Word for the week: Bebas

Because...

It's my country's birthday today ('bebas' means 'free'). Wish they gave everyone a cake.

Sore - Bebas (from Centralismo)
Sore's brand of liberation comes with a jetty, a Kir Royal and Gong Li doing the limbo.

The Sleeping Satellite - Bebas (from Transmisi Pertama EP)
All the power chords, verse-chorus-bridge structures and "na-na-na" interludes in the world cannot mask the wide-eyed joy of a freed one.

Steven & Coconut Treez - Bebas Merdeka (single)
They say life in Bali begins at midnight. This one jives with you at around 6.21am.

Peterpan - Bebas (from Hari Yang Cerah)
Pop rock behemoths channel Pearl Jam for the first 10 seconds, then Lifehouse for the remaining 198. Which works, weirdly.

Gig-gles: Malacca 'House if Indie' 2007

On most days, I hate sushi. This kind of hatred doesn't exist on the same level as, say, my hatred for durian (which subsequently is nothing like my hatred for ties, which has no equivalent).

Having said that, a significant portion of this hate is dependent on the degree of sushi love shown by my surrounding lunch companions at any given time. So, if they're into sushi, and want nothing but sushi for lunch, and will declare war on Turkmenistan if they don't get sushi—well, then I become one of the peacemaking types, and will willingly oblige to picking off one or two plates from that conveyor belt. All in the name of getting a piece of the action, of course.

Actually, what the heck? I'm a thievin' pirate! So piss off, sushi! I'll just chuck my first mate into the sea as bait, and use him to draw in a leopard seal. Then while the dude is still flailing and flapping in the sea, i'll stuff my head down the leopard seal's throat and suck out his intestines like Hokkien mee.

Anyways...

Malacca and indie is like me and sushi. And in this case, the sushi looks absolutely bitchin'.

DETAILS
Venue: Dataran Phalawan, Malacca
Date: Sunday, 2 September
Time: 12 noon
Admission: RM20
Line up: SevenCollar T-Shirt, Love Me Butch, Bittersweet, Furniture, Couple, Muck, Free Love, Telephony Delivery, The Rhaman, The Spektors, Priority, Coffee's Lux, Oh Chentaku, Ben Cracko (DJ)

Couple - Say Hi (from Top Of The Pop)
Bittersweet - Come On (from Perfect Match)

New Release: Documentary In Amber - Self Titled

Have you ever met someone, whom you are sure you're going to hate?

Maybe it's the way he looks at himself in the mirror. Maybe it's the way he keeps pressing lift-buttons like they are going to come down any faster if he did. Or maybe it's his squinty eyed, high cheekbone look that suggests he is likely an arse. Maybe it's the greasy hair that he so intends on combing every 30 seconds. Or maybe, just maybe he was born with a Decepticon-like look to your Autobot-like demeanor.

And so you decide that enemies like him cannot be allowed to roam this land. So you approach him, tap him on his shoulder and just as you are about to level his head in, he strips his face-mask to reveal - Petra Nemcova.

And you fall in love in about 5 seconds and in about 30 seconds you are married and in about 5 hours you have a tub full of kids.

Man I love romance. Peace.

Oh by the way, check out this album by Singaporean post-rock band Documentary In Amber. It's Petra-like lovely.

1. prelude
2.
3. it's alright
4.
5. for these are truly the last days

The Killers: Live in KL?

An insider within an insider inside an insider of an inside, told me that there's a mini bidding war going on to bring Las Vegas post-punk stars The Killers in for a one-off show.

Fresh off their kudos-throwing stage-closing show at Glastonbury, these 80s hard nuts are going to be a joy to behold should they ever make it to our guidelines-throwing shores. I mean, don't you want to watch 'Mr. Brightside' live? Or see Brandon Flowers in a glittering quasi-Elvis suit?

I have no idea why I said 'one-off show'. I mean, it's not like the band's going to tour around Malaysia. I mean if they did, they would all pack themselves into a van and before they can even adjust their seats they would've reached the next venue. Brandon Flowers would get so sick of eating 'nasi lemak' for breakfast every morning that he would insult Mawi and Siti. He might also make a pass on some Datuk's son and get hauled off to jail.

Bet you thought the 'son' bit was a mistake. Hah, no it wasn't. I mean which hetero dude wears a glittering Elvis suit?

Oh yeah, me. But only to sleep. Need to match the twinkly wallpaper in my room.

The Killers - Read My Mind (Pet Shop Boys Stars Are Blazing Mix) (from Read My Mind British CD single)

Look what I found in the bargain bin

Marcus Miller
The Sun Don't Lie
(Pra Records)

Price: S$7.95

For those mildly familiar with the world of virtuoso bass players, Marcus Miller would seem to be a bit of a sore thumb. Yeah, he's got that padded resume of having handled low end duties for Miles Davies and Luther Vandross, but that's hardly a novel belt notch in a scene where everybody has played for somebody, sometime. And arguably, Michael Manring's got far more bizarre experimentations, Victor Wooten pretty much owns all the prime property in the slap-n-pop neighbourhood, and John Patitucci evokes those dreamy lines on a double bass that are tailor-stitched for smoky lounge sessions.

But Miller is a straddler. As in, the type that can plant his feet firmly in seemingly disparate realms without incurring serious musical hernia. The Sun Don't Lie spreads his multi-flavoured jam with acute tastefulness, so that the skill-centric devotee, the funky monkey and the casual jazzpian can walk away with their own custom-made lollipop.

And so when the album peeked out from the lower crevices of a bargain shelf in Singapore, I greeted it with starry-eyed surprise. Deciding to add this to the must-buy pile was about as difficult as choosing between dinner with Zhang Ziyi and lunch with my GM. Unless you are one of those folks who actually has Zhang Ziyi as your GM. In which case, please forward my resume. Now.

Marcus Miller - Panther (from The Sun Don't Lie)

The great Friday Night Lights DVD challenge

So I attribute my current fixation with American football drama serial Friday Night Lights to three factors: the original movie, the Explosions In The Sky-fronted soundtrack, and Minka Kelly. All three are worth checking out (in appropriate times and moods, of course).

Anyways, I'm only three episodes in (thanks to weekly screenings on Star World), but it's already got me hunting for the DVD. And the smug producers are so assured that we urchins will dig it with glowing, unabashed passion, that they've promised to give a full refund to the unsatisfied punter that buys the whole season one DVD.

Alas, once again, the offer only applies State-side; woe befalls us who reside on the wrong side of the Pacific. Oh well. I can take minor consolation in the sense that it's quite unlikely that someone is going to go through all that trouble to claim any kind of money-back guarantee. There's always some redeeming factor that prevents us from making that extra post office trip. Like there was one time I ordered a Russian mail order bride. But when she came, I found out she was Greek, hated vodka and couldn't do the troika. But she had dimples when she smiled. So I kept her, and christened her Olganopolis. I'm telling ya, she wraps a mean yiros.

For more info, visit http://www.fnlguarantee.com.

Explosions In The Sky - A Slow Dance (from Friday Night Lights soundtrack)

Napalm Death Live in KL: This weekend

Yes boys, girls, trolls, ogres and denizens of the 12th level of hell, Napalm Death is coming to town to wreck yet another round of absolute metal carnage.

It's been six-years since their last visit and these behemoths of death metal have not chilled a second. Its 13th LP Smear Campaign, released last year, has been receiving decent reviews from both critics and fans alike. Expect the show to feature heavily from this album with a few 10-second classics from Scum thrown in perhaps?

Support for the show is provided by local metal legends such as Sil-Khannaz, Koffin Kanser, Langsuir and Restraint.

Note: In order to best survive this show, please put together your very own survival kit that consists:

• A full body armor (including helmet and sword)
• Anti-hell gate spray (in case hell decides to open up and swallow some of their own)
• A small bottle of shampoo to wash away the flying fleas in the air
• Two bottles of deodorant (dry preferred)
• Garlic and stake (in case vampires show up)
• Two black tees in case one gets ripped (you don't want to be seen in any color other than black)
• Optional fake wig

Napalm Death - Breed to Breathe (from Inside the Torn Apart)

Madge for sale

Like, who wouldn't wanna buy her? You get a dip in her US$325 million pot, instant diplomatic ties with Malawi and free Kabbalah lessons.

Alas, the deal ain't quite so. But it's close enough. NME reports that Madonna's 1991-started label Maverick Records was officially bought over by Warner Music. Yeah, it's the label that brought us Alanis Morissette, Prodigy, Deftones, Michelle Branch, Jack's Mannequin, American Idol's John Stevens,...

It's a good move. To say the least. Now, we can celebrate the diva purely on the basis of her music. Oh wait, didn't she also do Swept Away? Err, gee. Hmmm. Someone wanna buy an acting career too?

Some ex-Maverickians:

Alanis Morissette - That I Would Be Good (from Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie)
Deftones - Rapture (from Saturday Night Wrist)

PLUS: Madonna - Die Another Day (live) (from I'm Going to Tell You a Secret)

Look what I found in the bargain bin

Oasis
Heathen Chemistry
(Epic)

Price: S$5.95

Even on my most British days, when I'm slinging on a Union Jack-emblazoned bag and sporting a Beatnik bowl-cut, do I profess Oasis as one of my favorite bands. I could rat off about 10 Oasis songs that I find absolutely hand-clappingly great but for some odd reason, they've never been able to climb up to the top of my heap. Presumably, the Gallaghers keep dragging each other down near the top. But yet I find myself buying their album no. five (a personal third). Why? Because I am a cheap-ass. For about RM12.00, it's a bit of a steal.

But Heathen Chemistry has its moments. The bittersweet balladry of 'Stop Crying Your Heart Out' and its sepia-ish video stood out for me in particular.

Look, I know I'm not British. But I do eat fish and chips, a lot. And I eat them with Lingams chilli sauce at that. And you know what Lingams means in ancient Anglo? 'I don't give a crap', that's what.

Oasis - Songbird (from Heathen Chemistry)

B-Side of the Week - Bigger Boys and Stolen Sweethearts

Arctic Monkeys
Bigger Boys and Stolen Sweethearts (from I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor single)
(Domino Records)

Dear Pirates,

I am 16 and still in school. I met A in art class and we immediately fell in love. We would do our homework together and spend many afternoons laughing. But recently, she met B and I've lost my sweetheart. B is tall, muscular, good-looking and he plays basketball for the national under 18s. I want to kill myself because I just can't fight with B. I can't even reach his head cos he's that huge. Please tell me why I should still live.

Specky


Dear Specky,

Why should you live? Life has obviously dealt you a cruel blow and there comes a time in every teenage boy's life when he realises that some guys are just bigger and better than him. Guys like me, for instance. When I was your age, I stole many girls from losers too. I remember this girl called Helena, oh boy was she hot. We used to make out in the girls toilet. Oh yeah. And she had these nice lips. Best I'd ever kissed, and I was already 14 by then. She was dating a chess player when we met. He was a nerd. Perhaps just like you, Specky. But I! I was athletic. Charming. So debonair, Specky. So confident. So... what's that word... triumphant! Yeah! That's what I am. A triumphant man. Yeah... it's so nice to be a beautiful man.

Pirate

Arctic Monkeys - Bigger Boys and Stolen Sweethearts

Word for the week: Start

Because...

Every end has a beginning. And our dearly beloved pirate is only just beginning. And in the beginning, there was light.

The Gloria Record - Start Here (from Start Here)
Amidst a fountain of swirls and wails, Chris Simpson summons the weary to the journey.

Voxtrot - The Start of Something (from Raised by Wolves EP)
Marianne, let the ghosts sleep tonight", urges Ramesh Srivastava. How could she not, when Texas's answer to Belle & Sebastian oozes lullabies like this?

Gwen Stefani - U Started It (from The Sweet Escape)
Gwen's much-protested concert at Stadium Putra last night had her donning jackets on and leggings under the microminis. Coo-coo-ool.

Up Up Down Down Left Right Left Right B A Start - The Red Loop (from Worst Band Name Ever)
Someone find a cooler band name.

The Go! Team - Junior Kickstart (from Thunder, Lightning Strike)
Hawaii Five-O, sans the moptops, with the melting ice creams.

Editors - An End Has A Start (from An End Has A Start)
Yes it does.

Let's get lyrical, lyrical: Art Brut - People in Love

People in love, lie around and get fat
I didn't want us to end up like that
This isn't the first time
You've fallen apart
Now you're indulging in just playing a part

The more it happens, the easier it gets
You can learn to enjoy this type of upset
So pass me the wine
A cigarette too
We've about a week and a half to get through

To every girl, that's ever been with me
I've got over you all, eventually
What becomes of the broken-hearted?
They're drunk for a few weeks,
Then back where they started
So pass me the wine
A cigarette too
We've about a week and a half to get through

You can tell how bad you feel
By how long you're in the shower
You're in and out in minutes
Whereas it used to take hours

It's not the breaking up,
It's the starting again
Meeting new people, taking them out as a friend
The more it happens, the easier it gets
You can learn to enjoy this type of upset
People in love, lie around and get fat
I didn't want us to end up like that

To every girl, that's ever been with me
I've got over you, eventually
What becomes of the broken-hearted?
They're drunk for a few weeks,
Then back where they started
So pass me the wine
A cigarette too
We've about a week and a half to get through

You're indulging in just playing a part
So pass me the wine
A cigarette too
We've about a week and a half to get through
People in love, lie around and get fat
I didn't want us to end up like that
The more it happens, the easier it gets
You can learn to enjoy this type of upset

This one's dedicated to a fellow pirate. Cheers mate, good seas ahead, good seas ahead.

Art Brut - People in Love (from It's a Bit Complicated)

New Release: Amasser - Legal Wall

Have you ever received junk mail that did good on what it said it offered? You know, as in you actually drove home that new car, won yourself that iPod or actually went out on a date with Victoria Silvstedt?

Well, ye Pirates have and no, it's not offered by Reverend Viagra or single lonely female.

Amasser, a mysterious bunch from Minnesota dropped us a line about posting some songs off their LP Legal Wall. Needless to say we were skeptical because a) it sounds like spam mail for lawyers and we are about as lawful as Sarawak Sally b) Amasser sounds like a brand of death ray guns you can pick up at Tesco, and c) who in their blazing right mind would want us to post their music?!

Ah, but ye skeptics are sorely mistaken. Not only is it not spam mail or a brand of death ray guns (although that would've been mildly cooler), Amasser sports some wonderfully tasty electro-pop on Legal Wall, with some blanketed noise-warmth to fill the gaps between the blips and the gorgeous lazy melodies peeking through. 'For Omaha' is my champagne cut with its stuttering piano lines and bittersweet melody. Larrrrvely, as the Brits would say.

The album is slated for proper release in October, but right now the band are handing out hand-made packages to people that chat them up or girls that are supremely hot. Okay I added the supremely hot girls bit myself but if you hot girls have nowhere to go after meeting Amasser, I am all here.

1) Legal Wall
2) Cranium Posse
3) Kilo Binge
4) Data Clip Rig
5) Green Like the Sky
6) For Omaha
7) The Clipperton Suite
8) Persona System
9) A Litmus Cheer
10) Moonwatcher

Look what I found in the bargain bin

Goldenboy
Blue Swan Orchestra
(B-Girl)

Price: S$2.95

One in awhile, in a distant robotic planet where they have giant sized leeches in their Koi ponds, you get blown away by a deal so bloody sensational, that you just you err ... end up in tiny little chunks.

Yes, I found this Goldenboy CD in a HMV store at the bargain corner going for S$2.95. I knew little about them, much less about this record but for that measly amount, the risk was well worth taking.

The result? A record I have bumped up to at the very least a Top 25 in my most valuable list. This is Grandaddy without the electronics. Soothing lazy pop melodies with Elliot Smith pitching in on a song or two. Absolutely, 100%, ultra gorgeous, like Petra Nemcova in a loose G.I. Joe tee, holding up an ayam penyet meal with Godzilla: Final Wars playing on the telly behind her.

Goldenboy - Wild Was the Night (Blue Swan Orchestra)

Look what I found in the bargain bin

Pretty Girls Make Graves
Good Health
(Lookout)

Price: S$2.95

The used CD corner at the Grammaphone in Ngee Ann City, Singapore has always been a bit of Stamford Bridge for me. That is assuming I am say, Frank Lampard, John Terry or the guy selling hot dogs outside the stadium. And not Mess-some-more Taibi.

Before it was Golden Smog, this round it's this. Punchy melodic girly proto punk with a slight emo gaze? Everyone sing Kumbaya now in the key of D.

What, you can't reach that key? Here's some rope, tie them suckers together real tight. If that doesn't work, then you can clamp them together with a hot sandwich maker. If that too fails then you can put on a G-string and tie a ribbon around your neck. If that also surprisingly fails you can try and coach an elephant how to hold a samurai sword.

If you've tried all that and it still doesn't work then you seriously don't have to sing. Cause we would've all died laughing at you anyways.

Pretty Girls Make Graves - Speakers Push the Air (from Good Health)

Look what I found in the bargain bin

Ani DiFranco
Little Plastic Castle
(Righteous Babe)

Price: S$5

Question of the day: how did he get her?

It's a pertinent question, only because Little Plastic Castle is a bit like a footballer's wife. It's got those curvaceous melodies and protest lyrics that DiFranco likes to wrap around her percussive playing, plus the added mariachi brass fills in selected spots that make it that much more responsive to touch.

But then there's the cover. It's way down there. Not like smack at the bottom (I think the latest Ice-T album is definitive Christian Karembeu), but not too far from it. I'm not the type that judges contents by their cover, but seeing this atrocity in a dusty box forced me to reconsider my worldview. Thankfully, common sense won.

Still, the cover is definitely a footballer. And I'm not talking about those tight-tee Italian Casanovas. I'd say it's closer to... him:













Ani DiFranco - Fuel (from Little Plastic Castle)

Word for the week: Ball

Because...

The English Premiere League has started. Yeah, I know it's not the only football league (soccer for all you oval pig-skin supporting types) in the world. But it's honestly the only one we're bothered about. One-third of the pirates is religiously going for Liverpool as he has for like forever. The other roots for whoever is on his fantasy football roster. And me? I'm a sport neutral by nature, but I reckon Sunderland are going to do stuff. Nasty stuff.

Anyways, here are some songs, together with the types of football games they might be best suited for. Plus, since I missed Word for the Week last week, here's me being extra generous. I'm cool like that.

White Stripes - Ball and Biscuit (from Elephant)
2 - 3. In the 2nd minute, the goalie bites the striker's balls; it's a non-stop bloodbath thereon in, with the winner coming in injury time as the teams' towelboys pummel each other.

The Observatory - Oddball (from Blank Walls)
1 - 1. In the 32nd minute, three streakers invade the pitch. They are joined by the stadium security, who see it as their coming out party.

Jack Johnson - Mudfootball (from Bushfire Fairytales)
5 - 4. Impromptu beach football match, dominated by a 12-year-old Portuguese prodigy whose monosyllabic name alone will earn him a 12 million pound contract one day.

Treeball - Favourite Enemy (from I Dream Of Eclectic Sheep)
4 - 0. The home side just spent 300 million pounds on new janitors. The visitors work as janitors.

Joe Hisaishi - Boiraa Mushi (Sootballs) (from Spirited Away soundtrack)
0 - 2. Foggy conditions prevent long ball specialists from ruining the game, and the close control balladeers step in for 90 minutes of paradise.

Interpol - Wrecking Ball (from Our Love To Admire)
1 - 1. Chockablock with sublime midfield passing and mazy dribbling. The fans are the winners.

The Dodos - The Ball (from Beware Of The Maniacs)
3 - 0. The home team scores all goals in the first 25 minutes, then lets their hyperactive 17-year-olds give the visitors a muscle-cramping runaround.

R.E.M. - Beachball (from Reveal)
2 - 2. One foul, zero yellow or red cards. Both teams exchange shirts, phone numbers and wives after the game.

The Hold Steady - Take Me Out To The Ballgame (single)
Play ball.

My Chemical Romance Live in KL?

Hear ye all ye mascara totting emo kids, there are strong rumors circulating that the hippest meanest leather-wearing emo son-of-a-goths My Chemical Romance will be making a stop in our mucky town.

Apparently the Singapore deal is done dusted and headed for the printers. but there are rumors that someone here's looking to cash in on the Black Parade. The tentative ballpark is December.

So lock your eyes here, there, down the street from your house to the nearest coffee shop, your furry imaginary friend Kundu and the hot girl selling raw fish at the market for more news on this.

My Chemical Romance - Disenchanted (from The Black Parade)

Tony Wilson: 1950 - 2007

The man, the legend, clocked out at 6.05pm on August 10th, 2007.

The mogul behind the seminal careers of Manchester heroes Joy Division and The Happy Mondays, Wilson constructed the Manc club empire, drawing largely from his experience of watching the Sex Pistols show at the Lesser Free Trade Hall.

He leaves behind his legacy as the founder of the now legendary Factory Records, the also equally legendary Hacienda club, a movie based on his life (24 Hour Party People) and tons of scathing remarks about Morrissey ('A nasty human being' who 'treats people like shit').

In bucking the trend of posting songs by either the Mondays, Joy Division or New Order, we instead bring you two songs by two rather seminal bands who were obviously a bi-product of the man's legacy.

Mr. Manchester will be missed.

Interpol - Pioneer to the Falls (from Our Love to Admire)
Primal Scream - Some Velvet Morning (from Evil Heat)

Baybeats 2007: Sunday - Aloha

Festival closers must be big. Festival closers must be loud. Festival closers must be epic. Festival closers must sell out stadiums, and albums, and their soul.

And then there's Aloha. Purveyors of the plaintive. Upholders of the underrated. Epitomes of the everyman. And fully capable of leaving you with the same feeling you'd have after walking through an orchard: satisfied by variety, guilt-free and imbued with a renewed sense that goodness is the fruit plucked only by the inquisitive.

Blessed are the brave.

Rating: 7.6

Aloha - Your Eyes (from Some Echoes)