The week that was June 23-June 29

For some reason, I began to be into post-rock at the moment. Post-rock is an amazing genre where bands use rock instrumentations with a non-rock purposes. Some of the bands can make songs which last up till 21 minutes! It's really, really groovy srsly. Downloaded 2 albums last week. (I'm still waiting for my new Coldplay to finish downloading)

Giants - They, the Undeserving


Very, very intense band. Every song is filled with great crescendos and intense buildups. Recommended for people who loves other music for a change.

link (Pass: sharedmp3.net)
Download single: Giants - Steps in Static Progression

The Samuel Jackson Five - Easily Misunderstood


Another post-rock band that I was so eager to listen to since last year. I couldn't manage to get their album until yesterday. Thank you Google! Before I review, I must say the band name is great. Samuel L. Jackson + The Jackson Five = The Samuel Jackson Five. Anyway, their sound is kinda unique even their genre is normally characterize as repetitive and long-winded. Imagine instrumental jazz with some attitude. I like the most was that one of the songs had a climatic buildup till the middle when I thought I know where they are about to go, the sound abruptly stopped and changes its tone.

link
Download single: The Samuel Jackson Five - Charlie Foxtrot Queen

FACT: Indie is not a genre

A few weeks ago, there was an event in my school called International Food Fiesta (A more classy way of saying "Hari Kantin"). There were many activities and when there's an event, there will be music. SOOO, I jokingly said to my friend "Next year I'm going to be the DJ and play better music than that". She replied "But not all people like indie" and I gave her the o_O face.

Before I start my rant, I really want to know why do people love to use phrases when they don't even know the exact meaning of it? It's not groovy at all.

Okay, like I wrote in the title..indie is not a genre. Indie is independent in long form. So, indie music means independent music. What is independent music? Musicians who are signed to independent music labels. Let's get to the root of this thing. A musician needs something to promote and distribute their music so music labels are formed. There are two types of labels, the mainstream labels and independent labels.

The mainstream labels comprised of the Big 4 "EMI, Universal, Warner Bros., Capitol" and artists that are signed to them are those can always be found getting airplayed like hell in MTV and radio stations. IMO, these companies are evil. Their main goal is to earn profits, thus making music as a product not as an art. Those who signed into those companies too have little control over their creative input to their music. The only reason I feel musicians signed into these are they either want to spread their music or just want to get rich.

But, musicians who are signed into independent labels have more creative control and are able to get more royalties. However, they won't have as much publicity as mainstream musicians. What I like about independent music is that there are so many kinds of music to listen to. From peaceful, melodic instrumental Post-Rock to harsh, crazy noise rock there are limitless genres of music in the indie stage.

My fives for this week

Nothing beats free music. I'm giving away five songs that I have been listening a lot for this past week. The genres are kinda narrow but the songs imo can fit in any mood or situation.

The Appleseed Cast - Santa Maria
Wolf Parade - Modern World
The Unicorns - Les Os
Islands - Don't Call Me Whitney, Bobby
Moscow Olympics - Second Trace
link


In other news, Death Cab was rumoured to come to KL. Guess what? They're going to our southern neighbours. D= My whole dream was tarnished when I heard the news. It was going to be my first concert. Dear Singapore, you got Broken Social Scene, HORSE the Band, Travis and hell, The Rapture why can't you let us have Death Cab? Yes, we have Explosions in the Sky but you will and always will have great gigs coming to your place. Why can't you spare us this time? T_T

whoa! topped 20GB already =O

Ugh, can't see it properly but it says I got 20.8 GB in my music folder with 3.8k songs and I guess around 250 albums. Pretty groovy, indeed. And sadly, all of them I got it without purchasing them. D=


Anyway, great recommendation from me once again. A band simply called Stars is one of my favourite pop rock bands and they are simply amazing. The "call and respond" technique which can be heard in some songs is really good with the male and female vocalist doing it. Pretty melancholic but somehow, joyful after finish listening to them.



Stars- Set Yourself On Fire


NP: Caribou - After Hours

What's coming up in Malaysia..

Saying 'Malaysia' and 'live concert' in a same sentence and you will think "The Click Five" and "Backstreet Boys". Fear not, this year imo was one of the best years for great gigs. We had popular post-rock band, Explosions in the Sky coming to here and many indie kids scream their lungs out. Next month we going to have another 2 post rock bands coming to KL.

MONO
Mono is a band where epic music comes to mind. The songs, all of which are instrumental, are usually focused on layered guitar melodies. Strings and pianos are often found in some of their songs. They are also known for their powerful live shows (ZING!) and their complex guitar work. Too bad I can't go since there are so many barriers that make me not see them. =/
July 5th, Zouk.

Mono - Yearning
TOE
Another post rock band from Japan. I haven't heard of them but from what I have heard, they're good live. We'll see about that when they are here on Aug 3rd.

In other news, there is a rumour saying Death Cab For Cutie will be coming to KL around August. Hopefully the rumour will be true. =O

NP: No Age - Cappo

Reccomendation from me!

Los Campesinos! - Hold on Now, Youngster...




One of the best pop albums this year, IMO. Melodic and aggressive at the same time...it's fun for the whole family! I have been listening to the album repeatedly this weekend and I still haven't got bored with it. A++



Los Campesinos! - Death to Los Campesinos!

sigur rós streams their album for free!

Great band from Iceland. Haven't finish listening to their album yet but so far is kinda good. I dislike the first track the most among the first 4 tracks I listened. I'll update this more when I finish listening to it. Here's the link to listen to their whole album. I'm busy figuring out how to fking embed the player into the blog.