Bum like me

Pop music finally started to pick up in April after a bum first three months. Only slowly though, and I'm killing the good songs by putting them on repeat ad nauseum. Two victims this week. The first marks the return of one of my favourite artists ever--Basement Jaxx. 'Raindrops' was premiered by Pete Tong on his BBC Radio 1 show Essential Selection two weeks ago. It is reminiscent of 'Romeo', all those years ago, only it sounds more happy-Ibiza. The sitars are back, in what Pitchfork pithily calls 'the exploded sweet shop that is a Jaxx fan's comfort zone'. Maybe that's why their cover art always makes so much sense.


'Romeo'. Basement Jaxx. XL, 2001. Basement Jaxx TV on MUZU.

Way before The Pussycat Dolls started gyrating to Bollywood tunes, Indian influences crept their way into pop music via Timbaland productions such as Missy Elliott's 'Get Ur Freak On' and Bubba Sparxxx's 'Ugly' (both 2001). Here are my favourites from that era:


'Addictive'. Truth Hurts feat Rakim. Aftermath, 2002.


'React'. Erick Sermon feat Redman. J, 2002.


'Mundian To Bach Ke'. Panjabi MC. Superstar, 2002.


'Husan'. Bhangra Knights vs. Husan. Positiva, 2003.

The other song that has got me hooked, and perhaps more so, is David Archuleta's 'Touch My Hand'. I heard it for the first time in his Idol performance, which was harassed by pitch problems galore, but nonetheless worked, especially in the swelling and soaring moments. The song was written by the folks behind Natasha Bedingfield's uptempo hits, and approaches Scandanavian pop perfection, complete with less-than-sophisticated lyrics. It has made me dream of choreography, something which hasn't happened for a long time. On a side note, along with my Facebook friends list, I've been trimming my YouTube subscriptions and Twitter followings, and David Archuleta is definitely a keeper on both sites. I love his personality. Another (quite) young man I am totally in love with is Jim Cantiello. His Idol recaps and live blogs are hilarious, although I'm finding trouble keeping up with both at the same time. The MTV website is not Cantiello-friendly at all.

I thought this week's Idol was very good, a very solid top five. I'm with Simon, who remarked on hindsight that it was 'the best show at this stage of the competition'. He also backed Matt Giraud's 'My Funny Valentine', which I loved the most. I'm a sucker for impassioned vulnerability, what can I say. I'm unsure of Jamie Foxx's intervention in lowering the key, though. He advised Matt to climax the song in full voice. But Matt's vocal sweet spot lies not in the belting range, so that advice would have worked better if it were Kris or Danny. Matt looked umcomfortable and sounded shrill when he hit that note, and soon after eagerly retreated into his falsetto. I'm curious to know what the original version sounded like.

Bust, trashed, lost
I woke up one Monday morning and found that my spectacles frame had inexplicably split during the night. I failed to fix it with super glue, and spent the next few excruciating days in contact lenses, suffering daily haemorrhaging in the eye.

I finally got rid of the old and sickly phone, who went periodically into seizures, flashing a white screen for a few times, before finally refusing to start up altogether. My dad bought me a Nokia N79, which I quite love, although I must say the Seal Grey is way off what is shown on its website.

I misplaced my laptop when I went to visit Pao Yau at Mount Alvernia this past Monday. To this day I'm not quite sure where I left it. Went back to the hospital later that night, called back the next day, made a police report online... And now I'm thinking maybe a Sony Vaio NS?

On school
School has been quite a bummer. I've been quite a bum about school. Got a couple of B minuses on the latest assignments which is unfortunate. I think I went overboard with the New Journalism on the first report, where it was commented that I should have been more reflective. The second paper was torn apart (figuratively) by a professor too academic for his (or I guess my) own good, blindly shunning all sources that veer even in the slightest from his simplistic definition of 'academic'. Exams have been less painful than expected, although I'm about out of ammunition in terms of smoke grenades. I definitely will not approach the level of atrocity I achieved with last semester's grades, if only because I've submitted all of my assignments.

Singled out
I took a nap after the paper on Thursday morning, and woke up an hour after shutting off the alarm. Thankfully I met a cab driver who knew how to thread through traffic, and I was late, but not too late. I'm going to register for Reggae II, although I'll miss the last session, and I'm tempted to sign up for Popping as well. I went to O School again after my Saturday paper, knowing this was my last Saturday of freedom before I sell my soul to Ensemble. I bumped into Alvin, and we took two classes together. Alex's was awkward. I had major timing issues, and was unsure of slinking into the 'Single Ladies' character, which Alex called me out on. Fredy's style on the other hand I'm super comfortable with, and Alvin and my performance at the end was quite well-received, I think. It's a distinction I need to figure out; there are subgenres of jazz funk apparently.

After the classes I went to check out Iluma, which is ironically way too dimly lit in the day time, at least on its first three storeys. I love some of the detail-work by WOHA, especially the red back-lit metal mesh cladding on the interior, and the oversized entrances of the toilet vaults. I couldn't find space at a coffee place to study, and logically decided to watch Revolutionary Road instead. Didn't regret it. I think above all the film highlights how amazingly far the two lead actors have come since Titanic. I personally thought Leonardo DiCaprio gave the stronger performance, in a role that was more complex and harder to play, despite Kate Winslet's award recognition suggesting otherwise.

I rushed to meet Michelle Rose to watch Fly With Me, by the final-year dance students at LaSalle, held at its Flexible Performance Space. Awesome show. Jessica was amazing, as usual, and especially breath-taking in her pas de deux segments. She dances with the purity of a child and the maturity of a woman. Pui Man was fantastic too. I liked her particularly in Albert Tiong's piece; I think she danced the quirky choreography very naturally. There's a very vibrant item by Cheng Hsienfa choreographed to 'Alfama' that I absolutely enjoyed. I also loved Melissa Quek's item a lot, much more than her Timeline, although it is unfair to compare the two since she has more dancers to play with here. I'm looking forward to the upcoming performances, and I know I must seem like some over-enthusiastic groupie for it.