Thursday, October 22, 2009

Jon sent me a link to Rachael Yamagata's "Elephants", which brought back memories of May, memories of my travelling down to the Esplanade to catch a glimpse of the singer-songwriter in all her yellow glory tell her funny sordid stories, as she pours her soul out to a packed esplanade concert hall in song. as her voice leaps over her tinkling ivories, or from time to time when she strums her guitar, she croons, growls, and wails, as her gravelly voice sings "over and over and over again...let it rain..."
Rachael yamagata is a really gifted songwriter; she has what you call craft, a craft that comes with much writing and playing, and her songs are so tuneful but more than just that there's a depth of emotion and warmth of soul that sucks you in and lulls you.
i especially like the hidden track from elephants (the second album), called 'the only fault', which i find frankly quite brilliant. other standout tracks are 'over and over', 'duet', 'elephants', and from the first album there are a whole shrew of favourites, such as quiet, 1963, be be your love, etc. it was a treat.

which reminds me of all the good concerts that i've been fortunate to catch in singapore; in fact most of the angmoh gigs i've gone to have all been standouts.
they include:
cranberries + no doubt - 2003 - amazing gig; 2 of my favourite bands; delores was just charming and so intense; gwen was a powerhouse and full of energy.
red hot chili peppers - an intense jam, coupled with naked sweating bodies.
suede - another awesome gig, at fort canning - with loads of charm, and brett anderson crooning his heart out.
jason mraz - he was just awesome; one of the best i've seen; his voice control was stunning.
rachael yamagata - enough said (just see above) - very enjoyable evening.
coldplay - another good gig; i didn't watch the viva la vida one, but the one before (2006) - that was still very enjoyable.

oh - just the one dud:
Oasis - just standing there and crooning isn't going to cut it - FAIL.

lea salonga is coming and it's going to be fun; anyone wanna watch? can sms me.

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