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.