All About Music – Alternative Rock

Posted on November 6, 2009 by Carmen

More new music

I always love to add new music into my Ipod. An Alternative band from Australia called The Temper Trap’s ‘ Condition’ is absolutely delightful to listen. The famous song ‘ Sweet Disposition’ is so hit and become the sound of 2009 according to BBC. When I listened their first song, I thought it is definitely a British Rock band, surprisingly they are from Australia. Also, They became so famous because this amazing album in the UK, then well-known in Australia afterwards.

Every single song in the Album are my favourite.

Green Day

We haven’t heard Greenday releasing new albums for such a long time. Even though I am not a huge Greenday fan, the new album called 21st Century Breakdown is fantastic. The album is not only random music, but actually tell a story. It is divided into three acts, each loosely following a young couple, Christian and Gloria, as they’re confronted with a manipulative, authoritative culture according from Culturebully. Would it be great that when you’re listening songs, you can imagine a movie?

It seems they wrote many songs for Heroes and Soldiers. I still love some of their songs, and never feel tired of them. Some of their songs always make me feel sad – I call it as the rebellious sadness.

There are many favourite pieces in the album:

21 Guns
!Viva La Gloria!
Peacemaker
?Viva La Gloria? (Little Girl)
Restless Heart Syndrome

Muse

Great news that Muse released the New album called ” The Resistance” in September. It is more alternative + classical music combination. Great album and I’ve been listening since Sept.

They are all on the tour. Muse and Green day’s gigs are so expensive (£50), and also performed in O2 and Wembley stadium – too big! We saw Muse in HK, and it was great, same price but you can see them so clear. However, they are too big in the UK, I don’t think they will perform in a small concert then. Pity!

I can’t wait to go to see MEW’s concert next week. One privilege living in London is to see many concerts regardless singers are superb or unnoticeable.

Keane’s Concert in Shepherd Bush

Posted on May 30, 2009 by Carmen

keane-in-shepherd-bush

John bought Keane‘s tickets for my birthday gift in March, and finally this is the night. We went there at 6 pm, and there were already many people queueing, and luckily we got the great seats to see them very clear. Surprisingly, there were many middle-age fans to see Keane as well.

The show was to celebrate 50th birthday of the Island Record Company. The island members took all the fans pictures and said it will post it their website, can’t wait to see myself in there. The show was started at 7 pm, and the warming brand was Ladyhawke, she sang about 8 songs, and she performed well, however, the microphone could be louder because audiences could not hear her voice clearly.

When Keane came out, the whole stadium was crazy with a lot of applause. Keane sang about many songs from first album Hopes and Fears including ‘everybody is changing’, ‘ We might as well be stranger’ , and ‘somewhere we only know’; then ‘crystal ball and ‘nothing in my way’; then many songs from third album as well including ‘again and again’,’perfect symmetry’ and ‘spiralling’…

Tom’s voice was absolute amazing and with his professional performance. He talked to audiences, even shook hands with audiences, and asked audiences to sing with him as loud as they could, (to be honest, every audiences could easy burst out everyone song from Keane). The background lights, the band performance and the atmosphere was stunning. It felt likes that Keane music was melting with audiences voices, and everyone was so indulging into their music and lost themselves.

Their music was so perfect and ‘ I lost my heart, I buried it too deep into the under the iron sea’. It was a remarkable concert and I wish they will continuously create great music.

I recorded one song on the spot only for one of Keane’s best fans from GZ – Syrinx Ye.

约翰在我3月份生日时候送给我Keane演唱会的门票，终于等到今晚的到来。早早6点就去排队，已经一条长龙，蛮多中年岁数的歌迷呢，幸好我们早去，找到2个正中不错的位子。

这个演唱会是为了庆祝 island 唱片公司50岁的生日而搞的，工作人员给歌迷各个都照了相做纪念，我也照了张，不知道去哪里看呢？7点就正式开场，第一嘉宾是ladyhawke，约翰蛮喜欢的新西兰女歌手，她长了8首主打歌，歌曲还不错，可惜麦克风不够大声，听不是很清楚她的声音。

当Keane出场时候，掌声雷雷，歌迷超级疯狂的叫喊。Keane唱了很多第一张成名著 Hope and Fear，每一首歌迷都跟着一起唱，然后唱了2首第2张专集under iron sea，唱得最多的是第3张专集，场面十分感人，歌迷的声音做为背景，和 Keane的声音融合在一起。

主唱的Tom的声音真的很棒，歌喉和歌底很好，加上他十分卖力和专业表演，和让大家感受到他对音乐的那种激情，从他的歌词和歌曲中流露出来。看得出他对歌迷很好，在场常和歌迷交流，惊奇的是，居然还跳下场和歌迷握手。现场的表演，灯光，气氛真的太完美了。当然我也和其他歌迷一样一起和Keane 合唱，虽然不算是他们的疯狂歌迷，但十分喜欢他们的所有的专集。

当场的气氛就象忘掉自我，沉溺在Keane的音乐中，就象歌词中 ’ 我的心遗失了，把它深深的埋在铁海中，埋在音乐的铁海中’…这场演唱会是我见过Muse之后最棒的一场show。希望他们继续创造好音乐给大家。

我录下下了一段片断献给最爱 Keane 的广州歌迷－叶嘉雯！

Ingrid Michaelson

Posted on April 23, 2009 by Carmen

ingrid-michaelson

Discovered Ingrid Michaelson while I am listening in last.fm. so I gave it a try, then I became her fans instantly, and like her three of main albums. Her style is like Sia, Feist, and Priscilla Ahn, which is female vocalists, acoustic and indie pop. Moreover, her song called “Little Romance” was also in Sex And The City Volume 2.

Coincidentally, I just saw information in last.fm which states that in September 2008 she supported Jason Mraz during his European tour. Surprisingly, she will perform in Hammersmith Apollo in next Monday 27th April in London, however, I am not sure I can make it. But I do appreciate her music. Here are her main albums names:

Girls and Boys

Be OK

Slow the Rain

This is her Myspace, and you can listen her music in last.fm.

无意中在 last.fm 听歌，在我自己创建的音乐图书馆（只选择我喜欢的歌手）它自动推荐一位纽约女歌手叫 Ingrid Michaelson，然后听了下她所有的专集，越听越喜欢，她自创歌曲，音乐风格象 Sia, Feist, 和 Priscilla Ahn一样，歌曲浪漫中带伤感，是适合春天季节听的歌曲！仔细看它的介绍，巧合中，Ingrid 还和 Jason Mraz 前年9月份一起在欧洲巡回演唱会合唱呢。

她的歌曲真的不错，27号还在伦敦演唱会，真想去，但现在23号，我觉得买票有点紧，周末去看看。3张专集都超好听：最新张叫：Girls and Boys，然后是 Be OK，我的最爱：Slow the Rain. 她的一首 ‘Little Romance’ 还是电影原声带 Sex And The City 选播之一！这是她的空间 Myspace，你可以在last.fm在线听下你喜不喜她的类型！

Jason Mraz in Hammersmith Apollo

Posted on April 4, 2009 by Carmen

jason-mraz-concert-in-london

Discovered Jason when he had released his first albumMr. A-Z in 2006, and since then, his music is pleasure to listen to. Friends saw Jason performed in HK last month, and said it was an amazing concert. So we finally arrived Hammersmith Apollo last night, where there were many young fans already standing outside, trying to get the good spots to see Jason. We also lined up before it might get too late.

It started at 7: 30, and surprisingly, Jason came out and introduced the warm-up bands, one was Priscilla Ahn, who also sang with Jason for the song called “Lucky” later on. I like Priscilla’s music and her voice was pretty good.

After 8: 30, the whole concert was full. When Jason came out, fans started getting so crazy to welcome him. He basically sang his latest album – We Sing, We Dance, We Steal Things. When he and Priscilla were singing “Lucky”, then “I’m Yours”, all the fans were singing together and it was a fantastic atmosphere!

Overall, Jason performed very well, and he gave fans many surprises. We did enjoy his concert and look forwards his new album soon. (Jason cover picture is from Flicker.com)

在2006年发掘Jason出第一专集Mr.A-Z 的时候就喜欢上他的音乐，他的音乐让人感到十分阳光和放松，很有California, 沙滩,享受生活的味道。朋友们都去看他在香港演出，说他的表演超级棒呢。终于等到他在伦敦演出拉，昨晚，很多歌迷6点还没到就在排队，要抢最好的位子看Jason.伦敦演唱会都是一个价钱，只是你选择要站还是要做。所以歌迷都纷纷要提前排队，抢个头位。我们7点也就排上队，等着开场。

7点半就准时开场，惊奇的事，Jason亲自出来介绍‘热身’队－一个叫Priscilla Ahn的吉他女歌手，声音和歌曲都不错。到了8点半，全场的坐位都爆满，当Jason出场时，歌迷尖叫声不断。当他和Priscilla唱 “Lucky” 和 “I’m Yours” 的时候,全场歌迷都纷纷和他一起唱，气氛超好！他主要唱他的最新专集，虽然没有唱很多首我的最爱，但他的表演功和调动歌迷的气氛十分棒。疯狂的歌迷被他的声线迷倒了。我们都期待他另一张新专集。

Mew

Posted on March 31, 2009 by Carmen

mew

I have been searching some new music recently, and thanks for my friend Syrinx introduced Mew. Mew is a band from Denmark, established in 1995 with a musical style that is best described as a combination of indie rock and progressive rock (with shoegaze and dream pop influences). I have been listening their music these week and I like their album a lot, and highly recommend to you if you like indie rock.

Best albums: And The Glass Handed Kites and Frengers
Best songs:

Zookeeper’s boy

Speicial

156

Comforting Sounds

Apocalypso

She came home for Christmas

You can hear their songs in last.fm here for free or visit their myspace.

最近在找有没有新歌或新专辑刺激下神经，要感谢广州的朋友Syrinx，一个很小就打从心底喜欢英文摇滚！她介绍给我去听Mew的其中一首歌。Mew是95年就成立的丹麦摇滚乐队，他们的音乐类型是indie摇滚加上电子摇滚。这个星期都在听他们的专辑。最喜欢的是我放在封面的2张专辑，里面的歌曲十分喜欢。喜欢indie rock的朋友们，我极力推荐哦。上面是6首我的最爱也是比听的哦！你们可以上last.fm免费听他们的歌曲，或是去他们的空间听！

Last.fm

Posted on August 12, 2008 by Carmen

last-fm1

I have been using lastfm for almost a year and I love it so much. last.fm is a UK base internet radio for music lovers to listen music, or explore similar artists. All you need to do is to apply for an account and add all your favorite artists in to the library. The system will look at your music taste and introduce more good music to you. You might find that other users will recommend various music to you as well.

The web site is stylish and very easy to use! Besides, it also has HK and Taiwan popular artists in Chinese.

I use it to play music when I surf the internet. I know there are a lot of similar websites, but I highly recommend this one to you.

用了lastfm这个在线音乐网站一年了, lastfm是一个英国十分流行的internet播放器，它让我爱不释手，几乎一上网就习惯要打开它，作为我音乐的背景。网站设计十分时髦，新型和使用超级简单。你要登记一个账户，然后找寻你喜欢的音乐歌手，系统会跟你介绍类似你喜欢的歌手，让你接触更多你喜欢的音乐；也有些歌迷会介绍好听的歌曲或歌手给你。

它不仅有英文歌手，还有中文歌手介绍，我极力推荐给爱音乐的你。

YouTube

Posted on February 21, 2007 by Carmen

YouTube Logo

I know it’s a late discovery, but I’ve recently found YouTube and have spent far too much time watching music videos.

Many music fans like me sometimes go to great lengths to find band’s music video online. Before YouTube, your only options were to either hope the band’s website had a few videos, or to try and find it elsewhere (such as on MTV). Most of the time these options were incredibly slow, didn’t work, or were a real nuisance. In YouTube, however, you type your favourite artist and the song and it’s all there. Click on the video, pause it until its all loaded (otherwise it may stutter while it downloads), then play it; the quality of the music video might not perfect, but it’s acceptable and at least it loads fast. You will find various music videos, including the original video as well as live performances.

YouTube also has a lot of home-grown videos, ranging from people recording themselves doing funny things, to students wanting to make a break in the movie world. Google thought enough of YouTube that they paid $4 billion US for it… a staggering amount.

It’s good news for music fans but don’t use it too often – you will become addicted. Enjoy!

也许发现得比较晚，但一但被你知道它的存在，你会情不自禁的坐在电脑前疯狂的使用它，我叫它是（录像点唱机），它就是YouTube。一个让你随时查找你喜欢的乐队或歌手的最新的Music Video（音乐录影带）。

许多喜欢音乐的歌迷像我一样有时候疯狂的在寻找自己喜爱的乐队或歌手的录影带，在YouTube诞生之前，电视播放的音乐录影带往往都不是你喜欢的歌手或乐队，所以都是上MTV 或其他网站查找我喜欢的歌手的MV，超慢打得开或缓冲太长，打开几分钟，之后最终还是打不开，索性不看了。但有了YouTube，找寻最新最快的音乐录影带2-3分钟搞定，有现场的，原版的音乐录影带，满足各位音乐迷的渴望，我的秘诀是，打开，按暂停，然后等它全部下载后就可以享受不缓冲的音乐录影带了。

You Tube的创意是提供平台给大家把自己喜欢的音乐录影带传上去分享给其他人，甚至有些录制自己的录影带传上去也有；有些人觉得这样有点违法或有点盗版行为，确实如此，但音乐迷们对YouTube得如痴如醉，这也使全世界的音乐迷对它的热衷支持。

好消息就得和大家分享，别像我一样爱不释手，或看上瘾了！

Sebastian Schunke in GZ on October

Posted on August 27, 2006 by Carmen

I missed Sebastian Schunke’s Jazz concert last year, which made me feel sorry for myself. However, their manager recently mailed their fans to announce that Sebastian Schunke and his band will be playing again in Guangzhou, as well as，Shenzhen, Shanghai, and Malaysia, in October 2006. This thrilled me. Here is their MySpace website with some of the band’s music, and lots of information.

Due to their successful performances in 2005, this years tour brings together internationally renowned Jazz musicians living in Berlin and New York. They unify the intense energy from their different home cultures to create a complete new song concept in a jazz environment. This is hip experimental world jazz, with musicians from Europe, USA and Cuba – totally new and unpredictable. In the centre is the new vocal star from Cuba – Olvido Ruiz – is member of the new Cubanian generation. This year they present the new songs for the new cd “Seba meets Olvido” exclusively for China and Malaysia.

To all fans who like this new style Jazz music, don’t miss out on this opportunity!

9.10. Guangzhou, BackStreet, Jazz Club, 21.45 -23.45
10.10. Guangzhou, Back Street Jazz Club, 21.45- 23.35
11. 10. Xinghai Konversatorium, 19.00

塞柏斯顿•舒特，出生于1973年的德国塞柏斯顿•舒特从小就学习古典钢琴， 12岁便开始接触拉丁爵士音乐，音乐受到Eddie Palmieris，Chick Corea, Gonzalo Rubalcaba等音乐家的影响；包括他吸收了拉丁美洲的旋律，特别添加到他的爵士音乐中。舒特去了纽约，被多种文化的融合迷住了，并开始从事创作自己的音乐，把现代美国的拉丁爵士与欧洲的传统音乐结合一起。他不仅熟悉运用了拉丁音乐的旋律，创造出自己的爵士曲风。

2005年曾来中国香港/广州/上海/深圳演出；因自己错过德他们首次在广州的表演爵士乐队的表演而感到遗憾，昨天收到他的经理人对广大爵士歌迷的宣布：10月份Sebastian Schunke终于再次到中国，广州，深圳，上海和马来西亚表演。这次到10月9号在广州大使馆表演，11号在广州的后街爵士餐厅表演，我一定不会错过的。如果你想知道他们在其他城市或国家表演的时间表，给我留言，我会在这里告诉你。

Imogen Heap

Posted on August 11, 2006 by Carmen

Yesterday I finished watching the last episode of HBO’s Six Feet Under – Everyone’s Waiting. The soundtrack was amazing and I am now trying to find the song ‘Lonely Little Petunia’, by Imogen Heap’s. While looking I discovered she had a MySpace website with some of her music, and lots of information.

Imogen’s first album, I Megaphone, was released in 1998. It took her another seven years to follow up with 2005’s ‘Speak For Yourself‘. The British vocalist was far from idle during the interim, having formed Frou Frou with Guy Sigsworth. I then realised that the song ‘Let Go’ (theme to the movie Garden State) is also by her. Amazing! This album, like Frou Frou’s electronica / pop hybrid, also carries a more sweeping and dynamic singer/songwriter aesthetic and presents Heap’s bold-yet-breathy vocals lounging on a bed of electronic effects. Some songs have been used in the popular series The O.C

Heap is an amazing talented composer, singer, and producer as well. Her music is a beautiful work of art; the songs become more and more addictive the more you play them. Her music makes me think. If I travel on a journey it’s the best CD that to pick. She has a dreamy, light, soft voice, before she blasts you with drums and guitars that slowly turn up the volume. It opens your imagination; it opens your inspiration; it brings your memories – sadness, joyful, bitter of life.

Thanks to Imogen Heap for giving us all these remarkable albums and her contributions to music. “Music can be like perfume,” suggests a Frou Frou. “It’s almost a scent, you know, where the right smell changes an environment and makes life more bearable.” So right.

昨天刚看完（六尺之下）的专集看到Imogen Heap’s 的歌曲，上网找了她的歌曲，最终在她的空间听到她的4首歌，首首都很精彩，Imogen 原来是英国乐队Frou Frou其中的主唱，1998年出了个人专集 I Megaphone，事隔7年2005年出了专集‘Speak For Yourself‘’，这张专集真是精品，有点流行电子风格，带有轻快摇摆，柔美，Launch的风格，它那天使般的声音和独特的风格，美国电视剧常拿她来做插曲象明珠台的The O.C…

她的音乐才华是种艺术，自己作词作曲包监制。听她的这张CD让我沉思，让我沉迷，去哪里旅游我一定带上它。她的音乐让你感到自由，让你飞翔，打开你想象之窗，给你生活的灵感，让你体验到生活带给你的喜和悲。感谢她对音乐的创作，就像Frou Frow其中一员说：音乐如香水 – 一种气味, 适当的气味可以改变环境,且让生活显得更可忍受一些。（或音乐几乎就是一种香水，散发着迷人香味，改变您的环境，让您的生活更加美好）

Keane–Under The Iron Sea

Posted on June 20, 2006 by Carmen

Everyone is excited about Keane’s new album due to their successful last album (Hopes & Fears), which was a big hit. I gave the album Hopes and Fears 4.5 out of 5 as it was a near-perfect album, with every song being immediatley likable. This one I give 4 stars, as it takes longer for you to like certain songs. However, there are still many songs that stand out, with my favourites being:

“Nothing in my way”
“Crystal ball”
“Hamburg song”
“Try again”
“Broken Toy”
“The Frog Prince”

经过Keane 上张专集《希望与恐惧》大热之后，喜欢Keane 的音乐的朋友都纷纷期待这张新的专集《在铁海之下》，风格还是Keane的英伦格调。这张前个星期听后，让我需要多点时间去慢慢投入音乐的铁海中，要反复去听才深深的喜欢上这张碟，不像上张，一听钟情；上张我给4. 5星，铁海这张我给4星。大家可以买来听听，有什么感受我们都可以在这里分享的。

Carmen Xu 佳敏

Music, Food, Fashion & a life in London

Tag Archives: Music 音乐