Lists - Things I'm Looking Forward To

Umeda in Osaka. Despite its appearance,
this air is cleaner than Southern China.
Disclaimer: This post alludes to impatience.

In three days I'll be leaving China at the end of a 2 month stint, nursing the birth of two new products we have been making (and that I hope to write a post on eventually). While it's been fun, the work has been entertaining, the time flown and the money been lucrative, I must admit, I gotta get outta here.

The destination is back home to Japan, with plenty to look forward to despite Mio being in Cali (and apparently enjoying herself immensely here). Here's a list of stuff I look forward to back "home".

1. Mates, esp. being reunited with the Indian, Dildo and Daddy's Little Girl in Morioka! (Sounds raunchy)

2. Gigs - I missed Modest Mouse and Biffy Clyro in April, which I cannot forgive myself for. Thank God for Midnight Juggernaughts in May, Simian Mobile Disco in June and hopefully many more to come.

3. The air - who would have thought I'd ever say Osaka air was "refreshing"?

4. The food, and actually getting some fibre in my diet (the last few weeks have been better, but still bad...)

5. Exercise! Cycling to work, dancing my drunk ass off and playing futsal when I manage to wake up on a Saturday (which isn't often...)

6. People who say sorry when you run into them, rather than grunt when they run into you

7. Sushi! - yeah its food, but extra special food...

8. Getting to work at 8.30 and leaving around 7 (instead of 8 til 8 with a 90 min lunch, during which I can do nothing)

9. Faster internet (yes, yes yes!)

10. Movies - proper ones on the big screen instead of cam-dvds or downloading them months later

Doesn't seem very exciting, but put all that together, and you get one very excited me.

I'm Listening To - Roisin

Disclaimer: This post features a pop diva with a sense of humour.

First time I heard of Roisin Murphy, I couldn't pronounce her name ("rosheen"). I learnt of it searching the CD cover book on Things to Make and Do, Moloko's third LP effort which I picked up essentially at random from Real Groovy. I had a habit in High School of if I had seen an album on the shelf 2 or 3 times and still hadn't heard much of the band, I tended to buy it to try it out. This is how I learnt of artists I went on to love, such as The Prodigy, BT and Utah Saints, none of whom really got regular radio time back then.

Anyway, Moloko's appeal for me came from a wonderfully diverse sound, potentially defined as everything from 90s dance (but nothing so shallow), pop, jazz...and yet none of the above.
Moreso, however, was the frontman, or in this case woman, in Roisin Murphy. A radiant Irish girl with undoubted sexiness coupled with a fantastic quirky nature. Everything from her deep smooth soul in Pure Pleasure Seeker to the uplifting The Time Is Now and the light-humoured Absent Minded Friends and Indigo, it appears that Roisin and Moloko could put on a show, but didn't necessarily take themselves seriously. Perfect.

I was scared when Roisin went off to do her own stuff, as I figured it wouldn't have the same all-round feel to Moloko. Ruby Blue was indeed a strange first touch, as it appears she knows how she wants something to sound musically without actually knowing how to make it sound that way. The music is sketchy at times, but her vocals pull through - Ramalama (Bang Bang) being probably the closest thing to the original band.

Having got the awkward freshman effort out the way and being able to focus on her own style, her recent release Overpowered is a fantastic success. The sound tends toward 80s electro, something both Madonna and Kylie in particular are working with these days, but Roisin's team appear to really have bridged a gap in bringing good electro synth into what is essentially a pop album.
It's not perfect, but the title track (which you may find here, along with Kris Menace and Herve remixes, courtesy of The Whore) really catches in my brain, as do the recent single You Know Me Better and other stand-out tracks on the album such as Let Me Know and Cry Baby.

I may go so far as to say I think she is possibly the sexiest woman in music - like I said earlier, she knows how to perform but its obvious she's just having fun taking the piss. The video for Overpowered is a prime example, as is this clip of her busking at the Convent Garden:
Who can resist that girlish charm, faux-sass, gold locks and pretty blue eyes? Not I.
If you don't think so, who is the sexiest woman in pop music? I need a new poll question, so suggestions are welcome.

Choices

Disclaimer: Concert tickets may be more expensive than they appear.

Summer is nearly here, and I already know I'm going here:
We Love Sounds - Melbourne 7 JuneGutted that Hybrid won't be making the trip to Melbourne, but still got Utah Saints, Oizo, Steve Lawler, Cassius, Dubfire (of Deep Dish), !!! and The Whip to look forward to...

But the question is, should I be going here...SUMMER SONIC - Osaka/Tokyo 9-10 August 2008 Which also features Justice, The Kooks, Death Cab For Cutie, The Fratellis, Does It Offend You Yeah? (Full lineup)

...or here?FUJI ROCK FESTIVAL - Niigata 25-27 July 2008 Which I am tending towards, due to the current lineup: UNDERWORLD, DatA, CSS, Jason Mraz, Mystery Jets, Gossip, Ian Brown, Beat Crusaders, Princess Superstar, Ben Folds and more to come...

So much to consider...

Input?

Bored in the factory

Disclaimer: The factory I work in makes Happy Meal toys, but I only use them to inspire Mild Cynicism.

Techno

Ah, so true.

Disclaimer: Illustrations by Randall Munroe @ xkcd.com

I'm Listening To (and so should you)

Disclaimer: Non-breaking news about good artists may seem like a sub-standard post. Oh, and please don't kill me for any faux pas about the band, Jake.

Cut Copy are a band I once mistook the name of for every other artist with "Cut" in their name; from "Cut Chemist" to "Cold Cuts" and "Carbon Copy", the latter of which's existence I'm not even certain about.

But indeed the new wave throwback boys from Oz are like none of the above, though I failed to find them that spectacular to begin with. I picked up a slightly corrupt copy of their Fabriclive set, at about the same time as I picked up the one before it, by some wonderful guys named Evil Nine. Sadly for Cut Copy their laidback and slightly poppy sound paled in comparison to the hard grunt of the E9 boys, and I kinda put CC on the backburner.

However, through some vicarious fanboy antics of His Whoreness , along with a general good vibe surrounding the release of their latest album In Ghost Colours, I decided to give them a decent thrash. They didn't disappoint.

Lead singer Dan Whitford doesn't have the unique and charismatic voice I tend to swoon over (see Maynard James Keenan, Patrick from Fall Out Boy or Julian from The Presets, to name a few), but he's bang on touch with their sound, like a less camp Ricky Gervais. Nice use of multiple vocalists and sunny guitars make for tracks that stick in my head all morning and find me singing like an idiot in the office. The album feels short, but it flows perfectly so its difficult to skip anywhere on it. Even parts that had me going "meh" soon became quintessential for the album as a whole.

Though they are nothing like Underworld, their unique but unabrasive sound and laidback but uplifting style makes me draw many parallels, which is big praise coming from me.
Last FM told me I listened to 71 tracks by them in a week - that's the album around 5 times. Again, a big deal considering I have 4,000 tracks on my Pod and I tend to just click "Shuffle Songs" as to be unbiased.

Standout tracks on the album for me include:
Feel The Love
Out There On The Ice
Lights and Music (that's the first three right there)
So Haunted
Hearts On Fire (less cheesy on the album than the pre-release, which works well)

Here's hoping they do a Japan tour - though it looks as though I'm going to have to hit Melbourne to check them live...

Lists - Things I Hate

You've gotta be kidding me.
Disclaimer: Lists may or may not be a regular part of my blogging habits.

Before you get worried, I'm not in an overly bad mood. Being in China a little longer than I hoped (2 months instead of just 1), not really seeing any mates and sleeping odd hours haven't entirely drained me of my optimism. Well, they haven't drained me, at least. Though I do wonder what is fuelling my fire at times, and I've come to think it might have a bit to do with hatred.

I'm not embarrassed to admit that hatred is something I indulge in, receive motivation and energy from, and use as a weapon. I think it's perfectly natural. Of course, my hatred is not to be confused with narrow-minded versions of the word: discrimination, blind-hatred or envy. Everything I hate I do so for (what I feel is) a good reason, to lesser or greater extents. Some "hatred" may just be a pet peeve that I know is unfair and thus tend to keep to myself, while more extreme versions are based around something violating my code of ethics or the like.

I never (or try to never) let my hatred reduce me to unwarranted action; rather I prefer to use it to motivate myself. If someone deliberately fouls me in a football match (as some munter did last Saturday), I'd rather dedicate that hatred to driving me to shut him entirely out of the rest of the game, rather than smack him upside the head. Not that that isn't tempting - it's just far less rewarding.

So, without further social commentary, here's a short list of stuff that's been really getting on my nerves lately. You decide why - or by all means, feel free to ask.

Songs that are summed up with the word "anthem" (excluding "national anthems")...well, ie. "Trance Anthems"

Novels that are published with the words "The New York Times #1 Bestseller".

Movies starring singers, who will never be actors.

People who don't call me back

Mugabe

Smelly people who don't know they are smelly

Slow walkers/People who stop and convene in the middle of a walkway

People who lie to my face when the truth does matter

Litter

Unnecessary sequels/new series

The Chinese Government

Facebook applications that want to rank or judge me against my peers

Blunt emails

Racism

Humidity

Bang Bang

Disclaimer: This post may attract hatred from gunslingers.

Charlton Heston Dies At 84

And all I can think is: It's about fucking time.

I wish he'd been shot. By a kid. Or better yet, accidentally shot himself.

A world without Ben Hur is far superior to a world without strict firearm laws.