Blue, I get a question every time I swallow you, it's true

Reporting from the usual, it's about 21:18, and I don't know why but I feel most comfortable to blog about music when I'm in the office with my Senny's on.

Anyway, if you recognise the lyrics from the title then you're of a special breed, a Verve fan :) (not The Verve Pipe..) Blue is such a powerful song, not just because of all the background sound accompanying the lyrics, but the lyrics itself and the way Ashcroft delivers it, he's definitely not the best singer in the word, but eee by gum the timing and intonations of his voice strikes deep in my soul. I love how this track sounds abit Stone Roses-esque as well.

I just got the Verve's new album a few days ago, but have only listened to it through a couple of times. I really enjoyed Love is Noise, Valium Skies and Noise Epic which is exactly what it is, EPIC NOIIIIIIISE, the last 3 seconds of this 8 minute long, shoegazing journey is effing brill (WAKE UP, WAKE UP, WAKE UP, WAKE UP,) I love the character their music has, a sort of chaotic edge to it. I am abit dissapointed however, 'cause their sound hasn't evolved that much from Urban Hymns; if you cast your music player back to their first 2 or 3 albums, yeah you can definitely see the progression they've had (though the Jesus & Mary Chain fan in me still loves their full-on shoegazing, distortion filled anthems) but, if you've split with your band for 6 years or so, and you finally get back together and get your fans are jumping up and down, least you could do is try and push the frontier a little. But, all in all, can't really complain.. if it ain't broke don't fix it as the cliche goes..

Here's a good site for downloading mp3's (just between you and I okay? ;))

I'll link a few Verve songs here now. 

1. Come On - The middle bit of the song is worth it.. listen to this if you like Phil Spector, wall-of-sound type songs. It's got such rock n roll momentum..
2. Velvet Morning - Retro feel to it, such a sweet and happy melody.
3. Catching the Butterfly - One of my favourites.. an ode to hoping.. and just dreaming in general. Put it on your 'listen-before-sleeping' playlist.
4. Space and Time - "We have existence and it's all we can share.."
5. Weeping Willow - Another melancholic anthem, "Weeping willow.. the gun under your pillow"
6. This is Music - Distortion-surrounded, dont-give-a-fuck, nonsensical anthem.
7. A Northern Soul - I like this track just cause of the opening, it's got such a monster sound to it, it's like the guitar slashes a gaping hole in you, then the amp sprays salt and spits in the wound. Listen to this especially if you're a Northener ;)

Right, that's enough Verve-milk spouting from my music-mammarial glands. I might review an album or somethin' later on tonight, cheers for reading!

Email us at were.the.crayon.kids@gmail.com, or comment if you've seen The Verve live, I'm interested.

Chaosers, bowsers;

Love, the Prayon Kid.

T-t-t-t-his is the DJ

Reporting from this invisible cubicle called my existence, time is currently 17:33 (+0800 GMT) and I canNOT get this song to stop playing on my iTunes.


AC Slater - Banger


It is exactly as it implies, a 6 minute long head-shakin', foot stomping, life questioning, soul consuming anthem. It sounds like God gave Daft Punk the holy grail of Bass in exchange for them to stop being French for one track, and to sample their vocals from the land of robots. Who is this AC Slater? Is it my long-lost cousin Jesus reincarnated as a DJ?? I've got to find out more.

What do you get when you get two men traversing Nevada to cover a Mint Royale race with a carboot full of mescaline, lsd blotters, cocaine, weed, uppers, downers and a bottle full of amyl nitrate? Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. But in this case, I'm talking about Death in Vegas. This trip-hop, big beat-ish electronica duo from England are an interesting pair, they were meant to produce Oasis' Don't Believe The Truth but things went astray I guess. Anyway give them a lookie, wookie. The song I'm listening to now by them is called "Song For Penny", it sounds like it would fit right in with Command and Conquer: Red Alert 2's game music, Morse Code bleeping + Red Alert type talk (DESTROY ALL SYSTEMS, DESTROY ALL OPERATING SYSTEMS) with added mellotrons. I hope this track will be Red Alert 3 :)

Death in Vegas on HypeMachine

Anyway, on Facebook today, got an invite to LapSap vs. Twilight Action Girl (the poster made me laugh) so will write about that soon. 10/10/2008!!

Chaosers Bowsers

Love, Prayon Kid

Noo band.

If you love a bit of lo-fi distinctly American indie rock now and then, Paper Rival are the band for you. Hailing from Nashville, their songs fuse the harmonies of Fleet Foxes with the lyricism of Bon Iver, and then add violins and vague drum beats to top it all off. Like the sound of it? Check out their site, their old Myspace, back from when they were called CODA. And of course, this song:

Cassandra -- Paper Rival

GRRAOOWWHHHHH

izkandariseighteenwootwoot

CONCERT UPDATE

Fresh from the Twilight Action Girl Facebook group:

MANIC STREET PREACHERS LIVE IN SINGAPORE!
November 24 2008 @ Fort Canning Park

TAG indie fans should not miss this once in a lifetime opportunity to see the Manic Street Preachers perform Live for the first time in Singapore at Fort Canning Park on November 24! General Admission Early Bird Tickets are S$95. Tickets go on sale September 29 at all Sistic outlets, www.sistic.com.sg or by calling (65) 6348-5555. Ticket price will be S$110 on day of show. 

Manic Street Preachers is proudly promoted by LAMC Productions in Singapore and also Hong Kong on November 26th. They will also be headlining the Bangkok 100 Rock Festival on November 30 in Bangkok, Thailand. As usual, KL has been ignored.

As usual... KL has been ignored................ thanks alot, Rest of the World.

The Prayon Kid

Enter the Pray-on Kid: a sandpit quagmire, stuck in a joke, stuck in an enigma, sandwiched by the walls of Pandora's Box; or simply my chosen moniker for posting on the CrayonKids blog.

This is my first time posting on a blog in about 4/5 years, and I've just realised it's pissing down cats and dogs outside and I've forgotten to close the windows in my room at home.. so what's a kid to do? but prayyyyyyyyyyy on hehe (i'm copyrighting that if you're reading Noel Gallagher)

Anyway, luckily I've got some delicious T and T (tones and tuneage for those of you who aren't me) to allay my fears for the moment, stuck in this invisible cubicle called my existence.

First off - Jack White. An absolute freak of a man, who gained fame for playing in a 2-piece outfit with his sister and/or wife. Recently, he's melded with 3 other assorted musicians from other semi-famous bands to form the Raconteurs (or the Saboteurs for you Aussies). Seven Nation Army? fuck that, STEADY AS SHE GOES.

As repetitive as the song gets, it'll keep pinching those same spots in your brain that you love, and the "Slave to the Sunshine Mix" does exactly that, with added flavour. Starts off with very simple loops and laps that entice you in... then slowly builds, like layers upon layers, just like that line which made Shrek famous. It ends with an almost reverse-crescendo as it reverts back to an all out rock fest, and if you're not nodding and rocking when the timer hits -1:00, then you've seriously gotta pick up a LedZep record or summat.

The Raconteurs - Steady as She Goes (Slave to the Sunshine Remix)

Secondly, this man needs no introduction: Calvin Harris. From Dumb-Friays (Dumfries), Scotland, he's got it goin' ON. Looks to be a rising star indeed, here's hoping he doesn't do the whole drugs + sex -> burnout thing.

My fave track off his album - ACCEPTABLE IN THE 80's, what a funny song... insanely rhythmic and catchy it borders on bubblegum pop. Oh and 'I Created Disco' is like new age disco-lectro Primal Scream haha! I love it.

Anyways, give that a listen..

Thirdly, don't you think the singer from the Kings of Leon sounds just like Whitney Houston after inhaling muscle relaxants sprays?

Lastly............. been listening to a little chillout lately, and Cardamar is the name to blame. CLICK HERE to download some of their wonderful longggg mixes.

I never enjoyed chillout/downtempo but now I'm growing older or something it's quite good on occasions where you gotta sit down and work. 

If you do download any mixes, make sure you check out "Nebra Skydisk" if you're a trance fan.. Trance legends Blank and Jones do a little cameo...

Anyway, this is taking up too much time, I've gotta do some incredibly boring and lame stuff.... Post up soon..

Ciaosers Bowsers.

Love, the Pray-on Kid.

CK do COVERS!!!

Because I'm really bored, I'm going to do a series of my favourite covers ever. And there are a LOT. But I'm going to go slow and do four per post. Soooooo... here goes! =)

1. Andrew Bird & Nora O' Connor -- "Oh Sister" (Bob Dylan cover)

Now I love Bobby D. and his songs are like holy to me; so I'm usually really critical of people who actually dare and try cover the great man. Sometimes I even tell myself that the original Dylan version of "All Along the Watchtower" beats the legendary Hendrix cover. (I knooow!) But then one day I stumbled along this cover, and fell absolutely in love with it. I'll even go so far as to say that it's better than the Dylan original, depending on what you like. Dylan's version, as usual, is strong and contains large amounts of loud harmonica -- quintessential Dylan. Bird's spin replaces the harmonica with yummy doses of violin and whistling (he is a professinal whistler, after all!), and renders the whole song....sweet. That's the only word for it. With Bird's soft melodies and Dylan's amazing lyrics ("time is an ocean but it ends at the shore"?? YUM.), this is one song everybody has to hear.

Andrew Bird & Nora O' Connor - Oh Sister (Dylan cover)

2. Amy Millan -- "I Will Follow You Into the Dark" (Death Cab for Cutie cover)

Covering legends is one thing (and risky business), but covering hit contemporary singles is another (but just as risky). Luckily, the Stars and sometime Broken Social Scene songstress is well up to the task. I love the original song, and even living through three months of the world incessantly singing it didn't make me hate it for life (and that's saying something!). So this is one my favourite covers right now; a feminine, more drawly (but just as mellow) take on a song that was maybe - if I have to criticise - a bit too sweet to the ears. Millan humanises the song with her voice.

Amy Millan -- I Will Follow You Into the Dark (DCfC cover)



3. Audrey Hepburn -- "Moon River" (Frank Sinatra cover)

SCROLLSCROLLSCROLL....and come down to my all-time favourite woman, Audrey Hepburn. Not satisfied with being absolutely gorgeous to boot, a brilliant actress and a lovely person, Audrey Hepburn had to go be a really sweet singer as well. As modern times have proved more often than not -- actresses (usually) shouldn't sing; it failed for Hilary Duff, it failed for Lindsay Lohan; it even failed for Scarlett Johansson (I'm sorry, Scarlett!). And yes, the indie masses will throw Zooey Deschanel in my face -- but she's special; an exception to the rule. And a beautiful voice wasn't always a prerequisite for acting in musicals, although Julie Andrews could do it; Hepburn's voice was actually recorded over in "My Fair Lady". Listening to this track, you wonder why. If anybody hasn't yet -- watch "Breakfast at Tiffany's". You'll do this song the most justice seeing it with the aura and atmosphere of the movie, all Holly Golightly-esque.

Audrey Hepburn -- Moon River (Sinatra cover)

4. Lightspeed Champion -- "Back to Black" (Amy Winehouse cover)

Yup; it's back to the old faves. This time we bringin' out the big guns with Lighthouse Champion again (yeah, remember him?), who does a sparse, acousticky version of Winehouse's sultry, piano-heavy "Back to Black". Where she went with hard-pressed keys, he goes with strums. The song loses none of its strange gloomy tone; in fact, I think it works better with this version, with its lack of instruments (save one). It's a nice change. CHECK IT OUTTT.

Lightspeed Champion -- Back to Black (Winehouse cover)


wahhhhh.
that's it for nowww! =)

we got invaded!!! by who??

The SEX INVADERS, of course. Lapsap (what happened to the other half? :O) & Sex Invaders. I wasn't there for too long, but Palate Palette, small though the space was, was having a blast. Again; I can't really describe electro beats properly with words -- so how bout some pictures instead? (19th September 2008)

Live concert review: Mono, 5th July 2008

Post-rock fans must be having a fantastic year in Malaysia, because the post-rock bands just seem to keep coming. With a brilliant Explosions in the Sky concert at Ruum’s in February, summer ’08 delivered another great show by Mono, this time at Zouk KL’s Mainroom. (And there’s more in August, as Ruum’s once more becomes the venue for Toe’s South-East Asian Tour, so hardcore post-rockers, watch out for that one!) Mono Live in Malaysia was a concert on a much smaller scale than Explosions – Zouk’s Mainroom was by no means packed with enthusiastic moshers, although there must have been a good 150+ people there. The fans who were there were not disappointed; there were two brilliant (if rather long and drawn-out… that’s my only complaint; after a while I just wanted Mono to come the hell out, already!!) opening acts from the Indonesian Forbidden Culture and the local Elemental Gaze, both of which set the tone for the main act to come.



But the opening acts went on for a good hour+, and I was growing bored of opening acts and finally, the elusive Mono did come on stage, to set up their equipment. They came on without saying a word (and I learnt that this was customary of Mono), and disappeared after five minutes of sorting out their equipment. The crowd was bemused, but the MC soon enlightened us – we needed to cheer louder? Which we did, I guess, and then the mysterious and silent Mono reappeared on stage, and began to play without saying a word to the audience. The concert wasn’t the most upbeat of them all, as their song openings were slow and soft, and the build-ups usually led into excessive distortion. The drummer in particular caught my eye, as he played some amazing beats, which were enough to whip some of the crowd into a frenzy, as were their playing “Yearning”, which elicited huge applause and cheers. The music was fantastic, but the distortive build-ups were not good for anybody standing too near either speaker, as it did funny stuff to the ears and brain; that was probably the only flaw in what was otherwise a musically brilliant performance: LOUD DISTORTION. Mono didn’t play for very long – they didn’t do the non-stop frenzied playing of Explosions, and although their songs were long (some went on for about sixteen minutes), the song breaks were easily recognised, as they stopped now and then to catch a second’s breather. They played for about one and a half hours max, and the concert was over by about 10 pm. Thus ended Mono’s stint in Malaysia =D For any hardcore enthusiastic fan, it probably would have been an excellent concert. Even for the neutral viewer (me) the music was breathtaking; but the concert itself just wasn’t that memorable. I think I’ll stick with listening to their CDs, where I can turn the volume down when the distortion becomes a little too much. :P

the night shitdisco spun at zouk

Well; words are futile when we try and describe the wild night that was SHITDISCO (UK) vs LAPSAP (KL). So we just brought out the camera, every time Darren jumped into the crowd. Enjoy! The night was immense. (12th July 2008)

Shitdisco VS Lapsap

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