ABBAholic

Just when I thought I had finally weaned myself off ABBA songs after watching MamaMia! three weeks ago, I had to do it all over again this evening.



And now, once again, I have to wipe that silly grin off my face as I hum Dancing Queen while wrapped in my towel galeking to the shower, I Have A Dream, stirring my sleepy morning kopi and Super Trouper, windows down speeding to work.

Goddamit!

We paid 75 bucks a piece to catch ABBAmania, arguably the best current Tribute Band to the Swedish Fab Four and it was worth every penny. Tonight's performance, like their recent 18-week run at London's West End, was a complete re-creation of ABBA's last live concert in 1979 right here in the Esplanade Theatre. Shortly after, much to Music-World's lost, Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus, Anni-Frid Lyngstad, and Agnetha Fältskog called it quits. I hear they have never said so officially but, hell, we're not going to see them together as a group on stage anytime soon.

Anyway, it was a memorable evening. One of the few occasions where patrons of the Esplanade Theatre could get up and boogie to the music. I have been to The Durian many times for Musicals and Opera and it felt kinda' fun but weird to be dancing in the otherwise stoic-ly scarlet confines of the theatre hall.

Musically, ABBAmania were, in my book, very very ABBAish. I mean I haven't watched the real group live so I shall refrain from saying just how much the Tribute Band resembled the real McCoy in terms of percentages. But their vocals were amazing. If you closed your eyes, and took a rewind to 1979, lets just say it was believable that ABBA was right there on stage.

And when ABBAmania ended the evening with Waterloo at a quarter past ten, just like how they had started the night's repertoire at 8pm, it was perhaps fitting when 'Bjorn' proclaimed that it was really ABBA we should be saying this to ; Thank You For The Music.

I agree.

Hello, Again

When J talked about Hello, Electrico's hit from their sophomore album Hip City a moment ago, I realised I didn't mention in here that I attended their gig at the Arts House lawn last month.



Truth be told, I'm not particularly enamoured with the their 3rd release, We Satellites. Gone are the radio-friendly, jingle-jangle of guitars from hit-tracks like Runaway, I Want You and Love In New Wave. Instead, the album is decidedly more broody and less melodious. And with Daniel Sassoon gone to pursue his legal career, lead singer Dave Tan has to 'struggle' with the added responsibility of playing Lead Guitar. Something he is not un-capable of, just that he needs a little more practice. Amanda Ling, that oh so babelicous goth-chick, gets much more air-time as a result. Giving Satellites more of an Electronica edge than ever before.

No matter, we still have reason to be proud of our local lads. Last seen, I hear, at the MTV Asia Music Awards in Genting where they were nominated for Favorite Artiste Singapore. Bassist Desmond Goh is no The Edge or Flea. And drummer William Lim Jr is no Larry Mullen Jnr. But together, Electrico is one of the tightest outfits in our part of the world not known to give due credit to non-angmo rockers.

Good luck guys with your current local tour and Hello!, again.

Wham Bam Damn

Would you?

Tell someone when the loving has stopped. And you know the coordinates are set for an emotional collision in silent space.

Or let nature take its proverbial course?

The Gentle Manly thing to do.

The dawn is breaking
A light shining through
You're barely waking
And I'm tangled up in you
Yeah

But I'm open, you're closed
Where I follow, you'll go
I worry I won't see your face
Light up again

Even the best fall down sometimes
Even the wrong words seem to rhyme
Out of the doubt that fills my mind
I somehow find, you and I collide

I'm quiet, you know
You make a first impression
I've found I'm scared to know
I'm always on your mind

Even the best fall down sometimes
Even the stars refuse to shine
Out of the back you fall in time
You somehow find, you and I collide

Don't stop here
I've lost my place
I'm close behind

Even the best fall down sometimes
Even the wrong words seem to rhyme
Out of the doubt that fills your mind
You finally find, you and I collide

You finally find
You and I collide
You finally find
You and I collide

Unkster Unwound - 一场游戏一场梦 (A Game, A Dream)

Just the other day, at a farewell dinner for a colleague, in a really typical Chinese restaurant that cannot get any cheena-er than this, my new boss expressed his mild shock that I listened to Chinese music.

You see, in the eyes of many people, I am the quintessential Banana. Yellow on the outside but white on the inside. That is, an Oriental brought up in the ways of the West and who has lost, somewhat, a chunk of his roots and Mandarin-speaking ability. And so when the karaoke came on and I sort of warbled my way through Wang Jie's very popular hit from his debut 1987 album, more than one person choked on the sharksfin and spurted their Chinese tea.

Idiots! =))

Anyway, long before Jay Chou, there was Wang Jie, the original Prince of Melancholy. Back in those days, there were none of the Rhythm & Blues/Soul/Rap influences that infuses Mandarin Pop now. Just sad love songs, pure and earnest. Epitomized by the Taiwanese, now turned Canadian, crooner himself.

And just like Jay, I have all his albums. Oh god, I'm old!



不要談什麼分離，我不會因為這樣而哭泣，那只是昨夜的一場夢而已
不要說願不願意 我不會因為這樣而在意，那只是昨夜的一場遊戲

那只是一場遊戲一場夢，雖然你影子還出現我眼裡
在我的歌聲中，早已沒有你
那只是一場遊戲一場夢，不要把殘缺的愛留在這裡
在兩個人的世界裡 不該有你 喔

為什麼道別離，又說什麼在一起
如今雖然沒有你，我還是我自己
說什麼此情永不渝，說什麼我愛你
如今依然沒有你，我還是我自己

那只是一場遊戲一場夢，雖然你影子還出現我眼裡
在我的歌聲中，早已沒有你
那只是一場遊戲一場夢，不要把殘缺的愛留在這裡
在兩個人的世界裡 不該有你 喔

為什麼道別離，又說什麼在一起
如今雖然沒有你，我還是我自己
說什麼此情永不渝，說什麼我愛你
如今依然沒有你，我還是我自己

為什麼道別離，又說什麼在一起
如今雖然沒有你，我還是我自己
說什麼此情永不渝，說什麼我愛你
如今依然沒有你，我還是我自己

Angels Or Devils

As we sat there, listening to Dishwalla's angsty tune being sung in the bar.

I stole a glance at you. You didn't know.

The thoughts raced through my mind.

Fighting all the demons will take time. And I'm always gonna worry about the things that could make us cold.

Indeed.


This is the last time
That I'm ever gonna come here tonight
This is the last time I will fall
Into a place that fails us all inside

And I can see the pain in you
And I can see the love in you
But fighting all the demons will take time
It will take time

The angels they burn inside for us
Are we ever
Are we ever gonna learn to fly
The devils they burn inside of us
Are we ever gonna come back down
Come around
I'm always gonna worry about the things that could make us cold

This is the last time
That I'm ever gonna give in tonight
Are there angels or devils crawling here?
I just want to know what blurs and what is clear to see

Well I can see the pain in you
And I can see the love in you
And fighting all the demons will take time
It will take time

The angels they burn inside for us
And are we ever
Are we ever gonna learn to fly
The devils they burn inside of us
Are we ever gonna come back down
Come around
I'm always gonna worry about the things that could break us

If I was to give in, give it up
And then
Take a breath
Make it deep
Cause it might be the last one you get
Be the last one
That could make us cold
You know that they could make us cold
I'm always gonna worry about the things that could make us cold

For The Broken Hearted

To all my friends, facing one kind of heart trouble or another.

Nelly Furtado. And her thoughts about leaving it to the Divine One.


I looked at your face
I saw that all
The love had died
I saw that we had forgotten to take the time
I, I saw that you couldn't care less about what you do
Couldn't care less about the lies
You couldn't find the time to cry

We forgot about love
We forgot about faith
We forgot about trust
We forgot about us

Now our love's floating out the window
Our love's floating out the back door
Our love's floating up in the sky in heaven
Where it began back in God's hands

You said that you had said all that you had to say
You said baby it's the end of the day
And we gave a lot but it wasn't enough
We got so tired that we just gave up

Now our love's floating out the window
Our love's floating out the back door
Our love's floating up in the sky in heaven
Where it began back in God's hands

We didn't respect it
We went and neglected it
We didn't deserve it
But I never expected this

Our love floated out the window
Our love floated out the back door
Our love floated up in the sky to heaven
It's part of a plan
It's back in God's hands
Back in God's hands

It didn't last
It's a thing of the past
Oh we didn't understand
Just what we had
Oh I want it back
Just what we had
Oh I want it back
Oh just what we had

Oh Yeah!

Adam Levine et al, 25 Mar 08, The Singapore Indoor Stadium.



Mark your calenders people!

Prince Mumbles

OK incase you're wondering, this is not a review of Jay Chou's latest movie Kung Fu Dunk, out 7 Feb, in time for the Lunar New Year sick-of-visiting-relatives crowd.

I left the camera in the car, so I don't have pictures of his concert which I just attended. And what a ride it was!



Strangely, as the mumbly Prince belted out ballad after ballad, rap after rap, R&B-tinged cheena song after R&B-tinged cheena song, I sat there and mumbled to myself that boy, I am so glad the fella's Chinese. Proud lah you see. Which angmo in Hollywood or MTV today can claim to be such a talented singer, composer, musician, film director and dancer? You either have a combination of some of these talents in an individual. But to have all 5 resident in one slitty-eyed, brooding Chink is cause for unique celebration in the Chinese diaspora.

I shall not carry on gushing uncontrollably but yes, you get the idea. I am impressed with the bloke. Along with millions of other doe-eyed schoolgirls who really, I think, like him because he's cool, rather than for the kind of slick, fusion Western-Oriental pop he has made his own.

Jay, in my opinion, has 3 broad sub-genres in his repertoire of music. Rap-infused R&B tunes where his trademark mumbling has polarized a sizeable Chinese-pop generation, angsty melancholic ballads that would shoot star-crossed lovers to another galaxy and lately, an experimental infusion of styles in his songs which form a sort of great-tasting rojak. Case in point of the latter is the Texan hillbilly swing he incorporates into certain tracks on his latest album, On The Run.

He gave us equal doses of each talented portion tonight. Squeezing in a good 20 numbers into the 2.5hr gig and serving up plenty of chatty repartee with the mostly under-30 crowd. Pity that on certain songs, the acoustics of the Indoor Stadium did not perform up to scratch. Too much echo. Making portions of lines where Jay raps (i.e mumbles) quite inaudible.

Nevertheless, a great gig by the Prince himself. Even more so when you consider he spent his Birthday playing to the gallery.

Your Chemical Romance

I know you really want to see them Live on 11 Dec.



I also know that their CD has been playing in the Miata for the past month. Maybe two.

Wish we were going. It would have been a welcomed distraction...

Jokers

Five hours of Karaoke last night.

Croaking out of tune, lotsa beers plus spirits and fooling around like a bunch of giggly teenagers.

And then this 1968 song by the Bee Gees came on before closing time. We just sat there and listened to Robin Gibb's plaintive vocals for a good 2 minutes. Then joined him in earnest for a rousing, melancholic chorus since in more ways than one, we were kinda like Jokes ourselves...

I started a joke
Which started the whole world crying
But I didn't see
That the joke was on me

I started to cry
Which started the whole world laughing
Oh had I only seen
That the joke was on me

I looked at the sky
Rolling my hands over my eyes
And I fell out of bed
Cursing my head from things that I said

'Till I finally died
Which started the whole world living
Oh had I only seen that the joke was on me

I looked at the sky
Rolling my hands
Over my eyes
And I fell out of bed
Cursing my head from things that I said

'Till I finally died
Which started the whole world living
Oh had I only seen that the joke was on me
Oh no! that the joke was on me
Oh...

Unkster Unwound - CD of The Week

To think I used to call him Prince Mumbly.

All thanks to his trademark lazy enunciation and chic slurring. Anyway since 2 years ago, I've grown to adore Jay Chou's brand of R&B, Rap and Classical fusion-pop. He may not be much of a looker and actor. But since his foray into the Big Screen with Initial D, followed by Curse of The Golden Flower and this year's wonderful directorial debut, Secret, even Chinese Cinema doyen Zhang Yimou has remarked that one day, Mr Chou's skills may even surpass his own.

Not bad for someone who started off writing songs for people like Jolin Tsai, Vivian Hsu and S.H.E. Now the fella composes his own music, directs his own movies and videos plus produces all the stuff. I don't think many of the pretty boys and girls of Chinese pop can claim to have so much creative input into their output.




This year's album release is entitled On The Run (or I Am Very Busy if you take the direct Mandarin translation). In it, Jay once again shows off his smorgasboard of musical styles from American banjo Hillbilly folk to feet-stomping Blues-Rap. But he does it all in a way that the songs still sound distinctly Oriental. However I still love the man for his hauntingly melancholic ballads and Track No. 7 (I'm Not Worthy) does the trick for me. Plus it has an excellent music video which I have just finished watching for the like 12th time.

Yes I know, very star-struck pre-pubescent schoolgirl.



Well wait till I tell you I have tickets to catch his concert on 17 Jan next year.

Oh boy, what a Groupie!

Uh Oh

Two of hearts, lace and satin, something in the air
Feel like another crook that's been captured by your stare

Uh-oh, uh-oh
Falling in love, falling in love again
Uh-oh, uh-oh, and I don't wanna no, no, no
Uh-oh, uh-oh, falling in love, falling in love again
Uh-oh, uh-oh, falling, falling

Jealous feelings, reappearing, such a wicked dare
I'm just so damned confused and I wonder, do you care?

Uh-oh, uh-oh
Falling in love, falling in love again
Uh-oh, uh-oh, and I don't wanna no, no, no
Uh-oh, uh-oh, falling in love, falling in love again
Uh-oh, uh-oh, falling, falling

Like walking in the park
Or dancing in the dark
Just wanna hold you
Throughout the night

Prince of fire, sweet desire, with your Devil may care
Release me from your spell
I don't want this, love ain't fair

I'm falling in love again
Uh-oh, uh-oh
Falling in love
Uh-oh, uh-oh, falling, falling
Uh-oh, uh-oh, falling in love, falling in love again
Uh-oh, uh-oh, falling in love, falling in love again
Uh-oh, uh-oh, falling in love, falling in love again uh-oh, uh-oh
And I don't wanna no, no, no
Uh-oh, uh-oh, falling in love, falling in love again
Uh-oh, uh-oh, falling, falling....

Unkster Unwound - CD of The Week

Stacey Kent has become somewhat of my secret weapon.

The New Jersey born, England-resident, Jazz vocalist will be whipped out for those sad occasions when a soft, plaintive voice is needed to set the mood for some self-pity. Listen to her bittersweet Little Girl Blue and tell me you won't be flushed with melancholy.

But lest you think Stacey's all 'Tears For Fears', she's not so one-dimensional lah. Which is more than I can say about the other Jazz-diva, Diana Krall, who, from certain angles, resembles a Klingon maidservant.



Ms Kent's lastest offering on newly-joined Blue Note Record's Breakfast On The Morning Tram, features more cool, American-Songbook-like tracks written by her hubby, Jazz Tenor-Saxophonist Jim Tomlinson. Interestingly, 4 tracks from the album were also co-written with Japanese-born, British novelist Kazuo Ishiguro (He of The Remains of The Day fame) who I think contributed with the lyrics.

And like Mr Ishiguro, Stacey's got me hooked, not necessarily now when I only feel like wallowing.

Because she makes even a Louie Armstrong classic sound good.

987 Stripped

Geez has it been 18 years?

Since 98.7FM has rocked the airwaves. Gawd for a radio station that plays Top 40 stuff for teenyboppers (and, ahem, young-at-hearts), its a little ironic that they're so Jurassic. I remember Say It With Music keeping me company throughout my O's man. Way back in 1989.



Anyway, I have been tuning in to '987 Stripped' with Shan Wee lately on Saturdays and Sundays from 4-5pm. No the kewt boy doesn't strip. He just plays excellent Unplugged stuff in all their naked, soothing, melancholy-ness.

This one, on UnkFM now, nearly made me collide (with a lorry) yesterday.

Keke =)

Unkster Unwound - CD of The Week

Yes, I know.

In the middle of a sweltering Sunday afternoon. Perhaps a little too early to toss back that Veuve Clicquot, put the feet up, and let the Bose envelop you with some Stephane Pompougnac.





But with the blinds drawn down low, Hougang does look a little Parisian...a little...

Better That We Break

I never knew perfection ‘til
I heard you speak, and now it kills me
Just to hear you say the simple things

Now waking up is hard to do
And sleeping’s impossible too
Everything’s reminding me of you
What can I do?

It’s not right, not okay
Say the word that you'll say
Maybe we’re better off this way
I’m not fine, I’m in pain
It’s harder everyday
Maybe we’re better off this way
It’s better that we break..

A fool to let you slip away
I chase you just to hear you say
You’re scared and that you think that I’m insane

The city looks so nice from here
Pity I can’t see it clearly
While you’re standing there, it disappears

It disappears

It’s not right, not okay
Say the word that you'll say
Maybe we’re better off this way
I’m not fine, I’m in pain
It’s harder everyday
Maybe we’re better off this way
It’s better that we break up

Saw you sitting all alone
You’re fragile and you’re cold, but that’s all right
Life these days is getting rough
It knocks you down and beats you up
But it’s just a roller coaster anyway, yeah

It’s not right, not okay
Say the word that should say
Maybe we’re better off this way
I’m not fine, I’m in pain
It’s harder everyday
Maybe we’re better off this way

I’m not fine, not okay
Say the word that you'll say
Maybe we’re better off this way
I’m not fine, I’m in pain
It’s harder everyday
Maybe we’re better off this way
It’s better that we break, baby

Unkster UnWound - Rhythms Del Mundo

I remember catching the MTV for Clocks at 3am in the morning 2 weeks ago and saying to myself, hey that tune has a familiar cha-cha-cha to it.

I mean the music for this Coldplay staple I am familiar with but the opening ivory riffs sounded, errr, like something straight out of Havana. And I was right.



Rhythms Del Mundo is not a group. Rather it is the name of an album put together by APE (Artists' Project Earth), environmentalists hoping to create more awareness of global issues through the universal power of music. APE counts amongst its stellar board of advisors, Al Gore, he of An Inconvenient Truth fame.

The Buena Vista Social Club, for those who are au fait with the likes of Ibrahim Ferrer, Ruben Gonzales, Omara Portuondo and Compay Segundo, was a members-only club in Havana in the forties. In the 90s, nearly 40 years after the club was closed, it inspired a recording made by Cuban musician Juan de Marcos González and American guitarist Ry Cooder with traditional Cuban musicians, some of whom were veterans who had performed at the club during the height of its popularity. Naturally Ferrer, Gonzales, Portuondo and Segundo, the oldies but goodies of the Havana club scene way back then, continued to figure prominently on the follow-up recordings. Together, they put the sexy, sometimes languid sounds of Cuban jazz back on the world stage. Making that double shot of whisky and a Cohiba Robustos between your teeth so much more satisfying =))

So with World music on an upswing and the likes of Coldplay, Maroon5, U2, Kaiser Chiefs and the Arctic Monkeys still on everyone's lips, a collaboration to come up with something unique was dreamt up and materialised on Rhythms.

Rhythms also marks the final recording of Ibrahim Ferrer before his passing in 2005 at the age of 78. On it, he croons the old Casablanca classic As Time Goes By. He returns for an encore duet with Omara Portuondo on the same song as a bonus track at the end of the CD.

For those who enjoy the old sounds of the The BVSC, you will probably like this. For the rest of you weaned on alternative rock, you'll probably feel really wierd listening to Havana band Los Van Van do a cover version of Radiohead's High and Dry, Cuban style.

And oh yah, purchase this album and a minimum of 2 bucks will go to APE's Natural Disaster Relief and Climate Change Awareness programmes. I did my part.

Do yours =)

Rhapsody On A Theme Of Paganini...

If you know what this is without Googling, you're probably a kloset klassical kuku like me.

When the hip Alternative Rock wave of the early 90s decended upon us, I banished all my Rachmaninov, Liszt, Chopin, Mascagni, Dvorak, Schumann and the like into the inner recesses of my storeroom. Such stupid self-consciousness!

These days, while alone at home, Tchaikovsky alternates with Timbaland. I have a penchant for the Russians, Hungarians and Polish you see.

Anybody into this genre? Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, Romantic or Modern for u? Vladimir Ashkenazy or Nigel Kennedy? Academy of St-Martin-in-the-Fields or the Berlin Philharmonic?

Perhaps Opus Copulatest... =))

A Different Corner

Over the past few days, this old Georgie classic has become to mean something to me.

When before, I didn't really bother what the words meant, I do now.

Without being distracted by the horrible big 80's hairdo and what some men would-kill-for bearded stubble, tell me, what does it mean to you?



I'd say love was a magical flame
I'd say love would keep us from pain
Had I been there, had I been there

I would promise you all of my life
But to lose you would cut like a knife
So I don't dare, no I don't dare

'Cause I've never come close in all of these years
You are the only one to stop my tears
And I'm so scared, I'm so scared

Take me back in time maybe I can forget
Turn a different corner and we never would have met
Would you care

I don't understand it, for you it's a breeze
Little by little you've brought me to my knees
Don't you care

No I've never come close in all of these years
You are the only one to stop my tears
I'm so scared of this love

And if all that there is, is this fear of being used
I should go back to being lonely and confused
If I could, I would, I swear

Unkster Unwound - Electrico : Live In New Wave Concert @ UCC

Electrico kicked off this year's NUS Arts Festival at the University Cultural Centre. And the Chimp and me were there to savour the, no pun intended, electrifying performance yesterday evening =))



It says alot about a band when they sound better live than on CD. And that's exactly how local boys&gal Dave Tan, Desmond Goh, William Lim Jnr, Daniel Sassoon and the babelicious goth chick Amanda Ling rawked the rafters of the UCC before their US tour later in the month.



And after this smashing gig, I think the Yanks are in for some good ole' rock & roll, Singapore-style.



The band played all their favorites from 2004's So Much More Inside and 2006's Sophomore release Hip City. As well as surprise 'cameos' from the 80's New Wave scene. I'll let you all guess, something each from Soft Cell and Depeche Mode =))



Sound engineering was not without its glitches but the lights...Oh the lights! Excellent stuff man!






Dave et al saved their No.1 hit single Love In New Wave for the encore. Before really ending the evening off with We're Not Made In The USA, a song Dave says they can't sing when they play their gigs there but is actually about a lady returning the band's album at a record store in Singapore when she discovers that Electrico is..errr.. Made In Singapore =))



Anyway well done guys! And remember when you're up there in Arkansas, Tennessee and California...We're the Red and the White but without the Blue!

Look here for more on Electrico.

Official Electrico Site