June 17, 2009
headbanging is an art form
Now, We move on to the true purpose of this post...
I'm in the middle of getting tickets to a concert at Fort Canning Park on August 10th. I've never been so excited for a show...and so psyched...
Below are youtube links to one of my favourite pieces and a live version. You know there are songs that you are temporarily infatuated with and you play them 153 times in a week, thereafter you become entirely sick of them. Then there are songs that have tremendous playback quality and have been your favourites for years. This is one of them, for me. The layman will know it better as 'the instrumental piece' featured in 300's trailer.
Turn up your volume.
Just like You Imagined (Live)
Everything I want in a epic concert is here...sick composition, dirty bass line, awesome atmosphere, lightshow, headbanging, body-rocking, crowd surfing...and...TRENT REZNOR. Cannot. Go. Wrong.
Just Like You Imagined
Ignore the video, it's the audio you want to pay attention to.
SO EXCITED CAN'T WAIT...
May 20, 2009
We didn't start the fire
Then, as all dreams do, it morphed from stealing documents to breaking into a clock tower, still within the school compound. The adrenaline rush was crazy; because I knew I was rebelling and that I would be punished for it. What added to the excitement was that it was essentially a liberation mission to free all the stressed and frazzled students in the school.
My friends distracted the 'guards' and I banged my way into the clock tower. I charged up the tower and tried to find the clock. Instead I found a microphone. I knew the microphone was connected to every single room in the school compound, and that if I talked, anyone could hear me. I had a radio in my hand, a guitar in the other. (I could hear the shouts of angry teachers outside the clock tower) I fumbled with my radio and, with a burst of triumph, blasted the liberation song throughout the entire school compound. Everywhere, students started singing and dancing. The song was like ecstasy. I heard noises behind me and the radio jammed to a stop, so I tried frantically to reproduce the chord riffs with my guitar. A teacher suddenly appeared to my right, raised a shotgun and gunned me down.
I've never broken any major rules or sneaked into forbidden compounds, but at least I can do it in my dreams.
Below is the youtube link to my liberation song. This song played so vividly in my head throughout the dream. As I ran around frantically trying to break into the clock tower, it was already playing in my head, as if screaming: I AM YOUR ULTIMATE GOAL. BLAST ME. I AM YOUR ULTIMATE GOAL. BLAST ME...
We didn't start the fire - Billy Joel
I love this song.
Here's a singaporeanified version. I've given you the censored version because the original has Hossan Leong dancing.
May 01, 2009
The Soundtrack of Your Life
Before we start - thanks to the wonderful leung yan for this! I got it from his blog, he got it from a friend's facebook.
rules of game play:
1. Put your music player on shuffle.
2. For each question, press the next button to get your answer.
3. YOU MUST WRITE THAT SONG NAME DOWN NO MATTER HOW SILLY IT SOUNDS!
Here's Kimbie's ULTIMATE SOUNDTRACK FOR LIFE: ...........drumroll..........
IF SOMEONE SAYS "IS THIS OKAY?" YOU SAY?
Honky Fonky - SaReGaMa & Hamelin Bérengnier (Funky.)
WHAT WOULD BEST DESCRIBE YOUR PERSONALITY?
How Deep is your Love – Take that (...means I'm deep. Philosophical and deep.)
WHAT DO YOU LIKE IN A GUY/GIRL?
Breathe – Rebecca St. James (HAHAHAHA)
HOW DO YOU FEEL TODAY?
Cry Me a River – Justin Timberlake (Fairly accurate…)
WHAT IS YOUR LIFE PURPOSE?
My Girls Ex-Boyfriend - Relient K (Omg. I’m such a loser.)
WHAT IS YOUR MOTTO?
Tell Me On A Sunday - Andrew Lloyd Webber (procrastinator.)
WHAT DO YOUR FRIENDS THINK OF YOU?
Come To Praise You- Fatboy Slim vs P Diddy (Yay)
WHAT DO YOU THINK ABOUT VERY OFTEN?
Only Hope- Mandy Moore
WHAT IS 2+2?
Dance Hall Drug – Boys Like Girls
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF YOUR BEST FRIEND?
Deewana Hai Dekho - Alka, Sonu, Kareena (HAHAHA my best friend ezz eendian.)
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
House at Swamp Bottom - Joe Hisaishi (Not a rich dude.)
WHAT IS YOUR LIFE STORY?
How I Won The War / Blue Blood - Computer Perfection (wheeeeee)
WHAT DO YOU WANT TO BE WHEN YOU GROW UP?
Break Myself - Something Corporate (HAHAHA I'm so schizo)
WHAT DO YOU THINK WHEN YOU SEE THE PERSON YOU LIKE?
21st Century Kid - Jamie Cullum
WHAT DO YOUR PARENTS THINK OF YOU?
Forrest Gump Suite - Mike Strickland (hahaha)
WHAT WILL YOU DANCE TO AT YOUR WEDDING?
Ask About Me - Girl Talk (ZOMG A LOOPY SICK DJ TRACK)
WHAT WILL THEY PLAY AT YOUR FUNERAL?
Lookin' Good - Jamie Cullum (HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…?)
WHAT IS YOUR HOBBY/INTEREST?
Cemeteries Of London - Coldplay (...zomg...)
WHAT IS YOUR BIGGEST SECRET?
The Point of No Return – Andrew Lloyd Weber (Yep. I'm actually a keeper of a secret portal into a mysterious dimension.)
WHAT IS THE WORST THING THAT COULD HAPPEN?
Frontin’ - Farrell featuring Jigga
HOW WILL YOU DIE?
White Winter Hymnal - Fleet Foxes (Awww so nice.)
WHAT DO YOU REGRET?
Smile - Nat King Cole
WHAT MAKES YOU LAUGH?
Everyday People - Nicole C. Mullen (hee)
WHAT MAKES YOU CRY?
Somewhere in My Memory {Main Title From Home Alone}... – John Williams (Oh man nostalgia definitely)
WILL YOU EVER GET MARRIED?
Vindicated - Dashboard Confessional (Hmm.)
WHAT SCARES YOU THE MOST?
Over And Over - Nelly
DOES ANYONE LIKE YOU?
Hang Up - Madonna (:()
IF YOU COULD GO BACK IN TIME, WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE?
All I Need - Radiohead
WHAT HURTS RIGHT NOW?
Where The White Boys Dance – The Killers (haha what the)
WHAT IS THE TITLE OF YOUR LIFE SOUNDTRACK?
Noona is very pretty - SHINee신인 (HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA)
I invite everyone with a penchant for illogical and silly things to make a soundtrack of their life as well. Feel free to post in under comments!
Superhero fancies
April 28, 2009
To put a face to the cartoon...
Dan Castellaneta, Nancy Cartwright, Yeardley Smith, Hank Azaria, Harry Shearer
April 19, 2009
Susie
heres why.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxPZh4AnWyk
YOU NEED TO WATCH IT. do not be lazy and not click on it.
she took Les Miserables I Dreamed a Dream, and made it her own.
I dreamed a dream in time gone by,
When hope was high and life, worth living.
I dreamed that love would never die,
I dreamed that God would be forgiving.
Then I was young and unafraid,
And dreams were made and used and wasted.
There was no ransom to be paid,
No song unsung, no wine, untasted.
But the tigers come at night,
With their voices soft as thunder,
As they tear your hope apart,
And they turn your dream to shame.
He slept a summer by my side,
He filled my days with endless wonder...
He took my childhood in his stride,
But he was gone when autumn came!
And still I dream he'll come to me,
That we will live the years together,
But there are dreams that cannot be,
And there are storms we cannot weather!
I had a dream my life would be
So different from this hell I'm living,
So different now from what it seemed...
Now life has killed the dream I dreamed...
haha my jaw literally dropped when she started singing.
talk about cynical. talk about superficiality.
within that 3 minutes, she gained the respect of thousands of people across the world.
maybe dreams do come true =)
April 16, 2009
Support ScrawlBooks!
Wendy has started her own blogshop, ScrawlBooks, selling charming handmade notebooks. Here are some of my personal favourites:
- From the tanned collection
- From the fabric collection.
These notebooks are hand made and only a very limited number of notebooks are made for each design (in fact, most designs are one-of-a-kind!) Wendy is in fact running a one-man show, but you wouldn't be able to tell just by looking at the blogshop. She's doing an amazing job, so please do support her by purchasing one of these beautiful notebooks for yourself or contributing to ScrawlArt (this is such a fantastic idea; one artsy blog should help out another!) or simply drop by and leave some feedback or encouragement on her tagboard.
It's not easy to start up a business, no matter how small, so please help her keep this going or maybe even grow it into a bigger business! Then years from now we can all say, you know Wendy the designer who makes those awesome intricate handmade notebooks? I knew her when she was just starting out! :D
And KIM, please be inspired by this to start your art shop soon too okay! :)
♥
Jiafang.
April 14, 2009
Discussing the Divine Comedy with Dante
Discussing the Divine Comedy with Dante ---- this link Provides 'answers'
Dai Dudu, Li Tiezi, Zhang An, 2006, oil on canvas
Out of a 100, I recognise about 42 individuals. Tried to look for the Dalai Lama but he was nowhere to be found.
Then I remembered it was painted by the Chinese.
April 04, 2009
April 02, 2009
"It's music for the eye, not the ear." Pianist Murray Perahia
Came across this:
A forum user: That is not music, that is art.
Jokes aside (although as an art piece, it really is very refreshing), you wouldn't want to play Conlon Nancarrow's Tango?
Trust me. Looks can be deceiving.
nor
Iannis Xenakis's Evryali
March 28, 2009
Never put a blanket over an owl
Mr Noble bases his comic routine on improvisation, randomisation and surrealism with a stream of consciousness delivery. Watch it to understand it.
Most endearing accent ever!
March 22, 2009
Urban existentialism.
I recently begun exploring film photography - Lomography, specifically - and I find that film photos seem to be able to capture that feeling of urban surreality. The photos above that I posted were taken on my first ever roll of film, and they aren't exactly the best photos, but hopefully, they will be able to convey what I mean. Of course, as T.S. Eliot says in The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock,
It is impossible to say just what I mean!
March 21, 2009
Lacroix, La Coeur de la Couture.
In any case, I took a handful of photos, but I won't show them all here because it wouldn't be fair to those who haven't seen the exhibition. What I can show is one of what I feel is the best photo out of the many I took:
The real reason why I am writing this post, however, can be found in what Lacroix said in a 1998 interview with L'Journal d'ESMOD about his work with costumes in theatre:
"On stage, everything is symbol, effect, illusion; the costume must speak from the moment the actors, dancers or singers set foot on stage, assisting them physically by being comfortable, but also spiritually by underlining their acting and their role's character."
In a contemporary world where art has long stepped beyond the threshold of postmodernism, one wonders if the elaborate costumes of Lacroix still hold any more relevance to art. What has the avant-garde movement taught us? What can it still teach us? Does avant-garde still have anything to teach us?
Today, the stages of theatre are all minimalist - they are all barren theatrical deserts in a stark, clinical white, with perhaps the occasional block to perhaps represent a chair, a table, or even a rock. Even period pieces are rife with anachronisms; a recent production of Pride & Prejudice that I watched featured spot-on period costumes, but a suspended series of empty, black photo frames; during the interval, characters in their Victorian garb swirled onto stage, and then proceeded to dance in a contemporary, Broadway fashion.
It seems almost impossible for us to understand history without reinterpreting it into our own terms. We don't even understand the eighteenth century any more - not without pretending that Darcy and Elizabeth lived in the twentieth century. The world that has broken itself free from tradition is now hopping along at a supersonic pace, seemingly fixed on an irreversible path towards the eternalisation of history in fanciful photowork, plastic replicas, and scripted tours.
The real irony of modern museums is this: in our quest to resurrect history, we have injected our own plastics into its veins and vested it in our own synthetic fabrics, but history ultimately remains a dead, lifeless corpse.
hi. this is jun.
i usually dont blog here cause i have a blog.
but ill like to talk about two arty farty events i did this week. (wait digress a bit. the boys in st andrews have never heard of the term arty farty. and im talking about the ART boys how weird)
i went to watch Les Contes d'Hoffmann on tue.
an opera in french.
i liked it.
you know all those posters around with this girls face that looks kinda creepy?
thats the opera.
i love stage costumes. always forever so pretty!
and the singers had such GORGEOUS voices. totally enchanting!
erm. but it was a rather dark tale.
all the main characters died.
about this hoffmann person and the three loves of his life.
anyway.
second arty farty event.
shu, yilin and i went for - Christian Lacroix the costumier.
HE IS SIMPLY AMAZING!
everybody please please please do go for this exhibition!
erm by the way hes a fashion designer and this exhibition are his costume designs.
they literally take your breath away and made the three of us go, "WOW."
its on till 7 june and for us poor students admission is free!!!
so all you lazy people if you have never step foot in the national museum before in your entire life this is ONE exhibition worth going for.
and while im on this thread i forgot i actually went for a third arty farty event i went to 8Q (yes again). the exhibition thats on right now is quite cool actually. the works are works of local artists who went overseas to make a name of themselves. now their works are back in sing for this one special exhibition so yeaa do go =) the exhibition is called @ home abroad. its on till july as well. with works from people like jason lim and erm... jason lim. and more =)
"This is not a Print!" is also still on till july i think. all the famous pop artists works, basically jasper johns, david hockney, claes oldenberg, john newman, roy lichtenstein that gang. worth taking a look too. because these are internationally reknown artists and it issnt every day that their works come over.
singapore needs more of such exhibitions!
and if you dont know where 8Q is, or what it is, you really truly suck.
anyway back to Christian Lacroix.
take a look at his spring collection.
http://nymag.com/fashion/fashionshows/2009/spring/main/europe/womenrunway/christianlacroix/#slide2&ss1
just imagine his costume design. A LOT MORE DRAMATIC.
and his sketches are simply stunning! his water colour technique is soooooooooo good! now i want to go and learn water colour too. like seriously im gonna search for a course and go learn haha.
his bio.
Christian Lacroix designs clothes that are glamorous, expensive-looking, and unapologetically dramatic. Such an aesthetic implored fame on the French label, which eventually came to epitomize the eighties through the designer's use of sumptuous fabrics (velvet, satin, taffeta) and overlapping patterns (patchwork, stripes), all of which left buyers clamoring for more. However, for such a momentous name in fashion, Lacroix fell into the industry by chance, as he spent his childhood in Arles, France and enjoyed attending bullfighting events, and then went on to study art history with dreams of becoming a museum curator or costume designer. Yet, he was destined for high fashion.
after going to this exhibition, I WANT TO DO FASHION DESIGN TOO!!!
haha.
maybe i was destined for high fashion too.
just that i havent discovered it.
yet.
hahaha.
sighh. you dont know how many times we sighed while looking at his works. partly because they were so good and also partly because they were so beyond us. (we would take forever to reach his standard)
anyway, his shows curator was fantastic too =)
if theres anyone who wants to go visit any of these arty farty places, i can go with you!!
yayy.
okay. end of my first post.
March 20, 2009
The Cinematic Orchestra
the moment the sound hit me on their first piece...i was this close to crying. My eyes sort of scrunched up and my lips trembled and i had to put my hands to my cheeks to get a hold of myself. Seeing one of your most respected bands live...drives the happiest pain through your chest.
(I wonder what will happen to me if radiohead do come down to singapore. Probably would drown in my own tears.)
Burn out - the song that drove me to tears.
Evolution - they didn't play this song today, I wish they had. The jam is so sick.
i have to commend the drummer tonight...Luke Flowers. He was absolutely amazing. If I ever become a famous performer, I want to be like him when I play live. The drumset is his playground; and he plays like the happiest person in the world.
All Things to All Men - another song i wished they had played. Absolutely haunting, I can't even begin to describe.
What a night.
March 18, 2009
Untitled
You call this an arm?
From this, we can see that the function of titles is by no means limited to mere description of a work, as it traditionally has been. Titles can be mentally challenging, asserting a relationship between two obviously different subjects. Even leaving a work untitled, or for that matter calling it 'Untitled', can take on a meaning or significance. With the title as a tool in addition to the paintbrush, artists have even greater creative liberty with their works today.
March 17, 2009
Titles.
( source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/21365978@N04/3191034200/in/pool-filmdatabase )
This post is an informal continuation of my fellow writer's earlier post on long titles for artpieces. The title of the photo above was given as The imagination is not a state: it is the human existence itself (W. Blake). One wonders: do particular quotes seem to encapsulate certain ideas that are reflected in the pieces of art that they are attached to? Could we perhaps take a quote that seems to say nothing at all about a piece of art, juxtapose the two, and then uncover some possible correlation or meaning that links the two?
Perhaps you could try that with your next work of art, be it a photo, a painting, a sketch, a design, a poem, a piece of prose, or even a novel. New lesson of the day: incongruity is the source of ingenuity.
March 15, 2009
Art in one's immediate environment
March 14, 2009
ear dope
although i actually love this video
Bjork - It's in our hands
additionally...some dope for your ears
that's what i like to call it
Nujabes (feat. Five Deez) - Latitude
i think these 2 videos reflect 25% of what yilin mentioned in her older post, where stealing is advocated. That loopy mindtrip sample was originally ripped off another song, German rock outfit To Rococo Rot's Die Dinge Des Lebens.
On a side note, i like reading the posts of others, mulling over it and following up upon it in my own way and with my own observations. Call it stealing if you will, but that's largely encouraged here. ;)
March 13, 2009
Are you a movie buff?
I'm starting to feel the creeps just by looking at these. They'd make great posters for a screening room (if I ever have one in my future house). Check out his website for more.
Zero 7 "Destiny"
the best thing about interpolated rotoscoping (which is basically this technique you see here: filming a video digitally and then tracing over every still manually)
is that you expect the animation to be...well, as you normally expect animation to be. The surprise thus, when you see how real those human movements are, hits hard. Every detail counts, eyes flitting down, heads turning, bodies shuffling...its just as leung said, only in video form.
I think this video resonates with the human core when we follow these everyday 'snapshots' (thanks leung) of people on the train. You're suddenly moved by the vividness of their lives.
The video also does make single people slide a little further down into depression.
keep your volume up
March 10, 2009
Just what is it that makes Artists give such long titles to their Works?
March 08, 2009
Snapshot poetry.
with a cigarette
hanging
on the edge of her mouth
through the curls of smoke
i thought i saw her eyes turn downwards,
thinking of nothing
Our memories play like a series of snapshots - scene after scene after scene. When we remember something, we remember the little snippets of conversation, the occasional swear-word, isolated actions that we can't seem to erase from our minds, and the seemingly trivial visual details that stand out at a particularly difficult moment. They say that literature is about life, and certainly must writing also be about life. Poetry is a particularly effective method of captivating these little snapshots of life: with poetry, we can deconstruct a scene and break it down into the parts that really do matter at that point in time. It's much like a jigsaw puzzle: though some of the pieces may seem to feature nothing interesting, or look almost exactly like any other piece, without them, we can't finish the picture.
The next time you write a poem, think about this: which piece of the puzzle, no matter how uninteresting, has been forgotten by your poem?
March 07, 2009
one man's poisson is another man's poison
- I cannot see her tonight.
- I have to give her up
- So I will eat fugu.
I advocate stealing (not in the conventional sense)
From Today and Tomorrow
In the art world particularly, new works may be provocative but hardly shocking or groundbreaking as almost everything has been tried and done before. This does not mean that works with an art-historical basis are less worthy of admiration. Picasso brashly churned out his own versions of Manet's paintings; Francis Bacon took everything from a film still of Sergei Eisenstein's The Battleship Potemkin to a Rembrandt painting to stop-motion photography as his inspiration. In fact, there's an exhibition in Paris now displaying Picasso's paintings and the Manet originals that inspired them together.
Importantly, these artists did not blindly mimic but used the existing material as springboards for the development of their own work. Anyone who has seen Picasso's work will know that his style is vastly different from Manet's. It is the formal harmony of Manet's paintings that he learned from and adapted, developing a new style of his own comprising disjointed forms in compositional tension and excitement. As quoted, "It's not where you take things from- it's where you take them to."
I wonder what will capture my imagination today?
March 03, 2009
an archipelago of stars
I bathed in the Poem of the Sea
impressionism - to me - is the 'impression' that a couple of words strung together can 'impress' upon you.
Sweeter than the flesh of sour apples to children
(To the lit student, a more consciously stylised subset of imagery)
It's the fuzzy visual your mind sort of wraps around when you see
Dawn rising up like a flock of doves
It's the lingering emotion that your soul nudges at whenever you
Ferment the bitter rednesses of love!
It's the secret world you try to mould together with the scene of
Glaciers, suns of silver, waves of pearl, skies of red-hot coals!
Some people don't like literature because it's not 'tied-down', it's not real, it's not practical.
That's the exact reason why I love it so much. When put together, the words don't have to follow the strict rules of English syntax or grammar. Their only role is to evoke the harshest, most vivid and most intense feelings in the reader
star-infused and churned into milk...
Foam of flowers rocked my driftings
entranced in pallid flotsam
Drowned men sank backwards into sleep!
A boat as fragile as a butterfly in May.
February 23, 2009
Le Dormeur du Val
Accrochant follement aux herbes des haillons
D’argent ; où le soleil, de la montagne fière,
Luit : c’est un petit val qui mousse de rayons.
Un soldat jeune, bouche ouverte, tête nue,
Et la nuque baignant dans le frais cresson bleu,
Dort ; il est étendu dans l’herbe, sous la nue,
Pâle dans son lit vert où la lumière pleut.
Les pieds dans les glaïeuls, il dort. Souriant comme
Sourirait un enfant malade, il fait un somme :
Nature, berce-le chaudement : il a froid.
Les parfums ne font pas frissonner sa narine ;
Il dort dans le soleil, la main sur sa poitrine
Tranquille. Il a deux trous rouges au côté droit.
Octobre 1870
Arthur Rimbaud
The Sleeper in the Valley
It is a green hollow where a stream gurgles,
Crazily catching silver rags of itself on the grasses;
Where the sun shines from the proud mountain:
It is a little valley bubbling over with light.
A young soldier, open-mouthed, bare-headed,
With the nape of his neck bathed in cool blue cresses,
Sleeps; he is stretched out on the grass, under the sky,
Pale on his green bed where the light falls like rain.
His feet in the yellow flags, he lies sleeping. Smiling as
A sick child might smile, he is having a nap:
Cradle him warmly, Nature: he is cold.
No odour makes his nostrils quiver;
He sleeps in the sun, his hand on his breast
At peace. There are two red holes in his right side.
Arthur Rimbaud, age 16, approx 40 years before WWI
Who ever said Wilfred Owen was the first?
February 20, 2009
the smell of birthdays
to the true face of hip hop music.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
what slips many people's minds is that 'hip hop' does not only refer to a music genre. like all good researchers do, I shall now refer to Wikipedia and quote faithfully: "Hip hop's four main elements are rapping, DJing, graffiti writing and breakdancing." Hip hop is a cultural movement; hip hop music is what you hear on the radio.
Or at least, that's what you think it is.
If you had read my fluff entry, you'd know my thoughts on (and embarrassing vices of) mainstream music. 50 cent and Snoop Dogg aren't 'fluff', but they subscribe to the same ideals fluff does. For example, marketing strategies to generate the most sales are prioritised over the music itself. This results in the same freaking songs produced every same freaking time.
For example (to be rapped to a steady beat): "All mah homies in da club/we gone bring this shit down/I like it when you do that shorty/lemme XXXXX you shorty" and other embarrassing shit like that.
You'd be surprised how many hip-hop artists are ashamed of their 'colleagues'. The only one I can think of who went mainstream was Nas. Rapped his heart out to a genius organ-bass sampling of In-a-Gadda-Da-Vida by Iron Butterfly. Haha. I feel stupid typing this and you feel stupid reading this, so why not listen to it instead.
In-a-Gadda-Da-Vida by Iron Butterfly. Listen to the first twenty seconds to hear the sampling.
Hip Hop is Dead - Nas. Lyrics illustrate his disapproval of the current hip hop scene.
So that was Nas. Went mainstream with his disgust which ironically turns his argument upon himself. While he condemns modern-day commercialised hip hop and their constant allusions to sex, violence and drugs, he's not exactly a Gandhi himself. Seems very violent to me.
That's why I reserve the main point of this post (YES I am a long-winder) for a man and DJ/producer i respect to the ends of the earth, name of Nujabes.
I think I'm correct to say the origins of hip hop came from soul music? Jazz or some sort? Yes, Wikipedia just confirmed it. None of that club rubbish. You certainly hear the jazz/blues influence in Nujabes' music.
Here is one of the more impressive songs in his collection. At first listen, you'll go: "...HUH?" Or: "...ok...." It's not a BANG-impressive song. But man, this song is perfection on all levels. The flowing melody of the guitar - the crazy beat - rapper Cise Starr OUTDOES himself here. His rhythmic timing is...jaw dropping, to me. His choice of lyrics are...mind blowing. The song is wrapped up in this perfect bow and everything fits. You get that real rare nowadays.
In this line you can see a hint of his opposition to mainstream hip hop:
"while you're fucking a bitch, i'm making love to my miss"
And instead of your gyrating-hips act, we have lyricism!
"She's a compilation of my minds representation
Of a representative
Representing an excellent revelation of time and dedication
Never impatient"
...WHO THINKS OF THIS KIND OF THING?
Lyrics will do you good
Lady Brown - Nujabes (Feat. Cise Starr)
"She smell like a happy birthday on a thursday."
This piece is like liquid summer.
And so, in closing, i hope I have opened your eyes, if just a little. While we continue to listen to mainstream hip hop, let's be aware of this little underground movement. I leave you momentarily with words of wisdom from our very own Snoop Dogg:
"I smack up the world if they rude to you (Ehh...)
'Cause baby girl you so beautiful..."
Best lyric-writer, ever. I say this without a hint of sarcasm. Without the slightest hint.
February 18, 2009
fluff crush stuff
my 20-min-old last.fm radio just flicked to "Crush" by David Archuleta; and I was struck with a momentary soppy, floppy happiness. You know, the kind where you wish with all your heart to eat ice cream after lunch and you're afraid your friends are too full to do so so you shut up and then someone says: I feel like eating ice cream and a *MOMENTARY SOPPY FLOPPY HAPPINESS* hits you. yeah, something like that.
this is a very telling confession, because if YOU, READER, know your cloud-deck administrator well enough, you'd be well aware that she is adverse to Cheesy, Mainstream and Manufactured.
But sometimes anything goes yeah. you abandon your lofty principles for a moment of fluff.
There's something wired in the human being that makes us all susceptible to fluff, though to different degrees. What I mean by 'fluff' is any ready-made, carbon-copied, commercialised thing constructed by a fixed set of laws.
Laws that sometimes can go: put a hunk together with a heart-breaking voice, soppy lyrics, pop rhythms and bright chords and you got yourself a winner. (Time to CASH-IN)
Fluff has to be likeable, because it was invented to sell. It works on formula so money-makers can recycle it whenever they wish and ensure continued flow of moolah. Go listen to songs produced for American Idol finalists.
Check out
"I Believe" by Fantasia Barrino
While we're at it let's be patriotic and listen to
"I Dream" by Taufik
On second thought you can just note their inspring titles.
Let's now analyse "Crush".
We start with piano chords and that weird drum effect thingy which sounds like mechanical humans clapping their hands. When David says: "Ooooooh" you know immediately that this cheese was made to sell. While the piano part is nice enough the lyrics really aren't very good. I should correct myself by saying that the lyrics were written under circumstances that do not support its critical evaluation. It's as though the writers of the song (who are NOT David Archuleta) wrote them with the following mindset: I'm just going to write this so badly that anyone who thinks of criticising it is wasting their time and will look like a goon.
fluff usually has nondescript, bland verses. To illustrate my point I shall give you a personal example. I'm known for being able to recognise titles 3 seconds into the song, or even 3 beats (note 3 beats may take a second to last). When Jamie played this song for me one day I said: "mmph. Nope. Don't know it." Then, came the chorus.
I don't know how these music producers do it, but the choruses of fluff songs are engineered (I say engineered because I sincerely believe the chord progressions are mathematically devised to ensure optimal fiscal returns) in such a way that they lodge themselves in your ears and never come out. I recognised the song immediately and practically bellowed into Jamie's ear that YES I DID KNOW THIS SONG AND YES I DID LOVE IT.
Because I do! After paragraphs of analysis of fluff and the dangers of fluff, ultimately if your ears tell you you like something, then there's no hiding it. The moment our little David launches into the chorus of Crush, a stupid smile just breaks across my face, my eyebrows do some wiggling and there's no taming them.
Be proud of fluff. But only sometimes.
Crush - David Archuleta
P.S.
Additionally I admit "I Believe" by Fantasia is not bad at all, but "I Dream" by Taufik is very bad.
P.P.S.
I know what I like about this chorus
- The ecstatic lift of the melody
- The offbeat of the Drums.
P.P.P.S.
Off to listen to it again
February 14, 2009
February 05, 2009
Today was a very profitable day.
we shall have LOGBOOK. we shall BUY logbook.
we shall have TREASURER
we must start to pool materials/art resources/mediums, although that builds up progressively
we shall have ART MEETING next sun 14 which will be
CONSTRUCTIVE -- christmas cards TO BE COMPLETED. (we started on them in year 2007 by the way). oh no guys. i hope my work next week doesn't involve weekends. :( additionally
we are to START DESIGNING and begin work on file covers, cloth bags, customised journals and shrinky earrings. don't know what shrinky earrings are exactly. only jun does.
we shall make this art meeting REGULAR. meaning once a week, if not fortnightly.
for your inspiration people, your phrases of the day!:
fluff chortling elephants
royal imitation
starry elegy
cranberry blessing
crying lotus
fuzzy literature
cerulean chorus
salad chorus
,
and me.