notable songs

Just to remind myself.

John Coltrane - Giant Steps
The only way I can describe this is elemental. Coltrane's playing is prismatic, joyous, beautiful, fiery. I have never been tired of this piece.

Sonic Youth - Turquoise Boy
The crowning achievement of the album Rather Ripped - solidly and beautifully written. Rather Ripped showcased the very loud band's capacity for restraint, and this song shows that restraint put to rather good use, I think - everyone keeps to a simple beat and simple lines, to brilliant effect.

U2 - Kite
Opinions on the album this came from are mixed. I think this one's a success though. Simple, if a bit sentimental, but hey it's U2 and Bono can pull it off.

Arcade Fire - In The Backseat
The arrangement and the lyrics are impressive. Rather than fall to a guns-n-roses smashy crash fest (which a lesser band would totally have done) the climax actually gets quieter at its peak, invoking the melancholy of a funeral procession. A fitting end to the album.

Hole - Teenage Whore
Teenage angst dissected with canny perceptiveness by whore queen Courtney Love. 'I said I feel so alone and I wish I could die'

Husker Du - Pink Turns To Blue
Probably about Bob Mould's homosexuality. But scathingly written, depressing urban wasteland at its best. Husker Du always turned out good melodies, which distinguished them from a lot of hardcore bands.

adam

Courtney Love saved my soul.

I guess only a particularly nasty day at SISPEC, having run 10km in the hot sun, would leave me lying half-naked on my bunk wondering about the various natures of destruction. It also led me to a pretty cathartic appreciation of Hole's two albums - Live Through This and Celebrity Skin.

Live Through This as I've mentioned is largely about blowjobs, although obliquely so, and with far more gravity than my glib post would have suggest. It is a record held together mostly by Courtney Love's incoherent rage and self-loathing, and bits of less-than-proficient guitar noise (Kurt Cobain wrote better music, but Love is at least his equal at singing...). At least one song was definitely written by Cobain himself ("Plump"), and is also about blowjobs. 'Hold you close like we both died/My ever present suicide/My stupid fuck, my blushing bride, oh tear my heart out'.

If Live Through This is constructed on rage, Celebrity Skin is made out of a comparably almost clinical destruction (I don't dare say 'deconstruction' - this might be mistaken for a book review.) Sure, the subject matter is blah blah humdrum Hollywood bitchin' but the real showcase is Courtney Love herself : she wields her rock queen/whore punk persona like a scalpel, crashing through a seething pop ditty like 'Awful' with all the ditz of the REAL dumb-blond-sellouts, but twenty thousand times the intelligence. When she's sincere, it works too - check out 'Malibu'. 'When I wake up, in my make-up, it's too early for that dress.'

adam

Kurt Cobain - Seasons in the sun

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kO4BF67pvsc&feature=related

I found a neat little gem here - Nirvana playing 'seasons in the sun'. The song is a wreck, of course. Kurt, Krist and Dave switch roles, and Kurt sings horribly off key while careening wildly around the beat on the drums. Krist's mastery of the guitar displays all the prowess and subtlety of a student who's been learning for a week.

But yes, I'm going to say it like the doe-eyed punk fan I am, and you all can just bloody well suck it up - there's a kind of noble grace that they play it with, technical noobery and all. It's more than a novelty, it's a genuine interpretation, and maybe yeah it'll never make it onto any album as long as a sane record executive exists, but in some way it's wonderful.

adam

My Adventures with Sarah the Land Flame Mine

We made a land flame mine for our demolition live firing - 18 litres of kerosine and petrol wrapped around with a few metres of detcord and boosters. I named it Sarah, in a burst of clarity perceiving the pointed similarities between our sad but highly entertaining fates. We all signed our names on the tank, and a few interesting messages - 'ROMEO MUST DIE' and 'DEAR CMPB, THIS IS FOR YOU', then set her off. The shock wave was satisfying, as was the fireball. Sarah, I hope you're watching us from wherever it is land flame mines go when they die, and smiling.

adam

High school literature teaches you that when happy music is paired with gloomy lyrics, the effect is irony. A slightly more perceptive reading of London Calling acknowledges the irony that is characteristic of 20th century popular music but realises that reducing the effect of the album to irony does it a great disservice. When Mick Jones sings 'everything I need / He gives it but not for free' on 'Hateful', the joy is sincere. When he urges the audience to smash up their seats and 'mash up the nation', the joy is sincere. One could only say there is a kind of cathartic joy in watching the world burn, especially when it burns as colourfully as through the lenses of Clash lyrics.

Initially I dismissed the Clash as the band responsible for all the cretinous britpop bands around nowadays with their faux swing and poofy posturing. It's true, they were. But London Calling is incontrovertibly a work of genius - made with an elemental joy that most modern bands can only aspire to. Certainly they have much more range, musically, than the Ramones - displaying (bizarrely) a very competent grasp of reggae and ska, but they still rock on the one-two-three-four numbers, if not as angrily as Joey Ramone. However, in the end, in my limited perception, despite the forays into reggae and horn-band-music, this is a rock album and must be treated as such. And it succeeds, wildly.

adam

5 second stun

The whole... of Live Through This... is about blowjobs. In any other field except maybe post modern abstract mixed-media sculpture, that would be intolerable. In Rock and Roll, it's an achievement.

adam

Band Names

I've come to the hasty conclusion (one i'll probably rescind in days, but hey. I only get my weekends off) that the band with the best name in the history of rock n roll is Hole. Put down the parangs - it makes sense in context.

Courtney Love's loud, angry, mostly female band deserved a name as uncouth and blatantly sexual as Hole, and it fits right in with her preoccupations. It's fucked up no matter which way you look at it. Hole - mouth, vagina, asshole. And for someone who hates her own sexuality while making out with fans on stage, it's perfection.

adam

Finally, a decently long weekend - I've been holding on by the tips of my fingers for the past week. Urban ops fieldcamp, getting eaten alive by sandflies, double SOC when we got back - all in a day's work, really but I'm slowly but surely getting tired of everything. I'm a little sick of the cloistered small-mindedness of everyone in the army, not the least the commanders. I want to be back with people who think like me, or at least recognise that they don't.

Kept going by listening to U2 (who as master critic Robert Christgau notes, were an arena rock band that was Actually Good) who are turning out to be surprisingly intelligent. I guess I was too put off by Bono to give them any real credit? I dunno. As far as I'm concerned, musicians should stick to making music. Beauty is our responsibility, not politics. Been humming that Husker Du Beatles cover, Ticket To Ride as well. Man that's catchy, but I'd expect no less from the Mccartney man himself.

I also returned a little to old staples Nirvana and I even tried a bit of jazz again. I never lost any love for the masters : Ellington, Armstrong - and the singers - Sinatra, Bobby Darin, Ella. But bebop needs a certain state of mind, I think, which I've been somehow unable to produce for the last couple of months. Miles and Coltrane still ring true very often, but some of the lesser improvisors strike me as somewhat staid.

adam

If can find where to get a copy of the Pixies' Surfer Rosa, will love you long time.
EDIT: Will love you longer time if can also find a copy of Husker Du's Zen Arcade or The Arcade Fire's Funeral.

adam

I'm in a bit of a rut. It's like the last thought I have the minute before I book in is saved and replayed every time I book out. So all my processes proceed at 2/7ths the normal speed. I feel retarded.

adam

Shou Hao let me listen to the Arcade Fire in bunk a couple of days back. I am definitely impressed. When the band switches key on 'Rebellion' suddenly every alt-rock band in history who has ever played Bb-Gb-Db is totally vindicated, as if they managed to single handedly redeem the premise, the ideal of alternative rock. It's that good.

adam

DO NOT IGNORE THE PREVIOUS POST. Just because I wrote this one so quickly.

bands with very strange names

Stone Temple Pilots
Frou Frou
Butthole Surfers

bands with Rather Cool names

The Pixies
Queen
Weather Report
The Beatles
Manic Street Preachers
Sonic Youth
Sly and the Family Stone

bands with names that probably sounded like a good idea at the time

The Red Hot Chili Peppers
Franz Ferdinand
Guns N Roses
Jamiroquai
Slayer
Radiohead
U2
Velvet Revolver
Yes

Bored and short on originality, I ripped off Rayner's latest blog post :

My 15 Favourite Songs (in no particular order)

15. Cherokee
This one's a jazz standard - I quite like Clifford Brown's interpretation on 'Study in Brown' - super fast. A simple, poignant melody rendered with a kind of bittersweet energy when traditionally interpreted in double-time.

14. Sultans of Swing by Dire Straits
I told myself I HAD to include some dire straits and it took a bit of thinking before I chose this over 'Portobello Belle'. I love this song for the empathy for the sordid state of humanity that's evident in Mark Knopfler's songwriting. And also the killer guitar solo.

13. Teen Town by Weather Report
Not much to say. It's brilliant.

12. I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend by The Ramones
Nothing quite encapsulates the early Ramones aesthetic than this song. The blockish simplicity is completely purposeful - 'Hey little girl, I wanna be your boyfriend. Sweet little girl, I wanna be your boyfriend. Do you love me babe? What do you say?' No mucking about with abstracts here, and that is the middle class pathos that the Ramones captured so well.

11. Sir Psycho Sexy by the Red Hot Chili Peppers
I said before that Anthony Kiedis' songwriting took a downhill turn when he stopped writting about sex. This comes from way before that. His lyrics are unbelievably dirty but shakespearean in their wordplay. 'There's a devil in my dick, there's some demons in my semen'

10. Flamenco Sketches and Sanctuary by Miles Davis
Double entry because I'm afraid of running out of space. Miles plays the same way on both tracks but sounds completely different. His gift for arrangement is unparalleled. Flamenco sketches sounds almost primitive in its simple melody and ghostly harmonies, almost primevial - on the other hand, Sanctuary is urban, dense and complex, but possessed of the same wonder.

9. Sliver by Nirvana
Horrific, shocking angst and anger. When Cobain starts screaming 'Grandma take me home' the whole of my childhood comes falling down on my head like so many cinder blocks made out of teenage angst. He achieves this without singing about blood or darkness or night or cutting himself, for many bonus points.

8. Gigantic by The Pixies
Of course it's about sex - but like all good lyrics it references much more profound ideas - 'Gigantic / A big big love'. I love the simple chords and the sincere delivery.

7. Best of Both Worlds by Van Halen
Such a happy song, and such a guitar solo. I can't think of a reason to put this up here other than the happy feelings it fills me with. Props to the bassist I guess, for playing only one note throughout the whole song?

6. Eleanor Rigby by The Beatles
Mysterious, quiet and brilliantly arranged. A melody worthy of McCartney's extraordinary ability.

5. Crossroads and Walkin' Blues by Eric Clapton
Clapton is a master of the blues. When he plays, you feel it in your stomach. Unbelievable.

4. New York, New York by Frank Sinatra
This one's about the American Dream, and when he sings it, you believe it. 'These little town blues/are melting away/I'll make a brand new start of it, in old New York'

3. Son of Mr. Green Genes by Frank Zappa
I'm not very familiar with Zappa's oeuvre, but this one caught my attention from what I have.

2. Impressions by John Coltrane
More of the live version with Eric Dolphy than the album version, but hey. They're both great. Coltrane's intensity shows here, as well is his impeccable logic and his prismatic phrases. Dolphy burns with a more abrasive, atonal sort of intensity.

1. Slither by Velvet Revolver
Sure, disgusting corporate rock which probably doesn't mean anything but damn if it isn't catchy.



Hmm. I've left out a lot. Can't be helped I guess, but a few honorable mentions:

Raining Blood by Slayer
Could You Be the One by Husker Du
Opus Pocus by Jaco Pastorius
Love Foolosophy by Jamiroquai
Honeysuckle Rose by Jane Monheit
Take the 'A' Train by Duke Ellington
All Along the Watch Tower and Little Wing by Jimi Hendrix
Billie Jean by Michael Jackson
Una Muy Bonita by Ornette Coleman
Weird Fishes/Arpeggi by Radiohead
Hide and Seek by Imogen Heap

Ahh fuck it. It's impossible.

adam

Looking for

A female drummer with no skills whatsoever except excellent timekeeping and a rudimentary ability to sing. Please respond.

adam

I'm back from the first week of SISPEC. It is surprisingly a very good place. I guess that's partly because I'm in Echo company, said to be the slackest in sispec, but hey. The PT doesn't vary much, only the treatment does - and as far as I've seen the trainees are treated with much, much more respect than the recruits in BMT. I might actually enjoy myself here. I'm actually enjoying all the PT, even if it pushes me to the max - like running 4k in vest slacks at an INSANE speed because my sec-com is some charlie bravo fit guardsman. I guess it's because they don't yell at you during PT, and I know I'm pushing myself and nobody else is.

Other than PT, sispec is mostly lectures and later outfield. The lectures are stultifying. They are perverse. We've spent the first week doing mostly safety procedures and my god is that dull. I understand now why my sergeants always complained that they sai kang a lot - this is why : Safety forms. Safety procedures. Oh well - I guess the admin shitstorm is coming my way too.

More updates to come.

Also, I'm looking for people to form a rock band and I need a bassist, singer, drummer and another guitarist if possible. I'd like to try out some punk/alternative/indie stuff and I guess I've never played anything other than jazz in a real band.

adam

SPNS leg two.

I thought it was just a really horrible, senseless way to get knocked out. We were doing Very Well, in fact - 2nd placing in the qualifying round and then we got whacked by the Red Shadows during the quarters. Not to disparage their skills at all - they eventually made 2nd place and are a very solid team indeed - but it was a silly way to lose. We didn't make any tactical errors, we just got shot out plain and simple from behind covers. I know xun's beating himself up that he didn't get behind his dorito properly, but I think it isn't that simple to put the blame on him. I don't think we got complacent - not on such an important match. I just think in that match we were outplayed when our shooting wasn't taking a good turn. Mistakes were made despite the best of intentions, as happens inevitably to novices. And that is a shitty way to lose.

adam

The Pixies!

So true to my foray into the deep, mysterious and self-esteem-plagued world of punk, alternative and indie rock, I've discovered the Pixies. At first I didn't like them at all - I believe my first reaction was that they were playing the same four rather nauseating chords over again and pretending to be Mogwai - which Isn't Totally Fair because i was more accurately suffering from stomach flu and had Nirvana playing at the same time on itunes.

Their sound really grows on you though. You can tell how a generation of hippie environmentalist/political activist (I'm starin' at YOU, Bono) took to this music and made it their own somehow. Yet, there will never again be the Pixies. They are bizarre, never afraid to sound like pop music but always intelligent and always slightly off-the-wall (check out the screaming on Caribou - bet that made you jump.)

Also, Kurt Cobain apparently worshipped this band which is an interesting point to note because I like Nirvana so much and suddenly I see where Nirvana's pop roots and Kurt cobain's love of screaming came from.

Also also, I think the one possible flaw with The Pixies' approach is that fans spend FAR too much time staring at Kim Deal with their mouths slightly open. Not kidding you, I actually missed most of the 'Caribou' clip on youtube doing just that. Beware.

adam

Aguas de Marco/ Waters of March

To continue last week's topic of what bossa nova should have been, another brilliant case in point: Stan Getz's recording of 'Aguas de Marco'. This one came off the 'perhaps perhaps perhaps' compilation (an album which I fully expected to be full of disgusting sleaze and which was in fact probably full of disgusting sleaze except for a couple of gems - it had Mack the Knife too) so I'm entirely unsure of the personnel except that Stan Getz is on the tenor.

The arrangement on this track certainly deserves the most praise: again the disgusting double-kick-pedal drum beat is avoided, a beat that has become the unfortunate cliche of bossa nova after its inception. Instead a variety of hand drums, cowbells and shakers are substituted for brilliant effect: bossa nova done this way sounds far more ethnic (as opposed to slutty).

The lyrics are sung first in portugese, then in english; the guitarist here deserves much praise as well for showing unparalleled mastery over the bossa nova beat - while never departing from the basic beat he manages a palette of textures just by varying minutiae like the duration of every chord or a subtle change in voicing. Take note of the different texture during the portugese verse (upbeat, sprightly) as compared to the english verse (laid-back, wistful)

Of course none of this analysis would count for anything if not for the bedrock of any music: solid, beautiful songwriting. This one's another Jobim masterpiece, more impressionistic than Ipanema; the descending progression and the rapid fire images suggest a rural, tropical life. Jobim's lyrics are wistful or even sad as they describe the details of a simple life: 'A knot in the wood, the song of a thrush' 'A scratch, a lump/It is nothing at all'.

The singer's voice seems to reflect sadness but it seems in the scheme of things (as painted by Jobim) the sadness is part of some cosmic cycle : she sings 'And the riverbank talks of the waters of march/It's the promise of life/It's the joy in your heart.'

When Getz comes in with his solo it seems all things must be right with the world again: no need for smashing cymbals and exploding snare drums: the drummer simply ramps it up to quavers on the ride cymbal, the band changes key and that is enough intensity for Getz as he embarks on his solo. Getz's tenor sounds pensive; romantic yet restrained and is the perfect foil for the singers. This solo's longer than the one on Ipanema and develops a lot more: his motivic playing is evident around 3.14 where he riffs off a 5 note arpeggiated motif (4 notes descending, one ascending) providing an interesting tension which contrasts plenty with the expressive, drawn out high notes previously played. It strikes me as particularly appropriate for the bossa nova mood because it reflects the same complex, yet restrained beauty. The end of his solo mirrors its beginning: while he starts with a 3 note descending arpeggio, his solo ends with a set of ascending 3-note arpeggios. The inversion is not lost on the listener; it feels complete and perfect.


adam

Friendship

Re: Rayner's post got me thinking about pretty much the same thing. I think it doesn't concern me as much as it concerns him, maybe because I'm too much of a loner, but also I think these sort of things need to be let be. I mean, there's nothing I can control about the way I relate to people or the way they relate to me except to always spend time with my friends whenever I can, which I do anyway.

He's right though, some friendships DO drift and are drifting because of army. There isn't much I can do. I think the more worrying part is that I haven't made many new friends. Of course my section mates and platoon mates count, but that's more of being forced to live together. I still haven't found anyone new to just share the things that I love with.

I think one day my laissez-faire attitude to life will get me killed. I mean, whatever happens happens and you have to deal with it. But until then I refuse to worry.

In other news, army has not delivered any surprises in the crap department: it's still crappy. On the upside, we get a hell lot of free time now: on the downside, the sergeants never let us get more than 1.5 hours without ordering rifle cleaning. The past week has been full of PT: 2 x ability group run, which is basically endurance running, 2x double strength training (which is 4, YES.), SOC and one 60:120 speed training. all in 4 days. Plus, I got remedial training on saturday which meant a late bookout and some -very- painful thighs. Fucking ranger hops. After bookout I went to play paintball with the 20th Legion (my team) and achieved record highs of fatigue level. Adrenaline only keeps you going for so long. This time, I managed not to kill any team members... but I still shot Terence after he was out. Bugger. I need to upgrade my IFF software. Still, I'm getting the hang of the basics. It is very fun.

So, I guess until next bookout I'll be PTing some more. Next week looks far better than last week, but this being Viper company there will still be much manly fun. And games day as well, during which I am part of the awe-inspiring Tentage Assembly Team. Yes, quite possibly the least manly event in games day save the cheerleading squad. On the other hand, just watching the combat race made me tired, so maybe this was a good idea. When keng comes your way, accept it with open arms, that's what I say.

adam

This one's a bit of a blast from the past: The Getz/Gilberto recording of 'The Girl From Ipanema' which was my audition piece for the jazz club. One of the first jazz recordings I ever heard, and studied obsessively. I can recite the portugese lyrics, if anyone wants to hear. Anyway:

Listening to the recording with the benefit of some experience and the freshness of having come back from 2 weeks of field camp/mad PT, it strikes me as a huge pity that bossa nova went the sordid way of easy listening, lounge music and boom-chuck-boomchuck generic, wishy-washy music. Because when it begun (and this is one of THE definitive bossa nova recordings) it had an immense delicateness that somehow lost its way along the line. Paul Desmond echoed my sentiments on the liner notes of Bossa Antigua I believe - something disappeared along the line which is so present on this recording. It is a (pardon me if I try to describe) sense of wanton freedom and a delicate appreciation of nature. The latin beat of the guitar is finely balanced against the jazz outlined by the hi-hat. There is no 1 rest rest 4 1 rest rest 4 bass. The bassist plays only on the 1 which gives the sound a folk-like simplicity (again, my vocabulary fails me). The arrangement is clean (and free of synth strings and Dave Weckl's massive overplaying. Good Lord) and largely consists of a guitar accompaniment which is romantic but not sloppy (is that Joao Gilberto? I'm not sure). Stan Getz's solo echoes the melody (supposedly a crime in modern jazz) but does not strike one as a lazy solo - it fits the mood perfectly. Astrud Gilberto's singing is as perfect as ever - detached and dare I say wistful.

My point in all this waxing lyrical is that this is an intelligent, finely constructed jazz recording that should be evaluated on its own merits rather than by what eventually happened to bossa nova. It's also one of my all-time favourite songs.

adam

Unimaginable, aimless depression. I don't know what it is this time. Maybe my subconscious has decided to rebel. I don't really have any reason to be that unhappy. I just feel sick and tired.

I just came back from camp. Army is suck. But on the upside, there is music! Back home, that is - nothing feels better than coming back from 2 and a half weeks of silence and (god forbid) army songs to some good music. I guess I've for now put my musical demons behind me.

Anyway, I gave Frank Zappa's 'Hot Rats' another listen. This is one of my all-time favourite albums. I consider it one of the pinnacles of instrumental rock and quite possibly the only time I've ever heard it done convincingly (I'm lookin' at YOU, steve vai.) It is a beautiful album. The opening track, 'Peaches en Regalia' is tightly composed but feels freewheeling and blooms with what I can only call exuberance. There is no hint of faux machismo here. This is rock music that isn't afraid of being happy - and it is very much so, but; like all great works of art, a sublime happiness. Which is why I prefer to say exuberance; a joy at the fact of listening, of life.

On a more technical note, Zappa's playing is free from cliches but strikingly simple, and his ability to improvise long and coherent solos is incredible - listen to the final track, 'The Gumbo Variations' for about 6 straight minutes of improvisation over a single chord, and it never once gets boring. Zappa's ability to be emphatic is one of his best qualities (and one which places him well above many many other guitarists). I appreciate the simplicity.

This is not to say the album is simple - it definitely contains elements of jazz fusion, with the tightly composed melodies and structures that implies. The instrumentation is varied and often bizarre (many many synths.) but it always feels like the structure is in service of a melody - and again, Zappa's gift with melody is seldom surpassed. Tracks like Peaches en Regalia and Son of Mr. Green Genes demonstrate this knack for simple but beautiful melodies.

On 'Little Umbrellas' Zappa displays a more experimental side - with a more jazz-like melody and much more complex chord changes, almost reminding one of Wayne Shorter's writing for the Miles Davis quintet and particularly for Weather Report with all the multi-layered melodies and compositions.

Kudos also go to Zappa's sidemen. Ian Underwood (saxophones) plays masterfully on 'The Gumbo Variations', contributing his own lengthy solo that delves into the shrieking, squeaking realm of free jazz but never deviates from the funky, earthy theme. Listen to the Art Ensemble of Chicago on 'Theme de yoyo' for an interesting comparison. Also, Zappa's violinist whose name I forget puts in a beautiful solo on the same track.

I saved the best for last - 'Willie the Pimp' is arguably the crowning achievement of the album. It is the only track on the disc with lyrics, and it represents Zappa's long fascination with the absurd and scatological, not to mention sexual. Zappa's associate Captain Beefheart supplies hoarse vocals, shouting 'HOT RATS!' over Zappa's slippery guitar playing. Then Zappa launches into a long, greasy solo - probably the most rock influenced in the whole album.

In total, 'Hot Rats' is an easily accessible but extremely well put together album that never fails to put a smile on my face. We miss you, Frank.

adam

First impressions - David Bowie, Earthling.

I don't see why the critics gave this album a hard time. The opening track, Little Wonder, is a brilliant vindication of electronica, replete with Bowie's spacey harmonies and even a little rock guitar. It fills me with happy feelings. Report on the rest of the album to follow.

adam

Purify my heart.

I've been unconsciously emo-ing myself into a hole these past few days, moping about in taxis and on buses, sulking around with my headphones in sunny KL, stuff like that. I dunno what it is. Maybe it's the quarter life identity crisis. I guess it is. I've been thinking about music. I've gotten quite jaded about jazz. I mean, face it. Jazz is in a rut. There haven't been any convincing acts (at least, none that I've seen) in the last 20 years at least. Fusion is a sad mess. Free jazz can't decide what it wants to do. The post-bop and Wynton's gang could never match coltrane's ideas and are stuck with pale imitations. I won't even get started on smooth jazz... I've just been to a wedding and that means Kenny G during the appetisers and Pachelbel set to a disgusting soft porn soundtrack during the main course. I guess it sucks that I might actually have to move on and do something else just as I was getting good at it. I'm tired of jazz.

adam

Just got myself a copy of Radiohead's OK Computer. Took me awhile to warm to it, but now I am busy partaking in the condensed awesomeness. I may be unresponsive on msn for a few hours.

adam

Wow. Not only am I not a musician or a writer... I'm barely even a person. Maybe I needed to realise that before I could get over being a teenager. It feels good, somehow. I don't want to have to be anything anymore.

adam

Hide and Seek

where are we?
what the hell is going on?
the dust has only just begun to fall
crop circles in the carpet
sinking feeling

spin me round again
and rub my eyes,
this can't be happening
when busy streets a mess with people
would stop to hold their heads heavy

hide and seek
trains and sewing machines
all those years
they were here first

oily marks appear on walls
where pleasure moments hung before the takeover,
the sweeping insensitivity of this still life

hide and seek
trains and sewing machines (oh, you won't catch me around here)
blood and tears (hearts)
they were here first

Mm whatcha say?
Mm that you only meant well?
well of course you did
Mm whatcha say?
Mm that its all for the best?
of course it is
Mm whatcha say?
Mm that it's just what we need,
you decided this?
Mm what did she say?

ransom notes keep falling out your mouth
sick-sweet talk, newspaper word cut outs
speak no feeling no i don't believe you
you don't care a bit,
you don't care a bit

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

This song has been guilt tripping me for a whole week. Fuck you, Imogen Heap.

adam

Coltrane plays ballads

Not an album review this time - just some thoughts on balladry.

Coltrane's playing has long been revered for his speed and (more importantly, I think) ability to weld strings of hyper-fast notes into shockingly coherent, thematically layered melodies. This is beyond doubt and still amazes me every time I listen to 'Giant Steps' or his work with Miles.

I think another, less looked at (I shall not say overlooked because every aspect of his playing has been analysed and debated countless times) aspect of Coltrane's playing is his way with ballads. I find his approach to the slower songs one of the most compelling in the history of jazz music. Never letting his tone become mushy or sentimental, he still manages to be terrifically romantic by stating the melody emphatically. His directness is refreshing, and the strength (I use this word advisedly - the only way I can think to describe his approach is 'strong') of his tone reminds us that 'romanticism' contains both sentimentality and power, and cannot do without either - without power, it is wheedling and mushy (as Kenny G proves) and without sentimentality it is callous and rude (i'm looking at you, Mr. Weckl.)

I think Coltrane understood what it means to be romantic. I don't think anyone will be able to play a ballad convincingly without this kind of understanding.

adam

edit: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tjlz3DYmTw

Here's a video of the Coltrane quartet playing 'Everytime We Say Goodbye'.

Am experiencing an interminable, unconnected sadness.

I've finished my 8 week Lindy Hop course. It was immensely fun. I'll probably be signing up for the next one but not just yet - have to get BMT out of the way. That doesn't stop me from going social dancing every thursday though. I just hope I'm not boring the hell out of the poor people I dance with. Ah well - be a swing slut, is what they told me. Dance with everyone regardless of how noob you feel. I shall.

adam

about life

I tell a lie every time I'm at a family gathering - when concerned uncles and aunties ask me 'so what course are you going to do in uni' I invariably say that I don't know. Well, okay. It's half true. I'm not sure - but then, who is?

The way I see it a uni course should be something you choose based on what you think you might be able to do professionally - an interest. For whatever reasons. I have never felt that way about law, or medicine (my parents desperately want me to do one of those). Maybe it's because I haven't been exposed enough to the profession - no, scratch that. Three medical attachments so far. Unconvinced. As for law, things are still fuzzy which is why i'm open to it, but again it doesn't look promising. If for 6 years immersed in the swath of free information that is the internet I haven't yet developed any kindling of curiosity I doubt any will be forthcoming soon.

So that leaves me in a bind. I DO know what I would like to do in uni. I'm not sure, nor am I convinced that it'll be a lifetime commitment, but I AM curious. I wish I could study literature, or music. I am curious about computer programming, social sciences, and psychology. That stuff fascinates me. Medicine doesn't.

adam

I'll be enlisting in about 3 weeks. Not exactly apprehensive; I want to get it over and done with. I will miss freedom though. With enough luck it will return when I'm posted to MDC; otherwise it's hell for 2 years. Make it a point, if that happens, to practice the harmonica loudly in the office and drive my colleagues mad.

I find myself wondering about the people who've gone overseas or are now in camp or in uni or working at some odd little job somewhere. I feel so disconnected: I've never been able to talk to people for a long time about life. Teri mentioned that once - when it comes to 'talking cock' I sadly fail. And I miss some people badly who I never thought I'd miss.

At the same time I'm meeting more new people than I've ever met before (probably because I've been in school). I think it's wonderful to meet new people, but I'm also not very good at it. I always choke up at the right moments and make things really really awkward. Still, new friends are as good as old ones in some ways.

It feels strange, this sensation of moving on - both leaving people behind and finding new connections. I feel... transient? Like all of a sudden I'm unstable and if you blinked for too long I might vanish into thin air.

adam

Bizarro

This turn of events has amused me greatly. In a bizarre twist of fate, my face-shaving apparatus has mutated from a simple disposable two blade affair into an orange-and-grey amorphous monstrosity with not three, not four, but five blades when my mum bought me a new razor. The Onion mentioned this alarming phenomenon a few months ago, but I feel that the issue needs to be brought up by the grassroots blogging membership: is the value of the razor blade inflating?

Back when we were still beating out women over the head and dragging them to our caves a simple sharp rock seemed to suffice; a REAL cavemen wasn't scared of a little razor burn in a morning or a few cuts he could pass off as battle scars from the last pig hunt. Then midway into our current century, humanity having survived for almost a million years with a simple single razor wielded with skill and sheer macho, two men name Schick and Gilette had to go and derail the trend. I know this: I recently spent an afternoon watching a Discovery Channel documentary about shavers and the bitter turf war that resulted from the razor blade arms race, and while my social life lies in sad tatters around me I am also replete with the knowledge that said turf war is the reason that the average razor nowadays has two blades and compensates for the increasing number of metrosexual men by having a little lubricating strip.

MY razor though, is quite the museum piece: something Captain Kirk would be proud to find poking through the ruins of an Earth museum while making out with a hot alien chick and then subsequently bring back to his ship where it would cause an epidemic of shaving cuts and bleed half of the crew to death, seeing as how the federation would probably have outlawed shavers for some joo-joo laser shaving device that works on dodgy physics principles. (I'm looking at YOU, Mr. Replicator)

The point is : does five blades mean we are on the path to dome haircuts and pointy ears? Is civilisation as we know it at an end? Will Jesus save us?

Hell if I know. Every morning however, I pick up my razor and I wonder.

adam

I'm going to plan a big party before I leave for army. Probably day before I leave... no, scratch that, TWO days. That leaves one day to recover from the hangover. I feel like Clarissa Dalloway. Everyone will be invited - even people who aren't invited will probably be invited. There will be drinks.

adam

I've realised what's different now from the last 18 years of my life - I've never been this alone. Every day of my life was always begun to the promise of going to school and meeting classmates who for all that they annoyed me, were genuinely interesting people (for the most part). We had to spend all our time together, for better or for worse. Now there's no such assurance.

On the MRT today I was struck by how I've navigated my own course for now, and nobody's following me through it - no classmates, CCA mates, church friends. Just me. There are moments of fleeting contact - running into friends on the bus. After hours jam sessions. Going back to RJ to teach the juniors. But it's not the same - I'm aware that my life momentarily occupies the same space as someone else's, and will inevitably lead me back to other places.

Being me, I enjoy the solitude but I'm also a little lonely.

adam

I guess I should update.

It's been a wild week. It started on thursday with dance classes and social dancing at 9. That was fun, even if I can't exactly dance properly. Friday was SEA jam. I took a beginner's class taught by Frankie Manning himself, which was pretty enlightening. Other than that, my lack of experience kind of prevented me from dancing a hell lot so I got out after that. Shall go next year and murder my legs.

Saturday was Kelly's party. THAT was wild. We all got drunk (except hyqel.) and spent a few hours malingering in a park. People are -very- funny when high.

Sunday was teaching Cathechism class with the LoGgers O.o that was also wild in a different sort of way. P4 kids are no joke. Justin Sim, you are a brave brave man. Later on I went to southbridge in a sort of fatigued haze. I believe I played a total train wrecked 'Milestones' and then I called 'That's All' which went rather well. The mojito definitely contributed to my guitar histrionics.

Yesterday was the Ben n Jerry's audition. That sucked. I think we played pretty alright but evidently they were looking for more of a pop band so I think i'm giving up on that gig.

Today I am unbelievably exhausted and a little emotionally drained. Okay, very emotionally drained. I think I'll stay home.

adam

It really does look like I'm finally growing up. This is disturbing. This is unsettling. I can suddenly empathise with sufferers of teenage angst. I mean, make what fun you will of teenagers, but this is a fucking nasty time to be alive.

All you army boys complain that your brains are rotting in camp. Well guess what it isn't really that different here in Real Life. Since most of my schoolmates are either (you guessed it) in camp or at work for the girls, there really isn't anyone to talk to most of the time. I guess I do get moments here and then when people are free but that is pretty much the extent of it.

I think I'll have to get used to this. Face it, bringing together interesting people was just about the only thing school had going for it and now that it's out I'm floundering a little.

Blog games

Grabbed off cher's blog. Sorry cher.

1. Open your library (iTunes, Media Player, iPod)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that's playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don't lie and try to pretend you're cool!

Opening Credits : Fall to Pieces by Velvet Revolver - oddly appropriate.

Every time I'm falling down
All alone I fall to pieces

Waking Up : I am the Walrus by the Beatles - What the hell.

I am the egg-man. They are the egg-men. I am the walrus.

First Day of School : Build God, Then We'll Talk by Panic! at the disco - hmm. no comment.

Falling in Love: Summer Rain by Hiromi - also no comment. I realise around this point that my library doesn't have a lot of vocals.

Fight Song: Another Kind of Green by John Mayer -

I didn't need another kind of green to know I'm on the right side with you.

Breaking Up: Satin Doll by Ella Fitzgerald - not quite.

She's nobody's fool so I'm playing it cool as can be.
I'll give it a whirl but I ain't for no girl catching me

Prom: When We Were Free by Pat Metheny Group - haha.

Life: You Got No Right by Velvet Revolver - one of the few on my playlist that I've never listened to before O.o is that trying to say something about the state of my life?

Mental Breakdown: Telegraph Road by Dire Straits - wonderful song, scores just about nothing for appropriateness. It's about a road.

There's six lanes of traffic
Three lanes moving slow

Flashback: Theme from frasier. Hey baby I hear the blues are calling...

Tossed salads and scrambled eggs.

Wedding: Danse Macabre. Holy Crap.

Birth of Child: Four by Miles Davis. NO. NONONONONONONONONO.

Death Scene: Battle Hymn by Manowar. No comment.

Funeral Song: Headless by Joe Satriani. -.-

Ending Credits: Big Machine by Velvet Revolver. WHY do i keep getting them? I don't even particularly like them or have a huge lot of their music.

adam

Blu Jazz

I went to the Blu Jazz restaurant/bar twice in the last two weeks to play with the band. Aya Sekine is an amazing musician. The night I played she had in two guests who she happened to know - Joshua Wan on bass and someone else on drums i can't quite recall. What amazed me was that they didn't gig regularly together, but on stage they were so together it was almost telepathic. This is really creepy territory. I'm not talking about simply playing on time or stuff like that. Interpretation-wise, that band is able to turn on a dime. They can jump from a flying crescendo to pin-drop silence in the space of a bar, and it's entirely improvised. They just communicate somehow. Anyway that put enough of the righteous fear in me that i gave up comping and just quietly took my solo. Aya said she liked it (woot) and asked me to come back (woot.).

Came back the week after and discovered that there was a guest band i.e. Aya wasn't there. So I asked the guest band (michael stenton) whether I could play - well actually i mentioned that I played guitar a bit and Michael invited me on stage. That was scary. Luckily I called familiar stuff - a blues shuffle and then someone called Black Orpheus. Not a terribly difficult tune, I could've handled the changes probably, but Michael told me he'd give me the outtro. 3 minutes of A minor. That is a freaking dream come true for someone who's spent the last two years playing So What (7.5 minutes of D minor and 2.5 minutes of Eb minor) and the rest of the modal jazz standards. So it was good. I'm fairly happy about that.

Then of course got dragged to Xun's place and got smashed. I'm not happy about that, but that's another story for another day. God, I sound like Ringo Starr.

adam

There was probably a point sometime around last year where i stopped being a writer and I started being a musician. And then I realised with not a little surprise that it was the same thing. The only thing which keeps me going at all this is that spark of wonder that wakes me up in the morning whispering 'Inexplicably, I am alive. I don't know why. But is it not beautiful?' It is beautiful, oh it is beautiful.

Inexplicably we are alive. Somehow we fumble our way through the recesses of this world, clueless as to where we came from. We cling to each other, quite afraid. The highest faculty we possess is empathy (Phillip K. Dick got this one right) - the ability to recognise that same wonder and fear in another person.

Inexplicably we are alive. Consciousness is a nested existential crisis. I have no reason to exist. If i did not exist, I would not be wondering why I exist. I respond with fear. I respond with wonder. The world has no explanation. It is wild and beautiful.

Inexplicably we are alive. Individuality is the only undisputable fact and the only insoluble mystery. Is a person more than the sum of his parts? I am proud of myself because I exist. I have no reason to exist. I have no reason to be proud except my individuality. I am separate from you, I am sovereign. You are sovereign; you are my brother.

Experience is sacred. Art is the worship of experience.

adam

Imagine

Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one

I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world

You may say I'm
a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

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

This is totally the atheist anthem O.o

But it made me ask myself the question Am I an Atheist? Because religion has slowly been dropping out of my life. I mean, i still go to church on sundays but that's the extent of it.
But no, i'm not an atheist. I mean, atheism is sexy and all (very sexy. just ask dr. house) but I don't think we can be that sure.

adam

I've always hated Dave Weckl.

Around 5 minutes ago I thought to myself that I may be being just a little prejudiced and decided to consult the almighty youtube about giving him another chance. I regretted that almost instantly. His cover of Jaco's 'The Chicken' is one of the truly awful things in this world - yes, right up there with income tax and trombones.

Good lord. He has no ideas. He plays fairly conventional fills except with blindingly fast technique - alright, I'll grant that he's a master technician - but nothing new. He's not bad but just strikingly unmusical for all the hype he gets. The kicker came at the end of the tune when they were waiting on the last note of the signature riff that ends the song - he takes 10 seconds to do a long drum solo almost as if saying 'wait a minute - stop! the song can't end yet, I haven't finished jacking off!' It adds nothing to the song except to make a cheesy ending worse. It's Jaco. It demands ideas, attitude. Yes the 'busy' sound does work but not when everyone at once is trying to sound like a one-man band. When you add those up you don't get a three-man band, you get three one-man bands which sounds less like music than like group sex.

This is what is wrong with fusion. Just to check if my ears were working right - I went back and listened to weather report again - predictable high. I'm alright. Dave Weckl DOES suck - all is right with the world. But not yet - I haven't finished bitching. What is even worse is the parade of music snobs that fusion spawned in the 70s and haven't quite finished dying out yet - the worst bunch since the Nazis decided they liked Wagner. People who turn up their noses to rock and pop music and worship their gods of stick technique, claiming that any detractors have 'no ear for music' and cannot appreciate the intellectual intricacies of their heroes. Yes my friends, the only way Dave Weckl and his ilk can obscure the fact that they have no ideas is to hide behind their enormous drumsets (seriously. Think NASA.) and their shredding and jerking off behind so-called funk beats. Complexity does not belie content.

In the end, music (leaving out John Cage for now) is about experience and emotion. It made the great musicians like Miles Davis (who, incidentally, was a big fan of pop music). Heck, jazz was originally a popular music and most of our standards today are reworked pop tunes from the 20s and 30s. I think fusion as played by Mike Stern and Dave Weckl needs to die out quickly, and those people need to grow up and put their serious chops to better use.

EDIT: As a note of comparison, check out Jaco's own recording of The Chicken here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwhkPSEXs1Q
That is a real drummer, and THAT is a real drum solo. He has so much wit - I actually laughed out loud during the first bars of his solo.

adam

John Mayer, when he's not having one of his Moments, is a god-awful songwriter. One wishes he'd put up a more consistent performance on Continuum. For what it's worth, the album sounds good, he's a very good guitarist, and the occasionally poignant song such as 'Stop this Train' or 'Vultures' makes it worth the while. The much hyped radio hit 'Waiting on the world to change' is bullshit. Sure he hit on a couple of nice hooky little riffs but the songwriting is so appalling I don't think i'll ever reconcile myself with the song.

Make no mistake, however; I genuinely enjoyed this album. John Mayer has some way to go, but I really hope he makes it.

adam

New Years

I don't want to do this, really I don't... but i guess come end of the year you really have to sit down with yourself and take stock.

Who am I kidding. It's 3.50 am, I'm remarkably sober and i'm bored.

2007 was awesome in many ways. (Rayner I don't know how you did this in chapters)

Jazz club has been one of the most fulfilling things i've ever done. I guess there's little of the warm fuzzy feeling in retrospect; we weren't that sort of people, and we weren't out to do great romantic things. We learned, we gigged, and we dealt in our own way with the harsh reality that musicians are the most bumfucked people on the planet. I guess that's what counts - I wouldn't change it for anything in the world.

For the most part, I developed a little bit of 'musical maturity' this year i.e. sharpened my prejudices and finally figured out what i like. Learning jazz has taught me how to learn - I had to pick that up again after so many years of being spoon fed. I'm glad for it, even if I do grow up to be completely worthless. Jazz itself is a wonderful metaphor for life - you take each moment as it is; letting go of the past and heedless of the future. We need more of that. I need more of that.

This year has also been about people. I love people (even if I never ever let this fact on). Doing stuff has brought me near to so many interesting characters I couldn't possibly list them all down.

Sophie : I don't know what to say. You bewilder me. Whatever happens, it's been wonderful. You've forced me to grow up, in some ways. In other ways I'll probably be around 5 years old for the rest of my life, and you'll have to live with those. I've never met someone so... heedless and immediate. I need that. I also wonder what on earth you see in me.

Rayner : I guess I keep you around so i seem intelligent by comparison. I also don't think i really need to type much here. I respect you much more than I let on. Keep smiling, cos life's a laugh and death's a joke.

The Manly Men : T, Xun, D, Wang. It's time for Wangernum! No lol. Despite the fact that you only act macho because you're secretly insecure about the size of your genitals, i love you guys. Thanks for keeping me from sinking into the depths of antisocialness. T:I know you hate to hear me whine and bitch. Thanks for doing it anyway. Xun: Your advice is useless, but i take it anyway because i know that what you really want me to do is do something instead of sitting around and worrying like I usually do. D: Thanks for being around when I needed normal (read:geek) activity. Doing inane stuff is important when you're religiously avoiding deeper issues. Wang: Despite what i say sometimes, you are actually a funny guy, and even funnier when i'm slightly drunk.

Jazz cats : I can't believe I just typed that. So fucking gay. Hyqel, Xiumin, Clara, Kelly, Vivek, Boyle, Huang. Mark and Debbo too, and the juniors. No mushy feelings here. We had loads of fun , partly because we are all so unbelievably inept, but also because we were willing to try something new, even if it meant we inevitably got sexually harrassed by drunk people because we could only pull seedy gigs. I can respect that. Don't ever stop.

07S03N: I got lucky when I was dropped into this class. I have not been able to say that for 6 years. These people are so amazing and vibrant and full of laughter and life, it'll almost be a pity when half of them grow up to be mediocre middle-class white collar workers. I guess you can't have it forever. I'm glad I knew you when you did.

Church: I'm sorry for drifting. So much has happened and I've realised so much about myself that a huge chunk of my faith suddenly no longer applies. I never had anything against any of you, so keep up what you do and never give up.

That's all i can think of for now. More later maybe. Or never.

adam

My last word for 2007: A quote from monty python.

Life's a piece of shit
When you look at it
Life's a laugh and death's a joke, it's true.
You'll see it's all a show
Keep 'em laughing as you go
Just remember that the last laugh is on you.

Hmm. I actually do like John Cage's work. A lot.

It begins when you stop viewing music as an object defined by notes and spaces but as what he calls a 'process' ... dunno, very difficult to explain but I intuitively got it when I heard one of his pieces. Can't remember what it was called, something with random electronic noise mixed with an opera singer.

adam

Merry Christmas

So comes it a few days late. Merry Christmas, everyone. And especially to those i might never see again.

adam

art ensemble of chicago

Just heard their stuff for the first time at the Esplanade Library when i picked up a copy of Fanfare for the Warriors. I am very intrigued by this band. Their approach to the avant-garde is very different from Coleman's and Coltrane's.

Take example: Their cover of Thelonious Monk's 'Round Midnight' - 5 minutes of blips and squeaks and bells interspersed with long periods of silence. I believe it's Lester Bowie who occasionally interjects with some wonderful trumpet lines. The music is peaceful and somehow troubling. What surprised me is how easily i reacted to it : this is not noise. This is unequivocably music. When finally they segue into the theme of 'Round Midnight' it is with infinite grace - it sounds like a simple continuation of the previous few minutes. They treat the theme with the expected looseness and collectivity, but it is rousing.

Worth checking out.

adam

Drinks mixing

My awesome uncle Chris taught me a little about drinks mixing. I've been experimenting. Today:

1. Gin (just gin).
Preparation : Poured some vermouth into a glass with ice and stirred, then strained out the vermouth to coat the glass. Put a shot of gin in, stirred and strained into a cocktail glass.

Tastes a little better than just neat gin. Maybe a little more vermouth next time.

2. Gimlet
Preparation: made some sugar syrup : 2 parts brown sugar, 1 part water, heat until dissolves.
1 part sugar syrup, 1 part lime juice, 4 parts gin.

Tastes pretty awesome!

adam

hmm. i'm a little tipsy now. Not very high alcohol tolerance. But I noticed that my typing is always the last to go. Makes for interesting statements like 'Oh my word i'm a little drunk now. Maybe I shouldn't have had that last drink...'

Need to talk

Exhaustion, exhilaration, burned nerves, the smell of smoke, morning, evening, a dusky scent at the top of your sinuses, hangovers, dry headache, wet bar, cold nights, warm mornings, jacket, pullover, sun, damp, cobblestones.

Motion sickness. Trains at night. Sleeping at 250 km/h. Blankets and jackets. Moist sunlight. Hotel. Toilet. Headache. Backache. Heartache. Tired. Lively. Frosty lungs. Feet on heater. Window.
Taken enough and too little. Excited and burned out. Drunk and hung over. Enough is enough. I want more. Give me your hand. Put it in your pocket. Combien ca coute. C'est bon. Lying on the floor. Hopeful.

One more year. One more month. Too little time. Too much history. Two days in Spain. Eternity. Feather of a sparrow. Train track. Timetable.

Waiting.

EDIT: I just found out about this. Joe Zawinul passed away on the 11th of September, 2007. RIP. I guess this review comes at an interesting time.

Weather Report -
Night Passage

A bit like sex, but without all the bad bits. Yep.

The entire album is almost uniformly strong, with highlights like Jaco's solo on 'Port of Entry' (and also the last bit where everyone comes in at about 300 bpm - cheering totally justified. I danced.)
Acrobatic, danceable, yet resolutely intelligent all the same. I might go as far as to say this may even top Heavy Weather.

Highlights.

1. 3 views of a secret - interesting when compared to Jaco's big band rendition - much more intimate, Wayne Shorter does wonderful things with the melody that just don't sound the same on the harmonica in the big band version. Zawinul has a trademark cascading solo near the end - reminiscent of 'A remark you made' and brilliant considering the difficulty of Jaco's chords.

2. Port of Entry - wonderfully off-kilter, immensely funky but all the band members put in that little bit of confusion to mix things up. Crazy solo by Jaco. All of their music has an emotional logic which triumphed over a lot of the rampant fusion-y nonsense that was prevalent at the time. No chords for the sake of chords.

3. Shorter solo on 'Fast City'. It's like the Miles Davis quintet all over again. Shorter displays that he's lost none of his mojo in playing fusion. Weather Report proves also that they can swing if they want to, critics be damned.

4. Rockin' in Rhythm - a Duke Ellington cover completely electrified. Utterly shocking, but also incredibly fun O.O. Zawinul's synth clarinet a la Benny Goodman is hilarious.

-Adam

Ok I was wrong about Radiohead. In Rainbows kind of grew on me... parts of it. What originally annoyed me was their apparent lack of any sort of harmonic direction. Unsatisfying chord progressions and all. Later I kind of realised that their genius is their mastery of texture rather than harmony. The harmony is still annoying - but the songs as a whole are impactful, atmospheric without becoming too ambient.

adam

EDIT: It's available for download on their website I believe, and you can pay as much as you want! Go check it out today. Every cent you pay goes to Radiohead, not some evil record company.

Radiohead. What do I say about Radiohead? I can't tell if i like them or not - they have a couple of good songs, to be sure. Mostly, the issue is that the rest of my life will follow the following cycle:
1. Buys/downloads a Radiohead album
2. Doesn't get it. Puts it away for a month.
3. Revisits it.
4. Doesn't get it.

You know, I get Ornette Coleman. I get late John Coltrane. I even get Albert Ayler on my good days. But Radiohead? No fucking way.

adam

It's over. Exuberance knows no words.

Have some new radicals :

You Only Get What You Give

Wake up kids
We've got the dreamers disease
Age fourteen, they got you down on your knees
So polite, we're busy still saying please
Frienemies
Who when you're down ain't your friend
Every night we smash their mercedes benz
First we run, and then we laugh 'till we cry
But when the night is falling
And you cannot find the light
you feel your dreams are dying
Hold tight

You've got the music in you
Don't let go
You've got the music in you
One dance left
This world is gonna pull through
Don't give up
You've got a reason to live
Can't forget we only get what we give
[I'm comin' home baby]
[You're tops, give it to me now]

Four a.m. we ran a miracle mile
We're flat broke
But hey we do it in style
The bad rich
God's flying in for your trial
But when the night is falling
And you cannot find a friend
You feel your tree is breaking
Just bend

You've got the music in you
Don't let go
You've got the music in you
One dance left
This world is gonna pull through
Don't give up
You've got a reason to live
Can't forget
We only get what we give
This whole damn world can fall apart
You'll be ok follow your heart
You're in harms way I'm right behind
Now say you're mine

You've got the music in you
Don't let go
You've got the music in you
One dance left
This world is gonna pull through
Don't give up
You've got a reason to live
Can't forget
We only get what we give
Don't let go
I feel the music in you
Fly high
What's real can't die
We only get what we give
You're gonna get what you give
Just dont be afraid to live

Health insurance rip off lying FDA big bankers buying
Fake computer crashes dining
Cloning while they're multiplying
Fashion shoots with Beck and Hanson
Courtney love and Marilyn Manson
You're all fakes
Run to your mansions
Come around
We'll kick your ass in

Eh, 11.04 pm. The day before the day before Lit paper. I am starting to fray a little.

I'm really not stressed by the A levels - I just find it tedious.
I wish life would pick itself up; dust off; get off my back; something like that or other -
I've been trying to distract myself
This is one of the ways
I need a drink. I need a hug.
Spent most of today alternately memorising Shakespeare and searching for silly Flash games
then blogging vertically

I feel like everything is coming to a soupy, sticky, crusty end, and it'll build up on the edges of my sanity like the crust of evaporated soup and slowly reduce the liveable portion of my psyche to a little 10 cent coin sized spot where i guess i'll lie down and sleep for awhile.

Sigh.

adam

Pat Metheny Group - The Way Up

Bought this album a couple of days ago together with Brubeck plays Brubeck. A totally different experience. If hard-pressed to metaphorise, as I often am, I would describe this album as a souffle - certainly not brain food, but within its limitations it's masterfully done. I think the greatest achievement of The Way Up is how it manages to be sincerely romantic without overdoing it or become sleazy or cheesy.

The best bits, in my opinion - The section at the end of part one where the band really gets into a swing thing. The beginning of part one in all it's odd rock-ballad goodness. The re-statement of the theme in part 3 - delicate and then climactic, but always with admirable restraint given the subject material, which a lesser musician may have devolved into sloppy romantic dribble. I also personally like Lyle Mays' piano solo in part 2, although in other bits he does tend to drift into rather noodly new-age stuff.

Conclusion : It's brilliant stuff, very accessible but not inane. Only Pat Metheny could have done this.

EDIT: I neglected to mention that the album mentioned below comes not with one, but two (!) liner essays, both written by Brubeck. The first has apparently passed into use in art and theatre schools as an introduction to improvisation, and the second is Brubeck gloating over this fact in a very smug tone.

Dave Brubeck - Brubeck Plays Brubeck

This solo piano album by Dave Brubeck is certainly interesting - not a perfect album by any means, but there's enough insight into the genius that is Brubeck to make it worthwhile.

Brubeck has often been needled by critics for trying - and failing - to be classical about jazz. I feel that these critics kind of miss the point - firstly, in Brubeck's own words in the liner notes of this album, there's nothing wrong with that: jazz was originally a hybrid music anyway. Secondly, I think they miss the partly tongue-in-cheek humour that characterises Brubeck's playing : he has no grandiose ideas about unifying the dual traditions of classical music and jazz; rather his oddly classical quotes and phrases have a sort of manic quality, a kind of fuck you to both his classically-trained past and the army of bud powell imitators surrounding him. Brubeck knew that jazz wasn't in the idiom but in the improvisation, and legitimately conjectured that he could play whatever the hell he wanted as long as he could swing. And he could swing the legs off a table.

That said, the album does have its weak moments. Brubeck's compositions are, I feel, rather overshadowed by his improvisational prowess. Some of the numbers feel a bit weak melody-wise. 'Walkin' Line' especially seems unsatisfying in the melody department, and other tracks do have their awkward bits where you can feel Brubeck's characteristic humour cracking a little. Despite this, however, the tunes 'In Your Own Sweet Way' and 'The Duke' have become jazz standards, the former covered by Miles Davis only a few months before.

These are just first impressions however. How the album ages, i guess we'll only know later.

adam

I've been listening to Coltrane's A Love Supreme recently. It's an album that took awhile to sink in but wow, did it sink in. I think the man may possibly be the only person who could single-handedly restore my faith in spirituality.

Compared to his later work, A Love Supreme seems tame but to dismiss it as emotionally lightweight is to miss the more subtle intensity that Coltrane displays : throughout the four-part suite the depth of his playing is breathtaking in its sustained power. Many critics have said that there is not a wasted note in the suite. Coltrane meant every note he played ; the fact that this album proved less of a skronk-fest than later attempts doesn't detract from his emotional sincerity - it just proves a different vehicle.

While Coltrane's later work tended to alienate his audience (and some of his band members) the members of his quartet seem to understand his approach perfectly on A Love Supreme. In particular, Elvin Jones' drumming on Resolution is almost inhumanly intense - straddling the sheets of percussive noise characteristic of the later free jazz drummers like Rashied Ali and the refined swing of bebop drummers, with hints of the elastic quality of the Bill Evans piano trio. Elvin Jones later left the quartet, at odds with Coltrane's musical direction - it is easy here to notice the tension between the earlier swing-based beat and the later pulse-based drumming. The album is quite possibly the pinnacle of Jones' and Coltrane's collaboration - as far as Jones was willing to go in terms of the avant-garde, and Coltrane's departure point.

I originally felt that the fourth part of the suite, Psalm, was a bit ponderous, the timpani a rather ostentatious addition - again, missing the point totally. Its slowness lends it weight that is sometimes lost on a casual listening. Psalm is almost painful to listen to, as if every phrase were purging you of some long-forgotten sin. I think that's what Coltrane's intent was. The suite is a magnificent monument to faith.

adam

Breakfast at Tiffany's

You say that we've got nothing in common
No common ground to start from
And we're falling apart
You'll say the world has come between us
Our lives have come between us
But I know you just don't care

CHORUS:
And I said what about "Breakfast at Tiffany's?
She said, "I think I remember the film,
And as I recall, I think, we both kinda liked it."
And I said, "Well, that's the one thing we've got."

I see you - the only one who knew me
And now your eyes see through me
I guess I was wrong
So what now? It's plain to see we're over,
And I hate when things are over -
When so much is left undone

You say that we've got nothing in common
No common ground to start from
And we're falling apart
You'll say the world has come between us
Our lives have come between us
But I know you just don't care

So much angst. We're all mired in it; the exams are tearing us apart, from each other then from ourselves. I've noticed we all cling to each other more closely now, like we're holding on to our constituent atoms for each other. Holding together the places that we can't reach ourselves.

Got this from zhuoyi's blog: 50 things which make you happy. It's 12.32 am, i'm feeling fucked up, and pretty bored, so i guess i'll do it. In no particular order:

1. having friends to talk to. Especially now.
2. music.
3. TV. especially now... i guess we all need our brainless entertainment.
4. long walks
5. silence. I usually go without my headphones nowadays. There's plenty of time to listen to music at home. I feel like i'm missing out on too much if i encapsulate myself when i go out.
6. playing the guitar. Even when I don't know what to play, i guess it helps.
7. good food.
8. alcohol. G & Ts for the win. Getting drunk is pretty unpleasant though.
9. gaming. when i allow myself. I'm currently playing starcraft, trying to finish the campaign without cheating. 3 missions to go!
10. chatting with classmates when we get the time
11. making fun of rayner
12. making fun of rayner
13. chocolate
14. ice cream
15. poker with the boys. getting the stuffing kicked out of me.
16. my cat desdemona
17. the sound of birds in the morning
18. being inside when it rains outside
19. writing
20. books - mostly lit texts, but still awesome
21. the complete yes minister on dvd
22. a special person - feelings are boring; kissing is awesome.
23. new clothes
24. jam sessions with hyqel and xiumin and the juniors
25. teaching the juniors
26. the sound of a double bass
27. the new-album smell.
28. liner essays.
29. the sense of accomplishment you get after you finish restringing the bugger.
30. random doodlings of ominous coffee mugs and sinister saline drips.
31. writing my name in huge letters on worksheets in highlighter so it covers the entire first page
32. discussing music with people
33. writer's blog; even if we do fail occasionally.
34. blog-surfing. if i don't have a life, i invoke my right to live vicariously through others. pity all the people whose blogs i visit have no life either.
35. just sitting and thinking
36. a good joke. if possible at the expense of somebody uptight.
37. coco pops. breakfast of champions.
38. milk and bandung.
39. sashimi.
40. wondering about the future
41. wishing i could fly
42. cycling round the neighbourhood. racing down the hill at ~ mach 7. stunning pedestrians. they're called that for a reason, you know.
43. watching people dance lindy hop.
44. playing with thompson jazz band.
45. doing gigs with mark and debbo
46. indulging in nostalgia
47. a cheerful atmosphere
48. smiles
49. companionship
50. not being alone anymore.

sigh. i need some of that shit.

adam

List of dead heroes:

John Coltrane (1967)
Jimi Hendrix (1970)
Jaco Pastorius (1987)
Stevie Ray Vaughan (1990)
Miles Davis (1991)
Kurt Cobain (1994)
James Brown (2006)
Michael Brecker (2007)

H3 lit is OVER! woot.

Okay, in retrospect it was quite fun. Although I realise I didn't actually know much about the subject, but no matter. Kudos also to Abby, Hyqel, Ryan and Zhiying for finishing their h3s alive and sane (mostly). That's one more subject out of the way.
We had a h3 lit party at the minicanteen on friday after submission date. Abby dared me to give a mars bar to a complete stranger (female, of course) and tell them 'congratulations.' It proved fun enough that Ryan tried it twice, and we managed to get Abby to give the last tiramisu to some poor looking dude too. Heh.

adam

I've given up so much for my studies.
I miss jazz practice. I miss thompson jazz band. I miss going out with friends or hanging around southbridge at midnight and playing 'softly as in a morning sunrise' on a pint of beer. I miss waking up at 8 in the morning and knowing that i'll be practicing until 11 at night. I miss gaming until my eyes are red. I miss having time to read things that aren't my lit texts. I miss crazy after hours dinners debating the merits of Nirvana and Ornette Coleman. I miss concerts.

When i'm done with this shit, i'm out of here and if I have one more look at the bloody A levels I will gut it and strangle it with its fucking intestines, mark my words you fucking MOE assholes I hope you all asphyxiate on your big fucking inflated egos and go to the special hell reserved for the extremely stupid.

I really love Sinatra. His music has a depth and breadth of experience that I find rare in many people. When you listen to him you get the feeling that he's lived life, that he's somehow encompassed the wonders of the world in his mind and you can't not take it seriously. It hits you in your gut.

It makes me wonder about what it'll be like living elsewhere. I don't exactly like Singapore but i'm sure anywhere else just looks rosy from this perspective. It won't be peachy anywhere, I know. But I still have a yearning to go out and live somewhere else where the air's different and the people speak another language (or at least speak English differently) I need to see the world. I've seen too much of it on TV, in songs or books but I need to see it for myself. I think it's inexcuseable to be cloistered in this age. The internet generation has seen too much on the web to have an excuse not to feel some kind of irrepressible wonder. I think of myself as a child of the internet, I think probably one of many. But rather than keep us locked in our rooms surfing all day I think it's given us so much to think about that we can't be walled into this tiny country anymore. I need to get away...

adam

It's been a crazy few weeks. A lot's happened.

Mugging's finally approaching a state which can very approximately said to be on schedule. That's a plus, always. And there've been... other issues close to my heart.

All I want to say is that i'm very thankful and that I regret nothing.

adam

Free jazz - one third dissonance for its own sake, one third free modulation between keys, and one third actualy twelve-tone melody. This as far as I can tell.

adam

edit: and of course, one-hundred per cent blues.

This is the state of my life.

I have just realised that while listening to RHCP songs i can actually pick out the GERUNDS in Anthony Kiedis' rapping. For example,
'East side love is living on the west end', from 'Can't Stop' - the word 'living' is a gerund.
I was actually listening to the track when that line went by and I remember actually stopping to think 'hey, that's a gerund!'. I think i'm doomed forever to be frustrated by the grammatic inferiority of my peers.

For those of you who don't know what a gerund is:
It is proof of your sanity. Cling to it. Cling to it.

adam

Learning point #1. Love isn't about feelings: it's about decisions because choices are what make us human.

Learning point #2. Ornette Coleman contains so much concentrated awesomeness that he should be classified as a hazardous substance. Seriously, fuck your pansy smooth jazz rubbish - you have no idea what you're missing out on.

adam

My classmates are all depressed now for some reason. I think it's the season it's like seasonal affective disorder only it isn't winter or fall - it's EXAM SEASON fuck you. I thought it was just my personal issues with the nature of existence but well it seems i'm wrong everyone's angsting their asses off. We could sing some sickeningly catchy feel-good-get-together tune and sit in a circle and hug and cry I guess WE'RE ALLLLL IN THIS TOGETHER or something like that or maybe we could just lock ourselves up in our sad dark little rooms and start mugging.

adam

It's existential angst week. I had another anxiety attack last night... one of the worst in years.

Fuck that. I refuse to give in to despair.
Was brought back from the brink this morning by John Coltrane's Resolution. THAT is worship music. And i have some wonderful friends who I really don't deserve.

I'm still a bit panicky now but I'm holding on. It'll pass.

Stevie Ray Vaughan can make the truth come out of a guitar, I swear. Eat my dust, Steve Vai!

adam

From Abby's blog:

What Be Your Nerd Type? Your Result: Musician   Doo doo de doo waaaa doo de doo! (<-- That's you playing something.) Everyone appreciates the band/orchestra geeks and the pretty voices. Whether you sing in the choir, participate in a school/local band, or sit at home writing music, you contribute a joy to society that everyone can agree on. Yay! Welcome to actually doing something for poor, pathetic human souls. (Just kidding.)
Social Nerd
Literature Nerd
Gamer/Computer Nerd
Drama Nerd
Artistic Nerd
Anime Nerd
Science/Math Nerd
What Be Your Nerd Type? Quizzes for MySpace

I figured i'd score higher on lit actually but apparently i don't read enough books.
Damnit. WTF is a 'social nerd'? Isn't that a contradiction in terms?

adam

Okay, Mr. A Levels. I'll play your fucking game. You WILL regret this.

adam

Rest in peace, Thaddeus. I never knew you, but...
argh. Condolonces to any friends who may visit here.

AFTER THE A LEVELS

Here's my to do list - if it gets any bigger i think it'll undergo gravitational collapse and become a black hole.

1. Start a band.
2. Start a band.
3. Get gigs and get paid.

Now that's out of the way... In no particular order.

4. Learn to dance lindy hop.
5. Go overseas and away from the urban cesspit that is Singapore.
6. Finish reading Ulysses for the ultimate win.
7. Portrait of the artist as a young man for additional win.
8. Party. Get high. Get drunk.
9. Train for army. Want to be fit-ish i guess. Actually just an excuse to cycle. I love cycling.
10. Catch up with old friends who may be leaving, say tearful final goodbyes. Punch a few people i've vowed to punch once in my life. Ee Chong, you're on the list.
11. Learn to drive.
12. Learn to fly (O.o)
13. Fly.
14. Visit the north-sea jazz festival with uncle fabian.
15. Go on a round trip of every jazz bar in singapore. Start with harry's at esplanade. Must catch Paul Ponnudorai again and profess my undying love.
16. Practice until my fingers bleed.
17. Save up for the sexy fretless nylon string guitar at ranking. Pray nobody else buys it.
18. Play a real game of DnD. Hopefully find an experienced DM.
19. dittto shadowrun
20. ditto V:TR
21. buy an xbox 360 somehow and/or new comp. Game until my eyes bleed.
22. Learn to play the double-bass.
23. Learn to play clarinet.
24. Learn to play saxophone.
25. Learn to play trumpet.
26. Learn to play hammond organ.
27. Learn to play bridge.
28. Play more poker with xun and terence. Win their money while they're drunk.
29. Learn to play the mandolin and/or ukelele.
30. Buy CDs. Eric Dolphy, Bill Evans, Miles Davis, Tribal Tech, Dave Brubeck. For starters.
31. Get a real job.
32. Did you seriously believe #31? The hell no.
33. Retake SAT1s. Do SAT2s. probably lit and math, maybe bio.
34. Practice for my piano ATCL. Refrain from sucking.
35. Redecorate my room. With a bulldozer - but failing that, paint is good. And furniture.
36. Learn jazz piano from xiumin. McCoy Tyner <3.
37. Write more poetry/short stories.
38. Go out with important people.
39. ...like politicians. yes.
40. Train with the netrek team.

Yes.

adam

New template. Hmm... i'm not sure yet if i like it. Tagboard's at the bottom - not that anyone tags here, ever, heh.

Exams are the day after tomorrow and i'm screeeeeeeeewwweed. Damnation...

adam

Totally appropriate.

Don't Get Around Much Anymore

Missed the Saturday dance
Heard they crowded the floor
Couldn't bear it without you
Don't get around much anymore

Thought I'd visit the club
Got as far as the door
They'd have asked me about you
Don't get around much anymore

Oh, Darling I guess my mind's more at ease
But nevertheless, why stir up memories

Been invited on dates
Might have gone but what for
Awfully different without you
Don't get around much anymore

-adam

Been swinging through euphoria and depression for the last few weeks.
I'd forgotten how much i need music to remind me that things are still worth waking up for.

adam

New favourite webcomic. This is genius:

Nine Planets Without Intelligent Life
http://www.bohemiandrive.com/comics/npwil.html

adam

Just when i thought i'd had the universe well and truly figured out, once and for all...

Wow, I got a lot of presents. Thanks so much to all my classmates who got me stuff: abby, trees, sophie, zhiying, eli sharon and nat, and to the mind-bogglingly awesome jazz club people. I feel the <3.

'Get high?'
'I hadda give it up.'

- William Gibson, Neuromancer

The more I listen to Coltrane, the more I think of Shakespeare - they both manage such an incredible density of meaning that just the mere reading or listening leaves you breathless and slightly dizzy.

And the more I tell myself I must study the more I want to lock myself up and spend the rest of my life learning to play like that.

adam

... and the world conspires to keep music with me. Just when I had every intention of starting my studies.

Jazz is a capricious mistress. Her and that piece of worm-ridden modal filth that Miles Davis came up with. They're conspiring to frustrate me, I swear it.

adam

We dont need no education.
We dont need no thought control.
No dark sarcasm in the classroom.
Teacher, leave those kids alone.
Hey, teacher, leave those kids alone!
All in all its just another brick in the wall.
All in all youre just another brick in the wall.

-Pink Floyd

So i went to the room today cos Yvonne told me they're having practice. And i sat there and I almost reached for my phone to call everyone and get them to hurry up and practice.

It hit me then. I miss my job. Goddamn i hated a lot of it but now it's gone (and i don't like to admit this) I miss it a lot. It's like a phantom limb now I don't have it anymore sometimes I reflexively go through the motions, like standing around worrying my ass off that some particular band CMI oh no oh no what am I going to do the gig is on saturday!

It's not my business anymore. I mean, the standard of the jazz club will always be my business. But now i'm only going to be teaching. It's up to Royce to organise the where and the when and the what. I suspect i'm not such a good teacher as I think but i'll learn, also.

Shit.

adam

So it's over. I guess for most people it could be hard to fathom how important the club is without actually having been in it and kind of smelled the air during a jam session. Or without mark's constant nagging that really impressed his vision onto me, and it's also a difficult one to see without having been there.

So many regrets but if there's one thing jazz has taught me it's that the only difficult decision is the one you're making now because it's the only one you control. Your past could be a fiction and your future could be a daydream but what happens now is yours and it's real and it's in some ways the only thing you can count on. So hey, i'll move on from my mistakes; it's been fun.

I'd like to say a big thank you to my wonderful EXCO who did all the work while I was daydreaming:

Huang for being the oft-needed voice of reason and supporting my crazed post-bop tendencies. Also for being the only other guy in the EXCO.
Xiumin for covering up for my utter administrative incompetence and for being an absolutely swinging pianist.
Clara for being the hardest-working secretary EVER and making sure everything ran smoothly (albeit is smoothly as jazz will ever get)
Chermaine for being a ball of sunshine despite pretending to be angsty (rubbish!). Especially when I needed the smiles.
Sara for being there for me to talk to when things got difficult, and for putting up with my nonsense.

It may be over, but it sure as hell isn't OVER. Alumni here I come!

adam

Bought 2 albums today. John Coltrane's A Love Supreme and Herbie Hancock's Head Hunters.
A Love Supreme is concentrated post-bop awesomeness. Massive awesomeness.
Head Hunters is funk before it got stupid. Fantastic stuff.

It's tomorrow grrrrrrrhhhh. Then it'll be finally over and I guess i'll have to get to studying which I really don't want to do but oh well A levels loom there isn't much choice I guess. I want it to last forever but I'm only getting one more night. I'll make the most of it.

Life is not measured in durations but in moments.

adam

It'll be over in 3 days. Nothing in the world has made me feel so out of my depth like the chairmanship. Sometimes I'm so afraid of letting people down that I can't do anything but lie down somewhere and cry. At the end of it I hope I've done an OK job - it's been fun but I'll be glad when it's over.

adam

EAT MY DUST PW