Soundscape #32: "Life Is Too Short For Chess"

Protopito. Una Partidita, 2006.

It's often been said that it takes mere hours to learn the moves of chess but a lifetime to master the game. And it's true too. Even now, years after I've been playing, I still make stupid mistakes and lose more times than I win. But I love the game; I love sitting down at some quiet cafe and just play chess. I've even played a chess marathon that lasted almost 6 hours till 2 in the morning. There's so much going on in a game that it's impossible to keep track of all your 16 chessmen. Before you know it, you're staring down directly at your opponent's queen flanked by a rook (or bishop or knight or even a pawn) on the other side and wondering where all your pieces are.

Chess is both predictable and not. Each piece can only move in predefined rules but the whole world of possibilities opens up precisely because of the rules. I love that the rules are predictable but the game is not. It is so much like life and also so much unlike it. Both need careful planning and strategising; you not only need to know where your pieces are, you need to know where your opponent's ones are as well. Often, one gets carried away in the game and start making mistakes right, left and centre.



Playlist:
1. (0:00) We Are Scientists - Can't Lose (With Love And Squalor)
2. (3:34) Pete Yorn - Black (Music For The Morning After)
3. (7:42) Elliott Smith - Bled White (XO)
4. (10:59) Centro-Matic - To Unleash The Horses Now (Distance And Clime)
5. (14:50) Tom Petty - It's Good To Be King (Wildflowers)
6. (20:03) The Decemberists - Bandit Queen (Picaresque Bsides)
7. (24:39) Beulah - You Are Only King Once (Yoko)
8. (27:49) Okkervil River - A King And A Queen (Black Sheep Boy)
9. (31:11) Death Cab For Cutie - Bend To Squares (Something About Airplanes)
10. (35:49) Delgados - Make Your Move (The Great Eastern)

Soundscape #31: "Rage, Rage Against The Dying Of The Light"

Blakes 7. Dark Light, 2006.

Goethe's final words: "More light." By extension, if there were no light, there will be no life. It was fire that first brought light—and life—to our ancestors. Light more than leads the way to food and water; it shows us the faces of our friends and families—and enemies. We often take light for granted because you know, it’s always been there. If you are in a room so dark that you can’t see your fingers right in front of you, you wouldn’t know if you are in a big ballroom or a small attic (let’s leave the sense of touch and echoes out). When you really think about it, light is a context within which we all function. Light literally shows us our limits and boundaries and gives us a choice whether to overcome it or not. That’s why our ancestors were able to go on quests and explorations and thus banishing the darkness from our lands.

Our gift of sight is synonymous with light: we won’t be able to see what’s right in front of us if there were no light. But often the tragic thing is that we refuse to see what’s in our faces even when there is light.



Playlist:
1. (0:00) Wolf Parade - Shine A Light (Apologies To The Queen Mary)
2. (3:44) Teenage Fanclub - Speed Of Light (Songs From Northern Britain)
3. (7:33) Athlete - Half Light (Tourist)
4. (11:13) Travis - Follow The Light (The Invisible Band)
5. (14:24) Dean & Britta - The Sun Is Still Sunny (Back Numbers)
6. (18:51) Magnolia Electric Co - The Dark Don't Hide It (What Comes After The Blues)
7. (23:04) Arcade Fire - Une Annee Sans Lumiere (Funeral)
8. (26:46) Interpol - Obstacle 1 (Turn On The Bright Lights)
9. (30:59) David Gray - Nightblindness (White Ladder)
10. (35:22) Yo La Tengo - Shadows (I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One)

Soundscape #30: "Julie Christie, The Rumors Are True"

When I first read the news on Pitchfork that Yo La Tengo is coming to Singapore back in December 2006, I spilled the coffee I was drinking. And because I couldn't find any information in Singapore, I actually emailed the band to verify (no, I'm not kidding, and they actually replied!). I remember giving the Sistic people shit because they didn't know anything about the gig. I remember shouting, pleading etc with my friend to get the most expensive tickets (we got the $90 ones in the end). I remember standing by the Sistic website, refreshing every 2 seconds, at 8:52 January 11 to get the best tickets available. Even though the seats I got were less than ideal, I kept telling myself that at least I'm going.

From the very beginning where the riffs of "From A Motel 6" began—which, incidentally, I had requested via the email to the band. Whether or not they did it for me, I don't know but that's my story and I'm sticking to it—I knew it's gonna be a real good show. I love the 3rd track ("The Crying Of Lot G") and only a band as accomplished and confident as Yo La Tengo can pull off playing such a soft and quiet track. I thought I could hear a pin drop but when I looked around, I was almost embarrassed to find everyone else dead as a fish. They were just sitting still in their seats; I even saw someone sleeping! The audience do not justify the pure electric energy that the band puts into the gig. There were times when I thought that Ira Kaplan was going to implode and at one point, I could have sworn that he was about to smash his guitar. This is a (late) 40-something man we are talking about.

The chemistry among the band members was amazing, particularly the drums (Georgia Hubley) and bass (James McNew) when lead guitarist Ira Kaplan seemed to have gone nuts on screaming guitar solos. At first glance, the setlist may seem rather inconsistent (from "The Crying Of Lot G" to "Pass The Hatchet" to "Little Eyes"?) but the quality of the performance is always top-notch. Ira Kaplan even took the time to chat with the audience, answering questions ("where are you having dinner" and "who cuts your hair") and asking for song requests (I think I must have shouted myself hoarse with "Blue Line Swinger").

You know how they say that when the gods wanted to be cruel, they'd grant your wishes? I think something bad is going to happen to me soon, because I don't see how anything else can top this.



Setlist, Yo La Tengo Live In Singapore, March 12, 2007:
1. (0:00) From A Motel 6
2. (4:07) The Crying Of Lot G
3. (8:49) Pass The Hatchet, I Think I'm Goodkind
4. (19:36) Little Eyes
5. (23:57) The Weakest Part
6. (27:00) Beanbag Chair
7. (30:02) Mr. Tough
8. (34:07) I Feel Like Going Home
9. (38:21) Big Day Coming
10. (42:40) Tom Courtenay
11. (46:17) Deeper Into Movies*
12. (51:34) You Can Have It All

Painful: #1, 9
And Then Nothing Turned Itself Inside-Out: #2, 12
IANAOYAIWBYA: #3, 5, 6, 7, 8
Summer Sun: #4
Electr-O-Pura: #10
I Can Hear The Heart Beating As One: #11

*This is not the official setlist. I merely saved each track into a playlist on my ipod as they come on. The Straits Times Life (March 14) has the track "We Are An American Band" listed... but I think they've got it wrong.

Soundscape #29: Just You And Me And $5

Ahhh friends... what will we do without them? It's true that you can't choose your family but how do you tell a "friend" that you no longer want to be friends? Simple. You just don't. It's not a relationship that requires a "we need to talk" session. There's no official breakup that can be initiated, no secret code to be invoked. Slowly but surely, you just drift apart. You don't really quarrel with a friend either. The last time I had one was er... a long time ago. Not that I'm the nicest person around or anything, but between friends, a quarrel means you just exchange a few "wtfs" and you laugh about it, maybe it takes a while, but you move on. Even if the quarrel gets real bad, all you have to do is... drift apart. There will be no late-night sessions on the phone sobbing about the "bastard" to your (other) friend.

Friends are people you bounce your ideas on. They are your tethers to earth when you get too excited about something, and even when you are so excited that you can't contain yourself, they don't judge you at all, not out loud anyway (even if they do, it just leads to a quarrel and that results in... read the preceding paragraph). Friends are people you ask random questions of (see comic). But the best friend that you will ever have is the person who goes to the supermarket with you to buy a couple of rows of sushi and Coke Lights and just sit at the staircase landing somewhere, sharing the food and you won't even need to say a word.

Talk about serendipity! I just came across a Friendship Intelligence Quiz. I've got 72, what about you?



Playlist:
1. (0:00) Rosie Thomas - Say Hello (Buy These Friends Of Mine)*
2. (2:19) The White Stripes - We Are Going To Be Friends (Buy White Blood Cells)
3. (4:40) Spoon - The Way We Get By (Buy Kill The Moonlight)
4. (7:21) Belle & Sebastian - We Are Sleepyheads (Buy The Life Pursuit)
5. (10:52) Luna - Friendly Advice (Buy Bewitched)
6. (17:27) Camera Obscura - I Need All The Friends I Can Get (Buy Let's Get Out Of This Country)
7. (20:44) Bright Eyes - I'll Be Your Friend (Buy One Jug Of Wine, Two Vessels)
8. (24:53) The National - Friend Of Mine (Buy Alligator)
9. (28:19) Jason Collett - Hangover Days (Buy Idols Of Exile)
10. (32:42) Morrissey - There's A Place In Hell For Me And My Friends
11. (35:04) The Hold Steady - Your Little Hoodrat Friend (Buy Separation Sunday)

*Guess who the male vocal is.. go on!

Soundscape #28: "The Secret To Happiness Is Good Health And A Bad Memory"

Salvador Dali. The Disintegration Of The Persistence Of Memory, 1952/54.

I think my memory is getting from bad to worse, and I don't mean things like forgetting faces or things like phones or ipods (that one I will remember). Apparently entire episodes of my life have mysteriously disappeared without a trace. From small annoying things like buying the same cd/book twice (happens quite a bit) to not remembering a particularly meaningful conversation or experience with a friend. That saddens me alot. It makes me wonder about all those lost conversations I had. Since I don't remember the conversation, does it matter that it took place at all? Have I changed in any way because of the conversation if I don't remember it happening? Does this mean that it didn't mean anything to me at all but it must have, otherwise why would I feel sad?

I don't know if it's a case of time taking its natural course, diluting the intensity of experiences and feelings in its path. Or perhaps that particular memory has atrophied seeing how we no longer have the time—nor the inclination—to revisit the past. Or more likely, we ourselves are getting old and the cup that was once eager for new experiences and new things has overflowed with both weariness and wariness.



Playlist:
1. (0:00) The Mountain Goats - You Or Your Memory (Buy The Sunset Tree)
2. (2:21) Bloc Party - I Still Remember (Buy A Weekend In The City)
3. (6:47) Spoon - Something To Look Forward To (Buy Kill The Moonlight)
4. (9:06) The Strokes - What Ever Happened (Buy Room On Fire)
5. (11:55) Oasis - Don't Look Back In Anger (Buy (What's The Story) Morning Glory?)
6. (16:45) Bedhead - Losing Memories (Buy Beheaded)
7. (19:37) Beulah - Don't Forget To Breathe (Buy Yoko)
8. (22:84) Palo Alto - Going Going Gone (Buy Heroes And Villains)
9. (27:55) Wilco - When You Wake Up Feeling Old (Buy Summer Teeth)
10. (31:50) Cat Power - Remember Me