Bel Canto video clips

My write-up on Bel Canto’s “A Night at the Movies” is in PostMag today yesterday. PostMag is still not online so I’m not going to bother linking. Since I have video clips from the night and I need a reason to update the blog this week, here’s a look at what you missed.

• Bel Canto – As Time Goes By
• Bel Canto – Into The West
• Bel Canto – Les Miserables – Video 1 / Video 2
• Wong Wye Yi – Video 1 / Video 2

I should add that my camera’s video settings are wonky. The image and sound isn’t in synch. Hope your synapses don’t backfire on you.

If you have not heard of Kaki Kuching, this is probably a good time for me to plug it again since I just updated the layout.

Kaki Kuching is an event blog for the arts & entertainment scene in Kuching, fuelled by people who are more or less “in the know”.

We like classical concerts, independent films, art exhibitions and performance poetry. We support acts and shows in most shapes and forms (unless it’s shaped like a reality TV show and formed like an over-rated pop star).

We support local talent now, instead of waiting until they’ve made their fame elsewhere and pretending we’ve always been behind them.

You like culture? Come and get it. Better yet, get out there and make it happen.

One last hurdle for Sarawakian bands

Hello, my treacherous friends,
and thank you for joining me here tonight.
I brought you all here to discuss, as I must,
how grateful I am for your insights.

–OK Go – Hello, My Treacherous Friends

I received a nod today from Jadit of the Local Beat (Dayak music) column of Postmag, regarding my BandKuest 2006 article, where I poked a hard finger at local bands about doing everything right until the singer opens his mouth. Andrea and I have already noted this trend going on for a while, and even a concert virgin like Robin noticed. So it must be true… a majority of vocalists in our local bands can’t sing.

According to Jadit’s column, it’s also true for a lot of contemporary Dayak music. He followed this up with his own experiences with that music scene and again, pounded in the fact that the vocal is the most important component of a song. He’s also heard great music ruined by an incompetent vocalist.

While it’s not my intention to be mean, someone has to say it. We have a lot of bands in Kuching that are solid, incredible even, where playing the instruments are concerned. The vocals always sound like an afterthought. It’s almost always drowned by the music.

I realised from past experience that this isn’t a new problem. I used to be in a band. I recognise the signs – everyone wants to be the superstar musician and forget that at the end of the day, they are supposed to support to vocalist instead of the other way around. The singer can’t shine if you drown him out. The loud music can’t compensate for a singer whose voice keeps slipping and sliding all over the place.

I also realise that it isn’t going to be easy telling your singer that his singing sucks ass if no one else in the band has anything better to offer. Being the vocalist almost always mean that you’re the frontman as well. If you really want to get somewhere, seek an honest opinion from someone with experience in these kind of things and do something about it.

Don’t trust your own opinion of it. Remember Malaysian Idol auditions. Everybody thought they could sing.

Take your singing seriously. Sign up for voice lessons. There are several music schools out there that offer them. Just because you didn’t have to buy this instrument doesn’t mean that you should pay less attention in maintaining and getting the best out of it. Singing is not a matter of opening your mouth and producing a caricature of the song. It’s giving your listeners a reason to hear you out past the first minute.

If you don’t suck so bad, at least the poor judges will feel like it was worth signing up for the project. If I ever agree to judge one of the band events, I’m not going to be kind about the vocals. Just warning ya. ;-)

If you’re content with just having fun with your band mates and amusing a few friends, it’s makes for a nice hobby too. It’s certainly much better jamming in a studio with friends than being out there.. say, vandalising pay phones.

There is an incredible amount of talent in the indie music scene in Sarawak, as we’ve seen in BandKuest and various band events around town. This is just one last hurdle to cross so… COME ON, GUYS! Dazzle us in the next band contest! Give the judges a different kind of headache!

All the world’s a playground

Call me ignorant when it comes to national politics, but WTF is this?

‘Barisan MPs have no choice’
By ELIZABETH LOOI

KUALA LUMPUR: Conscience is not a factor when Barisan Nasional MPs vote in Parliament because under the BN Whip, which is enforced at all times, they are not allowed to support any motion by the Opposition.

“You went into the elections as a candidate for the party and you must remember that. You must always toe the party line,” said Datuk Seri Nazri Aziz.

“If you’re not happy, you can resign, or in the next elections, you can quit as a party member and stand as an independent against the BN.

“That is the only time when you can vote in Parliament based on your conscience. At the moment the only MP who can do so is Sandakan MP Chong Hon Min (Independent).”

The Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department said Barisan Members of Parliament could always ask the Speaker for a 15-minute break if they were in a dilemma over whether to support an Opposition motion that had national importance.

“They can check with me and I will let the Chief know so that if the Chief thinks we should support, he will lift the Whip,” he said.

He cited an example when the Chief (Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak) lifted the Whip last year for BN backbenchers to support a motion by Salahuddin Ayob (PAS – Kubang Kerian) to debate the unrest in South Thailand.

Nazri, who is Deputy Whip, was speaking at a press conference at the Parliament lobby yesterday after meeting Backbenchers Club (BBC) committee members at his office.

The BBC wanted to reinstate Datuk Shahrir Abdul Samad as chairman. He resigned last week after he did not get backing from his fellow members when he supported a motion by Opposition leader Lim Kit Siang.

Lim had proposed to refer a news article about an MP who allegedly interfered with the Malacca Customs Department to the Parliamentary Rights and Privileges Committee.

The BBC had planned to hold a meeting early yesterday morning to reinstate the Johor Baru MP but they were later told by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi to postpone the meeting.

“Shahrir’s reinstatement will be a mockery of the party’s disciplinary action, which is suspension. That is why the meeting was asked to be postponed,” said Nazri.

He said Shahrir would have been suspended for three months if he had not quit, as he had gone against the Whip.

He added that BN MPs who had supported the Opposition’s motions had been reprimanded before, including a deputy minister who was suspended for three months and two MPs who were given warning letters.

“I have told the BBC to hold a meeting as soon as possible to decide on a new chairman. It will have to inform the Chief Whip and seek his opinion about the decision,” Nazri said.

He however added that it did not mean Shahrir would not be re-elected chairman in future.

Nazri also denied that the BBC’s jurisdiction did not come under the Chief Whip, as claimed by Kota Baru MP Datuk Zaid Ibrahim.

“The BBC helps the backbenchers to prepare themselves for Parliament debates, so it is wrong to say the BBC is not under the Chief Whip,” he said.

(From The Star)

Thanks to Mac for highlighting this issue.

This is absolutely chilling. I thought that MPs do vote according to conscience, or at least, to some form of common sense. Knowing that they are given no choice in the matter does not invite me to invest my faith in my local BN candidate.

Party unity is important if you want to make some major changes, but I recall instances where certain politicians reacted instinctively in the favour of something brought up by the opposition, only to mysteriously back-pedal and condemn it later against all good sense. Why? Gee, I can't begin to imagine.

All I saw was betrayal to the so-called "people's interest", and I don't take kindly to betrayal in any form.

At least many people feels the same way about this issue:

Let MPs vote freely, say readers

PETALING JAYA: Should political parties allow their MPs to vote according to their conscience?

Yes, said more than 3,000 readers of The Star who took part in an online poll on Tuesday.

An overwhelming 92.3% (2,981of the 3,230 respondents) want MPs to have the freedom to vote according to their conscience, even if it means supporting a motion tabled by opposition parties.

“Because MPs represent the people, they must care for the people’s interest. Where there is a motion put forward by any MP for the country’s betterment, all other MPs must vote according to their conscience,” said L.K. Yam of Malacca.

Asked why MPs should be allowed to vote according to their conscience, the consensus was “MPs are the people’s representative.”

Said Avinash Rajah, an engineer from Bayan Lepas, Penang: “The primary duty of an MP is to serve the interests of the people. As such, there should be no question of party interests superseding the people’s interest.”

Edgar of Shah Alam suggested “a pre-voting mechanism where MPs vote in private first on issues of public concern to gauge whether there exists strong differences of opinion.”

Only 1.9% (62 respondents) agreed that MPs should toe the party line. The rest of the participants answered either “Maybe” or “I don’t care.”

(From The Star)

At the end of the day, the world is a playground; if you're with the cool kids, you're expected to jump off the bridge just because the decision maker of the group thought it was a cool idea.

As a general rule, I hate politics. I hate it more when they argue over stupid little things that shouldn't matter and doesn't have any impact on the country except force us to decide whether to throw up our hands in disgust or point and laugh when kids in the playground start throwing sand at each other.

« Previous Page — Next Page »