Ben Folds - From Such Great Heights
Got it from Billy. I love The Postal Service and I love Ben Folds. Though Ben Folds is starting a bit like Elton John. Hmm...
Friday, September 29, 2006
Hmm...
Got it from Weng. Good read.
The fallout from the Thai coup is yet to hit Singapore's Madame Ho, writes Eric Ellis.
THAILAND'S military junta has gone out of its way to assure that it's business as usual in Bangkok.
The baht has wobbled, likewise the stock exchange, but neither with symptoms to have neighbours sniffling with the contagion they caught here during the late 1990s financial crisis. The coup has been smooth as silk, as Thais like to say.
But there is one woman in Singapore who desperately hopes the generals are as good as their word, the person whose dealmaking with Thailand's ousted Prime Minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, precipitated the coup.
Her name is Ho Ching. She is chief executive of the Singapore Government-owned Temasek Holdings, which controls a $100 billion-plus portfolio, including Optus.
She bought Thaksin out of his family businesses, Shin Corp, in March in a highly questionable $4.5 billion transaction that outraged Thais.
The Singapore company bought the Thai leader's controlling half share in Shin Corp and then quickly snapped up most of the rest on the stockmarket. Temasek now controls 96 per cent.
As Thaksin banked Temasek's tax-free cash, Thais burnt Madame Ho's effigy on Bangkok streets, traducing the reputation created for her by Singaporean spin doctors as a safe pair of hands. It was, at best, a spectacular misjudgement.
Far from being the great buy Temasek claimed, the deal ignited six months of political turmoil, culminating in the coup. Thais stopped using the television, airline, finance and technology businesses Temasek bought.
Now Shin buyers wear a $US2 billion ($2.6 billion) paper loss on the deal after less than six months.
As Thai regulators deepen their probe into the transaction and Thaksin's "rampant corruption", Temasek and its partners reportedly face fines of up to $US2 billion if it's proved, as many suspect, that Thai licensing laws have been breached. Or have the deal declared illegal, the assets nationalised.
Coups d'etat tend to arouse shrill demonstrations of nationalism; Temasek is the convenient foreign villain, its predicament entirely self-inflicted.
In these post-Enron days where blameless corporate governance is paramount, if the chief executive blows $2 billion in six months, the bloodletting in the boardroom would be swift and brutal. But even if her Thai adventure worsens, that seems unlikely to happen to Ho, who is the wife of Singapore's Prime Minister, Lee Hsien Loong; the daughter-in-law of the nation's long-time strongman, Lee Kuan Yew.
At 54, Ho is no Singapore Girl. Dour and grim, with a penchant for unflattering grey business suits, she's be! en Temasek's unsmiling CEO since 2001, presenting as an untouchable corporatedominatrix protected by the formidable Lee family edifice.
The Lees, as compliant Singaporeans famously know, don't make mistakes. Any questioning of their methods - as bankrupted opposition politicians and the foreign press have frequently discovered - hazard libel suits heard in Singapore's courts, where the Lees' history of success is unparalleled.
Not that the Singaporean media does much questioning either. The day's newspapers after the coup did not report Temasek's obvious dilemma, odd given that ultimately it is Singapore taxpayers' money Ho has hazarded.
It was left to a sole letter writer, presciently published a week before the coup, who suggested that an alliance with the much-hated Thaksin might not be a wise risk for the national nest egg. "Hitching our investment bandwagon to the first family is a double-edged sword," wrote Danny Chua in Today.
"We can go higher with their rising star but when they fall, we can fall too. Our investment must stand up to scrutiny in the eyes of the law. There must be compliance with corporate governance and transparency. We must be able to sleep peacefully, knowing that we have done the right thing."
Singapore loves to control and, when it can't, to quietly work its power relationships behind the scenes. Temasek claims to be independent of government but often seems to follow government policy in its investment portfolio, spending to boost neighbours.
And in Thaksin, Singapore found an autocrat after its own heart, rare in a region where mostly-Chinese Singapore isn't much liked, derided though grudgingly admired as rich and arrogant.
Thaksin was a big fan of the Lee's long-ruling People's Action Party and its compliant "Singapore System". Thaksin and Lee were allies in pushing EU-style ASEAN integration and there was resentment in Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur of a supposed Singapore-Bangkok axis within the group. Not any more.
Serious questions abound for a Singapore that likes to lecture the world about "best practices" of corporate governance it supposedly employs.
Temasek is suspected of funding Thai partners in the Thaksin deal, the implication being to avoid breaching foreign investment laws.
And where did Temasek pay Thaksin? Thailand's central bank limits personal cash transfers to $US1 million a year - thus it would take about 2000 years to transfer Thaksin's pile - and needs special permission from the central bank to go higher.
But Thailand's central bank governor is seen as a cleanskin, and a contender to be appointed caretaker prime minister by the generals.
Thaksin presumably knew that so it raises questions whether Temasek paid some of the funds offshore, in a foreign tax haven perhaps, avoiding Thai rules altogether.
And then there's impact beyond Bangkok. Economic contagion seems to have been contained but the bloodless ease in which Thaksin has been removed, the popularity of the coup, has been noticed in Jakarta and Manila, both struggling to secure their own democracies.
Temasek is in serious trouble in Thailand. It's suddenly friendless, losing its main political ally in Bangkok and his cronies, and runs the risk of having its assets seized as the Thaksin probe deepens. The deal itself is a fait accompli; Thaksin banked his $US2 billion months ago and, now in gilded exile in London, is unlikely to offer to return Temasek's cash.
If Temasek and Thaksin fall out, the legal implications are fascinating. For the moment however, the silence from Temasek has been deafening. It simply says it is "monitoring events". With $4 billion of other peoples' money in the balance, it might've added "anxiously".
Eric Ellis is South-East Asia Correspondent for Fortune magazine.
Thursday, September 28, 2006
New songs to download
Filipino band Bamboo’s just released a compilation in June and this is the Singapore single ‘Truth’. I like the organ sound in the track and how lead singer (well) Bamboo’s phrasing in the chorus. Their 1st single (ever?) ‘Mr. Clay’ is pretty good as well. Generally, nice vibes.
Everybody loves some melodrama in their lives. Bamboo left Rivermaya quite a couple of years back which they carried on. ‘Balisong’ has this great falsetto from singer Rico Blanca and nice tinkling on the piano. I think the radio stations are playing their hit from last year ‘You’ll Be Safe Here’. You write songs like these to get laid ALL THE TIME!!! I bet that Rico dude is getting laid by the minute! Max, go and download this right now!!! It’s a damn pussy song; you’d love it!!!
Tuesday, September 26, 2006
Sunday, September 24, 2006
Friday, September 22, 2006
Children Of Men
Looks very interesting. Starring Clive Owen, Julianne Moore and Michael Caine and directed by Alfonso Cuarón.
The plot: In 2027, as humankind faces the likelihood of its own extinction, a disillusioned government agent agrees to help transport and protect a miraculously pregnant woman to a sanctuary at sea where her child's birth may help scientists to save the future of mankind.
Thursday, September 21, 2006
Wednesday, September 20, 2006
Extras
Got these YouTube links off Billy's blog. Ricky Gervais who did 'The Office' a few years back has a new series 'Extras'.
Amazon.co.uk Review
Extras,Ricky Gervais’ much-anticipated follow-up to The Office, is a quieter affair, and a little less accessible that its award-laden predecessor. But across the six episodes on this first season DVD set are several episodes that will richly reward repeated viewings.
Gervais plays Andy Millman, an actor whose roster of jobs seems to consistently consist of extras work. Each episode follows him on a different production, and also brings in a notable guest star. Lining up throughout the series are the likes of Samuel L Jackson, Kate Winslet and Ben Stiller. And while their presence undoubtedly adds something to each carefully crafted episode, it’s perhaps those with the lesser names that show the programme on top form--certainly the appearance of Les Dennis makes for an excellent half hour of comedy-drama.
At the core though is Gervais’ Millman--a far easier character to warm to than David Brent--and Ashley Jensen’s marvellous Maggie Jacobs. It’s these two who consistently provide the show’s highlights, and while the headlines have been generated by the all-star roster of names attracted to appear in Extras, it’s the two less showy characters who work the best.
Extras isn’t a show full of belly laughs, and its fanbase is likely to be smaller than that of The Office. But it’s still a quality creation, properly crafted, with an awful lot to it to enjoy and appreciated.--Simon Brew
Though somehow I think 'Extras' will suit Singaporean tastes more than 'The Office'...
Guest star: Daniel Radcliffe
Guest star: Patrick Stewart
Thursday, September 14, 2006
The Album Leaf - Making of Into The Blue Again documentary
I love The Album Leaf but HMV's price for the album is $28.50 which is too steep for a broke person like me. I'm gonna get it prolly online even though I've the entire album. Yes, even if you can get free mp3s, you'd still buy the album to support the acts you love.
Enjoy.
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
I Was A Lied Groupie...
Was up last weekend to hang out with Adlin, Sen Kiat and Matt and have some fun in KL.
Grassland coaches suck goats' balls. There were no food and worse, no personalised DVD players!!! I was aghast to say the least. Luckily, I brought my own entertainment. Finished 2 books on the way there and back: Chuck Palahniuk's 'Invisible Monster' and Robin Epstein and Renee Kaplan's 'Shaking Her Assets'.
First stop off the coach: Zouk KL. I've gotten directions on how to take a train to Zouk KL. I managed to stop myself from taking some photos of the monorail to avoid looking like an absolute tourist.
Lied which won the Heineken Thirst Rock Band category was performing with the other Thirst finalists. Sen Kiat's other band, Supabar was playing before Lied. I swear, all these Malaysian indie kids play in at least 3 bands each! I heard Ronnie of furniture has a side project which the entire band dresses up as Malay girls in tudung and baju kurung and plays improv noise!!! I'm still waiting for pictures from Ching for this band.
Lied at Zouk
Anyway, back to the story. Here's a picture of Adlin serenaiding one of the many chicks with 'Oceans Part' when he walked up to them. I call it the "Bono syndrome" when you sing the chick song in your repertoire to well, chicks. Very sly. Very sly, indeed.
No wonder he's KL's sexiest man...
After the show, we were hanging out at The Loft which I think Twilight Action Girl (KL's version of PopTart was playing. Adlin's 2 friends Kim and Nadia were there with the intention: "Let's make the Singaporean drunk!". Being very young girls, they proceeded to challenge me to drink that last third of a Long Island Tea jug which I did. After 30 minutes later, when I went to pick up a new pack of cigarettes, I returned to 2 very drunk chicks.
Me - 1, Just legal girls - 0.
It was very strange to drink with 18 year olds... I felt 10 years younger though. Hurhur...
Since I was crashing with Adlin, I went with the band to their guest band slot at an all-boys Catholic school's 'Battle Of The Bands' the next day. It was interesting to see a pretty bad Iron Maiden cover band with all their friends headbanging at the front while there were 12 year old boys running around chasing each other.
Meet Chak, singer of Supabar.
We were looking for a place to smoke and decided to go up to 'rokok' in one of the classrooms instead. Damn rock'n'roll, I know...
After dinner, Adlin, Sen Kiat, Matt, Kim and I popped down to The Attic for one of their friend's birthday celebration.
In the car, Matt switched to his 'Jessica' mode when there was an awkward silence, asking me, "Would you like to touch my cock?" Of course, he kept up the entire gay thing until we stepped into The Attic and he realised we were in a gay bar.
Sen Kiat, Matt and I were having a smoke in the balcony. You can't smoke in the lounge. Yeah, what the fuck, right? One of Sen Kiat's ex-colleague Jason floated, yes, floated over (he's a ballerina, apparently) and said hi. He was telling me in a conspiratorial tone that he used to call Sen Kiat his 'little monkey'. To which, Sen Kiat laughed it off and retorted, "You only patted my head..."
At this point in time, 'Jessica' was shrinking literally and looking very uncomfortable. He excused himself and went into the lounge. Inside, he was rather panicky and kept saying, "Hey, let's not send out any wrong signals here."
But you are 'Jessica' what...
"Yeah, but these guys are for real!"
We left after a while. In the car, 'Jessica' returned in full force with the whole gay trash talking. For a gay poseur, gay bars were his Kryptonite. Pretty hilarious.
We went to this supper place for barbequed stingray or ikan pari as the locals call it. In memory of Steve Irwin, we decided to have 4. According to Sen Kiat's reasoning, "they took 1 of us; we are taking 4 of them. This is for you, Steve." and chomped down a piece of stingray.
Took a coach back home on Sunday. It was a pretty fun weekend. In fact, I'd really felt like a tourist when we went around Sen Kiat and Matt's places to pick them up. Prolly will go up again in a few months' time: either to crash out at their places or hopefully, play some shows there.
Monday, September 11, 2006
More than meets the eye
Before I blog about my KL trip, these are such design pictures which Adlin sent me. Somehow, I reckon Billy and Max wouldn’t be too impressed with these designs of the Autobots and Decepticons from Michael Bay’s live action take of my favourite cartoon as a boy: Transformers.
Face of Bumblebee
Full body Bumblebee
Megatron.
Megatron again. I know the design sucks. He’s going to be an alien jet which is fine by me. But the design?? Man…
Starscream
Optimus Prime. Yay!
The rest of the pictures here.
Thursday, September 07, 2006
Beck - Where It's At (live)
It was just as well that he was a failed breakdancer. Amazing show though.
Edit: Terence saw the video and said that Alvin should start breakdancing during The Love Experiment's shows. Don't fucken put ideas in his head!!! He's already played a show with his T-shirt as a cape and only in his boxers!!!
Wednesday, September 06, 2006
I feel you...
Interview with Jimmy Tamborello, the other half of the eminent Postal Service at Pitchfork.
Pitchfork: Have you guys started sending tracks back and forth? Is it still the same style?
JT: Yeah. We're still doing it that way, except this time we know how to use YouSendIt.com. Doing stuff online is a lot easier now. So we probably won't be using the actual mail.
Hehe...
Hmm...
Went for the Heineken Green Room focus group discussion on Monday. Was quite interesting. Met a bunch of folks there, namely Wayne from JUICE, Amanda from Electrico and DJ Feng. Was introduced to music producer Case who did an electronic album with Kit Chan, I believe. Since he had been recommended by some friends, namely Fuzz (if I can remember correctly), I asked him if he did mastering as well. He started bitching how Don Bartley ex-chief mastering engineer of Sydney's Studio 301 really screwed up Concave Scream's Horizons. He made a very interesting point about how all the local albums still sound softer than their international counterparts and how that really pisses him off. It really makes the Singapore acts look amateurish and bad. Interesting.
However, there was this chick from a PR agency who was all out to impress the Heineken brand managers at every opportunity she got. She kept praising the team about how good the Green Room Sessions were and how glamourous the events were. Fucken bitch sounded like she was going for a job interview. Probably, she was, considering the fact that she admitted earlier that she would bring shitloads of namecards to network at parties.
Me? When they handed out a survey form, I placed the most important reason for being at the focus group: Money.
By the way, The Lard Brothers (which Jason Ong has been asking what the hell this is all about.) is finishing up an original track 'Democracy'. Weiyuan'd be probably recording Max's final vocals over the weekend. Gotta check with my colleague Andrew to see if he'd be scratching over the track. We'd be starting on a new track 'Monster' soon. I'm thinking of doing it ala George Michael as a tribute tune. Well, I've been listening way too much George Michael these days... that and DJ Krush. Kinda weird though.
Thankfully, The Love Experiment will finally start recording next week if nothing goes wrong. Hopefully, the album will be completed before our 30th birthday... Heh.
Saturday, September 02, 2006
Friday, September 01, 2006
Wednesday, August 30, 2006
Exciting times…
We are well in progress with recording with Max who is coming onboard as Bob Ho, the resident vocalist of The Lard Brothers. The 1st track is around 50% done. Just need to add the bass and Weiyuan aka Bob Seng would add in some synth bits. I’d probably pass it to my colleague Andrew to scratch over it. Hopefully, by mid September, we’d be done.
I should be going up to hang out with Adlin the 2nd weekend of September. The Lardies would be remixing Lied’s ‘Binky’. They’ve 2 versions of the tunes. Nice. The rock version is more urgent and well, “rock-ier” than the electronic version which I like as well; sounds like Nine Inch Nails. I was thinking of turning it to sound like a swing number. Don’t think I’m up to it.
Lied, which is the winner of the ‘Rock Band’ component of Heineken Thirst 2006 competition, would be playing in Zouk KL on Friday 8 September. It’d be good to meet the rest of the guys: Wan, Sen Kiat (KL’s 2nd sexiest man, after Adlin, of course) and of course, Matt who is as known widely in KL as Jessica. Seriously quite disturbing...
Monday, August 28, 2006
Friday, August 25, 2006
Thursday, August 24, 2006
Fiona Xie vs. Ronin
Cock-rockers, Ronin has recorded a duet with Fiona Xie. While more well-known for her mammary glands and perky personality, she makes her singing debut here. Pretty decent effort. Low zand raspy. Pretty fitting for her sexpot image.
Download the song here. Apparently, it's to raise funds for the Breast Cancer Foundation and the Joan Chan Trust Fund. Hmm...
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
War Machine
Rented Will Farrell's 'Anchorman' last weekend. It was fucken hilarious. I loved it. It's akin to Ben Stiller's 'Zoolander' which is a satire to the fashion industry. 'Anchorman' was a send-up of the television journalism industry in the 70's. Of course, the whole gang showed up for a cameo: Vince Vaugh, Ben Stiller, Luke Olsen (I guess Owen wasn't free) and even Tim Robbins whom I didn't realise was that tight with them.
I can't wait for 'Talledega Nights: The Ballad Of Ricky Bobby', his latest film. Hopefully, it wouldn't stink as bad as Jack Black's 'Nacho Libre'.
Lunarin is our bitch... as usual
As Linda declare so lovingly in her blog. There are some disturbing photos in that thread.
Monday, August 21, 2006
The Love Experiment @ HOME Club
The bunch of bi-ped mammals also known collectively as The Love Experiment will play at HOME Club this Saturday 26 August. HOME Club is opposite the 7-11 across the road at Boat Quay. I think tickets are S$12, inclusive of a drink. Showtime is 8pm. I sure hope it starts on time. I've to go back to work after that.
We are playing with our friends Ugly In The Morning, The Super Illegals, Al Grande Terrorismo, Documentary In Amber and Sleeve.
Friday, August 18, 2006
Camra is our bitch!
Just uploaded Camra's 'White Hearts Lane (The Lard Brothers' New Shop Mode mix)' here for a while. We'd be getting a friend to master the thing. We know jackshit about mastering anyway.
We are going to start work on a new tune soon. Just waiting for Max to get back to us on how we can tweak the song before we start recording his vocals. Hopefully, it'd be done by mid-Sept.
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Outkast - Idlewild
The hillbilly duo also known as Outkast streams their new album Idlewild in its entirety on their MySpace page here. Chekkit chekkit, yo!
Stompcast TAG24
This is a series of vodcasts where the STOMP team follows our own rock stars around for a day to see what makes them tick. Last week featured David of Electrico and his pooch, Schloof (hilarious name).
This week features Linda from Lunarin or also known as Lindarin The Slut/ Whore (hey, it came from her!) in her bedroom (Don't start beating your meat... It's a family show. No porn here. So don't get your hopes up.), her work as a lawyer and her bandmates Eng Teck and Kah Wye. Fuzz makes an appearance.
Next week's Rizman (of Tiramisu)'s turn. He's awfully serious in real life (even though he's a performance artist.), compared to his over-the-fucken-top stage persona. But then, it should still be fun.
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Monday, August 14, 2006
Thursday, August 10, 2006
Please Just Buy…
An idea popped into my head that day while I was in the toilet taking a dump. All my good ideas do when I’m on the bowl anyway or in the toilet having a shower. The toilet: a true place of inspiration, indeed.
Maybe, The Lard Brothers could write an “anthem” i.e. something similar to ‘We Are The World’ or ‘Voices That Care’ but targeted at promoting Singapore music. Something like those cheesy 80’s anthems which are in support of world peace, etc. Then the idea is to get everyone to sing just one line each and to chip in the chorus. And it must have a 80’s-style heavily reverb-ed drums and a guitar solo straight from a cock rock track.
Sample chorus lyrics would be “Please just buy…/ Just this one time/ I know, you don’t really care/ But please just buy.”
Lesson learnt #3: Always bring reading material to the toilet. It prevents you from thinking nonsense.
The Love Experiment has new friends...
As with our tradition, we change our Top 8 (well, 7 actually) friends on a regular basis on our MySpace page. Yeah, I'm that free. So check out the latest 'cute girls' series here. Next update would be the 'porn queens' series. No shit. We've got Jenna 'I was a firefighter' Jamerson as our friend!
Monday, August 07, 2006
Friday, August 04, 2006
Thursday, August 03, 2006
DVDs
When I'm broke, I rent DVDs and stay home to watch them over the weekend.
Over the past 2 months, I've caught quite a few flicks at the cinema. Honestly, most of them were quite disappointing. 'Pirates Of The Carribean: Dead Man's Chest' (Where was the fun factor? They took themselves way too seriously this time round. This is a popcorn flick. Not an introspective flick about wars, famines, etc.), 'Superman Returns' (I thought it'd stink. It stunk a little but not that bad.), 'Nacho Libre' (Great concept! Low on laughs. Hot looking nun though!) and 'How Much Do You Love Me?' (The only thing I love more than Monica Bellucci is a naked Monica Bellucci. Even that can't save the show. It was overtly absurd though I read somewhere it's supposed to be a sex satire. Hey, what do I know?)
So, I was very much pleasantly surprised at how all the 3 DVDs I rented turned out to be pretty good. In order of viewing:
1) Hellboy
I watched this when it came out (2004? 2005?). It still holds up to repeat viewing. In fact, I think I enjoyed it more the 2nd time round. Great show, great fun. Ditto 'Pirates Of The Carribean: Curse Of The Black Pearl'.
2) The Cooler
Always wanted to catch this in the past. William H. Macy does his forlorn "I'm-a-perennial-loser" schtick yet again. But he does it damn well. Great support from Maria Bello and the excellent Alec Baldwin as the film's heavy. You don't usually associate Alec Baldwin's acting with excellence in the past. Heh. But he's really good in this one. This one's about a guy (Macy) who is so down on his luck that he acts as a casino's 'cooler' to make casino guests to lose their luck at the tables. Until he falls in love with one of the waitresses (Bello). His boss (Baldwin) refuses to let "the best cooler in the business" leave him.
3) Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
The best one amongst the 3! The movie is hilarious! Directed by Shane Black who wrote the original 'Lethal Weapon' flick. It stars frequent drug addict Robert Downey Jr., Val Kilmer and Michelle Monaghan (who was in the last 'Mission: Impossible' flick). Basically, it's about a petty thief (Downey Jr.) is brought to Los Angeles for an unlikely audition and finds himself in the middle of a murder investigation, along with his high school dream girl (Monaghan) and a detective (Kilmer) who has been training him for his upcoming role. Robert Downey Jr. has always been brilliant and reliable as an actor, whether dramatic or comic. The chemistry between him and Val Kilmer is great. Val Kilmer delivers an amazing performance in his role as Gay Perry, the, well, gay detective. You could probably forgive him for the piece of turd also known as 'Batman Forever'. Michelle Monaghan has struck me as pretty bland and nothing really impressive or interesting in 'M-I:3'. However, in 'Kiss Kiss Bang Bang', she was irrepressibly cute and was rather credible in her role. Quite a perky character as the show develops. And that's not all which is perky for her as well. Hurhurhur...
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
Lessons learnt...
I went to catch Mogwai at the Esplanade last night with Yeeyong, Alvin, Fuzz, Bryan and almost the entire Singapore indie scene and half of the KL indie scene. Was hanging out with Marvin at Pearl’s Centre (the CD shop stocks the harder-to-find shit at a low price. I rikesss…), waiting for Mervin to pick us up. While walking over to his car, I misplaced my footing and twisted my ankle. So, I was pretty much in pain during the show. The concert was pretty decent… and well, loud. At least, I can say I’ve watched Mogwai live before. Good to see Billy, Grace and Jason Siau after such a while.
After the show, Marv, Merv and I went to Harry’s for the obligatory post-gig beer. Jesseca (Not sure if I got the spelling right), Tim and their friend Sage joined us as well, followed by Dionne.
Lesson learnt #1: 3 pints of Kilkenny can’t numb the pain of a sprained ankle.
Max was there last night as well. He gave me a sheepish grin as he mentioned his newly secured (yes, that’s the new term) girlfriend, showing me a photo of her with his dog on his mobile phone. And that’s when an epiphany hit me.
Lesson learnt #2: When you want to do some recording with Max and especially when he’s pumped up for it, do it FAST. And I mean, really FAST. So, him getting a new girl means the Novak project is on indefinite hold once again. There's only 3 guys I know who are huge fans of Bernard Butler. Yes, especially the pussy (read: whiny, love-lorn acoustic) stuff: me, Max and Billy. Ah well.
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
The Dark Knight
Yesh, that's the name of the sequel to Batman Begins. And yeah, Heath Ledger will be the Joker. Read about it here.
Monday, July 31, 2006
The Departed
The names: Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Mark Warlberg, Jack Nicholson and Martin Sheen. Directed by Martin Scorsese. Do you really actually need to know what the plot is?
Okay, it's the Hollywood remake of 'Infernal Affairs'. Check out the trailer here now.
Lunarin is our bitch!
Okay, The Lard Brothers are streaming Lunarin's 'Ariel (File Under Easy Listening' remix) on our MySpace page here for this week. Let us know you comments!
They've just released the video for their single (which was released like last century) 'Silverpiece'. Loads of chicks standing around looking pretty and Linda's mighty proud of that fact. Sounds like a The Love Experiment to me though...
Almost done!
Finally, after a back-breaking 13 hours session of remixing Camra's 'White Hearts Lane', the bulk of the work is done. Just need to embellish it with some layers and balance some frequencies. Though I'm hearing some mistakes here and there... Guess I gotta go back and tweak it a lil more.
Next up: While the remixes were fun, I gotta do some original tunes.
Wednesday, July 26, 2006
Monday, July 24, 2006
Sunday Lazy Sunday
Went down to town to meet Marvin yesterday to pick up the raw files of 'White Hearts Lane' which The Lard Brothers are remixing. Their producer Randolf mentioned that these guys aka Camra suffers from option anxiety. I finally understood that when I opened up the DVD-R and realised that there were like a gazillion out-takes in it. All pretty much nicely compartmentalized by Randolf though.
Anyhow, I'm chopping the vocals up and fitting them into the remix. The bulk of the instrumentation is done. This should be pretty fast. In light of the remix which is called 'White Hearts Lane (The Lard Brothers New Shop Mode remix), it's shaped to sound like a tribute to New Order, Pet Shop Boys and Depeche Mode. Somehow, I've this feeling that Randolf will flip upon hearing the remix. Heh. He hates dance remixes.
Anyways, Marv and I were hanging out in the afternoon. We talked about how we should curb our spending and instead, we went out and started getting CDs which are on a discount. We both got Depeche Mode's Violater (Heh, I need the inspiration).
I'd need to spend less but my willpower is made of tofu. Sigh.
Sunday, July 23, 2006
Lard Bros get phat and fat!
Went over to Weiyuan's to finish up the remix of Lunarin's 'Ariel' for good. We re-did some bits and did more frequency balancing. We finished it around 830pm. We were supposed to carry on with Camra's 'White Hearts Lane' but Weiyuan decided to let his stomach do the thinking this time round.
Andy, The Love Experiment's ex-drummer popped by to pick us up and we zipped to Geylang for an early supper. Basically, we sat down and ordered shitloads of food: frog leg's porridge, bak ku teh, braised pig's trotter and barbequed stingray. After that, we proceeded to the single lane lorongs to eat durians at the roadside. Good night out.
Friday, July 21, 2006
Wednesday, July 19, 2006
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
The Science Of Sleep
You'd watch it when it comes out. You know it. Michael Gondry's new flick, starring Che Guevara or otherwise known as the actor Gael Garcia Bernal. The trailer is here. Weird visuals, weird ass story. Still about a girl.
The Lard Brothers vs. Phorous
Even though we are outnumbered in terms of size, we probably could call it even in terms of weight.
I've just heard the Phorous remix of Lunarin's 'Ariel'. It was done in a slightly electro-pop manner. Rather whimsical sounding. At first, I didn't like it but it got better after repeated listening. It sounds pretty good! Still too much reverb though! Hurhur...
In any case, they just released an EP Timelessness. Check out the official site for more details. Four of the nicest guys I know. I don't really know Vijay that well but the dude's been around. Desmond and Jeremy are a joy to hang out with. Fuzz just needs to develop a stronger liver.
They have the radio edit of the single available for download. Refer to the right column to download the track. But you can get the EP at EarShot @ The Arts House and Roxy Records. I think it might be shelved in HMV soon.
Monday, July 17, 2006
The Amazing Screw On Head
Damn good animated adaptation of Mike Mignola's comic book here. Got it off Billy.
Sunday, July 16, 2006
Here's lookin' at you, bub...
To prove that he's not just a good-looker with bad hair days in a comic book franchise, Hugh Jackman has another 2 major projects thus year. Directed by Darren Aronofsky, The Fountain has him and Rachel Weisz. Check out the trailer here and the glowing review on CHUD here. It has an interesting concept and features great actors. Should be great.
In addition, he's pally with Christian Bale in The Prestige. Catch the trailer here. And Bale's butler Michael Caine and Scarlett 'I radiate sex from every pore' Johannson. Directed by Christopher Nolan, no less. David Bowie's in it, too...
Pet Shop Boys - Heart
Old 80's music video when they were almost 20 years younger. This was the song they wrote for Madonna but were too shy to send to her. It became one of their number 1 hits. Check out the video. It stars Ian McKellen (before he was knighted, before he became Magneto and of course, before Gandalf) as a horny vampire. No, I'm not shittin' you.
Friday, July 14, 2006
How Much Do You Love Me?
I read a little of the story's synopsis. But who cares?! It has Monica Bellucci and she's taking her clothes off for this one. You can already see that in the trailer here.
Thursday, July 13, 2006
Funny...
My good friend Simon's band Zero Sequence's live footage of them playing at Rock D' Fort last month. I love the extra clip at the front. Just like Beach Boys!
Check out this other video where he plays a ES-1275 aka the double neck SG. I still think he should buy a new pair of jeans! Hehehe...
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Seat-warmers needed...
Got this from my friend from MTV Asia. If you guys are keen, let me know.
Hi everybody,
We are looking for 200 seat-fillers (male & female) on October 7, Saturday, for the MTV Asia Movie Awards. The event will be held at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. And as always, it will be a star-studded event.
Can you please help to forward this email to your friends whom you think fulfill the pre-requisites below? Sorry but MTV staff will not be eligible at this moment.
Role of seat-filler:
Once a talent is pulled from their seat to present an award/receive an award/use the loo, seat-filler will take their seat so that the cameras will not capture empty seats in the audience. Once the talent returns to their seat, the seat-filler will have to vacate the seat and standby for the next round of seat-filling.
Pre-requisites of seat-filler:
- Well-groomed & must look good. Should not look too young/teenager-like. We are looking for a slightly more mature and poised audience
- Composed & well-behaved. No star-struck crazy behaviour, asking for autographs, etc. (They most probably might end up seated beside a big star so they should not maul him/her)
- Able to take instructions & respond quickly
Sorry, we can’t pay, but if they are selected, they will be able to attend the otherwise invite-only show and get a chance to rub shoulders with some major Hollywood & Asian stars!
Those interested may email me their names & a recent photo of themselves (image files should be less than 500KB).
Thanks for your help in advance!
I’d like to help but I’m afraid I might not be able to contain myself if I’m seated beside Jessica Alba/ Biel/ Simpson (delete where appropriate).
Syd Barrett passes on...
The guy who went to lunch and never came back in the late '60s, Syd Barrett, the original leader of Pink Floyd has passed away yesterday. Read abt the recluse here.
Tuesday, July 11, 2006
(How Can You Expect To Be Taken) Seriously?
Was going through Pet Shop Boys's Wikipedia page and saw this bit. Hilarious. To read the rest of the page, click here.
Please started the Pet Shop Boys' penchant for choosing one-word album titles. It has also been noted that, when asking for a copy of the album, record-shop customers would sometimes have to say, "Can you help me find the new Pet Shop Boys album, Please?". It is said that because of this polite title, their first album was a big hit in Japan.
Note that I stopped crackling jokes about how I used to be a closet PSB fan. Doh!
Scott Walker vs. The Divine Comedy
Heard from Randolf that Scott Walker just released an album The Drift last month and he recommended it. I'd hope to get it soon. Getting damn broke. Here's the official site. Of course, the man is still enigmatic as ever.
Among his many devotees which includes the famous ones like Radiohead's Thom Yorke and Pulp's Jarvis Cocker (who actually worked with Scott Walker for their swan song album We Love Life - which is pretty good.), Neil Hannon flies his flag the highest. Over-the-fucken-top bombastic pop songs with orchestral flourishes and that baritone vocal stylings. The new Divine Comedy album Victory For The Comic Muse is apparently out as well. Check out the details here. I heard it's back to the old style of the band. Looks like it's probably worth getting. Then I could bitch about how the album sounds comfortably familiar but it's not ground-breaking. But the hell I give a fuck about ground-breaking anyway.
Monday, July 10, 2006
Beetle no more...
Just got from Billy's blog the latest pictures of the upcoming Transformers movie directed by Michael "If 50% of the movie budget isn't allocated to me blowing things up, I'm walkin'!" Bay. Bumblebee is no longer a Volkswagen Beetle no more!!! Quite upsetting.
He's gonna be a Camaro.
The transformed Bumbleebee.
For more pics, click here.
In other news, Billyboy proposed a new tee for the band. Nice. I like it.
Coldplay
Chicks dig Coldplay; I dig chicks. Therefore, I dig Coldplay.
Tonight's Coldplay's 2nd show in Singapore. I missed them the 1st time round. I'm a fan but I'm not particularly excited. Guess I've been watching too many gigs this year.
I'm just probably gonna do the lighter thing during the ballads which apparently Chris Martin hates. Or so I heard when they came in 2000. "Keep those lighters; this isn't a Bon Jovi concert." I don't give a flying fuck man... I mean, did I say anything about you being a Michael Stipe wannabe? No eh?
Michael Stipe
Chris Martin
Chris and Michael sharing a tender moment
In fact, I'm not too pumped by Baybeats as well. I used to be. Getting' old and the recent Baybeats (or actually, more like Harry's Esplanade) has been sucking my moolah dry. Well, I'd prolly turn up on Sunday to catch my friends playing and Saturday to hang out with Adlin who is sessioning (join the fucken band already!!!) with furniture.
Prolly will be going up to KL in early August.
Friday, July 07, 2006
Thursday, July 06, 2006
The Outsider
In an orgasm-inducing piece of news (which I've gotten pretty late), DJ Shadow announced the name of his 3rd album The Outsider on his blog-of-sorts. I think you can get to hear the 1st single '3 Freaks' on his official site here.
The man will be performing at Zouk on Saturday 5 August 2006.
Supergroup
Trent Reznor (who's looking more and more like Henry Rollins these days, sans the tattoos) of Nine Inch Nails (still one of my fave acts), Peter Murphy of Bauhaus and TV On The Radio (which I've never heard their tunes before) covering the only Bauhaus song I know: "Bela Lugosi's Dead'. You gotta love the song title.
Wednesday, July 05, 2006
The Lard Brothers are lazy... and fat
Me and Weiyuan's side project has kicked off finally. We've just finished a remix of Lunarin's 'Ariel', turning it into a pop lesbian love song.
As found on The Lard Brothers' MySpace blog:
Adlin of the old man angst- rock band Lied actually volunteered to sing for us! We lovesss the guy but he's too skinny for us. However, he promised that he'd try to put on 10 kgs to be fatter so that when he enters the studio, he'd be able to fit in our concept. He'd then shed those extra weight to rejoin his main band Lied. What a method singer! Gotta love him!!!
We'll be collaborating with the singer of indie band-in-planning Novak, Roger Maximilliam Christian Ho for a upcoming tune. Max (click on his picture to hear him cover a Haven tune) is best-known for his renditions of twee acoustic pop where he sings to make doves cry. We've found our man!
Bob Tan've always wanted to have a band where he can live out his electronic-organic instrument wet dreams. He lovesss bands like Lamb where there are warm soulful vocals over cold electronic beats. However, our good friends Phorous beat us to it by doing this earlier than us. But Bob Tan thinks that "What the hell? We will do it as well. And probably better cuz we are lazy... and fat!"
Bob Seng thinks that "You can take the man out of the 70's but you can't take the 70's out of the man!"
I Will Never Leave You...
Whilst Randolf is waiting for the birth of his son, Ramon (I don't think it's spelled with an additional 'e' even though the Arriolas named him after legendary punk rocker Joey Ramone. Hmm, Yeeyong named his dog after him too...), he took some time out from prepping for the birth to record a tune for his son. It's hosted on his MySpace personal page. It's a piece of quiet ambient music, which reminds me of what Bryan does. Hmm...
Marvin is the godfather. God help us all. Hurhur...
Monday, July 03, 2006
Saturday, July 01, 2006
Dragon Tiger Gate
Hongkie kung-fu action flick which is based on a popular martial arts comic book. Starring Donnie Yen (who's pretty cool. He doubles up as the action director for the show. However, it seems that his character has become the focal one in the movies as compared to the comics), Nicholas Tse and Shaun Yue. Here's the official site. It's pretty comprehensive.
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