My Bloody Valentine Reunion Shows: OMG it's seriously happening

When I was a kid, my friends told me that this hot girl in school liked me. And you know, unlike most usually dumb kids, I did not believe them. Then one day, she walked all the way from the other end of the canteen to my end just to say hi to me. And I said, hey, maybe she is just friendly, you know? Then three days later, she asked me if I wanted to go watch a movie with her. I asked her is it with her friends and she said, "No, just the two of us." And I thought, hey, maybe she respects the fact that I am like, and I seriously don't like to brag, the most knowledgeable person when it comes to movies on this side of the whole galaxy and the one beyond it, so I said "Why not?"

On the date, during the movie, which I think was Death Wish 65, she leaned over and put her head on my shoulders and stole a kiss here and there during the pivotal scene where the hero launches the main baddie out of the window with a photon launcher, and I thought, hey maybe this girl gets turned on by violence. Some people are so weird. As I pull up to her place to drop her off for the night, she lifted her legs and wrapped them around mine and spoke in a hoarse-voice "Can I see you again?" And I thought, maybe she wants to ask me some chemistry questions seeing as I am like a scientific wizard as well so I said, "Why not, I have nothing to do usually anyways?"

The next day, I told my friends what happened and they said, "Told you she liked you, didn't we?" And I said I still wasn't sure. It could be still be subjective you know?

A week later she bought me a Godzilla 6-DVD box set from Amazon and it was love at first sight. We've been married for five years now. True romantic story.

Next up, The Smiths please.

My Bloody Valentine - Blow a Wish (from Loveless)

B-Side of the Week - Peter Panic

Blur
Peter Panic (from the Girls & Boys single)
Parlophone

Oh no! It's happened again! What am I gonna do? What? What? Oh dear. Ohdearohdearohdear. This is bad. You know why it's bad? Do you know why it's so bad? Because it's happened again, that's why it's so bad! They're never gonna trust me again. They're gonna tell me it's over. They won't believe me when I tell them why. It's not fair. This is badbadbad!

Is this the end? Is this really it? Why? Whywhywhywhy? I tried really hard. I really did. Damn it i tried so hard!! Damn it! Damn you man! Why does it always end up like this? Stupid damn idiot me! Why?? Aarggh!!! Aaaarrrrggghhhh!!!!!

Aaaaaaarrrrrrggggggghhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!

What? Don't talk to me now. Go away. I'm not listening. Really, please go. Go. Did you hear me? What? No. What? Ha? Ha? It's next week? It is? Not today? Oh. Are you sure? Like, next week next week? Oh. Wow. Heheh. That's good. Thanks. Ya, I'm fine. No, thanks. I'm okay. No, not panicking. No. Not at all. Heheh. Ta.

Blur - Peter Panic

Word for the Week: Wordless

Because...

The 12,000 members of the Writers Guild of America enter into Week 2 of their strike, in the eternal quest for more wad for their words. Which I'm like totally okay with. I mean, what's the big deal? It's only going to postpone or delay the production schedules of 24, Lost, Heroes, Friday Night Lights, The Office, Battlestar Galactica...

sonofa...

WRITE THEM A CHEQUE NOW, YOU PENGUIN SUIT PRICKS!

My Morning Jacket - Wordless Chorus (from Z)
Alt country icons evoke Al Jarreau in the company of some gorgeous, recurring organ triplets.

Cinematic Sunrise - The Wordless (from I've Seen Lovers Dancing In Windows EP)
Emocore punks with nothing to say? Never, as long as the gods of stop-start attacks and bedwetting teens rule and reign.

Venus Hum - Wordless May (from Big Beautiful Sky)
Amidst a stunning meld of IDM blips and fully organic yearns, this Nashville ambient electronica act asks, "Did Jesus make me sing?". I don't know, but they've got me saving up for classes.

The Velvet Underground - Wordless (from Squeeze)
Yes I know, purists have disassociated their darlings from anything to do with this album. Their loss; this cheeky soul jam trots through Alabama on its way to Brooklyn.

New Release: The Great Spy Experiment - Flower Show Riots

Okay you know what? I am a fairly abstract kind of dude. How do I know?

Well, I can see through feathers and imagine a plate of golden roast chicken. Or through spots of smelly dung and see a juicy tenderloin steak. Or through the murky waters of Port Dickson and see a chunky plate of my dad's lovely sambal fish dish. So all my abstractness has something to do with food, so what? Try not eating then. If you can't, then I win. Woo.

So I am about as baffled as any when I saw the album title of this latest release by the irrepressibly popular and chic Singaporean post punk heroes The Great Spy Experiment. The set's a bit on the flat side at times, offering nothing more than Brandon Flowers' coattails. But there are some fairly sparkling cuts, namely the one posted here.

Okay back to my baffling. Firstly cause it's about flowers, not pork loins. And anything that's not about food, I most probably care little about or just can't see (lard blindness, it's a new disease, just discovered four seconds ago) Secondly, I have seen people who frequent flower shows (case in point my often reserved aunt) and if there was ever a riot started by them, I might as well release my super ultra top secret crazy explosive ultra beta gamma nuclear boom-boom shake-shake the room weapon - and turn the world into a wasteland of marauding zombies.

Why I would do something crazy like that? Cause zombies are cooler than flowers. Peace.

The Great Spy Experiment - Late Night Request (from Flower Show Riots)

This Week's Track 9 - Elvis by Kent

In an outtake from Pulp Fiction, John Travolta tells Uma Thurman that in this world, there are two kinds of people: Elvis people and Beatles people. An Elvis person can like the Beatles, and a Beatles person can like Elvis, but they always remain true to one. They proceed to Jack Rabbits Slim to do that dance. So I think they were both Elvis people.

As for me, I'm not an anyone person. Heck, I'm not even really a person. I'm actually a vapour-type creature that takes the form of a dashing young man whenever I feel like scoring hot females the old fashioned way. I mean, after 5000 years of being a lustful vaporic entity, it gets a bit boring scoring chicks by crawling into their midst unawares. Wait. What were we talking about again?

Oh Elvis. Right. Nice chap. Scored a few nice girls himself.

Kent - Elvis (track 9 from Isola)

Lets' get lyrical, lyrical: Jens Lekman - If You Ever Need a Stranger (To Sing at Your Wedding)

If you ever need a stranger
To sing at your wedding
A last minute choice
Then I am your man

I know every song, you name it
By Bacharach or David
Every stupid lovesong
That's ever touched your heart

Every power ballad that's ever
Climbed the charts

You think it's funny
My obsession with the holy matrimony
But I'm just so amazed to witness true love

And true love can be measured
Through these simple pleasures
They are waiting there for you
To be discovered

I would cut of my right arm
To be someones lover

Maybe I'll meet her there tonight
At the wedding buffee
I walk up to her
When she's caught the bouquet
And oh, it's just like a whirlwind

Now this is what I call a love song. You know why? Because it's a love song that name drops the word 'power ballad'. And you know how all power ballads are mostly love songs (cause no one wants to hear a power ballad about the time you stuffed your face with 30 packs of Cheetos), so for a love song to name drop one is like a Storm Trooper picking up the Death Star and kicking a home run. Or a chicken picking up a machete and dicing Mr. Nando.

And of course I don't make any sense because love is blind, right right? And what has my eyesight got to do with making sense. That my friend, is the mystery that could unlock the universe. Ciaoree-o

Jens Lekman - If You Ever Need a Stranger (To Sing at Your Wedding) (from Rocky Dennis EP)

New Release: Libretto - Disc:losure

The:re is lit:tle I love more about East Malay:sia other than it's cheap barb:ecued chic:ken wings. 6 for RM5.00. In case you:'re not much of a math:ematician, that's pretty darn cheap.

But of course, that is in Sab:ah. Hip post-punk:s Libretto are not from that stat:e but the on:e next to it, Sarawak. To ass:ociate them with cheap chick:en wings would be like telling Span:iards that they make good past:a.

Though t:his five song EP shuffle:s a:round juicily like one of them soar:ing charcoal:ed-tinged wing:s, from the brood:y angular rock of Pinback to At the Drive-in's less Technicolor moment:s, Libretto drive:s a pretty hard post-punk bar:gain. And that's say:ing a lot seeing as no one does bargain:s as good as ye pirate:s here.

Track list:

1. Skies & Robots(Lufturnich)
2. Ho-Ju
3. Novelist,The
4. They're Here But We Ain't Ready
5. Skies & Robots(Mechanism)

Who's who at Big Day Out 2008: Faker

Ok, so in Faker's 11 years of existence, it has rotated through 23 different band members, and has come across sounding like a chuckaway hybrid from some cloning exercise involving Alex Kapronos and Kele Okereke, with a couple of cells pinched from Gavin Rossdale's cheekbone to complete frontman Nathan Hudson's mug. And yes, their debut Addicted Romantic's cover was a piss-bad rendition of Gavin DeGraw post-barroom brawl.

Still, there is enough here to be festival worthy. Which means it's all good. So how does one marry the "Where have I heard this before" bitch with the "My festival ass will shake to anything remotely punk" stud? With a good ol' fashioned Moroccan garden wedding, that's how. Make sure it comes complete with 16 flower girls and 24 ringbearers, and involves plenty of monkey-shaped lanterns. And if that doesn't ensure an slug-free procession, at least the reception is still redeemable with generous helpings of camel kurma and cuscus.

Faker - Enough (from Addicted Romantic)

Celebrating Deepavali

Deepavali. Also known as Diwali, or the Festival of Lights. One of the most important days in Hinduism. Celebrated on the end of the seventh month of the Hindu calendar. In many Asian nations, it is declared a public holiday. Through the day, candles are lit. Houses are open. Mutton, chutney and lassi are the spreads of the day. Everyone is happy.

Pirativali. Also known as the Festival of Seafaring Shitheads In Love, Fluffy and Ready To Spit (which can be abbreviated to FOSSILFARTS). Easily the most important day in Animism, Pastafarianism and the Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis. Celebrated 17 times a year, precisely on every 3rd of the month, plus every time Britney gives birth. Through the day, prayers are made for the reunion of My Bloody Valentine, the reincarnation of Thelonious Monk, and the chance that Zhang Ziyi will feed any one of us strawberries. Baked seahorse is the spread of the day. Everyone is happy.

Dirty Three - Indian Love Song (from Dirty Three)
Music From The World Of Osho - Festival of Lights (from Yes To The River)

Word for the week: Mango

Because...

My folks came back from Bangkok last weekend. And way beyond the peace-sign photos and slash-priced sneakers they brought back, I had to give maximum props to the mango sticky rice (khao niaow ma muang) they smuggled past customs. Trust me, it's worth the possible detention.

M.I.A. - Mango Pickle Down River (from Kala)
Don't let those playground chirps fool you; Maya Arulpragasam is anything but naive, as you'd probably be too if you grew up with a militant dad and grenades that took the place of Lego.

Rabbit - Mango Overheat (from Mango Overheat)
Malaysian electropopper lets octave riffs and synth doots duke it out while he slaps a fro on the DJ.

Maps and Diagrams - Mango Glaze (from Intelligent Toys 3)
A rustle, a creak and puff of vapourised oak result in one of the many nuggets found in the third instalment of Lithuania net label Sutemos's cult classic compilations.

Danko Jones - The Mango Kid (from My Love Is Bold EP)
Canadian mod-rockers see no harm in sharing Iggy Pop's needle.

Gig-gles: Impulse vs The Great Escape, Again

The boy pauses. Paralysed. Befuddled.

"What seems to be the problem, my young padawan?"

The young padawan turns around, his tilted state of flux suddenly straightened by a calming, familiar baritone. He looks up to find his wise master smiling back at him.

"I... I... I can't decide," replies the padawan.

The master beams. Decisions!, he exclaims from within. The padawan is learning to become a man!

"Why, what is it that you can't decide on?" asks the master intently. Deep within, the cogs whir and chug, and synapses plunge into that ancient vat of knowledge in search of a timeless nugget that will eternally equip the padawan with a priceless gem to assist him in that perilous journey towards adulthood.

"Well, ..." begins the padawan.

Could it be a question about eternity?, wonders the master, still maintaining his outer serenity.

"...there are two..."

Two? The master's heart races. Oh, glorious day! Oh, opulent opportunity! It must be the the throbbing yearns from those loins that are engulfing him! What magnanimous maturity!

"...gigs..."

Gi...

"...this Saturday. At the same time. At two different places. And both have some bitch-ass, rump-humping, punk-pumping lineups."

The master pauses.

"And I can't decide which one to go to. Can you help me?"

Paralysed. Befuddled.

DETAILS
The Great Escape, Again
Venue: Little Havana, Kuala Lumpur
Date: Saturday, 10 November 2007
Time: 8pm
Admission: RM10
Line up: Documentary In Amber, B-Quartet, Lightcraft, Telephony Delivery, The Otherside Orchestra

Heineken Music presents Impulse
Venue: Terrace Bar, Zouk KL, Kuala Lumpur
Date: Saturday, 10 November 2007
Time: 8.30pm
Admission: Free
Line up: The Great Spy Experiment, Furniture, B4C, Callen (Altered Image)

The Great Spy Experiment - Class 'A' Love Affair 2007 (from Flower Show Riots)
Furniture - Lughnasa (from Twilight Chases The Sun)
B Quartet - Disp Rs (single) [update 13/11/07: removed on request]
Documentary In Amber - For Those Are Truly The Last Days (from Documentary In Amber EP)

Who's Who at Big Day Out 2008: Cut Off Your Hands

Post-2005, any band starting with the letter "C", and with the words "Your" and "Hands" in their moniker, are begging to be sacrificed on the altar of unfair comparisons and impending lawsuits. But New Zealand dance punkers Cut Off Your Hands aren't simply saying yeah on the back of hype-fueled abandon, yet. They've done the hard yakka over the past few months, going cross-Tasman and from one end of the Atlantic to the other, all for the sole purpose of preening the global hipsterati to their Kiwified version of Franz Ferdinand.

Big Day Out is set for a cracker of a set by a deserving bunch of globetrotters, then. Of course, they've hardly clocked up the frequent flyer miles I have. Like on Saturday, I flew to Kazakhstan for 324 rounds of golf, then headed south to Santiago, Chile, for my routine eggs and toast breakfast. Then I felt like buying a Pashmina shawl for my pet earthworms (named Frank, Dave and Spragelidecious, respectively), so I hopped on the first flight out to Kashmir, India. Singapore Airlines should start painting their planes yellow, in my honour. Seriously.

Cut Off Your Hands - Still Fond (from Shaky Hands EP)

New Release: Fever Marlene - Civil War

Reading the press junket accompanying this album, you would think that Fever Marlene is in fact members of the Strokes, Arcade Fire, The Smiths and The Stones Roses who got together for a jam with a revolving door of singers that include Bono, Michael Stipe, Thom Yorke and guest appearances by Jeff Buckley and John Lennon, from the dead. Why? Cause it was a gig even they wouldn't want to miss.

But alas, when you prop up a band like that, it's always going to come with a little less luster. That's not to say they are not good. They are very good in fact. Somehow successfully straddling the line between Gallagher-like retro swaggers and sharp-stabbing indie pop-ism. It's a delicate but lovely balance.

Like how I used to go around telling the neighborhood kids that my silver BMX may not look like much but it on occasion can transform into a death ray robot and the pedals are in actual fact photon rocket launchers. Never mind that it came with a wussy bell and a daggy passenger seat behind but it seriously could kill if it wanted to. Serious.

Track list:

1) Red Fire
2) All the Kites in the World
3) We are All Colors
4) Khemitones
5) Mad Woman
6) When Daniel Goodings Made it Rain
7) Civil War
8) Some Saturdays
9) Fast Machine
10) Melodies in Four
11) Something's Going to Carry Your Down
12) AM Radio

Sufjan Stevens Australian Tour

Okay it's not funny anymore.

When Wilco announced that they will be touring Australia sometime in March, we took it like men, mainly cause it was nearly a good two months away from BDO so we could just casually throw the notion away based on that. Then there was the Laneway Festival that rolls into Melbourne less than a month after we head out, and as we've reported, the lineup is pretty stellar as well.

And then just yesterday, the Sydney festival was announced featuring no less than Brian Wilson (playing Pet Sounds in its entirety, dear lord), The National and Joanna Newsom playing in various venues all around Sydney. But hey, it's S-Y-D-N-E-Y, and we are heading to M-E-L-B-O-U-R-N-E, so it's okay. Seriously it was.

But today, today, it is announced that Sufjan Stevens will be touring Australia for the first time, complete with a full band which includes a wind and brass ensemble, rolling into Melbourne - a week before we touch down.

Okay this is too much and I have just about had it. BDO's second announcement better feature The Smashing Pumkins, Manics, Interpol, The Polyphonic Spree, Jesus and Mary Chain and every damn rumored act with The Boss and his E-Street band in tow for an onstage appearance with The Arcade Fire on 'Keep the Car Running'.

If not I am going to be seriously very pissed. And when I am pissed, I go to the toilet.

Sufjan Stevens - Joy to the World (from Songs for Christmas -Vol. IV)

The Pinholes readies debut album

Singapore' s tight-trousered, shades-wearing jogget and roll beast The Pinholes are readying their much anticipated debut album in Studio 31 for possible release at the end of the year.

Formed in 2005, the band has been galvanizing plenty of rabid fans with their tasty brand of retro surf rock that just often gets those klankety-klang joints a-go-going. So look out for this riotous party that's going to hit town. Or you can choose not to look and get stampeded on. That might be fun too. For me, not you.

And to commemorate this announcement, we bring you an exclusive live track of The Pinholes on stage with the ever quirky and zany Ben Harrison of ETC-fame . Enjoy.

Pinholes (featuring Ben Harrison) - Handphones on the Dancefloor (Live)

B-Side of the Week - Can't Take My Eyes Off You

Muse
Can't Take My Eyes Off You (from the In Your World/Dead Star single)
(Mushroom)

What joy - Muse going all ba-dam ba-dam ba-dada-dam. You know, this is what the b-side format was made for. For serious bands to kick back, have a bit of fun and let their fans see a lighter side of themselves. No pressure to sell records, no pressure to appease the pitchforked gods of music criticism, and no pressure to really even give the fans a laugh. On those grounds, and purely for entertainment sake, this is a delightful cover.

Of course, that's if you compare this cover to the one I took last night. I hid under a giant rock after being chased by a four-breasted marsh-woman with a particular fondness for British bands and the studs who like them. I mean, for crying out loud, if it wasn't bad enough that I had to swim through a giant swamp, get bitten by aligators, attacked by a hive of rats that were larger than capybara, and get stung by scorpions, I had to abandon my search for the highly coveted two-lined froghopper's eggs as part of my research into curing Parkinson's disease.

So I swear, it was a bloody pain to have that damned four-breasted marsh-woman chase me into a rock. And if I might add, it sucks when the wrong girl can't take her eyes off you. Lousy bitch.

Muse - Can't Take My Eyes Off You

Who's Who at Big Day Out 2008: Sarah Blasko

Here's a confession: I'm an absolute sucker for doll-faced female singer-songwriters. Not really flash on the Tristan Prettyman-type bombshells, or the Alice Cooper lookalikes. But you could deck Rosie Thomas in a pink pomegranate suit, or uncover a scandal involving Regina Spektor and a mid-morning romp with three Greek preachers at The Jungles of Zamondo Music Fest, and chances are I'll still lap up the music like a nobbyless noodlehead.

So Aussie senorita Sarah Blasko, hear me now: I give in. Even if you dump the gushy electronica and go Missy Higgins pop, I'd give in. Even if you reconnected with your French roots and sprouted armpit hair, I'd give in. Even if you demanded that all genuine connoisseurs eat three bitter gourds before downloading one of your songs...

Ok, maybe I'm not that big a sucker. I'll just feed them to my pet armadillo. Her name is Caroline, by the way. Yes, DNA testing and 21 vets have all insisted that it is male, and its got biceps the size of a Mazda 929 and a nine-foot long schlong. But science sucks; favouratism rules.

Sarah Blasko - I Could Never Belong To You (from What the Sea Wants, the Sea Will Have)

Laneway Festival 2008: Killer Lineup

Does anyone know a good hole to hang in for say a month in Melbourne?

Cause a month later after the rumored Pirates-hit on BDO comes yet another shaping-up-to-be killer fest. Me and Pantsy have already hatched a plan which involves some survival knives, 20 hand grenades, Jack Bauer and possibly Jessica Alba (in a cute sky blue baby doll), to get our company to transfer us over to our Aussie office permanently.

No no silly, not cheap hotels. Like a literal hole. You know, the ones where we may meet a mole or two and perhaps get acquainted with the finer points of eating deep fried soil.

Anyway, off to the chunkier news bits. First announcement lineup includes (and seriously, try not to heel over and die):

Feist, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah, Kevin Drew (Broken Social Scene), Okkervil River, Dan Deacon, The Brunettes. The Presets, Gotye, The Panics, The Devastations, Little Red, Via Tania, The Holidays and Bridezilla.

Laneway Festival Dates:

Adelaide (Fowler's Live & North Terrace)
Saturday 23 February
(Dan Deacon, Devastations, Via Tania & The Brunettes not playing)

Melbourne (St Jerome's, Caledonian Lane, The Lounge & Lonsdale Street)
Sunday 24 February

Brisbane (The Zoo & Winn Street)
Saturday 1 March

Sydney (The Basement, Macquarie Park & Reiby Place)
Sunday 2 March

Kevin Drew - Broke Me Up (from Spirit If ...)
Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Is This Love? (from Clap Your Hands Say Yeah)
Feist - It's Cool To Love Your Family (from Monarch (Lay Your Jewelled Head Down))
Okkervil River - John Allyn Smith Sails (from Stage Names)

Word for the week: Passport

Because...

I renewed mine yesterday. It's supposed to be a 15-minute affair involving an ultra-mod machine and the seamless union it makes with that chip embedded on the back page of the red book. But that seamless union unravelled the second I discovered that my chip was spoilt. Which led to a seam-filled, four-hour wait from counter to counter. Such effort, just to see the world.

Broken Social Scene - Passport Radio (from Feel Good Lost)
With breathless purity, the Scene exhume away the stuffy urbania from our possessed earthsuits.

Reverie Sound Revue - Passes and Passports (from Reverie Sound Revue EP)
Broken Social Scene sometimer Lisa Lobsinger's main band sautés a Vancouver chipmunk.

Team Sleep - The Passportal (from The Matrix Reloaded: The Album)
Deftones boss Chino Moreno's alter ego retains his band's dystopian fetish, but swaps the hardcore chugs for some fuzztronica swipes.

Charlie Parker - Passport Tune Y (from Swedish Schnapps)
Any trip by the Bird is our passage of honour.

This Week's Track 9 - Candle by Sonic Youth

5.43pm. "Oh crap!" exclaims Captain Genusfrog, "My track 9!". Fingers primed on the keyboard, he firms his resolve. "Watch as Captain Genusfrog churns out a blogpost in 15 minutes!"

The girls swoon. "wooo!"

5.45pm. The song is chosen! The girls clap. (Clap clap clap.)

5.50. Cpatain Genusfrog wails in terror. The girls cry. "Why? Why?"

Captain Genusfrog is in trouble. The archvillain Rytersbloc is in full swing.

The girls fear. "Oh dear!" One girl offers to help. Captain Genusfrog allows her, but only because she's a dead sexy bombshell and has lips he vows to kiss once this episode is over.

"The song is called Candle. The lyrics are surrealist and oblique to say the least. It's by Sonic Youth, on their seminal album Daydream Nation. I got nothing." Captain Genusfrog belts out, for some strange reason gaining credibility with the bombshell as he bares his vulnerability. "Nothing", he finishes on an echo.

And then he looks up... "I shall die", he mutters to himself. Captain Genusfrog capitulates. Rytersbloc attacks.

6.01pm. A bolt in the sky. Superheroine Navelgazergirl, stupendous inward-looking blogger bursts like light in an already bright sky. "I shall revive you Captain Genusfrog, for I have just posted on my blog! Go and return inspired!". She flies across the scene with her head tilted downwards, dropping the url from the heavens. A savior!

Zoooooommm!

And then, just like that, Navelgazergirl disappears. The bombshell wows. "Is Captain Genusfrog able to write now?"

6.14pm. Captain Genusfrog, with renewed vigour returns! Inspired he is. But he is faced with a second villain.

"Oh no!", cries the bombshell.

Rytersbloc has been paired with the evil Absenceofangle! They take stabs! They stab and stab and stab. Until Captain Genusfrog, in one swing, destroys Absenceofangle, and with his withered arm, destroys Rytersbloc.

The post is shabby. Irrelevant to music, candles or Sonic Youth, and absolutely lazy. But some will say it was readable.

Sonic Youth - Candle (track 9 from Daydream Nation)

Esplanade presents: Lover and the Sea by Astreal

A chick-fronted outfit, a swanky ball of spikes and a Friday night. No, this ain't National Whips Day in Amsterdam. This is Singapore, baby, and shoegaze roadrunners Astreal are the latest reps of Lion City's lacquered indie scene to have their own night at Esplanade's concert hall (Concave Scream and The Observatory being the other selected ones this year). The band's devellish mix of gloom-and-doom melodies and sex-frenzied moans is fully capable of putting more than a few dents in those teak walls, and I'm half expecting reports of dead, wrist-slit bodies strewn across Clack Quay the following day. That, or a constitutional amendment banning leather straps.

Date: Friday, 30 November 2007
Time: 9.30pm
Venue: Recital Studio, Esplanade
Price: S$25

For more info, click here.

Astreal - Wallflower (from Fragments of the Same Dead Star)

Who's Who at Big Day Out: Billy Bragg

Hail ye raging old man of British folk.

From collaborating with American alt-country heroes Wilco to pushing the boundaries of British folk with his para-political rants, Bragg has been making good ol folk music for a decent 30-years now. And he really doesn't look like he's going to be stopping for tea anytime soon.

In many ways, the man's a punk legend. Just that he does it with an acoustic guitar.

But then again, that's pretty much a loose definition. It's like saying chicken is actually beef only with feathers. Or Godzilla is actually Ultraman but only with kick-ass nuclear breath. Or football is really like tennis only with bigger balls. Or Ryan Adams is actually Bryan Adams, just 100 years younger.

Billy Bragg - Walk Away Renee (from Must I Paint You a Picture? The Essential Billy Bragg)

B-Side of the Week - Surf City Eastern Bloc

Arcade Fire
Surf City Eastern Bloc (from the No Cars Go single)
(Rough Trade Records)

What does Surf City and Eastern Bloc have to do with each other? Absolutely nothing.

When you say Surf City, I think of all the days I spent at Oahu island, riding the banzai pipeline while the traditional long-haired Polynesian hunnies sang songs to me from the sands and the modern spunky-haired ones strang garlands for me in the beach huts. I think of Japanese tourist girls who wore the garlands on me when I trudged back onto shore.

That's nothing like the Eastern Bloc at all! When I think of the Eastern Bloc, I remember the days when I served in a war camp Prekmurje, dressing bomb wounds for children and rebuilding townships for communities. I remember all the tall blonde Slovenian girls cooking me goulash at midday while the petite brunette ones made struklji with pork in the fiery evenings. I remember an 18-year-old migrant girl, the lasko beer she brought me and her sweet Hungarian teenage kisses.

So I tell you, when Arcade Fire entitle a song called Surf City and Eastern Bloc, they are absolutely out of their minds.

Arcade Fire - Surf City Eastern Bloc

Soundwave Festival: Lineup Announced

To continue reading this post, you must possess:

1) at least three tattoos on your body (with one around the forehead region)
2) at least four warrant of arrest out for assault.
3) flea infested crusty hair
4) the ability to spin your head like a helicopter propeller for no less than eight minutes
5) the anxiousness to eat little children every morning for breakfast, or
6) you wet your pants often.

Because if you don't have any of these things you might be well, uninterested in this festival. You should instead milk cows, or watch reruns of Falcon Crest.

Full list of bands confirmed so far:

Incubus, The Offsrping, Killswitch Engage, Social Distortion, Coheed & Cambria, As I Lay Dying and Motion City Soundtrack, see US acts The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Saosin, Plain White T's, Jim Ward of Sparta, Scary Kids Scaring Kids, Shadows Fall, The Dear Hunter, Bleeding Through, From Autumn to Ashes, The Starting Line, Divine Heresy (featuring ex-Fear Factory guitarist Dino Cazares), Mindless Self Indulgence, The Receiving End of Sirens, Socratic, Kevin Devine, Halifax, Arthur Enders of The Early November, Chiodos, Mewithoutyou, My American Heart, Dan Nigro of As Tall As Lions, Envy on the Coast, Boys Like Girls, All Time Low, Fall of Troy, Sugarcult, Mae, Cartel, Still Remains, Haste the Day, Madina Lake and The Matches.

Tour dates:

Saturday February 23 – Riverstage & Parklands, Brisbane
Sunday February 24 – Sydney Park, Sydney
Friday February 29 – Showgrounds, Melbourne
Saturday March 1 – TBC, Adelaide
Monday March 3 – Steel Blue Oval, Perth

For more info, go here.

Incubus - Light Grenades (from Light Grenades)
Coheed & Cambria - Feathers (from Good Apollo, I'm Burning Star IV, Volume Two: No World for Tomorrow)
Plain White T's - Hey There Delilah (from Every Second Counts)
Social Distortion - Cold Feelings (from Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell)

This Week's Track 9 - Chicago by Sufjan Stevens

One man can start so much shit.

Like this man. Mr Sufjan Stevens. Not only does he start enough shit to bash my brilliant track 9 theory into sawdust and then make me eat it with bread and pork floss, he goes and builds an entire epic album around it. And it's not just any old song, it's a brilliant number, almost triumphant.

Damn you, Sufjan Stevens. Why can't you just let a guy have his cake and eat his cake and, you know, stuff? Why do you always have to be so smart and arty and brilliant?

I mean, hey, I know I can't play 3000 instruments on a recording, my ass does not have critically loved concept albums from which I pull one out every two years, and even if I could do all these, I probably couldn't do it with the charm of the gentlechristianman that you are. So take your talent and sod off. Got it?

Yeah. Sod off to wherever your song is about, you... you... beautiful man.

Sufjan Stevens - Chicago (track 9 from Come On Feel the Illinoise)

Word for the week: Kick

Because...

The 2007 Rugby World Cup just concluded in France last weekend. I got up at 3am bubbling with the excitement of an alligator creeping up to an unsuspecting antelope in a Congo savannah...

And ended up watching South Africa beat England 15-6 by kicking five penalties against England's two. Yes, kicking. A sport built around the concept of a bunch of epic oafs who inflict bone-crippling pain on the opposition and chew off each others ears en route to scoring an earth-shattering try—and it's most important game was decided by thumping a ball through a pair of sticks. If I wanted balls and sticks, I woulda ordered meatball kebab. IRB, I demand that you refund me my 3am.

Okkervil River - Unless It's Kicks (from The Stage Names)
Baroque rock loaded onto a wagon, and then dragged through Andrea Bocelli's lower cavity on the way to Deadwood.

The Kicks - 12 Steps (from O'rama)
Arkansas pop punkers perform artful sugar surgery, making some fine incisions to trim the lipids that panicked at the disco and fell out of boy.

Lupe Fiasco - Kick, Push (from Food & Liquor)
Some hail this rap gem as the best depiction of skateboarding. It is so not. If it was, the song would be called "Whirrrrr, OH SHHI...SONOFA... splattt... Stupid Doberman".

Kings of Leon - Four Kicks (from Day Old Belgian Blues EP)
Bluesy rock siblings renovate a Brussels stage to resemble the mossiest crevices of their garage.

French Kicks - So Far We Are (from Two Thousand)
If the French rugby team reproduced this song's two-step vivacity during their semi-final match against England—it would probably still have resulted in a boring-ass final.

The Verve's new track(s): The Thaw Session

Genus Frog: omg
i saw "the verve" in the url
(it's loading)

Pantsy: wait...

(random, unblogable crap)

Pantsy: was waiting all afternoon
cos it was only available for download from 10.30 their time
which turned out to be like 5.30 or something like that here

(more random, unblogable crap)

Genus Frog: have you heard the thaw sessions for yourself?

Pantsy: not yet
just downloaded

Genus Frog: yeah, mine's coming in right now

Pantsy: wah its quite a huge file

Genus Frog: ya
14 mins
putting it on now

(nervous)

Link: www.nme.com/verve

The Verve - The Thaw Session (unreleased single)

The Boss and the Blossoms

Oh, and since we're on the topic of indie vs classic...

Bruce Springsteen & Arcade Fire - Keep The Car Running


Bruce Springsteen & Arcade Fire - State Trooper


Soul, baby. Soul.

Bruce Springsteen - State Trooper (from Nebraska)
Arcade Fire - Keep The Car Running (from Neon Bible)

The REAL trouble with indie rock is...

Indie rock has been the subject of mainstream press chatter over the past week. First, New Yorker's Sasha Frere-Jones announces that the problem with indie is that it is racially biased. Then, Village Voice's Tom Breihan sorta agrees, but questions the generalisation. And later, Slate's Carl Wilson counters by saying that the genre's problems lie not with race, but with class.

They're all totally wrong, of course. Indie rock's problem isn't race, nor class. It's beauty. I mean, c'mon. Indie rockers are seriously butt ugly. Why do you think they don't make their own album covers? Like, why can't the dudes and dudettes that make quality indie rock be regulars on Maxim covers and Vogue centrespreads? They should be shoo-ins to the next Gap billboards and American Apparel banners. That way, no one will care about whether the bands are overly quirky or underly soulful. As long as their asses wiggle like polaroids, we'll pay the gajillions.

To read the New Yorker article, click here.

To read the Village Voice article, click here.

To read the Slate article, click here.

To check out a true hottie, click here.

The Killers - Glamorous Indie Rock & Roll (from Hot Fuss)

KL Jam Asia - No More?

Re-sweetened for death.

Popular KL gig venue KL Jam Asia has once again slammed its doors on the budding independent music scene. Rumors of management changes, Bollywood nights and RM35.00 cover charges have been floating around although none properly confirmed.

What's the whole hoola boo loo hah about a gig venue anyways? Well, Jam Asia is sorta like a CBGB to us but with bad drinks, a menu that spells nuggets as 'nuggest' and an inappropriate picture of Che Guevara hanging at the background of the minuscule stage.

Never mind that half the time I've been there for gigs, I can't see a damn thing, especially when I have 'Magic Johnson' standing in front of me. Then again I remember being particularly pissed that someone spilled beer on my jeans once. And also there was this time when some silly local folk hero stumbled through a set half-drunk while his friend heckled him from the back of the hall.

Sorry, we were supposed to miss this place?

Portishead - Half Day Closing (from Portishead)
Hopesfall - End of an Era (from No Wings to Speak Of)

Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow: Top 5 Cliches of 80s Rock Ballads

I was a product of 80s hair metal.

Then again, many people were at this end of our provincial mud ball. The average cool kid in school was never into REM or Depeche Mode, they were always into hair metal.

What's hair metal? It was what Bon Jovi was before he appeared on Oprah to promote wholesome living and doing runs on thread mills. Heck most genuine 80s hair metallers don't need to run to stay fit, they just get high and forget about food altogether. What a wuss he's become. Get those cat suits out again Jon. It's what your dwindling fan base demands.

Anyways, yes hair metal. You know, studded leather, cat suits, mascara, hair the size of Nevada and ball-hugging leather pants? Yeah those dudes. Now you remember. Always checking themselves out in the mirror to make sure hair is high enough to bump the ceiling and make-up hasn't smudged.

Anyways the interesting thing about them is that most of their hits were ballads. Which makes sense seeing as if you were a rocker then, you either screeched like a banshee on songs or try to romance chicks over a piano. The latter held more appeal for radio and MTV while the former is good for driving customers out of malls after closing time.

In the spirit of androgyny, we at Pirates bring you the top 5 cliches of 80s rock ballads.

1) It must always be about a girl

Because seriously, no one wants to hear a heartbroken rock ballad called 'Dwayne' or 'Robert' for that matter.

Europe - Carrie (from The Final Countdown)

2) Guitar solo must come after the second chorus

To not have a guitar solo in your ballad in those days is like eating McDonalds without fries, having Bryan Adams without 'Summer of 69' or Ultraman without a monster in sight. Basically it's so wrong that it should affect the laws of the universe.
Optional: Guitar solo to sometimes come after the prerequisite bridge (as demonstrated in the track below).

White Lion - You're All I Need (from Mane Attraction)

3) Always write lyrics like they are Hallmark card messages

Words such as love, heart, sun, miss, rain, baby etc must be used sporadically throughout each song. Why? Because when you are a scruffy hairy-chested rocker, one must do much to convince chicks that you're not going to turn around and hump the nearest pillar. Also, there's nothing hotter than a sensitive ruffian. Peace. (ie, the track below, which has a chorus that goes, 'Sometimes, the sun shines through the rain')

Cinderella - Through the Rain (from Still Climbing)

4) Reserve highest note for ending

Look, it's no secret that to be the best singer in the 80s hair metal scene, one must also be able to sing the highest octaves. It's a like a proud mane, a big car or the complete 12 issues of Playboy from the year 1985. One must show it off and one must show it off right at the end of a teary-eyed ballad for maximum effect.

Skid Row - I Remember (from Skid Row)

5) Three part harmonies should always only be employed when the title of the song is sung (usually at the chorus)

Because sometimes we seriously don't know what the title of the song is. I mean, when you're listening to a song where the chorus goes 'Never say goodbye' like 1564 times, one has trouble separating fact from fiction. So what are hair bands to do? Get in a harmonizer and bath those lines with some three part roboto harmonies baby. Woo hoo.

Slaughter - Days Gone By (from The Wild Life)

This Week's Track 9 - Holiday by Weezer

Track 9s. Not good enough to be on the first side. Not good enough to start the second side. And seldom good enough to be the album closer. Track 9 is the ultimate throwaway track position on an album. And if I were a track 9, I would feel like dipshit. That, however, is not always true. This new Tuesday feature celebrates the odd joyous moment and the many urrgghh duunnhhh sssppppfffhhhttt rrrrrwwwooooooo ppssttt tok tik tok tik tok tik tok tik tok moments of being in the least celebrated dump in album positioning land.

*

The office is empty. They call it 'skeleton staff'. Why is it empty? Because everyone's still somewhere else. Havin a good time. Winding down from their havinagoodtimes, but nonetheless, still havin them.

So where is everyone? At some mountain retreat? Some beach? A shopping haven? A tour bus? An airport? A sleazy bar? A disco hall? A transvestite strip joint?

As for me, I'm here in the plush comfort of my office chair, flanked by two beautiful Hawaiian girls. One massages my neck and back while the other pours me endless servings of blue-coloured drinks with umbrellas on them. And if I so much as snap my finger, both will go, in unison, "Mr Pirate, what else can I do to please your handsome face?", and they immediately break into a sexy hula dance while waiting for my impending request.

Why do they do that, you ask. It's because they're trained to keep me happy even before I tell them how to keep me happy. And this is me at the office. Wait till I tell you about my holiday.

Weezer - Holiday (track 9 from The Blue Album)

Word for the week: Curry

Because...

The Muslim world celebrates Eid Ul-Fitr, otherwise known as Hari Raya Aidilfitri. It's essentially the end of the fasting month. And while everyone acknowledges it as a time for annual family get togethers and filial reconciliation, they all know that the true heart and soul of cultural festivities lies in one thing alone: the food. You go ahead and cosy up to those cultural dances and costumes; just bring me the curry.

Dan The Automator - Fists of Curry (from Bombay the Hard Way: Guns, Cars and Sitars)
Nakamura revisits the soundtracks to India's 1970s crime flicks, and electropops a slice from that era that Bollywood would gleefully adopt today.

Dr Bombay - Rice and Curry (from Rice and Curry)
Jonny Jakobsen's eurodance classic irritates to no end, but promises to reemerge in your dreams amidst those beachside romps with Mallika Sherawat.

Green Curry - ขอให้เหมือนเดิม (unknown album)
According to this site, the above means something along the lines of 'Ask Again'. I feel insanely informed now.

Tim Curry - I'm Going Home (from The Rocky Horror Picture Show soundtrack)
Even without the visual context, Curry's overblown histrionics here are sufficient to paint a picture of a cross-dressing Dr. Frank-N-Furter delivering a graceful ode to trannies worldwide.

Panda Head Curry - Kongsi Raya (from One Thousand Homo Humpbacks)
The way these cock-rocking Malaysian punkers moan over multiculturalism, you'd have thought it was a bane of humanity. No way! Check out the curry.

Fad of the land: Spiral Frog

Hmmm. How does one spiral a frog? I mean, I remember in bio where I once crucified a frog and roasted his belly under the sun with a magnifying glass. But the dude sorta just popped. Then there was this other time I was craving for an apple guava smoothie, but I was out of guava, so I just substituted that with a frog and chucked both fruit and amphibian into the blender. But it all sorta meshed, rather than doing any noticeable spiraling. I must say, it did taste pretty tangy.

Anyways, while Spiral Frog won't attempt to solve my scientific conundrum, it does offer a chance to resolve the ancient duel between the "MP3 for free for me!" consumer and the "How dare you rob me of the chance to buy my 12th private jet!" music label CEO. The solution? Keep the downloads free, but make them ad-funded. Yep, meaning that as you search for your fav tracks, you get a bunch of targeted ads winking at you. So companies share the ad revenue, we get free music, and no one needs to pay US$222,000.

Neat idea. It's already got a fairly substantial stable of labels on board, including Universal and EMI, plus distributors like INgrooves (Thievery Corporation, Lady Sovereign) and Kudos Records (Corinne Bailey Rae). But, as always, fine print: it's currently limited to the US and Canada. Oh well. Back to the hunt for fully illegal, ad-free, lawsuit-friendly music. And maybe instructions on how to spiral a frog.

link: www.spiralfrog.com

Thievery Corporation - The Outernationalist (from The Richest Man In Babylon) [BUY]
Lady Sovereign - My England (from Public Warning) [BUY]
Corinne Bailey Rae - Trouble Sleeping (from Corinne Bailey Rae) [BUY]

More Big Day Out Rumors

Imagine with me. You've got a huge-ass cannon.

How big? Excellent question private. One big enough to send a hole the size of a Chinese wedding dinner table through Godzilla. In case you're wondering 'what in tarnations', that's pretty damn big.

And after you've got a cannon that's that big, you decide, 'Hey, why don't I add one a ten-grenade per-launch grenade launcher? I mean, just for the bloody heck of it. And while I'm at it, why not detach those plasma cannons off an X-Wing fighter and strap in on to the side of said cannon, you know, just to make it prettier?'

If you have no idea how/what I am talking now has anything to do with said Australian/NZ fest that's adorning the headline of this article then my friend, you need to eat more coriander, or run laps or you know, read more books.

Arcade Fire? Bjork? Rage? This could just be the beginning. Please, please Santa. Just this once. I promise I won't make fun of jocks anymore. Then again forget that promise, but please please grant me this wish.

Want to know who the rest of the rumored bunch are? Go here

The Smashing Pumpkins - Starz (from Zeitgeist)
The Polyphonic Spree - Running Away (from The Fragile Army)
Interpol - Next Exit (from Antics)
Manic Street Preachers (feat. Nina Persson) - Your Alone is Not Enough (from Send Away the Tigers)

B-Side of the Week - Killer Cars

Radiohead

Killer Cars (from the High & Dry/Planet Telex single, cd 2)

(Parlophone)

Aaaahhh.... Radiohead. That incredible beast from literati town. You know, they're releasing their seventh LP today. Incredible. Every internet site remotely connected to the living, nevermind the dead, will be talking about it.

They sometimes remind me of this other beast, also from a very literate place. It was a robot that my mum bought me from the organic robot store. It had flesh that felt like real flesh and hair that felt like real hair. Its voice was intelligently composed from real voices and my robot - whom I wish was called Kid A, but wasn't (it was called Bob) - did all my homework for me. Heck, he tidied up my room, made my bed, played football with and against me and when our fridge wasn't properly stocked, he would open up his organic robot ass and shit out bacon, eggs and toast, just for me.

But like Radiohead and all other things, Bob the Organic Robot grew old. And as he grew old, he wore out. First, his left leg fell off, from beneath the knee-joint. Then his ears started rotting and both his arms dropped off. Eventually his whole head fell out and we had no clue what to do with the remaining stump.

So we gave him away. To anyone who would pay anything for him.

Here's to Bob the Organic Robot, and his younger, more user-friendly days.

Radiohead - Killer Cars

Nine Inch Nails do a Radiohead (sorta)

It's such a rage isn't it—mega bands choke slamming record labels. A week after Radiohead do a People's Elbow on the bigwigs, Nine Inch Nails have just sent Interscope straight through the canvas by dumping their label in favour of going independent.

It's yet another killer move for music industry moguls. No, I'm not talking about some measely rope-to-rope, elbow-to-the-ribs sorta move. This is more like Fat Albert jumping from the rafters and landing on Tiny Tim's testicles. Or like the Undertaker driving a 20 tonne truck over Squirt the Squirrel's stomach, after which Squirt's colon spatters out and latches itself onto the back wheel of the truck, and the Undertaker continues his drive all the way to a Domino's outlet in Bangalore so that he can pick up some chili flakes and sprinkle it on Squirt's colon and eat it with a 20-inch tandoori cheese pizza. Trust me, the taste is totally awesome.

To read the official announcement, click here.

Nine Inch Nails - Zero-Sum (from Year Zero)

That little thing called the 90s

The 90s was a strange and exciting time for me.

Fresh out of school, weaning off flea-infested metal and senseless movies with young pretty actors filled with oddball dialogue that amounted to nothing. But more importantly, many nights sitting in front of my beat up stereo, catching the 8pm show on Time Highway Radio with my hand on the record button, waiting for those killer tracks.

There was a new sound on radio then. A new sound that was loosely classified by This is Alternative stickers stuck on their albums. The idea was that this was the 'alternative' to the mainstream. Gradually, the alternative became the mainstream. And the mainstream became the alternative to 'indie'. And I became bloody kick-ass on Raiden.

It's hard to explain the sound. It's meat and potatoes rock music but not played with the kind of pomposity that 80s hair bands used to. Neither were they angsty and flannel-laden like their Seattle grunge counterparts. They took bits off The Replacements, bits off Neil Young and created a sound that was exclusively 90s.

As a tribute, here are my essential 10 non-grunge/non-punk tracks from that era.

Gin Blossoms - Hey Jealousy (from New Miserable Experience)
A bastion of warm tube amps and Westerberg-approved melodies, these Arizonians redefined guitar-playing in the 90s with their twinkly lines and two-step harmonies, all under a colorful straw hat.

Foo Fighters - Big Me (from Foo Fighters)
Dave Grohl's post-Nirvana pop statement packaged with an award-winning music video. Still remains as probably the best song he ever wrote.

Live - Selling the Drama (from Throwing Copper)
These Pennsylvanians tittered between grunge angst, R.E.M.-like melodrama while also finding the time to piss-off Christian fundamentalists with their scathing lyrics.

Counting Crows - A Murder of One (from August and Everything After)
Adam Duritz made poetic lyricism relevant again in the 90s. But the band's hardly just about the words on a paper written by a bearded/braid-haired socialite, as this mid-tempo Americana rocker proves. Might just be worth a wink from Dylan.

Soul Asylum - Runaway Train (from Grave Dancers Union)
Dave Pirner's heartbroken ode to missing American youths. The track that helped him trade-in his punk boots for an acoustic guitar.

Toad the Wet Sprocket - All I Want (from Fear)
Sure, the band's scored at least a top 5 on every edition of those VH1 silly band-name shows but hey, no one made brooding rustic odes like them. Long live the housewives and pretty dresses of Santa Barbara.

Collective Soul - Forgiveness (from Disciplined Breakdown)
The obvious choice would've been 'Shine' but Disciplined Breakdown, while marking the end of the band's relevancy, produced many a good track. This jangling sweet ballad is but one of many.

The Lemonheads - Paid to Smile (from Come on Feel The Lemonheads)
We certainly need no such compensation as Evan Dando time and again proved that he remains the king of cheeky punkabilly tunes and that soft long-haired look. A smile and some cotton candy should follow.

Better than Ezra - Good (from Deluxe)
Kevin Griffin may have committed the cardinal sin by sporting Michael Knight's hairstyle but the man knows his way around those four magical chords and an incredibly infectious chorus. Yeah it was so good.

Blind Melon - No Rain (from Blind Melon)
Shannon Hoon may have the lungs of a banshee and guested on a certain Guns 'N' Roses hit but the man's all Lennon on this one. The kind of strumming campfire chorus that just reminds you of toys, playgrounds and a warm home.

Word for the Week: Machine

Because...

Hype Machine has released their redesigned site for private viewing. No screenshots allowed, but my early thoughts are a bit like meeting your nephew for the first time in 20 years: he's a heart-stopping ladykiller with all the glitzy shenanigans that will likely make the family go ga-ga—yet you can't help but reminisce the days when he was the one going "Ga ga". They sure grow up fast.

Aa - New Machine (from GAaME)
Brooklyn snare smackers time travel to 735,309 BC, just as Polyphonic Spree's ancestors get ready to clobber a woolly mammoth. All in a minute-and-a-bit.

Secret Machines - 1,000 Seconds (from Ten Silver Drops)
Epic on every level, save for the fact that it's possibly the dinkiest song on these psych rockers' second album. Simple schmimple.

Intensive Care - Break Me Up, Machine (from 2805 EP)
Montreal's next great hope? Lock the jury up a little longer pending a full length, but by 4:39 of this song, you wouldn't be a shoddy gambler if your bets were placed this way.

Cornelius - New Music Machine (from Fantasma)
Jappy indie chicks captivate American pale face with pixie twinkles and twee giggles. Jappy indie males, like Keigo Oyamada, beat chest and bellow. 私は好む.