My Current Youtube Obsession

I just can't get over how talented Sam Tsui and his music partner Kurt Schneider are. I just can't stop watching these two clips!

Indigo Girls Live at the Singapore Mosaic Music Festival, Esplanade Concert Hall

Me and C two minutes before the lights dimmed and the opening act came on.

You know how you always fantasise about the perfect concert by your favourite band? And you know that even though the perfect set list varies from time to time in your head - depending on your mood and factoring in the relative constraints of a two-hour concert - there are some touchstones that are always present in your fantasy?

Well, for years - 17 long years actually - I've had time to ruminate on my perfect Indigo Girls concert. And though the song choices changed (as IG put out new albums, some new songs invariably would make it to the list), the following factors were always there:

* Pure acoustic set, bonus points if mandolin was present
* More an Emily-vibe than Amy (i.e. more low-key, lyrical, soft, rather than angry, angsty and dissenting)
* Intimate setting
* Other fans present who would chant along to songs
* Fun banter, ala Emily's "moo" pre-Galileo in 12,00 Curfews
* To watch it with C, oldest friend, and fellow Indigoer who made me the BEST mixed tape of IG tunes to travel Europe with in 1998, and who has consistently bought every IG album there is! Even ordering Despite our differences from Amazon, cos it wasn't available in Singapore!

Well, last night's concert was fantasy come to life. Most truly and astoundingly so. Every bullet point above checked off. I'm still buzzing a whole 24 hours later.

So indulge me now as I take you through the magical mystery tour that was last evening's Indigo Girls concert.

SET LIST

1. Yield
From Become you, one of my favourite later albums, this started off the concert on a high-energy note. Kudos to the sound technicians and the acoustics of the Esplanade concert hall, every word sung was crisp, and boy were the harmonies tight!

2. Hammer and a nail
When Emily played the opening riff to this, my heart literally lurched and almost fell out of my mouth. From Nomads Indians Saints, this is possibly in my top three favourite IG songs of all time, and to hear it so early on in the night (when I afraid they mightn't even play it, was almost too much). Their rendition is so full of joy, so wonderfully sonorous, I don't know whether to chant along, or to stop and soak it all in. I end up doing both badly, but who cares? This is bliss.

3. Heartache for everyone
There's a clear pattern emerging. They're playing one Amy song, then an Emily, and now it's back to Amy. This is from All that we let in, and though I wasn't a huge fan of the album version, the way they pared it down last night infused it with a broken melancholy that was so moving. For some reason, I think of Brokeback Mountain (look I loved that movie. No gay jokes please!).

4. Fill it up again
Yep, now it's an Emily song. And again, it's from All that we let in. Very happy. Emily sounds chirpy, in a good way!

5. Shame on you
From Shaming of the sun, this is a definite crowd-pleaser and everyone chants along to the chorus, "La la la, they said, shame on you." Amy smiles as she sings "They say we've been looking for illegal immigrants/ Can we check your car/ I say you know its funny/ I think we were on the same boat back in 1694". The crowd cheers.

6. Get out the map
Still on the same album, and this is another one that gets the crowd going. Amy and Emily play the whole song on mandolin and banjo. HEAVEN!

7. Three County Highway
From Despite our differences, this is my favourite Amy song of the night. It's gone so quiet that all you can hear are Amy's amazing vocals and the first miracle of the night, Emily's work on slide guitar. Again, scenes from Brokeback flash through my brain! Aiyoh!

8. Power of Two
The girls quip that someone present at a radio interview in Singapore requested this song. When the first few notes of Power of Two are played, C and I practically leap up in our seats. After all, this song, along with Closer to Fine, are what got us hooked on IG in the first place. This song was on my wedding playlist, it's in my top three IG songs of all time too. To hear it live was, my god, a treat.

9. Ozilline
Amy wrote this about her grandma. They make a funny joke about how their greatest fans are Amy's grandma, and their parents. Seven of them hanging out in a bar.

10. Pendulum Swinger
This is one of their more political songs of the night. From Despite our differences, it's catchy, and everyone happily bops along, until they sing "If we're a drop in the bucket/With just enough science to keep from saying f*ck it". A few ears prick up, did someone actually say the F word on a Singapore stage? They did? Whoopee? Yay!

11. Become You
The title track from the album, the night is entering energetic mode again. I like!

12. Love of our lives
Amy says that they're going to play a few new songs if the crowd doesn't mind. We hoot in support and she says this is a new song by Emily in their upcoming album Poseidon and the bitter bug. The song blows me away. It's Emily at her best, it's lyrical, the melody is inventive, the chord progression unexpected and so typically sonorous! And the lyrics are the best part. I cannot, absolutely cannot, wait to get their new album.

13. Sugar Tongue
Now an Amy song from the new album. Very nice! It's Amy channeling her Land of Canaan muse.

14. Ghost
Oh. My. God. When Emily plucks the oh-so-familiar first notes of Ghost, I am at once goose-bumpy and almost weepy. I experience objective correlative in the flesh. A wave of emotion and memory sweep through me and I am so grateful it is dark (and also for the choicest of choice seats which C bought one-minute after the bookings opened). Anyway, this was the second miracle of the night, especially hearing Emily's soaring vocals at the end.

15. Driver education
A song from an Amy solo album given the IG treatment. Cute! I like!

16. Closer to fine
The signature tune. The crowd goes mental, channelling their activist/collegiate days through our ageing bodies. People leap up from seats waving their arms wildly around. What fun!

17. Chickenman/ Bitterroot When the opening bars are played, C and I stare at each other. We definitely know this tune, but h-a-n-g o-n, not in the best way. We struggle to remember the title then suddenly it dawns on us and we can barely keep it together. Chickenman. Yup. The song that was permanently fast forwarded when it was the cassette-tape era, and skipped once we bought CD players. But you know what? We hated the album version but the live version seriously rocks! Who else but Amy could sing about road kill and make it sound vaguely charming? They end the first set there, but the crowd scream and chant for more. They're back out in a short minute and launch into...

18. Kid fears
WHAT?! That's from their self-titled first album and C and I loved it as it featured one of our other favourite people from music land, Michael Stipe! IG and REM hail from Atlanta and hence the guest spot! Wonderful performance, though C and I kept singing the Michael Stipe bit, which was sadly missing. But I can't believe they actually sang this from 1989! Wowee!

19. Galileo
They say this is their last song. I freak out and yell, "Galileo? It must be Galileo right? They haven't done Galileo yet! What if they don't do Galileo?" The American guy next to me pats me on the back and says that he's glanced down at the sound booth and can see Galileo scribbled down as the last song. I let out a great big Yaup (thanks Dead Poets and Walt Whitman). I am officially completely filled with joy. The crowd sings along. I am so happy that they know the lyrics.

-----------------------

The concert ends and I ask the sound booth guy for the set list. He gives to me. C and I queue for about half an hour to get autographs. Amy and Emily sign the set list I took, and C's copy of Despite our differences. I gush about how I've been a fan for 17 years and they say, "thank you, thanks!" And I say a very courteous, almost shy, thank you. When all I wanna yell out is, thanks y'all!

In line for autographs

Achtung Jordy

Jordy in his recording studio

Jordy had a bender of a night last night. We think it was the teething, so tried out a combo of Dentinox, chilled teether, lots of cuddles and endless walking around with him in the Ergo carrier. He finally went to bed at 12.06am (according to poor D, who was on night duty as I'd spent most of the day cheering up the grizzly one and was SPENT!).

Oh yes, and he's also learnt how to scream. Octave-stretching histrionics that would make Mariah proud. Sometimes he's just testing things out and has a smile on his face, other times, he truly looks angry! Poor him, and poor us!

We're trying to be cheerful about things but gosh, this phase is hard! One thing the books never say is how your baby will reset himself and become a different baby every so often! Case in point, Jordy has been sleeping through the night like a champ for weeks and weeks...

Anyway, in the spirit of good cheer and trying to be festive amidst The Scream (yes, I mean the painting), D texted me the funniest thing this afternoon.

What if Jordy recorded a U2 album? What would it be like? Well, according to D...

Achtung Jordy
1. Poo station
2. Even tastier than the real thing
3. One (am)
4. Until the end of the banana
5. Whose gonna ride your wild ergo
6. So gruel
7. The cry
8. Mysterious ways
9. Trying to throw anything you can get your hands on
10. Ultraviolet nappy indicator
11. Acrobat
12. Love is Jordyness

------

When I got the text I laughed and laughed, even as the little one was screaming and screaming.

Gosh, I love my husband!

An All-David Final (and Zorgy's Predictions)

The Cherub and The Rocker: An All-David Final

So I've only like been counting down to this moment for months now. I haven't missed any episodes so far - and Wednesday nights 8pm have become sacred time for me now. Cue my Subway Italian BMT sandwich, cookies to share (2 or 3 depending on a) mood, b) weight, c) availability. Always a mix of oatmeal raisin, double chocolate and chocolate chip, to be shared with fellow Subwayt fanatic, D).

Righty-ho. So down to my (and Zorgy's) assessment of the night's performances:

Round 1: Power Tunes - David Cook's "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" vs David Archuleta's "Don't Let the Sun Go Down On Me"

David C's voice was way on track tonight, but both D and I felt he rendered the song a bit too slowly. Unfortunately, Bono is also a very tough act to follow and David C didn't quite have enough of a departure from the original to make it his own. Overall great job though, and very enjoyable viewing.

Right from the opening refrains with David A sitting in a spotlight on the stair, the cherub hit all the right notes. Lovely cadences, he connected with the song and the audience, so much so that I didn't have any visions of Sir Elton or creepy George Michael.

Agree with Simon. Round 1 decidedly goes to David A!

Zorgy agreed also, with two sharp kicks in favour of David A!

Round 2: Idol Original Song - David C's "Dream Big" vs David A's "In this Moment"

My least favourite round. The usual schmaltz. Even David C's electric guitar didn't quite lift the song out of trite city. And David A's song was so reminiscent of the one Clay did in Season 2 (think it was called "this is the night")!

Round 2 goes to Zorgy for his pugilistic calisthenics! But seriously, I thought they were both so-so, though David A's song was more in keeping with the epic proportions of the night.

Round 3: Bring it on Home - David C's "The World I know" vs David A's juggernaut "Imagine"

Ok this round was decided even before the singing (and David C's tears) began. David C chose a wonderful Collective Soul song, subtle, nuances, but yes, again I agree with Simon, projecting the totally wrong vibe for the finale song for his set. What he needed was a show-stopping number, the equivalent to the last song of a concert, a "We are the Champions" or "Don't Dream It's Over". Something that can become anthemic, or at least synonymous with him. So although kudos to him for his artistic integrity, unfortunately, this IS a singing competition and this song was just too low-key and un-energising for my tastes!

David A however came on stage like he was asked back for an encore, and of course he sang the song that started it all (for me at least), his supremo, sublime, hair-raisingly good and just slightly different version of "Imagine". I remember the first time I heard him sing it during the top 24 round, I kept you-tubing it after at work and would close my eyes and be transported for a few minutes at my desk. This kid is seriously good.

Vocally, he wins hands down. Though admittedly David C has the x-factor and mystique. But hey, bashful just became the new black.

Round 3 goes to Archuleta.

So my pick: Archuleta will be the next American Idol - and he's the closest thing to a true malleable pop star they've come up with in 7 seasons.

Zorgy's pick: Three sharp kicks for Archuleta!

WOMAD 2007 (This post is for J in Kyoto)

Thanks to J for giving us this ST boingy outy picnic thingy - it's lasted through many a hairy WOMAD moment.

WOMAD this year: awesome awesome awesome.

7:00pm: Opened with an Iranian father and son team called Ensemble Shanbehzadeh. Father played the Iranian version of a bagpipe, son (only 13) played the drums. Nice mellow start.

Mahotella Queens from South Africa show us what active ageing really means.

7:30pm: The Mahotella Queens, three divas - 62, 65 and 67 yrs old - who've been singing together for 40 years. They yell to the crowd about the power of WOMAN, saying that all the men who were in the original group had all died. Err, ok. Crowd went crazy with their exuberant dancing and tight a cappella harmonies. Felt like I was at Paul Simon's Graceland concert.

8:15pm: Sheila Chandra ("one night only" touted the programme) is unable to perform due to her bad throat. The crowd gasps in dismay. Many have obviously come just to see her. But most take her non-appearance rather well, and we're suitably entertained by Cameroonian acoustic guitarist Muntu Valdo. Back to mellow vibes again. D and I wander off and get the most kickass triple brownie chocolate explosion thingy.

Nomadic music from Niger. The acoustic guitarist wears this purple robe that looks like it's made of PVC. How in the world he plays in the heat I don't know.

9:00pm: We start off listening to samba sounds of Sao Paulo band Clube de Balanco. OK only lah - crowd go mad, but for some reason, I find their sound vaguely muzak. D and I wander to catch something more unusual, nomadic band from Niger called Etran Finatawa. Hardly anyone is here, everyone else is dancing salsa to Brazilian beats at the stage below. So nomad musicans and the handful of weirdos like us gather round and it feels like we're back in the desert of Wadi Rum listening to quiet sounds in the dry air. Very transporting this stuff.

Shooglenifty! Sorry J - too busy dancing to take proper photos.

10:00pm: But then10pm comes round and it's Shooglenifty - incredible Scottish band that J introduced us to. Last seen in WOMAD Taranaki NZ 2004. We danced and danced. Everyone was smiling. Shooglenifty plays happy music.

11:00pm: Can't believe the Shooglenifty set is over. We want more! But head down for Asian Dub Foundation. I stupidly bought ADF's best-of CD before watching them live, on the strength of reviews alone. Never again. They're supposed to political, daring, best gig to catch in London etc etc. But found their lyrics a bit wanting. E.g. "We want your oil!" supposed to be provocative song about err, US invasion of Iraq? Sigh. Obviously subtlety not order of the day. We wandered off after midnight. To the sounds of the musicians screaming "we love you SINGAPAAAAW!"

Sigh, just love WOMAD.

A Weekday Picnic and Chinese Jazz

Sandwiches and sushi at sunset

I love where we live. Tonight, we left work at 6:15pm and were having a picnic by the harbour round the corner from our place at 6:30pm!

Woo hoo for work-life balance!

We've forgotten just how calming an al fresco meal can be. It was like being in Welly again.

Three jazz musicians in tuxes, jamming with erhu and pipa players. Crazy yet sublime!

On Saturday night, we went to the most marvellous concert - The Singapore Chinese Orchestra teaming up with Chris Brubeck's (legendary jazz pianist Dave Brubeck's son) jazz trio, Triple Play. I was so inspired by the performance (and reassured about the state of the Arts scene in this country) I wrote in a letter to The Straits Times Forum (never written in before) the next morning. Was rather surprised to find the letter published in today's online edition!

ps: D and I are now slightly addicted to Facebook. Am in touch with people I lost contact with more 13 years ago! Actually, come to think of it, very scary to actually realise that I have lost touch with someone for 13 years actually. God, I'm aging. BLEARGH.

Jordin will be American Idol

Blake had x-factor, but Jordin simply out sang him. And it was sooo obvious that Blake hated the winning song that was written specially for the finals! Poor him.

So unless America is DEAF, Jordin will win!

It's Super Ilegal to be this good

Tonight, I did my bit for local music and went down to the opening night of the NUS Arts Festival featuring Electrico. But the real reason I was there was to support Ian, whose band Super Illegals was the opening act.

And boy was it good.

Didn't know what to expect, and was just looking forward to some laid back after-work chill time with husband D, D and L (and S and friend whom we met up with after), but music was the highlight of the night.

Super Illegals rocked. They channelled some major Radiohead vibes and loved the ambient guitar stuff they did. The stage was big, but they weren't dwarfed. Not even when D screamed out "We love you Ian but come back to work on Monday to do sai kang (shit work basically, hah)!"



That's I on the right. On stage, he was like Willy Wonka (with his white-rimmed glasses) meets Blur on speed. He rocked, we all screamed.

Super Illegals came on, warmed the crowd up with a huge dose of originality and spunk. Then it was over and lights came on and were dimmed again and the crowd waited in anticipation for the main act of the night.

During the 5 minute wait, D and L started regaling me with stories of their dramatic work day. Suffice to say it made my day (and the trials in my job) look like an episode of The Cosby Show while theirs was a mission to Mordor, to the rim of Mount Doom, complete with Gollum and Grima Wormtongue action figures thrown in! I would never have believed any of what they said could be possible had I not previously lived through it myself!

Thank goodness for the mind-numbing magic of great music. So back to Electrico. They were amazing. Husband D, with his savvy music taste, turned to me half way saying "they're really good! why are they so good?" which earned him a thwock on the ear. Of course they are good! So what if they're local, dammit!



I'd only heard a few of their more radio friendly tunes previously, but Electrico is immensely watchable. They have great chemistry on stage, they're tight, and seem to be really attuned to each other. Their music was a throw back to The Smiths, Depeche Mode, a bit of Radiohead, with a definite unique twist. They did a superb version of "Tainted Love" by the way, got the whole place in a tizz.

They ended of the night with an electrifying rendition of a new song, which lead singer David Tan said was going to send them off on their tour of the USA. Electrico inspired and I think made all watching proud to be right there. You were never conscious that you were watching a local band, you just knew you were witnessing great music.

We're not made in the USA
But you got what you paid for anyway
And we'll rock and roll just the way you do
With the red and the white but without the blue.

Great night, and even better cos we ended of with supper at old hangout Fong Seng. Maggi Mee Goreng and Teh O Limau Ice. PERFECT.

Why oh why do people still sing Celine?

I've had it with these American Idol hopefuls who, season after season, persist in warbling over-sung, over-dramatic tunes.

Idol 101 tells you:
1. Never, EVER, attempt a song that's too big for you. That means, no Celine, Mariah, Whitney, Christina or Aretha, unless you've been singing gospel in choir robes since you were three.

2. Never sing a ballad in the semi-finals. And if you do, pick one that's never been done. Like Beatbox boy singing Keane's "Somewhere only we know".

3. For goodness sake, learn from the previous seasons and don't sing the same songs as previous contestants! Unless you can make it unique!

4. It is never okay to sing Richard Marx in any way, shape or form.

5. Do not embarass yourself by not knowing the original artist of the song you pick. For example:

ACCEPTABLE = "Tonight, I'm going to sing Moondance by Van Morrison."
NOT ACCEPTABLE = "Tonight, I'm going to sing Moondance by Michael Buble."

It is generally agreed upon that Michael Buble is to jazz what Il Divo is to classical opera. So, if I hear one more person say, "I'm going to sing Crazy Little Thing Called Love by Michael Buble", I shall beat my chest, rend my clothes and will forever only play The Greatest Hits of Queen on my ipod.

Omigod, deja vu. For those of you who have read "Good Omens" by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, you'll know what I mean!

Right. Now that I've got that off my chest, I've got an idea for my next poll.

What's the worst remake ever?

Top of my list is probably a tie between All Saints' desecration of the Red Hot Chili Peppers classic "Under the Bridge" and Atomic Kitten soft-porning their way through The Bangles' "Eternal Flame". Oh wait, then there's Phil Collins' "Groovy Kind of Love" and some weirdo singing Extreme's "More Than Words"!