Remember 4 in Love? The foursome who were Taiwanese pop princesses in the first couple of years of the 21st century, until they disbanded and one of its members, Rainie Yang, has since tightened her grip on Taiwanese entertainment industry and beyond.
Aaah look at the early 2000s fashion. So simple and minimalistic, which meant there was a lot of skin on display sometimes. Is this 4 in Love's final video? I have a feeling it is...Look at the flashbacks of the making of their previous videos. Some famous bands, knowingly or unknowingly, use flashbacks of their previous videos as a tell-tale sign that their days are numbered. It's like their way of saying, "Thank you for the memories."
Tuesday, 30 August 2011
Monday, 29 August 2011
An NZ band enters Indonesia...will it be a stayer?
Introducing Dear Frontier, a husband and wife duo from Wellington, New Zealand, who recently played a gig in Jakarta on August 13. This is probably the first New Zealand sound that entered Indonesian realm since probably Bic Runga, who didn't make a big impact. Dear Frontier got exposure to the Jakarta crowd mainly thanks to the fact that Hana Miller, one half of the band, is half Indonesian and used to be a frequent Jakarta Post contributor.
Whilst I personally find one of their singles, "Space Age Ending Now", catchy I'm not so sure about the band's future in Indonesia. The typical Indonesian music listener is not into, or not yet used to, "raw" sound that Dear Frontier plays, which is rather commonly found in the NZ music scene. Indonesians are into neat orchestrated sounds, and by "orchestrated" I don't strictly mean orchestra a la Erwin Gutawa and Addie MS.
I'm also not sure about Dear Frontier's "smart" sound. Their EP, which is released online, is called "Post Capitalist"....Indonesian market is not smart enough yet to figure out songs with subtle references to capitalism and Franz Kafka. Or they just don't want to. They are more into beautiful poetic lyrics about simple things in life. For references to neat orchestrated sounds and beautiful lyrics about simple things in life, YouTube KLA Project, Afghan or Maliq & D'Essentials, the famous band which helped Dear Frontier record the whole three songs in "Post Capitalist."
Whether or not Dear Frontier wants to seriously tap into the Indonesian market, Lord knows. My own personal verdict is that they most likely want to keep their "uniquely NZ" sound, despite help from Maliq & D'Essentials and other famous Indonesian musicians whose help they'll probbably enlist for their next projects. If you listen to Dear Frontier's "Problem", you'll agree that there's an undeniable Maliq & D'Essentials involvement there, but as a whole the sound is the duo's own. This way, maybe it doesn't matter that Dear Frontier and the Indonesian market will never fully embrace each other.
Meet Dear Frontier...
Oh, and here's hoping Dear Frontier will stick to its name. Too many NZ bands or solo artists changed their names after some time. Cases in point: Charlie Ash became CASH, Bionic Pixie became Zowie, Phony Bone became Graham & The Zoo...
Whilst I personally find one of their singles, "Space Age Ending Now", catchy I'm not so sure about the band's future in Indonesia. The typical Indonesian music listener is not into, or not yet used to, "raw" sound that Dear Frontier plays, which is rather commonly found in the NZ music scene. Indonesians are into neat orchestrated sounds, and by "orchestrated" I don't strictly mean orchestra a la Erwin Gutawa and Addie MS.
I'm also not sure about Dear Frontier's "smart" sound. Their EP, which is released online, is called "Post Capitalist"....Indonesian market is not smart enough yet to figure out songs with subtle references to capitalism and Franz Kafka. Or they just don't want to. They are more into beautiful poetic lyrics about simple things in life. For references to neat orchestrated sounds and beautiful lyrics about simple things in life, YouTube KLA Project, Afghan or Maliq & D'Essentials, the famous band which helped Dear Frontier record the whole three songs in "Post Capitalist."
Whether or not Dear Frontier wants to seriously tap into the Indonesian market, Lord knows. My own personal verdict is that they most likely want to keep their "uniquely NZ" sound, despite help from Maliq & D'Essentials and other famous Indonesian musicians whose help they'll probbably enlist for their next projects. If you listen to Dear Frontier's "Problem", you'll agree that there's an undeniable Maliq & D'Essentials involvement there, but as a whole the sound is the duo's own. This way, maybe it doesn't matter that Dear Frontier and the Indonesian market will never fully embrace each other.
Meet Dear Frontier...
Oh, and here's hoping Dear Frontier will stick to its name. Too many NZ bands or solo artists changed their names after some time. Cases in point: Charlie Ash became CASH, Bionic Pixie became Zowie, Phony Bone became Graham & The Zoo...
Tuesday, 9 August 2011
On the return of the boyband/girlband phenomenon...
For those who've been away from the country for a while, Indonesia is currently experiencing the return of girlband/boyband trend, but while ten years ago Indo boybands/girlband acts were inspired their Western counterparts, now they try to emulate their Korean ones to an extent. Amongst the many Korean-inspired local boybands/girlbands such as Sm*sh and G-String (yep that's really their name...but don't worry their image isn't as sexy as the name might suggest), Hitz is one that steps up the game by actually hiring a Korean member! Therefore this boyband sings in Korean, Indonesian and English. Check out their first single, Yes Yes Yes.
One of the members, Irwan Chandra (the one with magnificent cheek bones, in case you miss the super fast "intro to the members" scenes and can't be bothered to play back), is no stranger to the show business. He started his career as a model about ten years ago and, as easily guessed, then branched out to acting. He vanished into oblivion for a while...only to return as a boybander at the age of 34. Isn't it a bit too old? The avarage age range for beginner boybands is 17-24.
One of the members, Irwan Chandra (the one with magnificent cheek bones, in case you miss the super fast "intro to the members" scenes and can't be bothered to play back), is no stranger to the show business. He started his career as a model about ten years ago and, as easily guessed, then branched out to acting. He vanished into oblivion for a while...only to return as a boybander at the age of 34. Isn't it a bit too old? The avarage age range for beginner boybands is 17-24.
Sunday, 24 July 2011
On the beehived one's demise...
I'm not blaming you if you haven't heard that Amy Winehouse was found dead yesterday, July 23, in her London house. The police and doctors are still hard at work to find out the real cause of her death
For those uninitiated, Amy was born on September 14 1983, which means when she died yesterday she was still 27 years old. This secured her membership of Club 27, which consists of entertainment legends who passed away at age 27, namely Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain and Jim Morrison.
As one guided by signs, even when Winehouse debuted as a fresh-faced 20-year-old in 2003, I could sort of tell what kind of life awaited following her new-found fame. Her surname was "Winehouse", itself a tell-tale sign, and her mother's name is Janis. Janis Seaton, 56, couldn't have been named after Janis Joplin but the fact that she shares a first name with the legendary musician is, to me, a signal that her daughter would meet the same fate as Ms. Joplin.
Rest in peace, Amy. May heaven be your real rehab.
For those uninitiated, Amy was born on September 14 1983, which means when she died yesterday she was still 27 years old. This secured her membership of Club 27, which consists of entertainment legends who passed away at age 27, namely Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain and Jim Morrison.
As one guided by signs, even when Winehouse debuted as a fresh-faced 20-year-old in 2003, I could sort of tell what kind of life awaited following her new-found fame. Her surname was "Winehouse", itself a tell-tale sign, and her mother's name is Janis. Janis Seaton, 56, couldn't have been named after Janis Joplin but the fact that she shares a first name with the legendary musician is, to me, a signal that her daughter would meet the same fate as Ms. Joplin.
Rest in peace, Amy. May heaven be your real rehab.
Saturday, 23 July 2011
Bali, Celebrity Paradise Hide-Out (part 1?)
The media once speculated whether or not the wedding of Delta Goodrem and Bryan Mcfadden would take place. The Aussie songbird and the Irish former boybander announced their engagement in late 2007. I was still in New Zealand at the time, and I remember it was one of the most talked-about unions in the Kiwi and Aussie media. Fast forward two years, I was already back in Indonesia for good but still kept an eye on the Kiwi entertainment (Delta has never really been big in Indonesia and Bryan, he kind of fell off the Asian radar after he left Westlife.) There was no news on the Goodrem-McFadden wedding, although the two insisted it was still on. We knew what was going on, however: the longer the engagement, the more unlikely the wedding will take place.
And indeed the wedding was off. And guess who has been seen with Miss Goodrem of late! The lucky guy (I should call him "kid") is none other Nick Jonas, the youngest of The Jonas Brothers! This is such a funny coupling. Delta is turning 27 in November and Nick is turning 19 in September. With Delta always been looking years more mature than her actual age ever since she broke out into the scene at age 18 and Nick with his baby face intact, it's easy to imagine Nick and Delta looking like auntie and nephew. Oh, and did I notice that Nick no longer wears his purity ring?
Recently, the couple have just got back from a holiday in Bali. How interesting. Bryan proposed to Delta on their vacation in Bali. I remember seeing pictures of the former couple frolicking at the beach with a typical Balinese villa in the background. And now that Delta seemed to have reprised her Bali memories with her new beau, it's easy to see whose idea the Bali trip was. Maybe our Ministry of Culture and Tourism can ask Delta to endorse Bali in our visit Indonesia campaigns?
And indeed the wedding was off. And guess who has been seen with Miss Goodrem of late! The lucky guy (I should call him "kid") is none other Nick Jonas, the youngest of The Jonas Brothers! This is such a funny coupling. Delta is turning 27 in November and Nick is turning 19 in September. With Delta always been looking years more mature than her actual age ever since she broke out into the scene at age 18 and Nick with his baby face intact, it's easy to imagine Nick and Delta looking like auntie and nephew. Oh, and did I notice that Nick no longer wears his purity ring?
Recently, the couple have just got back from a holiday in Bali. How interesting. Bryan proposed to Delta on their vacation in Bali. I remember seeing pictures of the former couple frolicking at the beach with a typical Balinese villa in the background. And now that Delta seemed to have reprised her Bali memories with her new beau, it's easy to see whose idea the Bali trip was. Maybe our Ministry of Culture and Tourism can ask Delta to endorse Bali in our visit Indonesia campaigns?
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