Albums of the year, 2006...(27/12)

Looking back of 2006, I found that my music box is actually dull. It is dull in a sense that the year was of no surprise nor new sounds...to pick the best ten is like choosing the second best of the groups who produced actually somewhat more thrilling ones in the past. There is always a cycle of ups and downs in the music scene but after the last britpop/trip-hop movement, it's been quite a while since we have delightful music of the new generation. The debut album of the Arctic Monkeys should be the only great hit of the year. Nonetheless, it was all the 'oldies' and classics that have haunted me in the 365 days. Listening to the sound of the Stones, Television, the Velvet Underground, Can, Barbara or Lou Reed has been extraordinarily herbed. The only thing is summer has gone so quick...

1. Whatever people say i am, that's what i'm not, arctic monkeys
2. Black holes & revelations, muse
3. Nevermind the living dead, stuck in the sound
4. Rather ripped, sonic youth
5. Fab four suture, stereolab
6. The loon, tapes'n'tapes
7. Pearl jam, pearl jam
8. Pieces of the people we love, the rapture
9. Late night tales, air
10.Sam's tour, killers

A muse of absolution...(14/12)

Perhaps they are having the heritage of Thalia, and rather than holding any ivy wreath or drama mask, they play their idyll with guitars and piano...rockabilly...the band amused the waving crowd tonight with a presentation of 'muse-ic'. To me, Muse is having their peak moment in their music career. Their two last albums were the insignia of the contemporary art rock. Indeed Matt is a talented musician and singer and his profound training on classical music and magnificent angel falsetto vocaling offers the group a unique sound of rock in baroque. The trio combination on the stage ignited tremendous energy to the stadium, and this was the momentum when audience achieved a sense of muse. Muse would easily be taken to compare with another trio group Placebo in UK, but I think Muse is more art-rock-originated with the structure of their songs and the affluent music arrangement they compose. The Omnistade was fully occupied tonight at Bercy, and the snapping thunder of their performance drummed the bottom and the top. The stage design was a gorgeous one for this show, and the production of the concert was nicely arranged. It's touching to witness the stadium lighted with audience's lighter fire and fluorescent mobile phones. The video projection was colourful enough to stimulate the visual sense. Imagine that giant balloons fell from the ceiling in the middle of the concert, and it was exactly an echo to the foaming bubble I was following the day before. The band played a few songs of the album of absolution. A conditional reflex is found inside my mind between Absolution and Haruki Murakami's Kafka on the shore, conscious and unconscious correlation, and sooner or later, a 'Kafka'-style exiling journey matches perfectly with the tunes of Absolution. It was a wonderland. The dreamy effect was magnified with a live performance and improvising. I was too much expected, and so disappointed of the latest black holes & revelations, but indeed all the new songs are very good beats for live performance. It was simply too great.

Live8 in Versailles...(2/7)

A full day for the event of Live8 concert at Chateau de Versailles. Voice out to the leader of G8, the world needs more balance and love. Well, agree that an easy way to voice out is to sing, but that doesn't mean that when you sing, you have voiced out. The use of media in one way is powerful and efficient. So did anybody hear anything?
For me, it's an energetic day, but mainly physically. A ride from Paris to Versailles, 1.5hr single way, and as I always admit, cycling provides additional means to view the world and the micro-environment, and it's when you ride from Paris to Versailles that you understand more the landscape of the Versailles. Avoiding the highway, I passed through the ville of Issy, Meudon, Sevres, Chaville and Virolay after exiting the Porte de Versailles, and this is so I encountered the sleepest slope I have ever seen. Somewhat like the one in Sai Kung, and I surrendered with my bike and my unbreathable heart...but all in all, a field trip to the countryside was quite nice.
Over 300,000 were at the concert in Versailles, and performing groups included Andrea Bocelli, Cerrone / Nile Rogers, Craig David, The Cure, Diam's, Dido, Florent Pagny, Kool Shen, Kyo, Louis Bertignac, Muse, Placebo, Raphael, Shakira, Sheryl Crow, Tina Arena, Yannick Noah etc. Muse should be the greatest group!! So thrilling their live performance. Perfecto!! The trio did produce a powerful and layer of vivid sound in front of the audience. Placebo is another surprise. They played more impressive than last time they performed in Hong Kong, and surprisingly, they were quite popular in Paris. They became the performer of the night...good to see the band coming back in well shape.
The Cure is an expectation for the show, and they did it well, but sad to say, they are getting really old now...
There were quite a lot of young people joining the concert, and as criticised by some other media, is this just another concert to us all?
Again, I admire so much the slogan of the event..."Make poverty history". Human is still human, can human really change the world, or at least the world we have created??

some moments...
http://www.zirhc.com/live81.avi
http://www.zirhc.com/live82.avi
http://www.zirhc.com/live83.avi
http://www.zirhc.com/live84.avi