Sing along to: James - What For

Sing along to one of my favourite James song 

Today, I won't think of any sad things
Will not think of torture, or the rape of nature
Just today, I won't touch those sickening papers
Will just let myself get swept away by this beautiful day

What for, tell oh me, tell oh me, what for
What for, tell oh me, tell oh me, what for

The sunset tonight is beyond all words, in the sky above the square
The starling spiral dancing on air.

What for, tell oh me, tell oh me, what for
What for, tell oh me, tell oh me, what for

I will pass through the glass into air past those birds
In the square, I am sun, I am sky in my mind's eye

Today, I will dive into foaming seas
Sick fish, myself, and some strange debris.
I would prefer to be anywhere away from here
Oh I would prefer to be anywhere away from here
I would prefer to be anywhere away from here
I would prefer to be anywhere away from here

What for, tell oh me tell oh me, what for
What for, tell oh me, tell oh me, what for

I will pass through the glass into air past those birds
In the square I am sun I am sky

What for, tell oh me tell oh me, what for
What for, tell oh me, tell oh me, what for

Suddenly, Jesus and Mary Chain, and a happy pilgrim!

Suddenly and unexpectedly, Jesus and Mary Chain came to Hong Kong to play a gig. And after buying the ticket on the Internet, I could see them in less than 2 weeks, on 23 May.

But I have wait for them for so long. The first time I was a few days late when I got to London and they passed me by. The second time I was also late but they got an extra show in London (if my memory was correct), but I chose to see another band and I passed them by (coz someone once told me that their live was not good, and I had been too rational but stupid). That was one of the biggest regrets of my life. I was already regretting it while I was watching the gig that didn’t really matter. And I thought I could never see JAMC in my life. They soon broke up anyway.

Perhaps thanks to the film “Lost in Translation”, they came back in recent years. Though the song doesn’t really match the ending of the film, and I probably saw the whole film just to see it come up.

First came the local supporting act the Yours. Though the band name sounded quite dumb, the songs they played were fine and they played well. And in colorful long-sleeve shirts and tight jeans, they looked good too. They reminded you some good things about Shoegazing.

Middle-aged now, Jim Reid still looked fine, but I couldn’t quite recognize his brother William. Or perhaps that fat Bob look-alike wasn’t really him? (He didn’t sing Darklands, a proof, as I hoped anyway) Surprisingly Jim was wearing a more formal jacket and loose-fit jeans, looking more like a boring businessman than a cool rock star. Similarly dressed were other middle-aged players of guitar and bass. Gone was the old signature look of tight black leather jeans and black leather jackets.

A little to my surprise, Jim sung well and the band played well. And the wrong pitch incident that made them restart a song over and over added some unexpected fun to the supposedly serious ‘rock legend’ gig. (Yes, this is really live, no MMO singing, which came to my wicked mind once, since I couldn’t believe Jim sing almost perfectly well) Indeed, their attitude has always been anti-serious, seriously cool they might seem in their MVs and interviews. Jim asked if we enjoyed ourselves. Yeah! And so was he. Surprisingly, he talked more than I thought. I used to think that cool Brit bands say little during the gigs, perhaps only a few words like ‘cheers’ now and then.

‘Psychocandy’ and ‘Darklands’ are the records I cannot do without in my life, but I don’t really care much about their later records, despite a few gems, like ‘Almost Gold’ and their cover version of ‘My Girl’. I found most of those later songs too ‘Americanized’, or too Rock and Roll. But what I love most about them is their ‘Scottish-ness’, catchy and refreshing happy-sad tunes embellished in an atmospheric psychedelic soundscape with guitar distortions and noise. That ‘indie’ feeling seemed to have lost since they made the ‘Automatic’ album in the US. There are two distinct qualities of Jim’s vocal, one is cool and dry and older, the other warm and succulent and younger. The later records are often of the former voice, while the earlier ones more of the latter. And I prefer the youthful one.

For more than an hour, they played moresongs from later records. I must admit though they sound familiar to me I don’t really know them well. Still, all songs sounded fine and cool there. They rocked and I enjoyed every song they played. Before the encore, only Almost Gold, Happy when it rains & Just Like Honey were my favourite songs. Luckily they played another three ‘Psychocandy’ golden oldies at the encore: Hardest Walk, Taste of Cindy & Never Understand. And it’s only at the end I really jumped wildly.

‘Psychocandy’ and ‘Darklands’ are eternally youthful, despite around 25 years of age. Indeed, I never could imagine they would grow old in my life. And they even sounded newer than most new records nowadays, for JAMC didn’t really follow the trend but created their own sound. (I remembered once a local ‘music critic’ ignored them as nothing new, comparing to some earlier psychedelic music. My verdict was that his ears were incapable of discerning the nuance and regards all psychedelic ‘noise’ same-same. And it’s not just about the ‘noise’ anyway.)

(Most bands and musicians were fashion victims and just jumped into the bandwagon of hip genre of the times. Every time it is tiring to hear loads of similar music, and it’s their ‘era’ sound that makes them grow old so easily.)

Yet it seemed that they played the newer songs better than the older ones. Jim’s voice now lost the warm tone and fragility when he’s younger. The melody lines were somewhat simplified and sounded more rigid like skim-milk, but it’s always the whole milk that is really tasty. And like freshy skin turned dry and its elasticity lost, it made the old songs grow old in the true sense. And they could only be a pale shadow of their former youthfulness, which is now really Far Gone and Out. Yes, I wished they had played this song too.

That said, I was not really disappointed. On the contrary, it’s a happy pilgrimage to my long-time favourite band, and perhaps even my no. 1 favourite band. In the end, I was totally exhausted, but also totally happy. And such occasions are rare. No regrets, all bliss. (Despite the slightly ripped-off price of HKD580. Yes, nowadays, concerts are not for the poor anymore. But they once were, like many other once ‘basic’ things.)

2 or 3 small things about MY Jesus and Mary Chain:

1. My top favorite JAMC songs are: About You, My Little Underground, Something’s Wrong, Hardest Walk. (But of course I like almost every song in the first two albums.)

2. “About You” is the no. 1 song in my iPod, and I think I have listened to this song at least a thousand times!

3. Once upon a time I heard on the radio some noisy Beastie Boys stuff, followed by JAMC’s ‘Darklands’. Suddenly only then I realized how good JAMC were. The monotonous noise of the former simply accentuated the heavenly beauty of the latter that I never felt before.     

The Drums or the Noise, fans will be the Fans

I went to their gig in HK last week -- I mean that of the Drums. And it’s probably the worst gig I had been to.

Well, partly because of the outrageous high ticket prices, I haven’t been to many gigs in recent years. (Actually few were really good enough to make me want to spend a fortune.) But I can’t remember a worse gig, of local or foreign bands, than theirs. Even when many weren’t really my cup of tea, they mostly played their music decently well. But what a nightmare of sound the Drums had to offer me, on that night when the weather is calm.

Frankly, I don’t really know much about the Drums. I don’t own their records, but only heard them on YouTube. Though they didn’t sound as great as the critics said, just as many other overrated ones, I thought their songs were quite good and probably it’s worth seeing them live. At HKD360, the ticket price was high but at least slightly lower than others.

They were supported by a local band called the Yours, which was mediocre enough. Still, I thought the Drums played even worse than the Yours. At least the latter managed to play some decent guitar riffs and one song nearing the end was fine.

And even these drums could make me wait for an hour and a half? Ridiculous! They didn’t deserve it. My time is precious, at least in front of those drums.

So after such a painfully long wait, I was only rewarded with a crappy jumbo of noise, amid some madly happy audience, who perhaps heard the music with their body and their mouth instead of their ears.

Song after song, the noise only repeated itself. The guitars drowned in a smog of noise. The vocal was thin and dull, diluting the melody lines and reducing every song into some repetitive whining and shouting. Simply said, every song sounded mediocre and boring. If their songs weren’t that great, I thought they could at least play some pleasant and catchy tunes on stage. However lively the atmosphere seemed to be, it just ended up like a mess.

It’s an eerie night for me, as if I had an awful trip into a strange world of an unknown people. How come the audience were so excited? Didn’t any of them find the sound horrible? Then, I even worried if I had some hearing problems. But after leaving the venue (a bit early, the encore only meant the noise encore une fois), I found my hearing OK. Then, what’s wrong with the audience? Either they were very undemanding, or they were simply great…fans, come rain or shine. They could only choose to Like anyway, and so must act as liking puppets jumping to the rhythm of those drums.

Surely the concert left me dissatisfied and perplexed. I have wasted my time and money for this?! Shouldn’t I have saved it for a football match instead? At least it would be more entertaining! And you don’t have to pretend to be cool!

Besides, what a dumb name for a band, the Drums! The Others, the Music, the Dears…,the what? There are loads of stupid band names around these days. How can you expect much from their music when they couldn’t even make up a more creative or meaningful name? The drums with a capital letter D? Pas encore.

Hey chatterers, Syd Matters matter!

C’est le French May again. It’s a bit disappointing that there’s no mini-festival-like band show like last year. It was fun, though I was not really fond of any of the bands on the bill. The best memory was probably going out to have snacks during the 3 intermissions. And the best thing about the whole thing is the reasonable ticket price!

The concert ticket prices in recent years are outrageously high. It’s not for the poor anymore. HKD480, 580, 680…? Business and greed is in the air. The number 80 easily betrays the intention of the dealers. To me few performers really worth that much. (Speaking of the number 8, it is everywhere in HK. It just shows how money and fortune still weigh heavy on people’s mindset. Don’t blame people being too mercenary here. They are bombarded with these the twisted 8 everywhere.)

Thank God, at least the ticket price for the Syd Matters concert had nothing to do with that lucky number 8. Though there were only two bands on the bill in the show at the Grappa’s Cellars, Syd Matters’ music and performance was better than the bunch of last year’s French May band show, there the Teenagers were the headliner. (The Teenagers had their charm. But after a few songs, it felt flat. Didn’t those melody lines sound blatantly familiar? We had already heard of them in the Eighties. The ever-high energy level of songs and the repetitive strong rhythm were only numbing. Still the audience easily got high. I wondered if they hadn’t seen better things in their lives, and so were easily satisfied by some second-rate or third-rate stuffs.)

First came the one-man band Chapelier Fou. I didn’t know about this musician. After watching his clips briefly on YouTube, I thought this guy played music that sounded cute, which I likely like. But I was wrong. This guy was quirky, really a bit of a fou. He’s the skinny type that dressed in an all-black loose-fit attire (and with a black cap) with gestures and looks that reminded me more of the late Cantonese-Opera guru 新馬師曾than a jeune homme francais. With an electric guitar, a violin, a computer, a keyboard, and some unknown electronic gadgets, his hectic-eclectic multitasking performance seemed as virtual as it is real. He played the violin with an overly-exalted expression like he’s having sex with it. He played his gadgets with some computerized preset robotic gesture that seemed like he’s thunderstruck. He is simply too busy playing with his multiple instruments. The sight of his playing the violin while carrying a guitar was reminiscent of a circus act. Isn’t it a bit tiring? Relax! It’s like when I was cooking at the kitchen. That said, his music wasn’t bad. It just had nothing to do with my cutie-toy-music imagination. Rather, it looked and sounded a bit like bands like the Orb in the nineties (though I haven’t really listened to the Orb and the likes). With hi-energy and looping and overlapping of sounds, it could resemble disco and clubbing, with artistic pretense at times. Not my cup of tea, but at least a song nearing the end was powerful and well-blended. And surely the audience seemed well-pleased. Could people not get high these days? Especially when you have paid so much for a concert, it’s better to feel good about it. Worth it, that’s Positive!

Syd Matters reminded me what a good indie gig was like. They were hardly inhibited by the tiny stage, which instead condensed their powerful performance. Unlike the ubiquitous ever high-energy bands of nowadays that embraced by many but bored me, they were good at contrasting softness and strength, and were patient at building up tension in their songs. Nuance matters! Added to the usual rock band instruments set of drums-keyboard-guitars was the second drum, which did build up the tension impressively. The band played and jammed their instruments well and could vary their soundscapes without the aid of computer or some strange gadgets. The vocal is folksy and warm. If the melody lines were more varied and interesting then it would be even better.

Unfortunately there were some social so and so’s chatting too loudly while they performed. It’s the first time I went to Grappa’s Cellars to see a gig (and so I have missed the likes of Andrew Bird…). I am not sure if it’s the normal atmosphere of the venue, and at times I wished I could have kicked them out. Syd Matters did come back for an encore, but just for one song. The singer had hissed at the noise at one point and I suspected if it had not been for the chatting noise, we could have been rewarded with one or two more songs. And there’s another bunch who would blatantly take photo of themselves in front of the band, as if they were tourists in front of a sight. Blame it on some fb symptoms.

(Having not been to music festivals for ages, I remember seeing footages of audience waving their national flags high at the music fests a few years ago. It’s not the Olympics, stupid! And it blocked the view of the stage. That’s how the audience behaves now? It’s more about having fun and embracing themselves, rather then embracing the music.)

Marianne Faithfull, back to the vale of tears

Following the night with Elvis Costello, came another musical icon, Marianne Faithfull, to the same stage at the Cultural Centre.

Again, I don’t really know much about her music, though I have admired her for a long time since I listened to her album “Broken English” (eh, I probably just borrowed it from the library), easily charmed by her unique ‘broken’ voice. Only when YouTube was available that I got to see the footage of her singing when she was young and beautiful.

On stage now, her voice was simply powerful. With such a coarse voice of her, and her occasional coughing, I rather worried if she would lose her voice in the middle of the concert. Yet she managed to carry on (and enjoyed herself as she said) for more than 90 minutes.

The sound was not well balanced though. The drums were often too loud. The bass and the keyboard-piano-accordion-oboe-saxophone were not loud enough. The latter was played by the multi-talented Kate St-John. What a pleasant surprise! Yet often I could hardly hear Kate’s playing, and even the strong voice of the Marianne Faithfull was at times muffled by the loud drums.

But what really mattered was to hear the voice of Marianne Faithfull. It didn’t really matter that she was now fatter and didn’t seem more flattering than the average auntie-next-door. (Perhaps except her faces, which I could not really see at a 3xx dollar ‘cheap’ seat, and also her blond hair, which reminded me of her hairstyle when she’s young).

And she rocked. My false impression of her ‘Broken English” was more mellow and soulful than rock. But the concert was more rock than anything else. Indeed, I don’t remember when I last saw a female singer as rock as her. And a grandma as she was! The venue just seemed a bit too inhibitive for her sound. (And sadly there were many empty seats. Where have all the faithful gone?)

Only then did I learn that she had co-written many songs with Nick Cave. I dreamt to see the two singing on stage together.

Honestly I was only familiar with the song “As Tears Go By”, which I actually used to consider a Rolling Stones song (and one of the few that I really like of them). The song was beautifully played. The tone had suddenly changed from rock to folk. And finally Ms. St-John’s heavenly oboe really came out well here. I dreamt to hear Marianne and Kate sing this song together, as the latter vaguely reminded me of the younger Marianne.

Who were those sitting at the 800 dollars seat? They didn’t even bother to stand up and salute Marianne Faithful at the end. (My hatred of the rich now! Wish I were in their seats.)

There was only an encore. I thought there might be two, like Elvis Costello did. But I really shouldn’t ask for more.

Elvis Costello, raw and mellow

At least this Elvis had come to Hong Kong. (He’s here two weeks ago.)

As a small fan of him, I could only afford to sit at the side of the stage and saw mostly his right side when he sang and played the guitar. And I wondered what it’s like for those sitting at the back of the stage and almost just saw his back throughout the night.

At first the sound did not come out very well, perhaps due to my abnormal position of the seat.

Yet, just one man and many guitars, he managed to pull off a good show, ending it with two long encores, which stretched the concert to two hours long. It surprised me that he could go on singing for such a long time. Indeed he just got more energetic as the concert went on. Naturally we could not but make our standing ovation throughout the concert hall to honour this veteran musician.

I must admit I haven’t listened to his music of recent decades, and I was not really impressed by his hit “She”, nor his slow-tempo and mellow songs. Actually, I’ve only got a collection album of his, and I prefer his earlier songs. I wished he had played some of my favourites, like “Accidents will happen”, “Chelsea”, “I Hope You’re Happy Now”, “Big Sister’s Clothes”. But at least I was consoled by hearing him sing oldies like “Watching the Detectives”, “Brilliant Mistakes” and “Alison”. I don’t particularly like “Shipbuilding” on the record, but it’s one of the most moving renditions of his in the concert.

There were light-hearted moments when he unplugged the guitar and approached the audience and sang. Without the amplifier, it sounded soft and serene, like hearing the singing of a street musician at night. And when he walked around and sang looking up at us at the side of the stage, I almost felt my lover-on-the-balcony moment. He just seemed to enjoy himself much, and so he had hummed a tune or two.

While I enjoyed the show and clapped my hands sincerely, at one point I couldn’t help imagine if only it were Roddy Frame singing here on the stage. On YouTube I had seen the video of him singing solo (also with an acoustic guitar) in a concert a few years ago. He had grown older, and his rendition was mellower and graceful, rather than becoming dull and affected as many singers do when they got old.

As for Elvis Costello, he still sounded so young when he played his old rock tunes. Not to mention the surprising ‘avant-garde’ moment when he sang in the dark and the audience was shot a blinding light during the last encore. Well, he isn’t really old.

The Beatles (Therefore, I cannot think of a title)

Finally, I have got my proper Beatles CDs.

Despite being a fan of the Beatles ever since I was a kid, strangely, I have never got a proper Beatles CD before.

I got to really know them from the collection in the public library. There I discovered a new boundary of the Beatles. Their music is much more than the familliar tunes like "Yesterday", "Let it be" or "Twist and Shout".

With limited resources in my shallow wallet and a wide world of new and new 'old' music to explore, I have never got much urge to own their records. After all, I have heard most of their songs and was familiar with the tunes.

As a shrewd purchasing expert of cheap CDs, sadly (or perhaps happily), I found that their records have never been offered discounted prices, and their prices seem slightly higher than others. I must admit I own a few improper or p****** copies of their records, the red album, "Abbey Road" and "(Rubber Soul)".

So far my favourite Beatles album is "Rubber Soul". I like every song on the album. Recently, I happened to spot a remastered copy of "(Rubber Soul)" in the public library. With great pleasure and a little bit of greed, I load it to my I-Pod. Listening to it, it feels a bit weird, like seeing again an old friend who has already changed. I knew that the remastered CD had added a few songs to it. Though the bonus tracks are good, to me they hardly offer me any bonus. Soon I found that the problem was that some songs on the original record was missing. Despite getting the songs for free, I felt cheated and was rather enraged. I simply could not stand any changes to a record I have been so fond of and quite so familiar with for a long time. How could it do without the first song "Drive My Car"? How could the order of songs be re-arranged? Torn apart and reconstructed, it is not really "Rubber Soul' at all. Perhaps it is only “Bubble Soul”. Fragmented post-modernism is not for me.

So I've bought "Rubber Soul" and "Revolver". "Revolver" is often regarded as the best of the Beatles. Unbelievably, perhaps it's the first time I listen to it, though I am familiar with some of the songs. I have roughly listened to it 2 or 3 times now. It sounds good and newer than "Rubber Soul", which sounds very sixties (in the good way), but it has not yet replaced the status of "Rubber Soul" in my realm of the Beatles. In fact, there are 1 or 2 songs I don't quite like.

Yet I was slightly ashamed about buying the 2009 remastered CDs of the Beatles, after what the WMG had shamefully done to videos with WMG artist's music on YouTube (and so YouTube is not MyTube anymore). Perhaps naively, I told myself I would try not to buy any proper CDs from them. But the seduction of the Beatles in new paper covers is hard to resist. And I had wanted their records for ridiculously far too long.

And when could I have my Beatles haircut, hairdresser?

Having fun with my lo-fi - 我愛小喇叭

Mini Hi-fi 突然粒聲唔出，不理我，慘﹗
一直健康良好無病痛，又是因為隱性心臟病猝死﹖
去了一轉好玩的深水埗，鴨寮街有多花款國產賣小喇叭，買了一個，不用100元(原來還可以講價)；未醫好Hi-fi衰仔前，只好用cutie小喇叭來頂癮。
卻因為lo-fi的它，這個星期比之前更熱愛聽音樂。
我常帶着它和i-pod在家裏遊來遊去。
陪我洗快澡，陪我洗慢碗。浴室的harmonics特別好。早就想有這樣的一個伴。

可愛之家又添一員! Lovely!
去旅行可以帶一個更細的小喇叭，取代從前的老餅喇叭收音機walkman。
它令我生活更愉快，最少在它突然死亡前。
(才那麼幾個字，打了半天，暴躁﹗暴躁﹗危害健康，怕怕。)

The Postmarks make my road of romance

I have been listening to the Postmarks all week, on the way back home from work.
Stepping out of a certain stultifying space, they soon got me back to my old real world of hope and dreams.

Dreamy, laidback, lighthearted, with sweet happiness built on some small sadness, their music set me afloat 3 inches from the dull concrete pavement and the air is filled with happiness again. And thinking of the beautiful singer make me even happier. Beauty simply makes dream dreamier.

My recent daily 20-minutes romance with them began one day when I got bored about what music to look for on the Net. I searched the "cutest band in the world" or something like that and found the likely contender Elephant Parade. And their cutie song "Goodbye" related to another lovely "Goodbye" by the Postmarks. (There is indeed a chain of fine "Goodbye" songs, and how about "Hello"?)

For a long time I only somewhat like their easy-listening songs, perhaps I was slightly repelled by a certain remix song (always bored with remix, can't remember any good ones, guess their contribution is to make people treasure the original more).

The truth is, I haven't got any of their records. Shame on me! I just make do with the 6 lovely songs that they generously let people download for free.

Only last week I began to listen to them more seriously. And they sound so good to my picky ears, even with sensible lyrics. Good for a massage for the ears and heart. Life is not bad afterall, now I remember.

They've got a newer album that covers some of my favourite songs from my favourite bands. One more item on my endless want list.

I am still listening...

Back again from nowhere-land. Mmm...I have even forgot the password to this place.

During the time I was away, nothing much happened, nothing much changed, except that I had, finally, got my I-Pod classic 120GB, which has not yet radically changed my music-listening behaviour, only a little, perhaps.

But if I had not got it, I wouldn't have been listening to Mazzy Star since last week. It rekindled my love for the band, which I have ignored for some time.

I have to admit that I've only got one and only one of their albums, and what is its title? Ah, got it from the I-Pod, "She Hangs Brightly", not even their most popular album. I wanted some of their albums before, but just like many other records (or any other things) that I wanted before, after a while I've forgot my expired desire. Now they are again on my want list.

Needless to say, one of the charm is the beautiful singing rendered by the beautiful voice of Hope(sorry for the poor vocab ability), cool and aloof, natural with ease, unlike some other obviously good singing.

For "She Hangs Brightly", when I listened to it, I often only indulged in the first few songs which are most catchy and I favoured them, hence often could not get past the ghostly "She Hangs Brightly", and I easily put those records in which not more than 80% of songs I loved on the shelf. Only now I find I could listen through the whole record over and over.

Wanted just to write 2 words. Hope this wouldn't ruin my health.

Happy birthday Kate!

Today is the 50th birthday of Kate Bush. (Oh, only now I am aware that she shares the same surname with that um…president.)

I thought I had forgotten to put her, my teenage goddess, on my tricky list of favourite music. Sadly I had not, so I cannot express some regrets and add some drama to this bland post.

But how could I? The first unabridged novel in English I ever read in my life was “Wuthering Heights” by Emily Bronte, because of her debut song of the same name. What a painful read for me then, with so many vocabularies! The dictionary soon became my best friend. And I probably only began to love learning English after reading that. Thanks Kate.
Young and incredible Kate Bush sang “Wuthering Heights”


One word, genius!

happily hopeless wanderer came across Favourite Sons

Now and then when I wandered on the Net, I would gladly find musicians of some long lost bands still around and making music. And last week I was too happy to learn that Ken Griffin, ex-Rollerskate Skinny and ex-Kid Silver, had formed a new band called Favourite Sons. I like both old bands of his. The former made original and interesting soundscapes, with good melodies, and the latter made captivating mellow songs, with good melodies.

The route to this Internet encounter was a bit convoluted. Wandering on some MySpace Music pages as I sometimes did, I accidentally checked out a little known new French band called Mondrian that made interesting music with catchy tunes. If there is any justice, they should become more famous.
MONDRIAN "Can't Call Her My Own"


On Mondrian’s MySpace page, it was shown that they had covered a song by the Band of Holy Joy. The Band of Holy Joy! I have long forgotten this band. I heard them on the radio years ago. And this is one of those bands that I thought I like but always failed to get their records. Then after a while I just forgot to seek them. On YouTube, I found that they have reformed and performed live in 2007. In the gigs, they played alternative folk music. The instrumentation was good but the singing was not impressive. Actually, I don’t even remember what their music was like in the old days. But it should be better than those songs in the videos I found on YouTube.

In the process, the band Rollerskate Skinny came to my mind (though I got the band name wrong at first) and I found one and only one video of theirs on YouTube (but sadly none of Kid Silver’s).
The one and only MV of the one and only Rollerskate Skinny - "Speed to My Side".
Behold the young Ken Griffin.


I knew little about Rollerskate Skinny. And shamefully, I must admit that I only got to really know their music when I got their CDs at low prices on sale. Naturally I looked them up at Wiki’s and so I, finally, learnt that Ken Griffin had formed a new band called Favourite Sons.

Their songs sound like that of Kid Silver. But, alas, Mr. Griffin looks so much older now. The few new songs I heard were good, but they gave me an impression that of a weary middle-aged bloke rather obsessed with women (perhaps it’s rather the false impressions from the videos). And naively I wondered why he would leave Ireland for America for all these years (and turned into a rather ordinary looking middle-aged bloke). (((Always slightly sad to see people grow old.)))
FAVOURITE SONS "Tear the Room Apart". A good song.


So this was my occasional hopeless wandering behaviour in the Web.
And it ended up happily sometimes.

tell Laura I love her

Forget the fatty Adele, forget the ugly female Duffy, or whichever young lady who sounds like she is in her fifties. Here’s the beautiful Laura Marling.

Poorly informed as usual, I only got to know Laura Marling from the announcement of Mercury Music Prize nominees last week. And she simply stood out among the ten nominees.

She easily reminds people of the likes of Feist, Cat Power or KT Tunstall. But she’s only 18, wow! And she looks cool, like a very charming model, wow! And of course she composed her own music, wow! And she designed her own interesting Sunbox CD box set, wow! And, what, she even has a beauty mark on her face! Wow wow wow! How could it be true? She could only be an imagined character from a romance fiction. She’s too good, to the point that she’s almost disgusting, hah! She’s so bright that she just makes other stars look dim, and makes ordinary people like me feel like a hopeless idiot.

But her true roots lie in the good folk tradition. She’s the musical granddaughter of Joni Mitchell. Her voice is warm and sweet, at times with a country twist. Listening to her reminded me of many other good female vocals - female voices of the sixties (umm, which I really don’t know much) like Sandie Shaw, Dolores O'Riordan without the exaggeration, and many more. Unlike the bunch of talented young ladies who sound sophisticatedly soulful but affected and way too old, She’s capable of sounding sophisticated, effortlessly natural, and still youthful.

All her MVs are beautiful (for she’s charming). And here on the TV show, she’s so overly talented that she’s put on a trial by the show host, who was like accusing her of writing too mature songs for her age.


Enfants terribles! All the old ghosts of precocious young talents came to my mind once again. Not long ago, I was just disturbed by another young talent called Sarah Jaffe. If I were not a fan of Jason Castro, I wouldn’t have learnt about this unsigned Texan musician, who has an influence on the former. She also reminded me of Feist and Cat Power. Her musical roots were also mostly folk. But she tends to sing with a slightly cracked voice and her music is darker than Laura’s and resembles more the earlier Cat Power and Jeff Buckley. And… she is less good-looking than Laura Marling.

And her video here is rather boring despite the good song.

So, where are the precocious boys now?

Echo and the Bunnymen revisited

After listening to some depressing old CDs that I am about to discard, suddenly I became nostalgic and decided to listen to all the CDs of Echo and the Bunnymen that I have, and so the Bunnymen had become my music of the week.

Echo and the Bunnymen have been the good old eighties band to me. Their albums of the eighties are always on my favourite music shelf while their "Evergreen" CD of of 1997 is left on the general music shelf. Mmm, I haven't bought any of their newer albums. (Sorry, my dear Bunnymen!)

But listening to "Evergreen" again, it sounded really good and er… really evergreen. It has lost the edge of their younger days, but the more mellow songs with the more mellow voice of Ian McCulloch make you feel like you are enjoying a good cup of tea at the garden with your old friend on a sunny day (a really bad metaphor I know!) I guess I'll have to get their newer albums later on.

Still, my favorite album of the Bunnymen is “Porcupine” of 1983. Wow, it's already 25 years ago! Like all really good music, it still sounds new, at least newer than the bunch of mediocre pop rock bands of today.

One of my super favorite Bunnymen songs – "Back of Love"



Most regard the "Ocean Rain" album as their best. Sure it's brilliant and I love it. It's the most easy-listening among their older albums. But it's a bit too polished and sweet for me, despite the genius of "the Killing Moon".

At one time when I was quite young, the Bunnymen was my top favourite band. I loved them even more then the Smiths. I thought the four of the drums (remember the late Pete de Freitas), the bass, the guitar and the vocals were all brilliant. I was amazed by how they could blend so ingeniously to weave such incredible songs. They transported me to their atmospheric world of rebellion, elegance, gloom, and (yet) hope. That’s Art!

At the camp of the Smiths, only the vocals of Morrissey and the guitars of Johnny Marr shine. After so many listens, I could hardly remember their bass or their drums. But as I listened to more of their records, I was finally won over by the super-witty lyrics and one of a kind soulful singing of Moz Mozza Morrissey. Since then I listen to the Smiths much much more, for they are more listener-friendly.

But I would not agree that the Smiths are better than the Bunnymen. They are both excellent, but good in different way.

Last week, I have even created a Dailymotion account, just to watch the documentary film of "You Will Never Walk Alone" (1992), which was about music and the city of Liverpool, featuring many interviews with Ian McCulloch. And I love Liverpool too.

His Liverpudlian accent sounded quite weird to me, a far cry from his charismatic singing. That accent made him sound like an old bloke when he spoke! (In contrast, I always love to hear the interesting Scottish accent of Jim Reid. With his gentle and slightly magnetic voice, it’s like music to me, even though I cannot quite understand what he said!)

Watch the big lips of Big Mac:



Never Walk Alone 1/6
Uploaded by kimkallstrom

我的無聊與快樂

到底這些網上搜尋器是怎運作的﹖

前幾天，天真的我以為聰明，施個慳皮法，在99巴仙的英文網誌上打幾隻中文字，人們搜尋中文網誌也可以找到我的字仔。可我的詭計徹底失敗了。

我為什麼手痕加了幾隻中文字呢﹖因為該網誌講American Idol 7 的Jason Castro (冒着被友人恥笑的危險而寫的幼稚情書) 。我發覺似乎不少中文薄客不大喜歡他，便想用網誌踩進中文的虎穴投他微薄的一票。真自大，像我這個揾鬼睇唔知搏咩隱蔽blog，名字叫存在與虛無，找隻烏蠅來攪攪震都難，又怎會因為幾粒字在中文搜尋結果中現形﹖

也罷，網誌裏有名人的名字還真管用，Jason Castro一出，國際社會訪客量暴升起碼一千巴仙，只因之前是近乎天零零地零零。終於有幾個傻瓜探頭進來，似乎都上錯船，他們要尋的人都只是在網誌裏客串的閒角，卻沒有人因尋主角而來。原來，從前以為神通廣大的搜尋器是神經的老點器，唓﹗

偶然無聊墮落去八掛香港的外語音樂討論區，調查本地人對JC等AI人的看法，似乎厭惡和不怎喜歡他的人佔多數，Brooke White 和2D則較受歡迎。What a shame! 這麼可愛的一個人也不懂欣賞。但來來去去都只是那幾條粉腸在幫會裏發牙痕，會員包括有望繼承維園阿伯的寶座惡棍，和以為跟了紅就能憑偶像貴而發紫的羊羣粉絲，他們噴的口水和吠的噪音重要嗎？惡棍尤其不懂得愛，他們所謂的愛使他們的世界變得更細小。這些討論區很無聊，領此一嘢，但願終生免疫。

不過不喜歡JC的人也不無道理，他壓根兒是個Anti-American Idol。回想起來，他的Top 4表演實在好玩。另外那三個一本正經的喊破喉嚨乞票，他卻偏偏選了唱懶洋洋的 “I Shot the Sheriff”扮Bob Marley，同塲加映 “Mr. Tambourine Man” 那不可能的忘詞 — 特別耳熟能詳的一句。輕易令評判抓破頭皮，教監製滴汗，玩謝了老套的AI，Jason好嘢﹗抽離一下那比賽的懶緊張氣氛去看，實在很comical。如果他是故意的，我可更欣賞他了。如果不，我懷疑那也可能是潛意識作怪的吧。多年後，人們會記得他的Top 4表演，但沒有人會記得另外那三個。

比賽後期他的表演比較平淡，但不是厭他的人所說的悶，怎會呢﹖悶字很難和有趣的他扯上關係，就是他的一些表演比較差勁，也遠比其他表現好的悶蛋參賽者有趣好看。

Look, cutie!

Jason Castro-I Just Want To Be Your Everything

他的粉絲還不止尖叫少女，也有很多中年司拉阿叔，更有不少基哥。女孩想做他女友，媽媽想有個像他一樣可愛的兒子，基哥想帶他回家過夜。

不過作為一個腌尖的樂迷，連Radiodead 和Oldplay(Moz的笑語)之流我都懶理，如果我不知道他，有一天在唱片店裏聽了他的CD，我可能不會感到太大興趣。

夠了，我的狂迷日記。

let me be a fool for a while

就是喜歡Jason Castro.

Thank God American Idol season 7 is over!

It's the first time I've ever watched AI, since it has been showing on the ATV World channel (despite its 3 weeks’ time gap).

Since early on my favorites were Brooke White and Jason Castro. They were like the opposite sex versions of each other - unique voice, heartfelt singing, and good-looking. Carly Smithson and Micheal Johns were all right. Again, like Brooke and Jason, they were a pair – charismatic, great vocal skills, rock. But they sounded rather old-fashioned and overly mainstream. I don't care much if they were out later in the contest. As for the rest, they were mostly boring! Most were just about showing off their vocal range and big voice. I couldn’t care less.

I also quite liked the failed contestant Josiah Leming, who may be the most talented contestant in the whole show.

Before, I just kinda liked Jason, but no big deal. Guess what? I often watched AI while using the computer. I just couldn't be too devoted to watching it. But since Jason got voted off, I had watched many of his interviews, they always brought me smiles and I just loved him more. And only in recent weeks did I come to realize how gorgeous he had been.

He was particularly beautiful when he sang solo (was it because of the lighting and the make-up?). With such great looks and passionate singing, some of his performances were verging on revelations (Hallelujah, Over the Rainbow). It's timeless. I bet watching his performance videos in 50 years, people will still be amazed by his beauty. I was charmed by his beautiful clear blue eyes and his perfect profile. I like his cute (is it an appropriate word?) hair styles in dreadlocks and the way he dressed. Yet on the other hand in interviews he was funny, sweet, and genuine. I was inspired by his laid-back personality. Perhaps it's this combination of his radiant stage presence and his pleasant personality that amazed me so much.

Jason Castro-Somewhere Over The Rainbow

Why do people have to emphasize that they love him for his singing rather than his looks just to avoid being mistaken as teenyboppers? It’s the whole package, stupid! If he looks like the other contestant David Hernandez (?), I doubt I would like him as much. But could someone looks like DH ever sing like Jason?

These few days I am particularly crazy. I spent lots of time searching for him on the Internet. I even downloaded his photos (and I have not even downloaded one photo of my idol Jude Law ever!). I replaced the lovely wallpaper of myself with my lovely friend with his picture on my laptop. How corny! Well, so many stupid guys were naïve enough to put wallpapers of seemingly naïve girl pop stars on their computer. Now it's my turn!

It's almost like I am in love. How horrible! I don't even bother about the Sichuan earthquake news these days. That is to say, I am more overwhelmed by Jason's beauty then the tragic national disaster.

(In fact, I haven't donated ten cents so far, and I probably won’t. Call me heartless. But I am poor money-wise. Let the rich people who have ripped us off pay their dues and feel good about themselves. Indeed I am pretty numb. After tragic events HK people had been through all these years, people just won't learn. Soon they will forget about the lessons in life they thought they've learnt. When the nightmare is over, real life creeps in and people just continue to live blindly. They will commemorate the 1st, the 5th and the 10the anniversary of the disaster, but it would only be reduced to some media events that have nothing to do with people’s life. There may be big changes in the life of victims and even the aid workers, but hardly any for the spectators. Just wait for the next tragedy to happen.)

But I am somewhat doubtful about Jason's musical taste. The music of his musical heroes sounded rather trite to me. I am doubtful if this banal AI machine, a far cry from my lovely musical taste, could churn out anything good. Kelly Clarkson is a very good singer, yet her music was just OK for me, and I won’t even bother to buy a cheap pirate CD of hers. And the rest are just simply forgettable. Could Jason make a really good album? Judging from his performances, yes. Judging from his musical heroes, not sure. But then there are good music coming out of not-so-great influence, and loads of mediocre music out of great music influence. I'll just keep my fingers crossed.

Because of Jason's rendition, I had searched and heard versions of Hallelujah. People would argue which version they liked better. Weird, people could not love a lot. Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley, Rufus Wainwright, and…Jason, I like them all.

Watching AI had probably ruined my health by greatly reducing the quality of my sleep in recent months. Overexcited, I usually could not sleep well the night after the late-at-night show.

I began watching AI due to my impossible curiosty. Soon I fell into the trap. Though I was glad to find the gem of Jason there. I vow that I would not watch AI again, just like I won't fall into the trap of watching this year's Olympic Games. What a waste of time! (It's like, every time when I happened to read an entertainment magazine, in the end I would throw it on the floor and grumble out "what a waste of time!")

Already I am afraid my love is short-lived. Will I still love you next summer?

Well, I am already content to have enjoyed the beautiful experience he brought me this season. Thanks thanks thanks thanks JC!

I can be laid-back too.