Peter Pan: Live in Kuala Lumpur….As good as dead May 30, 2007
Posted by ashz in Asian Music Scene, Malaysian music scene, Rants, events, music, music business.add a comment
Haven’t been updating blog.Sinned. Last couple of weeks was very hectic, had to do a production schedule and master plan for a Malaysian artist’s upcoming second album, and had to clear up a lot of other pending stuff. The people from PT Musica Indonesia ( A record label which handles almost all of Indonesia’s big acts) came down last week for Peter Pan’s latest album launch in conjunction with Celcom’s X Channel artists ambassadorship program. The event was held at Ruum’s Kuala Lumpur.
The showcase started at 11 PM after a very long wait. Typical of Malaysian time management. The fans were becoming restless and the security boys were nervous. Me? To be honest with you I’m not a huge fan of Indonesian bands, even though the night before my boss and I were sipping coffee and smoking Cohibas with the band boys. I noticed that everyone was staring, but I was too dim to know how big they were in Malaysia. I spent most of the time observing their technical setup and sound system. Looks promising.
Arel, the lead singer came up on stage at around 11 plus, and started with a slow number then went on singing the rest of the night away. Question: Why do I sound so not impressed? Answer: Simply because I wasn’t. I remembered I saw them performing for the first time last year somewhere in Kuala Lumpur, and compared to this one, I’m sad to say that the band is suffering from a sophomore jinx. I really feel that they have lost their bite and their new songs are some what mediocre. This can be clearly seen from the fan’s reactions and to make matters worst, the sound was a bit off during the final minutes, most probably due to dodgy cabling.
I met my old Uni friend whom now works as a reporter at The STAR, and also a hardcore Indo band fan. I asked her about the whole performance, she replied with a frown.
“Us reporters are trying very hard to choose our words carefully for tomorrows column….”
Which makes me wonder, why do we Malaysians idolize Indonesian Bands so much that we tend to forget our homegrown talent?
Well, at least there were free food….
A jazzy week… May 21, 2007
Posted by ashz in Asian Music Scene, General, Music 2.0, mp3, music.2 comments
My boss just came back from Indonesia with a stack of CDs. I rummaged the lot with glee only to find that most of it was crap. Well, most of the time it would be some weird obscure indonesian artists, or Cds of pre-manufactured bands. No offence, but I strongly think that Indonesian bands are such a cliche’ these days. My eye caught a CD from an artist called ‘Parkdrive’. My attention span grew longer in time as there was a small group photo at the back of the CD cover and one of them was shown blowing a trumpet.
I ripped the cover, popped it into my CD player and I was blown to bits. Crazy! The first track really caught me. The moments of quality sounds ala ‘Kyoto Jazz Massive’ with a bit of Maxwell and Sade here and there filled my office. I couldn’t believe my ears. The sounds are a strong statement that Indonesia is a pool of very well talented and obscure sounds. First of all, The Jazz scene in Indonesia is very very strong. I first discovered about the scene when I heard a band called ‘Bunglon’, the rest is obviously history.
Anyway, I really feel that these guys are very seasoned musicians. Further googling, and I found that the people behind Parkdrive are Berklee educated. No wonder the arrangements are very classy and tight. Absolutely loving them at the moment.
One of my Indonesian friend told me that Indonesia has hosted various Jazz festivals annually and featured, among others, Incognito, Jamiroquai, and The Brand New Heavies…nuff said. As I look back to my own jazz scene, a part of me cried. I’m not being pessimistic but I really long for a crazy jazz fest which features my Nu-Jazz heroes.
I’m still sitting at my desk sulking….
So, for more info on my current Jazz heroes:
And for a taste of the Indonesian Jazz scene…Oh and CDs :
The latest UK Garage cuts…Better recognize! May 9, 2007
Posted by ashz in Music 2.0, dj, downloads, mp3, music.1 comment so far
UK Garage! The love sounds of my life…I tried scouring the net for recent good mixes of the perplexing genre and Ive found one from Dj Charma, Mj Cole’s label manager for Prolific Recordings. This was recorded live on London’s 104.7 FM and features the latest in the most cutting edge of UKG beats. Among the highlights are of course, MJ Cole, Danny C, Bibliotek and many more. Here is the tracklisting and the heavy basslines are receiving heavy rotation at the moment in Malaysia, well, in my car…heh
Copied and pasted from Dj Charma’s Myspace blog:
1ST HOUR - Audio: Instant Stream - Click: http://djcharma.tripod.com/charma_april29a.ram
‘All I Wanna Do’ - Ed Case Ft. Oggy - Quality Control
‘Hey Lover’ - David Lewis (Bibliotek Mix) - Streetz Singles
‘Hang Around’ - Ben Westbeech - Brownswood
‘Crazy’ - Jean (MJ Cole Mix) - Stereohype
‘Back To The Summer’ - Midnight Circus - Damaged Goods/Stereohype
‘Looking Hard’ - Duncan Powell - True Tiger
‘Snowflake’ - Wideboys and Clare Evers (Bumpy 4/4 Mix) - Garage Jams
‘Real Girl’ - Mutya (Duncan Powell Remix) - Universal
‘Hooligan’ - Norris Vs The Wideboys Ft. Rose Windross (Delmonte Mix) - Garage Jams
‘This Is Why I’m Hot’ - Mims (Misty Dubs Bassline Mix) - Streetz Vol 7
‘Dance With Me’ - Ben Westbeech (MJ Cole Remix) - Brownswood
‘Crazy’ - Jean (Sunship Mix) - Stereohype
‘Going Crazy’ - Danny C Ft. Jay Harvey (Scott Tonic Remix) - AIM Records
‘Nothing Else Matters’ - Scandalous Unlimited - Streetz Vol 7
2ND HOUR - Audio: Instant Stream - Click: http://djcharma.tripod.com/charma_april29b.ram
‘Willow’ - Duncan Powell Ft. NY - True Tiger
‘If I Don’t’ - Amp Fiddler Ft. Corrine Bailey Rae (Wookie Remix) - White
‘Hands On Her’ - David Lewis (Misty Dubs Remix) - Streetz Singles
‘That Girl’ - Pharrell (Dragon Remix) - Riddler VIP
‘Dont Wanna Try’ - Danny Dubbz - Streetz Vol 7
‘Who Want To Be’ - MJ Cole Ft. Niara Scarlett - Prolific
‘Work This Out’ - Mappa Ft. V-Lorenz (Scott Garcia Mix) - 7 Wonders
‘Show Me’ - TnG - Streetz Vol 7
‘Concentrate’ - DJ Wec - True Tiger
‘Shame’ - Jade Lion Ft. Cecilia - Marvelis Recordings
‘Life’ - Midnight Circus - Damaged Goods/Stereohype
You may download the 2 hour mix here:
Part 1 - http://djcharma.tripod.com/charma_april29a.mp3
Part 2 - http://djcharma.tripod.com/charma_april29b.mp3
Niceeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!
When you think everything is fine and its a sunny day….Think again! May 3, 2007
Posted by ashz in General, Rants, dj, events, music.4 comments
Why is it that when you think that nothing will go wrong, it will actually go wrong? Have you ever wondered why does your equipment will definitely screw up on you the 11th hour? Especially during your gig on stage? Why is it that everything was fine during sound-check, working smoothly, thus giving you hope that the crowd will rock to you but Lo and Behold! Your laptop decided to die on you during your first track? Well, its called ‘Murphy’s Law’, and damn this law bites Djs hard on our asses many many times, so here are my top 20 list of my personal Dj gig screw ups, blamed on this dreaded force of nature (A gentle reminder, everything was fine during sound check) :
1- Your laptop hangs on stage, in front of 80,000 people
2- Your sound card could not be detected, just before your turn to spin
3- Your MP3 file appears to be corrupted
4- Your MIDI settings goes haywire
5- Your MIDI keyboard could not be detected
6- Your DJ software couldn’t be opened
7- Your stage monitors suddenly dies on you
8- Someone fiddled with your settings, resulting in your up-faders to work in reverse
9- No sound through your headphones, thus having to monitor using the subs (yes, the subs)
10- Your CDs magically refused to be read by the CD players
11- A loud buzzing/feedback sound, and the only solution is to switch off your laptop
12- Your laptop suddenly becomes very low in memory, resulting it to hang and restarted
13- The Windows opening theme sound played through the house speakers after you restarted
14- The in-house fuse box blew
15- The dodgy in-house electrical connection caused a short, thus frying your motherboard
16- Cracking and jittering of the song files
17- Rain (outdoor gig), causing everyone to run for cover and leaving you alone like an idiot
18- A fight broke out suddenly in the middle of the dance floor, during your first song
19- A raid, then your Cds and records gets confiscated by the authorities
20- (After the gig) Your car broke down, broke, too drunk to think, you forgot your house keys and a hot chick is waiting for you at your place (Beat that!!!)
So….Whats your story?
