3P emerges on Portishead “Third”

Being one of the pioneers of Triphop, long-awaited record of Portishead “Third” is eventually releasing in April after being waited for more than 10 years since their second self-titled album “Portishead”. Before the official release, leaked version was spread out to the internet since few days ago so that all triphoppers were to quenched their thirst with having a zest of the album at once.

The experience of listening to the complete album, setting off from the groggy beat “Silence” to indulge in this 50-minutes journey of groaning, is totally different from listening to the clips of live version which are of poor quality before hand. Listening to this album made me  realise that Portishead is still the only Portishead which is anyway irreplaceable though there have been so many imitators. Never can you forget them. So far, my favourite tracks are ”The Rip” which is as tranquil as quicks and as well as “Machine Gun” which is as tight as being strangled by crew neck.

Tracklist

01　“Silence” – 4:59
02　“Hunter” – 3:57
03　“Nylon Smile” – 3:16
04　“The Rip” – 4:30
05　“Plastic” – 3:27
06　“We Carry On” – 6:27
07　“Deep Water” – 1:30
08　“Machine Gun” – 4:43
09　“Small” – 6:45
10　“Magic Doors” – 3:32
11　“Threads” – 5:47

The music dialogue between Madonna and Justin Timberlake “4 Minutes”

Neither "Candy Store" nor "Beat Goes On", the lead single of Madonna’s brand new album【Hard Candy】out in April is eventually named as 4 Minutes" without the following line “to Save the World”.

The song is vigorous, catchy and sophiscated. That the babbling brass emphasises the Bhangra rhythm, which Timbaland is good at, as well as the repeated performance of Madonna and Justin Timberlake singing against each other is utterly inviting.

4 Minutes Feat. Justin Timberlake & Timbaland

By Madonna

Lyrics:

Timbaland:I’m out of time
And all I got is 4 minutes, 4 minutes

Madonna: Come on boy, I’ve been waiting for somebody to pick up my stroll
Justin: Well don’t waste time, give me a sign, tell me how you wanna roll
Madonna: I want somebody to speed it up for me then take it down slow
There’s enough room for both
Justin: Girl, I can handle that, you just gotta show me where it’s at.
Are you ready to go, Are you ready to go

Madonna and Justin:
If you want it, You already got it
If you’ve thought it, It better be what you want
If you feel it, It must be real just…
Say the word, and I will give you what you want

Madonna: Time is waiting
Justin: We only got 4 minutes to save the world
Madonna: No hesitating
Madonna: Grab a boy
Justin: Grab a girl
Madonna: Time is waiting
Justin: We only got 4 minutes to save the world
Madonna: No hesitating
Justin: We only got 4 minutes, 4 minutes

Keep it up …..
Madonna
You gotta get in line, hop
Tick tock tick tock tick tock
That’s right, keep it up
Keep it up, don’t….
Madonna, uh
You gotta get in line, hop
Tick tock tick tock tick tock

Madonna: Sometimes I think, what I need is a you intervention, yeah
Justin: And you know I can tell that you like it
And that it’s good, by the way that you move, ooh, hey hey
Madonna: The road to heaven, paved with good intentions, yeah
Justin: But if I got a night
At least I can say I did what I wanted to do
Tell me, how bout you?

Madonna and Justin:
If you want it, You already got it
If you’ve thought it, It better be what you want
If you feel it, It must be real just…
Say the word, and I will give you what you want

Madonna: Time is waiting
Justin: We only got 4 minutes to save the world
Madonna: No hesitating
Madonna: Grab a boy
Justin: Grab a girl
Madonna: Time is waiting
Justin: We only got 4 minutes to save the world
Madonna: No hesitating
Justin: We only got 4 minutes, 4 minutes

Keep it up …..
Madonna
You gotta get in line, hop
Tick tock tick tock tick tock
That’s right, keep it up
Keep it up, don’t….
Madonna, uh
You gotta get in line, hop
Tick tock tick tock tick tock

Timbaland: Breakdown

Kylie Robotics．Kylie X USB

The coming album of Kylie Minogue also catches up the trend of USB stick. The USB Animating the Kylie Robotics style from the cover of the album"X" includes all 13 songs of the album and the documentary video of the trailer of "White Diamond" and the music video of the single "2 Hearts", and plus the booklet in the pdf format.

If the varieties and quantities can be like Gashapon(capsule toys), publishing albums in the way of USB stick is a feasible and potential business which the value appended is more than downloading mere mp3 , on the other hand it is more practical than CD, well, at least for me.

Taxi Taxi! from Sweden

Taxi Taxi!　|　Taxi Taxi!

Rumraket

Score:77

Call them “Swedish Twins” simply because they are truely twins. Call them “Swedish at17″ not only because they are just 17 years-old but the music they are playing is of the similar style of the at17 from Hong Kong. Guitar is the mutual tool for composing songs that sung by both breath-taking vocals, what’s more, the appearance and even the aura they own resembles Emen. The at17 from Sweden I refer to is acutally Taxi Taxi.

Taxi Taxi from the capital Stockholm formed by Miriam Eriksson Berhans and Johanna Eriksson Berhans began their live performance last year. Their talent of composition and outstanding performance shocked the whole music scene in Sweden. Eventually they are signed to Rumraket which is founded by the Danish group, Efterklang and then they released their debut self-titled EP “Taxi Taxi!” in May. From the melody to the use of instruments are assiduous enough to keep its simplicity. Like “Belle” is built by clean pinao;“To Hide This Way”is played by guitar. Their singing is foregrounded by the instruments with simple arrangement in order to demonstrate their stunning vocals, as if the melanchony belonging to the juvenile wanders inside a room in solitude.Pop-Folk about love reminds me the feeling of bitter, which is the stimulus for tear.

Highlight:Mary

MySpace．Listen

Amiina – Quartet of Icelandic babies whale, “KURR”

Kurr　|　Amiina

Blaskjar Records

Score:79

If you have been to the "Takk" tour of Sigur Rós, you should have seen the performance of the supporting act, Amiina. Amiina which is from Iceland is, however, not as breathtaking and world-shaking as the Icelandic Sigur Rós and Múm. On the contrary, this Quartet formed by four ladies represents a subtle and delicate clarity of Icelandic Music.

This debut album is all in all of the same minimal style as AnimaminA and Seoul have. The Icelandic title "Kurr" means greeting from little animals. No matter what the animals are baby whale ,baby dolphin or little bird kitten puppy, the music from "Kurr" is absolutely the intact sound made by Amiina which is of the quality of minimalism, pureness and shyness brewing from the innermost wood and the corner of a sleeping room. That Piano as the backbone is being adorned by tiny fragmented electronic sound and those light percussions which feel like rain, snow or ice falling.whatever is weaving a childlike dreamworld. The music fetches both of the verve of tranquillity and the catchy melody line of Pop Music. The whole album is twelve paragraphs which can be regarded and digested as an entity. A lullaby for afternoon or midnight helps recalling the blurred memories of childhood. The lack of fluctuation of emotion, nonetheless, makes me realize the zest of calmness.

Recommended : Rugla

Official Site　|　Listen

The leaky balloon, Brett Anderson

Brett Anderson　|　Brett Anderson

Drowned in Sound

Score: 60

Brett Anderson is already aging that applies to both his music and his heart. It is just similar to a leaky balloon which is losing its plumpness and elasticity unconsciously. I don’t know how long does it take to be able to dIfferentiate this Brett Anderson self-titled album from the Tears at reunion with Bernard Butler as well as the Golden era of Suede. The performance of the vocal and the Timbre and arrangement of guitars are all in situ as if the same autograph never changes. But what good grief is the unchanged ingredients are being added water so that the quality is being blurred. Of course "Dust and Rain"and "Intimacy" don’t own the quality of being wildly charming which belongs to the earlier Suede. Worse still, from a commercial standpoint, they cannot grip the pleasant dance-beat and the mellow melanchony from "Coming Up" and "Head Music". Still even the outstanding "Scorpio Rising" or "Ebony"are only the phonies of "Saturday Night".

The whole album which contains mainly Love Ballaad more or less is the extention of the single "Love Is Dead". The application of String is suprisingly loud. The enchantment of melanchony is aptly tuned as if a Superstar gets back to the music scene from ages for comforting the mutually aging fans, the fans of Suede only. It is with no doubt that it merely makes us to recap the lovely Suede from ten years ago. Well, the saddest thing is that album was ranked by Pitchfork at the bottom 2.9.

My Choice: The More We Possess The Less We Own Course

Official Site　|　Lyrics 　|　Listen

The Swedish sound, Loney, Dear – Loney, Noir

Loney, Noir　|　Loney, Dear

Sub Pop

Score：81

Emil Svanängen，aka Loney, Dear is a Swedish indie song-writer. “Loney, Noir” which is the self-release from 2005 has been reissued by a label from Seattle, Sub Pop. It is of the quality of Chamber Pop which is juicy and chipper. Those acoustic folk songs are not only breezy, but they are also embellished by vivid but harmonious instruments, namely clarinet, flute, horn, or even human clapping hands and whistling which are functioning as the cream being added to the cake layer by layer. And meanwhile the adornment doesn’t mask the cheerful high-pitched vocal which is the most outstanding and unique element of the album. If you are into the usual Swedish Indie Pop, or the earlier stage of Belle and Sebastian,then you will probably love this “Loney, Noir” which nonetheless hits off at more upbeat tempo and at some points are being quirky, like the following single “I am John”, which has the music video made of charcoal drawing directed by Andreas Nilsson.

首選：I Am John．Saturday Waits

Official Site　|　Lyrics　|　Listening

Pocket Symphony, pocket size meditation music by Air

Pocket Symphony　|　Air

Astralwerks

Score: 69

Ten years, Air has been accompanying us for ten years. When Philippe, one of my french friend, has quit listening to them in the period of “Moon Safari” and “10,000 Hz Legend”, my endearment for Air has sustained until this “Pocket Symphony”. It is with no doubt that “Pocket Symphony” is back to the profound quality of the context of film and thickness of romance, meanwhile we got Jarvis Jocker in “One Hell of a Party” and Neil Hannon in “Somewhere Between Waking and Sleeping”. What’s more, the Eastern music element has infiltrated through the music in which the delicate arrangement of Japanese Koto and Sanshin sound brightly. Nowithstanding all of the above, my heart could not be impacted anyway. “Pocket Symphony” is tacitly like a pocket size of symphony in which everything is precise and light for being digested instantly. However, the taste, is just so-so, which can be just categorized as ordinary meditation music.

Recommended : Photograph

Official Site　|　Lyrics 　|　Listen

Pelle Carlberg new single “I Love You You Imbecile” Download

The Swedish singer-songwriter,Pelle Carlbergwho is pretty popular in Hong Kong is going to release his second solo album “In a Nutshell” on 28 March. The initial breezy single “I Love You You Imbecile” which is a duet with the Norwegian singer, Ida Maria is now available for Labrador download in Labrador.

The bizzare new single “Promise” from Cocorosie

My favourite grotesque but gorgeous duo, CocoRosie, aka Casady sisters is going to release their third album “The Adventures of Ghosthorse & Stillborn” in April. The first single, “Promise” is upholding their soft murmur singing skill presenting an attractively bizzare aura. And meanwhile the elements of the frequent electronic sound effects and instrumental Hip-Hop from the previous album, “Noah’s Ark” can still be found. I am indulging it.

Listen via Touch & Go