catastrophe

bombay bicycle club, the naked and famous at reading festival



fwd>> with skream, metronomy at reading festival

some of the bands i've seen in london, were in singapore for a festival over the weekend.
caught metronomy again, and the jezabels from sydney—pretty fun!


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kip berman from 'the pains of being pure at heart' posted this quote.
i really would like to read this book someday.

reposting this thinking it seems synonymous with an update about music writing. have not been updating as regularly trying to avoiding depressing regurgitation of thought streams regarding life, exhaustion, happiness. not to be confused with not feeling blessed with the current state of life, merely dont really feel like sharing, 'blogging' now feels like a modern juxtaposition of daily reveries not excitable as it used to be.

i will, however, share some of the reviews i've done under a writing programme at esplanade. mostly to keep track of my (hopeful) progress, am open to thoughts on these writings you can email me, address found under 'profile'. current writings are waiting to be approved for publication and soon updated here as well. although it can be a liiiiitle bit of a pressure to be in a writing programme—it has proven to be helpful in the lines of self-satisfaction and dealing with words have always been pretty therapeutic. duely hope that time permits for more reading to give an inch in the dwell of my word well.



image by hamaiza k.

Swede Sensation
by Erny Melissa

Swedish pop pixie Lykke Li (Li Lykke Timotej Zachrisson) mesmerized the indie-centric folks at Esplanade recently. The hypnotic-synthesized brilliance behind Lykke Li’s music can be attributed to her almost nomadic and exotic upbringing—having lived in Portugal, Lisbon, Morocco, New York, Nepal, India and Sweden.

The impetus of her song and lyric stems from the past relationships and heartbreaks like fellow crooners Florence Welsh (of Florence and the Machine) and Adele. But she is not just your typical powered-sugar pop. What sets her apart is the hint of hip hop and folk in her songs, along with torch verses exploding with vengeance, desolation and at one point the simple need to dance, dance, dance.

She lures the audience deeper into her mystical realm, voice creaking with heartache, with opening tracks “Jerome”, “I’m Good I’m Gone”, “Sadness is a Blessing” and “I Follow Rivers”. Once settled into reasonable nostalgia and sorrow, she then conjured the crowd into frenzy with popular upbeat hits “Dance, Dance, Dance”, “A Little Bit” and “Rich Kid Blues”.

With these songs there is a discovery of a tinge of musical influence from the classic 60s and 70s, as well as synth-pop cameos from the 80s – with the sounds of the saxophone and trumpets.

Throughout the show she swirls in and out of sight behind thick black drapes hanging from the ceiling, reminiscent of the image produced on her album Wounded Rhymes (2011). Her disappearing acts, energetic dance moves, a candid sing-a-long with a fan onstage and an unexpected Kanye West cover encapsulated the rest of the performance.

In the end, she bade Esplanade goodnight with her spasmodic and powerful “Unrequited Love”, seemingly like an ironic statement for leaving her fans wanting more of her affecting tunes.


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image from last.fm

Hurts: Princes of Synth
by Erny Melissa

Hurts are two immaculately-contoured men in suits, Theo Hutchcraft (vocals) and Adam Anderson (electronics, guitar). The British synthpop duo is steadily gaining recognition in the indie cult scene for its infectious tunes and acid synth layers dripping from their album Happiness. In 2010, they topped a myriad of music-influential list such as the BBC Sound of Poll and PopJustice’s Upcoming Acts.

Despite their astounding success over a relatively small period of time, the pair remains teasingly enigmatic and generates interest from fans and critics alike. Theo grabs the attention of everyone in the room merely by singing the first word to their opening song “Unspoken”, and the crowd swoons over their mysterious presence and new wave dance routines onstage.

He then single-handedly edged the show forward with his confidence and slight demeanor, engaging the audience further with concrete intensity and sincerity of each song delivered. At the end of the song, even before you can begin to wonder how someone that handsome can be so talented, he stops your quizzical mind by throwing roses into the crowd of screaming and adoring fans!

While their slicked hair remained intact, Hurts romances the crowd with more lushly mournful electronic tracks such as “Silver Lining”, “Wonderful Life”, “Happiness” and “Illuminated”. Like most of their other gigs, they included Kylie Minogue’s “Confide in Me” as part of their set list.

Living in the shadow of famous acts from their hometown Manchester, England—such as Joy Division and Factory Records—the duo have proven to be a classic and professional act worth keeping an eye out for. Simply put, they are the ordinary gentlemen with inordinate talent.