• Why The Good? Where’s The Bad? And Who’s Plain Old Lazy?

The Good, The Bad And The Plain Old Lazy

~ Boon Ken.misadventures.life.musings

Tag Archives: Laura Marling

Road to the St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival Singapore 2012 – Part One

30 Sunday Oct 2011

Posted by boonken in Musical Musings

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Cults, Feist, Laneway Festival Singapore 2012, Laura Marling, M83

Laura FUCKING Marling

I was a nervous wreck.

Not just because I had an all-important job interview that day, but due to the fact that the line-up for the Singaporean edition of the much-anticipated St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival was being announced at the exact same time.

While the artistes for the Australian and Kiwi shows were confirmed before last Friday, I was hoping against hope that Singapore would get the same full repertoire as our Asia Pacific counterparts. Laura Marling? M83? Girls? FEIST?! My spine chilled just mentioning those names.

As I refreshed my Twitter feed on the way home from said interview, I could not believe my eyes. I was flabbergasted.

We got the freaking full monty!

Redemption was the first thing on my mind. A couple of years back while I was holidaying in Melbourne, I was given the choice to catch either Laura Marling, fresh off her highly-acclaimed debut album Alas I Cannot Swim, or Camera Obscura at the legendary Corner Hotel due to budget constraints.

Eventually, I opted for the retro-pop Scots. While I never regretted going for that particular gig, I have always longed to catch a glimpse of Marling live.

The prolific 21 year-old, who boasts three albums in the past four years, is a rare talent. Her knack for poetic lyricism complements her penchant for melancholy, which result in gorgeously tragic songs that have seen the Brit nominated twice for the prestigious Mercury Prize in recent years.

The band that I was hoping desperately to catch were Cults, who released their self-titled debut record earlier this year. Madeline Folin’s dreamy vocals remind me of the classic girl groups of yore with a modern twist, thanks predominantly to the accompanying synths. I simply cannot wait to witness Folin and Brian Oblivion perform live, only just to sing along to the album’s opening salvo “Abducted”, which creepily yet beautifully equates falling in love to being kidnapped.

Another reason I would shell out SGD135 without first having a full-time job (the post Chinese New Year angpaus will play a vital role) is none other than the Canadian singer-songwriter Feist. Her fourth studio album Metals was released last month, though I’m more interested to hear the live renditions of “I Feel It All” and “One Evening” from her earlier efforts. Who knows, if we’re lucky, she could even play her two songs for the Paris, je’taime soundtrack, but that could just be wishful thinking on my part.

My next few months will be spent listening to the various Laneway-bound performers whom I’m not too familiar with, namely Anna Calvi, Yuck, Austra, The Horrors, Toro Y Moi, Twin Shadow and Wu Lyf while reporting back to you guys in the process. Well, as long as I have the will power to see this little project through =)

However, the only disappointment from the Laneway announcement was the lack of regional acts in the line-up. Truth be told, a local presence would have added something truly special to an already magical music festival, but with such a wide array of musical talents on show next February 12 at Fort Canning, I’m not complaining.

Not even a single bit.

PS: I got the job.

Advertisements

8 o’clock Classes Will Be The Death Of Me

15 Friday Aug 2008

Posted by boonken in Close Encounters of Misadventuring Kind, Musical Musings, New Age Phenoms, Random Ramblings R US

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Belle And Sebastian, Laura Marling, Lillix, MGMT, Modest Mouse, Mystery Jets, She & Him, The Avett Brothers, The Klaxons, The Kooks, The Pipettes

After spending 2.5 hours waiting for the bus on three separate days to go to Taylor’s from USJ, I just realized how pivotal having a good play-list of music is even though I am still very much pissed at having to idle so long. So here I am sharing 10 tracks which just about saved my sanity throughout this torrid public transport debacle week:

1) Time To Pretend – MGMT

Probably most commonly known as the theme song for the movie “21”, “Time To Pretend” by the Converse-supporting MGMT is an electro-rock heavyweight in its own right. Off their debut LP “Oracular Spectacular”, the song really gives me the chills every time I listen to its majestic opening.

2) Funny Little Frog – Belle And Sebastian

If you do not know it already, I simple adore Belle And Sebastian, especially 2006’s “Life Pursuit” which resulted in amazing pop tunes like “Funny Little Frog”. Generally regarded as one of the best indie pop bands in the business by critics and fans alike, this Scottish masterclass produced a fantastic love song in “Funny Little Frog”, which shines as a non-emo and fun-sounding romance-themed track. The song simply makes you want to jump up, dance, and kiss anyone in sight, and that is the power of Belle And Sebastian.

3) Golden Skans – The Klaxons

I actually first came into knowledge of this song when I listened to the Kaiser Chiefs’ cover during BBC Radio 1’s Live Lounge, and I have been in love with it ever since. Boosting an incredible dance rock range, the Klaxons, who hail from London, produced one of last year’s most-loved dance anthems in “Golden Skans”.

4) Why Do You Let Me Stay Here – She & Him

I have a thing for retro-sounding 60’s pop-rock, and She & Him are one of the bands in recent times who have been able to charm me with sounds reminiscent of the good old non-manufactured days, the other bands being The Pipettes and Camera Obscura. The video is disturbingly cute.

5) Pull Shapes – The Pipettes

The Pipettes remind me of a time when Diana Ross and The Supremes were at the stop of the musical pile, but I am so very disappointed that the original three band members have left the group. I would have loved to catch one of their live shows which are famed for them performing in matching pooka dot designs and synchronized dance moves.

6) Die Die Die – The Avett Brothers

If you even remotely enjoyed the Juno soundtrack, you will love this song. It was love at first hearing when I sampled this song off their 2007 album “Emotionalism”, and its folk-y jangles have made its way to my very own personal musical hall of fame. Seth and Scott Avett, thank you for the fabulous bluegrass!

7) Naive – The Kooks

Off the UK rock band’s critically-acclaimed 2006 debut “Inside In/Outside In”, Naive is one of those songs you just cannot get out of your head, especially when the likes of Lily Allen and Kate Nash have already covered this hugely-popular song.

8) Sweet Temptation – Lillix

Lillix are one of my all-time favourite bands ever since my dad gave me an MP3 player and my sister introduced me to ARES way back in 2003. “Sweet Temptation” is the first single off their second studio album “Inside The Hollow”, and is a rock tune that you can dance to. Plagued by constant upheavals in the band’s line-up, the Canadian rock band more famously known for “What I Like About You” which appeared in the movie “Freaky Friday” has recently announced that they are working on their third album. Yay!

9) Young Love – Mystery Jets (Featuring Laura Marling)

A song about young love, yeah, pretty obvious. A song you can sing along with that tells the story of a guy who loses the number of a girl when the rain washes the digits off his hand. A desperate search for her ensues. Mystery Jets, who recently did a solid cover of Leona Lewis’ “Bleeding Love”, team up with songstress Laura Marling for this great pop track, which also has a great dance remix by Shoes.

10) Invisible – Modest Mouse

The opening of this song kills me every time, classic Johnny Marr, a genius with a six-string. “Invisible” is my favourite track off 2007’s “We Were Dead Before The Ship Sank” and one of my favourite rock songs of all time.

Yeah, so mainly my week has been spent trying in vain not to be late in class, and I also met up with a couple of friends who I have not seen in a long time who are in Taylor’s, namely Helina and Lih Fern. I will be moving again next week to Mentari, which is just next to my campus. Thank God!

To make matters worse, my bus back to Seremban yesterday broke down as well. Curse you buses!

Anyway, hope you guys enjoy my selection of songs.

Kudos to great music!

Cheerio~

Pages

  • Why The Good? Where’s The Bad? And Who’s Plain Old Lazy?

Recent Posts

  • White Shoes & The Couples Company at Black Box @ MAP
  • Don Fabio my Foot!
  • Road to the St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival Singapore 2012 – Part One
  • Open Letter to iPhone Case Makers
  • A Year with a Teenage Dirtbag
  • Paris Je ‘Taime
  • Four Things I Learned This Weekend
  • The Lazy Boy’s Guide to Singapore

Top Posts

  • Definitely, Maybe VS How I Met Your Mother
April 2018
M T W T F S S
« Nov    
 1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
30  

*Must-Read BLOGS*

  • EVo/Eu Veng
  • Fafa
  • Grace Has a Face and a Blog
  • Grace my Shiny Indie Guru
  • Joey’s Space is Way Better than MySpace
  • Si Yan who Said I ROCK
  • Vanessa’s Blog of Tremendous Laughs
  • Zhen Long’s Second Blog (Why He Needs it I Dunno)

Music Blogs ROCK

  • I Guess I’m Floating
  • Music for Kids who can’t Read Good

Things I Love

  • Boon Ken’s Facebook
  • Chuck Taylor Rules!

Close Encounters of Misadventuring Kind Holiday Mayhem If I Had Money LoL Musical Musings New Age Phenoms Non-Events Random Ramblings R US Soccerextravanganza Uncanny Reflections

8TV 90210 A Fever You Can't Sweat Out Apple Apple iPod Nano Australia Australian Open Barclays Premier League Batu Ferringhi Ben Stiller birthday cake cable car Camera Obscura Cecilia Yong Chelsea Chong Yi Xiang Chow Zhen Long Christian Bale Christien and Lavin cousin Don Shue Drastic Fantastic Edward Cullen Feist Friends Genting Highlands Hannah Tan HELP University College holiday holidays How I Met Your Mother iPod Nano Iron Man Jonker Street Juwita Suwito KLPac KT Tunstall Kung Fu Panda Langkawi Laura Marling Lee Hom Lee Sze Shee Malacca Manchester United Mark Wahlberg Melbourne MGMT Mini Cooper motion sickness movies music Mystery Jets Novak Djokovic One Night Only One Utama Pack the Floor for 24 paintball Panic at the Disco Penang Red Product reunion S.M.K. Bukit Mewah She & Him Singapore So You Think You Can Dance Malaysia Suntec City Sunway Pyramid Suria KLCC Su Yintse Taylor's College The Do The Kooks The Ting Tings Vampire Weekend Zooey Deschanel
Advertisements

Cancel