:: A Malaysian on Music, Gigs, Concerts. ::

The Killers got cancelled, which was a disappointment. So a bunch of us drowned our sorrows in The Killers in spirit and went for a roadtrip anyway. Turns out they’re still playing Australia. So, I wonder what the problem is. Hiatus? Breakup? Just play the damn Asian tour.

Next up, Florence and The Machine, plus The xx on February 7th. I’m looking forward to watching these two buzz bands. If you haven’t heard of either of them, Florence and The Machine are similar to the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and The xx are the new age nugazers. Yep new aged shoegazer bands.

Next up, March 7 - PARAMORE live in Singapore. I’ve been waiting for their Asian gigs for a couple of years now. So they are finally coming. I can’t wait to hear Hayley belt out my favs: Decode, My Heart, Ignorance, Hallelujah, etc.

In March as well, we’ve got Placebo (who I will miss the singapore gig for the Malaysian one) and Kings of Convenience. It is definitely a good start to the year of 2010.

Yep, his album is finally coming out. 23rd November. I didn’t think much of his debut single, For Your Entertainment. Kinda Mika like but it was interesting. Grows on you? I’m more interested in Time For Miracles, which will be on the OST of 2012. John Cusack doing epic film. Time For Miracles somehow reminds me of latter Stephen Tyler. At first, I drew comparison with Freddie Mercury, but I think Adam Lambert could become an alltime great if he really gets out there and not just be one for the mainstream public. Hang on, he’s gay. Okay, it’s definitely working already :). Enough hearsay - check him out on youtube. I can’t wait to hear his debut album..

Time For Miracles

Pixie Lott. Yum. This blonde bombshell who has a fantastic contralto voice and superb looks to match her voice is a recording label’s wet dream. Sings and looks good. Her legs, her boobs, …okay, sorry I can go on and on. I missed the chance to see her live early in her career during the MTV World Stage gig in Sunway Lagoon, Malaysia. Yep, I was late.

Anyhoo, when I heard her acoustic renditions of Mama Do and the remake of Use Somebody (from Kings of Leon), I fell in love. The voice. Wow. So, in a sense I had high hopes for her debut album, Turn It Up. However, when I got my hands on the album, I was a tad bit disappointed. LA Reid made her into pop culture mould. The album was filled with mostly mainstream music. Bah. All is not lost though, the album grows on ya and her latest single, Cry Me Out is fast becoming a repeat on my playlist. There are still elements of soul within her debut effort, but I wished it could have been more. In some way, I’m reminded of what happened to Joss Stone whose first album was a motown tribute of covers and her original track debut album became pop culture rubbish.

So, I look forward to Pixie’s gigs, not necessarily her albums.

Cry Me Out
Fall in love with Pixie now!

Sorry for the MIAness :).

I’ve been listening to a fair bit of Renee Olstead. For those of you that didn’t know, she’s the ginger haired daughter in that sitcom Still Standing. Whaddya know, she can sing and has pretty good vocal pipes. She’s only 20 but has had 5 studio recorded albums. Damn. Impressive. Best part is, she’s only at the start of her musical passage. She’s a bit of a cutie as well.

Check her out:

Renee Olstead and David Foster - Skylark

I’ve been waiting for Windows 7 for a pretty long time. Let’s just say I skipped the Vista generation and was previously on Windows XP since 2003. But that time is long gone. I’ve made the jump to Windows 7. I have installed the RC, then the RTM and have not looked back since. There is a community in Malaysia, which seems to be pretty active driving people on the cool stuff on Windows 7. Check out the Windows 7 Malaysia site, which is showcasing lots of content and also CONTESTS! Yep, you can win stuff at their Windows 7 Malaysia Contests page. Go go go.

Oh yeah, you could also check out their Facebook page and their @win7malaysia Twitter

I think I’m in love. One big regret I had for attending MTV’s World Stage in Sunway Pyramid late was missing Pixie Lott. This 18 year old songstress has a huge set of vocal pipes on her.

Her remake of King’s of Leon’s Use Somebody is utterly genius. She’s got so much natural soul in her, that she reminds me of Joss Stone, but BETTER. Why does a blond hair girl from Essex have so much soul. It’s unexplainable.

She’s hot, cute and has the voice of a black woman. Her debut album should be out 14 September 2009. Can’t WAIT.

Pixie Lott @ Youtube

Check it out if you can.

Date: 7 August 2009
Time: 8-10pm
Venue: 4th Floor Auditorium, Wisma Bentley Music, Mutiara Damansara

Featuring:

Love Me Butch, Dejavoodoospells, Pure Vibracion, The Otherside Orchestra, Jin Hackman, Melissa Indot, Happy Nightmare, Transient Vortex, Ferhad

MJ Tribute @ Homegrown

8 August 2009.
This looks promising. Not very huge headlining acts, but would make most worthy mention lists across the globe. So, go get your tickets and go!

International Headliners:
Dirty Vegas
Tocadisco
Mason
Vika Kova

Local Highlights:
Turn It Up boys
TAG
LapSap
Bunkface
Love Me Butch
Pesawat
and others

Can You Dig It?

On the 25th of July, I decided to give Hennessy Artistry a visit at the Bukit Kiara Equestrian Club. Since last year’s gig, which Flo Rida performed and he was pretty good, I expected roughly the same for this year, even with a lineup of Dominique Tsai, Fatman Scoop, Lil John, Ying Yang Twins, Homies (WTF?) DJ Camino, etc. Yep, what a bunch of 2nd rate artistes. I had some eagerness for Fatman Scoop and DJ Camino.

I reached the gig around 11pm or so and Dominique Tsai was wrapping up her set. She was kinda hot, and could kinda sing and dance, but that was about it. Then The Homies, some chinese rap trio came on and they were unmentionably poor. Next up, DJ Camino who whipped the crowd into a frenzy with some old school beats mixing and scratching but his set was a bit too rapid. Too many changeovers. Then Fatman Scoop came on, he was entertaining at first but soon after, he became the ego rapper that most of them are. He stopped rapping and played music he liked. Dude, you ain’t Kanye West. I absolutely hate this as people went there to see you perform your own songs. What’s with this wannabe DJ crap? Then the Yin Yang twins came on. I left after 10 minutes.

Despite the free booze, free entry, music etc, I left. I went for some nuggets, which goes to show what a pathetic little show the boys at Hennessy put up. Get your act together guys/girls.

Sharizan, the voice, the crooner. You’ve heard him on Litefm’s Sunday night Swing Time. I sorta remember him representing Malaysia on Asia Bagus back in 1993, but it’s his bubbly and fun personality that has gotten radio listeners, TV viewers to remember him more. With a voice suited for classic swing numbers and bop jazz tunes, Sharizan entertained for two days in Alexis Ampang over the last weekend (25 - 26 July).

I had the opportunity to check out his set on Friday night, whilst entertaining my tummy with Alexis’ wonderful food. It was a good way to end a tough week, and how else but with good music, entertainment, food and WINE. He split his set up into two different sets, performing classic swing tunes like Fly Me To The Moon, You Don’t Know Me, etc and turning it more pop culture with famous pop classics. Throughout his performance, he engaged the crowd with his wit and charm, breaking out into song wherever he could. He also dropped some clues onto his voice talent and the company he owns by demonstrating his impersonations, voice-over talent, etc.

As with most setups in Alexis, it was simple and precise, letting the musicians do their thing. His session musicians were great musicians. Their sound crisp. Most bands in Malaysia should take a note from Jazz musicians, improve your music playing or you will blend into the background.

Overall, it was a brilliant night. Thank you Sharizan.