suffice heroes

    
who gives a rat’s ass what have i got to say?

but suffice to say, it was a nice evening of warmth and cheer, conversations and laughter , wine and whining and the offset.

but besides being heavy on the festive, something else has invaded my computer screen. and it is this new incredible NBC series.

heroes, as cheesy as it sounds, is actually quite the credible TV series. save some parts where it can get cheesy and tad bit cringe-worthy. this would be the bad. how so, because of its dealing with people with superhuman abilities. kinda like X-Men, the series. and you can actually relate these superhuman powers to prominent comic characters.

now the good. the good part of this series is that, it sucks you in. the way the story is told and how we discover these people with these abilities. maybe it has to do with the humane factor these characters have. they all have day to day problems and yet still have to deal with the uncertainty of their powers.

its dark and mysterious. whenever i watch this, i keep harkening back to the HBO tv series Carnivale. while carnivale was dark and mysterious too, it dealt with people with these abilities that cannot be explained. whilst carnivale chose its setting in a circus, heroes does it in the modern day concept.

the story i must say, was well written and the show well produced. though i’ve had my initial doubts of this series thinking that it would be lame and stupid, it surprised me beyond words.

and this series coincided with my comic heroes theme. this meaning, the reading of the book the amazing adventures of kavalier and clay and watching this. i can’t wait for the next episode. right now, back to the book.

winehouse christmas cheer

chritmas this year brought upon the rain. sweet o’rain falls sheet after sheet without rest. no it does not patter or splatter, rather inconsistent in speed. and brings wetness to the christmas cheer and telling us not to over-do things in terms of the lord.

this year also brings about music releases of all kinds. cashing in on the christmas cheer and pocketing the openess of people willing to spend buckeroos on the soon to be void, Compact Disc.

for me, of all the releases (though i have not heard many) released in such short span and spurts, the release that did it for me had to be, Amy Winehouse’s, Back to Black:

Amy Winehouse’s first release, Frank, was drizzled with jazz-y numbers. amazing vocals and well thought out production set her apart from other jazz acts around. but with the release of back to black, we see her returning to her roots, literally.

though this album was released way before christmas, for me, this album is definitely fit for christmas, summer no matter what the time.

drawing inspiration from the 60s era sound such as the supremes, back to black is rich with slow melodies, catchy hooks and sexy vocals. opener rehab is a strong track that leaves a strong mark and direction as to where this album is going. third track, Me and Mr Jones (Fuckery), takes a piss out on the classic jazz number me and mrs jones. this is a tongue-in-cheek track that is surprisingly smart and funny. every track is a smooth transition, fitting together this almost vintage yet current sound fabric. the short time the tracks clock serves as tidbits to the winehouse sound and vocal treatmeat which suffices throughout the album.

you could say i am winehouse obessed currently. but back to black is on constant repeat. i hate to say this but this is better than going back to basics.

so have yourself and gritty and cheeky christmas brought to you by Amy Winehouse.  bring on the wine!

culture vulture?

  

art is subjective. no?

of pathways and video presentation, european artefacts and paintings, to sandwiches and photography. a day hunting in musuems and gallieries.

indiemind on carla werner

carla werner

“i watch you steal away with the sun, in your wanderlust” goes the first single of carla werner’s highly praised and emotionally charged debut, departure. starting up for this young singer was not easy, she was born in new zealand but moved to australia to pursue music. starting of as a performer in small venues in sydney, and sending demos to various music companies. rejection though did not deter carla.

she eventually went to america and worked with a slew of highly acclaimed producers to produce departure.

departure, is a well produced but seriously underrated album. the album resonates and aches with pain, loss and emotional turmoil. it speaks of societal put-downs in songs such as, the title-track, departure. love loss is the issue addressed in even a river. the album delivers and provides the listener a very confessional and heart-wrenching album.

carla however left sony to pursue her own musical journey. she went back to australia and produced a small b-side and later on made and produced, pure things in wild places.

intimate and raw best describes her second album. at times being a very quiet and comtemplative album. songs are somtimes just the guitar and lyrics. lyrically, this album is typical carla which we have come to know and enjoy.

this album also see carla taking full control of the production aspects. and she has put in alot of work on this album and it can be evidently heard. also, the artwork for this album coincides with the songs. dark and mysterious.

carlar werner is an artist worth mentioning and commending. she has worked hard as an artist under a major label and has garnered enough attention as in independant artist to go beyond her legion of fans that are already supporting her.

visit her official site: http://www.carlawerner.com

indiemind on Roisin Murphy

Roisin Murphy’s Ruby Blue came out 0n the 13th Jun 2005. Its has been over a year since she released her first solo album. If the reader is struck with familiarity, Roisin Murphy has been the voice of electro-pop group Moloko for most of her singing career. Together, Moloko produced hit tracks such as Sing It Back and Forever More. Moloko never failed to push the boundaries of electronica, often fusing funky beats with techno synths and great visual cheography to their videos.

Unfortunately, Roisin left Moloko to strike out a career on her own. She collabrated with Matthew Herbert on her first solo record, Ruby Blue.

I found out about Ruby Blue in the beginning of April ’05. This album of hers were the first few mainstays on my then newly acquired ipod mini. Ruby Blue infuses a ton of weird sounds, bumps, natural body movements together with strong electronica beats. Her first single, If We’re In Love, does not stray too much from her Moloko sound. But nonetheless it stood out because of its heavy disco sound and electronica sound.

The album opens with Leaving the City. This track immediatley stamps Roisin Murphy’s sound. It is a wholly new sound field. Beats races up and down on Leaving the City while huge drums drone on Ramalama Bang Bang. She has a knack for quirky song names. These tracks are lengthy tracks, each at least clocking at 4 minutes or more. This makes the soundscape more meaningful. There is quite the emotional curve on this record too. It brings the listener high on tracks such as Ruby Blue and Night of The Dancing Flame. It soothes the listener on tracks such as Love In The Making. You could say that Roisin’s brand of music could be generalised under, eclectic electronica.

Songs from Ruby Blue, was featured extensively on the first season of Grey’s Anatomy. This has helped her make inroads in the US market. It is not known whether she has done exceptionally well as a solo artist, but there is more to see from her.

Being a strong live performer does too help garner praise towards Roisin Murphy. Tracks such as hers are, well surprisingly good live. You could almost say that she could give Alison Goldfrapp a run for her moeny.

For now, we will have to see what we can expect from this upcoming solo artist. You never know, her second effort might just catapult her into the recognition she so duly derserves.

mere

just the mere thought of.

random are days where you are completely not yourself although you are nicely in your own skin. feeling this out of body experience just drains the daylights out of you. walking around with a sinister cloud-halo just isn’t fun. maybe its because its the weekend with empty pockets that are causing this strain of emotions.

wonder what are my fellow brethrens up to?

weekends are the almost mandatory signal for you to go make plans and maybe paint the town in multi-colour. but with monetary constraints how are the plans ever going to materialise? this calm sway of having money then being completely broke just isn’t working for the writer.

so humour me with your brand of laughter and i’ll see to the urge.

hold out the alcohol and movie times cos money will come sweeping in soon!

reach out and shake my hand cos i am signing off.

thank you!

movie latecoming boo boo

movies that are meant to be here or released are not. this frustrates the shit out of me. and it is not even funny. regulations should be tossed aside and anti-piracy ads should be scrapped cos you cannot stop us from wanting to watch these movies. the switch or should i say the easy way out would be turning to piracy and the golden palace of pirated dvds in the land of JB.

movies such as babel, we would have to wait till next year while our brethens over in the USA are moving on to better releases. movies such as quincenera and 3 needles just reached our shores and is only out on limited release. i don’t think a film like shortbus would ever make it here cos of its risque content and strong visual aids. and i wonder when will volver ever come? when the new harry potter is released? or how about bobby? while it receives accolades after accolades we are left wondering why such huge buzz around it? and dreamgirls why the wait till next year? why can’t it be a christmas release, i can’t wait to see the movie that people are calling one that is even better than chicago. the science of sleep, a movie that was done by the director of eternal sunshine of the spotless mind, i see it coming in limited release too. these are just the tip of the iceberg. once i start rolling i won’t stop.
to think that we take pride that movie-going is a favorite singaporean past-time. to think that we have the picturehouse to turn to? or such huge theatres like, gv vivocity. i’d rather not go to the theatres cos of the lack of good movies. movies are coming in by the trickle. its like an endless drought and the wait is senseless,  impatience just creeps on you.

i know there are rights to be settled, censoring to be done and what not. but still, do not blame us for turning away and going into the “dark side”. do not clamp down on us. to hell with that!

i’m sure some of you would agree with me. no?

pouring in the rain

things are moving slowly of late. what with shifting back to the grunge age and moving away from electronica to watching a movie with phoney white rich kids acting black.

here is what i mean:

now the juliette and licks picture i owe you guys so there it is, the donnas’ gold medal album which i just got, in its entirety, i felt should be featured because of its amazing graphical nature. last but not the least, havoc, the movie i watched a few minutes ago on dvd.

the donnas – gold medal

this album was duly released in 2004 and i am just reviewing it now. this album certainly shifts away from their first album, spend the night. the donnas always had this 80’s rock band kind of feel to their sound, often playing songs that are loud and in your face hence the 80’s feel. with gold medal you could say they have lessened the grunge but maintaining their sound. this meaning, an improved sound. production wise, this album was well produced whereas, spend the night was raw and gritty. fall behind me their first single was one the best rock tracks of 2004 in my opnion. the track drives through you and knocks you down. after a few listens you’d be going “you’re gonna fall behind me, you’re gonna cry and beg for mercy…” this is the kinda of song you’d sing when you truly hate someone. the rest of the album does not disappoint much. but i kept thinking to myself, this coming from a band formerly called the electrocutes.

havoc – starring anne hathaway, bijou philips and shiri appleby.

havoc is truly the word to describe this movie. this movie is bordering indie yet mainstream with the string of actors involved in this production. i would not say offhand that this movie is controversial seeing as to how many movies have dealt with race, teenage issues, drugs, sex and violence. but this movie certainly sees anne hathaway pushing the boundaries of her acting career. you have her here being a sexually promiscuous rich white girl with friends that are trying to act street. which often does not go hand in hand. she and her crew, stumbles upon the slums of LA where the real gangs are. hence the spiralling out of control, her life and her friends. bijou philips plays emily, anne hathaway’s close friend that follows and tries to be her. although her role is a rather minimal role, bijou shines quite brightly in this movie. scene after scene you have parallels with the real gang world and the made up rich gang world to compare. the only part that did not click was the part where you had to imagine anne hathaway giving tips on how to kill oneself. anne hathaway just has too clean a face to be all “twisty” inside. but the movie hits at quite a number of strong issues in the real world. i’d just like to see this movie get a bit more dirty and really down there. it was almost to clean a movie.