Mosaic Festival, what could have been
What might have been week of glorious concert going if I were physically in Singapore.
Insert appropriate expletives here.
Tinkle Tinkle
Men who play classical instruments.
Oh yes please!
I have a huge bias towards pianists, I guess having been trained in the instrument, I can sort of appreciate the technicalities each composition demands and the subtle nuances each pianist injects into his/her performance. The violin is another instrument I love, in part because of the fact that my brother was schooled in it for many years and I grew up listening to him saw away on his curvy hunk of wood. Christmases that both our paternal and maternal extended families had to endure when we forced performances upon them during that lull right after dinner and just before one of the uncles had to dress up in a Santa suit and distribute presents. Bless them for indulging our childhood whims, really 
Here’s Rain, all time favourite comtemporary piano piece by the extremely talented and charismatic Ryuichi Sakamoto. I think all those years of playing western classics have created this odd inclination towards asian composers and pieces with oriental elements.
My October Symphony
Sometimes a cover of a song, a song you never gave a second listen to, makes you sit up and go, wow! they truly did it better.
This was just beautiful.
The original Pet Shop Boys version
So much confusion
When autumn comes around
What to do about October
How to smile behind a frown?
It’s hard to settle down
It’s so bemusing
Will they cancel the parade?
We marched each October
Now they say we were never even saved
We must be very brave
Shall I rewrite or revise
My October symphony?
Or as an indication
Change the dedication
From revolution to revelation?
So we’re all drinking
As leaves fall to the ground
Because we’ve been thinking
How October’s let us down
Then and now
Shall we remember
December instead?
Or worry about February?
Mourn our war-torn dead
Never seeing red?
Shall I rewrite or revise
My October symphony?
Or as an indication
Change the dedication
From revolution to revelation
Days past
Has it been 4 years since?
A few of my favourite things
1. Receiving mail
2. Knowing that a friend thought of you while listening to a certain album
3. Hand written letters
4. Discovering a new band
5. Reminiscing moments and conversations shared with a friend
Running through 1-5 in quick succession… priceless.
Sigh no more, no more
Mumford & Sons have managed the same intense emotions that I felt when I saw Sigur Ros in 2005. Tears! Inexplicable. Tears of joy, I suppose. I also can’t stop reeling from having seen the extremely charming Marcus Mumford and having listened, live, his beautiful lyrics that speak volumes, to me.
What a weekend, Splendour in the Grass.
Would I do it all again? A big, dirty music festival? I am not quite sure, a break first perhaps.
As I stood amidst the crowds, in the cold winter winds, with hot tears welling up, hopping, skipping and singing along to Mumford’s lyrical genius, closure came, and a sense of relief washed over me, what a journey, what a ride, and it all ends tonight.
Serve God love me and men
This is not the end
Live unbruised we are friends
And I’m sorry
I’m sorry
Sigh no more, no more
One foot in sea, one on shore
My heart was never pure
you know me
you know me
And man is a giddy thing
Oh man is a giddy thing
Oh man is a giddy thing
Oh man is a giddy thing
Love that will not betray you,
dismay or enslave you,
It will set you free
Be more like the man
you were made to be.
There is a design,
An alignment to cry,
Of my heart to see,
The beauty of love
as it was made to be (x4)
Here is Marcus Mumford up close
Mumford & Sons- Little Lion Man
Bloody brilliant
Beirut- Postcards from Italy
PS: Looking at my posts, you’d probably realise that I usually listen to an artist ad nauseum, at various points in time, till the next better thing comes along Then I shelve the tracks away till nostalgia hits or till I feel the need to revisit old tracks.
Beirut- Scenic World
The lights go on
The lights go off
When things don’t feel right
I lie down like a tired dog
Licking his wounds in the shade
When I feel alive
I try to imagine a careless life
A scenic world where the sunsets are all
Breathtaking
