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PHIL COLLINS

PHIL COLLINS Going Back – Live At Roseland Ballroom, NYC (Eagle Rock)

You’d think that one Motown cover – You Can’t Hurry Love – would be enough for Phil Collins. Nope. In September this year, Collins released Going Back, a tribute to the soul music of the 60s, covering 18 tracks! I mean, seriously? This DVD features the live performance of Going Back where Collins faithfully covers such legendary songs as Tears of a Clown, Papa Was A Rolling Stone, (Love is Like A) Heatwave, You Really Got A Hold On Me and so on.

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DEXTER SEASON 5

Episode 9: Teenage Wasteland

Rita’s daughter Astor comes back to prove that Dexter CAN be a good father and consider the interests of others above his own (or so ghostfather Harry tells us). Debra meets Lumen (that is going to come back to haunt Dexter for sure). Jordan Chase discovers that Dexter and Lumen are responsible for the deaths of Boyd and Cole. Dexter uncovers a link to the origins of Jordan Chase. Liddy begins to take a deeper interest in the activities of Dexter and Lumen even as Quinn tells him to let Debra and him alone.

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BLURB-O-RAMA

In his introduction to his seminal book, The People’s Music (see below), rock writer (the late) Ian MacDonald opined, “the essentials of modern popular music were laid down during a period of less than ten years and that, but for some technical innovations leading to various musical diversions (such as reggae, rap/hip hop and sequenced dance music), nothing intrinsically new has appeared since then, all musical mini-revolutions in the last twenty years being prefaced in the products of the sixties, the foundation decade for all that’s followed.” (Emphasis added)

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BLURB-O-RAMA

There’s just too much music, that sometimes good stuff falls through the cracks of all the pop culture madness that we try to cover here at the Power of Pop. That’s where Blurb-O-Rama comes in to give you a gist of what’s out there in the modern rock wasteland that you, dear reader, may want to investigate further. If not us then who?

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HEAVEN AND HELL

HEAVEN AND HELL 30 Years of Heaven and Hell – Live in Europe (Eagle Vision)

Well, that title is a little misleading, isn’t it? Technically, the metal band Heaven and Hell, consisting of Ronnie James Dio (vox), Tony Iommi (guitar), Geezer Butler (bass) and Vinny Appice (drums), were only in existence from 2006 to 2010, a mere four years. Of course, this band is actually one of the numerous incarnations of metal maestros Black Sabbath, with the “30 years” reference pointing to the number of years passed since the Black Sabbath album, Heaven and Hell (when Dio made his debut as Sabbath vocalist), was released. Iommi insisted on the name change so as not to confuse the public over the Ozzy Osbourne-led Sabbath version.

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SYLVIA RATONEL

SYLVIA RATONEL S/t (Universal)

In a recent interview, Singapore Idol runner-up Ratonel remarked, “I think the Singapore market is slowly growing, and more accepting for local artistes. But you cannot deny that it is a small market.” Arguable, since Singapore’s population is now hitting 5 million and is technically no longer a “small market”. No, it’s not the numbers that is the issue but the anti-local music Singaporean mindset.

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SPURS 3 WERDER BREMEN 0

It’s been an excellent week to be a Spurs fan. After Saturday’s unlikely comeback at the North London Derby, Spurs made light work of German club Werder Bremen to book their place in the last 16 of the Champions League. I did not watch the game but by all accounts, Spurs had a relatively easy match and the scoreline reflected the dominance of a team buoyed by that fantastic result over the weekend.

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TWISTED SISTER – LIVE AT WACKEN: THE REUNION

TWISTED SISTER Live At Wacken: The Reunion (Eagle Vision)

This American hair metal band combined the shock rock of Alice Cooper, the influence of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (Motorhead, Judas Priest) and the glam image of the New York Dolls to produce an idiosyncratic but highly popular brand of metal. After huge commercial success and criticism from parental/religious groups in the early 80s, the band split up in 1987.

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THE NEXT THREE DAYS

THE NEXT THREE DAYS Directed by Paul Haggis Screenplay by Paul Haggis

Starring – Russell Crowe, Elizabeth Banks, Ty Sympkins, Olivia Wilde, Brian Dennehy, Lennie James, Helen Carey and Liam Neeson.

Let me just say that I’m not a fan of remakes but Paul Haggis at the reins of this one, made me give it a chance.

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CHARLATANS – LIVE IN SINGAPORE

Well, it took two decades for English band The Charlatans to kick out the jams in our home town but I think most will agree that it was well worth the wait. Consisting mostly of punters in their 30s and 40s, it was strictly a crowd of 90s-era “kids” who filled up the *SCAPE Warehouse (between 450-500 people, I reckon) and thus, the 90s hits went down best e.g. The Only One I Know, One To Another, Weirdo, North Country Boy and Tellin’ Stories.

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SAJAMA CUT

SAJAMA CUT Manimal (The Bronze Medal Rec/Aksara Rec/Shining Rec)

I love pop music. Y’know, “pop music” as written and recorded in the 60s/70s, when producing something artistic and distinctive with tunes, lyrics, instrumentation and arrangements was the order of the day. Power of Pop was established to highlight bands and artists – past or present – who lived/live the reality of 60s (and 70s) infused music making.

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SUPERSONIC SOUND FEST 2010

This is the word directly from organiser Az Kadir (Stellarium) –

An annual, all shoegaze, festival that resides in Asia with a stellar lineup of Shoegaze bands from around the region. Intimate, DIY, and a celebration of a scene that celebrates itself. Initially launched as a tour of Indonesia in 2008, with the second installment in 2009, this year marks the third celebration and will be held right here in Singapore!

Whatever happened to stagediving, headbanging, dancing, and floppy fringes? Let’s party like it’s 1991!

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ARSENAL 2 SPURS 3

Did I write off Spurs’ chances in this latest North London Derby at half-time when we were two goals down? No, I had actually given up before kick-off. Well, having endured 16 years of humiliation at Highbury and now the Emirates Stadium, it’s natural not to expect too much when Spurs play away to the Arsenal.

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DEXTER SEASON 5

Episode 8: Take It!

My goosebumps moment in this episode was when Dexter went to comfort a distressed Lumen by placing his hands over her hands cupping her ears. The way Lumen and Dexter looked at each other – the connection from which she had a first proper period of sleep – was so touching. That to me made more sense than the couple consummating their relationship in bed. Yeah, I am a diehard romantic. Sue me!

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POPLAND REUNION AT TIMBRE’S 5TH ANNIVERSARY

We (Pat, Ray, Tim and I) will be POPLAND for one more time tomorrow (21st Nov) night at the Timbre @ The Substation from 7.15pm to 8pm. It’s been an absolute blast jamming with the guys these last three weeks and I think it’s going to be a grand old show, loud and bittersweet at the same time. For us, it’s been about catching up, talking nostalgically about the gigs we’ve done before. So I am hoping that it’ll be the same for anyone who has seen POPLAND live from 1995 to 2002. Come on down and share with us your memories. If you have any of THE CROWD or POPLAND CDs (or even WATCHMEN!), bring them along and we’re gladly deface them for you!! Come down armed with cameras to record us for posterity (videos even). I will probably bring with me a couple of Groovy CDs in case anyone does not have a copy yet. See me after the show – $10 cheap! Then we’ll autograph it for you. Yes, boys and girls, it is going to be a special reunion for us all.

I just want to take this opportunity to thank Danny Loong and Edward Chia (and Seow Yee) for allowing POPLAND to hijack Timbre’s 5th Anniversary celebrations in this manner! If that was not enough, we also have great S-ROCK bands like the GREAT SPY EXPERIMENT, ZERO SEQUENCE and B-QUARTET on the bill as well!!!! What more could you ask for, music lovers?!

Do come up and say ‘hi’ – it’ll be great fun…

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CHARLATANS – LIVE IN SINGAPORE

5 more days to the Charlatans’ performance in Singapore. Opening for the English band will be our very own West Grand Boulevard.

Also…

Tickets available at SISTIC. Not to be missed!