Thursday, April 29, 2010
A.P.I dan Pelita
Selamat sejahtera,
Rasanya dah lama aku tak review tentang album, artis mahupun lagu. Asyik-asyik cerita pasal diet, kesihatan, catatan sendiri, dan projek band (peribadi). Jadi kali ini aku rasa nak review satu lagu yang aku baru saja dengar masa balik kerja tadi, cuba teka lagu apa? Mestilah lagu yang tengah-tengah nak naik sekarang ni kan? Ok, jawapannya...
Siapa A.P.I? Itu shortform untuk 'Angkatan Pemuda Indie'. Mereka ni terdiri daripada Noh Hujan (vocal), Lan Typewritter (vocal/guitar), Din Homatov Estranged (guitar), Imran OBS (drum), AJ Pop Shuvit (bass) dan loQue MonoloQue/Butterfingers (piano). Dan lagu Pelita tu pula adalah lagu tema untuk filem 'Hooperz' yang sedang ditayangkan di pawagam-pawagam tanah air sejak 22 April yang lalu. Tapi aku bukan nak bercerita sangat pun pasal filem ni mahupun nak cerita sedikit sinopsis dia, aku cuma nak huraikan sedikit pendapat aku berkenaan lagu Pelita ni. Ye la, nama blog pun EsTOM, mestilah nak kena cerita yang berkaitan muzik..
Pada pendapat aku, lagu ni unik sebab dia gabungkan beberapa elemen utama yang ada dalam band Hujan, Butterfingers, dan Lan and The Typewriter sendiri. Itu yang paling ketara aku perasan sebab yang lain-lain tu aku tak berapa layan sangat lagu-lagu band mereka.
Kalau kita tengok lenggok dan susunan melodi untuk verse dan pre-chorus tu terang-terangan adalah milik Noh, sebagai contoh "apa yang telah daku temui, selama ini.." (Verse 1). Kalau diteliti, kita akan perasan yang Lan cuba untuk merendahkan range vokal dia untuk bahagian verse ni sebab dia nak sesuaikan vokal dia dengan range vokal Noh yang sedikit rendah.
"selagi hayat di kandung badan" untuk bahagian pre-chorus ni aku perasan seperti datang dari pengaruh 'Loque', berdasarkan penelitian dari pemilihan perkataan yang digunakan untuk lagu-lagu dalam album 'Kembali' (Butterfingers). Ini termasuk juga satu bahagian interlude yang berbunyi
Selagi tubuhku, belum ditimpa uzur!
pantang datuk nenek moyangku,
Berundur!
Secara keseluruhan, aku nampak susunan (arrangement) untuk lagu ni seperti datang dari pengaruh Lan and The Typewriter, kecuali kurangnya iringan gitar 'slide' campur 'clean chorus' seperti dalam lagu-lagu beliau, tetapi itu telah diganti dengan iringan piano yang dimainkan oleh brother Loque.
Itu saja pendapat spontan dan ringkas aku berkenaan lagu ni. Secara tersirat, aku rasa ni merupakan satu perkembangan yang sihat untuk industri muzik sebab secara tidak langsung kita dapat lihat bagaimana bunyi sebuah lagu apabila kita menggabungkan Hujan, Butterfingers, Lan, dan Pop Shuvit. Sebarang teguran terhadap entri ini amatlah dialu-alukan; seperti yang aku cakap dahulu, ilmu muzik aku ni tak seberapa.
P/S: Klik sini untuk menonton/mendengar "Pelita" oleh A.P.I.
Monday, April 5, 2010
"My Number One" - Self Review
My Number One (Rough Demo/ Beta version)
Song/words: Ejoy
Genre: Pop
Recorded: Between 6pm – 7pm, Sunday April 05, 2010.
Verse:
Whenever it makes you worry
and even plagues your mind
When ever you feel so lonely
don't be shy to call my name
and I'll be there for you
You don't seem so happy
though you try to show your smile
We never knew it'd feel so empty
why must we keep ourselves apart
and pretend like we haven't met
Pre-Cho:
Throw your doubts out
stand beside me
close your eyes
and be my shelter
Just in one breath
say it loudly
that you love me
Chorus:
Can you ever be my number one
can you ever be my only one
as if the affection has just begun
and slowly we fade into the sun
“My first attempt to compose a fully English Song”. Over the past 2 years, I discovered one melancholy tune while improvising few chord progressions with my
The tune of the verse did not sound good enough and I believe it was too depressing – did not too catchy I should say. Until one day, I learned one of the most fundamental secret of how our brain functions and how does it related to creativity and arts, how does it inspire musicians to compose a wonderful piece of song and how does it influence thinkers to come up with ideas and thoughts. The class is so called a Neuro-linguistic Programming (NLP) and it was part of the communication module in BeST program.
That night, I grabbed Pjoe's Mitchell acoustic-electric guitar, just a moment before I dozed off, and ran on this particular pop's chord progression (I usually don't play or cover people songs, but I love to run some random progressions). The room surrounding was dark; though the moonlight was still be able to go through the window, and it was just a right atmosphere for us to fall asleep. Suddenly, there it came. Too fast which I almost did not realize how could I come up with the verse, and it suits well with the pre-chorus and the chorus I mentioned earlier. Malays call this as “Ilham”.
Later, the words were again revised and I decided to make it sounds more 'general' instead of making it sounds too passionate. You may sing this song to your friends, closed friends, or even your loved one. It depends upon that person understanding, as if how he or she to interpret the whole message, but I believe the song is all about “Friendship, Trusty, and Love”.
Recorded using my built-in web-cam microphone (ASUS EeePC), indeed the sound's quality is so cheap. I was singing while playing the guitar, and the laptop was exactly in front of me (to record my play), placed about 30cm in distance. I turned on the fan in purpose since it was
Talking about feedback, I do receive comments from friends, mostly FB friends. I would like to share some of the comments here, listed from the most precise to the most general:
Yanglin Yeo (via FB, BeST friend)
“hey, i cant listen clearly,but just roughly the melody. i dont have any idea on the lyrics since my English very poor...hehe...the melody is okay too...did u turn on the fans during recording? maybe u can try to use headphone microphone to record and at the same time turn off the aircond and fans, this is what i tried last time and it's quite clear.”
“Then need to improve on the arrangement which i could not help (haha, i didnt touch music for more than 5 years), since just have guitar (if not mistaken), it's quite simple now, like create different 'scenes' from verse to pre-cho and lastly to chorus, something can bring the audience to the 'climax'.”
“Dont know how to express, like got 'rise and fall'. now i feel that the pre-cho is abit stronger than the chorus and the current chorus sounds like going to the end of the song. Same goes to the vocal, haha...like the song just now also, the voice sounds like u stand quite far away from the mic.”
“the sentence 'and pretend like we haven't met' maybe can do some changes, coz like all the words clump together...from the end of pre-cho to beginning of chorus, not very smooth, coz it's like 'putus' halfway...but like i said i just can give u my 'not professional' comments.”
Ahmad Aziq (via FB, ex-schoolmate)
“ejoy, i simply love the song, bila nak buat yang btul punyer? Aku ingat macam pernah gdr lagu ni kat sini, ade sket2, hehe..just nak cakap bile dgr lagu ko, teringat kat lagu yang kat utube tue.. cepat2 sket ye ejoy, bagi aku first yg dengar, yeargh!!”
Hare (via SMS, Bandmate PseudoAudio)
“Srsly lagu sedap do. Tone best. Chord biasa tapi x pa. Haha x dpt on fb dah, st*lker dah stat kaco”
Chong Min San (via FB, BeST friend)
“No wonder... I was trying so hard to connect the song and the lyrics. Anyway, it's a nice song. Thanks for sharing. Gambateh!!!”
P/S: She was first confused while listening and referring to the lyric. It turned out that I accidentally gave her the “Enigma” song, but the lyric is “My Number One”. Obviously both songs are in different language, Haha. Clumsy me..
Mohd Fadhli Hamdan (via mulut ke mulut, kawan karib)
dude, you pronounce 'met' for this part “and pretend like we haven't met” as if “and pretend like we haven't MATE”
*Mate = Mating. LOL
That's “My first attempt to compose a fully English Song”. I would like to thank Ranald Ho for his words contribution in this song, although it is just one sentence long. Last but not least, I would like to dedicate this song to all friends who know me, both from the bad side and from the bright side, and also to all BeST Programme 2010 members. I'm looking forward to record this song professionally in the near future, but do comment and correct my grammar, choice of words, sentence structure.. Please, it is still in Beta. And I'm still learning :) Till then, see you in the future, and in Facebook!
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Wish List
Salam Bloggers.
Aku tak mahu Ferrari, aku tak mahu Ducati, aku tak mahu Lisa Surihani (erk.. yg ni mungkin kena review balik, hehe). Apa yg bermain dalam kotak minda aku sekarang hanya ini, cuma ini...
Yaa, ia dikenali sebagai Gibson L-5 CES, antara gitar yang paling mahal dan susah untuk di cari Malaysia, belum tentu jumpa ni atau bahasa mudahnya, kena order khas (tapi apa-apa hal pun kena cari duit dulu). Tentu ramai yang tertanya-tanya, apa yang menarik tentang gitar ni.
Aku dah lama simpan impian untuk memiliki gitar ni sebenarnya. Secara jujur, gitar ini juga adalah motivasi aku untuk terus belajar main gitar sejak mula2 belajar main 4 tahun yg lalu. Tapi dek kerana kurang mampu, aku terpaksa menangguh hasrat aku ketika itu memandangkan harganya yang sangat mahal, sesuai dengan kualiti dan kehebatan tone bunyinya. Lalu tanpa berfikir panjang, duit yang ada aku gunakan untuk membeli sebuah Gibson Les Paul Studio, 2 tahun yang lalu.. bak kata Pjoe, "kita ni main biasa2 jer, tak payah la beli mahal2 sgt, kn?". Kata2 mu ada betulnya wahai Pjoe bugger, tapi aku tak dapat menyorok perasaan cinta pandang pertama, dan nafsu serakahku, pada rupa klasik 'hollow' nya, dan juga bunyinya.... harga dia? Dalam RM 25000 hingga RM 30000 untuk yang 'customed', dan sekurang-kurangnya dalam RM 15000 untuk basic. Mahal. dah macam harga sebuah Piano berjenama 'Kawai' dah aku tengok. Tapi percayalah, bunyi dia sangat superb, lembut...
So teman2 karib, teman kurang karib, teman bloggers, teman Facebook, teman PseudoAudio (fans).. sedara2, sepupu sepapat... catat dlm diari/planner book, bahawa 31 Oktober nanti, belikan aku yang ini yaa? =D
P/S: Kalau la ada perempuan di luar sana yang nak tolong belikan, fuhhh. Terharu2. Nezcaya aku MUNGKIN akan pertimbang untuk mengahwini mu, dan cinta kamu sampai mati... benarkah itu wahai Diana Danielle?
Read more...
Monday, February 8, 2010
My Top 3 Favorite Basslines.
Song: "Johnny B. Goode" by Chuck Berry/Elvis Presley
Genre: Rock n Roll
Comments: This is one of many evergreen songs that I know since my childhood. The tune was first heard while watching 'Back to the future' - indeed my favorite trilogy film so far. Using the most common progression in Rock n Roll which is I-IV-V, this song is a must-to-learn not only for those who intend to learn a rock n roll baseline, but also for the guitarists who want to diversify the genre.
Song: Freestyle play by Buddy Hankerson.
Genre: Funky Rock
Comments: I bet most of you might heard this kind of tune, especially while watching Drama, or 'government promo' around late 80's to early 90's. Yes, this is also one one of my favorite bass tune, and it sounds nostalgic. God, just listen to how he slap the string over and over again. Frankly, I can't slap my guitar strings properly, and I wonder why.. *sigh*. So, again guys, this is number 2!
Song: "Stay Away" by L'Arc～en～Ciel (Laruku)
Genre: J-Rock
Comments: Yes, yes and yes! It's J-rock that rules once again. I believe most J-Rock bands have a very good quality of bassline in their songs (just listen to hundred of anime songs out there, if you don't believe me), and "Stay Away" is just one of them. The bassline are very melodic, but there is also period when it counters the melody/lead especially during the 'peak' of the song (i.e chorus). So there it is.. "Stay Away" (generally J-Rock), my no.1 bassline..
P/S: PseudoAudio's bassline must be influenced by one of these basslines.. Read more...
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn
Mirah Yom Tov Zeitlyn; I bet not all of you know about this singer-songwriter from Portland, Oregon, US. The first time I heard her voice and listen to one of her hits, I can tell you that she is totally awesome. Most of her fans and music critics labelled her as an Indie Rock singer-songwriter. Eventhough that she's Jewish (and her middle name 'Yom Tov' literally means 'holy day' in hebrew), regardless of her faith and what she believes in, I can say she is super-talented and she deserves to be honored like Norah Jones and Marié Digby. Plus, she is openly lesbian and I don't think her "Jewish" is that strong like those who proud and declare Judaical people are the greatest people on earth. So, here is one of her hits from her debut album "You Think It's Like This but Really It's Like This" back in early year 2000..
Friday, April 3, 2009
Serang Hendap Monoloque.. sshhhh..
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Inspiring Soccer Songs: Top 3
Here I listed 3 most notable football/soccer songs that I believe will inspire you guys greatly in any fields that you guys are doing, especially the one that related to Sports. As some of you might have expected, I do put those songs in order from less favorite to the most favorite.
Ricky Martin (The Cup of Life)
Genre: Dance pop, Latin pop.
"The Cup of Life" was not a new song once it was introduced as a theme song for Fifa Worldcup 1998, but it was simply a translation of the song "La Copa de la Vida," a track included on Ricky's fourth album, Vuelve. If you noticed, there are two version of "The Cup of Life", one is more enriched with Latin's musical instrument while the other one is more likely as a remix version, this version has a faster tempo compared to the one mentioned earlier.
Bellini (Samba de Janeiro)
Genre: Dance pop, Samba
"Samba de Janeiro" was populared by a Brazillian dance pop singer, Bellini. This song was written somewhere around 90's but started to popular at the end of 90's, once it had been remixed (I guess).
E-Type (Campione 2000)
Genre: Eurodance
"Campione 2000" is a football song that was the official song of the European Football Championship 2000 (Euro 2000) in the Netherlands and Belgium. It was performed by swedish musician E-Type, who is also a co-writer of the song. What makes this song no.1 is that the song includes football chantings "campione" (champion in English) repetatively during the song's intro and chorus; which makes the song so inspirational. Read more...
Thursday, October 23, 2008
October's New Borns
1) Keane - Perfect Symmetry
Perfect Symmetry is the third studio album by English piano rock band Keane, released on 13 October 2008 in the United Kingdom. The album's title was released on 31 July 2008 and the cover for the album was revealed on 5 September 2008. The band had completely transformed their look and their new album was said to be also very unexpected.
Two songs from this album has been released earlier in two different singles which are "Spiralling" (released on 4 August 08) and "The Lovers Are Losing" (released on 20 October 08).
For this third album, the band have explored a new theme relying on human kind. "Spiralling" and "Perfect Symmetry" deal about life's nonsense; while "Better Than This" and "Pretend That You're Alone" regard human evolution.
Track List:
01. Spiralling ( 4:19)
02. Lovers Are Losing ( 5:04)
03. Better Than This ( 4:03)
04. You Haven’t Told Me Anything ( 3:47)
05. Perfect Symmetry ( 5:12)
06. You Don’t See Me ( 4:03)
07. Again & Again ( 3:50)
08. Playing Along ( 5:35)
09. Pretend That You’re Alone ( 3:47)
10. Black Burning Heart ( 5:23)
11. Love Is the End ( 5:38)
Visit Keane's channel at Youtube here and listen/watch "Spiralling" and "The Lovers Are Losing" music videos. Also visit their official website at keanemusic.com where you can buy and download their songs/singles/CDs.
2) Sheila On 7 - Menentukan Arah
Menentukan Arah merupakan album studio ketujuh band pop dari Indonesia Sheila On 7 (lebih tepat lagi merupakan album keenam Sheila On 7 di Malaysia). Album ini telah dilancarkan secara rasminya semalam di Jakarta, Indonesia (bersamaan 23 Oktober 2008). Album ini turut memuatkan lagu "Betapa" - single mereka yang telah dilancarkan dan keudara di corong-corong radio tempatan semenjak Jun 2008 yang lalu.
Setelah hampir dua tahun menyepi dari industri hiburan (kali terakhir mengeluarkan album tahun 2006 menerusi "507"), Menentukan Arah adalah jawapan yang ditunggu-tunggu oleh para peminat SO7. Kemunculan album terbaru SO7 ini juga telah menamatkan spekulasi akan perpecahan band ini oleh sesetengah pihak.
Senarai Lagu:
01. Betapa
02. Arah
03. Lia Lia Lia
04. Alasanku
05. Segalanya
06. Sampai Kapan
07. Mudah Saja
08. Jalan Keluar
09. Ibu Linda
10. Yang Terlewatkan
Klik sini untuk menonton video klip "Betapa". Juga lawati laman web rasmi Sheila On 7 di sheilaon7.com.
Read more...
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Video Klip Tempatan
Sudahkah kamu semua mendengar lagu "Fikirlah" yang didendangkan oleh Aizat? Rata-ratanya pasti sudah mendengar lagu tersebut memandangkan ia agak kerap dimainkan di corong-corong radio terutamanya di radio Era. Apa yang saya mampu katakan ialah, tahniah buat artis muda ini yang berjaya membawa impak lagu yang unik dan sangat beridentitikan vokalnya yang rilek dan bertenaga itu.
Namun, bukanlah saya hendak menyentuh mengenai vokal atau kualiti lagu saudara Aizat ini, tetapi saya ingin sekali hendak menyentuh aspek yang agak penting dalam mempromosikan sesebuah lagu, iaitu video klip. Sekita Jun yang lalu, video klip "Fikirlah" telah pun dilancarkan dengan jayanya dan video klip itu kini boleh ditonton oleh peminat-peminat Aizat menerusi laman web Youtube.
Saturday, September 13, 2008
Terakhir Dari Peterpan
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