As torrents of rain continue to wash the city of its sins, I hide in the folds of a man – Patrick Wolf, to be specific – as he transports me halfway across the world. Like how Sigur Ros would bring me to Iceland, and Death Cab to Seattle, Patrick Wolf brings me to the Irish moors. Mist like past ghosts’ breath chilling the air as they hover over dampened green pastures.
The Bachelor is the first part of Wolf’s initially entitled Battle album, with the second part The Conqueror to be released the year after. Unlike the preceding The Magic Position, this album sees Wolf dwelling in his recently harboured depression, as he takes advantage of his operatic voice to greater heights. Elaborate backup vocals and celtic-infused instrumentations make up the foundation of the album. Though the strings are slightly pitchy and melody may get cheesy, his voice soars, like an ancient Ireland majesty, prowling for a modern-day revolution.
Helping with the uprise is Eliza Carthy in the title track, with her hoarse vocals and busking violin, and Tilda Swinton, reciting as The Voice of Hope in Oblivion, Thickets and Theseus alongside the bow that runs through the violin strings like a boy zipping through the wide countryside.
Wolf too experiments with Electronica in Vulture and Alternative Rock in Battle, both courtesy of Atari Teenage Riot’s Alec Empire, in which the former has been critically acclaimed. His revolution.
Forget about work. Take a day off to avoid the traffic. Hide in your covers and sip on hot cups of tea. Watch the falling rain and listen to this wolf howling leprechaunic lullaby into your ears.
Aren’t these trying times? Everywhere you look, you see somber news hitting us from all corners. In the Western Hemisphere, finance house goes into bankruptcy and big time insurers are begging for help from federal reserves that magically conjure up numbers with the whip of their pen. The pen is indeed mightier than the sword.
Closer to home, our neighbours aren’t faring too well themselves. Our cultural brothers, the evergreen Muay Thai championeers are just fresh from a civilian coup to see themselves under the rule of a new premier. The Sinawatra dynasty is indeed a powerful one.
In our own backyard, things are not as peaceful as they should be. I don’t know whats the deal with these fuckers. Since you have the gun and the bullets, open fire already. Faith and hope only lasts that long without anything concrete to back it up.
So what does one do to feel better in these trying times? Why you snuggle up in bed, marshmallow hot choc in hand, with the love of your life of course. Oh wait. I don’t have a love in my life.
Next best thing. I listen to the Flaming Lip’s epic comical tribute to Japanese manga/anime pop culture.
Since we’re on the topic of Electronic musicians, it is natural for me to think of Styrofoam. Styrofoam is a one man indie electronica project based in Belgium. Now I don’t know much about him but he has worked with alot of big names ranging from Ben Gibbard, Josh Rouse and Jim Adkins so there has to be some credibility there.
I’ve heard A Thousand Words, his 2nd studio album and it is good. Not in the same league as Postal Service’sGive Up, but then again I might be just biased considering I think Ben Gibbard was put on this earth solely to write songs. Electronic music has seen quite a rebirth these days especially with the creation of home based recording softwares like Pro Tools, Audacity and stuff.
To get to know Styrofoam better, let’s give a listen to My Next Mistake. Featuring Jim Adkins on vocals, you know it’s going to be an amazing song. If you don’t know who Jim Adkins is, shame on you, He’s the lead for Jimmy Eat World and he is bloody influential on this track. Listen to his soaring voice coarse itself over the glitch electronic rhythm. Styrofoam is from Belgium and with his penchant for writing songs judging from this track, you know he would have been the biggest thing since blue cheese if he was born in America.
Oh and if you’re a programmer or graphic designer who’s looking for a job, my company’s hiring so check out the advert here
Download My Next Mistake by Styrofoam featuring Jim Adkins HERE.
If you’ve been a faithful follower of my musings, you’re bound to notice that I idolize Ben Gibbard. No, it’s not because I’m a queer who happens to fancy geeky boys in big dorky-rimmed glasses and stupid hair but it’s because I stumbled upon his side project, The Postal Service and it was so powerful i felt like i was riding in a rocket ship bound for the moon.
I sometimes wonder, what is it with musicians who always try to venture off into side projects? From Chris Cornell with Temple of the Dog to Gary Lightbody with The Reindeer Section. It’s like one succesful band isn’t enough. They need to know for sure that it wasn’t a fluke so they go out and form another band just to be sure. Kinda the same reason why Stephen King chose to write as Richard Bachman but well, that’s a different story altogether.
Since we’re still in the hype of Death Cab playing in Singapore, it is only fair that I talk about my fascination for The Postal Service. Ben goes electronica with the help of emo-electronica guru, Dntel and the result?
Fucking Fabulouso.
Ben is a lyrical genius and melodical prodigy. Now I’ve listened to Dntel’s personal work and it’s mmmm not bad but it’s nothing really memorable (IMHO-la,) but when he combines himself with Ben, The Postal Service becomes a thunderous musical train and at times, may I be as bold as to say, surpassing even Death Cab themselves.
On the rhythm side, Dntel does a remarkable job keeping us amused with some eccentric quirky beats. On some tracks he is idyllic like on their smashing single, Such Great Heights. On others he can go all shattered heart on you or even uplifting depending on which side of the bed you got up from. Dntel, is in his own quirky way, interesting as a solo electronic musician but when you combine him with the magic that is Ben Gibbard, the Postal Service is unstoppable.
Posted by Celeste 
Posted by vernadium 
Posted by vernadium 
