Friday, December 25, 2009
GLOBAL CHAOS- The Art of Listening CD(Pony Canyon Music (M) Sdn Bhd/Small Budjet Productions 2000)
The title says it all. “The Art of Listening” will demand a certain configuration in your faculty to grasp the sheer unnervingly ecletic array of genre shapeshifting and associated madness. You hear but do you listen? I cannot vividly recall another band that sounds like this, at least not anywhere in Singapore. Mr Adam Md Yusop, the mastermind behind this intricate and convoluted musical shapeshifter is certainly one guy I would hope to meet, despite the fact that we had some form of email communications online few years back when I was doing a metal website. He come across as an intelligent free spirit who would not only think out of the box, but would hurl the box into the dump the minute he chance upon one. I know there was something special about Global Chaos when I first heard their debut demo “And It's All Our Fault”, which seamlessly meld the brutal sounds of death metal, hardcore, grindcore with experimental elements. The demo won positive acclaims from many of the underground presses from the early '90s, and it won me over even though I would consider myself as a rather close-minded metal freak back then.
Now, I cannot help but feel that this debut album from Global Chaos will bewilder your average orthodox metal fan. This CD had leapt a light year even further from their demo days. Adam's palate for Global Chaos here is a strange, insane landscape of the human psyche. “The Art of Listening” began with a mystifying Arabic intro that opened a deceptive gateway into a throbbing industrial hell of “And the Angels Danced” complete with a zone out moog somewhere in the middle that takes you further into electroclash/hardtech tripping. This track was featured elsewhere on a tribute compilation to Malaysia death metal gods Brain Dead. Do not be fooled into thinking that you can keep track on its progressives; you'd be thrown off tangent from the hardcore moshpits into surreal jazz arpagios like on “3 Dimensional Anger” (featured earlier on Menagerie Compilation put out by Mouse Records).
Just as you try to wince away from more metallic abuse, “Baraka” a guitar instrumental piece led your hands mischievously into the rainforests and suddenly your heart will beat with environmental consciousness, before emerging on the other side with “A Piece of a Puzzle”, a live version of the emotive rock song with pop sensibility and heartfelt lyrics, first made famous on the Made In Singapore (MIS) compilation from Mouse Records. “Flames of Srebenica” is a jazz infused progressive death metal instrumental, a full steam ahead loco train into the depths of unpredictability with unusual time changes and twists. “Cyber Neanderthal Man/In Twilight with Myself” is what I would consider as the crazy crazy highlight on the CD. This is witty, perverse, brilliant and fun concoction of reggae, circus music, hardcore, jazz, blues and death metal in one blue pill and it still works under the magic of Global Chaos! Two tracks from the legendary cult demo “And It's All Our Fault” are featured here as bonus tracks, namely “Imagine If U Will” (blues meet death metal and grindcore) and “Dying Inside” (hardcore meets rock, death metal and avantgarde).
This CD is a great vehicle for exercising the human ID via its convoluted musical auto-suggestion. All of this thematic theorizing is of course a bunch of subjective horse feces. The music is just incredible and very recommended for the adventurous music lovers with an expansive open-mindedness and enough intelligence quotient to get hooked. The last weird piece in the Global Chaos puzzle: this CD is for some interesting reason only issued on Malaysia's Pony Canyon/Small Budjet Production (Fadzil's pre Musikbox label from Johore Bahru) despite the very fact that this is a Singapore band, and that most local music collectors will have some trouble finding this item, given its limited quantity and puzzling elusiveness.
--sojourner at 4:54 AM
Thursday, December 24, 2009
NUNSEX
Classic trio of Nunsex/Nunsex- Beatnik Demo 1991The bandname Nunsex is a controversial choice especially in prudish evangelical Singapore, and I am surprised the religious watchdogs didn't get to them. They also had a controversial reputation in some live gigs. The band was into industrial noise and punk rock, a headswim of Sonic Youth, Big Black and Dinosaur Jr, and it was formed by Azmi (vocals, guitars),Salleh (drums) and Randie (bass) in 1989, a trio who regularly patronize Spitfire (a skate-gear shop). Azmi could be considered a veteran as he was originally from the pioneering death thrash metal lineup Nuctemeron (although he was actually sacked). They released one very infamous cassette LP, titled “Beatnik”in 1991, and it features many catchy dark tracks like “Valhalla (Home of the Guts)”, “Ripride (Tons of Black Clouds)” etc., driven by superb fuzzy guitar wah-wah and a brilliant drumming hinting at jazz roots with typically decent Boss studio productions. “Beatnik”, the name culled from the Beats Generation, was one of the most brilliant and original sounding releases from the early '90s yet sadly a lot of crap beat it to fame. A CD reissue of their legendary tape will be a deserving treatment.
--sojourner at 10:47 PM
THE PADRES- BigO Singles Club #1 MCD(BigO Pte Ltd 1993)
In the mid '80s, there existed a subculture of creative expression and dissent in middle-class Singapore that saw a number of individuals attracted to the Bohemian impulses pointing the opposite way from your regular sinkie Singapore. Tucked away deep in the corners of the HDB units, a sweet dream forments for a regular Joe who decided he could put his thoughts into music. Some hard work actually paid off for this sort of a teenage rebel who decided to form a band by the name of Corporate Toil, making artistic noise that is benignly subversive and painfully amateurish, and which consciously not wanting to sound a part like the next Dick Lee or Eric Moo. Nevermind that Joe Ng and company looked kinda part of the Xinyao movement with his meek early Corporate Toil shots with shades, he stuck to his casiotones, looked away from jeering punks and made some of the most adventurous music to be heard from the HDB arena demo circuits, in the name of the underground. It was a fun period in that part of the '80s, because other equally impressionable wide-eyed kids also saw the merit in making a world of possibilities out of the riffs in their head and a cassette tape. The DIY movement sprouted and soon they grew in congregation. And they would be heard saying there's “nothing on the radio”. Self contained with imports, tape-tradings, exquisite tastes and making own music, who cares about Vanilla Ice?
But Joe probably heard Queen's “Radio Gaga” and felt the same way. And he also probably heard it over the radio. In 1991, Joe Ng abandoned the electro-pop of Corporate Toil and formed his first rock band, The Padres, a moniker hastily selected impromptu, based on a US baseball team t-shirt. This band wrote “Radio Station”, which is anthemic for that time, a sartire on how radios would conveniently forget to play their favourite songs, but the funny thing is I actually first heard it on the radio. This song was found on the “BigO Singles Club #1” that comes together with an issue of BigO magazine back in 1993 along with other song like “Angel” (as well as a hidden track which sounds suspiciously like Kevin Matthews effort). The MCD that I am reviewing here is a piece of history for Singapore indie pop/rock music and I would consider it as the epitome of the movement because it is the first media that propagated “Radio Station” before radio gets it. This release of course is now a collector's item that every Singapore music fans talk about. No, BigO does not sell it anymore, so let's just talk about it.
In 1994 it was played on the BBC World Service; and music for the masses take on a twisted meaning.The mad hatter sliding guitars of Ben, the unstably amicable vocals of Joe, the dramatic thudding of Pat and the foreboding plodding of Francis point to the defiance of their Bohemian impulses, a sweet dream come true from a long period of toil in the Singapore music underground. Suddenly you can feel it in the air. We would wave our hands in the air like antennas to the sky, signalling for the great mothership of revolution. The idealists could envision a rock n'roll utopia and psychos prolly see an anarcho bleakness. So many years have passed, so much have happened with local music, and “Radio Station” still resonate the whole spirit, ethos and heart of Singapore indie music circa late '80s/'90s as an anthem of our youth, ideals and revolution. The Joe that made “Radio Station” will die a happy man. The other average Joes can only stand and stare.
--sojourner at 9:26 PM
RADIO ACTIVE- Eyes In The Attic CD(Pony Canyon Entertainment Pte Ltd 1993)
Dulcie Soh can make wave with Radio Active. Her new band after Do Not Ask (DNA) actively abused the geiger counter for a large part of the '90s radio when the radar zoomed in on the Singaporean ruckus. You sometimes wonder if Dulcie was a Triple Sciences student with her choice of bandnames. But she has just got the right kind of chemistry and formula for this band, a departure from the full of life science rock n' roll of DNA into the thinking man physics of Radio Active. She has forsaken her rock goddess leather jackets for the gothic little black dress, complete with the holy cross dichotomy and a more somber visage. Radio Active consists of her, ex-DNA comrade Jeff “Spookz” Long and Herey Teper, and it was formed one year after DNA went defunct. They released their one and only debut album “Eyes in the Attic” in '93, produced by Martin Tang, and a large part of the songwriting/music creative processes are split between Jeff and Dulcie. Herey Teper may be the bassist, but he is the official Radio Active Marlboro man; he is either seen smoking or holding out a box of Marlboro for endorsement.
On “Eyes in the Attic”, Radio Active continued the tradition of their adult oriented rock, oblivious to the more caustic and simplistic noise that were churning forth from the then “indie” Singapore music scene. “Needles and Pins”, “Eyes in the Attic” are more upbeat rock n'roll numbers amid the newfound Blondie influences in “Don't Take Advantage of my Good Nature” and “Soul Searchin'”. Incidentally, they covered Blondie's “Dreaming” on this album, as well as Bad Finger's “No Matter What”.
This album had a couple of famous hits active on the radio, like “Changes”, a hearfelt tearjerking ode to Dulcie's father laden with its interesting ethnic sound (didgeridoo intro?) and beautiful composition coupled with the worldly, passionate voice of Dulcie, and “To Be With You”, a ballad that seems rightfully at place on a radio roster full of Mr Big and Saigon Kick ballads. I remember quite recently I was driving one morning when I heard the Class 95 Morning Express trios played “Changes” out of the blue and after that Vernetta Lopez went kinda pensive and said in her low smoky voice that she felt good hearing this after a long time. Well, of course that morning some idiot messaged in and said that song is written by Tanya Chua (no offense to Tanya I love her too). Well, I admittedly still listen to the radio, albeit moreso for entertainment than for the music. I'd also have to confess that I first heard Radio Active's songs, and even The Padre's “Radio Station”...ironically on the radio. Maybe it's still pretty much trendy and cool to say that there's “nothing on the radio”. Well, “some thing's were better before, some thing's not the same anymore. Life's full of changes, they say...” At least you have the free will to change channel..
--sojourner at 7:09 PM
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
EDGAR'S FAULT- Edgar's Fault CD(Route 88 Music Production 1991)
Raunchy rock n'roll is the secret passion of many a so-called punks who wish to progress beyond the three chords to do four. Jared Ellington, a teenage skinhead from Anti-Social Kiosk (an old punk band from the Opposition Party era) shared this passion and while hanging out at Woodstock at Far East Plaza, met a bunch of rockers from Route 88 and together they formed Edgar's Fault, a rock/heavy metal outfit heavily influenced by the LA sound. Their big break came when their song “Positive Mental Attitude”, appearing on WEA's “Let's Celebrate” compilation got positively acclaimed as the best song on that record. Eventually they did not get signed to WEA but released their debut album on the independent Route 88 Music instead.
The material on this CD is best described as a blend of hard rock with a fair mix of heavy music and ballads that sounds mostly like Guns N' Roses and Skid Row affairs, although Jared seems to be also quite heavily influenced by Dave Mustaine's (Megadeth) vocals. “Dead Roses”, the opener is a popular material from the band, having extensive radioplay on the old Radio Heart station. This song is hard rocking with vicious riffs, cool licks and catchy chorus, the string works of both guitarist John Chee and bassist Kamal, and Jared's raw, nasty vocals cooking up a lethal combo. “Doctor Doctor” (I'm surprised that this song managed to pass the censorship in 1991), “Never Say Die (Part I and II)”, “Master Swindler”, “Black Eye” and “Speed Sleep” are the other more upbeat rocking songs from the album, and they are great metallic music to headbang on the mean streets, to the same effect as the omnipresent influence, Guns N' Roses. While “Our Tree”, “Dear Lord” and “You're Not The Only One” (another heavily featured song on radio back then), are more soft rock ballads that are distinctive, memorable and mandatory for any self deserving LA influenced rock band to showcase their sensitive side, haha. “21 Second War” for the record, is just 21 seconds of filler. The technical proficiency of the band is nicely demonstrated on the songs here, with some very neat sounding riffings and drum fills, and of course sounding nothing like simple punk numbers, yet very punk in attitude.
Edgar's Fault was supposed to have recorded another album featuring old material, after Greg (the drummer guy after Bong) and Kamal left the band but we didn't hear from them anymore. Last thing I heard Jared left for Canada, so it could have possibly spelt an end to this cult band from the early '90s. Those long hair, facial hair, leather and the bad ass attitude is not a regular feature in today's rock music but for those who relish the crazy sounds from those wild days, you'd have agreed that Edgar's Fault did it exceptionally well. From the way I see, they fittingly commemorated our favourite “Dead Roses” and its generation of jaded rockers.
--sojourner at 7:50 AM
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
BAND OF SLAVES- 45 MCD(Prometheus Sound Art 1993)
There are a number of things going on with this EP from Band of Slaves. This was made by the band after been spurred on by the death of its vocalist, the late Ian Xavier, who met his misfortune at the Tornado Disco incident. As Alan Ann, the bassist puts it in an age-old interview, “it's not the motivation we would ask for but this will certainly be the impetus for us to buck up and complete the album.” And hence this commemorative MCD. Band of Slaves were great entertainers with their energetic, highly groovy blues rock-reggae music and socially conscious lyrics, rocking the circuits since '87, but this EP “45” is an artwork that is somewhat dark and ominous, the handiwork of Ian and his passings. Ian wrote the song “Eternity” as an eulogy to his late father and lyrically it talks about death, which is eerily philosophical and prophetic.
Band of Slaves were few of the local bands after IGTA that did rock reggae before The Bushmen revived the movement. Musically they were very much influenced by The Police, Bob Marley, Don McClean, Lenny Kravitz and Bob Dylan. The MCD contains five songs, of which all are original materials except for “Redemption Song”, a Bob Marley cover, which is a surprising choice given so many other more reggae selections from this legendary man, yet this may also seem like an appropriate choice for the sombriety of the stuffs here. Selena Wee was roped in to do some of the vocals here, like “Blue Gates” and “Another Cold War” whereby the former has a Latin soul style and the latter more roots rock. “And Justice For Some” (is this a wordplay of Metallica's “And Justice For All”?) is the only song that has a strong reggae sound, which may not seem obvious at first with its contemporary pop piano passage.
I personally think that this tribute feels rather heavy on the heart, prefering their more cheerful material on “New School Rock III”, music that brings one back to the good ol' days when Band of Slaves and The Nonames were pleasing the crowds with their laidback roots and reggae. Still despite the apparent sense of seriousness with “45”, it is a very strong release which is unfortunately too short in length (what else do we expect from an EP) and too limited to make it to more Singapore music lovers. This MCD of mine is handnumbered and I don't remember seeing it been sold anywhere after I purchased it many years ago (maybe I bought the last copy), like all the mysteriously elusive Singapore music CDs out there. Let's say according to popular belief that very few people support local music, then where did all those CDs go to? Burnt? There MUST be another person spinning “45” somewhere on this island.
--sojourner at 7:41 AM
Saturday, June 20, 2009
KELVIN TAN- The Bluest Silence Digipack CD(Aporia Society 1998)
Art is open to interpretation, and it's usually subjective pertaining to individual perceptions. However, most people associate pretty stimulus as a superlative of beauty in art. That's for most normal people. Many delved into more “controversial and ugly” alternatives so as to speak, to suggest that subtle beauty of the cool and misunderstood. That's for most normal people who thought they are different. Few however don't give a fuck but live on in their insane existence making art that only pleases themselves. If you scratch the underbelly hard enough, there are your so-called underdogs who lived in mental/spiritual fringes, obsessed with their pursuit of that very curse called art, which has pretty much forfeited them the chance of living a normal life like your average Singaporean. If I think films, I think Toh Hai Leong, and if I think music, no doubt Kelvin Tan will come into my mental picture. He is one guy with an interesting approach to life and he can pretty much live up to the name as the most prolific artist in Singapore. I wouldn't be surprised if few years down the road he would have released his 100th album. Most of his works are very far out for most people, which can even be improvised freeform “noises” that wilfully don't make senses. Some might admire his guts and willpower, some thinks he has an immense passion for his kind of music, most see it as a sign of madness or pretension, for his albums hardly shift in units except that trickling support from the few fervent fans of his work, which incidentally included a professor in the list.
Mind you, Kelvin Tan he is not a no musical gene random noise-generator. And this Kelvin Tan is NOT that blind dude with a short shot at fame. He has been actively involved in music and literature since the '80s. You can find his presence in BigO often, he has written a Singaporean cult classic “All Broken Up and Dancing” (an essential literature during my teenage years), and he has led the role as the unpredictable guitar axeman in The Oddfellows. I first noticed his musical talent when I heard that song “She's So Innocent” from “Carnival”, and it is so beautifully composed and written in its simplicity that it made me feel jaded that such lovely ballads are not heard of ever since in Singapore until 1998, when Kelvin put out his solo debut “The Bluest Silence” and it's an album chock full of songs written in the same vein! Essentially, many would rate this as his best work, and of course nothing on this album sound like his more experimental, inaccessible later works.
“The Bluest Silence” in its entirety is an acoustic folk album like Bob Dylan updated to the more current sounds of the late '90s with a very heartlander feel. The catchy guitar chord works, the bluesy lead shredding, the well thought ot composition, deep lyrics and even right down to the voices of Kelvin Tan are exceptionally well done, especially the vocals aspect which many Singaporean musicians are struggling with. And he managed everything on this album from composition to performance all by himself.
The album begins with “Your World Ragged Shop”, a very strong number that suggest a tired metropolitan life and that very escape by faith and salvation, opening with lines “Heading through the headlights trying to get out of the daze, we came across the crossroads that unravelled into a maze, in your little Charade could the car bring us redemption?” “Fear and Trembling” is a darker, more somber song which could do proud in ahem, Leslie Low's solo work, although Kelvin was here first. Next comes an upbeat, melodic “She Sheds a Light” which was a 98.7 FM Top 10 hit, a beautiful ballad that is more sophisticated and say compared to his simple and kind “She's So Innocent” work from The Oddfellows, a beauty in a different light with saxophone accompaniment. “Jacqueline Among Her Flowers” is another ballad that appears in the same vein as “She Sheds a Light”, and of course it is written for a certain girl called Jacqueline. “Venus Defiled” is a song of a bitter ageing ex-beauty queen (and an actress) with heartwrenching lyrics like “Like the charms she used to taste, as is really an illusion, she asks herself in jest.””Icarus” and “William Blake's Ghosts” are an insight into Kelvin's literary interests which become more apparent, with a philosophical edge even, in his later works.
The packaging of this digipack album is worth mentioning also, with alot of effort put in the layout, the lyrics cardboards with illustrations and all that, making this look like a very hefty piece of productions. It is a pity though that this album is next to impossible to find, and considering the fact that Kelvin nowadays make rather simple DIY sleeves for his albums these days. Alot of people I've spoken to mentioned that tis a shame that Kelvin Tan did not make music like this anymore. In essence, it is still the same old Kelvin Tan, and to put it into perspective he makes great popular music with his debut, and great unpopular music much later on. It's a fine line between a genius and a madman, and I do think he has traversed both paths.
--sojourner at 12:25 AM
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
CHRIS HO- Nite Songs In Day-Glo CD(WEA Records Pte Ltd 1989)
“Nite Songs In Day-Glo” is the solo debut by Chris Ho, ex-Zircon Lounge, before he was axed into an X'Ho. Back then he was the talk of the town with his steamy performances for the album launch and how Bobby Brown got away with it. Old stories from long long ago. But of course this album is best remembered for it's classic dance hit “Sunburn”. For those who don't know, this is the definitive Ah Beng dance number characteristic of the early '90s. The song is a collaboration between Asanee Chotikul (from the famous Asanee/Wasan brothers responsible for making alot of Thai Ah Beng “techno” hits for e.g. The Grasshoppers,etc) and Chris Ho, with its infectious melody and the memorable chorus. This is the very “Surfer Dan with 30 dirty birds” with the macho radio quality crooning of Chris and the exotic and somewhat cheesy oriental melodicism. I love “Sunburn” to death, for it is a song that stays in your head, and its amount of cheese, cornball and tom yum trash is curiously delicious here.
Chris Ho has got to be one of the most adventurous musician in Singapore. One can witness how he leapt light years between the arty cold wave of Zircon Lounge to his disco dancing solo debut, to his different spiritual transformations in incarnations of X'Ho in spoken words, electroclash and even recently black metal. He went from Duran Duran to rocker, to mohawked punkmonkhunk, to a skinhead. This colourful personality does DJing and write books; his whole bloody existence in Singapore is godsent. I'd vote for him if he forms an opposition party. On “Nite Songs In Day-Glo” cheeky Chris with his rocker locks left the deserted steampunk dystopia of “Regal Vigor” into the sunny paradise of tatoo and temples with a suntan and a grin. Chris Ho probably intended this to be the sleazebag of the century with suggestive male torsos picture, liner notes like “look at the boys waiting for some action”, “wood beams rust steely thrusts” and “you're fiction and i'm friction” sprawled across, stuffs which would probably make Morrissey bow his head in shame. And the lyrics... dammit dun even mention the lyrics! “Buddy Buddy” will prolly make those ex-new guards of AWARE convulse and writhe in agony.
“Sunburn” of course is good. It leaves behind a lingering aftertaste of a perversion of “Loy Krathong”, which is the kind of shit I seriously dig. On this album, Chris covered, or shall I say “paid homage” to some of the greatest rock, punk and postpunk grandfathers. Here, you will find Iggy Pop, The Beach Boys, Television, Element of Crime and even Bahaus numbers done in the professional firefighter Chris Ho way. Of course there's originals, and when Chris Ho is given the liberty to write his songs, he likes to add extra cheese and sex in his formula, like “Buddy Buddy” and “Fictional Stuff”, the kind of music played in SM clubs frequented by blitz kids, trannies, sad Pierrot clowns, majorettes and Carmen Mirandas, pleasure girls and pleasure boys. On “Light St. (Yvonne's Gone)”, Chris subdued his naughty ways and sing about losing love, amid the industrial, dystopian settings that bears some reminescence to his Zircon Lounge stuffs. The last track on this album is the “Sun-dance remix” of Sunburn”, which rocks alot like the original.
This album that I am reviewing is on the hyper rare CD format. Yes, even the vinyls and cassette tapes are extremely tough find in Singapore these days, however it's much more so for the CD which was released in pathetic amounts back then. You have to hate a label like WEA. I have many “rockinthefinecity” readers coming up to me and queried about how I have gotten my grubby hands on those supposedly non-existent CDs (for example like Do Not Ask, Overheads, etc) and I have to say, well it really pays off if you live for music collecting. And “Nite Songs In Day-Glo” really brightens up any self respecting local music collection, what with the ultimate rebel icon staring lasciviously on the cover. Having said that, let me go back and listen to “Sunburn” one more time.
--sojourner at 3:44 AM
Monday, April 06, 2009
THE ORDINARY PEOPLE- It's A Weird Existence CD(Tim Records/Odyssey Music Pte Ltd 1993)
There is a fine line between The Ordinary People and The Oddfellows. One is ordinary, the other is odd, but they are both such nerdy, earthly, humble and pot-bellied bands who can carry a tune. They may not be the most impressive looking people (indeed they are much less than impressive if you see their photos in the liner notes!) but they can seriously rock like no tomorrow. There is no pretension or posing of artistry from this band, you know, that typical levitation into the strata of high mindedness or the construction of meaningless abstract pseudo-intellectual proses typical of many Singapore bands... This band simply rock out their numbers straight in your face with their bouncy teenage naivete and the simplicity of their expression, which at times seems like the second coming of “Teenage Head”. The Ordinary People, led by the multi-talented Chang Kang had already garnered a good reputation amongst the local indie observers with his early heartfelt demo recordings of just simple acoustic numbers with a heart, even before the release of this debut album.
Their debut CD album titled “It's a Weird Existence” is one of the landmark local release that defined the “Singapore Sound”, which is in a way both good and bad. The Ordinary People may be an alternative band, but therein their rockings contain a laidback, heartlander soul that could be found on few bands like The Oddfellows, The Amateurs (a very impressive much forgotten demo-level band) which eventually trace back to the source: in Xinyao (local Mandarin folk pop)! I hope the band will take this as a flatter. The bad thing about this album (and along with many Singapore albums), like how many of the critics and detractors of local music like to put it, lies in the vocals, which may seem unrefined, offkey or having that funny Singlish accent to them. I personally actually find this rather endearing, for this is the earthly charm of our indie music with our unique creole exemplified. The guitars are loosely tuned and loosely strummed, and the band probably don't give a hoot to tabulations and musical notes, which really adds to the allure of this band.
Musically, The Ordinary People rocks the alternative faculty, with substantial modern power pop influence in the veins of Teenage Fanclub and The Posies, add a dash of folk and roots sounds. The album is full of memorable numbers that has this youthful exuberance coursing through its veins. Like the opener “Ready To Be Confused”, there is a ball of rolling enthusiasm and urge after quiet guitar ringings and the blithesome harmonica turns this into a twirling nerdy angst-ridden lament. “No Regrets” is a melodic number waxing lyrical about nostalgia, the good times, old friendships and such, which brings a feel good feeling in the heart, with a catchy chorus that makes a great sing-along. “Older Now” is one of the two acoustic guitar numbers on this album, reminescent of Chang Kang's early works, and it is soulful, tuneful and backed by a female vocals courtesy of Charlene Pang. “Slip Away” is the other one, and this song is a slightly plaintive but still hopeful meditative passage performed with acoustic guitar and harmonica. One of the dearest aspect I observe about this band is how they always maintain that big positive vibe throughout the whole album, which speaks volume about their personality. And in such sad times (economic recession, impending danger of great depression and war), this is one thing that makes The Ordinary People shines like the cheery sun, from the rest of the negative doom-mongers singing about how sad they would hope to be.
--sojourner at 5:03 AM
ASTREAL- Ouijablash CD(Springroll Creative Entertainment Agency Pte Ltd 1996)
Back in the early '90s, I had this serious infatuation with shoegazing bands and when I hear The Pagans (Singapore's version of Ride meets Chapterhouse), you can imagine me sobbing to its hip swaying headswim on Boss pedal effects. After that period we had bands like The Mother and Breed (pre-Astreal) with their wall of art-noise Curve sounding demos. But the biggest name in the history of shoegazing in Singapore if it's not The Pagans, then it is very much Astreal. After Pagit left Breed, the remaining members roped in a particular Melissa Lim for the vocals and they created their unique art noise dream homage of a My Bloody Valentine with Astreal. My first exposure to this band was with the BigO Singles Club 3, which features their song “Stay Awake”, leaving quite an impression with its interesting texture and engaging melody .
Somewhere in 1996, Astreal put out their debut “Ouijablush”, which upon first look reminds me of the cheap techno/dance compilations put out by VMP. But this is extreme indie, very dreamy and sonically rich ambient rocking high on helium. The opener “Just a Dream” is 11 on gain and grating to the max, but a beautiful tune is laid in its architecture, and here the vocals sounds like ghostly whispers which occasionally breaks into clarity. “Wait” is a much more melodic song with a strong Slowdive influence in its structure, and where I can get to hear Melissa's amateurish yet irresistably charming voices. Her airy vocalisation shines on “To The Velvet”, a song which is low on feedbacks and woven by clear, slightly reverbed guitars. The more upbeat songs on this CD are “Stay Awake”, “Vir-Uno”, “Take My Hand”, driven by infectiously energetic programmed beats. “A Blue and Yellow Glow” may be an instrumental, but it is ironically the most complex track on this album, with its beautiful layers of wonderfully chiming instrumentations that aids a spirit into heavenly realms under the right influence.
The debut itself is a very gentle, psychedelic foray into the kaleidoscope of dreams. Subsequently, the band has witnessed few lineup changes, with the participation of Ginette Chittick (previously from Psycho Sonique) in their rosters and the band has since ventured into a darker electronica realm with their sophomores, which is still good, if not better than the debut. However, there is an allure of the mid '90s Astreal that warms the heart in a way that is snug as a bug in the rug.
--sojourner at 2:28 AM
MUTATION- Void of Disharmony 7" EP (Die Hard Version)(Nuclear War Now! Productions 2006/1992)
Before extreme metal has gotten the kind of popularity and hype these days, most of the people in the early '90s tend to associate the music with stereotypes in racial, religious and even moralistic aspects, which can be very far fetched and exaggerated. However, it does have its basis when it comes down to the group of people who would readily accept this music form. Malays can pride themselves with a long, enduring tradition in rock/heavy metal that has been very well estabished since the old Geylang Serai scene. And on the hindsight it is pretty uncommon to hear Chinese people playing or even listening to metal especially with this generally prude and less adventurous population (which maybe makes me weird because I am Chinese and I listen to metal).
Well, Mutation for that matter is a death metal band led by Roy Yeo, who is as Chinese as Jackie Chan sounds like to you and they have a reasonably big impact in the underground. The band besides Roy who does vocals (and who very much later runs Pulverised Records) also consisted of Yiu Leng Hiang on guitars/bass and the godly Ayong handling the drum kits (who is a Malay with a cult reputation for playing in Singapore's legendary Leviathan, and of course most famous for his role in Stompin' Ground and his label Dies Irae Productions). Their 1991 demo “Malignant Existence” is arguably one of the best death metal demos that ranked highly up there with other cult classics like the Abhorer and Profancer. I remember to heart the scary intro with monks chanting at a funeral procession before hell breaks loose with the deathly blasting monstrosity of “Nocturnal Reincarnation”, haunting my dreams ever since.
This "Void of Disharmony" 7” EP I am reviewing right now is the much anticipated reissue of unreleased recordings from 1992, kudos to the great work from Nuclear War Now, a label specialising in the filthiest and most extreme of cult metal. I am extremely privileged to get myself a copy of the “Die Hard” version of this release, which features coloured vinyl, a poster, a sticker and a nicely embroidered patch. Here, Mutation has somewhat updated themselves with a more brutal and modern sound. There is one track here “Cannabilistic Horror” which was originally from the '91 demo, but with a more prominent guitar sound, better productions and a more brutal death vocals. The other track is the rare unreleased one, titled “Ceased To Be”, which is played in the same tradition, heavily inspired by the chugging grating bludgeoning of Swedish bands like Grave, Dismember, etc. The other notable band playing in the same style at that time is Silent Sorrow, who has later cleaned up their acts and became the Concave Scream that everybody likes.
I am always happy to review a metal release, since my background is metal. It is an acquired taste for the permanently head damaged and I am glad that's the way it is. But being the skeptical fogey I am, I have an exclusive taste only for Singapore's late '80s to early '90s death metal like Mutation for example. Nowadays, I find many so-called local metal bands playing broken wristed and diluted "metal" very distasteful yet they carry so much attitude with their arrogant mannerism and outfit. Back in those days, metalheads with their t-shirt and jeans moved in the crowd like wolves in sheep clothing. The new kids are really sheep in wolves clothings with their fanciful adornment and whatnot. In that period, when even the leftest of the dial alternatives are somewhat denounced and reprobated in our local climate, the ones who dared to scream, thrash and bash to utter anarchic subversion stood out as the true rebels. Respect for the true underground of the past.
--sojourner at 2:25 AM
