I Play

I currently looped only these few songs.

Thought I'd Died And Gone To Heaven
Stand Up, Kick Love Into Motion
Home Is Where The Heart Is
Don't Shoot Shotgun

Just find out yourself who the artists might be.

Music Duration Test

I have thought about doing a duration test to the Sony Ericsson Z530i under my custody (it's my mum's actually) to prove whether its worthy enough for a long haul trip. Entertainment is a necessity you see.

The battery, meanwhile, is not its original, but comes from a donor W300i damaged by the flickering WSOD (white screen of Death) courtesy of my youngest brother. This will also mean I will do another test using the original battery as well soon.

This test involves playing music from its fullest battery down to some percentage left, which may be necessary to do calls. It involves using the biggest available headphone, the bulky yet worthy Sony MDR-85 I bought in 1997, which still tops all my mobile entertainment stock in terms of sound and clarity. The volume used a majority of the time is 75 percent, which varies plus minus 8 percent mean.

Battery status starts at 96 percent, and ends around 20-ish percent.

By the way, I don't really listen in most of the time. I just start the test and put it aside.

The official result: 9 hours.

After the battery stabilizes, several minutes after music is turned off, the battery capacity is around 23 percent.

I can safely say I could bring the whole entertainment gear to a remote site anywhere within Malaysia West.

I may test a 100 percent volume duration test next.

Cult Favorites

Lately I'm so into The Cult.

Ian and Billy did a great job. Though Britisher, they convey the Native American theme very well in their music.

And Billy's playing is very anthemic, it reminds me of Andy LaRocque sometimes.

So here's my The Cult playlist, and it's very suitable as a driving music.

Spiritwalker
She Sells Sanctuary
Love
Rain
Nirvana
Love Removal Machine
Wild Flower
Big Neon Glitter
Edie
Sweet Soul Sister
Soldier Blue

Yes I am still the hard rock type like I used to.

Worn Out Reverse Gear

The 80s were my era.

It belongs to me.

That's why I can never leave it. It will certainly almost immediately came back to me.

Ohh! Those were the days.

The songwriting, the musicianship, the sincerity, the true heyday.

I can consider the Malaysian seminal band Alleycats as my first serious music listening, and that was way back in around the year 1986 when they are at their greatest. And up to now, most of their songs are still covered, and was never obsolete.

And my first serious listen at rock was the quintessential band Def Leppard and that was in 1988. And that particular album Hysteria was the best, and still is.

How about Ratt? Guns N Roses? I don't think anyone can top them, especially back in those arena rock days.

Who can forget screaming heavy bands such as Overkill? King Diamond? Metallica? They were all born in the early 1980s. The late 80s saw Vio-Lence, Sacred Reich, Forbidden etc. And that era was the best for all of these bands.

And who can deny the soul rock musicianship of Hall & Oates, and those jazzy sensibilities Sheila Majid, Chicago, even Toto?

Those doesn't include countless other I can only hope I have more time to listen and indulge.

I had to mention this. Punk and hardcore, too was prevalent in those days.

Though my listening diversified in the 1990s when I bought my first tape, it was still those based on rock. And the grunge movement didn't even make any difference. Besides, it's only a part of rock.

I have at times moved forward. But I will always pull that reverse gear and head back home.

One On One

I am currently crazy about Hall & Oates song, ever since I ignorantly heard it years ago, and actually stumbled upon again just a few days ago.

This is one of a few song that you need to close your eyes and just feel the music.

Here is the live version, way back in 1983. Apparently there's lots.

Enjoy!

Melody

Stumbled upon this ballad just last night.

To my wife, listen to this, for this is for you.

Caught In The Studio

I guess I won't be doing this next Tuesday with my colleague.

I'll fly to Indonesia instead.

But that's awright, I can still air-drum!

Am A Recording Artist, Sorta

Last Friday, we 2 out of 3 in the band went to studio to do some recording of our song.

My guitar player is to be the mixing engineer. So he had all these instrument jacked up to his PC one at a time, except the drums, which are recorded as ambient, with the vocal mic jacked up instead.

The setting up of the rigs consumed about a precious 25 minutes.

Using the clean guitar version he had done several months ago as a guide, I did the drumming and did several versions of the vocals, my way. He did several versions of his vocals too.

The drumming went quite well, apart from very few near misses (read: timing). It took quite a toll on my back too, from trying too hard to keep tempo.

The singing was okay I guess, but it ended up not getting recorded. We found out that the mic was not jacked into the PC properly. So there goes our 20 minutes.

In the car, we ended up recording the vocals into my MP3 recorder/player. Both of us sang our own versions. After several takes, I want to sing some more, but ended up laughing instead, since I persistently tried to clear my throat (it tickles my funny bone, and I don't quite know why).

The bass and lead guitar will be recorded in his home.

I hope we will re-record again. I don't feel the end product is good enough, yet.

One of these days, I must re-record my vocals, and do at least FIVE versions. With various emotions and feelings.

Hmmm...


PS: Have to go to site at Kelantan today.

Notable Singers

Some singers that I noted for the past 5 years, and is worth a listen to are as below. And I don't usually listen to female singers lately, hence the singular candidate.

Tina Arena
Here is a somewhat raspy but soulful female singer. She was probably the one singer that resembles Siti Nurhaliza of Malaysia, and all Siti's vocal tricks are seemingly from her too. And why? Listen to Heaven Help My Heart, and there's some evidence of Siti here and there. And she did hers way earlier.
Notable songs:

• Heaven Help My Heart
• Be A Man
• Love Is The Answer

Steve Overland
I have never heard any other male vocalist that has a sexier voice than FM vocalist "Stiv". And I'm not talking lyrically. He has a voice that makes your hair stands on ends. And you want to listen to that same song for ten times, and it awes you more and more. And Frozen Heart can easily be the sexiest ballad of the '80s.
Notable songs

• Heart Of The Matter
• Frozen Heart
  
• Crying In The Dark

Steve Perry
Simply the legendary Journey vocalist. He popularizes the "rock falsetto" singing. It's simply using the falsetto voice to hit the high notes, but with a rock edge. And everybody else copies him afterwards. Quite a pioneer I would say.
Notable songs:

• Hopelessly In Love
• Don't Stop Believing
• Foolist Heart
  

Joseph Williams
The legendary Toto vocalist. He not only has a soulful voice, but a rocking voice too, to match the music played. And his live stint with Toto in 1987 are hair-raising, especially Till The End and Could This Be Love.
Notable song:

• Till The End
• Stop Loving You
• Pamela
  

Music To My Ears Too

My current, and usual, play list is, and why:

Hard Rockers

Journey -

• Majestic (the guitars rules!)
• Too Late (the intro guitar-piano duel, the guitar solo, and the soaring vocals)
  
• Lovin' You Is Easy (the ultimate jazz-rock drumming, the guitars and a perfect rock vocals)

L.A. Guns -

• One More Reason (the guitars and bass combo at intro, and powerhouse drumming)
  

Lynch Mob -

• Sweet Sister Mercy (the jammability(?) and the guitars)

Poppers

Joseph Williams -

• Make Some Time (Alternative Version) (the hihat play, and the vocals)
  
• When You Look In My Eyes (the almost singable vocals, almostttt)
• One More Chance (dreamy ballad, where Joseph rules)
  

Toto -

• Till The End (Live Vienna 1987) (the intro soundtrack, the fast tempo, and Joseph Williams!)
• Could This Be Love (Live Vienna 1987) (the powerhouse backing vocals, and the soaring vocals of Joseph yet again)
  

Steely Dan -

• Aja (the drums, and the overall melody and classic feel)

FM -

• Heart Of The Matter (Live 1989) (Chris' stinging Scorpions-like guitars, the keyboards, and the soaring Steve Overland vocals)
• Everytime I Think Of You (Live 1989) (almost perfect ballad, and the vocals still rules)
  

Jay Graydon -

• Walk The Wire (Live) (the keys, and the vocal duo of Bill Champlin and Joseph Williams!)
  

Jazz

Jim Horn -

• Rio Sunrise (the Jeff Porcaro drumming, and the overall sunrise atmosphere)
  

Steve Gadd -

• Brick Lane (the ultimate paradiddle drumming)
• Gadd Groove (the ultimate drum solo, or is it?)
  

PS: So much of Joseph this time around eh?!

Music To My Ears

My current, and usual, play list is, and why:

Hard Rockers

Journey -

• City Of The Angels (simplistic excellence)
• Stone In Love (the rhythm section at epilogue)
  
• Hopelessly In Love (a perfect song for me)
  

Def Leppard -

• Don't Shoot Shotgun (the ensemble at pre-chorus)
  
• Comin' Under Fire (the drums, Steve Clark's licks, and the arpeggio)
  
• Action Not Words (the drums and Steve Clark's licks)
  

Lynch Mob -

• Sweet Sister Mercy (the chorus and guitars)
  
• For A Million Years (the intro guitar)
  

Poppers

Joseph Williams

• I'd Rather Dance By Myself (still so melodic)
  
• Pretty Face (I'm so in love with the vocals)
  

Metalers

Forbidden -

• March Into Fire (the intergalactic riff)
  
• Off The Edge (the fast chord progression)
  

Mercyful Fate -

• Curse Of The Pharaohs (the guitars)
  
• Evil (the guitars)
  
• Nightmare (the bass and guitars)
  

Self Composed

Cruwy -

• Kali Pertama (a melodic ballad composition by the ever popular MRMR)
  

Aduh Muzaffar

Muzaffar loves Mawi so much. He loves the song Aduh Saliha too much. And that's the problem.

He kept asking us to repeat that particular song everytime we are using the Wira.

Imagine going to USJ or Seremban with the same song playing. Sure gets on your nerve after quite a while, and I soon felt like singing it myself.

Now imagine going to Kuantan for a holiday. It was repeated 11 times before Muzaffar lets the music flows. And I dare not touch any button, so I just let Mawi do his thing. I am lucky if he sings the other seven tracks in the CD. So relieving.

Since I have never stopped at Kuantan before, I plan to visit Kuantan as much for this two days holiday.

Other people joining includes my love, my son, my sister and my sister in-law.

Been Listening To...

My playlist :-

1. Forbidden's album Forbidden Evil
   
2. Lynch Mob's album Wicked Sensation
   
3. Def Leppard's albums On Through The Night and Pyromania
   
4. L.A. Guns's album L.A. Guns
   
5. Anuar Zain's song Sesucinya Cintamu (hihi)

PS: Number 5 is so out of place...

Imitation Is...

I have always wanted to imitate these few drummers.

Steve Gadd
Vinnie Colaiuta
Steve Smith
Jeff Porcaro

But without a drum, I might as well settle with these ones first.

Rick Allen
Danny King
Mickey Curry
John Robinson


PS: Both Steve Gadd and Vinnie Colaiuta are a sight to behold!

First Rock Album

Now let me tell you a story.

In 1988, one new student at my school introduces me to a cassette tape, and ask me to take a listen to it at home. It was by Def Leppard, titled Hysteria. The cover was apt enough, an image of hysterical proportion.

Before this, I only listened to Alleycats my uncle gave me.

I took a listen, and coincidentally, the first track I listen to was the first of the second side, which is Gods Of War.

It blew me away, seriously! So this is rock, I say to myself.

That song, and a couple of nearby songs, became my staple favorite, since cassette needs rewinding, so I usually ejected the tape after Gods Of War and Don't Shoot Shotgun, to listen to Pour Some Sugar On Me and Armageddon It on the other side. And I kept listening to the same tracks over and over again, until it breaks. A new copy I bought broke again in around 1992, so I have in my hand a third copy, until now.

I told my friend about how I loved the feeling I have by listening to it, and he gave it to me straight away. I don't know for sure if he hated it, and only wanted to get rid of it, or maybe he have several copies, but I do like the decision he made.

At that era, only my dad has a cassette player, and I usually secretly take a listen to this album with it. And I got caught several times as well.

Those four tracks, including others such as Women and Hysteria, are my most frequently played tracks, up to now.

Now I tell you why all four songs mentioned still stood my test of time.

• Intriguing beginning and ending.
• Showcases of the obvious riffing contest of the twin guitarist.
• Contains soaring and stellar choruses
• Simple songs that contains perfect bits and pieces of fillings.
• Drenched rhythm section (bass and drum).
  
• They spell "FUN" and "SUSPENSE" with capitals.

Hysteria and Armageddon It are my band's jamming favorite. Both seems relaxing enough to be the easiest Def Leppard songs to jam.

This cassette was the only album I ever owned for four years, from 1988 up to 1992, until I bought the newly released Def Leppard album Adrenalize, on April 1992, a month after its release! From that point onwards, it escalates.

Hysteria has become my all-time favorite rock album. The CD is permanently put in our Proton Wira CD player or the in-car CD pocket. And the said tracks are still spectacular to me. I guess they have the future in mind when recording this album.

Anuar Zain - Sesucinya Cintamu

Dapat ku membayangkan
Dari senyum bibirmu itu
Terlindung dari nyata
Aku tahu semua
Terucap kata-kata
Bisikan seluhur hatimu
Ku percaya jua
Sesucinya cintamu

Kukagumi sinar
Matamu yang ayu
Bundarnya... Cantiknya...
Wajahmu sayang penyejuk rasa
Selembut hatimu
Menjadi ku bertambah sayang

Senangnya hati kini
Sejak bersamamu
Bertemu dan bermesra
Sering menghibur duka
Biar masa berlalu
Kasih sayang dipahatkan
Ku percaya suci cintamu


PS: Muzaffar's crazy with this song, especially when he saw the glamorous 3 year old girl tries to imitate Anuar Zain.

I'm Guilty Of Watching This, Sort Of

As I had expected, the Fantasy Academy champion is indeed Mawi.

Actually I have this very hot feeling on my body, probably because of the excitement and anticipation. Or maybe because my in-laws were here, adding the fun and louden the screams.

Hey, my 18 votes tonight probably counts for 0.1 percent out of the 58 percent Mawi got. Or not even close.

By the way, copious bathing after the TV show doesn't cool me off. I'm still on fire!

It's all because of Mawi's aura.

Should get some sleep to cool me off.

Gem Of A Jam

Song List
-Photograph
-Armageddon It 1
-Always Somewhere
-About A Girl
-60s TV
-Hysteria
-Knocking On Heaven's Door
-Lagu Melayu Encore
-Heaven
-Gift Of Flesh
-Armageddon It II
-Don't Cry
-Photograph II
-Enter Sandman
-Smell Like Teen Spirit

We are all fired up last night. The jam session was indeed an improvement. After listening to our own 90 minute recording, I can say that we improved quite a lot. It so proves that we need to be prepared for these things. That means no impromptu jams, without first rehearsing.

One thing to note though. We still need to improve on our song endings. Most of the song we play ends by fading to oblivion. Some trick or version needs to be advised and planned. Another would be to really differentiate the play between clean guitar and lead guitar. Those distorted guitar parts needs to be heard too, as well as those clean guitar sound. It sure will fire us up more.

Some of the highlights would be, me singing Heaven, Bryan Adams' 20 year old gem. Not behind the drums, but as a frontman. Some missed notes are apparent though, but most pitch ranges are covered. Drums are played by AMMR. No guitars though here, except those "guitar solos" that came out of my mouth.

Slickly played songs are Armageddon It, Knocking On Heaven's Door, Don't Cry, 60s TV, Lagu Melayu Encore, Gift Of Flesh and Always Somewhere. These are the powerfully played songs. Others have their better or worse moments.

The twin guitar terrorists MRMR and AMMR really rips the studio apart. We do felt something missing, that is, no bass are played. Just guitars, drums and vocals.

Afterwards, we went to SS2 to look for another spot to jam. The place looks better. The drums still look new, and the studio area wider. Must be a good atmosphere.

If all is well, we might be welcoming a new member, MAD from our same school to be, most of the time, a bass player.

Joseph Williams - When You Look In My Eyes

Thought I was doing love
Thought it was over
Didn't need what I needed before

The never ending story
Had an ending after all
And it hurts you when you fall

Guess I didn't believe enough
Didn't think it could happen
I gave up on myself long ago

Love had me believing
Then it turns and close the door
I couldn't trust it anymore

I'm beginning to doubt my doubts
And I'm losing faith in my faithlessness
All the grey above is clearing become blue skies
When you look in my eyes

But here in reality
It gets so confusing
Why our own habit's hard to break

My hearts afraid of losing
So i havent played the game
It always seem to end the same

I'm beginning to feel again
And I'm losing what's left of my thoughtlessness
The sun has begun to come out in my life
When you look in my eyes

You gave me something more
It's like I never loved before


PS Beautiful vocals, beautiful lyrics, beautiful piano, it needs to be heard. Heard it countless times and typed it myself. No such lyrics on the Net.

The Crucial Jamming Session

Elo

Should tell you a little about my Thursday night.

We the band C***Y did a small jamming at 11.00pm. Some of the song that I remember playing alone will be mostly short encores, but when we played together, songs listed below are our gamble.

Guns & Roses' Knocking On Heaven's Door
Guns & Roses' Don't Cry
Def Leppard's Armageddon It
Def Leppard's Hysteria
Def Leppard's Gift Of Flesh
Nirvana's About A Girl
Scorpion's Always Somewhere
RATT's Giving Yourself Away

I brought a tape recorder to record our jamming session. All in all, our timing is getting better, especially me at the drums. Timing mishaps only occur when I do spontaneous drum rolls, about 10 or more times I suppose. Guitarplayer's timing also good, except when doing guitar licks (solos)

All of us played vocals, or in details, I did the high end vocals, while guitar wiz AMMR and MRMR swapped low and mid range vocals.

The jam ends at 12.30pm. Altogether, in the 90 minutes or so we played music, the studio itself is in various ways, substandard. But as usual, we guess ourselves are on par with the studio condition, that is, substandard. The next time, we planned to jam somewhere else, crossing our fingers to prove is is the studio that is to be blamed.

By the way, we ourselves need to improve. We are not even better than most Malaysian pop rock bands for now. OK now a short band profile.

Band Profile
Name:
C***Y (anonymity needed for copyright purposes)

Members:
AMMR: Guitar, Bass, Vocals
MICK: Drums, Vocals
MRMR: Guitar, Bass, Vocals

Influence:
AMMR: Alternative, Metal, Hard Rock, New School
MICK: 70s Metal & Rock, 80s Metal & Rock, Old School
MRMR: 70s Metal & Rock, 80s Metal & Rock

That's all I guess

by...
MICK