses on the golden age of Deep Purple as the band moved through four distinct line-ups, famously known as Mark I, II, III and of course, IV. With rare TV clips – both mimed and live – from 1968 to 1976, HH&H is a classic rock fan’s wet dream as iconic songs such as Hush, Black Night, Speed King, Child In Time, Highway Star, Smoke on the Water, Burn et al are featured.
But what really seals the deal for me are the various insightful interviews with the Deep Purple members, which provides an intriguing backdrop to the departures and additions throgh this period. In particular,the interviews with Ritchie Blackmore and Jon Lord provide much grist for the mill.
Be warned though, the sound and picture quality are much less than you’d expect in the digital age but really it is the historic, archival nature of these videos that should be appreciated at face value.
Essential for all students of rock history. And for those about to boogie…
Precious and fey. This Swedish band evokes early 90s shoegaze without the multiple guitar pedals. The quartet’s fragile, atmospheric music is probably best described as chamber emo.
The pulse on Spring Tides is brought to shore at very low ebb, barely audible and only slightly dynamic on the odd tracks. The arrangements and instrumentation are all rather precise, designed to create a subtle mood, for rainy train rides in the cool Nordic countryside, most likely (not something I’ve experienced myself, it must be said).
The downside is that it can all get rather miserable and precious (that word, again) and might need to catch one in a wistful frame of mind in order to fully appreciate. Not only that but the whole approach tends to sacrifice the melodic quotient and the lack of any change of pace can induce boredom (if ever so slightly, but still a risk).
Focus on the stellar guitar effects and Jeniferever’s Spring Tides will be the perfect soundtrack for those melancholy moments that pop up now and then.
ROCK THE SUB, Saturday 6th June 2009. Timbre @ Substation / Guiness Theatre
Having a mindset that gigs always start fashionably late, I walked into the Substation at 7pm to find The Fire Fight sound-checking. I’ve always enjoyed going for The Fire Fight gigs, and Saturday was no exception. They played songs from their 2007 EP, as well as new songs from their upcoming full length album. The audience responded positively, singing along to favourites like Dreamer and The Train Song.
There were some technical difficulties, but that didn’t stop the boys from playing an outstanding set. The Fire Fight boys still pressed on and did whatever they could, despite the difficulties. I was impressed by Iain, who still played with the same fervency he’s always had, despite recently sustaining a knee injury. He did a excellent job, which was commendable, although he was limping after the set.
The last time I caught Allura, I was blown away by how consistent they sounded. I was a bit surprised to find that this time around, Allura didn’t have the same prominent trait that had set them apart from other local bands. However, I did enjoy their set, especially one of their old songs (Closure), which was done in a different way.
A Vacant Affair played a dynamic set. They played a mix of songs from the 2007 EP and their full-length album, which was released late last year. I wasn’t too pleased with the sound, but Matt’s energy was contagious, and within moments, there were people moshing near the stage. There were so many people in the Guiness Theatre, and people continued to stream in throughout the set. A Vacant Affair has certainly come a long way, having opened for numerous bands like As I Lay Dying and Story of the Year for last year’s Taste of Chaos tour, amongst others.
Urbandub brought the night to an end with its catchy and expressive lyrics. I’d heard them on Myspace early last year, and I liked their music. I missed them the previous time they were in Singapore, so it was a treat to finally catch them. By that time, Timbre was packed with people, even while they sound checked (to rapturous applause). They played a variety of songs, especially ones from their second album, which I really liked. When they ended the set, there were unanimous shouts for an encore, which Urbandub happily obliged.
Some of the other outstanding acts included Nothing to Declare, Caracal, The Great Spy Experiment and For this Cycle. Credit must be given to the wonderful people who selected the acts. It made the gig one of the more notable ones in the past few months.
The thing that surprises me is how divergent yet congruent home grown and regional bands are. Experiences, culture and beliefs are all part of the musical process which helps to shape a band’s music. Often, we want similar things in life, which enables us to create bonds with other like-minded individuals. In perspective, Urbandub and The Great Spy Experiment might be from different regions in Asia, but each still has the ability to draw from their own experiences in order to reach out to their audiences.
There’s so many facets of our scene and I admit that a lot of times, I come to gigs with preconceptions about certain bands. How many of us can honestly be willing to give a band a chance to share with us what they feel without being so judgemental based on what we’ve heard or perceived? Have we reached a point where we’re only willing to stay for bands we like instead of discovering other bands we might not have heard of?
I’m a strong believer that we must always keep pushing ourselves further in order to improve ourselves. At the end of the day, I’m grateful for the people who believe in our scene and are willing to have gigs like Rock The Sub to showcase local and regional talent.
Everyone left Timbre with smiles on their faces, proving once more that Rock The Sub was an immense success. Many thanks to Timbre Music and The Substation for putting together a stellar show.
(Rebecca Lincoln)
I must admit that I was thoroughly blown away by Urbandub. Their brand of melodic emo hardcore went down well with the crowd and they were entertaining from start to finish. The strange thing was that the technical sound problems that had plague S-ROCK bands throughout the gig seemed to magically disppear during Urbandub’s set, which sounded really good.
So what it is, a more professional attitude and approach? I just can’t put my finger on it. All I can add to Rebecca’s review is that we definitely need to up our game if S-ROCK bands are to be taken seriously in the region, never mind at home. Overall, Rock the Sub was a success but after three years, it may need some tweaking and reinvention. In fact the entire S-ROCK scene really needs a jumpstart to get things moving on to the next level. What that means, exactly though, is still in the air.
The good folks at Greenhorn Productions have pulled out another veritable winner from the hat with Aimee Mann. After pleasing audiences with Death Cab For Cutie, Stars, Ani DiFranco and Rachael Yamagata, the sophisticated pop-rock of Aimee Mann awaits Singaporeans live music enthusiasts at 7.30pm on Saturday, 29 August 2009 at the Esplanade Concert Hall.
Tickets at $118, $98 and $68 (excluding SISTIC fees). Fans of Greenhorn Productions facebook page will receive a password for early bird booking/discounts. Details to be announced at www.sistic.com soon.
Pete Townshend had himself a little dilemma – how to follow the world’s first rock opera, the highly feted Tommy?
Tommy had turned The Who into one of the world’s most popular bands and Townshend was not willing to sit on past achievements. Out of that ambition came Lifehouse. What Lifehouse was supposed to be no one (not even Townshend, I’d wager) was exactly certain. Like Tommy it was a rock opera except that it was intended to be an interactive experience of some sort involving an album and a film, or something like that.
Like Brian Wilson’s Smile, the weight of expectation proved too much for Townshend and Lifehouse was shelved. However, unlike the Beach Boys, who had to settle for the vastly inferior Smiley Smile, what rose from the ashes of Lifehouse was an album that has proven to be one of the most enduring (and endearing) classic rock albums of all time.
On the cover of Who’s Next, the band appears to have pissed on the construct and artifice that was Lifehouse but in reality, from the jaws of near-disaster, the band pulled out a masterpiece. Made up of only nine songs, Who’s Next entrenched The Who’s reputation as the ultimate anthemic rock band as the album’s bookend tracks establish.
Both Baba O’Riley and Won’t Be Fooled Again open with a synthesized loop of notes before Townshend’s trademark power chords shear away at any arty pretence to reveal a beating rock heart. Not much to say about these iconic tracks – they have transcended the genre itself and listening to them will cause a stirring in the spirit to raise clenched fists into the sky.
But Who’s Next is more, of course. Bargain moves from tranquility to explosion and back, Love Ain’t For Keeping is a country-folk blues gem, My Wife is John Entwistle’s turn in the spotlight (with its brassy horns the obvious highlight), The Song is Over and Getting In Tune are entwined with concepts of the ultimate song/chord, being expressed in a slow rock approach that would be beaten to death in subsequent decades by inferior bands. Going Mobile is a breezy, folk-rock ditty that belies its sci-fi conceits whilst Behind Blue Eyes is a heavy examination of the nature of the villain (who may just be Townshend himself), with one of the finest melodies ever written by Townshend.
The sound on Who’s Next is muscular and punchy with each member of the band more than pulling their own weight – Daltrey comes into his own with his vocal delivery while the wildest rhythm section of Entwistle and Keith Moon continue to defy the basic laws of time and space – to support the artistic genius of Townshend.
There’s no doubt that Who Next’s was the apex of the Who’s recorded output and with Quadrophenia on, it was a slow but steady decline. Decades later, music observers still debate over what might have been (if Lifehouse had not been shelved). For me these hypothetical exercises are just that, when we have the timeless music of Who’s Next to savour.
DIORAMA From the E-Motion Picture Soundtrack (Self released)
Nothing quite like musical ambition. Diorama has conceived this mini-album as a conceptual piece of sorts. A story told from the perspective of a songwriter through music, thus the title. With the “E” inserted to suggest emotions as well as the electronica that peppers the songs here.
Diorama manages a good mix of rockers and ballads which suit the stories told and feelings shared with good production values and overall solid performances throughout. With influences ranging from the obligatory u2 references to the modern age emo powerpop postering, not to mention a deft use of prog-rock (or symphonic metal?) touches, this debut mini-album is an intriguing listen.
With two Malay language “rarities”, the sweet Sanubariku and slow rock-folk Anti-Romantis, to complete the package, From the E-Motion Picture Soundtrack is a release worth checking out, for fans of the S-ROCK scene and beyond.
The launch of Cove Red’s EP was held at Earshot cafe at the Arts House over 2 weeks. I made it the second week, and I was glad I did. The atmosphere was inviting, and by the time I arrived, there were quite a lot of people sitting around on the couches.
I took a seat near the merch table, and found myself drawn into the set. Rachael’s vocals were more clear and defined than when I last heard her at the NOISE Edition of Weekend Trip.
Each song had a quirky introduction, done either by her or Su Yin, and I felt connected to the duo as an audience member. For the first set, she played a few songs from the EP, and other songs that inspired her during her musical journey.
Throughout the set, I felt inspired and was caught up in the energy Rachael and Su Yin put into the set. It was enjoyable, knowing that they were doing something that they were passionate about and going out to share their music with other people.
The lyrics of the songs Rachael wrote were beautifully crafted, with the music carefully planned to complement the lyrics. Rachael drew from her own experiences, and penned earnest, honest lyrics that people could relate to. Her lyrics gave an insight into who she was, and what she believed in.
This enticed the listener to discover the different facets of their music, and I was fascinated to know more about her and what inspired her lyrics.
During the short break between sets, I had a chance to chat with Rachael and asked her what inspired her. Her answers were so simple, yet profound. I couldn’t help but take time to reflect on what inspired me and gave me strength to do the things I do.
I really enjoyed the launch of Cove Red’s EP. It makes me happy that there are musicians within our scene who are willing to chase their dreams and share what they believe in with other people.
(Rebecca Lincoln)
Cove Red’s Awaken the Dreamer is out now. More info here.
PoP Essentials. Yes, a new series where I will try to explain why I love the music that I do and what Power of Pop is about. A cliff notes to understanding the sometimes incomprehensible gibberish that I try to pass off as music reviews. And of course, it begins with The Beatles…
Growing up, my favorites Beatles album was the so-called White album. For me, this double LP encapsulated everything I loved about the Beatles – the melodicism, the cutting-edge experimentalism, the eclectic styles, the sense of humor and the moments of odd weirdness.
In recent times, critics have complained that the vaunted Beatles quality control on White album was absent as the Fab Four ran amok in the studio, citing examples like The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill, Don’t Pass Me By, Why Don’t We Do It On The Road and Rocky Raccoon. Or that the White album should have been released as a single instead of a double LP.
Personally, I think the White album is perfect as it is. Like most Beatles albums, it is easily listened from beginning to the end but what is extra special is that there is more to go around. Even George Harrison gets four songs (all winners) – the dynamic While My Guitar Gently Weeps (with Clapton on guitar solo, no less), the tongue-in-cheek(y) Piggies, and the quirky love tones of Long, Long, Long & the ode to candy that is Savoy Truffle.
John Lennon – who would be somewhat overshadowed by Paul McCartney in the latter years – is in fine fettle here. Providing singularly idiosyncratic music – with topics ranging from insomnia (I’m So Tired), Beatle in-jokes (Glass Onion), his mother (Julia), blues parody (Yer Blues), the Maharishi (Sexy Sadie), silly lullaby (Good Night) and the political times (Revolution No. 1). Instant classics each one. And with the arty-farty promptings of Yoko, managed to include the experimental sound collage – Revolution No. 9 – on side 2 of disc two.
For Paul McCartney, the de facto leader of the group after Brian Epstein’s demise, the White album showcased the qualities that would put him in good stead for the next ten years and beyond with Wings and as a solo artist. Songs like Back in the USSR, Birthday and Helter Skelter highlighted Paul, the rock ‘n’ roller whilst songs like Martha My Dear, I Will and Blackbird proved that Paul would always be the one with the pleasing melodies.
As is apparent from the above, by this time, the Beatles were a group in name only and the songs were treated almost as solo projects. Ironically, the White album stands up as the ultimate peak of Beatles music-making both critically and commercially. Within two years, Paul McCartney would file for dissolution of the Beatles.
VARIOUS ARTISTS 100 Greatest Singapore 60s: The Definitive Collection (Universal)
In the introduction to this lavish 5CD set, the writer declares (and laments?) – “This five-cd box set of Philips Sixties depicts a time in Singapore’s pop music history when the universal fever for pop also reverberated here and the breadth of styles and music played here reflects that diversity. Perhaps a feat never to be repeated.”
Ironically, of course, the Singapore music scene is undergoing a mini-revival at the moment, with many local bands playing regularly both home and abroad and a multitude of albums & Eps seeing release. Of course, none of these bands are household names in the same way their 60s counterparts were. But still, its a good time for this collection to see light of day to remind bands and fans alike of the days that used to be.
The music is mainly culled from recordings made in the mid-60s, at a time when the Philips label was making inroads in establishing itself as a regional music label. With bands like Naomi & the Boys, The Crescendos, the Cyclones and the Thunderbirds delivering local interpretations of the melodic rock ‘n’ roll pop sound popularized by the Beatles, Cliff Richard & the Shadows, Beach Boys and the like, Philips made a vital contribution to the vibrant local music of the time.
The first 3 CDs feature the complete Eps of the aforementioned bands as well as Shirley Nair and the Silver Strings, Sue, Bobby Lambert and the Dukes, Bryan Neale with the Checkmates. Immensely listenable, it is no wonder that these bands were popular in their heyday with enthusiastic fans snapping up releases and attending gigs, with the high quality on display.
4th CDs brings us on a romantic journey with love songs from The Boys, Heather, Tony Chong, Janice Wee ans so on. Whilst the final CD shows the Singapore bands moving on with the times as fuzztone guitars signal the arrival of psych rock, folk pop and garage onto our shores. Bands like the Dukes, the Dee Tees, Cells Unlimited et al start to reveal greater diversity in styles to mirror the going ons in the USA and the UK.
Sadly, of course, the powers-that-be basically declared war on rock music in the 70s and that was the end of the Singapore music scene, with the recovery scene only occuring two decades later. But that’s another story.
One caveat – the tracks here have been recorded off the vinyl records and not magnetic tape – which speaks volumes of the treatment of Singapore music in the years that followed this golden age. And so, the sound quality is pretty poor considering modern CD standards. But one has to keep in mind the historic importance of these songs and what they will continue to represent to the current local music scene. Personally, despite the challenges facing the S-ROCK musician in 2009, I believe that we can still emulate our 60s forefathers and maybe even surpass them…
In the meantime, head on down to your nearest music store and get this box set now.
ELIZABETH & THE CATAPULT Taller Children (Verve Forecast)
If you’ve been following the Power of Pop long enough, you’d realize that I live for that moment when listening to an album, watching a film or reading a comic book, I can exclaim – “Whoa, I did not expect that!”
With the amount of albums I listen to nowadays, the above sentiments are rare commodities indeed. But these precious moments can be found in abundance on Elizabeth & the Catapult’s magnificent new album, Taller Children.
Yes indeed. It’s that spine tingling sense of recognition that you’ve chanced on something extraordinary like on the ornate, baroque, whimsical pop of Rainiest Day of Summer, which is simply the best song I’ve heard thus far in 2009. As the influences of the Carpenters, Paul McCartney, the Kinks, the Band and XTC combine perfectly to form a timeless classic that is almost too good for this generation of emo kids and metalheads.
Its also the head-bopping, smile inducing elation of grasping the full import of the bouncy, infectious soulful nugget that is Taller Children, the rootsy, breezy, sophisticated folk-pop of The Hang Up where the melodic splendour of Aimee Mann is easily conjured and the jazzy, Gallic, smooth soft pop of Right Next To You where collages of bright rainbow colours are painted on melancholy soundscapes.
You get the picture. Whilst there is no doubt that Elizabeth & the Catapult’s strength lies in the sum of its parts, it is Elizabeth Ziman’s vocals that provides the winning stroke of genius – equal parts the aforementioned Aimee Mann, Karen Carpenter and Chrissy Hynde, her’s is a voice that pop lovers could consume for eons on end.
I’m am truly awed by the achievement of this delightful album, almost as if pop music itself had decided that it had enough with all the ugliness and angst of modern rock and appointed Elizabeth & the Catapult as its spokespersons to get the true message out. Well, I’m certainly listening, you should too…
I’m not much a fan of video games though I used to be - once upon a time. So I’m pretty clueless when it comes to Guitar Hero or Rock Band or whatever. I guess as a musician, I find it all a little silly.
So now here comes the Beatles Rock Band, which according to the press release lets you live out the Beatles experience – “from the early touring days in 1963 Liverpool to the immortal, final performance on the Apple Corps rooftop, fans can follow in the band’s footsteps as they traverse the globe during the height of Beatlemania.”
All well and good but the gameplay (what a strange word to use with music!) still revolves around pressing coloured buttons on a controller shaped like a musical instrument. So personally, I don’t see the point. Released on 9.9.09 simultaneously with those much-anticipated remasters, it all just seems like a cynical ploy of Apple Corps and the surviving Beatles to put their collective hands into our pockets, during these economic depressed times.
Call me a luddite if you must but this whole video game-rock music hybrid just sounds dumb. Guess I’ll just have to wait for the Who Rock Band, where you get to smash your instruments and attack unwelcome stage intruders and the like. Now, that’s a game I could subscribe to. And what about the post-show groupie fun? Eh??
Cause I can’t really stop thinking about it. If I spend more than 3 days away from my studio I get restless leg syndrome which can be really annoying for people who aren’t me.
2. Who are your influences?
Beach Boys, Super Furry Animals, Beatles, Todd Rundgren, The Association, Simian, Free Design, XTC… anything with strong melody and big arrangements
3. What is success?
Having people want to listen to my tunes.
4. Why should people buy your music?
Cause I’m late with my rent and I think with a firm hand and a bit of persuading people might really enjoy it.
5. Who do you love?
Everyone who has supported me with my music so far… and George Clooney….. and my girlfriend.
6. What do you hope to achieve with your music?
I want to record a piece music that people can really lose their minds to. Something beautiful, fun and honest that can transcend time and trends. Of course the ultimate achievement would be to change someones life just like all my favourite albums have changed mine.
7. Who comes to your gigs?
All kinds of weird and wonderful creatures. I think people who grew up in the 60s and 70s appreciate the music for it’s historical reference points. Kids like it to jump around to as well.
8. What is your favorite album?
Beach Boys – Smile… love all of the bootlegged stuff for it’s unrivaled beauty
9. What is your favorite song?
Super Furry Animals – Juxtaposed With U… I can’t be unhappy listening to this song. Smooth production.
10. How did you get here?
With lots of support from friends, fans and musicians and fair bit of hard work. This is much better than working at a petrol station.. and I loved working at a petrol station.
I really wanted to like Terminator Salvation so much. After the disappointment of Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, I was genuinely excited by the early buzz that surrounded this McG-helmed sequel. The trailers looked decent. As did the promo pictures. Sure, I figured that McG would not do as good a job as James Cameron would (how could he?) but I was anticipating a solid piece of sc-fi movie-making to set the T-franchise back on track.
If you’ve been reading the reviews out there, you would be aware that the critics basically hate Terminator Salvation. And there’s good reason for all the bile being thrown its way. But I wanted to take a step back and try to analyse where Terminator Salvation succeeds (and it does in parts) and where it fails.
So, let’s start with its strengths. This is a visually compelling film. McG has pulled out all the stops to make the action sequences as immersive a film experience as possible. The viewing perspective in John (Christian Bale) Connor’s helicopter from the opening sequence is breath-taking. Sure, there are various elements of the Matrix, Transformers, Road Warrior and the first two Terminators referenced throughout the fight scenes, but McG – to his credit – has managed to up the ante, even if ever so slightly. It’s pure movie eye candy from start to finish and from that angle, a pleasure to watch.
Unfortunately for McG, the merits of a film hinges on its storytelling (as well) and on this count, Terminator Salvation fails miserably. How in the world did a script this bad ever get approved for shooting? Worse still, the plot does not even relate properly to the original premise of the franchise as carefully outlined in the first two movies. I could spend hours expounding on the numerous plot holes, poor characterization, logic gaps and plain stupidity permeating this entire movie. But I won’t.
Let’s put it simply, shall we? (Warning… spoilers abound!)
As set up, this movie takes place before John Connor becomes the leader of the resistance and way before Kyle (Anton Yelchin) Reese becomes the man who would go back in time to father John Connor in the past. So why would these two insignificant individuals be on top of Skynet’s kill list? And why would Skynet hatch this improbable plan to lure Connor and Reese to Skynet central in order to kill them? What plan, you say? Well, create a cyborg from the body of death row inmate Marcus (Sam Worthington) Wright to infiltrate the resistance to achieve that aforementioned objective. But why go to all that trouble, when killing Kyle Reese would have meant (as Connor reveals himself) that Connor would never have existed. And believe me, Marcus Wright had ample time and opportunity to kill Kyle Reese, even before Reese himself is captured by the machines (but not killed again, for some mystifying reason).
*Arrggghhhh!!!*
And that is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg. Most of Terminator Salvation does not make any sense whatsover. Like I said before, this movie is sheer eye candy but inside it’s hollow and empty as if the screenwriters and director had no clue (or didn’t give a damn) how to tell the story of the legendary John Connor and Kyle Reese. It’s a pity because there was so much potential.
If you really want to watch Terminator Salvation, a word of caution – don’t bring your brain along.
Rachael: Because it’s less tiring than sports and more fun than computer games. And in all honesty, very very addictive.
Yinky: i think playing/singing is a time when i can be the most ‘real’ and alive to myself and others. at other times i can be real but rather sedate.
2. Who are your influences?
R: Mom, for sure. Sparring with her makes me a better songwriter. She brings out the deep-set emotions that I normally wouldn’t take notice of. And courageous, honest, loving and passionate people who are nonconformists.
Y: acoustic guitarwork of shane&shane, damien rice, dave matthews; creativity/weirdness/spaciness of mute math, copeland, sigur ros, future of forestry, death cab, david crowder, radiohead and my friend mark, though (unfortunately) none of my music sounds like theirs.
3. What is success?
R: It’s knowing that your work is done, and in one way or another, big or small, someone out there is impacted by the fruit of your labour.
Y: growing in each season of your life, to who you were born to be
4. Why should people buy your music?
R: Because like us, they believe in the power of “love & water”. They are “dreamers”-in-the-making. It’ll be some time “till we come” back with another EP. They like “heart conversations”. They like “heart conversations”. And of course, they don’t wanna make a “mistake”. =)
Y: i think this album can speak to a pretty wide range of people. it addresses the common human experience. it’ll make you feel. or at the very least, make you think. lastly, it sounds good.
5. Who do you love?
R: I love people who cannot speak for themselves, like victims of human trafficking, and people who help them, like Christine Caine. I also love people who love coffee, hugs, music, and people. And of course, Yinky because she’s the most awesomest band mate I could ever ask for. Seriously, no one accommodates my hi5 habit better than she does. Plus, she is radically different. I like different.
Y: ? i love/ am inspired by passionate people who love life and dare to risk being different
6. What do you hope to achieve with your music?
R: For this particular EP, I hope to, well, awaken the dreamer that is penned up inside each individual. I believe everyone has a purpose, and when we find it and live it, that’s when life begins. In general, however, I think it’d be so great if someone could connect with our music and see things from a fresh perspective. Much of the media today generates too much junk that promotes things like promiscuity and negativity. I hope that as we choose to sing to a different tune, people will find themselves shedding the norm and singing along to the radical.
Y: influence the way people think and live- hopefully for the better
7. Who comes to your gigs?
R: We’re proud to say we have had audiences from all walks of life – naughty school kids, religious leaders (when we played at an interfaith dialogue), humanists, church-goers, expats, fellow artists, tourists, facebook pals etc. But mostly, our Forerunner friends (we first met while volunteering with them) who show up in clusters at each of our gigs.
Y: friends and unsuspecting strangers
8. What is your favorite album?
R: The indecisive person in me refuses to let me choose one.
Y: ‘beneath medicine tree’ (copeland) makes me feel like home
9. What is your favorite song?
R: “Love and water”? Kidding. I truly don’t know, but I like the honest lyrical flair of artists like Sara Groves, the allure of deep electronic sounds, the mournful voices of Rachael Yamagata, Sarah Mclachlan and Glen Hansard, and the weirdness of Sigur Ros and Radiohead.
Y: too many.. an interesting one that intrigues me to no end is ‘crimson’ by nichole nordeman, where she transforms chopin’s prelude in E minor by writing a completely new amazing song over it.. i’m ‘classically’ trained so i get big kicks out of things like that.
10. How did you get here?
R: Years of waiting, an open door, plenty of coffee, prayer and gallons of love.
Y: by way of many miracles along the way. and years and years of training, dreaming, and waiting.
Cove Red’s simply gorgeous Ep, Awaken the Dreamer is out now.
Michael Lerner is Telekinesis. Inasmuch as Lerner plays and writes every song on this intriguing LP. Produced by Death Cab for Cutie guitarist Chris Walla, the appeal of this album is its immediacy and irresistible infectiousness. Y’know, the way that good old-fashioned pop-rock used to unashamed to be.
There are no clever arrangements, just basic representations of memorable tunes, toe-tapping rhythms and cool vibes. Simple.
Sure, in may ways, its pretty standard indie pop fare you might hear from the Shins, the Decemberists and the like, but there is something so unique about Lerner’s songwriting and recorded delievery that the word that ‘pops’ into your head will always be ‘extraordinary’.
Yes, boys and girls, Telekinesis! is one of those albums you could easily listen to from start to finish. And you will, repeatedly.
So what’s the use of power and influence if you don’t use it for the benefit of your loved ones, family and friends? Eh?
About seven months after commencing The Noise Apprenticeship Program (with yours truly as mentor), Rachael Teo (together with utility player, Yinky) unleashes the debut Cove Red “unofficial” EP to raise funds for her upcoming study trip to the USA. So how do I review this EP without the slightest bit of bias? I don’t. I just call it as I see it, as usual.
Awaken the Dreamer represents everything I believe about music – that all you need is a song delivered by vocal and instrument, to bring the message across – to tell the world what you’re about. Stripped down and recorded live by Lunar Node’s Gerald Koh, Awaken the Dreamer is a glorious revocation of the early 70s Laurel Canyon singer-songwriter movement that I know and love so well. The focus is on simple arrangements with two guitars and the odd violin to forge shimmering jazz-folk-pop music.
Every single tune is a winner.
Love and Water – is given the 80s Style Council treatment, breezy and cool – even if the chorus is written by yours truly (is self-praise even praise?). The final choral harmonies are genuinely spine-tingling (great work, girls).
Dreamer – The production on this title track (not to be confused with the new Fire Fight single) is particularly impressive as Rachael’s yearning voice will leave its mark on you, without problem. Again, the 70s vibe is irresistible.
Mistakes – This confessional track is probably the most upbeat one on this EP and probably the weakest as well. That said, it contains a dynamic chorus which showcases the duo’s harmonic strengths perfectly. Not to mention Yinky’s soloing skills.
Till You Come – A gorgeous ballad about future love that once again highlights Rachael’s sweet larynx which would not be out of place on the early 70s hit parade.
Heart Conversations – This is the song that convinced me that Rachael is a gifted songwriter beyond her tender years. Blessed with a tune that Paul McCartney himself would be proud to call his own. With a relevant message for these troubled times – “Why worry about tomorrow, when tomorrow’s not come round”. Embellished by Yinky’s mournful violin, Heart Conversations is the appropriate way to close this wondrous EP.
I know, I cannot escape the old school references but this is precisely the reason why I believe that Rachael will be around for the long haul, with melodic/harmonic sensibilities this potent, Rachael Teo is a name you might want to take note of. Yes, I’m proud of both Rachael and Yinky for achieving so much with so little. So please go now and get the EP!
The first time I watched the Fire Fight was when they opened at the Copeland/Anberlin gig about two years ago. My main impression of them was they reminded me of legendary 80s Brit-rockers Big Country a great deal. Which in my book is a compliment! As I’ve witnessed their musical growth, I’ve been most struck by their genuine heart-on-sleeve passion and epic soundscapes. Their debut recording – The Green Single (review below, taken from 2007) – was a good teaser for the main attraction due in July, the debut full length.
First single, Dreamer, is an appetizer for the delights to come. Big Country references still abound but this time allied to harmonic strengths, electronic quirkiness and overall rhythmic majesty, which results in a mature exploration of the post-punk revival phenomenon, with a foot firmly in both the classicist and post-modern camps. The melody on Dreamer is not particular “between the eyes” infectious but it is the grounding of the song in pleasing arrangements and intriguing sections that will excite the more discerning indie rock listener.
This four-track EP consists of one ‘proper’ studio recording Fires At Night and three demos recorded live in a rehearsal studio. Fire At Night is ostensibly the lead song and highlights this Singaporean quintets’ grasp of jazz-inflected chord progressions, Brit-affected vocals and epic-scoped themes to deliver an emotionally satisfying experience.
That said, the three so-called demos are fully realized songs on their own. When Spring Comes Home is an exciting, vibrant tome on new beginnings whilst the delicate Hours is a paean of thanksgiving and Candella though not as accomplished boasts a catchy singalong chant (which should be popular live).
The Fire Fight is one of Singapore bright indie rock prospects and the Green Single is a grand opening statement of intent.
The Scissor Sisters are back. Yes, it’s official. They’ve bought Christian Lacroix military jackets and grown sick moustaches for the occasion. They even went and robbed a tinsel warehouse and swiped the pupil out of Sauron’s eye for good measure.
No, seriously, take another look at that album cover. That thing has frickin’ Lions, Elephants, Hong Kong, and Shanghai in the same collage.
Synthesized squeals, blips and squeaky voices — a little too familiar perhaps? Empire Of The Sun’s parallels with the, er, queens of New York disco don’t end there. Right down to the falsetto whoo-hoo-hoo-hoohoo-hoohoos on Country, this is exactly what the Scissor Sisters would sound like if they made it beyond 2006’s Ta-Dah.
That being said, the albums musical cues — however trippy they may be — groove to a less zippy pace. It’s a bit of a stretch to wrap your head around EOTS’s sound. It’s a bit of Bowie solace, injected with a mild dose of 80s hair metal pomp, delivered with the suppressed glee of a shaggy-haired folk rocker’s first trip to Glastonbury. You half expect it to build up to a crescendo, only to find yourself hanging when it stubbornly floats on at terminal altitude.
I’m sitting on the fence with this one: I like the concept, but I’m not too eager to declare that the duo’s got the sound they’re shooting for locked down just yet.
P.S. there’re a few tight EOTS remixes floating around on the web right now. It seems like their sound is pretty conducive to House and Electro mixes. Here’s one by Button Masher: Download
Why not? If the notes are already out there, why not reach into the aether and pull them out to see what they sound like. Its like surfing the ocean waves, or falling through space…you are at the hands of nature itself, yelling into large canyons to hear the echoes. Damned good question. Compulsion, I think. I think you are kidding yourself if you have any other reason than you can’t help yourself. The world doesn’t need another pop band. Save your money and buy an extra flashlight for the apocalypse. Just a strong desire to create is what compels me. There is probably something deeper like communicating to my species as well.
2. Who are your influences?
Ingmar bergman, King Tubby, Curtis Mayfield, Beach boys, R. Stevie Moore, Sufjan Stevens, Beatles, blur, animal collective, 10cc, it goes on and on forever…
3. What is success?
Having a person get out of bed, brush their teeth, put on clothes, get in their car, find parking, pay a cover charge, just to hear you make music. According to many folks it would be selling a million records. For me, it is making something I would want to hear – which in turn, means that someone else would probably like to hear since my tastes are fairly mainstream. So, if I sold a million records I would be happy that I like what other people like.
4. Why should people buy your music?
They shouldn’t. It should be free and available on the internets. Music should never be viewed as a commodity. Music and art should be shared like a grandmother shares her quilting knowledge with her granddaughter. It is the very essence of a meaningful life. There is no price for that. They should only buy it if they love it or they feel compelled to “support the artist”. I would recommend getting it for free from a friend if possible then eventually if they like it enough and feel guilty they can buy it.
5. Who do you love?
I love all. Love is the greatest metaphor of our time. I try to love everyone, but it is hard. People, including myself, are selfish and petty. But people are also capable of such beautiful acts of kindness and creativity that it balances out the evil. The handful of friends and family members that know I love them could probably attest to my selfishness and pettiness, but also my kindness and creativity. Love is hard, but love is real. If it isn’t real then we are screwed. We might be screwed even if it is real.
6. What do you hope to achieve with your music?
Making music for the sake of pleasure is all I could have ever wanted to achieve. Everything else is in the bonus points category.
7. Who comes to your gigs?
Our friends and people I like to judge and put into distinct categories like “hipster”, “nerd”, “d-bag”, or “cutie.”
8. What is your favorite album?
Pet Sounds, not surprising that it makes a lot of people’s “favorites” lists. It truly is the perfect capture of a moment in time that we’ve all experienced. Teen angst mixed with youthful romance. All packaged in beautiful harmonies and melodies.
9. What is your favorite song?
“God Only Knows” The Beach Boys
If I had to pick a piece of music from the 20th century that represented all my favorite things about music, this would be it. I’ve never heard such beauty and mystery in a song. My arms are getting goosebumps just thinking about it. I wish the rounds at the end would go on forever. If there is a heaven, this will be the soundtrack on the escalator ride up.
Imagine if Angus Young never grew old. Now imagine him slipping into a houndstooth blazer, and coerced into taking the stage with a smittering of self-indulgent Britpop. Imagine that his recognizable swagger and sneer has morphed into (horrors) happy, jump-abouty jauntiness.
Maybe they are taking a cue from their neighbours down under, but it seems to me that the latest wave of British bands to hit the airwaves have narrowed down their musical formulae to one of three M.O. — wan covers of lesser-known tunes, rehashing the 80s, or, perhaps more tastefully, revisiting the joys of ballsy blues-based Rock N’ Roll, albeit in a less angsty, folk-centric manner.
Coventry’s The Enemy is a prime exemplification of this trend. While their latest release, Music For The People possesses a markedly Rock N’ Roll sensibility, the band displays their thorough understanding of this contemporary rock/indie dichotomy by subtly packaging a jangly, twangy, MTV-friendly sensibility into their music.
This is a markedly apparent theme throughout the album, one that lends itself to instant recognition. Without having to aurally desconstruct the record, it is possible to identify (most obviously) the strong AC/DC influence. The gritty, bare-bones character of the riffage does however manage to hold enough airiness to straddle the fence between late night beers and late-morning tea.
The advent of this album has also afforded me to opportunity to voice another gripe, in that music publications tend to have a manner of rapturously overhyping new albums. I’d hardly call the album anthemic or rebellious, given that its subject matter deals with British clichés like the middle-class divide, life on the street, and, get ready for this, Revolution.
*insert gratuitous editorial pause here to allow rumination over previous sentence*
Somebody should tell them that their predecessors have done it to death. It’s time to move on, and I’m sure there are more pressing themes that haven’t been explored. Make no mistake however, I do like the album.
If you are an ardent advocate of a strict rock vs indie divide, then this is not the album for you. If, however, you are open to exploration, feel free to have a couple of spins. It won’t kick you in the nuts, it won’t tickle your grey matter, but I promise you it will have your feet tapping.
BIG FRESH B.F.F. (Big Fresh Forever) (Garden Gate)
I hate bands like Big Fresh!
Why?
Well, I’m annoyed by the level of pop magnificence they somehow manage to concoct in these home recordings. I detest the way the band creates these decidedly lo-fi albeit inventive pop gems with such seeming ease and much aplomb. I abhor the cute litte psychedelic touches, the electronic bleeps which make the songs all precious and spacey.
OK.
Let me put it in another way. I find it positively inspiring that so much has been achieved with (allegedly) so little. This is the bloody mythic core of pop tunesmithery – throwing the collective consciousness of pop cool (e.g. the Move, Syd-era Pink Floyd, Smile-era Beach Boys, ELO, XTC, Flaming Lips, Guided By Voices, Fountains of Wayne, Blur, even MGMT et al) into the melting pot and mixing it up!
Nothing is sacred as Big Fresh explores corny old school synths (Entertainment), psychedelic-folk (Joy Bombs #1), luscious surf harmonies (W.L.U.V.), Rhodes-channeled whimsy (Satan, No) and falsetto-tinged dirges (Heat Death of the Universe), in the supreme hope that we will cotton on to the buried treasures locked into every groove, melody line and instrumental choice. And we will…
Check out Big Fresh’s Myspace page and the video of Lost and Found (not on B.F.F.).
Young singer-songwriter Paul Steel does all us music journos a favour by listing his influences inside the CD sleeve of Moon Rock. Handy, huh? Amongst them, we get the usual pop suspects viz. Brian Wilson & the Beach Boys, the Beatles, XTC, High Llamas, Super Furry Animals, Grandaddy and Supergrass. A first rate list. I must confess.
However, to these (weathered) ears, Steel seems to have omitted the most obvious inspiration of all – JELLYFISH! Yeah, the short-lived but beloved band fronted by Andy Sturmer and Roger Joseph Manning Jr that released two memorable albums, Bellybutton and Spilt Milk, in the early 90s, during the height (depths?) of grunge.
Throughout Moon Rock, the Jellyfish vibe is so pervading that you might even mistake this delightful debut LP for the long-lost 3rd Jellyfish album. Which is the best news for all fans of sophisticated pop. Don’t get me wrong. This is not a putdown of Steel’s own abilities. Neither does it take away from the achievement of Moon Rock. I’m not saying that Steel rips off or that his music is derivative of Jellyfish. Rather that Moon Rock is an album created in the spirit of Jellyfish.
In the same way that Jellyfish took the elements of classic pop-rock of the Beatles, Beach Boys, Todd Rundgren, Supertramp, Queen and XTC to point the way forward for powerpoppers everywhere, Steel is flying the flag high for modern day proponents of this much underrated (and maligned) genre.
Favouring dense instrumentation and arrangements, melodic hooks galore, whimsical moments and trainspotting references, Moon Rock is one of those albums that true pop enthusiasts will obsess over for weeks on repeat mode, headphones on, salivating over every nuance.
Highlights are aplenty – the instrumental coda to the title track, the helium-inflected jaunty Oh No! Oh Yeah!, the softly infectious I Will Make You Disappear, the pleasing balladry of Rust & Dust, the 90s Britpop dynamism of Your Loss and the delicate beauty of Summer Song.
So exciting news for the pop underground, for I have seen the future of sophisticated pop and his name is Paul Steel.
Check out Paul Steel’s Myspace page and the video of Oh No! Oh Yeah! below.
The new power trios never get too bogged down with the traditional concepts of sonic power. From the Police to Nirvana to Nada Surf, the redefinition of the power trio finds the dynamism in the spaces between the instruments, in the exploration of seemingly conflicting genres and styles.
That’s certainly true of Auburn WA power trio, Sorry. Comprising of the Brozovich brothers (Alan and Stephen) on guitars, basses and vocals with Derek Butcher on drums, Sorry colasce open chords, odd time signatures, fragile melodies and fractured thoughts into emotional highs, percussive conundrums and subtle violence.
Deceptively simple and straightforward, their press release comparisons with the Posies and Hang Ups belie the intensity and depth of their craft. The interplay between strings and voices showcases the genetic sibling harmonics that builds up each track into a crescendo of grace and beauty.
The ambience moves from the insistent jazz strokes of Autobiography, the jaunty whip shots of Bicycle, the gorgeous folk strains of Set Sail to the sinister menace of Autopilot. Considering the tracks, by and large, sound like live recordings, the fact that the songs never come across the same way is an astounding achievement.
I absolutely love the way Sorry weaves diverse strands of post-punk, twee, powerpop and indie rock into a pleasing multicoloured quilt. This is a band to keep a firm eye (and ear) on.
I’m certain regular PoP visitors will be aware of my favorite tagline. A few of you might be enlightened enough to know that the line comes from International Feel, the opening song off my most beloved of Todd Rundgren’s albums, the masterpiece that is A Wizard, A True Star.
I’ve always believed that AWATS accomplished what Brian Wilson & Van Dyke Parks tried to achieve with Smile – a seamless stream-of-consciousness cross-genre concept album that looked backwards and laid the foundations for tomorrow. For a modern-day version, try the Flaming Lips’ The Soft Bulletin.
So imagine my shock when I discovered that Todd will be performing the entire AWATS album live in the USA and UK, in the coming months! The mind boggles. This is an awesome “once-in-a-lifetime” experience and I’ve got to figure out if there’s any chance at all of yours truly actually pulling it off.
In the meantime, check out the interview Todd gave with regards to the upcoming AWATS shows.
This is a new feature that I cooked up a little while back and I’m thrilled to bits that the person kicking it off is Rachael Teo, my dear friend and (former) apprentice. I can’t believe how far Rach has come since she was the budding songwriter with one & a half songs. Anyways, Making Of… is a series where recording artists chat about their new album or EP, giving us some insight into the creation of their art and other juicy tidbits. So here’s Rach to deliver her thoughts about Cove Red’s Awaken the Dreamer EP.
It’s ironic how the words “awaken the dreamer” came to me as I was drifting in and out of slumber, in one of those dream-like states where it’s hard to discern whether or not the idea is truly yours. I guess the phrase is an oxymoron. Awakening calls for an action of getting up, while the activity of dreaming can only be conjured by pacifying oneself to sleep. So what does “Awaken The Dreamer” truly mean?
Well, for one, it is the title of Cove Red’s unofficial debut album. Cove who, you may ask?
Cove Red is a two-piece band made up of two girls, Suyin on backing vocals, keyboards, guitar and violin, and me (Rachael) on lead vocals and guitar. As a band, we’ve only been around for about 4 months. And it still baffles us that while these songs were only written 3-6 months ago, we’ve already made a record out of them. To be honest, we wouldn’t have, if not for the call of a dream.
Awakening the dreamer, very simply put, means bidding what was once dead to live again.
And that is what our EP hopes to do. To walk the listener down the narrow hallway, into the dusty chamber of forgotten and broken dreams, clean up the grimy reminders of the past, and breathe new life into forsaken dreams that we once had.
Three days were all we had to finish recording this EP – complete with delivered meals, coffee, and plenty of perfume. (We recorded at our friend’s office’s band room, which housed a sewage pipe.) Another friend of ours also recorded 3 of her songs during the time we had, so the whole process was a bit mad, a bit tiring, sprinkled with large doses of fun and laughter.
The album contains 5 stripped-down acoustic songs written by me (Rachael), and it opens with a familiar tune, “Love & Water”, which incidentally was the first song that Kevin Mathews and I composed together. It highlights things like purpose, hope and faith, celebrates friendship, and likens love to water as an essential to see a dark world through difficult times. Despite the weight of its themes, its chirpy melody masks the seriousness of the tone, making it the ideal opening number.
The second track is a fairly new one entitled “Dreamer”. It was written after a very heated argument with my mom a few months back. At that time, I was actively pursuing my dream, and she was frustrated at me because the first fruit of success seemed to be taking a long time to grow. This song was birthed within 15 minutes. It’s about holding onto destiny even though everything seems to be working against you.
Next on the list is “Mistakes”. It speaks of how some problems keep resurfacing simply because we have yet to learn from them, and not letting the weight of our guilt crush and paralyze us to do what we were made for.
The following track, “Till You Come”, is a song to all single people out there who doubt that they’ll ever find love. I truly don’t know what came over me when I wrote this one. Friends around me would know that I generally do not wear my heart on my sleeves when it comes to relationships. So, surprise, surprise.
When Kevin Mathews first heard “Heart Conversations”, he commented that it’d be a good song to end an album. So we took his advice. This one’s about shedding anxiety and leaving it in Divine hands, and living in the now because the future has yet to arrive.
We hope “Awaken the Dreamer” will be instrumental in awakening fellow dreamers through its messages of faith, purpose, newness, hope, and resolute peace.
For more information about “Awaken The Dreamer” and Cove Red, check out www.awakenthedreamer.wordpress.com and www.myspace.com/cove2red. Drop us an email at cove2red@gmail.com; we’d love to connect with you!
The EP will be made available at Cove Red’s EP launch gigs on 24th and 31st May (Sundays) 5.30pm at Earshot Cafe@Arts House. Do come on down!
Next in Making Of – Vertical Rush’s Of Real Dreams.
According to the ever-reliable Wikipedia, the label “folktronica” seems to have originated in the British press, having come to encompass performers and bands that include elements of ambient electronica, folk, jazz, classical, and even hip-hop. At face value, there is plenty that can go wrong with trying to combine the disparate sound and approache of folk music and electronica.
Andie Francoeur herself is the eldest daughter of a classic rock/blues artist & trained for 16 years as a classical pianist which makes her forays into so-called folktronica a puzzling choice. Having teamed up with producer/auteur Jazno (from Mercymachine) in 2005, Morning Light is the product of this collaboration and experimentations into the earthy and synthetic.
To be honest, for the first half of Morning Light, this hybrid does not quite work for me as the fake orchestral/exotic instrumental sounds overwhelm the torchy melodies on Fallen Out, Tears I Did Not Cry, Cloud Number 9 and Love Song. BUT beginning with Nothing, a thoughtful commentary on religion and parental relationship (which is the same thing), the electronics play a proper supporting role to the songs – which certainly rise up to the occassion. It does not hurt that a gorgeous pedal steel pulls all the (heart) strings to deliever an emotionally satisfying exercise.
The rest of Morning Light – the confessional title track, the fragile & musical Ordinary Romance and rather straightforward alt-poppy These Thoughts – provides enough promise for future projects. For the moment, Morning Light is bit of a mish-mash of good intentions but that 2nd half is certainly worth the price of admission, especially when Francoeur goes a little more trad/country-torch on us and brings the wailing pedal steel to the forefront.
LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN (VOL III): CENTURY #1 – 1910 (Top Shelf) By Alan Moore & Kevin O’Neill
Alan Moore returns with the latest volume of LOEG. For the uniniated – or those who came across LOEG via the truly risible film adaptation – LOEG is Alan Moore’s tribute to the literary heroes of the 19th century. OR if you’re cynical enough, an attempt at a ’superhero’ grouping featuring recognisable public domain characters.
For the first two volumes, LOEG featured Mina Harker (Dracula), Allan Quartermain (King Solomon’s Mines), Captain Nemo (20,000 Leagues Under the Sea), Hawley Griffin (the Invisible Man) and Dr Jekyll/Mr Hyde (well, y’know) and this Justice League of Victorian England was pitted against Fu Manchu and Professor Moriaty (Sherlock Holmes) and Martian invaders (from War of the Worlds).
For the third volume, published now by the indie Top Shelf, Moore revealed in a recent interview with Newasrama that “Well, there are other ways of doing drama. There are other approaches to drama other than keeping up a relentless pace and momentum to everything.” So, rather than relying totally on literary inventions, Moore has based 1910 on the Threepenny Opera, the Brecht-Weill musical (that was first performed in 1928, go figure).
You might say that Century features LOEG: The Next Generation, as only Harker and the now eternally youthful Quartermain remain and are joined by the slightly less prominent literary creations viz. Thomas Carnacki (Carnacki, the Ghost-Finder), Orlando (Orlando: A Biography) and AJ Raffles (The Amateur Cracksman). Now only that but Century also introduces Janni, Captain Nemo’s daughter. Caught up yet?
The villains of the piece (so to speak) is Aleister Crowley – represented by various analogues viz Oliver Haddo, Karswell, Dr. Trelawney, Adrian Marcato and Hjalmar Poelzig, who are all part of a secret society intent (hellbent?) on bringing about the end of the world (what else?) by summoning the Moonchild.
I know. All these literary references are pretty heavy going and intriguing and all that BUT what about the freaking story, you ask. Well, let’s just say that if you consider that the first two volumes were summer blockbusters then volume III is definitely an arthouse flick with deliberate arty touches that will take time (and effort) to absorb and contemplate.
To be honest, part of me was screaming – “where’s the beef” – as the story plodded along. Yes, its the first installment and these can be ponderous in setting out the overall plotline and there’s a general sense of foreboding throughout although you never think that – apart from Janni – any of the characters are in peril.
So yes, it’s extremely clever but bearing in mind Moore’s intent, it stands to reason that 1910 would lack conventional excitement as it reflects a ’slower’ (by our hyperactive times) storytelling era. Me? I’m going back to 1910 to savour its delights slowly and wait in anticpation for the second and third installments, 1969 and 2009, respectively.
Joy! I mean when band members refer to themselves as Tobacco, Power Pill Fist, Father Hummingbird, The Seven Fields of Aphelion & Iffernaut rather than Tom Fec, Ken Fec, Seth Ciotti, Maureen Boyle & Donna Kyler, well, you just know that you’re in for a treat!
Black Moth Super Rainbow is what you may call a modern psychedelic rock band. No, they don’t really sound like Syd Barrett era Pink Floyd or Roky Erickson/13th Floor Elevators (maybe in tiny doses) BUT armed with electronics and an ubiquitous vocoder, BMSR certainly give the likes of Flaming Lips, MGMT and Tahiti 80, a run for their money. And it does not hurt one iota that David (Mercury Rev/Flaming Lips producer) Fridmann is on the boards.
Basically, BMSR are particularly adept at combining the disparate elements of trippy psych-rock, smooth soft jazz-pop and epic synth riffs into one heady melange that has no problem in leaving a smile on this reviewer’s face. Despite the electronica underpinnings, BMSR’s sonic approach is organic and there’s no doubt that they are a ‘proper’ band.
The vibe on the new Eating Us album is always chilled, with intriguing keyboard patches, dynamic rhythm section work and that other-worldly vocoder-drenched vocal. Here’s an collection of tracks you can easily “float upstream” to but with enough muscle to ensure you never fall off the deep end.
The great strength that Eating Us possesses may also be its most notable flaw, the songs do tend to merge into one aggregation after a few listens but that could just mean that the album is one which you can comfortably listen to from front to finish. There is a warm consistency that lends itself to repeated airings. And that, my dear friends is a good thing.
Peter Bagge – of Neat Stuff and Hate fame – has been a regular contributor to the Reason magazine for a decade now. Reason is a libertarian publication and Bagge came on board as a political cartoonist in 2001 which was a departure from his typical more personal. work. Everybody Is Stupid collects ten years’ worth of strips and covers such (expected) topics as war (The Right To Own A Bazooka is hilarious!), sex (Swingers Of The World Unite is informative – check out those polys!), art (”Real” Art is hard-hitting & Christian Rock is just too close for comfort), business (Malls is revealing), Boondoggles (Let’s Give All Our Money To The Rich Man is scathing), Tragedy (A Menace To Society is disturbing), politics (Fascists Have Feelings Too is downright funny) and the USA (the Nerd-ification of America is spot on!)
Something for everyone in this educational, humorous and borderline offensive tome. Communicated in Bagge’s trademarked bugged out style, this is a must-have for fans of incisive political commentary.
For whatever reason, I prepped for the new Star Trek movie by watching Wrath of Khan the night before. The latter film is generally considered to be the best movie of this 30 year old movie franchise. So the challenge for this reboot of the original Star Trek crew was topping the achievements of Khan.
How was I to know that director JJ Abrams (the man behind TV hit Lost and recent sci-fi/monster flick Cloverfield) had decided to take many stylistic cues from Khan for his reimaging of this iconic series? And how does the new Star Trek fare in comparison? Suffice to say that Abrams has succeeded beyond anyone’s wildest expectations to deliver a sci-fi film that is satisfying on almost every level.
In fact, the way and means by which Abrams conducts his “reimaging” is in itself a stroke of imaginative genius. Time travel (a Star Trek staple) is integral to Abrams’ re-interpretation but in a way that has never been done in any Star Trek before. Without spoiling this plot device for you, this allows Abrams (and Paramount) to create a new epoch of adventures of this new Star Trek without invalidating anything that came before. Truly brilliant.
In many ways, this film reminds me of Star Trek Generations whereby Kirk basically hands over the torch to Picard and the Next Generation crew. At the end, the elder Spock (Leonard Nimoy) more or less does the same time with the young Spock (Heroes’ Zachary Quinto – I could not help expecting him to bring out his index finger to saw through someone’s skull, whenever he was on screen – heh!).
It was obvious from the get-go that Abrams was on a good thing with the astonishing opening sequence, as Kirk’s father sacrifices himself so that 800 people (including his mother and himself) could be saved. Pure lump in throat stuff, I was shaking in tears at the end of that moving sequence. And any movie that makes me cry…
Abrams manages to walk the tightrope of meeting the expectations of the hardcore Trekkie and delivering an entertaining spectacle to mainstream audiences, which he does with aplomb. Sure, there are certain glaring plot holes here and now (e.g. why was nobody defending Earth when Nero attacked?) and some of the plot resolutions smack of Deus Ex Machina (e.g. Kirk is stranded on a planet and somehow manages to end up in the same cave as the elder Spock?)
The two leads (Chris Pine as Kirk, Quinto as Spock) perform admirably (considering the big shoes they’re stepping into) and Karl Urban’s portrayal of Leonard ‘Bones’ McCoy is revealing. There isn’t too much time to develop the rest of the characters too much but I guess that can be left to the sequels to come. And believe me they’re coming.
So yes, Star Trek is as good, if not better, than Khan, indeed. Like Christopher Nolan’s Batman Begins, Abrams’ Star Trek has reinvented this grand old space opera for our modern times. Personally, I can’t wait to see what Abrams has in store for the future, which -like the film marketing hypes reminds us -begins now.
Because when I have a long day, all I want to do is come home and play my guitar even though what I just did all day was play my guitar.
2. Who are your influences?
Hank Williams, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, Otis Redding, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder
3. What is success?
Making a living creating music is success to me…while constantly evolving and challenging myself and working with those that inspire me.
4. Why should people buy your music?
Because they like it. If you don’t, I would suggest not buying it.
5. Who do you love?
I highly respect Tom Petty because he is a primo example of someone who doesn’t necessarily have the best voice and didn’t follow all the rules…but he went out and did it and people were attracted to that….and obviously the guy writes incredible stuff. I love Vince Gill’s voice. I love Freddy Mercury. He wasn’t afraid to be exactly who he was and there is NO one else like him. He has one of the most incredible voices out there.
6. What do you hope to achieve with your music?
I hope that one day I get to share my story with millions. Because I feel like I have an uplifting message and that I have stories that people can relate to and hopefully it makes them feel good and less alone. If I was in it for the fame and the money, trust me, I’d be back to painting tubs with my pops at this point.
7. Who comes to your gigs?
Old men with green hats.
8. What is your favorite album?
I don’t have one.
9. What is your favorite song?
Right now it’s Lost Highway by Hank Williams…because I feel like I’m there. I’m just another guy on the lost highway and I’m trying to find my way home. Trying to find exactly where I’m supposed to be. I don’t feel this way spiritually, but definitely musically. Which I guess can be a good cuz if I had all the answers, I wouldn’t have any songs to write.
10. How did you get here?
I’m here because someone told me once that if you get good enough at what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life.
How do you keep your edge in an industry that moves faster than a celebrity’s ghost tweeter, much less satisfy your ever growing fan base after a span of 25 years? If you were taking a page out of NOFX’s book, then the answer is simple: Keep it real.
Fat Mike (vocals, bass) and the boys – Eric Melvin (guitar, vocals), Erik Sandin (drums) and El Hefe (guitar, trumpet, vocals) have emerged with their 12th consecutive album that has their seal of punk branded on every track. These guys are hailed as trailblazers in the punk rock genre for late Gen X-ers especially during the early to mid 90’s revival of the punk rock/skate punk movement – cases in point: The Offspring, Green Day, Bad Religion, Rancid, etc.
NOFX doesn’t disappoint with Coaster released on Fat Mike’s very own Fat Wreck Chords label which houses some of today’s influential acts on the punk scene. As usual, no subject is taboo and it doesn’t warrant any raised eyebrows especially when their material isn’t on heavy rotation on radio nor video veins. The band still exercises wit-whipped rantings on politics combined with their ever-evolving take on the usual subjects of religion, racism, inequality, capitalism and society in general. I have personally always admired their talent for witty word play and to have lyrics that make you smile, wince, frown and laugh out loud, all the while tapping your feet to the fast, melodic beats and riffs, it’s not something to sniff at.
Coaster kicks off with a fast punk rock track entitled We Called It America, a political satire on the current state of the country commencing with, “Remember when America had a middle class, and an upper class, that was way before the exodus…” and finishing off with “National bankruptcy, circumcised society, USA dined and ditched, Fox reports: poor is the new rich…”. The provocative riff on this track with Fat Mike’s trademark tone (turning the bass and treble all the way up, and the mids all the way down) is highly addictive.
The band’s take on religion is covered with Best God in Show and Blasphemy (The Victimless Criminals) sharing insights such as “Horus similar to Mithra, Attis analogous to Krishna, Jesus – different name same story, all based on ancient Egyptian allegory…”, which leads me to believe that the subject has been either thoroughly researched or that they’re recent viewers of the documentary Zeitgeist.
Tracks worthy of mention (if not every single one of them) include; Creeping Out Sara, a slower paced, tongue-in-cheek account of a back-stage conversation on lesbianism with either Tegan or Sara Quinn (Mike isn’t sure), one of the identical twins from band Tegan and Sara. Another track is the hilarious Eddie, Bruce and Paul which pays homage to Iron Maiden’s mascot and members (Dickinson and former Paul DiAnno) with a love triangle scenario, complete with the trademark Dickinson falsetto and the heavy metal guitar riffs.
The Agony of Victory (as opposed to the agony of defeat) is the band dealing with their success in a nonchalant manner, citing “We’ve got no competition, we’ve got no accomplished mission…” and My Orphan Year is a track where Mike speaks of his parents’ recent demise and memories of his lonely childhood.
The final track of the album aptly titled One Million Coasters is a dig at the music industry, coasters, frisbees and Christmas tree ornaments are one of the many current and future uses of compact discs (CDs), which would be the jest of the album’s chosen title.
Expect dives into ska and hard rock styles with a couple of the tracks, not overtly overwhelming but definitely in line with the messages and subjects in question. Again, not the best album from NOFX, if you’re using Punk in Drublic (1994) as a benchmark but definitely one for the fans and followers alike. Why? Because these guys are keeping it real.
Strictly for fans: NOFX have also released a DVD in March this year titled NOFX: Backstage Passport, which showcases their stints and stunts during their tour stops in countries where they felt punk music wasn’t too popular and this includes their antics during their stop in Singapore in 2007.
(Charlotte Lourdes)
You’ll find the trailer on their website and Myspace page.
If you like your music completely unique and bashfully eclectic in every possible way, then this album is right up your alley. An alley that echoes the beats and rhythms of old school jazz, Brazilian bossa nova, flights of calypso, the Grateful Dead and the Beatles. It’s almost like picking out the broken pieces of the shattered identity of someone with multiple personalities. Venturing into the variety that this album offers definitely requires an open mind.
This is Steinberg’s third solo effort having had stints as part of the equally eclectic duo Tan Sleeve. Passion & Faith comprises of 13 tracks, each burrowing into the ambience of the specific style being served with relish. Seven of which are Steinberg’s take on ethnic and rock classics that inspired him.
It begins with the first track, a cover of A Pagina Do Relampago Electrico by Beto Guedes, sung in its original language and nicely complemented by the jangly guitar riffs reminiscent of George Harrison’s licks. This is followed by the very interesting and original What Do I Do With The Rest Of My Life – co-written with R. Stevie Moore. It starts off once again with a comfortable and familiar Beatles-esque chord repetition and a catchy hook with the guys melodiously singing, “Don’t bore us, get to the chorus…”. Don’t be surprised to hear a baby’s gurgling laughter mid-way through the track and just when you think it’s done, it starts again.
The next track is titled Clube Da Esquina after the legendary album by a selection of Brazilian musicians of the same name. Steinberg claims to have been floored by the album without understanding any of its lyrics and he pays tribute to it with this track sung in its native Portuguese. The rest of the tracks are truly an ecelectic (have I used the word enough?) mix of calypso with Two Bananas, country/blue grass with Equatorial (sung again in it’s native language), psychedelic rock with How Insensitive originally a Brazilian song but covered by Sinatra in English and it’s this version that Steinberg chose to do.
The title track Paixao E Fe (which translates to Passion & Faith) originally a Brazilian number as well and sung in Portuguese once again, in the likes of the Fab Four with psychedelic movements, complete with Harpsichords and harmonies.
Worthy of special mention is the very accurate take on Grateful Dead’s Dark Star, down to the vocals, the guitar work and the atmospheric echoes of the organ. This track just barely hits the 21 minute mark and it is quite the trip. Steinberg is a self confessed Deadhead.
An encouraging effort by Steinberg and definitely not for the masses but it does tatefully satisfy and calm the growing few who have embraced the wide and unconventional direction that music is heading towards. To quote Steinberg on his thoughts about the album, “I suppose most people’s eyes will simply glaze over at the eclecticism contained within this new CD. I can’t blame them, really. I have long made a career out of shooting myself in the foot, so why make things easier now?”. Enough said.
Brian Kassan (far right) – the man behind Chewy Marble – gives us the lowdown.
1. Why play music?
It makes me happy and because I’m not happy when I don’t.
2. Who are your influences?
Beatles and British Invasion, 60s/70s radio pop and FM rock, Ray Davies, Elvis Costello, Brian Wilson, Burt Bacharach, Elton John, XTC, Elliot Smith, Jason Falkner…
3. What is success?
Having the time to do what you want, when you want to.
4. Why should people buy your music?
Because it makes them happy.
5. Who do you love?
My family, my girlfriend, and the creator
6. What do you hope to achieve with your music?
High quality; that it connects somehow with the listener; that it keeps me interested and creative.
7. Who comes to your gigs?
Chewy Marble doesn’t play out, but I play in an exotica band called The Tikiyaki Orchestra and very, very committed tiki fans come out in surprising numbers to see us.
I first heard Indus Gendi briefly at the NOISE EDITION of the last WEEKENDTRIP. That brief moment had my interest piqued. When the opportunity arose to hear them live again, I was thrilled.
There were two sets that day, and another 2 the following day. I got there early and settled myself comfortably onto the seats available. Slowly, other people joined me, including 3 tourists from Indonesia who were looking for a place to rest and found themselves part of the cosy audience.
The set started with the upbeat song, Dream, where Esther’s vocals enticed the audience to leave their worries behind, drawing them in and making them feel at home. By the time the song ended, more people had arrived, bringing with them smiling faces and feet tapping to the music.
There was a nice blend of slower songs and catchier ones. The setlist for the night included Rocks Will Cushion Your Fall, What We Are, Little Girls, The Smallest Eyes and Then And Now. What caught my attention were the intro to songs like What We Are and The Smallest Eyes. Coupled with Esther’s vocals, I was mesmerised at how fluid and complementary the vocals were with the band. The vocals of Melissa, the guest vocalist who sang harmonies, complimented Esther’s vocals and helped set the mood perfectly.
I really liked the chemistry the band members shared. Throughout the set, the drummer, Adam, would smile at both guitarists and the bassist, who would laugh in response. It made the whole set livelier, and it was great to know that they were having fun. I was drawn in by the music, lyrics, the chemistry between the members and the cosy atmosphere of the Esplanade Concourse. It was the perfect way to end a Tuesday night.
I was glad that I was able to catch a full set of Indus Gendi. As with some of the more recent bands, it’s nice to discover hidden gems within our music scene.
What was meant to be a double disc album titled Battle has become two separate offerings by Patrick Wolf, a 25 year old, English singer songwriter and multi talented musician playing the harp, clavinet, harpsichord, guitar, piano, autoharp, organ, mountain dulcimer, clavichord, harmonium, accordion, theremin, ukulele, spoons, harmonica, mandolin, viola, and violin, among others. He has decided to release his epic musical cum rock, techno, electronic, indie, celtic themed opera storyline with The Bachelor (to be released on June 1 2009) and The Conqueror (to be released in 2010). Wolf had gained international success with his previous album, The Magic Position (2007).
The Bachelor boasts of 14 artistically refined tracks which span from the cinematic promise of Middle Earth’s landscape, the futuristic beats and electric disco sensations of a psychedelic space age, to the gothic musings of a lonely drifter, who can easily be substituted for a modern day teenager. The album, originally conceived with political themes shifted focus to the depression experienced by Wolf while on tour. However, before entering the studio, he fell in love, changing the direction of the album again, and eventually providing enough material for two releases.
I wasn’t quite sure what to make out of this album when I caught a glimpse of the cover and of the titles of the tracks listed. But once the first track Kriespiel began, the 47 second intro set the tone for the amazing narrative that started to unfold. Again, this is in every way a soundtrack album for me. I don’t know how else to describe the beautiful eastern ethnic strings of the Sitar, complementing the clear and manifesting voice of Tilda Swinton (the actress) echoing Wolf’s deep, passionate and melodious pleas on the 12th track: Theseus. Swinton is featured as the “voice of hope”, the narrator on four tracks of the album. Wolf’s list of collaborations on the album also include, Alec Empire from Atari Teenage Rioter, electronic maestro Matthew Herbert, folkie Eliza Carthy and classical musician Thomas Bloch.
The first single of the album, Vulture opens with a snazzy feel of the post-disco, retro eighties hook and I’m already sold. Again, this is a one off in the genre pool explored throughout the album – because it immediately follows with the stirrings of a soft, piano ballad of Blackdown, building up slowly and beautifully with claps, drums, violins and winds down again with the lonely notes of the piano.
The Bachelor is an ambitious, complex yet sophisticated presentation of an amazing musical and narrative journey. I have to say that I was impressed with this album. Wolf’s music is perhaps best described in Tilda Swinton’s words in relation to working with him on this album – “His music feels like the unexpressed soundtrack of a great film I want to see — and try to catch every night before I go to sleep. It’s a lovely thing to be a part of that magical landscape.”
This is one artiste and the first of two albums to look out for if you enjoy musical storytelling and fantasy laden escapades with an assortment of genres all packed in one amazing production.
I love this album! Yes, it’s simple as that. Back to basics pop songcraft that maintains a consistently high quality of music and lyrics, laden with fresh sounds despite the weight of the obvious debts to the 60s and 70s. Immediately lovable yet filled with nuances that begs for repeated study, hearkening back to the time where the melange of country music and pop-rock still resided in experimental mode, full of excitement, wide-eyed optimism and unbridled enthusiasm.
References galore, boys and girls – from the classic viz. the Beatles, the Byrds, Gram Parsons, Gene Clark, Big Star, Blondie to the modern viz. REM, Wilco, the Jayhawks, Teenage Fanclub, Belle and Sebastian and the Elephant 6 collective – this album’s for all the ‘true’ pop kids out there.
Gladshot hails from New York and is made up of Debbie Andrews and Mike Blaxill and Burn Up and Shine is their third album (produced by John Agnello, who has worked with Sonic Youth & Hold Steady, amongst others) & is a band that the pop underground needs to champion and how!
Personal faves? All I Want is a really infectious pop ditty, Like the Angels Do is a smooth groover, American Night is a raucous country rock ‘n’ roller, Fabulous Friends is a tongue-in-cheek ode to materialism and 1961 (You Could Still Get Lost) is a spine tingling piano ballad. That said, Burn Up and Shine is an album you can listen to from beginning to end without reservation.
A shot in the arm for anyone feeling the depressing blues of a world in perpetual crisis.
BLACK LABEL SOCIETY Skullage DVD + CD collectors’ edition (Eagle Rock)
It’s easy to chuckle and snigger at heavy metal, with its cartoony imagery, leather uniforms and its creed of “faster and louder” but scrape beneath the superficial and like any other genre of music, you will find genuine artists who are simply good at what they do i.e. entertain and provoke thought.
I must confess that when I received this DVD + CD package in the mail, I laughed out loud. It took me a while to give it a go but here’s the review, better late then never. For someone who grew up on Deep Purple, Led Zepellin, Rainbow, Mountain, KISS, Rush, Budgie et al, you can bet I appreciate a tasty riff now and then but always leavened with melody, where possible.
Now Zakk Wylde, the brains behind BLS, is probably best known as the guitar sidesman of Ozzy Osbourne and judging from the cover artwork of skulls, killer dogs, beer and guns, I expected non-stop headbanging stereotypes to be ripping from the get-go. Instead, the opening scene on the DVD is Wylde on stage (somewhere in France) alone with a freakin’ acoustic guitar singing Spoke in the Wheel! Sure, the rest of BLS join Wylde at the end for a terribly loooong solo but hey, it sure got my attention. And of course, the rest of the live performances and videos revert to type somewhat.
Then, I slot in the CD compilation and I’m hit with two Southern Rock numbers – Machine Gun Man and Dead As Yesterday – with the latter track an absolute killer with acoustic guitar and cello (!) and a chorus that goes – “Oh Lord, can you help me find some shelter” and a string accompaniment that will touch you! And no guitar solo?!! What the hell is going on? Heh. The rest of the CD delivers blistering metal with 13 Years of Grief, Doomsday Jesus and Suicide Messiah. Pretty fine old school metal in fact.
But… the icing on the cake is the interview section where we find out a little more (too much?) about Wylde. He talks about his friendship with the late Dimebag Darrell Abbott, the stories behind the songs, his obsession with Barbie dolls and his penchant for wearing pretty dresses. Definitely someone who isn’t taking himself or his music too seriously (those Black Metal blokes may wanna take note!).
So, despite initial reservations, I would recommend this package to all metal & non-metal fans purely to enjoy honest-to-goodness rock music without pretensions or arrogance. Good enough for me.
New York trio Yeah Yeah Yeahs viz. Karen O (vocals), Brian Chase (Drums) & Nick Zinner (everything else), have been on a upward spiral ever since they self-released their debut self-titled EP in 2001 (which incidentally hit #1 on the UK Indie Chart). In the course of eight years they have released 2 more EPs (Machine and Is Is) and 2 albums (Fever To Tell, Show Your Bones) to critical acclaim and commercial success.
It isn’t difficult to understand why. Riding the early wave of the post-punk revival, Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ undeniable hip and cool factor, irresistibly melodic synth dance pop and of course, hot front woman in Karen O is a potent recipe for sustained universal (no pun intended) acceptance. The serious rock enthusiast can obsess on the band’s uncanny knack of referencing all the right post-punk influences whilst the casual pop listener will be thrilled to the tunes and simply dance along. Critics have suggested that the Yeah Yeah Yeahs provide a comfortable middle ground between the Killers and MGMT and they’re not too far off the mark.
Karen O has remarked that It’s Blitz is a change in direction for the band, as it continues to grow and mature. Well, the dance pop is still well in evidence, as showcased in the opening two dynamic singles – Zero and Heads Will Roll, which I’m sure you’ve already heard on the radio and elsewhere. For crucial portions of It’s Blitz, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, to their immense credit, expand their palette to include slower, deeper songs that allow the pace and atmosphere to dictate the sound. On these tracks e.g. Dull Life, Shame and Fortune and Runaway, the style is almost Gothic, with Karen O coming across like a very modern-day Siouxsie Sioux (of the Banshees).
That said, the finer moments of It’s Blitz, are encapsulated in sweet indie pop goodies like the hypnotic Soft Shock, the gorgeous Irish soulful Skeletons, the new wavy Dragon Queen, the shimmering Hysteric and the fragile nearly alt-country-folky Little Shadow. Included in this CD are four bonus tracks of the band in acoustic mode – Soft Shock, Skeletons, Hysteric and Little Shadow. Which is always the sign of a band confident of their songs to be able to stand up even without the bells and whistles of full instrumentation. But of course, in this case, the guitars are embellished by lush strings, and that never hurts. For once, the songs live up to the “bonus” tag.
If after 400-odd words, you don’t feel the urge to acquire this stellar album by all means necessary, then I have failed to do the Yeah Yeah Yeahs justice. Believe me, It’s Blitz contains some of the best new music I’ve heard this year.
Fans of this amazing Scottish band (and there are a handful that I personally know) can finally rejoice – their fourth and latest album My Maudlin Career was officially released last week. I’m fairly new to this brand of indie pop and was admittedly swept long with the tide of success from their pivotal previous album, Let’s Get Out of This Country (2006).
Having immersed myself in their warm and at times upbeat latest offering, I must confess that although it’s not a far stretch from their previous album, it does strongly charter a bolder presence lyrically and melodically. Even with a switch in their record label, the band wisely chose to work again with Swedish producer Jari Haapalainen (The Concretes, Peter, Björn & John). Probably attributing to some of the tracks being reminiscent of the previous album.
However the key element amidst Haapalainen’s masterful touch of layering the keyboards, horns and being very liberal with the saturation of echoes, is Tracyanne Campbell’s vocals. The band has been celebrated for connecting with its audience on a very personal level and this is largely due to Campbell’s ability to draw you into her world with her vulnerable, wistful voice and her first person narrative of situations, incidents, going as far as walking you through the stages of decisions made.
The album opens with its perky first single, French Navy, complete with hooks of string and horn arrangements. This is strongly followed by the harmonious The Sweetest Thing with Campbell sounding almost like Dusty Springfield as she sings “I’m going on a date tonight, to try to fall out of love with you..”. One can safely assume that the lyrical stance taken on all the tracks is one of a very personal nature. From start to finish, I found myself relating very strongly to Campbell’s dischanted/sensitive view of relationships and the manner in which they were conveyed. Not succumbing to the deluge of melancholy that might have easily been the album’s selling point, Camera Obsura instead builds a connection that eventually validates our voyeuristic tendencies and keeps it in check with Campbell’s sarcasm and wit in her lyrics.
My favourite tracks of the album are Away with Murder which begins with muffled drums and haunting keyboards. The very ballady and catchy James, which speaks of ex-partners missing the connection shared but dealing with the choices made – reminiscent of one of their earlier songs aptly titled, The Last Song. The title track My Maudlin Career opens with a beautiful early sixties feel to it and keeps it going with the help of raindrop-like notes from the keyboard and early Clapton-esque guitar style towards the end. The rest of the tracks have a pleasant Cowboy Junkies type aura to them save for the last track of the album Honey In the Sun which comes full circle, ending things perfectly with the same pace as the first track.
All in all this 11 track album moves at a pace much slower than the band’s previous one but what it sets the tone from the start so there aren’t any unpleasant surprises. Dare I say it, My Maudlin Career is fuller and richer and simmers with the maturity that can only come from a band that knows its audience.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (to give it its proper title) is so bad that I can barely contain my animosity towards everyone connected with this pile of animal droppings. This is the kind of super hero movie that people who basically hate super heroes make. The characters are re-written beyond recognition, the plot makes absolutely no sense and there is no dramatic or emotional impact whatsoever.
From the first sequence (re-telling the Origins comic) and the opening credits (which rips off Zack Snyder’s well crafted Watchmen opening), its already clear that the makers of this film have decided to throw all logic out of the window. Sure, it looks good to see Wolverine and Sabretooth fighting side by side through the American civil war, World War I, World War II and Vietnam War (which is strange as the duo are CANADIANS!) but no one ever notices that these two jokers are immortal?!!! C’mon!!!!
From then on, all bets are off as scene after scene is either filled with illogical plot devices, corny dialogue and cringing love scenes. Basically, Wolverine and Sabretooth join up with Team X, carry out missions, Wolverine begins to have 2nd doubts, leaves the team and is then hunted down and betrayed by Stryker and Sabretooth with predictable results. Ho hum.
What do you expect from a comic book movie, you say? Heck of a lot, especially after the high standards set by The Dark Knight, Watchmen, Hellboy, Spider-Man 2 to name but few. Yes, it takes talent, love and respect for the source material and guts to stand up to the studio herd mentality but it can be done. Unfortunately, with the likes of director Gavin Hood and star Hugh Jackman sacrificing artistic integrity for commercial appeal, all we are left with is a dumbed-down summer blockbuster.
Brian Kassan formed power poppers Chewy Marble in 1995. In the years since, the band has been fairly active in the pop underground releasing two albums. New album Modulations – six years in the making – is perhaps its best so far. As expected, it draws from the usual power pop influences which any keen observer of the pop undergroung would be familiar with. That said, in order to appreciate Chewy Marble and Modulation, one has to realize that most of the material here are slow-burners. They may lack the immediency of Sloan (or even the energy) but careful repeated listens wil reveal nuggets of melodic inspiration.
Highlights include the twisting tune of Cross-Hatched World, the 70s rock-channelling Black and White, the psych-folk Picture the Finger and bossa nova XTC referencing instrumental Mental Toothache. Be warned though, much of the repertoire showcased on Modulations sound unfinished in terms of arrangements, almost to the point of coming across like demos in parts. Which is the only serious reservation I’ve always had about Chewy Marble – great musical ideas and concepts but somehow lacking in the final execution.
A 32 track album that captures the band’s 2007 performance in LA was released with the DVD of the live show on March 24. The reason why they could fit 32 tracks on one CD – as any hardcore punk enthusiast would know, each live track is less than 3 minutes long, blending perfectly from one track to the next in organized chaos.
These guys love their Ramones and their Black Flag and its clearly evident in their tight, fast and melodic set. The brainchild of the band Joe Queer, is the only original member since its birth in 1982 – with roughly 30 changes in the band’s lineup since then. The band officially broke up in 1984 and had a new lease of life when Queer rounded up yet another new line up in 1990 and has been kicking it since then.
Word of caution though, these guys aren’t your anarchy-fused Sex Pistols with the angst of a whole generation screaming out in violence and pain. They have often been cited as representing punk with a combination of the legendary Ramones with the melodic chord repetition of the Beach Boys. So if you had always been afraid to experiment with Punk as we know it, The Queers would prove to be the baby steps that you need, before you delve deeper into the glorious abyss of desolation.
Granted the tracks are about the essential subjects of drugs, sex, waste and hate but it’s packaged in such a manner that you would be singing along to the tracks before realizing that this wouldn’t be an album you would be playing out loud when your folks are visiting. Think MXPX or NOFX but with old school tributes to the pioneers and a hint of Dropkick Murphys’ bouyant vocal stylings.
nat king cole, ella fitzgerald, billie holiday, nina simone, bessie smith, elvis presley, big mama thornton, canned heat, les soeurs étienne, andrew sisters, simon and garfunkel, janis joplin…
3. What is success?
when, in life, you manage to do what makes you happiest, and staying true to yourself all the while.
4. Why should people buy your music?
i can only respond: why not..?!
5. Who do you love?
my family first, my man, my friends, those i trust around me. but also, elliott smith, bon iver, lhasa, erik satie, beck, boris vian, jean paul sartre, wes anderson, martin scorcese..
6. What do you hope to achieve with your music?
i only hope i will be so lucky as to still be writing and singing many years from now…!
7. Who comes to your gigs?
pretty much all types of people, wether they are young or older. wether they speak english or not. i think they appreciate how crazy i can get on stage. so, in a way, maybe mostly crazy folk come to my gigs…!?
8. What is your favorite album?
weezer, the blue album
9. What is your favorite song?
wish you were here (pink floyd)
10. How did you get here?
by being myself up until now…? and then, one day, by creating my myspace page with which my manager discovered my songs… thank you, o’ beloved manager!
Claire Denamur’s new album Le Prince Charmant is out now.
As far as endorsements go, they don’t come much more impressive than one by Audioslave and Rage Against The Machine guitarist, Tom Morello. It makes it even more impressive when the artist in question is a soulful funk riffer who comfortably incorporates jazz, funk, soul and slick R&B into his brand of pop-rock. Muses Morello in his blog, “He sounded great…like a mix between Ray LaMontagne and someone else I can’t quite put my finger on…” We’re talking about Chicago native Andrew Ripp, who debuted last year with his first album, 50 Miles To Chicago.
Produced by former Tonic bassist Dan Lavery, 50 Miles To Chicago is a collection of heartfelt songs that sound readily comfortable for Top 40 airplay. Album starter Get Your Smile On is infectiously funky and energetic with a bouncing bass, light keyboard flourishes and a confident vocal performance that assuredly straddles the middle ground between Jason Mraz and Anthony Kiedis. 3rd on the track listing finds Tim’s Song, a quieter piano-driven track strongly reminiscent of Gavin DeGraw, while hints of cowpunk find their way onto It’s All Good, from where the album takes its title.
It should be noted too that the talented Mr. Ripp is no stranger to a good hook. On The Privileged Life, a track that makes a strong case for best track of the album, the Caribbean rhythms are incredibly infectious in that odd sort of manner where your body feels like its been taken over and you can’t stop yourself from moving to the beat. Throw in a snarling vocal, stirring lyrics and inspired, gleeful instrumental breaks and you have a winner. Unfortunately the album takes a detour into filler blandness after the genius of Privileged Life. The Gavin DeGraw influence makes a return together with shades of Train on Lifeline, a song that is a tad too MOR for my taste. The same goes for Just Another Song About California, a song title ironic in its self-fulfilment. Thankfully, however, the record picks up towards the end with the inspired bluesy You Saved My Life, a rollicking rocker drenched in gospel choruses. Dresden Wine finishes the album on a somber yet awfully emotional note, as Ripp holds nothing back and sings his heart out.
I’m going to stick my head out and predict that we’ll seeing a lot more of this fella in years to come as well as hearing him on our airwaves. Andrew Ripp marries a strong, soulful and expressive voice with a fine ear for a pop hook and an inspired invention in arrangement. He’s harder than Mraz, looser than Mayer and edgier than Maroon 5, and I wouldn’t like to be the one who bets against him becoming just as popular as any of the aforementioned. One to watch out for.
AU REVOIR SIMONE Still Night, Still Light (Label – US: Our Secret Record Company / UK: Moshi Moshi Records)
Let me start off by confessing that I’m a huge fan of synth-pop infused tracks. Its one of the many marks of growing up in the eighties I guess. A reason why I’m hooked on this album.
It’s delectable and delivers warm, powerful electronic melodies fused with ethereal female voices – soothingly. The best way to describe the emotions invoked is to allow you a glimpse of the images running through my mind as the album unfolded into a flurry of pop sweetness. Floating on clouds and breaking out into a ballet jump from one cloud to another with the track Only You Can Make You Happy. Other images emerging throughout the album ranged from a slide show of foggy castles with moats at breakneck speed to sinking languidly with arms outstretched into a pond of beautiful lilies with sunlight breaking through the water between the gigantic lily pads. Love it.
Three ladies with three keyboards, a drum machine and their ethereal melodic voices is what Au Revoir Simone is about. Formed in Brooklyn, New York in 2003 and having had considerable success with their first effort – Verses of Comfort, Assurance & Salvation (2005) and the critically acclaimed The Bird of Music (2007), the band have remained true to their originality and have not added anything unsavoury to their pot of electronic mastery. You might have heard their tracks on TV dramas such as Ugly Betty, Grey’s Anatomy, etc.
If you like your Kings of Convenience and Stereolab, with a touch of mellow, a hint of melancholy and a breath of fresh, clean air – these ladies will fix you up nicely.
Produced by Thom Monahan (Vetiver, Little Joy), and recorded in various studios between Brooklyn – New York and Los Angeles, Still Night, Still Light will be released on their own label – Our Secret Record Company on May 19th. Au Revoir Simone will be playing this year’s SXSW (South by SouthWest), with a Still Night, Still Light supporting tour throughout the States till end of June.
PJ HARVEY & JOHN PARISH A Woman A Man Walked By (Island/Universal)
This is as pure a collaboration as one could get. Producer John Parish is responsible for all the music on A Woman A Man Walked By (writing and instrumentation) and PJ Harvey is responsible for all vocals and lyrics. This album is Harvey/Parish’s second collaborative effort and there is little doubt that the duo make an impeccable team.
The ten songs on A Woman A Man Walked By are suitably visceral, spiritual, earthy and other-worldly. Going by Harvey’s track record for gritty, in-your-face fare, that comes as little surprise. Parish brings all his know-how and technique to the table with soundscapes that match the intensity of Harvey’s words and delivery.
To the duo’s credit, despite the thematic consistency, the musical styles are varied enough to keep things interesting. The opening Black Hearted Love (video below) has enough hooks and melodic riffs to keep the casual indie-pop fan engaged. The more discerning listener will find their tastes intrigued and challenged with the rootsy Sixteen, Fifteen, Fourteen, the quirky Leaving California, the austere The Soldier, the emotion-shredding pscyh-out of Pig Will Not and the glassy atonal Passionless, Pointless.
Fans of PJ Harvey, A Woman A Man Walked By may contain the strongest set of tracks Harvey has been involved with since 2000’s Stories from the City, Stories from the Sea.
The excitement that overwhelmed me when I got to review this album was indescribable. It’s not everyday one gets to enjoy and review French music. So bear with me while I walk you through the eclectic offering of this emerging French artiste – because you won’t be able to find anything else on her unless you comprehend French.
Denamur credits the variety in her music to her mixed family background – an Argentinian mother and a French-Dutch father and spending her early childhood in Toronto and then in upstate New York. Her influences range from Nina Simone, Edith Piaf, Bob Dylan, Pink Floyd to Nat King Cole, Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald. These influences are evident on her album, which makes it such a treat because she has a vulnerable, pristine quality to her voice.
The title of the album literally translates to “The Prince Charming” and all ten tracks on the album explore themes of attraction, love and disillusion but with gentleness and at a whimsical pace that you’ll feel the music embrace you while De Namur soothes you through it all.
Worthy of mention is Je Me Sens Nue (I Feel Naked), a track where Denamur likens to how she feels when she’s performing – stripped down/transparent and giving everything she has. The track itself sounds chirpy and has an easy flow of a modern jazz feel.
Another track Mal Aimee (Evil Aimee), echos of a beautiful Spanish guitar which cues in this stripped down, quiet South American ballad, complete with harmonious vocals. Elio, the last track of the album is in a similar vein, it goes a step further with its tropical feel and Denamur’s vocals serving as a melodious lullaby.
My personal favourite is the second track from the album, Ah les Hommes (Ah Men). The bluegrass feel of this track is a hauntingly beautiful ode to men.
Le Prince Charmant is out now and should be on your list if you like jazzy, bluesy European fusion and French flair with your glass of wine.
(Charlotte Lourdes)
Check out Claire’s Myspace page. Video of Prince Charmant follows.
Inevitably, when discussing piano (or keyboards)-based music in modern times, it’s virtually impossible not to raise the spectre of Coldplay, the Fray and Keane into the conversation. Which in my view, doesn’t mode too well for this particular genre. Maybe I’m biased and old-fashioned but I used to enjoy it when piano-based music meant Elton John, Billy Joel or even Ben Folds. So where does that leave Canadian duo Oceanship?
Consisting of singer Brad Lyons and pianist Carly Paradis, both hailing from differents parts of Ontario, Canada, after having hooked up via a newspaper ad (yeah, cliched but what better way do you know?).
With a self-titled EP under the duo’s collective belts, and touring China extensively in 2006/2007, Oceanship’s debut album is a sophisticated work with well-crafted songs embellished with thoughtful arrangements and tasteful production. That said, the majority of the songs here cannot escape the references to the above mentioned bands, especially in the falshetto chorus of Excited, the familiar lanquid vibe of Don’t Wear Me Out and the epic, pseudo-classical Go.
The highlight for me is Hotblack (video below), where Lyons channels Peter Gabriel and the point of reference is more 80s, and the listener is captured by irresistible melodies and harmonies and a singalong chorus hook.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s absolutely nothing wrong in Oceanship trading in the soundscape of their sonic environment and certainly, there’s enough substance in tracks like the melancholy Anywhere At All, the fragile Wait For Me and the atmospheric Mistake to suggest that there’s much more to Oceanship than their influences. In fact, a concerted effort to pierce the veil will reveal nods to Pink Floyd, The Blue Nile and Rachael Yamagata. All good in my book!
A confident debut from a duo to keep a close eye on.
This five piece band from Seattle is anything but grungy. Saccharine and dreamy, indie pop is what they’re all about. Probably a tad too sweet for my taste but props has to be given to these guys for coming up with a clean, marketable album. And by clean, I mean catchy hooks, vocals that exude lyrics one can easily decipher and a neat arrangement on every track that enables you to visually picture each instrument on its own. Nicely done.
This debut album was recorded at Death Cab for Cutie’s Jason McGerr’s studio and at the band’s residence. All 11 tracks on the album mix it up and refrain from sticking to a particular formula with regards to key changes and unexpected falsetto anguish. Influenced by Radiohead and The Beach Boys among others, it’s the Radiohead influence that comes through with the opening guitar riffs on a couple of the tracks on this album. The stand out track for most has been “If you want to”, although I wasn’t too taken by it as much as I was with their opening track “Where does it hide”. The latter reminded me of one of the many themes of TV shows from the early 80’s, before it steps into a darker level and then nicely grooves into a modern jazz layer, complete with a hypnotic bass in the background.
Kristian Arper and the boys explore various styles on this one album, even within a single track. Ambitious but does it pay off? Considering it’s a crisp, melodic pop offering, it certainly does.
Return to adolescence. Welcome to High School Musical 4, without the music and dance.
How long ago has it been since your high school days?
Not for Mike O’Donnell played by Matthew Perry of the TV sitcom F.R.I.E.N.D.S fame. In a mysterious twist of fate, Mike returns to his younger self, well 17 to be exact played by teenage heartthrob Zac Efron.
Mike is a sore and bitter 30 something man who had a potential career as a basketball player. But he threw that away when at 17 instaed of playing an important basketball game, he ran off to be with his pregnant girlfriend, Scarlett. This left him disgruntled and embittered which eventually led to a breakdown in the couple’s marriage. Mike doesn’t score well with his children either. His teenage son and daughter can’t be bothered with him and do not communicate with him. To complete his misery, he has been passed over for a promotion at work.
With the help and support of his high school buddy Ned Gold, Mike, poses as Ned’s son and returns to high school for another shot at his life – to make up for his regret of not making it for the life he could have accomplished.
Mike gets to be close to his son, Alex who is bullied in school by the school’s star athlete, Stan. He finds out that his daughter Maggie is dating Stan and wants to move away with him. In the process, he mentors his Alex in basketball, and does all he can to get Stan to stay away from Maggie, giving Maggie the impression that he is interested in her. While at the same time, he re-romances an unsuspecting Scarlett and rediscovers his love for her.
17 Again is no doubt Efron’s star vehicle, and there is nothing not to like about him in his role as Mike. Truth is: this is not much of an acting stretch for Efron, and rather an extension of his Troy persona from the highly successful and popular High School Musical franchise. He dances, he plays basketball, and he talks about sexual abstinence. Efron needs to step out from such familiar roles or risk being typecast in his acting career.
I find 17 Again funny and entertaining without the need to feel seriously or emotionally burdened. One of the moments I found funny was Maggie coming onto Mike when they were together. When Mike failed to respond to Maggie’s advances, in a sly dig at Efron and the metro-sexual, Maggie asks Mike if he is sexually confused and mentions the well-coiffed hair, the blonde highlights in his hair and the tight jeans he wears.
Overall, 17 Again makes a good escape from the monotony and pressure of everyday life. It allows us to fantasise and reminisce our teenage school days and the charming presence of Efron does help.
When I received this CD in the post, I was pretty impressed by the cover and then mystified by the following note in the sleeve -
“I’m a Songwriter looking for a good home for my songs. So if you’re a music publisher, artist, producer, manager or record company… and you hear potential. I’d love to hear from you!”
So… Unpublished is not a proper album? Apparently not. But really, boys and girls, Unpublished is a collection of tracks worthy enough for one of those year-end lists. Perhaps mine.
These eleven songs represent some of the best British pop songwriting I’ve had the pleasure to listen to in quite a while. Singer Nigel Clark’s Lennonesque vocals does tend to give the songs a welcome Beatlesque edge and a powerful 70s vibe but hey, I’m certainly not complaining. It’s almost as if you’ve stumbled on a classic pop-rock jukebox in some alternative reality where hit songs like Sweet Elaine, Jamelia, Welcome To My World and Show Me Your Love rule the world. Fans of classic tunesmithery of the Britpop variety will no doubt enjoy Unpublished. Step aside, Noel Gallangher, the jig is up. Let Tony Cox should you what quality songwriting is all about…
Emily Haines and her band have been around since 1998 and they have had three full albums under their belt since 2003. Their fourth and latest offering – Fantasies, has this Canadian outfit taking a step back to reevaluate the current state of the world, the current state of mind of individuals and questions that the insightful are often plagued with.
In her own words, “This new record was about ending the fragmentation of my existence, Everything in the world right now—all the technology, the way we listen to music or watch films—everything has changed so much in my lifetime. People are allowed to have multiple identities—you’re somebody online, you’re somebody else in public—in multiple dimensions, scattered across the world … I wanted to bring all that into one place, one band, one records … I want to be one person.” – Emily Haines.
The album makes way for a synth-charged, new wave aura imprinted on all the tracks. The one constant though is of course Haines’ clear and crisp vocals that dips and resurfaces with an androgynous quality. The poppy dance beats, booming organ, flowing synths, choppy guitar riffs (courtesy of Jimmy Shaw) and heavy bass feels like you’re taking a dip into the pool of The Strokes, Yeah, Yeah Yeahs, Muse and for those old enough to remember – the quirky and brilliant Oingo Boingo.
Their first track and single Help I’m Alive, sucks you right in and keeps you on your toes till halfway through the album when the opening notes of Twilight Galaxy kicks in – reminiscent of the new-wave punk era of the late seventies. The slow melting ride is almost psychedelic with Haines’ reflective words, “there’s no glitter in the gutter, there’s no twilight galaxy….”.
Worthy of mention is Gimme Sympathy, a track with an infectious melody, steady beats and with a chorus that asks, “Gimme sympathy, after all this is gone, who would you rather be, The Beatles or The Rolling Stones..”. The band is on a path which illuminates filtering out the fantasies that cloud, yet embracing the ones that inspire.
Fantasies was released on April 14 & will cater to both fans and ardent music lovers discovering Metric for the first time.
An Interview with Emily and Jimmy and a collection of their acoustic performances is available here: Spin – Metric Unplugged.
Recently two kind friends/fans Rick and En approached me about a short 5 minute film they were interested to make of yours truly! Obviously, I obliged! Here’s the result. Comments please.
From a luxury cruise-liner to suburbia America, Jack and Rose reunite.
Don’t mistake Revolutionary Road for a story about the civil rights movement or war. It is the name of a fictitious street where Frank and April Wheeler live. Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet reteam as the protagonists a decade after their outing of Titanic proportions in this 1950s American suburban piece.
The Wheelers are held up as a model couple. They have two children and a nice house. Frank has a stable job and April is a dutiful housewife. What would be more perfect?
Yet Frank hates his desk job. The long commute to and from home to work on the train is a signal of his mundane working life. April, an unsuccessful actress, is faring no better herself. She is feeling trapped and restless with what she thinks is a mediocre life.
April suggests to Frank that they move to Paris in order “to live”, an excuse their ordinary and traditional lifestyle of 1950s suburbia. Frank although initially hesitant, buys into April’s idea. But when Frank receives an unexpected promotion and pay rise, he starts to have second doubts about the move. When April gets pregnant, Frank finds the excuse to pull the plug on their plans and thus sets the couple on a collision course for tragedy.
I personally enjoy dramas that explore the themes of drudgery, conformity and mundane existence of suburban life and Revolutionary Road lives up to my expectations as a movie. I won’t be able to comment on whether the movie does justice to the characters and the book as I have not read the novel by Richard Yates of which the movie is adapted from. But the movie packs a strong, emotional and bitter after punch for me.
The success rests largely on the calibre of its players. Director Sam Mendes and Winslet’s husband treads on familiar ground on the breakdown of suburban life after the Academy Award winning American Beauty. Mendes recreates the 1950s mood with nostalgia and coaxes fiery performances out of DiCaprio and Winslet.
But the gems of the show are no doubt DiCaprio and Winslet. Their chemistry on-screen is evident from the tender scenes they share to their explosive and vicious outbursts and tirades they level at each other. DiCaprio imbues a boyish charm to his Frank as the awkward and reluctant dutiful husband, a boy never quite mature enough into a man besides Winslet’s domineering April. Frank is at ease charming a naïve employee into having an affair with him, but could never quite sensitive enough to cajole his wife after her failed acting performance.
Winslet flexes her dramatic chops in the role of April and chews away the screen. She does everything from lovey-dovey to hysterical to calm and steely. She is believable as the resentful and disillusioned housewife.
Michael Shannon steals the few minutes of screen time in a supporting role as a mentally disturbed son of a nosy neighbour who shoots his mouth and thoughts without restraint at the Wheelers. Shannon’s character John is the only one who dares to articulate the truth about the Wheelers. His character generates the much needed laughter from the audience.
I can always link suburbia dramas back to our own existence here in Singapore even for a set in 1950s piece like Revolutionary Road. Aren’t many of us just like Frank, struggling to make a living to provide for our home and family though at times we hate our jobs behind a desk? Yet the desire to be responsible and pragmatic stops us from seeking change.
Although April doesn’t apply to modern working women in Singapore, but aren’t some of us frustrated at the insensitivity and weakness of our husband to our needs? Aren’t some of us at times disillusioned by the way that the marriage didn’t turn out the way we expect it to be?
Revolutionary Road depicts the frustration of the ordinary you and me in the heartlands of Singapore. We long for change but are too afraid to seek it. Just as April said: “Our whole existence here is based on this great premise that we’re special. That we’re superior to the whole thing. But we’re not.”
Like April and Frank, we might have done so and making people believe we are special but when in fact we are not, and like April find it hard to accept.
Overall, Revolutionary Road is an intense, riveting and gripping drama that packs a powerful insight into our own lives.
Last Saturday, at the invitation of the National Library Board, I gave a short half hour talk on the Singapore English music scene, such as it is. The event itself was called Singapore Music 101, with the highlight being Dick Lee (possibly the most recognizable Singapore music personality ever) sharing his life story, so to speak.
My brief was really to share information on the S-ROCK scene as I saw it. Typically, I left preparations pretty late and really only put my summary together on Wednesday, 15th April, before I had to be away in Pekanbaru for two days. On the morning of the talk itself, I prepared a Powerpoint presentation of the images I had accumulated on Zach’s laptop. Which unfortunately, as it turned out, the Powerpoint file was a 2007 MS Office edition and the Library @ Esplanade only had an earlier version of Powerpoint and thus, the file was unusuable! Thankfully, my original images folder was in the USB Thumbdrive, which we eventually used.
That slight misstep threw me off slightly even as I dove into the talk. Scanning the audience, it seemed to me that here was a group of people who were totally unfamiliar with S-ROCK and thus it was a bit of an uphill task. In fact, they didn’t even look like a crowd who listened to any rock music whatsoever. Perhaps they were there to listen to Dick rather than yours truly. Nonetheless, I took this as a learning experience as this was the first time I’d ever given a talk on S-ROCK. Certainly, a lot of points to brush up on. Heh.
I enjoyed Dick’s sharing very much. Taken in the context of Singaporeans’ ambivalence towards local music, Dick’s success in the 80s and beyond is nothing short of miraculous. His “never-say-die” attitude certainly played a big part, he always believed in himself and with hard work and passion, his talent was recognized and appreciated by others, in the region (first) before his own countrymen and women followed suit. Strangely enough, this was the first time I’ve ever met him, better late than never, I guess.
A Q&A session followed and one particular question left me in deep thought – how could Singapore produce a international pop star? Should we even be think in those terms? I don’t know. Seems rather cold. My main concern is nurturing and developing our own singer-songwriters and expose them proudly to the world. After the Q&A, I did an impromptu My One & Only (what else?) on the piano and it was done. Made some new contacts subsequently – two teachers who were interested to have me talk to their students about the local music scene and a film-maker Clement who was keen on me writing music for his movie project. All good!
Thanks to Jonathan How for the invitation, Athena (NLB) for co-ordinating everything, Desmond and Samuel for coming down and everyone else who listened attentively to me even if they didn’t have an inkling about what I was talking about. Probably.
The media love a quote from someone with the requisite knowledge to provide the proper information. I guess I’ve become the “go to” person when it comes to the S-ROCK scene. Which is fine with me, as it is part of the grand masterplan for world domination but I would really appreciate it if some heads-up were given whenever my quotes were published.
For example, I-S Magazine got in touch with me to answer some questions on the S-ROCK scene, to which I duly obliged with my opinions. However, it was only yesterday that I discovered that my quotes had been used in an article called The Lion City Rocks Again (published in February!). Link here and extracted below.
Well, apart from the fact that my surname is spelt wrongly again – only one “t” – I was rather bemused at how the writer described me. I suppose I should be glad he didn’t use the word “veteran” which gets trotted too often for comfort. Heh! Any name referencing is good, I guess!
A few weeks back, Rachael Teo and I were interviewed by Chris (ex-AWOL, Peculiar Remedies) Toh for TODAY, whilst that interview has not seen light of day yet, some of my quotes have appeared in an article by Chris on MDA’s iniatives to promote the music industry. Link here and extract below.
Yes, name wrong again but this time “veteran singer-songwriter” re-appears which if nothing else is accurate, I suppose. Looks alright though I am concerned about the context of that particular quote which may result in the usual hate mail from offended bands again. Hrmm.
Still, the bottom line is getting the name out there and to that end, mission accomplished! I guess if nobody’s heard of you, then you’ll never be in a position to influence others eh?
Sometimes I get really jealous. The kids nowadays get to catch their favorite foreign bands every week performing in Singapore. In the 70s, if we wanted to do the same, we had to rely on the odd concert movie coming to town e.g. Led Zep’s Song Remains the Same & Urgh!!! A Music War (featuring post-punk bands in USA/UK).
Better late than never. Rachael Yamagata can hardly be described as a classic 70s rocker or even old school. But believe me when I say that at the end of the glorious post-modern blues-rocking Sunday Afternoon, I had tears in my eyes. From Yamagata’s impassioned vocals to guitarist Michael Chaves’ screaming licks & Oliver Krauss’ atmospheric cello, I felt transported to a classic Pink Floyd concert in the 70s.
Yamagata had arrived in Singapore with a bit of a cold and depsite her profuse apologies, her vocal performance was not lacking in any way. I marveled at her sense of dedication to and passion for her craft as she put heart and soul into every word. The set list basically consisted of songs from her two albums and would veer wildly from the chamber pop of Elephants, Be Be Your Love and What If I Leave to the alt-rock posturing of Faster, Accident and Sidedish Friend. Personally, I prefered the former as her fledging attempts at rocking out did not strike me as unique. However, her ballads tugged at the heart strings effortlessly channeling the likes of Carole King and Karen Carpenter. Yeah, old school!
Still I have to go back to that final pre-encore song Sunday Afternoon, which to my amazement actually upped the ante from the recorded version. I was simply transfixed by Yamagata’s ability to coax her battered larynx (after 90 minutes plus of singing) into new heights. Spaced out, blissed out, emotionally resonant – everything the best rock music should be. Kudos to Rachael Yamagata for being the consummate professional, a super trouper but without sacrificing her humanity or sense of humour at any second. Quite possibly, one of the best concerts I have ever attended.
PS. Warm applause to me mates, Jack & Rai, for their short opening set, which entertained and pleased the crowd. Certainly, the boys proved that they could do justice to the occassion. Only matter of them before Jack & Rai headline their own gig at the Esplanade Concert Hall. Mark my words!
NB. I must say that there was a bloody idiot who happened to be sitting in front of me and this philistine could be heard muttering and complaining that Jack & Rai were taking to the stage. I have no problem with someone not liking Jack & Rai but to petulantly shout “No!” and throwing a mini-tantrum in his seat is just puerile behavior. More than that, I was pretty certain that this twit’s main objection was that Jack & Rai were Singaporean. I hope that this kind of colonial attitude is now in the minority and will one day be consiged to the darkest past.
Not entirely sure what to make of this latest offering from the legendary singer-songwriter. Fork in the Road is apparently a concept album about Young’s attempts together with biodiesel pioneer Johnathan Goodwin to develop a commercially viable electric power system for automobiles. The prototype Lincvolt vehicle, Young’s own 1959 Lincoln Continental, is now completely finished, and a documentary is planned about the car’s first cross-country gasoline-free road trip to Washington, DC. for automobiles.
All well and good but what kind of album does all this make for. Better than you’d think. Without even bothering with the lyrics and themes, Fork in the Road is filled with good old fashioned rock n roll Neil Young stlye. Which is fine by me. I love the music’s pure and primal quality – it sounds like Young and band in a rehearsal jamming away. And I mean that in the best possible way.
Young’s backing band features all the usual suspects – Ben Keith, Rick Rosas, Chad Cromwell and the missus, Pegi Young. And this provides the comfortable bedrock from which Young springboards his own musical journeys. To be honest, I find the lyrics a little forced at times although in songs like the lone acoustic number Light A Cradle – “Instead of cursing the darkness/Light a candle for where we’re goin’” – rather inspirational for these depressed times.
The rest of Fork in the Road is suitably ragged with songs that pay tribute to Goodwin (”Johnny Magic”), songs about aging (”The Road”), songs chronicling Young’s trip (”When Worlds Collide”) and the current economic crisis (”Cough Up the Bucks”). It ain’t perfect but it’s still Neil Young and if you’re a fan, then you’ll know what to expect. If you’re not a fan, I’ll suggest you check out his 70s albums first and then work your way slowly to Fork in the Road.
Check out Neil Young’s Myspace page and a video of The Road below.
It’s almost been a week since the last episode of Live N Loaded aired. On an episode that featured members of Stomping Ground and Boredphucks revisting classic S-ROCK songs, you could say it was a bit of a nostalgic show, topped of course by the rendition of My One & Only by Jack & Rai and yours truly.
In all modesty, I think we did a great job, considering we only had one rehearsal. I’m so proud that the song has survived and indeed prospered even after 15 years. A humbling notion. Who says Singaoporeans don’t care about original Singaporean music, eh? Even more thrilling was having my faith in Jack & Rai justified as I surprised them with an ambituous arrangement which they pulled off with aplomb. Legends already!
The whole day was a bit of a blur but it was all worth the time spent hanging out with Jack & Rai. Not only are they passionate and talented but they’re extremely nice guys as well. It was also fun to meet up with so many cool S-ROCK folk, Jon, Sham, Nizam and Ronny (Plainsunset), Mag, Khai, Song, Fandy & Saiful (Great Spy Experiment), JBoss (Boredphucks/Suns), Hafiz and Suhaimi (Stomping Ground), Fir (silly boy with camera), Samuel, Weiwen, Roland, Daniel, Matt, Esmond et al.
Kudos to the Live N Loaded folks – director, producers, crew – very professional and competent in all aspects. My main gripe about Live N Loaded – and this is no secret – has been concerning the selection of bands featured on the show. Also, the sheer number of bands could have been more discreetly handled. That said, I guess the objective was to feature as many bands as possible – which the show definitely achieved. Still, considering that it has been too long a time since S-ROCK bands have appeared on TV, beggars can’t be choosers and certainly I cannot deny the pleasure of seeing GSE, Allura, Fire Fight, For This Cycle, Ling Kai, Rachael Teo, Nick Tan, Jack & Rai et al on the little screen.
Will there be a 2nd season or another TV show featuring S-ROCK? I certainly hope so and this time, I would humbly offer my services to provide creative input. Heh!
What did you guys and gals think of Live N Loaded? Comments, please.
Sean Boyd, partner at Fanatic Promotion, debunks the myth of a ailing music industry on Fox Business News. According to Boyd, CD sales have increased overall with too much focus on the major labels and ignoring the relative success of indie companies. Comments?
This 2008 debut album from Abshire is an excellent approximation of modern alt-country-folk indie female pop in the vein of Jenny Lewis and She & Him. All well and good but here’s the kicker – Abshire is 17 years old! An astonishing fact when you consider how mature most of this debut sounds. From Abshire’s talented pipes to her world-weary (albeit from a teenage perspective) lyricism, from the spot-on catholic pop references to the austere production values, this teenager displays qualities pretty much beyond her tender years.
The highlights for me include the tautly wound Nervous, the delicate Unknown Encounter, the Dylanesque Thin Skin (see video below), the country-western Hotel Hallway and the lushly constructed Everybody Does. Yes, there are the odd raw and rough moments both in the vocal delivery and the songwriting but these are minor complaints when set up against the promise (some of it fulfilled) in these well-sung, well-written songs.
Suffice to say that Ariel Abshire is a name to look out for in the years to come.
I guess if you’re a fan of Faithless or electronica in general, you’re going to enjoy this live DVD. Although in this context, I’m not sure whether the “electronica” tag applies here. After all, apart from the mandatory electronic keyboards, there’s a full band viz. electric guitar, bass, drums, percussion and even mini-string orchestra providing the music. So to all intents and purposes, it’s probably most accurate to describe this live recording as a rock concert, in every sense of that term.
Which is fine with me, as I’ve always felt that pure electronica is a little tough to deliver in the context of a rock concert format. Certainly, no problems with the typical dance music that is presented here with its usual obligatory nods to Pink Floyd, Kraftwerk and the 80s synth pop pioneers of course. In addition, Faithless also indulge in a little reggae-ska workout at times, which is also cool.
I’m not familiar with these songs but taken at face value, there’s enough variation to recommend this live DVD to folks who may not strictly be fans of Faithless and/or electronica.
Maple Mars is a brilliant name for Rick Hromadka’s powerpop outfit. Equal part melodic sweetness and spaced out bliss. With three definitive powerpop albums – viz. Welcome to Maple Mars, Circular Haze (one of PoP’s top albums of 2003) and Beautiful Mess – Maple Mars has established itself as one of the premier bands of the pop underground. Good news is that Maple Mars has a new album in the can and embedded below is Transcendental Guidance, a teaser of the joys to come. To these ears, the new song is a tasty amalgam of Syd Barrett psychedelia, Byrdsy folk-rock and prog-rock instrumentalism. Enjoy…
It is one of the best ways for us to express ourselves. It is always nice to be able to create something to share with others, and the greatest payoff is when we see or hear of people being moved by our songs.
2. Who are your influences?
Any bands/artistes with melodic songs and infectious beats really. But to name a few, our influences include The Beatles, The All-American Rejects, The Beach Boys, Michael Jackson, McFly, Matchbox Twenty and more.
3. What is success?
Doing what you love everyday and gaining something from it.
4. Why should people buy your music?
It will be worth buying if you wish to listen to something that could help to brighten up your day! We’ve put a lot of time, dedication and effort into producing a high-quality sounding EP and also trying our best to keep the price affordable for our listeners. The Lion Story EP is retailing at less that $10 at HMV (available soon), Roxy Records and Big Ear Musica.
5. Who do you love?
Everyone who has played a part in the local music industry. Although it is a pretty small scene – when compared to other countries – it is really encouraging to see people who are motivated in driving the local scene like Leonard Soosay, Don Richmond, Kevin Mathews and Patrick Chng just to name a few.
6. What do you hope to achieve with your music?
We hope to make a positive change in people’s lives, even if it is only for 3 minutes. If, within that short period of time, we are able to make a person smile or be moved for just a little while, we believe that we have achieved what we set out to do with our music.
7. Who comes to your gigs?
Family, friends and hopefully fans. We’re still pretty new to the scene and we’re really grateful to have received a lot of positive response to our EP. We hope to develop a decent following and expose our music to more people across the country.
8. What is your favorite album?
Amin : Michael Jackson – Dangerous Khair : Limp Bizkit – Significant Other Haffiz : Extreme II – Pornograffitti
9. What is your favorite song?
Hi-Standard – My First Kiss (It’s always a different answer for this particular question whenever we’re asked)
10. How did you get here?
NOISE Singapore. Before we got chosen for The Apprenticeship Programme, we were just three guys who have been learning and playing music since Secondary School hoping to perform someday. When we received the call that Don Richmond had chosen us to be his apprentices, we realised that it would be a great opportunity for us to finally take part in the local scene. So we decided to take this stepping stone, upsize it to a springboard, take a huge jump and dive as deep as we can into the local music industry. This meant that we had to go into overdrive and lose sleep between work and studies while saving up and practicing hard to produce our first EP and have it released during our very first performance at the Esplanade Waterfront. All the effort paid off – with a suprising ‘encore’ request at The Esplanade, plus our songs being chosen as the official NOISE Singapore advertisement soundtrack and also being played on the radio by 98.7FM. So we’d really like to thank Don Richmond, all the great people of NOISE Singapore, our dear families and friends for getting us here.
With her sophomore effort Elephants… Teeth Sinking into Heart, Rachael Yamagata re-defined herself. From the ballad-heavy agenda that populated her debut Happenstance to the edgier model that emerges on this double-album, Yamagata is definitely taping into the so-called “rock” side of her musical persona.
Sure, you still have the spine-tingling, ornate orch-pop exercises like the opening title track and What If I Leave, both of which contain such memorable & sublime tunes. But by the time one gets to Sunday Afternoon, with its awe-inspiring Pink Floyd touches, orchestral blues atmosphere and Yamagata’s own breathless vocal delivery, one realizes that Yamagata is crossing an artistic threshold.
And with the 2nd disc – Teeth Sinking into Heart – the electric guitars come to the fore, the drumming ups the ante and even Yamagata’s vocals favours a gruffier style to present a totally different aspect. Personally, I don’t see what all the fuss is about. It’s good to see Yamagata breaking out of her own (and that of the media/fanbase) mould. Nothing ground-breaking, mind you, as many other female rock singers-songwriters (notably Chrissie Hynde/Pretenders) have travelled this road many times but tracks like Faster and Don’t make for intriguing listening.
Me? I’m more interested in the transitional material between the poles, like the aforementioned Sunday Afternoon and Horizon, with its Beatlesque undertones & country-folk underpinnings. I’m looking forward to hearing these songs live with a cellist in tow. And of course, I will, come next Wednesday, 15th April at the Esplanade Concert Hall.
In days of yore, this debut 7-track release from The Lion Story would probably have been a hot demo cassette. But with the advances in technology and lower recording costs, it is now possible for a newbie band like The Lion Story to self-release their own CD. Which in this case, at any rate, is a good thing.
The first thing that strikes a listener about The Lion Story is the “old-school” melodies and harmonies, which is unusual for a Singapore band in their twenties. Greatly welcomed, because bands who write and perform good ol’ fashioned pop-rock in Singapore are an endangered species.
There are some absolute gems on this debut EP, notably the opening track, Stars & the World, which is probably one of the best Beatlesque pop songs I’ve heard on these shores since maybe the sixties. Melodic hooks, pristine harmonies and tasteful arrangements permeate this track. Another highlight is Something’s Going On – featuring Don Richmond – and consequently possesses a stronger mainstream vibe. The rest of this EP does not match up but are still worth checking out.
In the S-ROCK scheme of things, The Lion Story reminds me of a more polished Oddfellows or Ordinary People and if the guys (viz. Amin, Khair and Haffiz) work hard enough and make the right moves, may even scale the heights of Couple, the powerpop kings from across the Causeway. That remains to be seen. But simply based on the promise of Stars & the World, the Lion Story is certainly a band to keep a close watch on.
Apple Corps Ltd. and EMI Music have announced the release of the original Beatles catalogue, which has been digitally re-mastered for the first time, for worldwide CD release on Wednesday, September 9, 2009 (9-9-09), the same date as the release of the widely anticipated “The Beatles: Rock Band” video game. Each of the CDs is packaged with replicated original UK album art, including expanded booklets containing original and newly written liner notes and rare photos. For a limited period, each CD will also be embedded with a brief documentary film about the album. On the same date, two new Beatles boxed CD collections will also be released.
Beatles fans (and that’s every living person on the planet who has an interest in rock music) are divided on these remasters. On the one hand, we’re happy about having the opportunity to listen to those wonderful songs in pristine digital sound (the Love album demonstrated this). On the other hand, it seems like an exercise to squeeze money from fans in less than economically viable times.
On balance, whilst I think that it’s about time that the Beatles catalogue received the deluxe re-issue treatment many lesser acts have already received many times over, I am a little concerned about the fact that fans will be asked to pay full price for 30-minute albums, from whom the record label (viz EMI) has made megabucks from fans already. Sure, you can talk about the packaging, the expanded booklets and the embedded documentaries but if this exercise was about the fans, then the discs should be priced at not more than half the usual CD prices.
Unfortunately, with EMI in dire financial straits, it will see this as a perfect opportunity to replenish its coffers with even more Beatles money. Personally, I can see myself simply purchasing the entire catalogue without too much hesitation (just look at the CD package for Abbey Road above) but I’m hoping for some common sense from Apple and EMI. Am I being too naive? What do you think, Beatles fans?
Why do I love the Great Spy Experiment (GSE) as much as I do?
There will be detractors who accuse GSE’s style of being derivative of Interpol, the Editors, the Killers et al. Pardon me if this sounds like sheer hyperbole, but that’s like saying that Coldplay sounds like Radiohead and Viva La Vida sounds like a Santriani song! To these ears, I’d rather listen to GSE than any of the above mentioned bands.
Yes, GSE draws from the same post-punk revival as these other bands but GSE is also able to imbue melodic soul into their original material. Flower Show Riots. their shimmering debut album contains tunes that make one sing and rhythms that move one to dance. Pure & simple.
Following below is GSE’s very first music video of their breakthrough deubt single – Class ‘A’ Love Affair – and I like the ‘black vs white concept’ that runs through the spine of the video. So enjoy… and spread the word.
Tuomas Kallio, DJ, Producer and founder of The Five Corner Quintet, believes that everyone is a Jazz fan….it’s just that they don’t know it. Not wanting to disagree with him too much there, but I am most definitely not a Jazz fan, and I am pretty certain that I know it. So when Hot Corner landed in my ‘To Do’ pile of reviews I cannot say that I looked at it with a great deal of enthusiasm. Jazz is just a genre that has never taken root in my soul and given me any kind of yearning to be part of the whole scene or even an innocent bystander on the pavement as the parade passes me by. I am not opposed to Jazz, I don’t hate it or wish that it would fall off the planet like Miley Cyrus and her kind with their safe pop/rock for the ‘Tweens’, but I don’t think about listening to it in my spare time either.
I am going off track though, I simply wanted to point out that if you are looking for a review that can delve into the influences and meaning behind T.F.C.Q. then stop right now, this is not the review for you. It is not even a review that will end with a cathartic seeing of the light from myself and a declaration on my part that Jazz is precisely what I have been missing all of my life. I am simply saying excuse my ignorance, but this is a review by someone who is not all that bothered about Jazz, so if you find it lacking in comparison and depth that is why.
So who are T.F.C.Q and why are they here? Well as mentioned before, Tuomas Kallio decided it was time that the world found Jazz again and decided that this rebirth would start in Helsinki. So in 2005 he formed T.F.C.Q. and with some of Helsinki’s finest released Chasin’ the Jazz Gone By on Ricky-Tick Records to much acclaim. Kallio used his experience as a DJ on the dancefloor to breath some modern life into Jazz, not through updating it with beats and other gimics, but simply introducing a new flavor to the genre, and that is what he has tried to achieve again with Hot Corner.
I do have to say one thing about Hot Corner right from the offset; it does get your foot tapping. Easy Diggin and Rich in Time are both numbers that it is literally impossible not to at least have a quick nod of the head to. This doesn’t convert me people, I have tapped to Britney Spears and much worse in the past, but it does show that the aim of the album is hitting it’s mark by reaching out to the roots of the founding member. I cannot deny the repetitiveness sometimes spoiled my enjoyment while listening, Habib’s Habit especially had me gritting my teeth and taking longing glances at the timer of the track, but overall what was offered on ‘Hot Corner’ seemed to have a fresh quality to it.
Adding some heavyweight backing to the project, as he did on T.F.C.Q.’s debut album, is Mark Murphy. His voice fits the two numbers he sings on perfectly and opens proceedings on Come and Get Me, a sleazy, slick track that shuffles through it’s verse and chorus with ease. The second song he appears on is ‘Kerouac Days in Montana’ which is nowhere near as good as the first song, the vocals are more than competent but they appear to not be at ease with the music.
Overall I did enjoy Hot Corner, it was catchy enough to hold my attention and certainly I think someone who has more than a passing interest in Jazz as a whole will really go for this band. As I said and stated at the beginning though, although it is a good album and the musicianship is very high I would not think about going back to it. Kallio may believe that people just don’t know they are Jazz fans, but a friend of mine once also stated that Jazz is the only genre of music where the musicians have more fun than the audience.
Not quite sure what to make of Extra Golden, an African-American combo (not what you may think but a quartet comprising of two Kenyans and two Americans) combining America rock stylings and African rhythmic structures. Also not what you think, i.e. nothing remotely close to what Talking Heads or Vampire Weekend have achieved with their hybrid format.
Thank You Very Quickly is the band’s third album and it features six tracks in all and they all feature very prominent African styled rhythm guitars, percussion, other instrumention and vocals. There is not too much to suggest that there is any American creative input in this. Personally, the melodies take a little time to fully appreciate but there’s no doubting the skill and expertise in the lively performances. And that will more than suffice for now.
