The Off-colored Officer - The Year-End (Usual) Feature


As usual, since 2009 is about to leave us, and thank God for that, it is only natural for just about every people on Earth to come up with a list of the best that 2009 had crapped out on humanity. Since this blog (err I mean my column in this blog) is about music, here's what you would have expected anyway. No drum roll thank you.

Best Album
Mastodon - Crack the Skye (March 24/Reprise Records)
Totally expected it to win the coveted title of the Best-est album of the year. It is one Hell of a juggernaut an album this. I have said this many times and still I'm going to repeat the same thing again here. This album is a stone grinder, for human. It is so God Almighty powerful, it's like being hit in your face with a steel container fully loaded with bricks while the lorry that is pulling it along is on fire. There is no other album of the entire year that is as awesome as this one. Yeayeaargh!!!

Best Song
Pesawat - Rasional Emosional
The local underground scene has really flourished since OAG first did the crossover thing with their mainstream-oriented, radio-friendly album entitled Opera Radhi-o Friendly. Since that paradigm shift, everyone within the underground scene realized that it is the language of their song that is the barrier that prevents their music from receiving wide acknowledgment. So ironically, thanks to the ever genius and talented visionary Radhi, we now have the pleasure of having Pesawat on mainstream radio. Their first single, Mirage, was really catchy and introduced to the mass this talented young band. The second single (or was it third?), Rasional Emosional, however, was the one that caught my ears. It is my all-time best song to sing along with.

Best New Talent
Zee Avi
Sorry Pa'an. The large sidekick to Yuna with a frantic facial hair might find this a bit frustrating but I'm sorry mate, Zee Avi is still the best. Yuna might have been reaching out to international audiences as well, like Zee Avi. But what differs between the two female singer-songwriter is that Zee Avi's materials are on the sunnier side of the day. Yuna is on the most part brooding and too serious. I have had enough of the darker stuff. I just literally learned how to laugh this year. But all the best for the final of Anugerah Juara Lagu.

Best Band to Emerge in the Local Scene But Then Imploded Too Early
They Will Kill Us All
Well the ending wasn't all too tragic actually. The band is still around, but only with a different front person. Yes, front person because the energetic and frankly amazing Fizul has been replaced with some female singer whom I cannot care to check out what's her name. Maybe it is still too early to write them off but TWKUA without their charismatic former front man feels a bit unfinished. At first I couldn't understand Pa'an's constant raving about the band. But after seeing them live, I finally understood what is it about TWKUA that is so, err, grabbing. It's Fizul. (Is that his correct name by the way?)

Best Freaky Artist
Lady Gaga
The all-time holder for this title is none other than the songstress from Iceland, Bjork. But for this year, I've got to hand it to Lady Gaga. Outrageous fashion sense, outrageous hairdo, and outrageously amazing stage presence, the Gaganess has it all. Delicious disco number helps a lot.

Best Band to Have Improved Since They First Came About
The Times
They really have got over OAG. And that's good.

Best Band That Should Really Be Performing Live in Malaysia
The Flaming Lips
The year 2009 has seen a number of international stars/bands/artists coming to Malaysia to perform live, especially Mogwai, in January, at Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, which I went to. Not the biggest fan of Mogwai but my word it was amazing. Next year we will be having Mono (the Japanese soft post rock band) and Kings of Convenience, which is a definite 'must go'. So, Kuala Lumpur is slowly becoming a cool destination for really cool bands, barring one: The Flaming Lips. Every music critic ever alive reckoned that they are the band that everyone should see live before we die. I bought it. They HAVE to come to Malaysia.

Best Album That Turns Out to Be Crap
Muse - The Resistance (14 September/Warner Bros)
This one is not just crap. It turns out to be a humongous crap equivalent with that Oasis of the Sea cruiser ship. Black Holes and Revelation, their last album, is not a blip in the band's illustrious career. It has now manifested itself into a malignant cancer. I don't know - it is something about Matthew Bellamy (sort of) abandoning the guitar for a complete string ensemble that seems a little weird and un-Muse like. The reason Radiohead can do so (abandoning guitar altogether) is because their music, at the beginning, always has that empty space where anyone can manipulate and make it un-rock. Muse, for the first three albums, has always been a full on straight rock band. And they should always remain so. As for Silverchair - they have a perfect excuse because Daniel Johns have always seem a little mental. When they made Neon Ballroom, people say that they are going through a 'difficult' phase. Muse, when they made Black Holes, people say that they are going through a 'lost with no direction' phase. It's a big shame.