this is heartbreaking, and so full of raw emotion :'(
be still, my heart

Blind Pilot; Mosaic

when they ended with '3 rounds and a sound', i was on the verge of tears

+65 Indie Festival

The Obedient Wives' Club

In Each Hand a Cutlass

All it takes is the first few guitar riffs, and I'm instantly mesmerized. Usually I'd be pretty much immune to instrumental music but In Each Hand a Cutlass has turned me into an instant fan, just like that. How do I put this... they were mind-blowing. 


Time seems to have taken a sort of unreal, hazy quality, adrenaline rush mixed with a giddy pleasure, drunk with the feeling of heady ecstasy, heart pounding, rising, falling in sync with the music, I can barely think straight, all my senses are fully attuned and there's no room for distracting thoughts, all I can do is feel, let the intricate tapestry of music wash over me, go right through me, and think, " Oh my god" over and over again

their music is beyond amazing

                                                          and these lines tell the truth
                                                          these city veins answer all you do 
                                                          so could you keep me in the pulses
                                                          could you keep me in the sound
         

I've been watching your world from afar
I've been trying to be where you are
And I've been secretly falling apart
Unseen

To me, you're strange and you're beautiful
You'd be so perfect with me
But you just can't see
You turn every head but you don't see me

I'll put a spell on you
You fall asleep
And I put a spell on you
And when I wake you I'll be the first thing you see
And you'll realise that you love me

Sometimes the last thing you want comes in first
Sometimes the first thing you want never comes
But I know that waiting is all you can do
Sometimes

I'll put a spell on you
You fall asleep
I'll put a spell on you
And when I wake you I'll be the first thing you see
And you'll realise that you love me

Priscilla Ahn, Wallflower

I'm not here, no one sees me

Happiness is a warm gun

Last night, I went to watch The Observatory, a local alt-rock band, do covers of songs from the Beatles' White Album at the Festival Village, Esplanade Park. My favourite songs had to be ' Blackbird', ' Dear Prudence', ' I'm so tired', and ' While my guitar gently weeps'. The Observatory's take on the songs was probably twice as edgy as the original but their versions worked surprisingly well. The entire experience was really intense (but in a good way), almost religiously cathartic even.

A feeling of pure, unadulterated joy swept over me as the band continued to expertly weave a dizzying tapestry of music. At the end of a 45 minute set, they built up towards a blitzkrieg of sound, surging towards a frenzied crescendo, everything colliding into a perfect whole, imploding the senses, till waves of sound poured into my head, into my skin, over and over... Heartbeat accelerating, every atom of my body humming, nerve ends tingling with the sheer euphoria of listening to Beatles music being played live, I remember wanting so much to wrap that sensation around myself, to be surrounded by the wide expanse of inky black sky and grass and sharing that wonderful and intimate experience with total strangers, to remain in the here and now, feeling so much with every fibre of my being, thinking how amazing it was to be alive right then.

HMV: I place the headphones my my ears and let the music seep into my skin, my veins, feel the world shrink and disappear as the song carries me someplace else. I get this sense of total and complete peace. As I watch the world go by, it's as if nothing can touch me. People are moving about the aisles, as if in slow motion; a trio of teenage boys exclaim over some record at the heavy metal section, mouths opening and closing, gesturing rapidly, a couple in their fifties are at the classical music section picking out some records and looking thoughtful, a movie buff is at the film area checking out the latest DVDs. I feel distant and detached and far away from everything, impassively taking it all in, watching life play out from a vast distance, all the while in my impenetrable bubble. I think to myself; music offers a temporary escape, a respite from the humdrum and monotony of everyday life. It allows you to attain some semblance of blissful oblivion. For that short lived window of time, the world teeters and begins to fade, becoming hazy and unfocused and then vanishes momentarily as the sounds sweep you away, and you're unresisting, so you can't fight it even if you tried...

until you take the headphones off and you stand blinking a little as the sounds and sights from the outside world rush in and bombard your senses, and the feeling is gone once more

Her Morning Elegance / Oren Lavie stop motion video

Lenka

I love new experiences. When we get older, novel experiences are fewer and harder to come by. Once we experience something new, the next time, that thing loses its magic and we're no longer spellbound as before. Instead, we grow to expect the same old things happening all over again and the novelty wears off. We lose the childlike wonder that we once had.

The point is, I'll never forget my first experience of entering a nightclub and attending a gig! The waiting time was agonizing though. I was so mesmerized staring at the psychedelic strobe lights hanging from the ceiling, and every atom of my body seemed to be pulsating in time to the music.

Then, Lenka stepped onto the stage and it was worth the wait. We were wowed with her pitch perfect vocals and how cute and charming she was. It was an amazing feeling singing along with a bunch of strangers who loved Lenka too. She did a cover of the Cure's Friday I'm in love, which drove the older crowd wild.( anyway we Singaporeans are still pretty tame compared to our more spontaneous counterparts in the neighbouring countries) At the end, she sang acapella, with the world war 2 radio transmission crackling in the background. It was rather unsettling, as her mournful voice echoed throughout the room.

Watching her perform live made me adore her even more. She's like a modern day Peter Pan.
Her voice is so refreshingly unique and her songs are just the right mix of bubblegum and spice. Everything about her screams quirkiness: the way she pounds away at the keyboard and shakes her shoulders to the beat, the gorgeous cover art on her album, her original music videos, the beautifully decorated paper butterfly stuck on her keyboard...

Sound people