Musical Skeletons

Feeling a little restless, I decided to mine my CD collection to see whether I had any musical skeletons hidden in the collection. I must admit though that I'm surprised that I don't have that many musical skeletons or terrible ones to show to you(Spiceworld does NOT count people. It was and still is a great pop album). I know of people who have purchase the likes of Solid Harmonie or Code Red.

Here are my list, in no particular order.
1) Awake and Breathe - B'witched. It had a few catchy songs. The rest were not very good though. The only song I remember is the bonus track and that was because it was an orchestral version of Blame it on the Weatherman. They broke up after the album.
2) Invincible - 5ive. Tacky. I bought it for Keep on Movin' but that turned out to be one of 2 or 3 songs that I liked. I listened to it a few times and never listened to it again.
3) Best of 1999 (Dance Compilation). Two words - Doctor Bombay. 'Nuff said.
4) The Promise - Plus One. I got it for $9.99. I only like 2 songs. I never listened to the CD again.

And that's it! Nothing else. I must have been really cautious when I bought CDs previously, I actually feel proud of myself now that I realize I don't have that many musical skeletons (and NO, Britney's debut album does NOT count. It had some great songs.) I am a closet pop and cheese fan, if you had not noticed.

More artiste recommendations to come in later posts.

Nellie Mckay

An incredibly talented, quirky and passionate songwriter. There's a sense of urgency that's driving this song - maybe it's the need to want to live a real life. What's a "real life" anyhow?

Mandy Moore's Latest

Mandy's coming up with a new album which has been described as a "folk/acoustic" outing. Her clips from her MySpace sound pretty good; pretty, winsome and very pleasing. Wild Hope is one of four albums I'm eagerly anticipating this year and the buzz surrounding it has been positive and I'm glad; Mandy seems to me to be one of the most down-to-earth celebrities and she's one of the few celebrities I can imagine hanging out with on a lazy Saturday afternoon.

Do check out her new songs at her MySpace. There's a video of the making of her album at her official website as well.

Review of Concert

First of all, the show was awesome. With the exception of cracks in her voice (the high notes), I thought the show went really well. She didn't play her song that I liked the least Ode to... which was fine by me.

I thought the band was fantastic in complementing her and they rocked out well. She did a reworked version of Known for Years which was amazing because the original version was Jeff Buckley-ish (like Last Goodbye) but she rocked it out during the concert with a country twist.

I do wish that the set was longer and I wish the encore consisted of more songs of herself at the piano. Because as good as she is with the band, there's a hushed intimacy when it's just Rachael on the piano. She cracked during The Reason Why because she got emotional. To me, that moment was poignant and beautiful.

She had great banter with the band and the crowd and you can see that touring around venues in the US has really developed her showmanship skills. At one point, she was introducing Would You Please and she was afraid people would not recognize the song since it was from her EP; I proceeded to yell the song title and she said "I love you. Can I have your number?". Unfortunately, I forgot to mention to her during the autograph session later that I was the person who yelled out her name. Oh well.

I wasn't able to take photos with her since the Esplanade people were shooing us off like a factory. But she did confirm that she wants to come back. And I can't wait for that to happen.

Yamagata Concert Set-List

Here's the set-list from her concert. Review to follow.

Band Intro
Letter Read
Collide
Be Be Your Love
What if I Leave
Paperdoll
Under My Skin
Meet Me by the Water
Known for Years
Would You Please
Worn Me Down
Unknown Song

Encore:
The Reason Why

Meet-the-press Session with Rachael Yamagata

Today, D.J. and I went down to the Esplanade to attend a meet-the-press session with Rachael Yamagata. Unfortunately, it was a short session because the schedule was extremely tight and the Esplanade management were downright strict about this.

Alas, this meant I was not able to get a photo with her nor get her to autograph a CD for me and my friend (sin). I was thinking of getting it autographed as a gift but it wasn't to be. Sorry sin, maybe next time?

Other than the downers, I am glad to have finally met her in person. Rachael is very purrty in person and as D.J. said, she had a "natural beauty" that glowed when she came to the foyer. During the session, she seemed down-to-earth and had some hilarious things to say. All in all, I enjoyed the short time I met her and I was seriously close to her; I was in the second row which was much closer than I expected.

I'll be going for her concert tomorrow where I'm expecting a much "rockier" set since she did mention her band. It'll be interesting to hear her new music. D.J. and I will probably come up with an hour's worth of Rachael Yamagata-related (or less I think, maybe half an hour) including the interview where D.J. and I got both of our questions answered. Heh. Rachael Yamagata answered my question!

The show will probably be broadcast in 2 weeks' time in SMU Campus Radio. Tune in for more details folks!

Musings of an Ear with Feet

A great number of people are outraged by the songs that have leaked from Tori Amos's new album American Doll Posse. And I agree that the songs aren't that great. Big Wheel has embarrassing lyrics (I am an M.I.L.F), Secret Spill sounds like an outtake/reject from Little Earthquakes and I'm not exactly surprised. She probably increased our expectations exponentially with that controversial publicity shot of blood running down her legs and the word 'Shame' written on her hands, reminiscent of her publicity shots for Boys for Pele. But the songs aren't just living up to our new expectations.

Essentially, something seems different this time, but it's not a good kind of different. The whole campaign feels forced, as if Tori is giving us what she thinks we want instead of what she wants to do. When the tracklist has an interlude called Fat Slut, you can't help but cringe. She never used to be so blatant or crude with the titles of her songs. She used to come up with songs like Blood Roses, something shocking yet subtle at the same time (if you know what I mean). Maybe it's too soon to judge an album by the titles. But, I just wish she wouldn't try so hard to be hip, to be out there. There's no need to be.

Unlike some previously die-hard fans, I didn't have that big of an issue with the Adult Contemporary direction she took with her last 2 albums. Sure, her songs became less memorable, more cringe-worthy. But there were good/great songs in the last 2 albums and I always felt that the length of the album was the main bone of contention for me. Anyhow, I am a closet fan of Adult Contemporary so, I never really saw it as that big of a deal.

Perhaps the album will be great, sans these 2 tracks. Perhaps she will redeem herself with this album. Perhaps, she's got some trick up her sleeves and will blow us away, fans and ex-fans, with her new material. But I've come to the realization that she will never reach the heights that she scaled with Boys for Pele/Choirgirl. It's ok Tori. I'll aways have The Doughnut Song.

Lisa Stansfield - Change (Flashback)

She may be better known for 'All Around the World' but IMO, this is her best single and her best video to date. It's been 15 years since.

Siobhán Donaghy - Don't give it up

The former All Saints alumni is back with her second album, which is said to be light years ahead of her debut album. This gorgeous video was shot in Morocco and Siobhan indeed looks very lovely. :)

A new chapter

This blog is meant to be a separate entity from my other blog. I'm still sorting out how to divide the content into 2 blogs, but I expect this blog will be more reader-friendly and less intense than what my other blog used to be about a year ago. I'll focus much more on music here while my other blog will probably return to its focus on socio-political issues soon.

Yay for a new chapter! So hawt....