Wonders of Indie

If one hasn't discovered Mew, it's not too late. I was introduced to Mew by Inch Chua when she did a cover with my other favorite local artist Charlie Lim. I went to get this definitive album, Frengers, as proclaimed by Inch. Listened to the whole album and it's definitely one of my favorite alternative albums out there. And to think this standard of music existed in pretty early 2000s, it is very impressive.

Comforting Sounds draws in you in with its tender guitar hooks and lovely vocals, then slowly work its way to its rock roots and finally blasting you out of the universe. It sure is very comforting to listen when you sleep.

To add on to the previous post, I know I haven't been the greatest friend to N too. I was also another one to blame. The other reason why I have taken my time to reply her is because I don't know if we could go back to where we ended and repair the damages when it's clearly our personalities. But I hope with good faith that it'll turn out fine.

Wow, music ended right on cue. (Was listening to it while blogging, yay!)

a sad, lost place adrift in the clouds

"Life is a drama full of tragedy and comedy. You should learn to enjoy the comic episodes a little more."

Jeannette Walls' The Glass Castle, pg 129

Pardon me for this mid-week blog post, but it's due time I address a rather surprising event that happened in the past week.

I don't really know any other interesting way to say this: I received a letter from N last Tuesday.

Yeah, the N that had supposedly erased me from her life after that misunderstood event that happened earlier this year. I, too, have taken her out of my life. It was an intense and painful process that one should never go through. Yet, the package that arrived at my home sent me into a state of massive shock and confusion, that it took me a long time to register my once best friend N have tried to contact me in a form of a mail package containing a book.

Jeannette Walls' The Glass Castle.

It's a book that is very familiar, but I couldn't place where I heard it from and I doubted that I've read it before.

Well, it took me a while to find out who the sender is, since it had no name attached to it other than mine. Half the time I was thinking "Did I forget that I ordered a book online? Maybe through Amazon or something.." I browsed through the pages in quick succession, looking for a sign and there she was. The letter "N" written on the bottom of the last page. I knew instantly it was my old friend

N had told me before that she loved this book and how much it related to her situation. Or something along that line.

Since there wasn't a written letter in the package, I thought maybe there is something else on the book that I missed. N wouldn't send a book without a message and I knew she had hidden it somewhere in it. I slowly turned the opening pages and saw the message.

For Xing You
30.4.10    240.10.5

It is a code that I needed to decipher.

Eventually, after much pondering and deduction, I arrived at my 2 keywords and possibly her message: Beyond & Farewells.

Now, what the hell am I to make of it?!

There's no other way to misunderstand the meaning of farewells. It means what it means. And "beyond" can mean a lot of things...

Beyond farewells. Now that is a whole new thing by itself. But what does N wants me to take away from this message?

Are we "beyond farewells"? Like is this the last message in our doomed friendship? Means what. Is this the last contact we'd ever have?

Or are we "beyond" our "farewells"? Which means, this short-term departure has come to an end and it's time to get back to where we stopped?

Okay, we gotta think this through. Or at least I have to.

Why would N attempt to make contact with me by sending a book with a secret message that means we're truly over each other? It just doesn't add up. Because if we were really done, she wouldn't send me anything, let alone a letter. I mean, it wouldn't make sense. We're doing fine by ourselves... Aren't we?

Unless this is her way of making a sentimental goodbye which, in this case, is probable... Since we never really had a proper conversation to end our friendship on good terms. It finished on a very bad note.

Davin tells me I should apologize for what I did, a resolution I'm leaning towards, but I'm afraid of what's to come.

Thus far, since my long departure from N, my life has been very peaceful and I like having a peace of my mind, although I had to do battle with my inner demons quite frequently... I did not take well to Ron's departure. And to have that separation from N gives me breather to focus on other important things other than her. She was a chaotic being, emotionally unstable and her mood wavers like the swing on a playground during playtime. It was hard to keep up with her emotions and to attend to her needs. I felt drained at the end of a meet-up.

But N isn't that all bad of an influence on me. If anything, she challenged me on many occasions on how to talk, how to feel, how to perceive matters and people from another point of view. And it thrilled me, excited me and made me feel alive. In fact, without her for a good half year, I felt dead and uninspired. She was the boost that kept me on my toes, even when I didn't ask for it. There was also a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction that followed the drain after meet-ups with her. None of my other friends could give that feeling.

N is an incredible force of nature, I would put it in short.

And, so I've finished the book she sent me. It's a beautiful tale of a dysfunctional family and I found  the ending touching. Knowing the flaws of the people you love drives you so, so mad, that you need to get away. Yet you still come to terms with their personalities and habits and love 'em for who they are. Is this the message she meant for me?

I wish she would send me an easier message to understand, dammit. But, that wouldn't be like N already.

Give Back to Music

Let's go tap into Jazz this weekend. And who else am I suppose to feature none other jazz-pop maestro Jamie Cullum? If you have ever see his live performances on Youtube, you'd be amazed just as I was. The guy is a natural performer and his interpretations of relevant pop songs elevate them to new levels of layers. Like Rihanna's Don't Stop the Music and even Michael Jackson's Thriller. And he has a wonderful, raspy voice that seem almost like wine.

Anyway, went to Ignite Music Festival during this weekend. It was a bitching good time over there at Republic Polytechnic. Weihan and Melvin, friends from Changi Air Base, went with me and helped me took a lot of photos of the event. Local musicians like Shigga Shay, The Sam Willows and Charlie Lim graced the event with their high energy songs and it was seriously an awesome crowd to be with. Only wished that my shoulder had gotten better.

Photo time~

Weihan x Jake x Melvin

Narelle Kheng x Sandra Tang of Sam Willows

Narelle Kheng of Sam Willows. She's a total babe.

This man needs no introduction but here's one anyway:
Charlie (fucking) Lim

Weihan is sandwiched between 2 Willows. Happy as a lark, he is...

Special treat for those who stayed all the way to the end

Home is where the heart is.

For those who chances upon this small blog, this guy over here resides in Singapore and we just recently pulled off another huge celebration (known as National Day Parade) for our country's birthday (9th August). Thought I'd bring out another one of homegrown band and musicians to mark the occasion.

This is a loving cover put together by The Sam Willows and Josh Wei (on violins). The original was sang by Kit Chan and performed in the 2000s during NDP. Somehow, this and along some other songs withstood the test of time and is now one of Singapore's favorite song to sing at the NDP.

I gotta agree, the recent songs churned out for the recent NDPs have been shite and not the least memorable. Well, what can you expect of the quality of songs if the tradition is to come up with a new song to sing for every NDP? People will grow tired of it. It's best if you keep it simple and remix it. Like what you do ever year.

Anyway, you should dig The Sam Willows. They do like folk songs with beautiful vocals. (all four of them sings) And I gotta go. Rushing for time. Sorry for the short sentences. This is typing without editing. Damn.

Happy 49th birthday, Singapore.

an echo is a reflection of sound waves from a surface to the listener

Thought I'd go with local music this week. ANECHOIS has been on my radar for a couple months now, and now that I have finally purchased their music via BandCamp, they're actually pretty solid for a Singapore post-proggressive rock band.

Don't let the video fool you. There are no lyrics; just purely instrumental. Nonetheless, it's still beautiful music. I like to imagine stuff when I listen to good atmospheric music. It leaves it to listener's interpretation. At least they're not forcing you to follow fixed ideas.

That's it for this weekend music, I suppose. Laterxyz