January 17, 2009
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Reblogged tuneage:

Rachael Yamagata - “What If I Leave”

Slow, haunting, intense, emotional, warm, and prickly are just a few words one might use to describe this track by the disappearing act that is Rachael Yamagata.  She is just one of those artists that stays so under the radar that it’s easy to forget she even exists.  Her latest record though, “Elephants… Teeth Sinking Into Heart,” provides a swath of styles, both new and old.  One of the more subdued versions, I would recommend “Sidedish Friend” for a more rocked out type, if you’re into that sort of thing.  

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Rachael Yamagata’s got a new CD. I like her vibe, and I love her voice, but Happenstance didn’t exactly sink into me, save for Be Be Your Love and a couple of other songs towards the end of the CD (see what I mean when I say it didn’t sink in?). Will probably give it another spin and see whether I hear any light, before I decide whether I’ll check out this new one.

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December 28, 2008
Credits: mossy of OurHome SG WLH’s MUSIC-MAN concert was lauded the Best Chinese Pop Concert in Singapore in 2008 by the Sunday Times today. I am hardly surprised. Afterall he almost brought down the stadium that evening (I used almost because this sentence was meant to be interpreted in the literal sense, ha). I’ve never seen the Indoor Stadium rock SO hard before. Way to go! But it makes me laugh that the reviewer said he liked the concert because it was “suitably extravagant” and that “he [WLH] had magic tricks”. I get it that he’s giving him credit for showmanship, but the David Copperfields were kinda secondary you know? It would have been a more convincing review if he’d said things about how WLH whipped the audience up into a frenzied high and had the entire stadium rocking from song #1 onwards. I mean, this is Singapore afterall… to have the stadium behave the way it did, that was a feat in itself.

Credits: mossy of OurHome SG

WLH’s MUSIC-MAN concert was lauded the Best Chinese Pop Concert in Singapore in 2008 by the Sunday Times today. I am hardly surprised. Afterall he almost brought down the stadium that evening (I used almost because this sentence was meant to be interpreted in the literal sense, ha). I’ve never seen the Indoor Stadium rock SO hard before. Way to go!

But it makes me laugh that the reviewer said he liked the concert because it was “suitably extravagant” and that “he [WLH] had magic tricks”. I get it that he’s giving him credit for showmanship, but the David Copperfields were kinda secondary you know? It would have been a more convincing review if he’d said things about how WLH whipped the audience up into a frenzied high and had the entire stadium rocking from song #1 onwards. I mean, this is Singapore afterall… to have the stadium behave the way it did, that was a feat in itself.

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December 24, 2008

This song is so good it literally aches.

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December 22, 2008
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Another track from WLH’s upcoming album - 我完全没有任何理由理你

This song is absolutely wicked. I can’t stop smiling at how evil the lyrics are. When he starts dissing the other guy’s musical prowess (or lack thereof), I can almost hear a smile of immense amusement in his voice (or should I say, smirk of immense satisfaction?).

Hopefully there are more tracks along this vein in the upcoming album. I was kinda disappointed that more than half of the tracks featured on the radio show were K-ballads. Whatever happened to the rock album that was meant to be this album? I was looking forward to a high dose of edginess and to my eardrums being blasted from all those crashing guitars… but from what I’ve heard so far, this album seems to be walking towards SafeWay… sigh. I guess I shouldn’t be jumping to conclusions until I hear the entire album. Till then, I am crossing my toes that Sony hasn’t been freaked out enough by the lacklustre response to 《摇滚怎么了！！》to turn the album into some karaoke-friendly CD just so that it sells.

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December 10, 2008
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Wang Leehom’s latest single - 心.跳 (Heartbeat)

I wasn’t expecting myself to like this so much actually, cuz I’m more a quirky-song WLH fan than a ballad WLH fan. And plus, this song is SO K (karaoke… no offense, but it is!) But fact now is, I’m severely hooked. I had it on obsessive repeat on my way home this evening, and it doesn’t sound like it’s gonna die from an over-spin anytime soon. There’s something about the chorus that keeps me going back to the song again and again. No doubt the amazing hook played a part, but that aside, this chorus just sounds SO velvety. It’s the groove, the electric guitar, the harmonies and WLH’s newfound raspiness all rolled together. I’m really curious how the hi-fi version will sound. Much better, I’m sure. Just hoping that I’ve not over-spun the song to death before the album gets released.

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December 3, 2008

Of planets and moons...

Khalil’s second single. Loving his bridge once again. :) The album’s slated to be released on 19 Dec, and apparently it’s titled Orange Moon. Not sure if he’s intending to go Nick Drake-ish, but from the 1st 2 singles I’ve heard, seems like he isn’t, yet. But it sure sounds like he’s going down austere lane in this upcoming album — no more mish-mash of 3 million layers of instruments. I’m not complaining though. In fact, I am very curious as to how this Orange Moon’s supposed to sound.

And I’m finding it strangely coincidental that another album that I’m wildly anticipating has planets in its title as well (ok, I know the moon’s technically not a planet). Not sure how reliable the source is, but apparently Wang Leehom’s upcoming album is called 典型的火星装地球. No I didn’t make any typo. Probably my source did… but knowing (or rather, not knowing) the ever-unpredictable WLH, this off-beat title may be the real deal afterall. I don’t know, I’ll just wait and see.

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December 2, 2008

That Feist Sesame Street vid has gotten me into an Elmo feat. superstar video rampage.

Even though Tony Bennet was evidently tickled by Elmo’s antics throughout the song, for some reason this makes me wanna cry. The way Elmo goes “bloop-bloop-bloop-blip-blip-blip” when the song goes “I believe in little things/Like icy drops of rain”… it’s as if he really believes.

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December 1, 2008

I’m so hooked to Feist I Youtube her on Sesame Street / Sesame Street her on Youtube… Ugh. You get what I mean.

This is majorly cute.

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November 19, 2008
There was a request to see the original version of this picture on Flickr. The original’s really, one big mess… so there’s no way it’s gonna appear on my Flickr account. Here it is instead. Brace yourselves.

There was a request to see the original version of this picture on Flickr.

The original’s really, one big mess… so there’s no way it’s gonna appear on my Flickr account. Here it is instead. Brace yourselves.

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October 21, 2008

Khalil’s latest single, and I ain’t disappointed! It’s one of those songs which makes you wanna sing and dance along to your iPod. In fact, imho it sounds like one of those songs Apple would pick for their iPod ad. Lovin’ that groove!

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