Look what I found in the bargain bin

OST
Thumbsucker
(Hollywood)

Price: RM9.90

I have many bad habits.

One of the foremost is of course chewing on my finger nails, which remains a cherished and useful habit, particularly when I am on long drives alone or when it's at the end of the month and Louie from the coffee place down the street from my house won't hand me 4-day old bread anymore.

What most don't know is that when I was heck of a lot younger, I also had a habit of sucking on my little toe. Yeah, I've never been one to go the easy route and suck thumbs cause that would be physically far too easy. I decided that the little toe was the way to go. I used to suck it even when I was walking in a mall. And yes I know you're wondering, 'How the heck do you do something like that?' I am proud to admit that I did it. Wasn't easy. Not many people in the world can go browsing around Kiki Lala while sucking on their left little toe but hey, I take great pride in doing things that other people can't do. Like making nuclear bombs from shredded paper and breeding super-powerd zombies.

The Polyphonic Spree - Move Away and Shine (In a Dream Version) (from OST Thumbsucker)

New Release: The Cobalt Season - Fragile Iconoclast

So I was hiking one day with a friend, when he suddenly turned to me and asked, "What's the difference between indie and Christian indie?" I stopped, turned to him and looked puzzled. He outlined the evolution of the subgenre from its Keith Green/Leigh Nash roots, through the Sufjan-Innocence Mission peaks and up to today, where the likes of The Cobalt Season could incorporate the lushest strains of modern indie into their bible belt twang.

I still stared at him, puzzled. Sensing my bewilderment, he moved on to discuss the thematic variances and subtle similarities of Christian indie. He explained how tunes laced with angst and trepidation were usually neutralised within minutes via the boulevards of redemption.

I continued to look at him, still puzzled. After a while, he realised he wasn't getting through, so he asked me why I was looking at him puzzled. To which I replied, "Is that a cicada drinking cafe latte in your nostrils?"

Puzzling stuff. I'm still stumped.

Track list:

1. Coming of Age
2. Water Rising
3. You Might Not Know You’re Home ’til You’ve Landed
4. You & I
5. Time Will Tell
6. Tick Tock
7. Disappear

Macy Gray - Live in Malaysia?

Word on the ghetto (and by ghetto I mean that storm drain behind my house) has been buzzing about a possible show by new-school soul queen Macy Gray in one popular highland resort here in Malaysia as part of some hip-hop fest thing. No other details except this to report at the moment but you can be sure we will try and bring more love as soon as we get some. Which in that context, may be never.

Hey graphics guy, yeah you, the one with the mustache and flannel shirt. I asked for a pic of Macy Gray dude. What the heck you giving me a pic of a lion for? What? Say again?

Oh ...

Macy Gray - Time of My Life (from OST 8 Mile)

Word for the Week: Hammer

Because...

Two-thirds of the Pirates bought themselves a life hammer, which is essentially a funky device meant to save your life in the event of a car accident. The other third? Well, he was about to order one too, but then his hammerhead shark wife wouldn't have any of it. She's got a pretty steady track record of bashing car windows, so I guess she has a point too.

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah - Arm & Hammer (from Some Loud Thunder)
Coagulated fuzz copulates with acoustic twang to hatch a premature indie embryo. God bless the deformed.

Sparklehorse - Hammering the Cramps (from Vivadixiesubmarinetransmissionplot)
Apparently, flying dogs, little cars and aloof captains make noise. Lots of it.

Cypress Hill - Cock the Hammer (from Black Sunday)
Reliable sources tell me these guys are rapping about a hammer named Cock. Or seriously kinky porn. Gotta be one or the other.

Caribou - Hello Hammerheads (from The Milk of Human Kindness)
Dwelling at the foot of audible frequencies, Dan Snaith reveals why he left "her". Why? Just because.

Garbage - Hammering In My Head (from Version 2.0)
A rush of Shirls to the head.

In the papers today...

Korea might soon declare dogs in the same category as livestock. This essentially legalises the already-accepted consumption of dog meat, which apparently can be bought from between 120,000 won to 200,000 won (US$120-200). There's a pun somewhere in there about hot sausages, oblong bread and ketchup. Gimme a sec to figure it out...

This story reminds me of: Firewater - Three-legged Dog (from The Golden Hour)

Since the arrest of the polygamist Mormon sect in Texas, Time magazine contemplates the issue of what to do with the 416 children from that home. According to the article, "most have never... worn contemporary clothes". Well, neither has Win Butler, but I thought he turned out alright.

This story reminds me of: Frog Eyes - One In Six Children Will Flee In Boats (from The Golden River)

Tiger Woods will be out for four weeks to undergo surgery to his left knee. It's the second surgery he's had to his knee. It's also the second time that golfers round the world remember they own a trophy cabinet.

This story reminds me of: Ceasars - Paper Tigers (from Paper Tigers)

Look what I found in the bargain bin

Pete Teo
Rustic Living for Urbanites
(Redbag Music)

Price: RM10

I've never forgotten my roots. I grew up in a small seaside town, populated by munchkins the size of Frodo's shoelaces. As such, I vowed early on that when I became a billionaire, I would never let any of my fellow townsfolk be demeaned by the Man.

So, fast forward 20 years, and I'm standing before some dusty shelves of a city centre pawn shop, and out pops this CD, sandwiched between Sugababes and Hear'Say. Something snapped inside. There before me lay the debut of a singer-songwriter who grew up in the same state as I did, and yet here I was living large in my 67-bedroom mansion, having made a fortune by selling village girls (because I always support the local economy), while his suave 2003 effort was being cheapened by the tasteless capitalists that sought to make blind profits at the expense of small town!

Consumed with rage, I did the only thing I knew: I bought the CD, burned the store down, decapitated the owners, and stole the toaster. Today, I play it while having my weekly Arabian oil massage session and eating Jamaican grapes. Lesson for the day: Treasure those memories, folks.

Pete Teo - Blue (from Rustic Living for Urbanites)

This Week's Track 9 - Cast A Hook by Laura Veirs

Laura Veirs: My love... let me stroke you here.
Mop: I'm tired.
Laura Veirs: Drink deep, my love, for I'm lonely. We can do some wrecking here.
Mop: Dowan.
Laura Veirs: The paddles of night are unfolding...
Mop: Stop quoting yourself.
Laura Veirs: You're cruel. I'm not dead.
Mop: Take off your glasses and go to bed.
Laura Veirs: ...not numb, not withering.
Mop: Get your hands off me.

Laura Veirs - Cast A Hook (track 9 from Saltbreakers)

Fad of the Land: Muxtape

I've made some killer mixtapes in my time. When I was 12, I combined avocado, carrot and apricot with a copy of Vitalogy, and blended it to throat-soothing perfection. Then when I turned 21, I took my cousin's Abbey Road reissue and added cranberry juice, turkey breast and my uncle's nine iron. I'm telling you, it was fully swingin', mate.

Huh? Whaddaya mean I got the concept wrong all this while? What, you mean I was actually suppsoed to listen to those mixes instead of drink them with rib eye steak? Well how the heck would I know that! Sheesh. Fine. Go make your own mixtape at Muxtape. Supposedly, they're all about making and sharing digital mixtapes. The 'right' kind, so they say. Oooooo.

Link: muxtape.com

mixtapes and cellmates - Distance Blinding Lights (from If There Is Silence Fill It With Longing) [BUY]

Gig-gles: The Times Chronicles Showcase

Ah, the joyous decadence of going out on tour.

Well in theory is isn't seriously a tour seeing as it's a five date tour spanning nearly two months. Which is to say the members of Malaysian indie band The Times could probably get themselves hitched to about 560 wives, climb everest six times or go on an intergalactic space mission in Klandathu between dates if they wanted to.

But hey, we here in Malaysia take pride in our bands going out on tour, mainly because they don't. So like the 8-year old one-armed astronaut with asthma, we love to cheer them on. They have booked some pretty excellent regional talent for support as well. The retro poppy goodness of Couple stands out in particular.

What you mean you've never heard of the 8-year old one-armed astronaut with asthma who also happens to be a recovering alcoholic, has only eight toes, seven fingers, one eye, 10 bald patches, one lung with one butt cheek who saved a space shuttle crew by piloting a Fokker Friendship into space (never done before, can die) , evading an army of alien cockroaches in the process and fighting off horny Sectoids with a torchlight before plummeting his plane into a mountain because he forgot to pump gas before taking off? You've not heard that story?

It's a good story.

The Times - Konfrontasi Primadona 1965 (from Nada Melankolik Malaya)
Couple - Come Back Again (from Top of the Pop)
Laila's Lounge - Warm Cherry House (Unreleased)

B-Side Of The Week - The Age Of The Jellyfish

Jacuzzi Boys
The Age Of The Jellyfish (from the Ghost Ghost single)
(Florida's Dying)

Sure, Jacuzzi Boys might be one of the ugliest looking, fashionably vomit-inducing outfits out there. But I'll tell you something. I was out fishing one day and I caught a fish that was about 7 feet long. When I cooked it, it was the best tasting fish I ever set my tongue to.

A week later, I went fishing again and I caught a crab that weighed in 32 lbs. After an epic battle, I slew it and cooked it. And it was the best tasting crab I ever had.

Two days later, excited about my sudden burst of luck, I went to the same spot and cast my line into the same coordinate in the same lake. That day, I caught the biggest damn truck-sized jellyfish I had ever seen in my life. I murdered the evil thing and ate it. And it was the best jellyfish I had ever eaten.

Now if you're still wondering if I'm ever gonna link my fishing exploits to the fact that Jacuzzi Boys look butt ugly on stage, you really haven't been reading this blog long enough.

Jacuzzi Boys - The Age Of The Jellyfish

Ronnie Khoo releases music video

Let's get lyrical, lyrical: The Teenagers - French Kiss

We’re in my room
Watching dirty dancing
I didn’t get anything with Orlando Bloom
‘Cause I know you fancy him

If she was there
Your mum would say that everything is perfect
But she’s not
Let’s forget about her

God, it’s already the ‘nobody puts baby in the corner’ moment
And you’re getting emotional
Perfect timing for a ...

French kiss
On your soft lips
French kiss
You will love this

We’re at your best friends party
Dancing to Bro zone
In the living room
I get you a vodka red bull
And lure you in the kitchen

It’s quite smoky in there
Have a seat
We’ll have another drink
Have some crisps
We’ll have another drink
Have that cigarette
We’ll have another drink

God, it’s already 4 am
And you’re getting tired
Your eyes don’t lie
Perfect timing for a ...

French kiss
On your soft lips
French kiss
You will love this

Yeah I like French kisses. I mean, who doesn't right? Add a dash of cinnamon on your lips, some butter and beat a few eggs into your mouth before you start smooching. It's a food connoisseur's ultimate romantic act. Right?

Teenagers - French Kiss (from Reality Check)

Word for the Week: Grow

Because...

Every front-running music site seems to be growing. Like, major expansion, dude. Pitchfork pops a TV site, Myspace does an iTunes, Stereogum preps Videogum, and even Radiohead joins the social networking fad. You know what all this means, right? Yep. Pelicans are better than flamingoes. Messages like that couldn't be clearer.

John Lennon - Grow Old With Me (from Wonsaponatime)
Oh, the irony.

Hisato Higuchi - Grow (from Butterfly Horse Street)
Who knew the serene snowcapped enclave of Nagoya could spawn such a fiendish fuzz fiesta?

PJ Harvey - Grow Grow Grow (from White Chalk)
Polly Jean urges us to groo-ooh-oowww-www. She might feed us to the pythons if we don't.

Ms Dynamite - Seed Will Grow (from A Little Deeper)
Good to know that not all collabos with a son-of-Marley have to involve up-picked guitars and "ya mahn"s.

Metric - Grow Up and Blow Away (from Grow Up and Blow Away)
Sometimes you just gotta listen to hot indie chicks with skirts.

New Release: Jerome Kugan - Songs for a Shadow

I used to have a shadow friend. And you must be thinking, 'what a sad kid, to have not only an imaginary friend (Kundu) but to have also a shadow friend as well'. I can assure you, there's nothing sad about it. It's because I had so many friends that I decided that I should eat lunches on my own, watch movies on my own, not date ever and talk to my shadow friend.

Ah yes my shadow friend. Such soul mates we were. She (actually I have no idea if it was a he or a she but hey, would you rather your shadow friend be closer to Jack Black or Olivia Wilde? That's what I thought) would always follow whatever I did. It was almost as if she had telepathy or something. It was really quite freaky. Then I started to fall in love with her. I bought her flowers, chocolates, 1kg of choice pork cuts etc. But she rejected me. She would always stare blankly while I waited for a reaction. But then she continued to follow me around, mostly in the night. I can't understand women sometimes, such lovely but confused creatures. She is still following me around until this day, I am not sure what she wants anymore.

Track list:

1) I Like
2) Tomas
3) This Excellent Love
4) The Miracle
5) Flowers
6) Song for the Service Industry
7) Lightfalls
8) Mother
9) A Shadow
10) The Magic Word
11) The Little Cat Song

Pete Teo embraces the races

Pete Teo has set out to heal his country, one pretty Pan-Asian at a time. This Malaysian singer-songwriter has put on his Bob Geldof hat and embarked on a inter-artiste song project involving people of various colours and creeds. He's got artistes like Ning Baizura, Awie, Jacklyn Victor, Melina William and Attilia to sing snippets, and he's doing a video too, directed by Yasmin Ahmad and starring, among others, Tony Fernandes, Shebby Singh and Maya Karin. The end product will be released as a free download (the song, not the pretty Pan-Asians).

Well done, Pete. Let's see: singer-songwriter, actor, writer, racial harmoniser, Geldofer—pretty soon, you'll need a new wardrobe for the many hats you're wearing. Because everyone knows you must have a hat for everything you do. Like me. I just picked up raccoon bombing last week, and so I bought a hat yesterday. It's tangerine, with purple polka dots. Cost me just three bucks, and 15 raccoon rectums. Good stuff comes cheap, y'all.

Pete Teo - Who For You? (from Television)

This Week's Track 9 - Play Tough by The Apples In Stereo

When I was six, they used to call me a whimp. So I said to myself, "I'll show them!"

So I started eating three kilos of beef every day, doing five hundred bench presses before bedtime, running 22 kilometres every morning and lifting weights that were consistently three to four times my body weight.

When I was seven, they didn't let me enter primary school because "a grown man cannot study with children". So I said to myself, "I'll show them!"

That day, the school board discovered what it means to play tough.

The Apples In Stereo - Play Tough (track 9 from New Magnetic Wonder)

In the papers today...

Contrary to popularly held notions, child sex predators can't be fussed with social networking sites. Research in medical journals shows that they're more likely to pick their prey via chat rooms. Though I reckon that if they start improving their Scrabulous, the stats might sway a tad.

This story reminds me of: Efterklang - Prey and Predator (from Tripper)

Emo kids in Mexico are being bashed. Since a couple of weeks ago, a wave attacks have been taking place across Mexico City. Supposedly, these have been instigated by non-emo types who can't stand the gay-friendly fashion sense that often comes with the genre. No word on whether the Get Up Kids have started an emergency task force.

This story reminds me of: SUBS - So Fine Emo (from Down)

The Wall Street Journal mulls an all important question: at what age should your kid be allowed to start surfing the Internet? It is, of course, linked to another all-important question: at what age should your kid start downloading James Blunt? Man, it's tough growing up.

This story reminds me of: Faker - Kids On Overload (from Addicted Romantic)

Let's get lyrical, lyrical: Mogwai - Emergency Trap

Hum ...

Crackle ...

Ting ...

Ting ...

Tong ...

Buzz ...

Crackle more ...

Swoosh ...

Boom ...

Fade ...

Hey, wait just a darn second here.

Mogwai - Emergency Trap (from Mr. Beast)

Fad of the Land: Grooveshark

In a similar way to how Revver took the YouTube model and put dollars in the hands of video uploaders, Grooveshark has spread the wealth of the MP3-buying world. Moving beyond the iTunes song-buying template, the money that comes from buying a song will be shared amongst the copyright holder, the chap who put the song up for sale, and Grooveshark itself (the catch: songs have to be purchased first before they can be resold).

It's pretty savvy, I gotta say. So what inspired you lads to come up with this? Well, according to The Gainesville Sun:

Two young entrepreneurs decided that it isn't immorality driving the younger population to steal music, but rather convenience. Illegal downloading programs make it easy to listen to some good tunes.

Ahhhh... that makes such sense. You know, I said the exact same thing to the cops last weekend when they caught me driving a stolen ice cream truck. I told them that I had an unnatural ice cream obsession, and so my shrink advised me to keep a ready supply in my driveway, rather than have to make the trip to 7-11 every two minutes. One of the officers gave me a sympathetic look, and they were about to walk away, when six bodybags tumbled out of the back. For some reason, my reasoning that I was stocking up on organs so I wouldn't have to take the trouble to visit the organ donor clinic in times of emergency didn't sit well with them. Damn, they make some nasty prison cells these days.

Link: www.grooveshark.com

Citizens Here and Abroad - You Drive and We'll Listen to Music (from Ghosts of Tables and Chairs) [BUY]

[Update 8/4/08: Ben from Grooveshark notes in the comments that you don't actually need to buy the songs to sell them; you can just upload your own library. Man, this is even cooler than a rainbow popsicle.]

Gig-gles: Soilwork Live in KL - May 25th

I am a bit of a retro junkie myself.

Which is why like wine and cartoons, I prefer my metal old. And you might be thinking old school? Nopes. I prefer them old. As in 89-years old. Why? What do you mean why? Have you ever seen a 89 year-old man in a walker and dentures swinging an ESP guitar around while screaming a grindcore growl into the mic? Neither have I. But I imagine when I do, it would be like having sex for the first time.

Details:

Date: May 25th 2008
Time: 5.00 - 10.30pm
Venue: Ruums KL
Price: RM55.00 (early), RM75.00 (at the door)

Soilwork - Sworn to a Great Divide (from Sworn to a Great Divide)