Beyoncé - Single Ladies (live)

I'm just thinking if they can bring in Rihanna who is not that great, why not Mrs Shawn Carter (Why?!?! Why?!??!)? She's got a killer all-female band Suga Mama with TWO drummers. Even that's fuckin' over the top for me.

Wah piang eh!!!

Kinho and me over MSN.

Bassline..... Dirty! says:
joshua firefight said he took a pic with maria ozawa in heeren just a moment ago
Willy thinks it's about time to get a 1 TB HDD says:
zhun boh?!?!?!
Willy thinks it's about time to get a 1 TB HDD says:
where u see?
Bassline..... Dirty! says:
fb
Bassline..... Dirty! says:
coolz
he say he'll upload tonight
Bassline..... Dirty! says:
well, time to get yo'ass to heeren and ask her to star in the latest lard bro mtv haha

Maria fuckin' Ozawa! Or should it be fuckin' Maria Ozawa? Hurhurhur...

For those who are not familiar with her, ahem, body of work. Here is her profile. Below is a picture of her.



Yeah... I'm sure the boys and I can think of a good concept if we can afford to get her to appear in a music video... Hell yeah...

Astroboy teaser

It's like we never grew up! You can bet your last Telecaster that Jonny Greenwood will be queuing up to catch this!

Quite a pointless but visually exciting exercise if you ask me...

Odette Yustman

If you have caught the nausea-inducing Cloverfield (I really suck at watching and playing movies or games with the shaky 1st person perspective), you might have remembered the really cute brunette which the male lead braved through the devastation to rescue. That's Odette Yustman. Looking at her fine form, it's pretty understandable why someone will risk limb for her.

She stars in an upcoming horror flick by David Goyer (the guy who wrote 'Batman Begins'). The trailer is below. Not that scary.



Check out the official poster. One of my favourite sites CHUD mentioned her "camel-toe will be probably the best special effects the film will ever have". And it's free! Check out the additional comments here.

The Hoosiers - We Didn't Start The Fire (live)

Okay, I've been posting YouTube music videos the whole day but check this out!!! It's a fuckin' insanely amazing cover of the classic (depends on how you see it) Billy Joel song. I heard them a bit through their really great cover of Justin Timberlake's 'Love Stoned'. Their own tunes are really good too. Run Rabbit Run and Cops And Robbers/ Mockumentary.

Garuda feat. Andy Gusmarro & Nadirah T - I Gots Mine

I didn't know Sharhrinn's got his own music video man! Hahaha. He helped us out on The Lard Brothers' track 'Wish You'll Never Leave Time' along with DJ Koflow.

伍佰 - 你是我的花朵

Taiwanese rocker Wu Bai's ode to Beng-techno, 'You Are My Flower'. I love this song! It's fuckin' hilarious!

Ugly In The Morning - Me Not Humphrey At 23

Ugly In The Morning Singapore from Kenny Png on Vimeo.

This will be the first single from their sophomore album. Kenny shot the one-take video. It's pretty funny.

Peter, Bjorn & John - Young Folks

Robin sent me this video after we heard Nat spin it yesterday. The video is pretty good. Somehow it reminded me of Negishi-kun from Detroit Metal City. Probably because it sounds like trendy French pop. Hahaha...

Songs I really like in 2008...

I think this is in no particular order.

Keane - Spiralling



This song is perfect! Not a wasted note. Including the percussive intro!

Common - Universal Mind Control



Though Lupe Fiasco is cool, I wish they'd bring in Common next year for WorldWide Fest.

Kanye West - Love Lockdown



Vampire Weekend - Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa



I'm not a fan but this song and the original video is winning me over.

Jerome Kugan - This Excellent Love



*weeps tears*

Zero Sequence - Transcendence



Okay, I couldn't find the 'Grim Phantasm' video so I used this instead.

Beyonce - If I Were A Boy



I like the ballads from the album more.

Hercules And Love Affair - Blind



The original version with Antony Hegarty can be found here.

Plainsunset - The River Song



I love this song. The best Concave Scream song which Concave Scream didn't write.

Eli Stone

Sometimes you see George Michael singing 'Faith' in your office.

Caprica trailer

The Lard Brothers boys and all our usual geeky friends (Yeeyong, Billy, Robin, etc) whom we hang out with are HUGE BattleStar Galactica (BSG) fans. Except for Max. He only likes Take That. That's all he's raving about these days. This is the trailer for the spin-off prequel from BSG.

BSG returns for the final season in another 23 days! I can't wait! Woo hooo!!!

The Curious Case Of Benjamin Button trailer

David Fincher (he did Seven and Fight Club), Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett. Nuff said!

Favourite albums of 2008 part 10

Numero diez: Allura - Wake Up And Smell The Seaweed



It will always seem biased when you write about one of the bands which you work with. While I quite like the debut EP, there's this nagging notion in the back of my mind that something is truly missing from the album. I can't decide if it's because it's an EP which is just wrong to me these days. I prefer to listen to longer albums which means more songs. Or it requires more intricate layers (more vocal harmonies and other instruments) cause songs, at least to me, could be peeled back like onions. But as usual, it's the singer who sells the song. Inch has a very "niao-niao" (Hokkein for "feline") timbre about her voice which is intriguing. And they have funny song titles which is normally half the battle won.

Rock In The Fine City

Kinho found this blog which reviews and talks about the past Singapore rock'n'roll bands. This one-man love affair (I've no idea the writer is) with our independent rock music heritage which easily trashes most stuff that I've read before. Yeah, even that crappy Aging Youth web-zine.

The review of Humpback Oak's career brought a tear to my eyes. And this one about the Boredphucks' Banned In Singapura as well. Makes me feel like digging out the demos to catch their paean to MediaCorp star Zoe Tay's Singlish English and Ah Lians which is simply titled 'Zoe Tay'.

Fuck yeah!!!

Favourite albums of 2008 part 9

Numero nueve: Akira Kosemura - Tiny Musical



I discovered his stuff when I was in HMV, Tokyo. Some of you might know that a few Singapore acts really worship these Japanese ambient acts. So I chanced upon Akira Kosemura's latest album and had a listen on the player. Well, I wasn't gonna get it unless I was sure. It was Yen2,300 which worked out to be $32 for the album. CDs are fuckin' too expensive there.

It was pretty amazing. Simple but yet very elegant. But being the Singaporean I am, I decided to scout for the best offer out there. Unfortunately, there weren't and I got myself a 1st-hand copy at their 2nd-hand outlet, Disk Union. Fuckin' Japanese... they drive a harder bargain than us Singaporeans!

The album is still pretty amazing. Check out the collaboration he did with a dancer using the piece 'Light Dance' below.

Nick Chim

Just a man, an acoustic guitar and his feelings. No, it's not James Dean Bradfield (who has proven that he IS the only required Manic Street Preacher!) this time.

When rockers are tired of the crunchy distorted electric guitars, most of them retreat to the quiet confines of an acoustic side-project, exploring their emotions and feelings keenly. Nick from Vertical Rush does the same thing, tapping upon his love for folk troubadours. I like 'Our Love Has Grown So Cold' in particular with the melancholic cello droning in the background. Nice. Check it out. I think a debut (solo) album is due soon.

Hey, not everyone goes out and records a hip-hop-based album of covers when he is bored. Some people like acoustic songs more!

Favourite albums of 2008 part 8

Numero ocho: Fleet Foxes - Fleet Foxes



I love the tune 'White Winter Hymnal'. Check out the subliminal vocal harmonies. Kick ass! So Beach Boys!

Favourite albums of 2008 part 7

Numero siete: Black Kids - Partie Traumatic



Robert Smith, look what you have spawned.

Produced by Bernard Butler, Partie Traumatic is the debut album from a racially diverse group from Florida. It's a collection of uptempo catchy pop tunes sung by a guy who looks like a bastard child of Robert Smith and RuPaul. Yes, RuPaul. Check out the live performance of the first single 'I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You'.

Favourite albums of 2008 part 6

Numero seis: Jerome Kugan - Songs For A Shadow



Jerome played for one of our shows in October which I missed as I was out of the country. Apparently, the rest of the guys were instant converts when they heard his soundcheck. That's pretty telling of his talents. Weiyuan insisted I listen to his new album which I did.

It's really great.

You can call the album a folktronica one; the tunes are generally acoustic songs embellished with minimal electronic flourishes. Jerome reminds me of Haykal in a way where both of them are poets first, then musicians though Haykal's lyrics are usually the stream-of-consciousness type where Jerome takes a storytelling approach at times. Of course, as with 50% of all KL indie releases, Adlin is involved; he plays electric guitar textures on 'This Excellent Love'.

And it's that voice as well. I'd be akin to call him Malaysia's Antony Hegarty. Well, which I just did. However, Jerome never over-emotes or becomes too melodramatic for the song, keeping it sweet and tender at times and sarcastic in others. Check out his songs (the full album) on his blog and the live performance of 'Tomas' below.

Gene Kasidit

Apparently, the flamboyant Thai Gene Kasidit has left Futon. I've worked with Futon when I was working in the nightlife industry years ago. I loved their electro-rock sound which was pretty cool to me. Their manager was a dickhead but that's another story.

To me, Futon has always gotten more attention for the wrong reason. Okay, so you might have absorbed Suede's ex-drummer Simon Gilbert into the band. While he is a decent drummer, he was nowhere as exciting as the rest of his previous bandmates. Hence, Futon's real crowd-puller and appeal, to me, has always been Gene. Without him, Futon sounds pretty crap these days, flogging the same dead thrashy-glam-slutty-electro-punk horse for the past few years. Check out the rehearsals of their stuff here.

His voice is amazingly rich and full of drama. It's fuckin' over-the-top. I love it. He explains why he left Futon in this interview. He's uploaded a few demos on his MySpace page which sounds pretty decent.

My Bloody Valentine - Sometimes (Lost in Translation OST)

Watching this fan-made video using selected scenes from Sofia Coppola's 'Lost In Translation' reminds of 2 upsetting things.

1) Scarlett Johansson is married.

2) I wish I were back in Tokyo. The night scenes in the movie were beautifully shot.

Yay!

It's the end of the year and we have been mentioned in 2 lists for Top Albums/ Songs of 2008. That's really sweet to know!

Writer Samuel C Wee has named Forest Action Team as his no. 4 favourite album on the music blog Power of Pop. You can read his other selections here.

Unpopular radio podcaster Charanpal Singh aka Tan[g]kap Suxx chose our rendition of The Padres' 'Radio Station' as his 8th favourite song of 2008. Joe Foo aka Koff Koff helped us out on vocals for the tune. Check out unpopular radio here and download the podcast here.

If you haven't downloaded the album Forest Action Team, get it here.

Special thanks to our friends who helped out on the album and the original composers for letting us mangle their tunes! We will be back with a new album next year (and might be able to make it by National Day... again) and some new shows which are in the pipeline.

Favourite albums of 2008 part 5

Numero cinco: Kanye West - 808s & Heartbreak



What more can I say? In the music genre of big egos, this guy probably takes the cake but it so happens that he's way more inventive than any of his peers.

Joe Ng

The idea for the next Lard Brothers album is to comb through our own music heritage and sample direct from our music history. Who else better to bug for a rich and diverse discography of our music heritage? Joe, of course. There's an article on him last year. Still the man after all these years.

Favourite albums of 2008 part 3

Numero tres: B-Quartet - Tomorrow Is Our Permanent Address



Yeah, it's kinda wanky since I've been involved in the album's production and release. But what the hell, I love it! If you haven't heard their stuff, check them out here. They are currently developing new material for the sophomore album and according to frontman Haykal, most of the songs are written and they are just arranging them now. I love them as much as I hate them! Argh!

Favourite albums of 2008 part 2

Numero dos: The Roots - Coming Down



Same band, same rapper, same amazing drummer with a 'fro comb, a slightly different sound. Check out the lead single '75 Bars' which is structurally weirder than what they have done. No chorus with a fuzzed up bassline. The following video 'Rising Up' is my favourite cut off the album.

Favourite albums of 2008 part 1

In less than 2 weeks, we will be wrapping up the year. Here are my favourite cuts which I've come into contact over the course of this year. I'll probably list them down one-by-one, starting from No. 1. Fuck the idea of a countdown. I can change my mind about the placement as I go along as well. Of course, that means I would still have time to listen to stuff I haven't had the chance to.

Numero uno: Flying Lotus - Los Angeles



I really love how this album sounds: a whole blend of glitch, IDM, hip-hop and dub-step with a thick dosage of buzzes, hisses and clicks. It sounds fuckin' great and amazing. Also known as jazz legend Alice Coltrane's grand nephew, Steven Ellison has created a soundtrack to his city of residence. Strangely, listening to the album evoked the imagery and scenes from Michael Mann's 2004 crime thriller Collateral which starred Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx. The film was shot like a loving paean to the city of Los Angeles, revelling in its humanity, griminess, beauty and fallacies. Much like this album, an exploration into not just the human psyche but that of a city as a living entity.

Anyway, I'll leave all these wanky music critique to other peeps. Flying Lotus posted his remixes of Kanye West's 'Love Lockdown' (I prefer R. Kelly's though) and Radiohead's 'Reckoner' on his MySpace page.

Vampire Weekend - Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa

I'm not a fan unlike Nat. But this video cracks me up... I love how the band dress up as characters from 80's teen movies and turning into The Cure at the end. Hilarious!

Dragonball: Evolution trailer

This looks really horrible...

Max singing Faith

Please do not watch this clip immediately after consuming any food.

Max takes on George Michael's 'Faith' in Woei Yuan's kitchen after a night of intense steamboat. Robin supplied the music while Billy provided the laugh track. Edwin shot the video and I uploaded it.

Yes, it's a team effort!

We will cover Pet Shop Boys the next time round.

Stellarium

It's apparently a pretty new band and they sound like that they have a lifelong crush on My Bloody Valentine (for proof, click here) and Slowdive. If you are a fan of old skool shoe-gazing, check them out. The super-cute bassist from 1234X, Marina plays in this band... Very nice...

Keane - Spiralling (live)

This is the first single off Keane's new album Perfect Symmetry. I fuckin' love the song! Even the uber-cheesy middle 8 bit. The intro percussion bit is damn Tears For Fears ala 'Shout'!!! Damn 80's!!! Cannot take it!!!

The Diet Pills

Warren sent me a message over MSN that he "found (The Lard Brothers') sister band". Voila! Bangkok's The Diet Pills.

Kahimi Karie - Lolitapop Dollhouse (live)

Hey, it's Johannes Krauser II's favourite singer! I've no fuckin' idea what she's mumbling about. I think it's Engrish though... For more information about Kahimi Karie, check it out here. She toured with American indie producer wunderkind Jim O'Rourke (who speaks amazing Japanese) as well. Here's the video.

Blur reformed

... if this does anything for you. I am never particularly a big fan but my sister is. I love a couple of their singles. However, over the years, I've really come to respect and admire Damon Albarn as a songwriter.

Universal Mind Control

One of my favourite rappers, Common has just released his new album Universal Mind Control. Robin introduced me to me last year and his tunes have never left my mp3 player. For his album, he's gone, well, more electro and basically ditched Kanye West (who produced his last few albums) for The Neptunes.

Check out the album-titled single 'Universal Mind Control'.



But I love this live performance of 'The People'.

Rockabye Baby!

Rockabye Baby! transforms timeless rock songs into beautiful instrumental lullabies. The soothing sounds of the glockenspiel, vibraphone, melltoron and other instruments will lull your baby into a sweet slumber.

Click here to listen to tunes by Metallica, Green Day, Radiohead (which is a no-brainer; 'No Surprises' sounds like a lullabye anyway...), Bjork (she actually manufactured her own music boxes for her 4th album Verspertine, fer fuck's sake. It's another no-brainer too) and Tool!!! It tickles me to think that you put your kid to sleep with quiet versions of 'Prison Sex' or 'Hooker With A Penis'. Okay, they didn't do these two songs. Well, they should have!

My favourite covers from the series...









Hahaha, the pigs!!!

Flying Lotus - Tea Leaf Dancers

I've been listening to his stuff over the weekend. Amazing shit! I'm glad that I caught his set in Tokyo.

A Camp - Stronger Than Jesus

The Cardigans' Nina Persson's solo project. This is the first single 'Stronger Than Jesus' from the second outing Colonia. The video is damn 70's!

I love one of the b-sides 'Charlie Charlie' (from the first album) which I've lost the track many years ago. If anyone has that track, please send it to me!!!

Lily Allen - The Fear

The first single from her new album It's Not Me, It's You. Well, it sounds kinda lacklustre...

808s & Heartbreak

It's been out for more than a week... It's AutoTuned to death. I love Kanye West. He's an absolutely crap singer, a barely serviceable rapper but an amazing (eh...) producer. The fucker's a huge nerd (if you follow his blog) who is in love with the latest gadgets and stuff but of course, with the fuckin' budget to get all of them.

The track listing is as follows:

1. Say You Will
2. Welcome to Heartbreak (feat. Kid Cudi)
3. Heartless
4. Amazing (feat. Young Jeezy)
5. Love Lockdown
6. Paranoid (feat. Mr Hudson)
7. RoboCop
8. Street Lights
9. Bad News
10. See You in My Nightmares (feat. Lil Wayne)
11. Coldest Winter
12. Pinocchio Story (freestyle live in Singapore, hidden track)

Yes, that fuckin' irritating Pinocchio song is inside this album. If you were there at his show 2 months ago, that was the song which everyone decided to walk out for a smoke/beer or cam-whore a bit. Probably the worst song he has ever done. Why is it on the album?

The final track on the album was a live freestyle Kanye performed at a concert. It inspired Beyonce so much that she told Kanye to put it on his album. ‘Its so crazy, I got something figured out’. For the most part, this track is acapella. Essentially Kanye is talking about his fame and venting that with all the vacations, all the money and clothes still wont make him be happy. This track is certainly introspective. ‘Do you think I will sacrifice real life for fame?’ He asks during the song.

I love you, Beyonce but this fuckin' blows... Never do the track selection EVER in your career. Oh yeah, you did... which kinda explains I Am... Sasha Fierce.

-_-"

Hit me up!

Tis the end of the year. And there seems to be quite a couple of shows I wanna catch. So please lemme know if you'd like to catch anything together.

Zack And Miri Makes A Porno



This looks really funny. It has Seth Rogen and super-cute Elizabeth Banks in it. And it's out this week.

Sex Drive



So is this as well. And it looks good too.

The Day The Earth Stood Still



It's a remake of an old sci-fi film, starring Keanu Reeves as an emotionless alien. Very apt indeed. Out next week.

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist



This looks pretty sweet. And it has an indie rock soundtrack as well. +10 points. Out next week.


Ip Man



This is not a superhero movie but one about this dude who propagated Wing Chun, a form of Chinese martial arts. The main character, Ip Man (acted by Donnie Yen) is also apparently Bruce Lee's teacher as well. Interesting trivia: Michelle Yeung acted in this 1994 Hong Kong film "Wing Chun" about the founder of the martial arts. Donnie Yen was in the movie as well as Wing Chun's husband. Interestingly, Tony Leung Chiu Wai will be starring in Wong Kar Wai's take on Ip Man's life. That should be something...

Terminator Salvation



Okay, it's coming out next summer. Yeah, I love the series though I've yet caught the TV series. Stars Christian Bale. I love how the original script ended but it looks like it's a re-write and won't be a kick-ass.

Like Silver

Adlin sent me a MSN message.

adlin says:
hey man
adlin says:
chingz and i started an electro thing

The only song they have on their MySpace page has Chingz singing pretty uncharacteristically non-Chingz. That is, she doesn't giggle much... I like the song. It's a cold electronic pop tune. And as usual, I hear a remix...

Del Tha Funkee Homosapien - Workin' It

Del The FunkyHomosapien - New Music - More Music Videos

I first discovered him after listening to Gorillaz. He spills the most nonsensical rhymes but has one of the most amazing flows I have heard. Him and Chuck D, of course.

머라이어캐리 - Touch My Body

Ming sent me this. Korean Engrish... and the singer is pretty funny... in a bad way.

Novak

Weiyuan and I helped Max to record 3 songs over the past 2 years for varying reasons and occasions. Usually, a girl is involved. In any case, here is the 3 tunes in the form of the Novak EP.

Track listing:
1. Lovely Lady
2. Turn To Blue
3. Cry

Bryan played guitars on the last tune. Have fun!

The Verve - Life's An Ocean (live)

I love this tune. I think it is a hoot when bassist Simon Jones started dropping the bassline to Chic's 'Good Times' towards the outro of the tune. And Richard Ashcroft started playing along...

Fringe

I've been watching the latest series from J.J. Abrams, creator of 'Alias' and 'Lost' and director of that utterly pointless reboot 'Star Trek'. Lead actress Anna Torv is kinda cute in her own way. And yeah, her deep voice turns me on. The show is pretty interesting. Not fantastic though...

Fringe is a science fiction television series co-created by J. J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci.

The series deals with a research scientist named Walter Bishop (described as "Frankenstein mixed with Albert Einstein" and portrayed by John Noble), his son Peter Bishop (Joshua Jackson), and an FBI agent, Olivia Dunham (Anna Torv) who brings them back together. The show is described as a cross between The X-Files, Altered States, The Twilight Zone and Dark Angel.

Police Academy

There are a few classics from the 80's. Whilst they are not exactly cinematic gems, they pretty much ingrained themselves into the collective public consciousness. 'Police Academy' was one and here are the rest of the clips. Enjoy.

Diaper cakes...

That's Drayden Cruz Boyd, son of Noel Desmond Boyd and Ann Aldura (also known as my young beer-fetching padawan). Has a nice medival ring to it if you say it that way eh? Heh... He's featured in Mommy's article about her business here.

Electrico - Hail To The Friends

This is the new single and video. I like the song. Horns always win me over and everyone loves the Arts House Playden.

Thirteen Senses - Into The Fire (live)

Max (who else but then) introduced this band to me. The song is taken off their debut album The Invitation. They were one of those bands which were signed up after Coldplay's ascent into the pop charts but never made the big time. Thirteen Senses write decent tunes and I thought that guitarist Tom Welham layers his guitars pretty interestingly. But I guess they didn't get their lucky break though...

Spread The Love 2008

We are doing a funraiser this weekend at the Substation Guinness Theatre (45 Armenian Street). The show starts at 3pm. Tickets go for $15 at the door. Aging Youth acts such as Allura, B-Quartet and Zero Sequence will be playing alongside with Anna Judge April, A Vacant Affair, good friends from I Am David Sparkle and marchtwelve.

All proceeds go to the Asian Women's Welfare Association Early Years Centre which aids infants and children with special needs. Do drop by if you can!

Detroit Metal City

This is probably the funniest thing I've seen in a long while. The series can be streamed here. Check out the synopsis of the story:

Based on the seinen manga by Wakasugi Kiminori serialised in Young Animal.

Souichi Negishi is a shy young man who came from the rural Ota Prefecture to Tokyo for college and wished to become a trendy pop singer. However, for some reason he became the singer and songwriter of a metal band named "Detroit Metal City," with a stage name "Johannes Krauser II." Whenever he wears the heavy makeup, Negishi becomes a completely different person, shouting the most vulgar profanities beyond anyone's imagination. With the popularity of DMC increases, Negishi starts worrying his double personalities can have negative effects on his (romantic) life off stage.

Eddie Murphy

He used to be good...

I've watched "Raw" before. It was fuckin' funny and Jay-Z even referenced him on 'Girls, Girls, Girls'. Here's another live show 'Delirious' (from 25 years ago, no less!) here.

Radiohead - 15 Steps (live)

Cherry forwarded a link to a show recorded during their Japan tour. The site is really cool. The show was recorded with 12 cameras so you can choose which angle you wanna control. Basically, you play director here. Check it out!

"We are the dancers..."

Beyonce's shoot for her latest video 'Single Ladies' which is "directed" by Paul Rudd and features a special guest. Damn good stuff.

Secret Machines - Atomic Heels

I love the debut album, didn't really enjoy the second and am not too sure if I'm getting the new one.

The Day The Earth Stood Still trailer

This remake of the 1951 sci-fi movie stars Keanu Reeves and Jennifer Connelly. Right after 57 years.

You can catch the original version here. I love watching old black & white movies. I simply love it! There's some old skool charm about it. The acting is more rigid and more dramatic as if the actors are in a play, amplifying the emotions. They call it over-acting in some circles. Check out the bit when the TV announcer declares that an UFO has landed. The dialogue is totally sample worthy. Anyone has any idea how I can download the clip?

Watchmen trailer

Who watches the Watchmen indeed? Somehow, I keep thinking that style over substance will reign for this adaptation. It's an extremely hard piece of work to turn from a graphic novel to a movie. We will see how it goes.

The Flaming Lips releases X'mas On Mars

If you like your rock stars plain weird, very few of them gets weirder and better than The Flaming Lips which finally gets their own homemade movie 'X'mas On Mars' done. Frontman Wayne Coyne who acted and directed the movie does some hard-selling for the special edition DVD package in the YouTube clip above. You can play some games here too.

Kanye West, De La Soul, Nas, Will.i.am, Mos Def, and Damon Albarn - Freestyles (Live in London)

Looks and sounds like a right party here.

The Amazing Screw-On Head

Creator of Hellboy, Mike Mignola had created an one-off special titled 'The Amazing Screw-On Head' which was adapted into an animated cartoon. This is the TV pilot, developed by Bryan Fuller who created 'Pushing Daisies', one of my favourite current shows. The animated short's pretty funny. Check out the back story here.

Punisher: War Zone trailer

Well, I will probably still watch it...

WTF?!?!?! part 33

Batman sues Batman. Check it out here.

Jens Lekman - A Postcard To Nina (live)

He's coming again... Check out the details here. I'm pretty tempted.

Who are you going to fuckin' call?!

Why, them, of course!

"Singapore girl posts naked photo on Friendster"

There's a STOMP article about this. Well, if you ask me, at least they are bloody nekkid pictures. I've seen quite a fair bit of these young soft-porn stars wannabes on MySpace (more there actually, STOMP) who like to take pictures of themselves topless with an arm draped over the breasts to cover their female bits.

Was that done to protect their modesty? Now, seriously...

Tantalizing, seductive and something you are not supposed to see are bikinis, wet T-shirts, down-blouses, up-skirts, etc. Not an arm draped over the tits of your naked body while pretending to be virginal. If you wanna show 'em boobs, do it. If not, why bother?

LCD Soundsystem - Daft Punk Is Playing In My House (live)

Weiyuan just passed me the album yesterday. It's decent but nothing really captures me. At least, this tune references Daft Punk. What's cool as well is that James Murphy whips out a cowbell mid-song. I heard their latest release Sound Of Silver which features the single 'North American Scum'. The live video is linked here. Gotta love the panache!

Keane - Under Pressure (live)

Pretty decent cover of the original Queen and David Bowie's duet.

Kraak & Smaak - Squeeze Me

Flipbooks!!!

Live acts

More live acts are coming to town. And I heard from Haykal who saw a few acts being listed on the Esplanade Mosaic Music Festival.

Battles - Atlas (live)



I still can't really get into them. But the live show looks fucken intense and they sure got shitloads of equipment. I might catch them live when they are in town.

The Cinematic Orchestra - To Build A Home (live)



I love this track but this sounds like Coldplay and nothing like the rest of the stuff which The Cinematic Orchestra does. Ah well.

Psapp - Cosy In The Rocket



Psapp - Cosy In The Rocket via Noolmusic.com


Yup, those guys who did the theme song for 'Gray's Anatomy' which you should only watch for Katherine Heigl.

Congrats...

And now we wait.

And of course, here's a news report from the United States' greatest news source.

What the fuck?!?!

VIETNAM is considering banning small-chested motorcyclists from its roads – a proposal that has provoked widespread disbelief in a nation of slightly-built people.

Read the rest of the article here.

"I know I believe in nothing but it's my nothing..."

Woo hoo! I can't wait to catch Manic Street Preachers next month when they drop by town! This has been a great year for shows for me. This, coupled with Radiohead is like reviving my years in the 90's. The following videos are of them rehearsing or performing a couple of my favourite tunes as a 5 piece band and they sound in top fucken form!!!

Roses In The Hospital



Umbrella (Rihanna cover)


Yeah, apparently they have playing this a lot at their recent shows. This and Nirvana's 'Pennyroyal Tea'.

All Surface, No Feelings



Faster

Masturbators for men...

Bryan found this online. Never fails to astonish me what the fuck he surfs for all the time...

Kanye West tomorrow!

Love Lockdown (live)



Billy doesn't really like this new single so much. I'm pretty stoked to be catching Kanye West live tomorrow with Robin and Billy. Should be excellent!!! I researched (aka Googled) his recent set list and it looks pretty decent. I'm sure he'll be performing his latest 2 tunes: 'Love Lockdown' and 'Heartless' as well.

And Ko Flow and Dhani will be opening. So it's all good man!

I've been researching Manic Street Preachers' as well. I hope they stick the opener which they did for the past few shows in May and June. 'Faster' from The Holy Bible!!! ZMOGWTFBBQ!!! That's like one of my favourite Manics tunes ever!!!

Probably the last photos...

I took some photos off Nat.


We went to this area where there were quite a lot of vintage clothing shops. And babysitters who pushed toddlers around in these prams which the kids stand in. Too cute for words. But they didn't really allow people to take photos of the kids. The kids waved at us a lot though. And I had a late lunch with Jay at the Japanese pasta restaurant in the background.


We were at Shinjuku with a whole bunch of Singaporeans. We chanced upon this dinghy yakitori eating house. Too expensive for my liking though. Apparently, Anthony Boudain shot a feature here before.


U/T, the shop which Nat brought us. The T-shirts are mainly manga and anime-inspired and come in plastic canisters. How cool is that?!?!


Rafi, me and Jay at the place with the kick-ass katsudon...

!

! from Brian Koh on Vimeo.

A friend Brian shot this documentary with his friends for his final year project. He explains why he makes a documentary about vulgarities here.

Even more Tokyo photos...

This time, I stole some from Rafi. We drank every night. Well, more so he did than me. The Sapporo beer cost around $2.50 per can at our hotel's vending machine.


I was trying to save some money by ordering a cheap meal set. The katsudon above is still around $20 at this Maisen restaurant at Omotesando off Harajuku. It's decently priced. This ain't no normal pig man... The meat was from a black pig. It was fucken awesome. I can't never go back to normal katsudons again... When I read the menu and it said 'black pig', this popped into my mind immediately.


Ryoga Hibiki, one of the characters from Ranma ½ who turns from human to a black piglet upon touching cold water. It is a fucken hilarious manga. I love it! Hey, I was in Japan, the land of manga and anime. Of course, all these images started popping in my mind.


The lime sorbet which followed the katsudon. According to Nat, I had a moment of being extremely touched upon eating the sorbet.


Had the same hot chocolate as Rafi at this cafe called 100% Chocolate which is a cafe dedicated to serving only well, chocolate. Who would have thought that putting rosemary into hot chocolate would be such a sweet idea? Literally and figuratively.


Rafi's wafer (above) was filled with white chocolate cream while mine was pistachio green. Orgasm in a wafer...

More Tokyo photos...

This time round, I stole them from Jay.


Going to the Tsukiji Fish Market. Nat, me and Jay in the reflection and Cherry


The hairy crabs look damn amazing. I wonder how they taste like... Hurhurhur.


The fish market. Literally


Glorious seafood.


The restaurant in the fish market.


My breakfast which was what we all had. Raw sea urchin (the lighter orange slimy thing) and scallop (the 2 lychee look-alike) rock my bollocks until they cannot be rocked anymore... Utterly orgasmic.


Oh, sea urchins. You look like fuck but you taste oh so good!


Coming back from the Tsukiji Fish Market, going to this vintage clothing area.

American Ninja

A few friends and I have always talked about our love for the cheesy 80's B-grade flicks we grew up watching. It doesn't fuckin' get more classic than 'American Ninja'. Seriously, it's so cheesy that it will be a great party flick. Pop in the DVD (that is if it's even available...) and get some beer and nachos.

I love this movie!!! My love for it is almost the same as 'Return Of The Killer Tomatoes'!!!

Click on the YouTube player to access the rest of the movie. It is hosted on YouTube in 10 parts.

Wedding bells...

Sham and Anne threw a wedding reception on Saturday afternoon. Linda and Johnson held their wedding dinner in the evening as well.

It is through what we have done with Aging Youth that we gotta know these fine folks. And it is truly an honour and really great that I've got invited for these wedding shindigs. Truly the best gigs of the year.

PS: Sham's suit look really good. Feel like getting one myself.

Kanye yeah!

Kanye West is letting you download a new song from his upcoming album 808s and Heartbreak from his blog. But before you hustle over to get a love grip on the tune, please note that the page is NSFW.

He posted quite a bit of pictures from the listening party where there were 40 naked women lounging around. So if you are in the mood for some vocodered vocals, a slinky beat, titties and snatches, head on over.

His blog rocks. He likes to put up pictures of scantily clad women as well. I feel a certain bonding...

WTF... part 1

I was smoking outside the canteen this afternoon, finishing up the cigarette before going for lunch. Then this burly Indian dude walked by me. He smiled at me and said that the whole bald pate thing looks "fierce". Being the courteous fucker that I am, I smiled and thanked him.

So he asked me why I did it and what I was doing. Which I replied. He mentioned that he just finished an appointment with a client and he was a fortune teller. And he wasn't local but from Sri Lanka.

This guy was dressed in a dark grey long-sleeve shirt which has seen its best years many years ago. His long hair was unkempt which looked like he didn't really believe in the wonders of shampoo or conditioner for many days. Weeks, even. But that's me being mean. His eyeballs was gaunt and lifeless.

Please bear in mind that the conversation is taking place at a carpark near the canteen under the hot sun.

And that was followed by a barrage of questions on if I'm working or doing my own business. He gave me some advice about running my own business that 2009 would be my year and I should never have partners (Hurhurhur...). He also divulged if I were to plonk some money in Toto or 4D, I will win. But I will only win once this year so I can't squander that chance. Of course, he asked if I wanted to know more.

I was like, "Dude, it's okay."

He went, "You know, you can never miss out on luck..."

So I entertained him a bit more as he whipped out this navy blue pouch which was tattered at the sides. Really old looking thing. He took out some small pieces of paper and a pen, asking me "What's my favourite 4 numbers?"

Oooooh, he's giving me 4D numbers!!!

Which I replied. He furiously scribbled into it and crumbled it. He asked me to hold it in my left hands. He started asking another set of questions which got progressively less entertaining. Then, I just broke it to him, "Dude, I gotta go for my lunch." and dropped the paper in his hand.

He took it and turned to walk away. Muthafucka didn't even look me in the eye or thank me or whatever...

Dodgy fortune teller trying to con (solicit business) a guy with only $5 in his wallet for lunch: FAIL!!!

For me, I could have read his fortune as well. Here's my analysis.

Next year will be his year too. The government has just announced the country is in a recession. His industry will pick up as most people will become paranoid and turn to superstitious/ religious ways to find a guiding path out of the whole quagmire.

However, his business will not do as well as his peers just because he looks fucken dodgy and unkempt. Get a fucken haircut and new clothes, dude! You look like a guy who just woke up from the dumpster...

Masters Of The Universe

Robin and I were talking about how much it is of a bitch to try getting our grubby hands on the DVD of the live-action movie. It stars Dolph Lungren, for fuck's sake!!! One useless piece of trivia: Frank Langella who played Skeletor in the movie was Perry White in Superman Returns. Yeah, back to your regular programming.

Catch part 2, part 3, part 4 and part 5. Brings a solidarity tear to my eye.

Telebury - Overdrive (live)

One of my favourite bands from KL, Malaysia! Frontman Adrian probably changes his line-up like his underwear. Adlin played in this one. His floppy hair really tickles me! Hahaha.

Bjork (ft. Antony Hegarty) - Dull Flame Of Desire

Featuring 2 of my favourite singers out there, Bjork and Antony. Bjork has recently announced a new single with Thom Yorke 'Nattura' in support of the Icelandic green movement.

Tokyo pictures

Since I didn't bring any camera, I've to resort to stealing others' photos. These are courtesy of Joanna.



RADIO-FUCKEN-HEAD!!!



I met Simon, Joanna, Hakim, Wandy and his brother at Harajuku on Sunday to head down to Harajuku's Yoyogi Park to catch the indie bands. At the corner, there were all these peeps utterly devoted to the 50's rockabilly and dancing at the corner of the park. I call them the Extreme Elvises.



Check out that fucken hair!!! I cannot stop laughing lah...



They downed their beers and started dancing. I see certain similarities...



Simon and me



Wandy's brother, Wandy, Hakim, me and Joanna




Loovee. They had a huge set-up for busking on the streets complete with para-para dance moves. The album was Yen2,500 (around S$36). If it were any cheaper, I would have bought a copy!