The Saturday Mix #46

Delorean - Real Love (LightsoverLA Remix)

Tame Impala - Solitude Is Bliss (Canyons Remix)

Massive Attack - Pray For Rain (Tim Goldsworthy Remix)

Massive Attack - Paradise Circus (Zeds Dead Remix)
Fucking epic.

Passion Pit - The Reeling (Sammy Bananas Big Choon Mix)
It's rare that a remix can make one feel so euphoric. Above the clouds and high on oxygen.

Au Revoir Simone - Only You Can Make You Happy (PUNCHES Remix)

Annie - Songs Remind Me Of You (The Swiss & Donnie Sloan Remix)

we discovered one another stumbling through the summer

Came back from Au Revoir Simone's performance. A singularly fantastic and awesome set. The moment the stunning trio walked in, they were greeted with wild cheers which they seemed a little taken aback by. Seeing them for the first time, beautiful with girly innocence, they dazzled us with deft hands at the keyboards complemented by dulcet voices which if anymore alluring, they would have become Peter Pipettes. Dishing out melancholic lyrics starkly contrasted with uplifting synths that seem to be led by it's nose by their nimble fingers on instruments of choice - keyboards, they were in perfect control of the night.



No time was wasted as they walked on stage, immediately starting with Another Likely Story followed by perennial favourite Sad Song (or at least mine). At various points throughout the 1 hour performance, ARS interacted with the crowd quite a fair bit. Annie mentioned that her mom would be pretty happy for her to be playing here in Singapore. She was also griping about the expensive baggage costs which prevented them from bringing at least 5 casios here, and they had to settle for 1 which had to be shared amongst them, to much laughter. It was quite a funny sight, seeing them transfer it around. Oh and boy would I be glad to trade my dslr for her keyboard as she replied that she didn't mind trading her keyboard for one of the cameras in response to Erika's quip that she sees many cameras around (and then breaking off into a wide smile which was quite a common sight just now). Laughs abound as they talked to us, and pretty much not expecting such a lovely reception. They charmed the socks off us in the crowd, who were left shouting encore as they left the stage, coming back to perform Through The Backyards Of Our Neighbours before leaving the stage for good. Their keyboards seemingly brought to life on stage, sounding much more dynamic and driven compared to studio tracks, and in fact there was one song, can't remember which, where Erika actually played the guitar!

While they played mostly stuff from "Still Night, Still Light" and of course I loved it, it would have been a nice touch to have songs from "The Bird of Music", like The Lucky One, Dark Halls and Don't See The Sorrow. I was mesmerised by their deft hands and affecting voices, awash with joy at being able to see them perform live. Throw in a pinch of wistfulness, generous helpings of warm and delicate melodies on electronic paraphernalia, and everything dovetailed wonderfully into a delectable delight. They say too many cooks spoil the broth, but clearly three is just the right number, even more so if they're named Annie, Erika and Heather. This winsome and graceful trio contributed to an indelible memory of a performance that I'll certainly recall fondly.



Here's the setlist for their performance at 7.30pm. There was another one at 10pm I think, not sure if they played the same songs.

Another Likely Story
Sad Song
All or Nothing
Anywhere You Looked
Shadows
The Last One
Take Me As I Am
Trace A Line
Only You Can Make Me Happy
Knight of Wands
Tell Me
Encore: Through The Backyards Of Our Neighbours

The Saturday Mix #33 - on buses that move through the night

Delphic - Doubt (Riton Re-Rub)
Triple R treatment. Now this is one sick remix. It makes you move, like really move. Right off the bat, the ahh ahh eee eee ehh ehh's set the whole mood before plunging in some slow groove and suddenly it explodes around the minute mark. This is such an awesome remix of one of my favourite songs at the moment.

Au Revoir Simone - Sad Song (Pacific Remix)

MEN - Simultaneously
MEN is a Brooklyn-based band and art/performance collective that focuses on the energy of live performance and radical potential of dance music. Very interesting stuff they have.

MEN - Simultaneously (Lauren Flax Remix)
Long remix, but good.

Matthew Dear - Don & Sherri (Hot Chip Remix)

The xx - VCR (Matthew Dear Remix)
I love this! And I can't wait for The xx and Florence + the Machine to come, in about 2 weeks time. MUCH LOVE!

Au Revoir Simone - Another Likely Story (Neon Indian Remix)
Neon Indian's psychedelia is very present here.

the spinning top made a sound like a train across the valley

Alright, let's see what's up in the coming 3 months in concerts here.
12 Jan - Yeah Yeah Yeahs @ Esplanade Concert Hall
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - Soft Shock
13 Jan - Cat Power @ Esplanade Concert Hall
Cat Power - The Greatest
23 Jan - James Ingram @ Esplanade Concert Hall
James Ingram - Just Once
24 Jan - The Killers @ Singapore Indoor Stadium
The Killers - Mr. Brightside
26 Jan - Andrew Bird @ Esplanade Concert Hall
Andrew Bird - Oh No

3 Feb - Big Night Out 2010 (Muse, Saosin & Rise Against) @ Singapore Indoor Stadium
Muse - Time Is Running Out
7 Feb - Florence + the Machine and The xx @ Esplanade Theatre
Florence + the Machine - You've Got the Love
The xx - Islands
8 Feb - Echo & The Bunnymen @ Esplanade Theatre
Echo & The Bunnymen - The Killing Moon

7 Mar - Paramore @ Singapore Indoor Stadium
Paramore - Misery Business
13 Mar - Mosaic Music Festival 2010: 65daysofstatic @ Esplanade Theatre Studio
65daysofstatic - Radio Protector
14 Mar - Mosaic Music Festival 2010: Au Revoir Simone @ Esplanade Theatre Studio
Au Revoir Simone - Sad Song
15 Mar - Mosaic Music Festival 2010: St. Vincent @ Esplanade Recital Studio
St. Vincent - The Strangers
17 & 18 Mar - Mosaic Music Festival 2010: The Go! Team @ Esplanade Theatre Studio
The Go! Team - Huddle Formation
19 Mar - Mosaic Music Festival 2010: Kings of Convenience @ Esplanade Concert Hall
Kings of Convenience - The Build Up (feat. Feist)
19 Mar - Mosaic Music Festival 2010: Shugo Tokumaru @ Esplanade Recital Studio
Shugo Tokumaru - Metrion
19 Mar - Mosaic Music Festival 2010: Vashti Bunyan @ Esplanade Concert Hall
Vashti Bunyan - Train Song
29 Mar - Imogen Heap @ Esplanade Concert Hall
Imogen Heap - First Train Home

February is a pretty quiet month. But March would have been quiet too, if not for the Mosaic Music Festival. I'm pretty excited about all the upcoming concerts, but being the extremely poor person that I am, I have to ration my cash and be selective in the bands I wanna see. So, I'm watching Muse at Big Night Out 2010, Florence + the Machine and The xx, Au Revoir Simone, St. Vincent and Kings of Convenience. Still deciding about Shugo Tokumaru though.

50 Favourite Songs of 2009: Part I

Merry Christmas to all my readers (a very small number I suppose). Well, for the next five days including today, I will be doing a feature 50 Favourite Songs of 2009. It will be divided into 5 parts, 10 songs for each day. Why I'm not doing a ranked list - it's because I don't think I have that discerning a ear yet to rank the songs, and personally for me, good music is good music, there's no real need to rank them. Besides, it's gonna be a real huge headache trying to rank 50 songs, and the best ones at that, what with all the good music dropped this year. So, the 50 songs listed in this feature are my favourite songs for 2009, and are in no particular order.

Thought to self: To actually just fit 50 songs is gonna be crazy, I mean, I don't even know where to start. Gotta thank my procrastinating self, I knew I should have started earlier.

Muse - Resistance
The almost title track of the album, immediately reminded me of 2006's Starlight from "Black Holes and Revelations". The short piano-infused intro bears slight resemblance, and that chorus of "it could be wrong, could be wrong...." mildly reminiscent of "hold you in my arms/i just wanted to hold/you in my arms". A balladic rock anthem taking it's place amongst my Muse favourites such as Time Is Runnng Out, Starlight, Map of the Problematique, Knights of Cydonia amongst others.

official, myspace, last.fm


Kings of Convenience - Boat Behind
How is anyone not to enjoy their brand of laid back acoustic songs that totally lull you into singing along and feeling so good? Well, that's this Norwegian duo for you.

official, myspace, last.fm


Animal Collective - My Girls
My Girls is almost a compendium of sounds that can be used from the synths. Ok, it's an exaggeration, but clearly, a myriad of electronic sounds can be heard in the song at any point in time. Psychedelic euphoria at best, electronic noise at worst, much has been said of AC's much vaunted single from "Merriweather Post Pavillion". However, I believe that detractors are far too few and in between, and with a well produced song as such, it's not hard to see why. Approaching new grounds and yet retaining some elements of old, this will clearly remain a favourite for the years to come.

official, myspace, last.fm


Grizzly Bear - Two Weeks
Four of them looking goody-two-shoes, glowing even brighter than the early morning sun. Before long, sparks are flying and their heads catch fire. The same can be said of the song, hot out of the studio, the album leaked amid the hype surrounding "Veckatimest". The song building up gently with the keyboard and some choir-like vocals. Sounding almost like a church-choir, the song seems to be crawling out from under it's shelter, stretching well and good before hitting the ground running. It's apt that when they start off with a lilting "whoa-oh-whoa-oh-whoa-oh", they hit their stride midway with "whoa-oh-whoa-oh-whoa-oh", the fragmented phrases Ed Droste sings of distance and love, fall in place nicely; like the end where their heads burst into fire, one can bask in the song's full aural glory.

official, myspace, last.fm


Reverie Sound Revue - Walking Around Waiting Downtown
A really fantastic song set to a poor video. I mean, a very fast-forwarded Harry Potter? Lisa's well toned voice sings of something most people do everyday, literally of walking around and waiting downtown. A suitably paced song filled with ambient sounds, they do not feel like they're rushing through anything, taking their time with the song, walking and waiting. RSR have a delight that never fails to set one in a good contemplative mood.

official, myspace, last.fm


Simian Mobile Disco - Cruel Intentions (feat. Beth Ditto)
When you have a song featuring Beth Ditto of Gossip, you know you're gonna have a song with solid vocals that's not going to let you down. Someone of her stature with
a duo who are known for their heavily stylised tracks, you can immediately turn up the dial and start grooving. SMD's background arrangements are nearly outdone by her vocals, but with deadly hooks like that, they go head to head with each other; at times competing yet complementing each other, it's one pretty good dance song.

official, myspace, last.fm


The Black Atlantic - Madagascar
This little known group hailing from Groningen, Netherlands leaves us wanting more with a pleasant, affectionate track titled Madagascar. I've not been to Madagascar, but if this song embodies what this country is about, I can perfectly envision a quaint country with so many little things to love. A particular line in this acoustic number keeps returning to me, because it seems so apt "whether man needs the lie like air to survive". I would like to pose this question to myself, but I think I wouldn't be able to find an answer.

official, myspace, last.fm


The Polyamorous Affair - New York City
The track in question is New York City pulled from their album "Bolshevik Disco", so click "full track" and then the play button at the top right hand box. Reminiscent of retro disco, complete with thumping electronic synths, this is pure decadence and lush melodies, nothing short of what you'd expect from glam-pop harkening from the 70s and 80s. They generally have quite short songs, ranging from 2:30 to 3:30, but this is slightly longer at 4:01. Escape into a world of fantasies and soak up the "inspired dance beats of Giorgio Moroder and the raw sexuality of Serge Gainsbourg’s collaborations with vixens, Jane Birkin and Brigitte Bardot, plus a twist of Marc Bolan-esque hooks and Goldfrapp’s technological pagan naturist ways." (as said on last.fm) This husband and wife duo(remember Handsome Furs) are definitely one to keep on your playlist and radar. Why this seems so familiar is because it was from my previous post and I just cut and paste. Sorry for being a little lazy. Hah.

official, myspace, last.fm


Inch Chua - Devotion in Reality
This is actually a link to her official page where you can do a download of the lovely EP of which this track is part of. And shoot me, but I'm reusing the write up of this song from an older post again, partly cause I've got no time, and there's really way too much to write.

Devotion In Reality delves deep into her past, musing about lost love. Of (broken) promises and heartbreak, you realise that this album could be about personal experiences. Well paced, with what sounds like a xylophone(?) in the background, the song slowly introduces you into her world, where the lack of lyrics mid song coincide with the opening to the door into that cosy, intimate world of hers and moves on, as if she's showing you around this wonderful place. I'm reminded of The Little Prince written by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, where the title character lives in a really tiny world (actually an asteroid), which is just about as big a house could be.

Listening to it again has made me realise this could be actually a very nice song to listen to if you're all alone on this Christmas where it's supposed to be a day of joy, love and giving.

official, purevolume, last.fm


Au Revoir Simone - Shadows
An emotional song which sees the trio going on about a break up, and how it affects both parties. The keyboards and synths are but only partners in crime in this intimate song. The dulcet yet at times appealingly flat sound of Erika's voice (I think) makes me want so much more.

official, myspace, last.fm

The Saturday Mix #18 - when the sun is drowned in a deathly sea

Phoenix - Lisztomania (Classixx Mix)
Classixx doing a mix on an awesome track from a fantastic album. Sweet stuff.

Shiny Toy Guns - You Are The One

Shiny Toy Guns - You Are The One (Gabriel & Dresden Mix)

White Lies - Death (Chase & Status Remix)
Very very interesting remix. Slightly slower beat than the actual song and there's a plucking instrument in the background of sorts.

Au Revoir Simone - Another Likely Story (Aeroplane Remix)

The xx - Basic Space
A really up and coming English dream pop/electronic group.

The xx - Basic Space (Pariah Remix)
The video it plays to is really fetching. It fits it pretty well. It's the movie "Vivre Sa Vie" by Jean-Luc Godard.

Girls #1

well, having featured my Going To Work playlist, here's another. and no prizes why it's been simply named as such.

1. Priscilla Ahn - Red Cape

2. Lykke Li - Dance Dance Dance

3. La Roux - Bulletproof

4. St. Vincent - Actor Out of Work

5. Au Revoir Simone - Stay Golden

6. Imogen Heap - Speeding Cars

7. Rachael Yamagata - Be Be Your Love

8. Feist - Brandy Alexander

X Factor UK #2 - the men who stare at goats

from left, Simon Cowell, Cheryl Cole, Dannii Minogue, Louis Walsh.

Au Revoir Simone - Another Likely Story
One of my favouritest bands, or i'd actually rather call them a group. Yet another lovely song by them.

it gets harder/I remember to remember/waking up again all over again

Black Eyes Peas - I Gotta Feeling
They're coming here for F1 Rocks! and bring the house down.


Some updates on UK X Factor which I'm following. Pretty girl and cute boy.

Lucie Jones singing Whitney Houston's I Will Always Love You
Really effusive praise from Simon. And I need to reiterate the fact that Cheryl Cole has a really really hot accent.

Lloyd Daniels singing I'm Yours and I'm not sure about the second song, which got him through

The Saturday Mix #15 - misery is all we know lately, saturdays are all the same

Friendly Fires - Paris
Our friendly band Friendly Fires (ok poor pun, but whatever!) brings us yet another song, Paris. These guys here have been nominated for this year's Mercury Prize. More notable winners have been Portishead (1995), PJ Harvey(2001), Franz Ferdinand (2004), Arctic Monkeys (2006), Elbow (2008).

So go and pack your bags/For the long haul/We're gonna lose ourselves

Friendly Fires - Paris ft. Au Revoir Simone (Aeroplane Remix)
A bit house sounding, but really chill.

Au Revoir Simone - Shadows (The Teenagers Remix)

Simian Mobile Disco - Cruel Intentions (feat. Beth Ditto)
SMD with another listing from TEMPORARY PLEASURE. I beg to differ, it is totally not temporary at all.

The xx - Crystalised

Miike Snow - Burial

Miike Snow - Burial (DJ Mehdi Remix)

THIS MONTH: what was and what will be

Well, August is coming to an end, and we're two-thirds through with the year. Music this year so far has been awesome. There's so many albums which could potentially be album of the year, nevertheless, here's some goodies released so far this year.



Of course, the much hyped Merriweather Post Pavilion by Animal Collective can most certainly not be left out. In fact, I'd think that MPP would be on nearly every Top Albums List of the Year. Something random, I've come across quite a number of people who say that Animal Collective sounds even better than they already do, when you're on drugs or on a high. Well, I should try listening to them when I'm on a high. Besides, they have this really dope optical illusion for their album cover. It's already making you see weird when you're sober, what more seeing it while you're high. Trippy!

Animal Collective - In The Flowers



This is one of my personal favourites for easy listening, like really, anytime anywhere. An unexplicable attraction to their songs is the easiest I can describe this. It's Au Revoir Simone with Still Night, Still Light. I did a review of it here and they certainly are much to love.

Au Revoir Simone - Knight of Wands



Dirty Projectors sure came a long way, since the time Longstreth struck it out on his own with "The Graceful Fallen Mango" and now releasing the critically acclaimed Bitte Orca, which means Please Orca or Please Whale, since Bitte is please in german and Orca is a species of carnivorous whale (remember Free Willy?) Their fresh experimental music is definitely here to stay.

Dirty Projectors - Temecula Sunrise



They are Robin Pecknold, Skyler Skjelset, Christian Wargo, Casey Wescott and Josh Tillman. They are Fleet Foxes. With their eponymous debut album, Fleet Foxes. Says Robin, who along with Skyler could be said to be the founders of Fleet Foxes, "We aim to be adventurous and true to ourselves and to enjoy our time together—the music we make is a reflection of our instincts... ...We love acoustic guitars, electric guitars, big rolling tom drums, mandolins, dulcimers, bass guitars, bass pedals, organs, pianos, kotos, and most of all harmony and melody.. ..try to draw from the traditions of folk music, pop, choral music and gospel, baroque psychedelic, sacred harp singing, West Coast music, traditional music from Ireland to Japan, and film scores, and are inspired by the music of our friends and contemporaries in the Seattle music family." Well, they've certainly succeeded in drawing from their influences, and clearly in Blue Ridge Mountains, there's the folksy english/irish sound accompanied by what I think is the mandolin.

Fleet Foxes - Blue Ridge Mountains


There's tonnes more good music out there, these musicians, bands or singers etc, with unrelenting fervour in doing what they do best - creating music. Here's a list of several more albums that have been put out so far this year and is in no particular order. Also, this list is by no means exhaustive, for every album I list here, there's probably 5 more as good/better albums out there. Feel free to add in your comments what you think are your favourite albums so far this year.

Dan Deacon "Bromst"
Reverie Sound Revue "Reverie Sound Revue"
Whites Lies "To Lose My Life"
Bibio "Ambivalence Avenue"
Handsome Furs "Face Control"
The Antlers "Hospice"
Fever Ray "Fever Ray"
Grizzly Bear "Veckatimest"
Phoenix "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix"
Miike Snow "Miike Snow"
O+S "O+S"
Ohbijou "Beacons"
Passion Pit "Manners"
Portugal. The Man "The Satanic Satanist"
St. Vincent "Actor"
The Decemberists "The Hazards of Love"
Camera Obscura "My Maudlin Career"
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart "The Pains of Being Pure at Heart"
Yeah Yeah Yeahs "It's Blitz!"
Florence + the Machine "Lungs"



Well, having said what was, now what will be. I'm pretty sure the later third of the year would not be a letdown, what with all the new releases anticipated by everyone out there. Here's some.

Yo La Tengo "Popular Songs"
The Big Pink "A Brief History of Love" The Big Pink - Dominos
Islands "Vapours"
The Pains of Being Pure at Heart "Higher Than The Stars EP" The Pains of Being Pure at Heart - Young Adult Friction
The Twilight Sad "Forget the Night Ahead"
Volcano Choir "Unmap"
Fool's Gold "Fool's Gold"
Memory Tapes "Seek Magic"
Headlights "Wild Life"
Sufjan Stevens "Run Rabbit Run" Sufjan Stevens - The Lord God Bird
Atlas Sound "Logos"
Fuck Buttons "Tarot Sport"
Built To Spill "There Is No Enemy"
Mayer Hawthorne "A Strange Arrangement" Mayer Hawthorne - Just Ain't Gonna Work Out
The Raveonettes "In and Out of Control"
Neon Indian "Psychic Charm"




See yall in September!

of love and heartbreak. loss and redemption. hope and despair.

Finished "Will You Be There?" by Guillaume Musso. It's similar to The Time Traveler's Wife in that this also uses time travel as a plot tool. While not as page turning as TTTW, it is a simple and lovely story in it's own right that I quite loved. Also, finished When We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro. A love story subtly woven into one set in the forties, where crime reared it's ugly forehead and a detective takes centrestage in this novel. His unique narration as provided by the main character takes some time getting used to, after which it provides a new perspective. However, plot is quite loose in my opinion, but nevertheless, I thought the character development of the protaganist was well fleshed out.

Au Revoir Simone - Dark Halls

Anberlin - Retrace

YACHT - Summer Song

The Saturday Mix #9 - on buses through the night, we sleep on and on

Seeland - Call The Incredible
myspace site of Seeland. Click on song and listen.

matt pond PA - Amazing Life

Priscilla Ahn - Rain

Feist - Brandy Alexander

Camera Obscura - French Navy

Meiko - Reasons To Love

Au Revoir Simone - Sad Song

THIS MONTH: ALBUMS TO LOOK OUT FOR + TOP 10 SONGS OF THE MONTH

This month marked the marked (and significant) increase in number of cases of the H1N1 flu around the world. oh boy.

Recent notable people who passed away were Farah Fawcett, Billy Mays and of course, Michael Jackson. RIP to yous.

But most importantly, some albums of note that were released this month:

Dirty Projectors - Bitte Orca

Bibio - Ambivalence Avenue

God Help The Girl - God Help The Girl






Roundup of my Top 10 songs of the month:

1. School of Seven Bells - Half Asleep

2. Blind Pilot - Go On, Say It

3. Rachael Yamagata - Duet (feat. Ray LaMontagne)

4. Dan Deacon - Snookered

5. The Postal Service - Such Great Heights

6. Priscilla Ahn - Dream

7. Home Video - I Can Make You Feel It

8. Au Revoir Simone - Take Me As I Am

9. The Most Serene Republic - Heavens to Purgatory

10. Gregory & The Hawk - Grey Weather

Note that they are in no order. It's really hard to decide what should be in the list and what shouldn't but well, it came down to it and I had to do it.

With respect to last Saturday's The Saturday Mix, here's Au Revoir Simone's new album, "Still Night, Still Light". This is their third album, following "Verses of Comfort, Assurance & Salvation" and "The Bird of Music".

While this outing may seem like the superficial electro-pop one expects from an all girl band, it's all that and so much more. They are all 3 keyboards and drum machine at once, and yet their own individuality stands out behind all that fussy group harmony. Sounding disarmingly minimalist, with their plain yet dulcet voices which are so oddly appealing, you're drawn slowly into their world of fantasy. Their alarming naivete and disconcerting emotional bedlam cannot be taken at face value for there is sincerity, tenderness and grace as can be seen in Shadows, where they sing "I'm moving on/I hope you're coming with me/because I'm not strong without you". The piercing simplicity of Take Me As I Am, "We’ve talked a million hours to end up just where we began", svelte keyboards a deft contrast to the stark beats of the drum machine in Shadows.

This album is their best yet, brilliantly executed, intimate and personal, it combines its veneer of naivete with an almost contradictory fervour, choosing to retain its fragile beauty without ever breaking it.

Au Revoir Simone - Shadows

Au Revoir Simone - Take Me As I Am

Au Revoir Simone - All or Nothing

The Saturday Mix #2

Meiko - Under My Bed

Priscilla Ahn - Red Cape

Azure Ray - Sleep

Imogen Heap - Goodnight and Go

Au Revoir Simone - The Lucky One

decided to do one featuring female artists.

i love meiko's songs, well written lyrics. i mean, most can actually identify with them. comparisons have been drawn between her and priscilla ahn (both have featured in Hotel Cafe in Hollywood). i think they're both really good singers and songwriters. the difference in that, is meiko's songs are more oriented towards love, and therefore sounds mellow. whereas priscilla ahn's songs are more "fluff-like" or rather light-hearted, be it singing about stuff like having a dream of flying from the highest tree, or having her red cape caught in the engine of a plane. but if you listen to it a bit more, there's prolly some deeper meaning to her songs. that said, i totally love them both.

will follow up with the new album by Au Revoir Simone sometime soon. how often does one find an indie pop band, all girls, with a touch of synth and electronic, and a damn fine one at that?