Tom Cooney – Hold Me Down

So I might be biased because I know he’s from Brisbane.

But it has nothing to do with my Queensland pride which I accumulated while doing my university in Brisbane :p

And had everything to do with how incredibly talented Mr. Tom Cooney is.  The only regret was I didn’t get to catch him live while I was living in the sunshine state. He writes and sings his own songs.

And like all other musicians I adored, he has a voice that haunts you moments after you turn off your CD player. Couple that with his guitar, and you get a recipe for a disastrous breakup song. But who says you can’t listen to a disastrous breakup song, when you’re completely happy?

The one thing I like about melancholy is it does wonderful things to you. It makes you feel sad when you’re feeling down, and gives you that bit of hope & edge when you’re feeling slightly better because you’ve been down, and you know what it’s like to be a little up. And when you’re feeling completely happy, nothing beats listening to melancholic songs to bring that cheer on

Tell me you feel the same as me too so I know I’m not weird.

Tom’s debut album Presque Vue was released through his own record label “El Nino El Nino’ on October 11 and according to Tom, listening to a song is like looking into a mirror.

I first heard of this song while sleeping on my bed, looking into the skies. Memories of everything that mattered to me cruised through and brought a smile to my face

Have a blessed xmas everyone.

The Big Pink – Love in vain

I became a fan the moment I stepped into HMV one fine day, and found myself tapping my feet away.

I knew I had to buy the album right away because somehow, it was riveting enough for me to get me tapping on my feet yet tugged at my heart strings at the same time……with that voice.

There are a few constant things in the music that I like, love and adore.

One very important element is VOICE. The voice hooks me into the song, even though he/she could be singing rubbish. I always go… “such a gorgeous voice”.

I have to say Robbie Furze doesn’t have that typical voice that I usually worship – ahem – think conor deasy, fran healy, sufjan stevens etc. Robbie’s got that rough edge about him, much like Brett Anderson. It’s the type of voice you could make out, but can’t quite put a finger to it. Well, maybe you could and I can’t :p

Another reason why I felt an affinity with them could be the possiblity that Robbie Furze used to dabble with noise rock. I never was interested in noise, drone or noise rock until I lived in that place in Amsterdam. My hosts play in a band called Muhr and mix psychedelic guitar riffs with classic rock sounds. They are also heavily influenced in noise and counts Sunn O, Rose Kemp and Boris as some of their main influences.

My favourite song of The Big Pink’s debut album, A Brief History of Love, is Love in vain. I know it has a depressing song name, but as Chris Martin, the God of my life cleverly puts it, What if you love someone and it goes to waste?

It happens with our parents, our siblings, our pets, our friends and people we fall in love with.

The Big Pink hails from the UK. Not another british band you say, but they’ve won the prestigious Philip Hall Radar Award for best new act at the  NME Shockwave Awards and has received positive accolades from Pitchfork Media too. I didn’t know they were that great until I did a wiki on them :p

For those of you who live across the globe from me: Check them out as they tour the UK and North America: http://www.nme.com/artists/the-big-pink

I’m sure you’ll enjoy this song as much as me.

But I hope you don’t spend your life loving someone in vain.

The Thrills – Just Travelling Through

Off their debut album, So Much For The City, which I am still listening to 7 years after it hit the stores – Just Travelling Through brought about a new rush of blood to my head.

Simply because I never really paid much attention to this song, back then.

And then you put on the album again, and you ask yourself: “Why didn’t I hear this before?”

And maybe I’m in a perpetual melancholic mood this December, and my wanderlust gets the better of me sometimes.

How many of us travel through cities, countries, places and left some footprints? Or maybe the places that you’ve been left a permanent footprint on you.

When I think of me just travelling through time, I feel better because I know, not long before I’ll hit the road again. And travel through people’s lives, and couches.

It’s impossible to find a video for this song, but you can listen for free here. Thanks to Grooveshark.

Just Travelling Through by The Thrills

Into the Fire – Thirteen Senses

Ever discovered new music? Discovered a new band?

Isn’t that the most wonderful feeling? I know it is because I had the same feeling when I first heard this song by Thirteen Senses.

I was out and about at a flea market, and hunting down some cheap CDs to add to my collection. And there it is, sitting there, going at a price of SGD$3. I asked the owner of the stall what kind of music the band plays and none of them could answer. So I thought, sounds great. And bought it.

First thing I did when I got home was to put it on, and instantly fell in love. Omg.

The melancholic melodious sounds of the piano is my Archilles Heel. The same reason I am a huge fan of Coldplay, Muse and Augustana. With equally haunting guitar riffs through the song, and the hauntingly crystal-clear voice, Thirteen Senses got themselves a new fan.

A quick search online and discovered they’re English, from a place called Cornwall. Will South, lead singer of the band who also plays the piano and guitar has a voice that reminds me a lot of Conor Deasy (lead singer of The Thrills). It’s got that innocent, crystal-clear quality to it that kind of lifts your mood up a little even though the songs are tragically melancholic sometimes.

Into the Fire is the first song off Thirteen Senses’ debut album, The Invitation. Have I mentioned how important it is to have a good first song to any album? It kind of sets the mood to the whole thing, and gives you an insight to what you can expect.

So I am 5 years late in discovering this fantastic album, good news is they have a new album that’s upcoming, so I’m not gonna miss it

Secret Door – Arctic Monkeys

Has anyone heard the new HUMBUG album yet?

IT IS FUCKING BRILLIANT.

Humbug is a departure from the Arctic Monkeys we were used to but yet not that radically different that you hate it.  Well, that’s probably because the album kinda reminds you of what The Last Shadow Puppets would do.

And we all know the creative juices behind The Last Shadow Puppets, it’s a collaboration between Alex Turner (Arctic Monkeys) and that guy from The Rascals, Miles Kane and Producer James Ford. This little side project won Best New Artist from the MOJO Awards in 2008 – not bad for a side project huh.

It has been a long time since I was so obsessed with an album so much. The album started with My Propeller, which is also one of my favourites. Lyrically, Alex Turner proved he can be as cryptic or as blatant as he wants but this lyrical genius got all of us Monkeys fans guessing what he meant by the stuff he said in My Propeller. It probably deserves a post by itself which I will come to, soon enough. I hope

So….Secret Door. Brilliant song and beautiful voice. I think Secret Door is Alex Turner’s best song on the album; fantastic vocal performance and excellent song writing.

Enjoy

Just a Little Waltz

So fellas, I’ve been Missing In Action (MIA) for a good 4 months? I’m not sure, who’s counting anyway.

You probably don’t want me to bore you with mundane little details of my life explaining for the absolute thorough neglect of this little blog of mine.

So I was away…to the opposite side of the world and took 2 months off and I am now back to my sunny island city-state, where I am not only jobless and broke, but also sad that I have to leave a part of me there. But we all know that all good things come to an end.

Now, I’ve just watched 2 movies: Before Sunrise and Before Sunset. And really liked that little waltz that Julie Delpy sang in Before Sunset. For those who know me personally, would probably already have guessed that I bawled my eyes out.

After some sort of media monitoring online about the movies, most people prefer Before Sunset because it resonates the haplessness that we feel in life sometimes. And most are undecided about Before Sunrise. But I liked it, I loved both movies but Before Sunrise provided the perfect setting to Before Sunset. It was almost amateur, and almost unreal and idealistic to depict two persons falling in love and meant what they promised and said to each other after a mere one night. Before Sunset is proof that it does happen and exists. It’s a flawed story line simply because it’s not perfect. And I liked that it’s not perfect.

This song performed by Julie Delpy deserves a post, I think she has a really nice, unassuming voice and it was a very heartfelt “performance” – I only put performance because I didn’t know what else to call it.

Simple, unpretentious lyrics. That’s how all songs should be, don’t you think?

Because of all the people that I’ve met on my trip, I’ll never be the same again. And someone once said, we all are the sum of our moments in life. So make every moment count.

….and it starts tomorrow look out for my next post! Enjoy the little waltz.

 

SOTD: Welcome to the streets – Shroomtune

He’s so indie, his Myspace page is like his Facebook page with pictures of him posing with walls, friends and er.. some remotely touristy stuff.

I don’t even know his name though I suspect his name is called Jeff. Something i came across on youtube. But I know he’s from Austria

So this song. Extremely catchy.

… one million party people dancing in the streets.

see the picture? these are the slightly photoshopped ones so we know they can  be used for album sleeves or as album art.

the others are really those that just came off the camera.

She sounds like a girl on the song though and this has got to be the most un-insightful post. hahaha.

cos i know nothing about this guy but found myself tapping my feet at this song everytime i hear it. so it deserves a space here.

like this picture.

and finally. something fun to celebrate midweek!
Friday seems to be waving at me now

SOTD: Free Things For Poor People – Infadels

Don’t let the picture fool you. Far from being emo, the Infadels ooze pure joy and happiness in their music. Their brand of electronic rock particularly rocks my socks. A combination of two awesome genres = Power Pop?

I have and I shall cease branding and labelling any bands with any sort of genres and setting the parameters of musical creation. But you all either already know or secretly know that it is something I can’t get past, which explains why I constantly must remind myself not to silo the music :p

The Infadels. Are from the UK. I love brit rock. brit pop. brit rubbish. There is something different about the kind of music the brits make compared to that from the rest of the world.

And more often than not, the brits served as influence and inspiration to the rest of the world.

The Beatles//Blur//Pet Shop Boys//Elton John//David Bowie//The Rolling Stones//New Order//The Smiths//The Cure//Coldplay//Thom Yorke//Radiohead (i know they’re the same)//Arctic Monkeys//Keane//Oasis

And who can possibly omit Ministry of Sound.

Although I have to say German electronic music has to be one of the best. And serves as the UK in electronic music. Setting the trends. Setting the tone.

So. The Infadels. The Song of The Day today, Free Things For Poor People had me hooked and left me wanting for more. It was released in June 2008 and debuted at #1 in UK Indie Singles Chart.

Impressive.

So in addition to the band stuff that they do, they also DJ. Alot of DJs/bands are doing that. Like the Simian Mobile Disco for instance. *HUGE FAN HERE*

If you head over to the Infadels’ official site, surf through a couple of their gallery images and you’ll notice how goofy they looked, but that’s because it shows in their music. Their music just exudes pure joy.

And pure joy = free music (well free anything basically). They give away a free download of their single, Sweet Dreams on their site. All you have to do is sign up to the mailing list. I say, why not?

Free things for poor people like me.

There are some music that you listen, and you wanna slit your wrist cos it’s so sad.

Then there are some music that you listen, and you wanna hop around and shower the surroundings with flower petals.

Not in the Electric-MGMT-Feel drugged out sorta way. But out of pure… Joy. For the lack of a better word. It’s something that simple. I think people sometimes forget what Joy felt like.

And if you’re interested to check them out, you can. Right here in Singapore! They’ll be doing a DJ Set at Zirca on 7 August. Don’t say I didn’t tell u.

So, here you go! I hope this song tides you through Monday. And through the week until Friday starts waving at cha.

SOTD: Beastie Boys – Intergalactic

So I bet you’ve heard the sad news. Adam (aka MCA) is down with cancer, though the tumour is not cancerous and will not affect Adam’s vocals. God forbid that to happen! The tumour is growing in a gland near the throat area, and according to Adam, it’s “localised” so it shouldn’t be difficult to treat and is definitely curable.

Thank god.

Because honestly, I haven’t been listening to the Beastie Boys and only just caught on recently.

Shame, I know. But better late than never.

How would you classify the Beastie Boys?

Certainly not hip-hop.

Sure they rap, but hip hop? Though some of their fashion sense are quite hip-hop inspired.

Electronic-rap? HAHHA

Why bother? I’ve already said my piece about genres

So the greys start showing and so do the paunch. And cancer seemed to take the cake.
But the boys take it all in their stride, taking to Youtube to announce the cancellation of their tour and the delay of their new album.

Check out their video announcement on their official website here.

And. The song that made me notice Beastie Boys: Intergalactic.

The scratching is phenomenal. I love a good scratching. That separates you from the rest of the lousy DJs.

So here goes! And get well soon, Adam.

It’s finally here! Strawberry Swing

I bet you’ve seen the trailer to Coldplay’s latest single, Strawberry Swing.

And simply can’t wait to see the full-length. Wait no further

The video will be aired in cinemas (overseas) before Bruno. Now they really need to do it in Singapore.

Directed by Shynola, the directing team has worked with Radiohead and Blur previously. So you know it’ll be good.

And it is.

Though I still prefer the Life in Technicolor II video.
Still my favourite

enjoy!

more about “Babelgum: Coldplay – Strawberry Swing“, posted with vodpod