Bittersweet Symphony

Greetings SUTD admissions

This is the other half of my life. I am a huge fan of music. My favorite genre is indie rock! However, I don’t really have any specific genre that I listen to. They can range from Backstreet Boys to Metallica to even Malay songs. The songs just have to be really good and melodious to my ears!

I am also a freelance volunteer writer for a malaysian music website who asks me to review concerts for them. Occasionally, they also ask me to interview some bands. Below are some of the links to the concert reviews that I have written.

Hope you enjoy reading them! :D

Click for Lamb of God concert review.

Click for Pitbull concert review.

Click for Mika concert review.

Click for Corrine Bailey Rae concert review.

Click for Switchfoot concert review.

fuckyeahallamericanrejects:

The All-American Rejects Tease Their Upcoming Album: Idolator Premiere

The All-American Rejects have been hard at work completing the follow-up to their 2008 release When The World Comes Down (featuring their Top 10 hit “Gives You Hell”), and in Spring 2012, the pop-rockers will finally unleash what frontman Tyson Ritter calls their “crazy autobiographical” album. In the cinematic teaser for the band’s new LP, Ritter discusses the LP in voiceover as we see him hit the studio (complete with a full orchestra), and get introspective on the beach. Hear Ritter hype up his band’s fourth studio LP in an exclusive teaser below.

“The whole sort of theme of this record is, we’ll all sort of find our way,” says Ritter in the black-and-white clip of the new album, which is expected to drop Spring 2012. “You have to get lost to find yourself.”

For All-American Rejects’ fans, Ritter promises more than just fresh new tunes: “This is a record that will save you if you want to be saved.”

jhnmyr:

Light Saber chopsticks. Yes please thank you.

WANT!

i dunno if this still exists but it made me feel better

ahomeboyslife:

a simple thank you..

to start this off… i’m going to be blunt and honest. i have no idea what is going on. i haven’t talked to any of the guys specifically on the matter. so for those of you who are reading this blog in hopes of an answer, or in hopes of getting more information..i am sorry to say that i am going to disappoint you.

i’m writing this blog to say that i support them no matter what. i realize people are going to tweet me and post “you are a brown noser” or “stop kissing so much ass”…but to be honest..i don’t care. (no pun intended) fall out boy is one of the few bands who have a had a significant impact on my life and as an artist. here is a picture of me and pete from five or so years ago. my brace face and all. the first time i ever crowd surfed was to “tell mick…” and i swear to god pete pointed at me as a floated across the crowd pointing back at him, screaming the words that he poured his heart, soul, and un-trimmed chest into writing. first time i got kicked out of a concert? fall out boy. i was singing along to “saturday” and accidentally punched a security guard in the jaw while throwing my fist up to a break in the bridge. fall out boy were a group of guys..just like us. some considered them underdogs..yet they took the world by storm. patrick has taught me that singers in this genre don’t just have to play three power chords and hit simple cheap notes when they sing. we can be soulful.. we can actually sing with a little bit of emotion. patrick has taught me so much about being myself as a singer, artist, and as a person..and that as long as i am honest with myself..people will follow.

i was just like a lot of you guys. i’d ditch school, camp out at the venue the morning of the shows, and stand outside in the cold waiting for the guys to come outside so i could nervously shake their hand and tell them that their music had changed my life. i knew that they probably got it three hundred times a day..but i didn’t mind. they always made me feel like it meant something to them. and to this day…i believe it did.

i have fall out boy to thank for almost everything i have. pete listening to me sing at a gym class heroes video shoot senior week during my finals. he was dressed up as elvis, but still found time to give a nerdy little vegas kids with braces a shot at playing a song or two on guitar. they invited me to come out on tour with them for a few days…where me and patrick ended up forming our song “bounce” and talking about hell boy comics. pete has also taught me not to take naked photos of myself…haha just kidding ;) i can still remember waking up at pete’s house to hemmingway attacking my face as if it was normandy, and pete laughing like an 8 year old as he filmed it on his old school video camera.

i apologize for getting so nostalgic on you…but i want you to know that i am right there with you guys. it has hit me hard like i’m sure it has all of you. here is what you have to think about though…

fall out boy will never be completely over.

i have enough memories to last me three lifetimes. they’ve put enough wind in my sails to push me around the world a dozen or so times. they won’t be forgotten. how many bands that you listen to were started because of fall out boy? or at least we’re inspired by their songs and sounds. fall out boy wasn’t just a band. it was a movement. it was the light between the clouds that showed that us kids can become something great. it was the fact the we can all change the world in our own ways. even if we all feel like underdogs sometimes. how can we be mad or upset with them when they have given us so much? i have heard some of patrick’s new stuff…and it is absolutely amazing. pete seems to be getting into something everyday that’s groundbreaking, new, and exciting. none of our boys are going anywhere. we need to be proud of them. i’m going to support them like they supported me. when i was lonely in my bedroom..i could put on my fall out boy cd and escape for a few minutes. have you guys seen how big little bronx is getting? isn’t he a beautiful little boy? how amazing is that for pete? they’re growing up just like we are…and they deserve a round of applause. a standing ovation. who knows what they’ll do in the future..but we all know what they have done in the past. no one can take fall out boy away from us…

not even them personally.

-alexander deleon

a class act.

Lead singer of the cab on Fall Out Boy’s break up.

fuckyeahgoodmusic:

Simon Cowell releases “Everybody Hurts” for Haiti relief.

~Cate.

danyoungblog:

(via fuckyeahbeatles)

Rock and roll.

[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]

John Mayer - Friends, Lovers or Nothing

Another brilliant song from his latest record called Battle Studies. My favourite one! There need not be an explanation for this song. It speaks for itself. The work of legends.

John Mayer is a genius. He is a great singer, songwriter, AWESOME guitarist (I’d want to be the guitar) and absolutely hilarious! How many people can actually pull a straight face while telling his jokes? Oh and he is really good looking :D

On & on, reckless abandon

Do you all know who’s that? I’m pretty sure most of you do! It’s the famous Tom Delonge from Blink 182 and Angels & Airwaves.

Since I’ve been to many concerts that have been held here in Singapore, I thought I’d share one of the most memorable concerts I’ve been to & probably the most expensive (yet) pricing at $128. I must tell you though, it was worth every single cent! You can obviously tell from the macro shot I have of him above. Yes, I was THAT close to him, constantly putting out my hands trying to grab whatever I could ;) HAHA.

Well anyway, Angels & Airwaves had a concert at the NUS auditorium on the 7th of December 2008. The band consists of Tom Delonge, David Kennedy, Atom Willard & Matt Wachter. Being typical hardcore fans, my friends woke up early, skipped school & camped at sistic just to make sure we got front rows & we did! (I was in school, n3rd). We also arrived at NUS 2/3 hours before the show in desperate hope of meeting the band. However, we could only see the noses of bouncers that didn’t look at all friendly. Frustrated, we tried to figure out ways to get into their soundcheck area, climbed up many flights of stairs and there was actually an open door! Imagine our excitement & screams when we laid eyes on them! Unfortunately, the bouncers saw us & we ran for our lives still in shock and excitement at the same time. Hahaha

Finally at 8pm, the doors opened & all of us rushed in to our seats that weren’t made use of when the concert started because.. exactly who seats down at a rock concert? When a familiar AVA tune started playing, the crowd went wild! What more when Tom Delonge stepped on stage! He looked like the sparkles reflected off waters. Better, he looked like Edward Cullen in Twilight when he is exposed to sunlight. Ah forget it, he was God at that very moment. The band did not let their fans down, playing all their hits & of course snuck a Blink 182 hit “reckless abandon” in between. Everybody was singing along & even Tom Delonge asked us to shut up because our voices were drowning his.. There was this moment when my friend held up his homework and Tom took it, looked at it, went WTF and tore it up. Hahahaha it was hilarious!

Sadly, all good things must come to an end. We were all still in the AVA hype & therefore decided to “steal” the huge banner hung outside the auditorium. We lighted the ropes till they burnt and rolled the banner, chucked it in the car & drove off. You know what the lyrics say “on & on reckless abandon” hahaha. We also managed to get 2 guitar picks (courtesy of a friend working backstage), a drumstick & their setlist (anything to hold on to).

(I’m there behind the banner at Tom’s head & yes I know pic quality FAIL)

Of course that sums up one of the best days of my life, and I can confidently say for some others too. There’s no feeling better than meeting someone whom you have idolized ever since you were 10.

But here’s to my next 2 gig’s at Muse & The Killers! It’s going to be LEGEN-waitforit-DARY! How many of you are going?!

Bloc Party on hiatus..

Click link above

I was actually going to update on my experiences going to concerts/gigs. However, due to recent events, I felt the need to share my utter disappointment.. A band whom I have grown to love over the past 4 years, Bloc Party, has revealed that they will be on a hiatus. When I learnt this news (today, right now), it was really a bummer. Not shocked of course because this topic has been discussed a lot on their fansites. It was also already foreshadowed since they were canceling shows due to exhaustion, medical problems etc. They tour way too much. However, it still feels like the end of an era. They’re too good of a band to quit.

How many bands actually have members of different cultures, clicking & able to make good music? I remember vividly when I first listened to one of their singles, “The Prayer”, it was ‘love at first sight (in this case, hear?)’. Whenever I watch their live performances on youtube, I never fail to feel the sincerity Kele Okereke delivers while singing + his british accent is wow, haha! It’s amazing how they managed to create indie rock music & ballads and still rock at both of them. Furthermore Matt Tong & Kele Okereke are both DJ’s on their own and implemented their DJ skills in Bloc Party’s music. Hence the electronic direction of their latest album “Intimacy”. Bloc Party redefined the I in indie. It’s pretty hard to type in past tense..

NEVERTHELESS, I still put high hopes on them re-grouping & making more heavenly tunes. Hey! Blink 182 managed to overcome their differences and reunite after four years when they mentioned that the band was on an indefinite hiatus. All hopes for fans were lost when they started forming their own bands, showing no signs of getting back together. Shit happens but miracles happen too! I hope it is the same for Bloc Party! :D

Right now, I’m just going to put their music on repeat on iTunes, not to wallow in my sorrows but to celebrate their accomplishments. Three cheers for five years!

+their drummer, Matt Tong is coming down to Sg for a DJ set on the 5th of Dec at Sentosa. Who’s going? :)

Placebo - Song to Say Goodbye

Hi. Since this is my first post, I thought I’d introduce you to one of the bands that I’ve basically idolized half my life — Placebo.

Brian Molko (singer) & band have been together since 1994 and their style/songwriting influences are by the likes of bands such as Sonic Youth, Depeche Mode & Nirvana. Placebo’s songwriting are mostly based on real life experiences such as humanity/emotions, gender & the use of drugs. Brian Molko has it known that he is no stranger to drugs & the drug references in their music reflects the nature of current times and to reduce them would deteriorate the meaningfulness of their songs.

I’m guessing the song in the video above is one of their many references to drugs. The boy’s dad is probably using it & being a good son, the boy is taking care of his father while juggling between school & being a normal kid. He is also probably taking care of his dad because his dad has been there taking care of him ever since he was born and he figured it was time to repay the deed. The father of course doesn’t make it easy and in the end, the boy is forced to send him to rehab. The boy is obviously hurting because he used to worship his dad & thought his dad was one of those “blessed with lucky sevens” as quoted from their lyrics.

The equivocations in their lyrics are also why I worship this band. They are not like most artistes who just try and put words together & create a catchy tune just so that they can get the #1 spot on charts and then disappear. Placebo’s lyrics are relatable to life-experiences and they have been alive for almost 16 years,producing non stop hits. Their latest album “Battle for the Sun” has recently won them “Best Alternative” at the 2009 MTV Europe Music Awards. They never fail to satisfy their fans with their music. Brilliant.

References: Wiki