2008 Albums

I think I listen to a lot of new music this year comparing to last year. Still, I dig some old music, kraftwerk, nick drake, new order, chet baker, tom waits and many others that haven't come across my mind yet. Those in bold are albums I listened to more often than the rests. Yeah, these are albums I'm really into this year. And some songs I really love.

TV On The Radio - Dear Science

• Golden Age
• Family Tree

Neon Neon - Stainless Style

Vampire Weekend - Vampire Weekend

• Oxford Comma
• A-Punk
• Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa
  

Glasvegas - Glasvegas

• Geraldine
• It's My Own Cheating Heart That Makes Me Cry
• Go Square Go
• Daddy's Gone
• This is an awesome album!
  

The Last Shadow Puppets - The Age Of The Understatement

• The Age Of The Understatement
• Meeting Place
  

Sigur Ros - Mee sue i eyrum vie spilum endalaust

• Gobbledigook
  

M83 - Saturdays=Youth

• Kim & Jessie
• Graveyard Girl
  

Duffy - Rockferry

• Serious
  
• Mercy
• Distant Dreamer
  

MGMT - Oracular Spectacular

• Kids
• Electric Feel
• Time to Pretend
  

Death Cab for Cutie - Narrow Stairs

• I Will Possess Your Heart
• Your New Twin Sized Bed
  

The Raveonettes - Lust Lust Lust

• Hallucinations (the drum is magical)
• This is awesome too!
  

Coldplay - Viva La Vida

• Viva La Vida
• Violet Hill
• Strawberry Swing
  

Adele - 19

• daydreamer
• best for last
• chasing pavements
• first love
• right as rain
  

The Killers - Day & Age

Air France - No Way Down

• the whole ep is fabulous
  

Cat Power - Jukebox

Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles

• Crimewave
  

Emiliana Torrini - Me And Armini

James - Hey Ma

• Hey Ma
• Waterfall
• Oh My Heart
  

Jason Marz - We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things

• I'm Yours
  

Ladytron - Velocifero

• Black Cat
• Ghosts
• Runway
  

Like Honey - Leaves

Rachael Yamagata - Elephants...Teeth Sinking Into Heart

• Duet
• Over and Over
  

Slow Down Tallahassee - The Beautiful Light

The Ting Tings - We Started Nothing

• That's Not My Name
• Great Dj
• Be The One
  

Ultra Orange & Emmanuelle - Ultra Orange & Emmanuelle

• Sing Sing
• Don't Kiss Me Goodbye
• One Day
  

The Weepies - Hideaway

Albert Hammond, Jr. - Como Te Llama?

• GFC
• Spooky Couch
• In My Room
  

Oasis - Dig Out Your Soul

• The Shock Of The Lightning
• I'm Outta Time (Get Off Your)
  

Little Joy - Little Joy

Club 8 - The Boy Who Couldn't Stop Dreaming

• Jesus, walk with me
• Heaven
• Whatever You Want

Portishhead - Third

Caged Sky

from my window, i see the caged sky

from my window, i see the sunshine

i could break out and touch the sky

i could break out and get whatever i want

but i have got all i want

i have got my sunshine

so i caged the sky

Tom Waits

I love Tom Waits.
He has a unique voice that touches me.
He writes songs that touches me as well.
Especially slow songs of his.
Martha, Time, The Heart of Saturday Night, I Hope That I Don't Fall In Love With You
So far, I only digg some of his early albums.
But they're all classics!
I also borrow Tom Waits Anthology from library, which has many tabs/sheets of his songs. Great~

This is a interesting video clip from the movie, Coffee & Cigarettes.
It's kind of awkward between Tom Waits and Iggy Pop... but I love it!

I wish I was him

I wish I was him.
I can just chase people around, eat, poo, drink, pee, hump the doll, and sleep all day.
No need to think much...

Masa is my visitor, because his parents are going back to Taiwan.
He's a good pet; he doesn't do annoying things like other dogs, which is good.
But I don't think he's cute or anything...

Garlic Prawns Pizza!

before putting into the oven

...15 minutes after

result -> great! yummy!

ingredients:

• pizza base mix
  
• tomatoes
• garlic prawns
• pesto paste
• flour
• cheese

L'ignorance

剛好正在讀昆德拉的這本小說 - 無知。

"我想像多年後兩人重逢, 他們會有甚麼樣的機動。從前, 兩人來往頻繁, 於是認為彼此之間繫著相同的經驗, 相同的記憶。 相同的記憶? 誤解就是從這裡開始的: 他們並沒有相同的記憶; 兩人都對這段過去留存著兩、三個小小的情境, 可是各有各的版本; 他們的記憶並不相似; 也沒有交集; 甚至在數量上也不相稱: 其中一人記得另一人的事比另一個人記得還要多; 主要是因為每個人的記憶力有差別, 但也因為他們對彼此的重要性並不一樣。"

對於這段特別有感觸, 有過經驗的人應該都知道。那是種很不舒服的經驗, 感覺好像記憶在某個夜裡記憶被人給偷換似的, 就像在 Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind 那樣。我有過幾次這樣的經歷, 在面對前女友和舊朋友時。最後, 我屈服了。我實在沒有甚麼把握對他人保證自己是對的, 就算有, 那也只不過是我的想法促使我對某件事情騰空捏造出來的歷史。對於他人, 那只是「騰空捏造出來的」罷了。每個人對事情的見解和想法大多相異, 因此生活中常常有誤解。

"從第一秒鐘開始, 兩人的相遇就建立在一個不公正, 不平等的基礎上, 令人憤慨。"

Rock History

last semester, I took rock music history as an elective course
it was fun and great for a music newb like me to learn in uni
and I did learn a lot more about music than before

from blues, rolling stones, beatles, soul, punk, new-wave, MTV
blah blah blah...

it was fun, cuz all we did in class was watching clips, listening tracks, and talking about their history and influences
one of the class was a jam session played by the lecture and his friends
they played blues, boogie pianos, beatles, police and it was a great session

it was great, cuz I learnt many names, events that I didn't know before
how rock'n'roll was formed, why psychedelic was popular during 60's
blah blah blah...
but one thing I realised was that different type of music use different methods to attract their audiences
like Elvis Presley, he used his look, his expressive energy, and popular tunes
like Jimi Hendrix, he used his amazing guitar techniques and expressive behaviours
like The Beatles, they used their looks, wonderful pop songs
so now, when you are talking about genres of music, I can tell...
metal - techniques, vicious images
pop - looks, sing-along tunes
hip-hop - beats and bass, hard-core images
jazz - i duno this one, just jazzy i guess...
alternative - mainly expressive...
and that's why i'm more attracted to alternative and indie-pop than other genres

though it seemed like a wonderful course, but it got exams too
I did pretty alright except for the final essay...
my poor writing skills only allowed me to write an introduction...
my topic was about "why there's no selling-out for bands nowadays? it's all about just getting heard..."
very interesting topic, and i did a lot of research
I'm just gonna write it here i guess... sigh

- "sales are no longer the absolute indicator of success or popularity that they once were" Nick Horby from 31 songs
- "in the old days, you toured to promote your records. now you release records to promote your tour"
- "we're in a computer age where most of the magic happens in the studio, rather than on stage, and power marketing record companies pump out soulless shit to a multi-medium platform by the minute. In saying that, without the internet, a lot of good music would go unheard..." Van Schie from Van She

I guess that summed up my argument

Now, let's watch the amazing performance from Santana at Woodstock in 1969
this is without the drum solo (awesome), but still good
look at how musicians expressed themselves and delivered to the audiences back then
now musicians deliver to please the audiences
it must be a heaven and hell out there, but I wish I was there...

looking back, I wish I was speacial

looking through my old blog
it feels so odd, i feel like watching other people's blog
even though i definitely wrote them myself...
maybe i just dun wanna admit that i wrote it, because it is so crap


這是去年做的心理測驗...
現在再看看, 我更懂它的意思了

建意：
每天找些正向的事情，並加以慶賀
享受世俗面，去看看平凡中的不平凡
覺得自己特殊而正確時，在行動前先花時間考慮清楚
最渴望：能更深入的了解自己，看透人生
最恐懼：自我身份的模糊，感情世界的缺陷
最難達到的美德：平衡 (Equanimity)
最難克服的執念：憂鬱 (Melancholy)

Gardem State

I just watched it again, fifth time maybe.
I'll never grow tired of this movie.
It touches me, even made me ...

Funny Jens

This is probably one of the funniest interview I've seen.
Well, it's not really even an interview.
Just some questions asked by fans, and answered by Jens Lekman.
The reason why I like him so much is that we have the same birthday!
So, I think we have many personalities in common, as I can tell from his songs.
And his songs are great, I reckon...
Do impossible things
Here we go ~

If you would create an dream band, which persons would be in it?

i'd have a monkey on bass, a panda on drums, an octopus on accordion, a wolf on vocals. they'd all have human qualities though, the wolf for example would be gay but does not come out until the 3rd record for which they take a giant step in a more balearic pop direction. this is where the octopus puts the accordion back in the latin pop tradition.

Have you still got you budgies, and do you think that they are good pets?

they're my best friends.

What's up with the bandaid you wear in some pictures?

i woke up one morning three years ago when a photographer was banging on my door. i fell and hit my forehead against the doorknob. i was ready to have my picture taken with a bloody face but she told me to clean myself up and so i did. then she complained all the time and said "there should be more red in the picture". well, duh....

What would you think about joining an organisation for young people with pensioner tendencies?

ouch, that hurt.

Have you got any intentions to release the song Eureka, and why hasn't it been released offically yet?

it's on the kullaberg dvd (not released yet) but the reason i never recorded it properly is because it grew old. it never meant anything to me, it was just a silly song with a nice melody for me. but people liked it so i played it.

oh actually ... now i remember. that song was called "Ulrika" first. and i wrote it for my keyboardplayer. i can't remember if i had feelings for her or something but i remember changing the title to Eureka after she got a boyfriend.

You seem to have some masochistic tendencies, considering you sing about wanting to be someone's dog or being traded for a cigarette lighter. Do you like the idea of someone else taking care of you so that you can concentrate on being the fool in love?

no. i wanted to be someone's dog in a friendly way for a friend who was sad. and trading myself for a lighter... that might make me cheap but not masochistic. i do get very absorbed by a person i am in love with or care for, but do not want to be dominated, punished or hurt either emotionally or sexually which is my definition of masochistic. ..
it does take a lot of concentration to be a fool in love though.

I read somewhere that you liked mariah carey's songs. wich one's your favourite?

fantasy and we belong together

Have you ever cried on stage?

i havent really cried since i was ten or something. it's one of those fucked up things, i know several of my male friends who also can't cry. i was told by people (not my family) when i was young that crying was weak.

Are the texts of your songs pure imagenary, or has they sometimes a true background?
(is your inspiration all in your head or are you inspired by the reality?)

i am always inspired by reality as i remember it. it's interesting though, if you would go back in time to revisit your memories as they happened you would be shocked of how much your mind reconstructs the
past.

What is the best gift you every recieved from a fan?

well, i got this cigarbox in london earlier this year. packed with small things, old photos, rocks, feathers... it was great.

here's a wishlist if people want to give me things:
any kind of clothes, pants, shirts, socks, sweaters, hats, jackets... it's always good cause you can't bring 30 pair of pants and you smell really bad when you sit in a van and sleep on someones floor and play show after show. if you make clothes and want me to wear them there's a much better chance for that than getting your band a recorddeal.
i also like good dark chocolate and cheap jewelry.

What's the nicest or most unexpected thing someone has said after/during a show?

during a show in tucson:

guy - get the fuck out of new mexico !
me - ??? but we're in arizona.
guy - uh yeh, but you had to get the fuck out of new mexico to.. get here.... and now you're here... and ... i'm so happy.

Do you have any good pick-up lines?

My favourite was last weekend when a girl handed me her cellphone and said it's for you. Then she ran out of the club and called me from a payphone. I mean, if you can't get someones phonenumber you might as well give them your phone.
Then you'll know the number!

# 2 was also this weekend. I was talking to someone famous at the P3 Guld awards, i don't know his name or why i was talking to him. He said: you look like a potsmoking golfer, do you have any weed on you? I replied: No, but I have a golfclub in my pocket. At the moment it sounded good, then it turned out he had taken it as if i was hitting on him and later on his boyfriend wanted to kick my head in.

What happened to the releases you planned for 2006 but were then shelved in december (new album and eps, etc)?
Any chance they'll be released this year?

No.What i did was not to put them on the shelf, I actually erased them. For a long time I was fantasising of someone breaking into my place and stealing my computer or that it would be destroyed in a fire or something. I tried uninstalling my firewall so someone could hack it and erase my harddrive.

And eventually I just realised that it was obvious I wasn't happy with it and all I neeeded to do was to press the delete button myself. After that I got a little triggerhappy and continued erasing about 200 old songs. But it felt good. I don't like the past. I'm not such a big fan of the future either. I like the present, 2006. I am currently working on other songs and have made quite a progress lately.

How do you typically go about when writing and composing your songs?

I wake up early. From the night before I have carefully folded four clean towels and hung them on a chair. I feed the birds from my window. On my desk there is a bowl of red apples, I take one bite, then put it back waiting until the bite turns brown. I spin on my chair, a dirty thought passes through my head but I let it be. As a young magpie lands on my window sill I slowly wipe my sweaty forehead with one of the towels.

Then I lie down for a few hours. When I wake up it is late and I buy the evening paper, carefully reading every word. I open my window and throw breadcrumbles to the young magpie. Occasionally I throw small rocks at him with the message "Life is hard" written in tiny red letters. Then I have supper and I go to bed.

Why won't you let your records be available to a wider audience?

I have a whole bunch of people working hard to spread the main full length records all over the world. I have nothing against those records being available everywhere and if it's those records you're thinking of it's only a question of demand. But I sometimes make limited ecords , tour ep's , vinyls etc ... because I am still uncomfortable with the idea of my music being everyone's property. Some songs I only want to share with those who really really want it.

This is from a fan site of Jens Lekman. Clink to see more Ask Jens.

Today has been good

I went to uni to start my summer course today.
After the class, I went to unidisc to have a look at vinyl records.
I have always wanted to listen to vinyl if I can, so I did today.
I bought Billy Joel's "The Stranger", then headed to library to have a listen.
I put in on the turntable, watching the record spinning, listening to the song as I read the lyrics.
This is exactly what I love to do!
The experience is completely different to CDs or Mp3s.
This is the first time, so I wanna write it down this little precious moment of my life.
The Stranger is a fantastic album, lots of great songs.

Then I went to city to return some books.
While waiting for bus, I went into a shop, called "Books, CDs, Vinyls Exchange".
Actually I don't know what it's called.
The shop stunned me at the first sight, stacking huge collections of CDs, vinyls, cassettes, tapes, mags, clothes, all the random stuffs in disorder (maybe there is still some order, but it looks messy).
I didn't stay for too long, but I'm sure I'll spend some time there finding treasures.


Buses haven't come yet, so I went to another record store.
I wasn't planning to buy anything, but when I checked out the jazz section I found Chet Baker's albums at the discounted price.
I bought "Chet Baker Sings" straight away.
This is such a smooth and cool album.
I fell asleep twice when I listened to it twice.
Maybe I was just too tired.
However, this is definitely the record that I'll revisit from time to time.

I Fall In Love Too Easy

Jens Lekman
I DON'T KNOW IF SHE'S WORTH 900 KR

Well I know that I fall in love too easy,
I just sit back and pluck a little daisy.
Oh loves me, loves me not,
I wanna fill her heart with forget-me-nots
So she'll think of me,
In Barcelona.

I don't know if she's worth 900 Kronor,
'Cause that's a ticket from Gothenburg to Barcelona.
Oh loves me, loves me not,
I wanna fill her heart with forget-me-nots
So she'll think of me,
In Barcelona.

But there's a song on the radio
that lets me know that what I feel is a
No, no, no!
But hey let's go.
I'm not afraid to lend my heart out to a stranger:
Barcelona.

Oh please don't remind me of the little time i have known her.
She's probably happy,
In love with someone in Barcelona.
But no matter, if she loves me not,
I wanna fill her heart with forget-me-nots
So she'll think of me,
In Barcelona.

But there's a song on the radio
that lets me know that what I feel is a
No, no, no!
But hey let's go.
I'm not afraid to lend my heart out to a stranger

this song totally speaks for me...

A Change Is Gonna Come

Obama, the first black American president - of course it means a lot.
I personally don't like him very much though.
Anyway so, Seal covered a single called "A Change Is Gonna Come"
I supposed it's because of the election thing, but it ain't good comparing to Sam Cooke nor any other artists who had also covered the song (Bob Dylan, Tina Turner, Aretha Franklin, Al Green, Otis Redding, you name them...)
But I personally like this version by a cello player, Ben Sollee
I can repeat it for over five times, which is amazing!
This song is quite different to the original, yet still maintained the great quality as a song, blending his catchy cello melody and his sweet voice.

listen Ben Sollee - A Change Gonna Come

Another great song by Ben Sollee - Try


Same Cooke - A Change Is Gonna Come


Aretha Franklin - A Change Is Gonna Come

MediaMonkey

This is such an awesome media program for people who have large collections of music.
You can personalise a lot of settings here.
Comparing to this monkey, WMP and iTune suck!
This is a really amazing music player.
上次去圖書館借到早期地下樂團 "骨肉皮"的第一張專輯, 他媽的還找的到資料
太可怕了!!!

如果還能讀中文的話就完美了

link: MediaMonley

Tagged!

photo taken while i was in the old apartment

Thanks to luyi for tagging me! I have been reading her wonderful blog for a long while now, and I just start to blog because I suddenly feel like it...

Rules:
1. Link to the person that tagged you.
2. post the rules on your blog
3. Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself
4. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs
5. Let each person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.

1. regret
name of the blog, because i have been listening to New Order's Regret a lot lately
it makes me feel new and good at the same time
hope this blog does the same magic to me and you

2. youth
i just watched a japanese TV episode called "Orange Days" and a chinese novel called "seventeen". both of them are about youth.
"Orange Days" is story about a group of good friends at their last year in university, so it talks about uni, looking for jobs, love, relationship, friendship, life... almost everything I can relate to
Seventeen is about what things people do when they were 17. You know, all the stupid things and yet unforgettable
i am going to my last year of uni (excluding post graduate studies), half way between the two above, so i really think a lot about my youth lately...
i know that it's not too late, but i just duno what else i can do...

"life - it only makes sense when you look at it backwards, too bad we gotta live it forwards"
quotes from the movie, Thirteen Conversations About One Thing
i saw this quote from the novel "17", i totally agree with it though i haven't seen the film

3. smoke
i never thought that i would ever smoke in my entire life, but i did, i mean i do...

4. music
i listen to music a lot, digging a lot of music as well
recently i'm really into
Glasvegas
Rachael Yamagata

5. run away
last time i went to Borders, and saw the new book about runnig by Haruki Murakami
so i picked it up and read
i remembered one part when he said that he is not the type of person who is easy to get along with. the reason is because he always run away or hide whenever there's a problem
i do the same thing, but now i'm all alone and can't really run away from myself...

6. unknown
i wanted to write here, because i am anonymous to you unless you make friends with me
i wanted to write for myself, and people who enjoy what they see here
you don't have to know me and you don't have to come back here if you don't want to
simple as that

so i love being unknown




tag six people?

I'm still trying to figure out who i can tag...

The Christian Roommates

this is the first time i upload so many pics at once, so i screwed up the order
so... you have to start reading from the bottom
and this is a very old book, printed in 1967
therefore the binding makes it hard to scan
never mind... enjoy the interesting story by John Updike!

約翰歐普戴克

因為看了村上春樹的一篇文章

閱讀約翰歐普戴克的最佳場所

所以去圖書館找了當年他看的那本書 The Music School
因為是短篇故事, 所以我先跳著看裡面提到的那篇 "基督徒室友們"

非常有趣也寫得很好的一篇故事




可是因為是原文書, 所以看起來有點吃了
不過還是會繼續看下去的

ps. pic from Academy of Achievement

Emiliana Torrini @ Brisbane Powerhouse 16/11/08

其實看完 Emiliana Torrini 的表演, 我心中滿是歡喜有說不完的話想說
但是坐在電腦前的我...只顧自的回味那些美好片段
很難把所有都打下來...

我想音樂只有親身經歷才會懂, 不管是聽還是看
有的人很厲害能把音樂寫得很好, 但那不是我
我只會親身感受... 我永遠都寫不出我滿意的文章
因為我天生就不是那個料

回到演唱會, 一出場的 Emiliana Torrini 身穿綠色有葉子的洋裝
配著金色的高跟鞋, 很可愛
但跟其他團員比較乍看之下, 還真像是零時湊齊的
負責鼓的是個穿西裝戴帽子戴墨鏡的大叔
感覺他應該是從爵士樂團跑來的
不過他的爵士鼓還打得簡直帥爆了
鍵盤的是頂著黑人爆炸頭的黑人(...), 整場幾乎沒有說話
酷酷的坐在旁邊彈鍵盤, 放 sample 跟其他樂器
然後在右邊的吉他手, 頭頂著六零年代的嬉痞頭
一身黑, 感覺他是個老搖滾樂手, 但他一點都不老而且還彈著一手好吉他
在左邊的吉他手, 打扮很學生
不過他很厲害, 不管甚麼樂器他都很罩, 玩了四五種樂器
當然他們不是零時湊齊的, 人家有練過很久的...

整場演唱會 Emiliana 一直在講笑話, 做些搞怪的表情和動作
逗得台下的觀眾樂開懷
其中最搞笑的是在唱 Fisherman's Woman時還整個笑場
笑到不行的她還想繼續唱, 結果完全跑掉因為她還自顧著笑
笑完後她馬上說 "I'm SO sorry. I will give you the money back... out of my own pocket."
其實這樣的一場表演, 實在是看得我好開心呀!
因為她實在太可愛了!
雖然我每次看演唱會都說比我預期的好, 但這比我預期的實在好太多了
只有在那裏看完整場她的表演, 才會知道她有多麼的有趣, 好笑, 搞怪, 跟好聽!!!

之前在聽新專輯 Me And Armini 的時候, 覺得奇怪
為什麼她要做一些很high 跟很experimental 的歌(Jungle Drum, Me and Armini, Big Jump, Gun)
原來這才是真正的她, 表演這些歌時的她才能一邊享受一邊帶給觀眾
但要表演抒情歌她也一點都不含糊
每次都投入到閉著眼睛, 皺起眉頭來唱
真的能看現場是種奢侈的幸福呀~
還沒聽過的快去聽
能去現場的趕快去

ps. 冏, 我又亂寫了一通

還是來聽聽畫質不好的現場吧! Big Jumps!


Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/emilianatorrini
Youtube Video: Emiliana Torrini's "Me And Armini"
Part One / Part Two / Part Three

Regret

Regret by New Order

Maybe I've forgotten the name and the address
Of everyone I've ever known
It's nothing I regret
Save it for another day
It's the school exam and the kids have run away

I would like a place I could call my own
Have a conversation on the telephone
Wake up every day that would be a start
I would not complain of my wounded heart

I was upset you see
Almost all the time
You used to be a stranger
Now you are mine

I wouldn't even trust you
I've not got much to give
We're dealing in the limits
And we don't know who with
You may think that I'm out of hand
That I'm naive, I'll understand
On this occasion, it's not true
Look at me, I'm not you

I would like a place I could call my own
Have a conversation on the telephone
Wake up every day that would be a start
I would not complain of my wounded heart

I was a short fuse
Burning all the time
You were a complete stranger
Now you are mine

I would like a place I could call my own
Have a conversation on the telephone
Wake up every day that would be a start
I would not complain about my wounded heart

Just wait till tomorrow
I guess that's what they all say

Just before they fall apart

Favourite song by New Order
This video is from their DVD, New Order Story. I love that documentary!

I Love Library

Library is such cool place to hang around

So many stories, music, movies lying there to be discovered

and discover something good is such an awesome feeling

ps. picture taken in SLQ

Babel

When will I learn to listen?

This is a good movie.