One Day Holiday - Hands Down...


If this turns out to be as awesome as the cover is, then we are completely sold - 2011 is the massive-st year for music. If the world really is going to end in next year, then at least our final days would have been totally worth it.

Totally.

One Day Holiday - Already in the Race?


Huh - this is quickly turning out to be this year's surprise package yet. No I don't mean package, I mean album. A serious contender for the Album of the Year; and this is the year where we have seen many new releases by heavyweights like Radiohead, Mogwai, Explosions in the Sky, Foo Fighters, My Morning Jacket, Tyler the Creator (just assume that he already is), just to name a few.

Irregardless of them being a product of an advertising agency (according to some).

One Day Holiday - A Lone Journo at a Crossroad (Pt.1)


If you go out on a Saturday night more intent on being alone rather than mingle around, that itself defeats the entire purpose of going out (on a Saturday night) in the first place. So I duly make a note of that to myself, unless of course if my social 'inhibition' kicks in, and, standing in one corner painfully trying to look spaced out, which at the very last moment did, and now here I am, in the midst of a socializing crowd with beers in their hand, slumped in one hidden corner repeatedly looking at my wristwatch wondering aloud when is the band going to start with their supposed performance for the night.

Of course, this being Saturday - no need to rush with anything. Heck, the drunker the crowd gets on that night, the better it is for the bar in which the performance is supposed to take place. The bar provides a place in which the band gets to play their gig, in return for the favour the band has to mingle around, shake hands exchanging hugs, kisses and congratulatory wishes while secretly hinting to the other person that it is time for them to hit the bar counter and get another glass of beer. Basic economics - easy. Unless and until the drinks flow endlessly from the counter to the table and into the throat of every patron for the night, nobody's ain't starting anything.

Well - either that, or it is again a case of (yet another) Malaysian band adhering religiously to the tenets of Malaysian time. It's a disease, a lifestyle, a religion, a norm, a practice - this totally un-sexy yet irresistible Malaysian time thing. Oh yes, a few swear words did flew out my mouth on that night as I mumbled to myself quietly while being perched perilously at the veranda of the bar...

Holy shit, from the outside everything looked so good...

The event was for the launching of a mini album of an indie (a generic term that has been bandied around freely, losing its' meaning and personality at the same time) band called Kyoto Protocol. Shame really because for one, this band, despite having been around for a few years now, could only come up with a mini album, something that they probably should have done when they first came about. But hey, who am I to dictate and say this is right and this is wrong. And so at one hour and a half sharp-ish, much later than the earlier stipulated starting time, the band finally makes it on to the stage and kicked things off with the first set of playing covers. Five of them. Oh yes I should add that the band wasn't the only act that is supposed to perform for the night because they were supported by another two acts (both are DJs), and one DJ (couldn't be bothered to get his name - blame me) was first to get the disc rolling. So the lateness is not entirely the band's fault either.

The first set, as mentioned earlier, consists of covers in which two songs I was not familiar with, but much to my delight, Foo Fighters' "Rope" was their second song (Wasting Light is currently on heavy rotation). The other two cover songs were Kings of Leon's "Pyro" and TV on the Radio's "Wolf Like Me", a tribute to Gerard Smith, the band's recently departed bassist. Then they were off to another break before coming back on stage for their second set - the set in which they play songs off their mini album. A long break, that is.

Good thing they got dressed up for the occasion

Another half hour went by and, sitting on a curb opposing the bar, I finally hear the MC announcing that the band is finally back for their second set. Good. The nearby 7 Eleven doesn't have a very good variety of drinks. I quickly climbed up to the second floor to find the front stage is already filled with bodies. People I mean - sorry. Somewhat a let down because unlike the rest who are there that night to socialize, I was there solely for the music and, well, a parting shot to the crowd at that bar on that night, if a band is performing in front on stage and you happen to have something much more interesting to discuss with your mate, you could do it someplace else. Someone else here is trying to enjoy the performance. Another let down is because the band only played four songs, and then they're done. Pretty much like premature ejaculation, everyone on that night let out a loud disappointed sigh. But then it's good because I get to escape that place which housed one of the most unappreciative (towards good music being performed live in front of them) crowd I've ever seen.

But fuck me they are amazing live. Truly amazing.

I looked at my watch and the time says it is only half past twelve - the night has only just started. A good one kilometer length of the street is lined with bars and clubs, left and right, so booze is never in short supply. But what I'm looking for specifically is entertainment, not chilled Satan's piss in a glass. So I left Changkat B.B. and head towards somewhere else (a nearby area - short walk distance) where it is much quieter and hidden, and not as widely known - Jalan Mesui.

Where then I came across this...

At a neat socializing joint called Palate Palette, another stratosphere of activity was taking place - Fete de la Musique, organized by Alliance Francaise. When I got there, the event is already on full swing and is about to draw down its' curtain but thankfully I managed to join in and watch one performance by a band that I didn't get to their name but technically blew my mind. Unlike Kyoto Protocol which plays a much more direct indie rock, this art jam band plays Improvisational Jazz, with one big guy on keyboard who, on their entire set, somehow reminded me of David Thomas. I don't know why. But throughout their entire set, it of transported me back to 1967 where The Velvet Underground is playing at an art installation by Andy Warhol in a dusty basement. And even better, everyone in the crowd was paying full attention to and enjoying the band's performance. I was already in love with that place. It's a combination of a bar, a restaurant, an art gallery, a cinema, and a place where anyone can have their moment behind the mic.


And right before they wrap up for the night, and I make my way for the last meeting place for the night, they have one fiery encore right at the front gate, beating away to a tribal beat (by a host of percussionists in all-white) as balls of fire on chains swirls around right in front of my eyes, enchanting me in its' mesmerizing beat.

Then I'm off to a nearby mamak restaurant to meet a friend whom I haven't met for a good two years, for a glass of iced Milo and conversation on things that have flashed before our eyes for the last two years. And at that particular time I remember a particular article written by John Cheese about why life will get better as we progress through it - it's all about freedom of choice that we get as we grow older. We always find ourselves complaining about our shitty job, and our shitty life, and our shitty luck in love, and we'll look longingly at the time when we were in the university and thought that was the best moment of our life. Those memories surely are sweet (at times), but nothing is more worthwhile and better than what is now.

And my now, on that Saturday night, is the celebration of my freedom.

One Day Holiday - Swag. Swag. Swag. Swag. Swag.



Our brain switch has been turned off for this entry as "Sandwitches" plays in the background for the millionth time, not for the largely unintelligible (and hardly believable, you'll see) lyrics and the extra generous serving of expletives, but for something else if you're still not familiar with this relatively new collective best known as OFWGKTA - their age range. So we read that all the members' age ranges between 16 to 23; they're all fucking kids! Where did they pick up such rich vocabulary? But language use aside, trying desperately to not sound utterly clueless here, they certainly have got style. Yes, we'll make it obvious again - we're not a proper fan of rap/hip hop materials. It does not really speak to us in just about any conceivable level, but when you get something that sounds this infectious (and makes you want to say "swag" many times) then you have got to hand it over to them: they are quite possibly the coolest rap act around, at the moment. We would even willingly pay both arms and legs to see these guys live here in KL.

The other thing that we're really grateful for for these guys is that with Eminem still screaming down a nice Rihanna track, we seriously thought that rap music has had it. Thank heaven that there is an actual God to serve justice for this. Check out the videos posted below to see what we're on about. We especially love the one with Tyler the Creator and Earl Sweatshirt. They're uh... dope shit(?).

To access the wealth of their materials, head on over to their website where they are available for free.

One Day Holiday - Malaysia's Own Space Act



They are far-reaching, scatterbrained, anal, non-conforming, and they sounded normal by being highly abnormal at all times; they don't make one dot connect with the other - nobody could ever find two connectible dots in their materials, and they won't hide that fact because they could go from calm to furious to spaced out to jittery all within the acceptable expanse of a post rock material; they are frustratingly alienating - you will never find a voice within their song that speaks to you, that connects with you, which as a result, you can't connect to it either. Yes, the lengthy description that precedes this sentence is the description that we'll bestow on one Akta Angkasa (direct translation to English is "Space Act"), one of the most hard to pin down act to ever emerge from the underground.

When we first saw them performing live at some small and dank club on the fringe of the P Ramlee street, they were chaotic. The flashing spotlight, flickering from behind the band and onto the eyes of the audience, we seriously thought that they hated their audience very much they wanted all of us to go blind. And the single most annoying high pitched shriek fills the entire place as it blasts through their entire 20 minutes (or so) set, leaving all patrons on that day thirsty as the club runs out of glass. It was a horrifying, soul-scarring, ear-raping and yet mind-blowing experience that we somehow loved to look back and thought: "That was awesome". And it was awesome - not Mastodon kind of awesome, but holy-shit-they-are-so-twisted-I-can-feel-Satan-breathing-down-my-neck kind of awesome. But that of course was five years ago. Now, today, coming soon on the 17th of February at the Laundry bar, The Curve, they will be performing live again. Yes, we haven't seen them performing live for that long if it is not already obvious. Two live shows - Monday and Thursday - our ears will definitely be bleeding by Friday.

Akta Angkasa - Kognitif > from Senipekik on Vimeo.

Thanks to Seni Pekik for the information and some of the materials.

One Day Holiday - The Dark Side of the Dark Side of the Moon



What kind of glue Wayne Coyne and co were sniffing when they made that cover of Pink Floyd's magnum opus Dark Side of the Moon? Well for one thing, we are already at this stage well acquainted with Flaming Lips' materials; but the end result of this (not so) latest venture sounds like it is on the wrong shade of the spectrum. Or perhaps a much stronger hue of the rainbow?

The Flaming Lips and Stardeath and White Dwarfs with Henry Rollins and Peaches Doing the Dark Side of the Moon (the whole stretch is by the way is the title of the album), released in 2009, or 2010 if availability in the market in Malaysia is to be taken into account, is, as anyone could have probably guessed, the Oklahoma-based acid heads' remake of the classic 1973 epic record. The original album is a monumental record, largely for the theme of the lyrics that covers on matters ranging from life and death to politics, war, and mental illness (lunacy). Not to mention the music which, unlike other pre and post-Dark Side releases, their music does not meander aimlessly in search of any stable and coherent structure. The whole album felt bespoke and meticulously, carefully constructed from the ground up so as to perfectly capture the theme that was contained within the lyrics. In fact, our Goosebumps feature was actually in part inspired from this album - never there has been an album where the song and lyrics have come together as a unified, single entity bearing a message.

Knowing Flaming Lips and the 'playful' nature of their music, it was not entirely surprising that the end result sounded... well, their trademark sound is plastered all over the album cover anyway - anyone can straight away tell it from the get go. Seeing that it was released in quick succession right after Embryonic, there are parts in the album that reminded us of the said album especially in terms of song arrangement - where in the original album, it all swells up majestically, Flaming Lips and a bunch of guest musicians went for a zany attack right from the word go, and that is pretty typical of them. Most apparent changes is in the song arrangement - almost all songs were broken apart and restructured so as to fit the Flaming Lips style of playing.

Is it a bad thing then? Well, we don't dare to say so because initially we weren't expecting this album to stick faithfully to the original source anyway; and Flaming Lips being Flaming Lips, we were quite pleased that the quirkiness has not disappeared in the process of remaking such a serious and sobering album. The Londoners who made the album in the 70's knew that when the album will be released, people (at the time) will be spending most of the time listening to the album while lying on the floor, stoned and wasted. Not sure if it makes a good drug companion originally, but with this remake, it sounds trippy. Oh and not forgetting, it sounds mental as Hell. "The Great Gig in the Sky", the song where Clare Torry went absolutely lunatic like a wolf howling at the moon, Peaches's take of the same track however is just barking mad.



P/S: Oh and one more thing we forgot to mention - the bitching guitar shred has went missing in this 2009 version. We no like this very much...

One Day Holiday - ...But I Will, So That's Cool



Before we proceed with something else, let's just get the first business of the day done with, first - we are currently in the midst of listening to Mogwai's latest long player entitled Hardcore Will Never Die, But You Will which is slated for a Valentine's Day release. Perfect really because that day is also when Kuala Lumpur will play host to the Deftones concert. Our initial impression about the album is that it is sort of like a continuation of their last album, The Hawk is Howling, sort of straddling very safely somewhere within playing it safe and being (calculative-ly) ambitious; so now that you know what to expect off of it. We will be coming up with a full review of the album next month - guaranteed.

Next, as we have mentioned in the previous paragraph (in case you missed it), Deftones will be playing live in KL on this coming February 14, ticketing details which can be obtained here. We are definitely going, since this comes hot on the heel of the release of the band's most rewarding release since White Pony, Diamond Eyes. The only downside to that is the terms and conditions that have been set by the organizers, stating STRICTLY NO PHOTOGRAPHY. That's a real let down there since the organizers for the Mogwai concert had no qualms about us snapping pictures all throughout their one hour plus set. (Look photo above. That was taken using a Sony digital camera) Our report from that show will definitely be full of words. Only.

Finally, the new semester is already in full swing so this blog might not be updated as frequent as we hoped it could. Even though this semester I'm only having 12 hours of class, but note preparation has so far not been anywhere near from smooth sailing. Couple that with the fact that this semester we have to cover grammar, reading comprehension, paragraph and essay writing, speaking and listening skills, all in a four hours a week class for 14 weeks - it's not terribly comfortable. There is hardly any breathing space I have to concur. (But thankfully there is still some space for me to do some listening) In the meantime, enjoy this leading single off Mogwai's seventh studio album called "Rano Pano".