The Pains of Being Pure At Heart

I have come across a band with a rather long name called The Pains of Being Pure At Heart. Despite of the name, I guarantee that the band won't cause you any pain. Most of the songs I come across from this band are very melodic. I can sense some shoegazer influenced with a bit of The Smiths' & The Pastels' kind of melody. With proper marketing and distribution, this band has a great potential.

They sound like British but no, they are not British. They are a bunch of New Yorkers that love British music I believe. You can guess their taste of music based on the songs they write.

For samples, please check out the following site. Trust me you won't regret. What to regret when you're not paying anything to listen to their music?

The Pains of Being Pure At Heart

- "Everything With You" was the song that I first listened and it caught my interest instantly.

- "Come Saturday" - Very Ride-liked song.

- "Young Adult Friction" is another melodic song with a good combination of backup vocal. The female back vocalist, Peggy, did a good job here. It will be less interesting without her vocal. An outstanding song!

- "Stay Alive" is a slower tempo song - it won't caused any instant addiction but it will grow on you gradually. It reminds me of Morrissey.

No, they don't pay me any penny for advertisement. In fact they're not even aware that I am posting it here. Perhaps I should let them know to collect some cash that I am lack of :) Seriously, I think any music lovers should check them out.

Here's a video clip of the band with the song, Gothenberg Handshake. The video clips are poor quality but who cares when the music is great!!




Another video clip shot at Stockholm, Sweden .......What's this song????

Rotten Formal Clothes

Yesterday, I received a sudden news that I would be sent to Paris for training. Today, I received another news that we were supposed to wear formally in Paris. Being a typical t-shirt and jeans guy working in a company that allows casual wear. I was a bit panic upon hearing the news. The reasons are:

1. My formal pants are all too tight now
2. My formal clothes are all yellowish
3. Very likely I have to spend a fortune on clothings

All the 3 worrying matters listed above came true when I reached home to inspect my formal clothings. To make the matter worse, the jacket that I wore only once during my graduation and I had high hope that it was in perfect condition turned out to be another disappointment - all the plastic buttons have disintegrated and falling apart. I hope the tailor can help to fix the problem. I am not sure how they are going to do it. I definitely have no idea because the buttons are all sewed inside a layer of cloth covering the sewing. I really hope that I don't have to spend a fortune buying a new jacket that I hardly use in a tropical country.

Revive of Podcasting

I have the itch to share the music I discover for the last couple of months. A friend suggested that we start doing podcast recently really gave me the push to start one as soon as I can. I know it will fail if I do it alone - I will lose interest, get bored, run out of idea and become lazy in the end. The same fade happened when I was doing Boleh Rojak Pod years ago. I will be doing this with a few friends this time ...hopefully with better equipments.

So, look out for an alternative/indie/rock n roll podcast in the next few weeks or months if things work out!

Craft Work

The German band Kraftwerk has been very innovative since the 70s. They have created a very unique sound in the world of music using computers, before the invention of electro-pop, techno, electronica and other kinds of computer generated music.

I heard they will be performing in Singapore. I bet no bands love to come to Malaysia due to the Malaysian authorities' fussy requirements. I would not come to Malaysia too if I have to comply to all the stupid requirements and restriction. To see international bands performing, I guess Malaysians have to travel to Singapore or Thailand.

Check out the following video clips of Kraftwerk.

This is from a documentary:



Autobahn:



Die Roboter (The Robot):



Tour De France:




Das Model (The Model):



Trans Europe Express:

Seize The Day

Last night when chit chatting with a friend, Rafil. He made me realise something very important in our lives. It all started with the topic of the concert of The Cure. He advised me that music lovers like us should seize the day to attend our favourite bands' concerts. As hardcore music lover, something is obviously missing if we have never attended any concert of our favourite bands. Honestly, I consider myself in this category of music lover as well. The biggest gig I attended was the gig in Kuala Lumpur by Fugazi in the 90s. For a person beyond 30 years old, a lot of our all time favourite bands are no longer young. Many of them have reached their 50s or even 60s. If you don't attend their concerts, you may not get the chance to see those bands in a few years. The band members may be too old, you may be too old, health issue, etc may prevent us from any future concerts.

Honestly, I am just repeating what Rafil told me. Rafil, I hope you don't mind me being a parrot. :) I think he's absolutely correct. Based on the situation of my parents, they were thinking of going here and there but they're unable to walk (they could have done that earlier). Rafil told me he used to walk pass CBGB but didn't take the opportunity to walk in and it is now closed down...he regrets. I have always been impressed with the punk band, Ramones, but now more them half of the band members are dead - I will never see them perform again.

I have no regret for getting myself involved in the local underground music scene although it screwed up and I declared retirement for myself. I have no regret for getting involved in a radio show of the former Traxx FM DJ, Maya. I was just doing what I enjoyed. I may not return to the local music scene but if given the opportunity, I would still love to get involved in alternative rock show either in the form of podcasting or broadcasting.

We should all seize the day as the saying from the movie, Dead Poet Society!!

The Cure: 4:13 Dream

One of my all time favourite bands is The Cure. A new album called "4:13 Dream" has been released lately but I have yet to check it out. Anyway, it's just a matter of time. How could any music fan misses out on The Cure?

During my university days back in England, I was close to attending a concert by The Cure at Sheffield University. The Goth Society I joined in my university was organising a bus trip to Sheffield and everyone were excited about it, including some non-members of Goth Society willing to join us. Unfortunately, Robert Smith fell ill and had to postpone it. The new date of the concert was the day I had already departed England. I still feel bitter about it today.

Yesterday, I was talking to a friend at Paul's Place (yeah, it was the infamous Paul's birthday party). We happened to bring up the topic of The Cure. This guy attended 2 concerts of The Cure one after another with his entire family by flying from one country to another. Yeah, the entire family including his young daughter who is also a fan of The Cure!! Looks like the addiction of The Cure can spread in different generations in a family. Amazing, right? It's proven how great is The Cure. Sometimes, I even come across cheesy pop music fans who love The Cure. I should have attended the concert of The Cure in Singapore! Now I feel regret! I heard The Jesus and Mary Chain is going to Singapore soon and I've already felt the itch!!!

Meanwhile, here's a video clip of The Cure with the new song, The Only One. This is a live version:

Jeans Lover

I discovered a band from Dundee, Scotland, called The View by chance when listening to XFM London. Their song, Same Jeans, caught my attention because I thought one of the band members was from another old band called The La's hailed from Liverpool and I actually loved the melody & the lyric. Yeah, the song sounds like an upbeat version of a song by The La's.

The song titled "Same Jeans" is meaningful to me because I am a jeans lover. I think most of my friends who know me well are aware that I hate formal wear. Thank goodness, I work in a company that allows me to wear jeans to work daily. Any function that jeans is not allowed and if I can be excused for not attending, you won't see me there for sure. For a person that wanted to wear jeans on his wedding day, what do you expect?

I treat my jeans like a life vest because it saved me from being bitten badly by a dog when I was a teenager. It also saved me a couple of times without seriously injuring myself, when I fell from bicycles during my teenage years. When I was in the computer lab, sometimes accidental scratched against the machines could caused bloody marks on the skin without the protection of jeans (I often have to squeeze myself in between machines to pull/plug wires...yeah, I have to be avoid becoming too fat to fit in between the machines too). Unlike formal clothing, jeans can still be worn after it is torn and old. Usually a good pair of jeans can last me about 10 years or more. My favourite jeans is from Levi's. Most of them I bought in U.S. about 6-8 years ago. I still keep one or two in new condition in case I am allowed to attend any function that permit jeans but not old and torn ones. I guess I may need a new pair of jeans pretty soon as most of them are close to 10 years now. I wonder how much is a pair of Levi's jeans in Malaysia!!!

Here's a link to the video clip by The View called "Same Jeans" dedicated to all the jeans lovers around the world:

Same Jeans by The View

Lyric:

I've had the same jeans on for four days now
I'm gonna go to a disco in the middle of the town
Everybody's dressing up
I'm dressing down

Life's one big circle
And it doesn't end
When it ends
Will you still be my friend?

I'm not making a fool of myself
Oh tell me
I'm not making a fool of myself

So
When you look in the mirror
Reflecting back at you someone that you don't know
Oh That's just made your head spin around
So get yourself together
Get your feet back on the ground

I've had the same jeans on for four days now
I'm gonna go to a disco in the middle of the town
Everybody's dressing up
I'm dressing down

I take my hats off to the busker man
When they drown all the sorrows singing songs
Now everything has worked out to plan
But believe me it started as long as it can

So
When you look in the mirror
Reflecting back at you someone that you don't know
Life's just made your head spin around
So get yourself together
Now put your feet back on the ground

I've had the same jeans on for four days now
I'm gonna go to a disco in the middle of the town
Everybody's dressing up
I'm dressing down

My minds not perfect but it's sincere
You'd be amazed at what you can achieve in a year
And you try so hard
But your hearts on a switch
And I know you try so hard
But your hearts on a switch

So
When you look in the mirror
Reflecting back at you someone that you don't know
Life's just made your head spin around
So get yourself together
Get your feet back on the ground

So
When you look in the mirror
Reflecting back at you someone that you don't know
Life's just made your head spin around
So get yourself together
Get your feet back on the ground

Same Jeans on for four days now
Everybody's dressing up I'm dressing down
I'm not making a fool of myself
Now believe me lady I can't tell

Same Jeans on for four days now
Everybody's dressing up I'm dressing down
Im not making a fool of myself
Now believe me lady I can't tell

Sound of the 80s in Today's Music

I realise the music in recent years has moved backward to the sound of the 80s. It's applicable for both mainstream and underground music scene. In the mainstream music scene, we have Kylie Minogue and Madonna as examples. In the underground scene, we have Metric, Cansei De Ser Sexy, Mgmt, The Music, Ladytron, The Charlatans, Peter Bjorn and John, etc. New wave & electro-pop have become a trend again in 21st century. Just like fashion, music often look back at the history and revive the old sound. I guess in the world of art, old stuff does not die like technology. Old art could revive in a different form whether you like it or not.

Here are some samples of the sound of 80s still living in today's music:

Metric: Poster of A Girl (Live)



MGMT: Kids



The Music: Drugs



Cansei De Set Sexy (CSS): Let's Make Love And Listen To Death From Above



Ladytron: Seventeen

Peter Bjorn and John

Scandinavian countries often produce talented musicians. The music scene that has been very interesting for decades. Thanks to the Scandinavian governments for encouraging music exports. I am pretty sure everyone knows ABBA that hailed from Sweden. Those who were teenagers in the 80s know A-Ha from Norway and those turned on the radios in the 90s probably know Ace of Base. In my opinion, there are even more Scandinavian talents which may be overlooked by majority of us, Malaysians.

The Metal music scene from Scandinavia has been very strong with bands such as Entombed from Sweden, Children of Bodom from Finland, Nightwish from Finland, etc. Yeah, there were a lot of hoo-has created by various narrow-minded Malaysian authorities about Metal music for decades. If I keep writing about them, I will end up cursing them for their stupidity. Well, those stupid idiots even categorised indie music as Black Metal. My goodness, where are their brains? The government should send them for music lessons before making all the noise!! Ok, I am almost going out of the intended topic now.

In the indie scene, we have The Cardigans from Sweden, Ida Maria from Norway, Popsicle from Sweden, The Wannadies from Sweden, Bjork from Iceland, The Raveonettes from Denmark.... This morning, while listening to XFM from London via internet. I came across another interesting Swedish band called Peter Björn and John. The band is named after the first name of each band members. Very simple name for a band! It consists of Peter Morén (vocals, guitar and harmonica), Björn Yttling (bass, keyboards and vocals) and John Eriksson (drums, percussion and vocals). They had a hit in the U.K. with the song, Young Folks, in 2006. Yes, I discovered this band late but it's better late than never. The song also features Victoria Bergsman who is a former member of The Concretes. The Concretes is another Swedish band well known in the indie scene. The vocal of Victoria reminds me of a guest vocalist of a song by a British trip-hop band, Tricky.

Here's an animated video clip of Young Folk by Peter Björn and John:



Lyric:

If i told you things i did before
told you how i used to be
would you go along with someone like me
if you knew my story word for word
had all of my history
would you go along with someone like me

i did before and had my share
it didn't lead nowhere
i would go along with someone like you
it doesn't matter what you did
who you were hanging with
we could stick around and see this night through

and we don't care about the young folks
talkin' 'bout the young style
and we don't care about the old folks
talkin' 'bout the old style too
and we don't care about their own faults
talkin' 'bout our own style
all we care 'bout is talking
talking only me and you

usually when things has gone this far
people tend to disappear
no one will surprise me unless you do

i can tell there's something goin' on
hours seems to disappear
everyone is leaving i'm still with you

it doesn't matter what we do
where we are going too
we can stick around and see this night through

and we don't care about the young folks
talkin' 'bout the young style
and we don't care about the old folks
talkin' 'bout the old style too
and we don't care about their own faults
talkin' 'bout our own style
all we care 'bout is talking
talking only me and you

and we don't care about the young folks
talkin' 'bout the young style
and we don't care about the old folks
talkin' 'bout the old style too
and we don't care about their own faults
talkin' 'bout our own style
all we care 'bout is talking
talking only me and you
talking only me and you

talking only me and you
talking only me and you

Telok Bahang

Most of my trips to Penang are usually quite boring - visiting shopping complexes, coffee shops and staying at home. It was my first trip to Telok Bahang last weekend. I like the view of Telok Bahang because it is more remote and looks like a smalltown that I am originated from.

Based on recommendation of some experts, I decided to convert the photos to black and white. Simplicity is beautiful sometimes. I am not sure whether these photos are beautiful or not as I am struggling with the camera. I still damage 90% of the photos. This time I spoiled them because I was still crap at taking nightscene & the raindrops on the camera lens screwed them up.

September Gurls

September has just passed by a few days ago but I decided to check out a 70s band greatly praised by my friend, Joe Kidd, many years ago. The first song that caught my attention was "September Gurls". To those familiar with the band, Teenage Fanclub, it's very obvious that they are influenced by Big Star. Many artistes today still claim that they're influenced by Big Star. I love the melody of "September Gurls" which is simply amazing and beautiful. It is a very well written song.

Big Star was formed in 1971 when I was still a toodler sucking my thumb. They were not really big stars then. The band splitted up in 1974 when I didn't even know ABC. A new line-up of Big Star featuring original members Chilton and Jody Stephens was formed in 1993, and released a new album in 2005 called "In Space". I have yet to check out their new album but I will surely do so in a matter of time.

Here's a video clip of Big Star's "September Gurls" and the lyric:



September gurls do so much
I was your butch and you were touched
I loved you well never mind
I've been crying all the time
December boys got it bad.

September gurls I don't know why
how can I deny what's inside
even thought I keep away
maybe we'll love all our days.
When I get to bed
late at night
that's the time
she makes things right
ooh when she makes luv to me

Crappy External Portable DVD Writer

My entire Raya holidays were spoiled because of the purchase of a stupid external slim portable DVD writer. My wife was the purchaser but I was the one who had to struggle troubleshooting it. I was disappointed and didn't have a good feeling that she came home with Panasonic DVD writer instead of LG or Samsung one.

The exact model of the portable DVD writer was Panasonic SD-100A. Initially, the drive could not be detected, so I blamed it on the USB2 hub. After connecting directly to the laptop, I managed to install some software but when Nero CD supplied by Panasonic was used, it failed to read. The Samsung DVD writer of my PC had no problem reading the Nero CD though. When I tried accessing the CD with the portable Panasonic DVD writer, it failed again and again. However, after several attempts, it managed to read. When I was trying to install Nero happily, it hit I/O (input/output) error. Being dissatisfied, I tried with another software CD. When installing half way, it hit the same I/O error. It was very obvious that the CDs used were ok but not the portable DVD writer.

As a conclusion, Panasonic SD-100A is a crappy product. I discourage anyone from purchasing it. My wife sent the DVD writer back for exchange but the same problem occurred for the second DVD writer too. She will be sending it back to the shop again tomorrow. Since the shop only has Sony and Panasonic products, I hope she will come home with Sony one, although I am not a Sony fan either.


Latest Update As of 4th October 2008:
The shop exchanged for the same model of DVD player. Surprisingly, it worked this time. The differences we noticed with the previous 2 players were the torn boxes and even the Nero CDs provided were different. Probably someone had rejected them before. The current one has a new box in good condition coming straight from their store. I am not sure whether the product has bad quality control or the shop was trying to get rid of rejected players. I am a bit doubtful that it's due to bad quality control because it's a Japanese product and the Japanese are generally very strict about it. To be safe, I would still encourage people to stay away from this product. It's a lesson for Panasonic to be careful of selecting their vendors if it's not the fault of their product. Even though the shop had no problem exchanging the goods but exchanging it three times is unacceptable. Please bear in mind that our grandfathers do not sponsor petrol and parking fees!!

The Star That Doesn't Fade

Mazzy Star - This is an American dream-pop band that didn't suit my music taste in the 90s. They were too mellow and too "country" for me (Yeah, I hated country music before). I only discovered the beauty of the mellowness and the great voice of the beautiful Mexican-American singer, Hope Sandoval, in the last 3-4 years through the song "Fade Into You" & "Happy". Their music is dark and sad usually, just like the songs of Portishead, although Portishead is from a different genre - trip hop. Mazzy Star was active in the late 80s to 90s but I stopped hearing from them from year 2000 onwards. The band does not officially split-up and I hope they will continue to release more album in the near future to add up in their list of the current 3 albums: She Hangs Brightly, So Tonight That I Might See & Among My Swan.

Here are some video clips from the star that never fades...

"Halah":



"Happy":



"Fade Into You":



"Flowers In December:"

Musical Adventure

A number of friends often ask how I managed to find out about so many unknown bands. The answer is simple: Explore Music With An Opened Mind. Without internet, we explore the bands at the friendly record stores that are willing to let us try the CDs. Trust me, it is a time consuming activity and requires a dedicated passion. If you come across any CDs you dislike, just skip them. The main problem is when there are too many CDs you like - more cash flow going outwards. Sometimes, you need to be a regular at the stores and be friendly to the salespersons. If you're lucky, you may come across a salesperson who "clicks" with your taste of music and they could be very helpful in your exploration by supplying hints and suggestion. I know it is very rare for alternative music in Malaysia. I only come across 2 salespersons who are really helpful for the past 20+ years. Honestly, I also rarely come across people who are as adventurous as my friends Joe Kidd, Wei Chuet and myself. Anyway, that's why it's called "alternative music" - we are the rare alternative species! With the availability of internet, music exploration is HEAVEN!!

This morning while checking out an old music video of Chapterhouse, I discovered a noise-pop band named Thrushes. The band is originated from Baltimore, MD, U.S. Yes, it's very common to find dream-pop, shoegazer, noise-pop bands from the U.S. these days being influenced by the 90s British bands. I find this new band interesting although relatively unknown. I could hardly find any information about them online except for a few video clips and their website. They remind me of all the shoegazers of the 90s. I am very impressed with the music of Thrushes. I am now thinking of ordering their album online. If you're adventurous and willing to explore alternative music, this could be your starting point:

A Link to the website of Thrush

Thrushes with "Trees":



Thrushes with "Heartbeats":



Thrushes with "Aidan Quinn":



As a true music fan, the exploration does not start and end at only new bands. You should also stray beyond the border to old bands. It's like a box of chocolates, you'll never know what you're gonna get...like the saying of Forrest Gump. Here are some video clips I have been exploring.

1. The Charlottes with "Liar" - a shoegazer band that was unknown to me until this morning. I could not find any information about this band at all. By the way, to those wondering why these bands are called "shoegazer", check out this video. It's a shame that the video is half way through when it is cut off. #@*%



2. Chapterhouse with "Pearl" - this is another old 90s British shoegazer band that I have almost forgotten.



3. Fleeting Joys with "The Breakup" - this is another unknown band that sounds like My Bloody Valentine to me. Still unknown to me. They sound so similar to My Bloody Valentine that I do not hesitate to call them as My Bloody Valentine's copycat.

Good Old Rock N' Roll

Ever since I re-discovered my childhood song, Walk The Line, by Johnny Cash, I realised that the roots of my music taste was based early Rock N’ Roll, Rockabilly and Country. Therefore I started to dig for the roots and re-discover them.

I remember growing up watching the tv sitcom, Happy Days, in the 70s. I always thought the character of Fonzie played by Henry Winkler was cool. When watching the sitcom, I was indirectly exposed to Rock N’ Roll especially “Rock Around the Clock” by Bill Haley & His Comets. The Rock N’ Roll genre eventually grew on me slowly as I discovered Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Wanda Jackson, Buddy Holly, The Beatles, etc, over the period of about 20 years in my life.

At the same time, I heard Country, Rockabilly and Rock N’ Roll stuff from my dad’s or sister’s vinyl records and cassettes when I was a kid. The genre of Country, Rock N’ Roll and Rockabilly often overlap one another and a lot of singers hopped around those genres. The singers I remember listening from my family’s music collection was Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, Connie Francis, Wanda Jackson, The Beatles, The Shadows, etc. Some time in the 80s, I discovered Patsy Cline and Brenda Lee on my own. “Crazy” by Patsy Cline and “Rock Around The Christmas Tree” by Brenda Lee caught my attention. I believe I heard them in movies initially. What makes these 2 singers and these 2 songs special were the melody and their excellent female vocal.

I believe Wanda Jackson is almost forgotten in today’s music industry. I remember asking my sister about Wanda Jackson when I was about 10 years old about Wanda’s voice. I thought those songs were sung by a kid. Yes, I do agree that Wanda Jackson has a very unique voice that makes her sounds wild and rebellious. Honestly, I had never seen any photo of Wanda Jackson before yesterday. I used to imagine her as a black lady that dressed up in black leather jacket like Joan Jett. Yesterday, I was shock to find out that she was beyond my imagination based on the following photo and she was not wild at all:



Buddy Holly has been an inspiration to a lot of artiste today especially alternative music. He was another rocker that did not look like a rocker. He looked like a nerd with the big old fashion spectacles. I believe a lot of nerd punks today have been greatly influenced by him – making rockers look cool in nerdy spectacles. His hiccup style of vocal is distinctively unique. Today, any singer who sings using this method will automatically be associated to the great Buddy Holly by default. Unlike Wanda Jackson, Buddy did not live very long. It’s a pity that he passed away in a plane crash at such an early age together with the other 2 legends, Richie Valens and J.P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson.

The Forgotten One

There are some 90s shoegazing bands that I have almost forgotten although they're some of the early indie bands that I used to be crazy about. They just sank and faded somewhere in my memory over the years. Lately they happened to re-emerge from my memory and I started to check them out in YouTube. Surprisingly I could not even remember their songs these days. Sign of old age I guess. One of the bands is Pale Saints.

Pale Saints with Half-Life:



Pale Saints with Blue Flower:



Pale Saints with Throwing Back The Apple:




Pale Saint with Sight of You:

I love this song. I think it's very beautifully written.



Sight Of You
the sight of you
the sight of you
makes me feel blue
makes me feel blue
the things you said
the things you said
make me feel bad
my heart is sad

i think of him
i think of him
soaked all in red
i wish him dead
you say that he
you say that he's
nothing like me
but how can that be?

what can i do?
what can i say?
the world was large
and i felt very small
what's gonna happen?
how will i know
when things are back
the way they used to be before?

the sight of you
the sight of you
makes me feel blue
i feel so blue
the things you said
the things you said
make me feel bad
my heart is sad


Pale Saints with Kinky Love:

Cansei de Ser Sexy Is Not Tired of Being Sexy

I was introduced to a Brazilian indie electro new wave revival post-punk band by chance when I was on a radio show with a former Traxx FM DJ, Maya, about more than 1 year ago. Maya bought the CD all the way from the U.K. when she visited the land of punk. The band was Cansei de Ser Sexy with the abbreviation C.S.S. for those who could not pronounce the band's name. The album was a self-titled album. It was love at first hearing for me regarding Cansei de Ser Sexy. Most of the songs were very upbeat. I was a little bit surprised that the traditional grunge label, Sub Pop, was the label of this indie new wave band. It was not a complete surprise for me because Sup Pop also signed up some indie shoegazer bands that could be categorised as very close to dream-pop such as Velocity Girl and The Spinanes. Since the era of grunge had cool down over the years, it's pretty normal for an indie label like Sub Pop to explore beyond the territory of grunge.

The year is now 2008. Getting any album by Sub Pop or any indie record label is obviously not an easy task in Malaysia but I managed to get it by crook or by hook. Yes, I managed to get the new album of Cansei de Ser Sexy called Donkey. It's not love at first hearing for this album but don't get me wrong, it's not a bad album after all. As usual, most of the songs of Cansei de Ser Sexy are very upbeat. There is no such word as boring in the dictionary of Cansei de Ser Sexy. The songs do not hook you up like the first album but they will grow on you. I love one of their weird songs called "I Wanna Be Your J Lo". It's a strange song with very strange new wave beat...not a cup of tea for everyone but it suits weirdo like me. The other songs I enjoy are "Left Behind" (their first single from this album), "Let's Reggae All Night" & "Beautiful Song". Some of the short songs from this album such as "Hollywood" and "Sô Lora, Sô Burra (Disk Putas)" clearly show their punk roots. They remind me of the early Huggy Bear, Bikini Kill and other riot grrl bands from the early 90s.

Here are the video clips from the old album (Let's Make Love and Listen to Death From Above) and new one (Rat Is Dead (Rage)):

Race & Religion

It's very sad indeed that in modern days, the world is still generally divided by race, religion and politic. The races and religions are not to be blamed but we may blame power greed irresponsible politicians and the evil of human’s brains. The situation is very obvious throughout the world regardless whether you're in Malaysia, United States, United Kingdom, Australia, China, etc. There is no denying that racists and religion fanatics are still walking among us. The world thought that when the greatest racist in the world, Adolf Hitler, was dead and when Apartheid was crushed, the world would be free of racism. Unfortunately, it was just a dream of mankind.

When we were kids, we didn't bother about race, religion and politic. We played and befriended anyone. As we started schooling, we were slowly being brainwashed by friends and the segregation started. The segregation could be based on race, religion or even informal "gang". The "gang" I am referring may not necessary related to gangsterism – it can be just a group of kids with common idea/opinion/interest that other groups may not share. I hated this when I was in school because I wanted to remain friends with other races and I wanted to learn more from other races, instead of isolating myself and stick to one particular group of friends. In fact those days, at Standard One/Primary One, one of my closest friends was someone outside my own race that was sitting next to me. Maybe my exposure to someone outside my own race at such a tender age has led me trust them. I am thankful to have this particular friend who has unknowingly shaped my perception towards other races in my life.

Sometimes I question our education system. Has it failed in educating us to unite as one human race? Does it deserve to be called education in the first place if such a basic goal is not achieved? Education is not just meant for generating income in a capitalist world. The more important element is humanity. It is supposed to teach us not to act like a bunch of wolves or wild boars. We do not deserve to be called human if we act like animals. If our education system fails, there is a danger of having another Adolf Hitler on this planet and there is a possibility of World War 3. Do we want that?

I was so surprised about what I heard from a Muslim friend lately. My friend’s 6 year-old niece overheard his children speaking in English. She asked why they spoke in English and English was meant for non-Muslims. Obviously my friend was shock to hear that and asked her who told her so. She gave him a greater surprise when she said that her kindergarten teacher told her that. I wonder whether her kindergarten teacher should be fired or should remain in the kindergarten …. as a STUDENT. It was fortunately that someone in the family could teach the 6 year-old child the right thing from the wrong. I am now very curious about the fate of other children in the same kindergarten that were given wrong advice.

I am also aware of some families that cultivate racism in their children directly and indirectly. Sometimes a scare tactic used could give children wrong impression that other races cannot be trusted.

For example:
A Chinese family member tries to scare a child to prevent him/her from loitering outside the gate by saying “Indians will catch you if you go outside”.

A simple scare tactic like this may lead the child not to trust all Indians. What will happen if one day the kid needs help and the person offers to help him/her happened to be an Indian? This kind of small issue may lead to a major issue because the children may grow up to be the leaders of the country one day. The way we shape our children is the way we shape our country.

Ideally in a multi-racial country like Malaysia, we should be known as Malaysians rather than Chinese, Malay, Indian, Kadazan, Eurasian, Dayak, etc. Race should be removed from the identity card, forms and even our CVs. Race based political parties should not exist. You may accuse me for trying to get rid of race but what's the point of having a race if we're dead because of racial riot? Sometimes I question the necessity of struggling for race and religion because if everyone fight and struggle for his/her own race and religion contradicting with another person's race and religion, aren't we creating a conflict? Don't you think it's more proper to struggle for your country as Malaysians? I know some narrow minded Malaysians may not agree and accuse me lack of knowledge about race and religion. Those people are dangerous and considered extremists in my opinion because they're more likely to be the ones that sparkle racial/religion disharmony in a country, comparing with a non-religious person who mixes with anyone regardless of skin colour and religion.

Hard To Be Polite In The City

Sometimes, I find myself hard to be polite in the city. Sometimes you get an odd stare for being polite and sometimes some pretty young things will mistaken you as a pervert. Once I greeted a security guard "good morning" inside a lift. I got a blank stare in return. Those days, I had just returned from a smalltown in England and I was used to the culture of greeting people I saw in the morning including strangers. It was a norm to thank the bus drivers as well. I miss those kind of politeness in Malaysia, especially in the city like Kuala Lumpur or Petaling Jaya. Certain people say that the Westerners are not sincere in their politeness. In my opinion, who cares? It's better than being rude.

Today, I was coming out from a junction at a petrol station/gas station. I noticed a car purposely increased the speed to prevent me from coming out. When I was driving behind it, I saw a brown skinned hand coming out of the car with a middle finger. Since it's a muslim fasting month and the driver was a muslim, I had to prevent him from destroying his purpose of fasting. So I returned him the international hand signal. I was just doing him a favour.

Once a friend told me about a Canadian using his car horn less than 3 times in his life. In Malaysia, I guess an average driver may have to use at least 30 times per year. Are we the impatient rude Malaysians? Obviously, we cannot beat drivers of certain countries but bear in mind that in some countries, they do not honk at anyone of of anger the way Malaysians do. Sometimes, we are forced to use the horns because there are simply too many psychotic drivers on the road who think the road belongs to them.

Freedom Writers

I was watching a movie at HBO channel in Astro today that I came across by luck - in other words, I was just browsing the channels when I found the movie. The title of the movie was called Freedom Writers based on a true story. The movie was about a dedicated teacher that went against all odds to teach her students something beyond the text books could teach - day to day life! It's rare to have a dedicated teacher like Erin Gruwell. I would say I have personally come across very few teachers like her.

Somehow she reminded me of my former Biology teacher, the late Mrs. Cheah Chin Beng (we called Puan Cheah). I was one of the weakest student in my class those days. Although it was a top class, my motivation to continue studying was very low because I could not compete in the class. I felt like an alien in the class because of my examination results and I hated almost all the subjects besides English, Geography and Malay. My request to be transferred to another class (both the second class and art stream) was rejected by the headmaster. Although Mrs. Cheah was not the form teacher, she noticed it the way other teachers failed to do so. One teacher even insulted me by asking me not to attend her class for failing Chemistry all the time. Mrs. Cheah called me up one day after school to discussed about it and she asked the top student in my class (now a doctor) to teach me. Due to her effort, indirectly she gave me the encouragement to struggle and passed my SPM (government exam) with grade one unexpectedly. She was a unique teacher graduated from Australia. She was a very opened minded person that could joke about it when the Biology lesson touched the topic of sex (other teachers might skip the subject). I still remember that she warned us that the topic was not meant for practical at our teenage years and it drew laughter in the class. I am also aware that she helped a student who didn't have sufficient to buy books. She was the most caring and helpful teacher that I came across. Unfortunately, she didn't live long enough to see most of us graduated. She passed away falling from the stairs when I was in the college. Good people does not live long sometimes.....

The movie also indirectly touched the topic of freedom in writing the way bloggers like us do. In the movie they used diary but we use internet. Sometimes the authority would find ways to block us from writing something straight from our hearts. It's not fair to prevent people from being sincere even if it's a criticism. That's the reason I loath Internal Security Act being used against bloggers in Malaysia. It's undemocratic and against freedom of speech. If the people are well educated and have the appropriate brains, they should be able to think whether the stuff written by bloogers make sense or not. It's unnecessary to lock the bloggers up in jail.

The following is the link to Freedom Writers Foundation:

Frredom Writers Foundation