Malaysian Music Is Dangerous

A local gig in Kelantan got raided, a pub band in Holiday Inn over in Glenmarie had trouble with some overzealous officials, and a few foreign musicians almost got banned for silly reasons (with the exception of Inul Daratista who successfully got banned). Over in Kedah, they are upping this whole thing by totally keeping all pop, reggae and rock music out of the state. As a result, a lot of musicians and support groups are feeling the need to defend music and get everyone to believe that musicians aren’t really a naughty lot. Some are arguing that it seems unfair these days that anybody who holds a guitar and wants to be near a microphone is officially seen as a threat to the community. Musicians are, across the board, getting branded as agents out to corrupt the moral fabric of society. Well, the silver lining in all this then is, well, the fact that anybody who holds a guitar and wants to be near a microphone is officially a threat to the community.

In the grand scheme of things, music in general has gone soft and become a former shadow of its counter-culture and radical self. There was a time when Elvis’ hip gyration was seen as evil, rap music was brutal, only true non-conformists knew who Metallica was and there was no way you could imagine “punk” or “pop” being used in the same line. But that’s exactly what happened to music globally. Along the way from vinyl to iPod, music lost the plot and got defanged and became just another commodity brands want to associate with to shift product.

Here on home turf, that’s particularly true. You literally can’t do a live show unless some telco or phone brand is out to associate with the “hip underground bands” who inevitably sing praise of the brand. You can’t do a local mainstream TV show or movie without snippets of the hip new track from some “post” prefixing-crazy band. Instead of having to struggle to get airplay, independent acts now seem to get a token “local music show” on almost every major station. Xfresh only plays local tracks. You know what that’s a sign of? The masses conforming to the local music scene. Numerous sites want Malaysian music online, trying to out MySpace. What does that in turn spell? Local music is safe enough for the masses and good for big business to associate with.

How can that possibly help local musicians? If they don’t have it rough and have to struggle to make music, then they might as well throw away any sense of trying to make interesting music and just do jingles. If they aren’t suffering for their art, then there is no art worth making. Thank goodness then for all the musician-unfriendly activities. Musicians in Malaysia are now fortunate enough to be able to carry a subversive and dangerous vibe about them that today’s incarnation of The Sex Pistols can only dream about. They also potentially will have trouble making ends meet and trying to recoup any costs involved in doing their craft. The more the musicians suffer, the more they will have something interesting to create.

The whole non-discriminatory and off-kilter pick on what is considered a “bad influence on Malaysian youth” is also truly a blessing. Can you imagine Avril Lavigne being considered “sexy” anywhere in the world? All pop music is not welcome in Kedah? Random raids on pub bands? Musicians couldn’t ask for a better break. All of them, by default, are officially bad@$$3$. All musicians, regardless of their background or intentions are seen as “trouble.” Go ahead pimply-faced, puberty-weary, budding singer/songwriter with a maiden YouTube clip, look in the mirror and say it out loud, “I’m a subversive force on Malaysian youth” and tell me you don’t feel a million times more manly than Mustapha Kamal from any of his early ‘90s action flicks.
The sudden uproar against musicians ultimately is awesome because all musicians have now been legitimised as being agents of provocation.

A greater benefit here is also that all this blanket suspicion thrown on musicians will make musicians themselves more united as family. Music “scenes” and “genres” are notorious for hating each other’s guts and thinking one being superior to the other. Well metal bands, pop singer, post rockers and dangdut shakers, you’re all the same now. You are all dangerous and must be feared.

Congratulations Malaysian musicians, you are all officially a force to be reckoned with again.

Original text by:Adlin Rosli

Khabarkan

Ku khabarkan pada sang air
Cintaku basah di tengah hujan
Lemas di tengah lautan

Dan ku khabarkan pada sang angin
Hentikan pukulan ombak
Agar cintaku mampu berenang

Bawa cintaku ke sisir pantai
Biar cintaku ke darat dan berlari
Agar dapat mengejar cintanya
Khabarkan padanya

Bawa cintaku ke sisir pantai
Biar cintaku ke darat dan berlari
Agar dapat mengejar cintanya
Cintaku mahukan dia

Khabarkan pada sang bulan
Cintaku hilang panduan
Hilang arah, hampir rebah
Tak tahu ke mana nak berjalan

Khabarkan pada sang mentari
Terangkan jalan ke empunya hati
Agar cintaku sampai kepadanya

Penyanyi : Luscious
Soundtrack : Sindarella (TV3)
Karya: Andy A Merican

Paparazzi in 'Possibly the best compilation ever'

Selamat hari raya and maaf zahir batin from Infinatez, Influenz Koncept and the management team. I guess by this time everybody is now back from their kampung. Welcome back everyone! We hope you all had a nice long weekend of binge eating, raya cookies and rendang madness. But now, the time has come for us to get back to reality.

Infinatez will be working on some new project soon. I cant actually reveal everything but being an independent group has made us think not just outside but beyond the box. Our second single 'Ada Masa' has been receiving good feedbacks from radio station, In fact you'll be hearing more of it once its been airplayed in the series. What series? Wait and see. October and November will be a hell of a busy month for us preparing, planning and executing some new methods to get our music across. We will hit the studio pretty soon to record more stuff for you guys out there. In fact, we might even make a comeback to 'Istana Budaya' for another musical. And this time around it is not P Ramlee :)

Another news, our first single 'Paparazzi' is also receiving good feedback from listeners. The song is constantly played in several radio such as Capital FM, RedFM and TraxxFM. In fact, as a gift to all of you who didnt get the chance to purchase it, the song is now featured in a compilation alongside some of the hottest acts such as Melissa Indot, KLG Sqwad, Luscious, Poseidon, Altimet and Frequency Cannon. And the compilation is called 'Possibly the best compilation ever'. The title explains everything :)

For more reviews you can checkout http://www.mmail.com.my/The_best_compilation_ever_of_local_bands.aspx or go to the official website http://www.voize.my/

DrGreenhorn

Buat baik berpada pada

Buat jahat jangan sekali. Tapi buat baik takde plak orang cakap buat berkali-kali.

Aku belajar benda nie lepas aku rasa aku kena tipu. Bukan sahaja aku malah ramai lagi. Dia nie pijak semut tak mati. Sekali pandang memang baik peribadi tapi kalau pandang 2-3 kali memang nak muntah tengok muka dia. Tapi takde orang perasan. Semua orang sangka dia nie baik. Aku pun sama.

Si 'barua' nie datang konon2 nak uruskan group aku. Gaya macam orang educated. Gaya jelah. Tapi bila cakap english berterabur jugak. Tapi aku tak tau macam mana kitorang boleh termakan janji manis dia nie, walaupun gerak hati aku macam tak best. Ader jugak dengar cerita pasal mamat nie sebelum nie tapi semua benda terlepas pandang.

Tapi lama kelamaan duduk di bawah pengurusan dia nie tidak mendatangkan banyak sgt manfaat. Kerja tetap diuruskan oleh adik-beradikku. Buat promotion dan PR pun tak reti dia nie. Pastu makin lama makin susah. Kalau bab duit lagilah susah. Bukan apa kadang2 bab duit nie melibatkan ramai orang. So kalau takde duit jgn janji. Dahlah aku nie banyak jadi orang tengah. Muka aku jugak yg tebal. Bukan muka kau setan!!!

Nak jadikan cerita berkat bulan puasa baru2 nie baru pecah tembelang si 'barua' nie. Rupa2nya dia nie bapak penipu, dan keje dia siang malam kalau tak menipu, menabur fitnah dan melaga-lagakan orang. Tapi sampai bila? Bila dah kumpul semua orang reti pulak ko takut dan malu. Pastu hilangkan diri. Buat cerita sana sini. Bila dah report polis baru ko lari tak cukup tanah. Kenapa takut kalau ko tak salah?

Makan benda haram. Berapa banyak duit orang yg dia tipu. To date aku rasa almost half a million dan rata2 duit yg ditelan ialah duit orang terdekat dengan aku. Mana aku tak marah? Lepas tu dah tau ramai sgt cari dia, lari pulak kat negeri lain, siap pindah barang2 semua. Waktu itulah baru tau yg memang dia nie conman besar. Keje menipu nie memang dah sebati ngan dia bertahun2. Skang tunggu masa nak cari dia saja.

Tapi kitorang kena bijak mengatur langkah. Dia nie bukan sebarang orang jugak. Di samping graduate master dalam bidang 'penipuan', dia nie amal ilmu hitam. Ilmu syirik dan segala macam voodoo. Banyak kali juga insiden bertemu dengan makhluk belaan dia. Dan bebudak nie siap nampak dengan batang hidung sendiri kat umah dia macam2 benda tangkal dan voodoo kat umah si 'barua' nie. Takoot !!!

Citer terbaru bukan saja kitorang cari dia, malah 'along' kongsi gelap pun. Rupa2nya dia nie curi duit orang pun ader jugak bijaknya, sebab nak langsaikan hutang sendiri. Pandai jugak dia. atleast tidaklah dia curi kemudian membazir. Tapi bodohnya hutang masih tak selesai dan at the end of the day ko bukan sahaja bermusuh dgn ramai pihak, tapi along cari kau..

Akan bersambung...

P/S: Ini merupakan breakdown drama episode terbaru aku. Masih belum detail tapi korang jgn curi ye :)

Paparazzi VC

Guys,
For those of you who have yet to listen to our single 'Paparazzi', you guys could do that at the following link. Enjoy the song, as we also have our own video clip. Tell me what you think about it. Cheers !!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tc8qEHxOnE

Doktor bersedih

MissNadia says:
i tak nak cakap dengan u sebab i sedih
MissNadia says:
i tak kenal u siapa
MissNadia says:
i sedih sebab sebenarnya i sangat rindukan u
MissNadia says:
manusia paling penyayang
MissNadia says:
pada i

China’s milk scandal

Friends,
For your information, the following items have been recalled due to China’s milk scandal:

1. M&M
2. Snickers
3. Mento’s Yoghurt Bottle
4. Dove Chocolate
5. Oreo Wafer Sticks
6. Dutchlady Sterilised Milk
7. Wall’s all natural mango
8. Mini Poppers Ice Cream
9. Magnum Ice Cream
10. Moo Sandwich Ice Cream
11. Mini Cornetto
12. Youcan Ice Cream

NO MORE CHOCOLATE...arghhhhh!!!

Sayang Cinta Sayang

Shows, shows and shows. Even bulan puasa pun Infinatez masih lagi menerima undangan show. Terbaru kami menjejakkan kaki ke Sungai Petani Kedah. Ia merupakan majlis bukak puasa yg diadakan beberapa hari dan pada malam terakhir iaitu Gala Dinner tersebut kami dijemput beserta dengan artis lain seperti Imran Ajmain, Zally Hussein dan Isnin Umbrella untuk memeriahkan majlis

Terima kasih sekali lagi kepada Cinta Sayang Resort kerana sudi menaja accommodation kami pada hari tersebut. Yang paling best malam tu aku rasa bila kitorang menyanyi utk golongan emas. Diorang nie walaupun sudah berumur namun tetap juga bagi kerjasama dengan kitorang, sporting dan enjoy. So lepas the performance semua artis berkumpul dan pegi makan mee udang dekat Sg Dua. Along the way ke tempat nak bersahur tu Infinatez dan Imran asyik melalak je dalam van. Baru aku tau perangai si Imran nie sebenarnya. And hmmm...mee udang dia. Tak payah cakap. Memang best giler. Udang dia besar2 belakatutup segala macam mee yg ada. Speciality dia semua udang. So order mee udang, kueytiow udang, nasi goreng udang, semuanya udanglah……

P/S: TV appearance takde ke wahai organizer sekalian?

A challenging Ramadhan

Puasa kali nie sgt berbeza dari tahun-tahun lepas. Selalunya kedatangan ramadhan memang dirasai, malah ditunggu-tunggu. Sebab selalunya bulan puasa nielah bulan nak banyakkan beramal, kurangkan buat maksiat, rapatkan silaturrahim dengan keluarga dan kawan-kawan. Bulan puasa nie jugaklah nak catch up ngan kawan-kawan mana yg dah lama tak lepak sekali.

Tapi puasa kali nie memang sgt simple bagi aku. Its just another ordinary month. Banyak benda yg harus aku kejar. To many things to be done. Dan jadual kerja yang tak menentu, mostly aku bukak puasa di office saja. Kalau nak kira berapa kerat sangatlah aku bukak puasa ngan family aku. Aku harap orang tua aku tak kecik hati. Kawan2 tak payah cakaplah. Member2 lama aku pun ramai yg aku tak sempat nak jumpa. Ader yg bising tak dapat jumpa, dan bila plan nak jumpa plak ader outstation show ngan Infinatez..

Bulan puasa kali nie jugak mencabar bagi aku. I was caught up with so many things. Tahun lepas hampir setiap hari aku buka puasa dengan ‘dia’. And boleh dikatakan selalu jugak aku bersahur dengan ’dia’. Tahun nie puasa hubungan aku makin renggang. Aku rasa so far aku hanya sempat berbuka puasa dengan dia sekali saja itupun di pengakhir ramadhan. Mostly our conversation pun revolves around work, and lupa that we started of knowing each other personally than only profesionally.

Apa2pun aku harap things would get better between us. Aku rindu ‘dia’ sangat

Ramadhan 2008,
Dr Greenhorn