2:35pm
James Morrison’s album is blasting on the stereo and my room smells of coffee. This is certainly a sweet weekend. Music & Lyrics on Friday night had me laughing so much till I missed several of Hugh Grant’s lines. It also had me humming Way Back Into Love the whole of Saturday morning. 300 was glorious. Period. GLORIOUS. The entire evening yesterday was spent attending free performances at the marvelous Mosaic Music Festival 2007, happening right now till Sunday at the Esplanade. Sitting just 2 metres away from Nicholas Lim, the pianist accompanying Shawn Letts on saxophone as they performed jazz hits in the concourse area, it was almost magical watching his fingers fly across the ivories. Finger busters, alright!
2.35am
There are moments of supreme intensity where you feel your heartbeat stop, goes the buzz from Guardian Unlimited on singer-songwriter José González. I sat enthralled for an hour in the beautiful acoustics of the concert hall, completely mesmerised, almost breathless, watching him wield the guitar like a natural extension of his mind, heart and soul. It’s difficult to explain the experience, his eclectic music sounded at times like Irish folk music played on a sitar or a harp, for a serious lack of better descriptions. His songs reminded me of the warmth of Simon and Garfunkel classics and the hushed simplicity of Kings of Convenience, and yet they remain distinctively José González. He also performed awesome intimate renditions of Kylie Minogue’s Hand on Your Heart, Massive Attack’s Teardrop and The Knife’s Heartbeats. Just visit radio.blog.club, give the originals and José González’s versions a listen, and you’ll know what I mean!
I am looking through the colourful puzzle-like CD booklet of Transformasi’s My Lucky Charm album. Strains of Cicak and She Dances at the Temple replay in my head. Help other people, he wrote. I turn off the lights with a grin, serendipity and Scandinavian humour on my mind, as Veneer plays on in the darkness…
