Hello Again

Okay, so right after I announce a hiatus, I actually know what to write about. These bursts of inspirations are so unpredictable. 1 month of no blogging! That's a track record I got there. Here goes:

There's something about music that we all love.

I for one, enjoy it to a passion so strong, that if music ceased to exist, I might just jump off KL Tower.

What I love so much about music, is the emotion that each note conveys.

Listen to angry music, and you'll probably feel motivated to hit someone.

Listen to happy music, and your mood lifts up a little.

Don't you find it amazing how well music affects us all so easily?

We're talking about emotions, in people, the most difficult part of the human mind to manipulate.

You can't make people feel happy, sad, or angry.

It comes of free will.

But music, good music, pulls it off so easily.

Come to think of it, music and writing are actually quite similar.

I said similar, not the same.

Think about it, like I said, when you hear happy music, your mood lifts up a little.

Likewise with writing, a good author can evoke feelings that the reader wouldn't be feeling before the person reads his/her piece.

Remember the time you read Harry Potter? If you haven't read the book you seriously need to go dig a hole.

Now tell me, even if you didn't cry about it, that you weren't sad or outraged when Sirius died?

Or when Dumbledore died?

Okay so maybe you wanted them to die (if you did, I hate you), don't tell me you didn't at least have a burst of "YES NOW THEY'RE BOTH GONE! YOU DIE NOW POTTER! LONG LIVE THE DARK LORD! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" sort of feeling? (you evil, evil person)

See, before hearing the melody, or reading the story,

People don't care.

I mean, why would they?

Why should they read or listen to something that has nothing to do with them?

We're all selfish by nature, when it all comes down to it.

So what makes us want to read? Or to listen to the music people make?

My guess is, that whatever was produced is powerful enough to make people love it.

Enough to catch their attention, and hold it, for hundreds of years.

This actually relates to advertising, in a strange way.

Or maybe not so strange.

The way I see it, advertising is pretty much fighting for that kind of attention people give music and stories.

A great ad, can actually make people on the street stop, and stare for a very very long time.

And do more than staring.

The ad would hit them right in the gut.

Mess up their emotions.

Make them happy, angry or sad.

They'd actually want to find out what it's all about,

Be able to relate to the ad, whatever it's selling.

Generate some sort of hype over the product,

And we're sold.

And what would make the ad even better?

The very fact that out of billions of ads created, it can still be remembered for years to come.

That's what I think.

How do we achieve that?

At the moment, I really can't answer this.

My time in the industry hasn't been long enough.

I say give it maybe a few years.

Then I'll come back to you on this.

Jason Walker - Down

Not that I'm emo or anything,

Neither am I a fan of Vampire Diaries.

But I've been addicted to this song for about a week, so I feel the need to post it up.

Enjoy!

Spotlight: On The Pierces

Now why is it that I have never talked about this duo?

After the first song I've heard from these two (Secret), I was completely hooked.

They have a style completely their own, and that shows creativity.

The duo comprises of two sisters - Allison and Catherine Pierce who hail from Birmingham, Alabama.

So far, they have had 3 albums - The Pierces, Light of the Moon, and Thirteen Tales of Love and Revenge.

The duo appeared on Gossip Girl, performing two of their songs (and personal favourites of mine) - Secret and Three Wishes.

What I like about this band is that they are unconventional. And I love that.

This is a very sinister song that talks about keeping secrets.

The beauty of it isn't that it sounded evil.

The thing is, it's meant to sound evil. Yet it's just so cool you can't help but like it.

I predict great things for this band. Not in the mainstream, I think.

But Indie. Definitely Indie.

Guilty Pleasure

This is it, I'm coming out of the closet.

I love Korean music.

I swoon over the hot Korean guys.

I am a (borderline) Korean fan girl.

Big bang rocks kay.

Especially Top. Mm that voice. ;)

Here their latest video, and I must say, they are getting better and better.

Be My Escape

Yes yes this blog is getting super depressing.

Here's... Ah, an attempt to lighten the mood.

I love Relient K. :)

However, I prefer this version of the song, compared to the original one.

This song is meant to be sung slow, I feel.

The original one had too many instruments, and was sung a bit too fast.

Not to say it wasn't good. It's just that the orchestral placement, and tempo were a bit off.

As in, it didn't suit the melody, and especially, the deeply meaningful lyrics.

I mean, I heard the original first and I thought it was cool.

Then I found the acoustic, and I thought it sounded perfect.

Lady Gaga = Satanic

Got this from Deirdre Wong.

Honestly, I laughed when I saw this.

And no, it's not because I believed that Lady Gaga was satanic all along.

Just to be clear, yes I am Christian. No, I am not bashing my own religion. No, I have no problem whatsoever with the religion itself.

But seriously???? All the social issues and problems happening in the world and you people choose to uncover this??

So who are you to judge? According to the Bible, we're not supposed to judge........ Now open that book and tell me I'm wrong.

It kinda looks as though some extremists really hated Lady Gaga and decided to distort her lyrics.

You know, I think there's a continent called Africa somewhere on Earth where people are dying of starvation......... But apparently dying people aren't important enough for you people to help.

Someone, please help me understand

Justin Bieber, ladies and gents.

How this guy can have so many mentally unstable (YES MENTALLY UNSTABLE) fans?

The little psychos sent death threats to Kim Kardashian just 'cos he called her his girlfriend (APPARENTLY untrue. I don't follow tabloid.)

I mean hello? He's a 16 year old who squeaks like a mouse. He sounds like a girl. CAN YOU PEOPLE NOT SEE THAT? I mean, is he even a HE? By normal standards, or as far as I know, by the time a guy hits 16, his voice gets deep.

I swear, the minute his voice breaks, his career ends.

If his voice never breaks, I swear he's a SHE in disguise.

I suppose he can sing lah, I mean, to give him the benefit of the doubt, his voice is okay....... If he were a girl.

I watched one of his interviews for the first time (I refused to have anything to do with him prior to this entry), and the moment he spoke I nearly fell off my chair.

I mean picture this, oh wait you don't have to picture it, here's the video!

I pretty much expected his voice to sound at least a little like a teen boy, but holy cow, this boy in a soon-to-be man's body strolls in and the minute he talks.... It's a squeak.

And is it just me, or do his lyrics lack creativity?

Sure, his songs are long enough to qualify as a "song", but there sure are a lot of repeats of the same words.

Exhibit A:

Baby - Justin Bieber

I don't know, I lost count of the number of times he sang "baby" and "oh".

Honey, that is not creativity. That we call "copy paste". I cannot tell you how many times I've suffered every time this song played on the radio. Dear Lord, make it stop.

And it gets stuck in my head for an annoyingly long time. Dear God please take it away!

I'm sure most of you have heard his songs already, so I'm not gonna put any more up here.

Seriously, how can anyone get turned on by this, unless the person is a pedophile? Now I am not saying his fans are pedophiles, there is a question mark at the end of that sentence. The purpose of that is to leave it ambiguous.

So I don't know. All I see is a little boy (or is it a girl) in a supposedly growing man's body prancing around singing songs that honestly lack creativity.

Can someone please tell me what is so sexually appealing?

Big Bang's Top - Solo.

Now that's what I call a manly voice. He has the manliest voice I've ever heard so far. And boy is it deep. *swoons*

Robin Thicke - Lost Without You

Now that's a sexually appealing voice. This guy can turn me on in one note. Mm.

I'm gonna have Justin Bieber psycho fan death threats now, aren't I?

On the Borderline - Sally Seltmann

I love The Hype Machine. Great place to score new Indie music.

On the Borderline - Sally Seltmann

Here's a girl that caught my attention while I was listening on the radio, and it was this song that got me interested.

On the Borderline is one of the songs from Sally's new album, Heart That's Pounding which was released on April 6th 2010.

To those who don't know, Sally Seltmann is a singer-songwriter based in Melbourne. She used to perform under the alias "New Buffalo" until 2009. For more information on her, go here.

Here's what I think:

The song starts off with a nice gentle, calming tune. And that's what it is - gentle. I find her voice so melting, so pure. Every note she sings seems heartfelt. In this song, Seltmann sings about getting on with life (assuming after a break up with a boyfriend).

In every note she sings, it is as if she is singing to a friend, consoling the friend and encouraging her (or him, but I'm going with a her) to move on in the gentlest way possible. She reminds me a little bit of Feist, whose song 1234 was co-written by her.

So from the sounds of it, I'm pretty sure it's safe to say you can expect soft, gentle and mellow tunes in the album. I haven't heard it yet, but I'm definitely gonna try and give it a listen. :)

Rating: 8/10

Let's Take a Moment...

Now doesn't this remind you of a Lady Gaga performance?

But that doesn't look like Lady Gaga, does it?

So who IS this person who is leeching off Lady Gaga's style?

World, meet Jelena Karleuša.

A Serbian pop singer.

Not only is she unoriginal, she lip syncs. At least that's how I see it.

I'm pretty sure she can't really sing.

If a person NEEDS to lip sync, it just goes to show how horrible you are in singing.

Hence the need to lip sync.

Now, boys and girls, say it with me,

COPYCAT!!!!

Where IS the Music Industry Headed?

Now can someone PLEASE explain to me WHY they kicked him out?

I don't follow the AI series that much (my schedule is borderline crazy. So it's a privilege if I get to watch anything on the television), and in this season, I only managed to watch the first episode.

This was the ONE guy who made me actually go WOW.

If it were humanly possible to melt just like that, I would have.

Out of all the contestants I watched in that episode, he was the one I remembered the most.

Because of his great voice. His ever so melting Oh My Great Granny voice.

He IMPROVED Joan Osbourne's "What If God Was One of Us".

In my books, you had to be really really good to surpass the singer of a good song.

And I thought hey, this guy has talent.

Despite the fact that he still needs to learn to control his voice, the fact remains that this dude has raw talent.

Few more lessons and he'd be mind-blowingly great.

So when I got the news from a friend yesterday (yes lah I live in a cave), I was pissed.

Because they kicked him out for a stupid reason.

They. Freaking. Edited. His. Video. And. Made. Him. Look. Like. A. Diva.

Idiots.



Not many singers can carry off "Man in the Mirror". All along I thought only Michael Jackson could do it.

Till Jermaine Sellers came in. (Not saying he's greater than MJ. MJ is unbeatable. Yes I'm biased)

This guy has the potential to improve the musical industry.

With so many digitally enhanced voices out there, it would really help if we had more "solidly original" voices.

Am I the only one who notices how different singers sound compared to their recorded music and onstage?

I can already list down a few....

Lady Gaga and Avril Lavigne are just two examples. (I'm not saying there aren't any "original" singers out there)

Now Jermaine here, with his talent he doesn't need his voice to be digitally enhanced.

Just a few voice lessons will probably do.

And just a few weeks ago I thought he'd go far.

And they dropped him like a bomb just like that.

It's sabotage I tell you.

My friend showed me one contestant who managed to remain on the show.



And I went hey good job dude, you managed to turn an okay song to a completely horrible song.

Then I read the title -

Lee DeWyze - Fireflies (American Idol 9 TOP 16)

And I went: WHAT?? This guy made it to the top 16??? ARE THEY INSANE?

I was even more pissed.

Dahlah I was stressing over my assignments at the time.

In case you were wondering, music is something I take very seriously.

And as an on again, off again American Idol follower, seeing talent like that being beaten up by people like that, seriously turns me off.

Am I disappointed? Oh you have no idea.

Spotlight: On Yuna

Alright, it's a Malaysian singer.

I don't normally listen to Malaysian singers, but this girl totally got me hooked.

I couldn't believe that she was a Malaysian singer.

Deeper Conversation was the first song I ever heard from her.

And from then on, my perception of Malaysian artists changed.

Yuna, whose actual name is Yunalis Zarai, was born on November 14, 1984.

Her birthplace is in Alor Setar, Kedah, Malaysia.

She is an independent singer/songwriter who has been writing songs since she was 14 years old.

Her first performance of her own songs was when she was 19.

On a side note, Yuna was also a law student at Universiti Teknologi MARA.

She completed her studies in 2009.

She also owns a blogshop (iamjetfuel.blogspot.com) as a side project.

Yuna's musical influences come from a few of my own personal favourite artists such as Feist, Coldplay, Bob Dylan and The Cardigans.

Her music is pretty much between easy listening and a bit of jazz.

It's the kind of music you'd wanna listen to in a cafe, if it were a live performance it'd be even better.

Yuna describes her music as "a cross between Mary Poppins and Coldplay".

I'm seeing the Coldplay part, but I don't get the Mary Poppins area.

It was due to the strong following she gained in MySpace that Yuna rose successfully in the Malaysian Indie scene.

Her band members are Farhan Fadzlishah on guitars, Efry Arwiz on bass, and Adli Ali on drums.

Though I doubt Yuna would make it to the international scene (unless she migrates), I do believe she has some promise in Malaysia.

But then again, indie isn't meant to be famous. It's meant to stay untapped, untouched , original and definitely NOT mainstream.

But if you're into indie, this is definitely a girl you wanna watch out for. :)

You Take My Breath Away

Check it! it's Rachael Yamagata's newest song!



You Take My Troubles Away by Rachael Yamagata and Dan Wilson.

Part of the soundtrack from Dear John. :)

This song has a very light and easy tune, a huge difference from Ms. Yamagata's last duet with Ray LaMontagne.



Duet, from the New Moon soundtrack, which has a very sorrowful tune.

I actually expected You Take My troubles Away to be about as emo as Duet, but I was wrong.

Old words
when there's so much to tell,
and I don't know when I'll be there again.

In life, when you're driven away,
Will you recognize the one who returns?
Sweet one,
the beauty that you are in the dawn
Dear love,
all I ask is that you hold on.

Nonetheless, it is still a beautiful song.

However, I don't really hear much of Dan Wilson's vocals.

It was more like Rachael's voice was highlighted throughout the song,

And Dan Wilson was more of "background music".

Or it could be because Rachael's voice is very distinct.

Other than that I have no problems. :)

From the moment I heard about it, I've been searching frantically all over Google to have a listen at this song. Needless to say, I wasn't very successful.

That is, until Chester posted it up on my wall for me.

For that I am very grateful indeed. :)

Spotlight: On Psapp

Given my musical background (playing the violin/studying music for about..... 10 years over?),
I was hugely inclined to listening to music from all sorts of genre.
Just to widen my perspectives.
Except heavy metal/ death metal/ whatever metal there is that is wrecking the whole meaning of music.
And hip hop (I don't see the point, seriously. Suckiest lyrics. The ones I've heard so far lah).
So I started listening to the radio.
And I thought, hey not bad! Great songs to listen to here.
But then it got tiring.
Because radios overplay songs.
It can turn a great song into a very very annoying song.
I don't know it's probably my music taste.
Or it could be just me.
I hate anything that's overplayed.
I get sick of it in a week, at most.
I started straying from mainstream.

So I got into the indie scene. And I basically stayed there.
I didn't discover it till much later.
And they were good.
Not overplayed, highly untouched, and non-conforming.
I loved it.
And from there I found electronica.
I loved that too.
One of my favourite electronica bands, the first I've ever listened to,
is Psapp (pronounced sapp)


Psapp is one of the quirkiest bands in the music industry.
It comprises of Carim Clasmann and Galia Durant.
Carim is a guitarist/producer.
Galia is a vocalist/keyboardist/violinist.
Hence, it's basically Galia who sings.

They are sometimes credited with inventing toytronica.
Toytronica is a form of electronica made with toys and toy instruments.
Psapp uses toy guitars, flutes, and a chicken they named Brunhilda.
Psapp's music is indie-pop influenced, a mixture of sultry vocals, and quirky electronic beats.
So far, they've produced four albums.
Northdown, Tiger, My Friend, The Only Thing I ever Wanted and The Camel's Back.
And five EPs.
Do Something Wrong, Hi, Rear Moth, Buttons and War, and Early Cats and Tracks.

Now you may have heard Psapp.
If you've watched Grey's Anatomy.
They are the ones responsible for composing the song Cosy in the Rocket.
The main theme in the series.

The reason why I love Psapp,
is because it's very cute.
And it's weird.
Yes I like weird things.
But weird, in a good way. If you know what I mean.
Their music is great for... Well, people who are up for something.. Hugely different.
So I suppose it's somehow hard to accept their music.
But I find them creative.
They stand out.
I especially love listening to them in those nights when I'm pouring over my last minute assignments.
They keep me awake, and lower my stress level, in a sense.
And they aren't distracting, like how rock music would completely distract me (not to say rock music isn't good, I'll get on that in another post).
These guys won't.

So here's a sample of their songs.
It's called The Monster Song.

Description:

"The Monster Song is a sad song about loss and depression; its the morning after the big night before, when the green eyed monster is lurking around every corner, just waiting to pounce.

Despite its dark and uneasy lyrical content, The Monster Song has an uplifting and playful pop edge due to Psapp's trademark use of found sounds and Galia's harmonising vocals.

The Monster Song is a taste of what to expect from The Camels Back, Psapp's most starkly beautiful record to date."

- taken from the music video description from Domino Records.

So pay attention to the lyrics, and enjoy. :)

Next week, I'll be doing a spotlight on an artist I should've done last year.
Chester, you are going to love me for this. :)