watch the birds in the airport gathering dirt

Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.

- T.S. Eliot


I find it fascinating how some people can go to lengths to challenge themselves, yet some of us are content just being in our comfort zone. I am guilty of the latter. Do I want to go out and experience everything the world has to offer, what life really is or continue leading this prosaic existence of mine?


The Raveonettes - Heart of Stone
I love the guitars here, so very reminiscent of old rock bands. But damn do the lyrics ooze heart wrenching pain and if I may use this word, emo.

MGMT - Flash Delirium
Sneak peak into their new album "Congratulations". Fresh and appealing, clearly not reusing the same recipe (electronic stuff) that gained them mainstream adulation. Kudos to trying out new stuff, and I must say I kinda like this song - it grows on you. Such random fun with witty lyrics that mindfucks you. Kinda.

Smile Smile - Tempo Bledsoe
Dandy and fine love song that tickles and charms you all at once. They were actually together when they first formed the band and wrote their first songs. However, they broke up just as people started noticing them, to which they channeled this experience as inspiration for their album "Truth on Tape".

Beach House - Lover of Mine
Nothing better than Beach House for a lovely rainy morning. Some say they don't change their style of dreampop, but heck, if one can do what they do really really well, why change? This is their third album and I'm still loving everything. Most.

In a wide open field we know we can feel
Awake and unreal, off to nowhere
Off to nowhere

Perfect imagery. Dandelions floating through the grass field, warm sunlight filtering through big oak trees, casting a golden hue on the dandelions which make them seem like fireflies in the daylight. The fleeting shimmer, mesmerising; that gentle breeze, caressing your face.

i feel like i'll never fall but there're no defenses if i'm right

SXSW 2010 is starting tomorrow, 17 March. It'll last till Sunday. Two Singaporean musicians will be there performing, Inch Chua at The Ghost Room at 10pm on Thursday while The Pinholes play at BD Riley's at 9pm on Friday. Let's hope they do Singapore proud by dishing out their best stuff!



Do Make Say Think - Chinatown
Beautiful. Stunning. Let the ambient sounds seep into every crevice of your soul; searching for it's resting place. Serenity defined in 5:30.

Javelin - Oh! Centra (mp3)
Cutesy voice with 8-bit beats reminiscent of 90s DOS games.

Letting Up Despite Great Faults - Our Younger Noise
Warm hazy shoegaze. I can't really catch the lyrics, but who cares, this is music!

The Pass - Colors
Catchy riffs with very intriguing lyrics about falling hard and fast in love.

my pockets hang out like two surrender flags

Well, back from St. Vincent's performance. Annie Clark and her partner-in-music, Daniel Hart, were simply brilliant. I would have led the standing ovation had I not been trying to take pictures as she was leaving since getting a picture was so hard with the eagle-eyed personnel who were making sure they'd approach anyone who were taking photos to tell them to not do so. So firstly, I didn't expect such a lithe and tall singer as Annie Clark strode in and with all the equipment lying around, I thought she had a band tagging along with her, but was surprised to see only Daniel.

We were greeted with a simple hello and she proceeded with The Strangers. Seeing her go all jangly and fuzzy with the electric guitar, while at times strumming wistfully was an odd juxtaposition to Daniel's masterful performance with the violin. One would have expected a reversal of roles in a more 'traditional' or stereotypical pairing, but the duo were anything but. I couldn't help but notice that both of them had an array of whatnots they had to fiddle with, be it the pedals, knobs etc. What was in front of us, or rather who, were two immensely talented people, vocally led by Annie Clark. As the night wore on, she warmed up to the crowd, engaging us with ease. Definitely treating us to a wonderful performance, she displayed such finesse on the guitar, almost seeming like a dancer as she moved back and forth 'tap dancing' on the pedals. It takes two to tango, and tango she did, not only with the pedals but Daniel too. His violin a perfect foil to her guitar, almost antithetical, as haunting strings moulded a perfect atmosphere where these two take centrestage and shine.

Introducing Just The Same But Brand New, she recounted her inspiration for this song, where her friend told her about an elderly New York socialite who wanted her new home renovated, BUT all the furniture has to be exactly the same as that of the old apartment. To much laughter from the audience, she said she liked the story for 3 reasons, the first being it was absolutely cool, the next was that the woman must have been bonkers, and the last was something I can't remember. Turning to look at Daniel almost conspiratorially, they burst into smiles. As she sang, with such exquisite panache, I was left thinking that I didn't want the night to end, as did many others I'm sure.

When she set down her guitar and sat herself at the piano, it only served to remind us how wonderfully talented this woman is, as she broke into "marry me john, marry me john, i'll be so good to you". A love song yet a lonesome ballad, she croons "I'm as fickle as a paper doll being kicked by the wind/when I touch down again I'll be in someone else's arms". Reaching the part where she goes "We'll do what Mary and Joseph did/Without the kid" there was yet more laughter, to which she paused and quipped that she likes it when people giggle instead of awkward silence, kinda shows that people get it. It's instances like these, that she endears herself to the audience and makes the performance all the more fantastic. She indulged us in a couple more songs and just before Black Rainbow, she mentioned that it would be her last song and that she too didn't want it to end and the possibility of turning it into a slumber party. Talking to us for a few more minutes and thanking us for being such wonderful audiences (plus many other superlatives), she finally started her song. Of course, she had to come back after raucous shouts of encore and clapping, treating us to the final song of the night before bowing off stage to rapturous applause, and some standing ovations.


Beneath that seemingly fragile veneer is actually a talented woman who graduated from supporting Sufjan Stevens to making it out on her own - Sufjan must be very proud of her. St. Vincent single-handedly made our nights, the performance was worth every penny and more. Brilliant showmanship, and at times eccentric with her spasmodic movements, the ebb and flow of her music, varied by distorted guitaring/electronic violin-ing and melancholic plucking/haunting strings, her full array of talents on display and leaving everyone in utter awe of a marvellous performance.



Sorry for the poor photos, couldn't look into the viewfinder to set the photo and pretty much couldn't use flash too so I had to set for long shutter.

The setlist for St. Vincent's 7.30pm performance is as follows.

The Strangers
Save Me From What I Want
Actor Out of Work
Jesus Saves, I Spend
Just The Same But Brand New
The Party
Dig A Pony (The Beatles Cover)
Marry Me
The Bed
Black Rainbow
Marrow
Encore: These Days (Jackson Browne Cover)

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 #39

Music Go Music - Light Of Love

Music Go Music - Light Of Love (diskJokke Remix) (mp3)
Up and coming Norwegian dude with a penchant for making some pretty dope remixes.

Foals - Olympic Airways (Supermayer Remix)

Lykke Li - Dance Dance Dance (Buraka Som Sistema Remix)
Those loops sound delicious as hell. Love that deep pulsing beat. Is that a genre that sounds like that? Pretty sure there is.

Hercules & Love Affair - Blind (Hercules Club Remix)
Interesting take on the song. They turned the horns part into something more electro sounding. You feel the bounce? Yeah, it's there.

Passion Pit - Sleepyhead (Cassette Club Remix)

Holiday for Strings - Two of You (The Toxic Avenger Remix)


Au Revoir Simone tomorrow night!!

i still feel the pain even after the prayer

Here we have an entirely free album offered to the masses by Fear of Tigers. Check it out here. So far, the only thing I've managed to glean is that Fear of Tigers is a one man electronic band from London, who is producer and former dolphin trainer Benjamin Berry.

You see that picture right up there, it's perfectly apt for this entire album. As you hit play, the image opens up and like a black hole, sucks you right into his fantasy world of happiness with 80s feel-good disco resonating from the trees. And if you see the trees bopping to the beat, funny looking beings that seem like oompa loompas going wild in this discobeat paradise, don't be surprised - it's natural. It's pure aural sugar rush, jazzing up your synapses as you need to start moving. Moving those feet right to that pulsating beat. Not moving is criminal, the biggest crime one can commit in this land of euphoria.

The title track is right where it belongs, in this lush soundscape made possible with samples. Disco muzak with catchy synths that rise and fall, clearly mimicked by your heart rate, it's still not the best there is in this solid album. Please Don't Leave has a solid driving beat with vocals by him(?, not sure) whilst I Can Make The Pain Disappear is the sonic equivalent of morphine, echo-ey vocals backed by a four-on-the-floor beat. Mr Berry here even manages to sneak in a little sweet surprise, as The Rich Cry Too with all that Daft Punk-ish keyboards might seem like just another song in happyland, but voila, a jazzy segment out of nowhere (prolly a sample) sets this well apart from the rest. Female vocals grace What Did I Do?, and if I had to answer that, I would be hard pressed not to tell Mr Berry that he made such a fantastic album. An oddity is Calling Your Name, it's very trance (but how does the rain and thunderstorm fit in? - I wonder) aka Groove Coverage yet manages to retain that nu-disco beat.

A fantastic album with 10 tracks each individual unto it's own, but listened together, you feel the all-too-familiar 80s disco infusion which reminds you that this is an album. A marvelous debut, an with none too few remixes under his belt which have been well-received, this man is gonna create planet Cossus or Snufsigalonica (whichever you prefer) where we'd wanna join him and his ragtag bunch of oompa loompas and grooving trees. Here's some magic for you to sample.

Fear of Tigers - The Rich Cry Too (mp3)

Fear of Tigers - Please Don't Leave (mp3)

Fear of Tigers - Calling Your Name (mp3)

brave men tell the truth

Vitalic - Second Lives
This is a way too awesome song. The doowop at the start, leading into a mysterious out of this world beat before spacing off. Fantastic beats punctuate the air, lent some oomph by the sick bassline. Vitalic is a maestro.

Vitalic - Trahison
A very simple song, yet it seems to elicit in me a vivid image of a person pondering by the wharf as waves crash upon the shore. Odd but yes, that's how it is.

Thievery Corporation - Until The Morning
Jazzy lounge sound. Very smooth and lush. Reverb adds a lovely ambient effect.

Röyksopp - Remind Me