so i haven't posted in months. been suffering from blinder syndrome and falling in love whilst stuffing my plate full of work, glorious work. and no, i'm not being sarcastic. my work is actually glorious.

not everyone gets the opportunities i do, so am feeling very blessed to have received them, and i spend my days striving to live up to being worthy of them, while stuffing my plate fuller still.

the result unfortunately, is of forgetting to take time off for myself (besides playing sims 3 just before i sleep). my body has been lethargic, i've been suffering from bad mood swings and also just lost sight of my self for a while. well, today i took time off to go for yoga after two or three months, and immediately feel the difference! am going to try and force time out to go again. especially since a longtime friend jennifer has just signed up to the same centre i go to. it's all workin' out.

anyways, it's been a long time since i've travelled properly on buses and trains, instead choosing to cab everywhere to save myself time or get a bit more sleep. this has resulted in a serious lack of time to listen to new music, and so i've been sorta stagnant musically.

just today i've discovered so many new tunes that i've stored for so long in my trusty external hdd, never to be heard of for lack of determination.

in my new-found sense of clarity and focus, i found the perfect tune to embody the spirit. albeit a rather dated tune for some.

what do you get when you cross jazz with loads of guitar shredding? you get Marnie Stern of course.

the first time i heard her was in october last year, when she burst into the global indie consciousness with her seminal album THIS IS IT AND I AM IT AND YOU ARE IT AND SO IS THAT AND HE IS IT AND SHE IS IT AND IT IS IT AND THAT IS THAT. whew. i never really got to listen to the album properly, and i still haven't.

except this song cut through the crowded bus, through my thoughts and right to me. to my clarity, to remind me to harden the fuck up.


it starts with a simple riff, and girly vocals soaring through the air, before it transforms into a little mish mash of thoughts and vocals. which really is just creative use of echo. it's fabulous for getting up in the morning i think, and also for getting yourself through the day. it's also good for making yourself feel accomplished, that you've conquered the day. especially with the little drum roll break down that will get your neck aching to nod in a slight head bang movement in the middle.

so shape up, life is what you make of it and see hearts where you go. check out Ruler.

learn to sing it as a mantra:

RULER

I have not slept for nights.
I look back over my shoulder just once.
That is right, nothing can hold me down.
I'll drag your body into the wild west.
But we will get out alive, this much i know.

Grabbing victory out of the jaws of defeat.
Is there no way out of the mind?
There are things to find,
Chaos is a friend of mine.

Ruler of the...
Ruler of the...

It takes pressure to make a diamond out of coal.
Staring through clothes, I can see hearts where i go.
What i need now is a gut feeling to let me know.
What i need now is a gut feeling to let me know.

Ruler of the...
Ruler of the...

I have not slept for nights.
I look back over my shoulder just once,
That is right, nothing can hold me down.
I'll drag your body into the civil war.
But we will get out alive- this much I know.

Ruler of the...
Ruler of the...


then watch the video and channel Rocky the way Marnie has:

---

and now for something completely different.

check out this beautiful clip from a movie called Zabriskie Point, by cult director Michelangelo Antonioni in 1970.

Clara Bow IT - Free videos are just a click away

fabulous flapper goodness by Clara Bow from the silent movie 'It' (1927).

often wish i was born in the past, but in a rich family of society. perhaps this year during halloween i'll be a silent movie actress and be painted in black and white.

wait.

yay for Little Big Planet!



by user danteneverdies

the great thing about owning one of those cool ass internet phones (mine's a nokia e71 now) is that you can basically be connected anywhere. as work gets busier, and i get less time to surf the net good and proper, the only place i can catch up on things like gaming news is when i have a couple of minutes in the toilet. seriously.

anyways, i was reading one of my fave sites: Kotaku and they've posted one of the most innovative ways to sell Super Nintendo paraphernalia.

yay!

awesome evening track.

it's been a long time since i've posted, because i've been crazy busy with work and life, and tremendously pleased and happy. the times are definitely a-changin' for me, and i am really excited about what's coming up.

in the course of work, we get to research DJs, and here's something M found last night that was just... amazing.

Jeff Mills is one of the forefathers of Detroit techno, and 'The Bells' is probably his most signature tune ever released, almost a decade ago. it of course still stands.

check out the original:



then check out why he is a fucking legend:

i am thinking of your voice...

<3

the weather is truly fucked, going between beach-worthy sunny days to stay home rainy days. of course, it usually rains when you have to go to work, like today.

but really it's not a big deal. because i have this track here called 'Hello There' by Caged Baby, remixed by one of the best bands out of Australia, The Presets.


Cherry was the one who introduced me to this song, and she often plays it during our sets. our standard mix from this track is to follow up with 'Sexyback' by Justin Timberlake, and that is always my job. it's terribly taxing, because this mix goes in on the snare and not the bass.

but anyway, wherever you are, download and listen to it when skies are grey, the rain is coming down and you need a little hope. don't forget to close your eyes.

Hello There (Presets Remix) - Caged Baby

here's the video for the original version:

this is just really really really too funny.

besides the 15th of March when i'll get to see the fabulous Of Montreal live, TWICE in a night, i'm also looking forward to the 24th of March, when one of my most favourite producers/performers ever, Dan Deacon, launches his new album, titled Bromst. 

managed to check out the first single 'Snookered' via Waves at Night, and it's awesome. click the song title to take a listen, or right click and have it forever.

then check out the old Pitchfork interview with him done last year about the production. yay.

in one of the most painful twists of fate, he is of course, touring australia now, and i am waaaaay over here. fuck.

this is so hardcore, it's way hardcore. but fucking cool yo!

check this out yo! a super collaboration between David Byrne, Chali 2na (Jurassic 5), Gift of Gab, Z-Trip, Marcel Dzama and Syd Garon.

super nice!

read all about it here. i'm too lazy to be linking it all up yo!

the trouble with having close to 16,000 tracks in your itunes library, is that you inherently can't listen to everything, and remember every track you've listened to. (in case you were curious, my itunes says that i will go for 46.7 days without listening to a repeat.)

the good thing about having 16,000 tracks in your itunes library, is of course that you are constantly surprised by new tunes, new sounds, new things all the time. here's something old, that i've probably had for years, but never paid attention to till it played full blast while i was writing boring copy and simultaneously being a chew toy for Scruffy Tan.

Paul Duncan is from Brooklyn, NYC, and has managed to stick to a cool, calm beautiful sense of arrangement in the myriad of instruments he uses in his tunes, including what sounds like a banjo. this, to me, is indie music at its best.


he has released three albums so far - one in 2003 (To an Ambient Hollywood), another in 2005 (Be Careful What You Call Home) and then again in 2007 (Above the Trees). i suppose we should expect one this year, and i really hope he does put one out. the link to his myspace page features tunes from the 2007 album, and they're just as beautiful.

anyways, the track i'm about to let you check out is from 2005's album, and it's called 'You Look Like An Animal'.

enjoy!

Benita passed this to me, and i have to say, it's uncannily perfect for where i am right now.





i hold it all in.

while the world pokes its nose into the business of poor Rihanna, let's celebrate her with the best track she's done. 'Umbrella' can go stick itself up someone's arse, Manic Street Preacher's cover notwithstanding.

her debut track, 'SOS'.



Willy, if you have this in high bitrate, can send to me please? me love you deep deep!


in other news, last night was brilliant! saw Lil Louie Vega at Zouk, and was one of 16 people left still dancing at 6am when he finished. Lil' Louie, Kenny 'Dope' and other pure house DJs always are capable of making me dance non-stop, except for smoke, toilet and drink breaks. my calves, shins and toes are absolutely killing me now.

in other other news, Cherry and i are going to be on Meshradio! yay! our friend Ramesh - who was the first local jock that i completely adored when i was 16, going to all his gigs till i got caught for being underaged at Phuture for Sessions (12 freaking years ago!!) - started an internet radio station with podcasts you can stream off the website featuring other local jocks like the Zaogng boys (my fave podcasts), Dean (other fave local jock), Debbie and other lovely people who DJ in Singapore.

we're meeting at the studios to record the first hour, where we introduce stuff we like. and the second hour will be a mix that we'll be doing tomorrow - our first recorded mix ever!

will post the link up when it's up, in the meantime, i am late! gah!

the other day, i was walking to the bus stop.

the sun was shining with bright blue skies. sun beams trailed through the leaves of the trees and a cat walked towards me, stopped then collapsed into a sickeningly cute backrub on the pavement.

this song came onto my creative zen (which is now out of order! nnnnngggghhh) and i felt like a sense of love like i hadn't for a while now.

it's by a band called The Softlightes, a very precious indie pop band from San Diego (the place with apparently, the best weather in the world) and their album from 2007 titled Say No! to Being Cool. Say Yes to Being Happy. wise words indeed.



the band is also responsible for one of my other favourite lines ever: "You're like an army baby when you start to cry" in another track on the album called 'GirlKillsBear' and the remix is something i play very often at both Prive and Hacienda.

may the song fill you with as much love as it did for me on a bright sunny day (with low humidity ideally).

The Ballad of Theo and June

If there's tomorrow
I'll beg, steal and borrow
With you

I'll catch you like sunshine
And find a place to hide
With you

I'll change like a leaf
Stand tall like a tree
With you

I'll drip like a sink
And buzz like the bees
With you

But every day
You turned away
And sink back into your blue
But the ways made a wage
And whistled and sang
To the tune

If there's tomorrow
I'll beg, steal and borrow
With you

I'll plus minus tons
Subtract and divide
With you

But every day
You turn away
And sink back into your blue
But the ways made a wage
And whistled and sang
To the tune
Theo and June


Sunbeams here.