WE HATE GNR!..

Well... definitely not us but the Chinese citizens of Beijing have dubbed the band's album titled "Chinese Democracy" an insult, attacking China. Record stores/websites (even on the Chinese version of google)/publications and all sources of information on GNR's album title is banned! Their album features a black&white cover picture of a bicycle and three red Communist stars, plus some action-packed provocative lyrics like "If they missionaries, real time visionaries...Sitting in a Chinese stew to view my dis-infatuation, I know that I'm a classic case, Watch my disenchanted face, Blame it on the Falun Gong, They've seen the end and you can't hold on now..."

Ahhh. This is just what everyone needs, another controversy. Human beings love drama. Well done Axl!

*This post is dedicated to our very own Duplo Donna, because she was having such a bad day, Cheer up!*

Just too biased!

Already it's hard becoming an artist/singer/songwriter struggling amongst the millions of others competing for just one damn gig. It's even more important to be on a certain platform looking upon the others awaiting that spot of yours, someday. But what if you were the one waiting?

What happened to local talents supporting one another? What happened to the phrase "support your local music"? What happened to the Malaysian indie scene? I think it's pretty biased these days and it's become more of a fad that only friends help their specific group of friends and the rest of these talented indie artists are just overlooked or more like ignored and neglected.

Many people have been disappointed and I'm just here to voice this out on behalf of all of them. There are some rather "established" organisers who claim they have the passion and are here to share it with others but I beg to differ. This happened to a friend who was told to email this certain organiser for an acoustic open mic gig (that's supposedly open to all)...Heck! but after a few weeks no one had the decency to even respond.

Is that just bad organising? Is it just the Malaysian mentality? Or... Is it that some enjoy having the limelight all to themselves and strictly share it with their friends only?

Maybe we need to change our attitude and mindset on choosing "ONLY Friends" as music companions because...

Music has no enemies, it's suppose to unite us all~

What's your take? Tell us.

Rock It Out!

Its Rock The World 8 babyyy!!

20th December 2008 @ The Secret Garden, Merdeka Stadium. 12noon to 12midnight! RM25.00 tickets are available at Extreme outlets, Music Valley, Rock Corner, Maju Junction Mall & on event day!

The Bands:

1. Butterfingers

2. Estranged

3. One Buck Short

4. OAG

5. Koffin Kanser

6. Pure Vibracions

7. The Times

8. Bunkface

9. Republic of Brickfields

10. They Will Kill Us All

11. Zip Zieller

12. Upon Arrival

13. Komplot

14. Laila's Lounge

15. The Otherside Orchestra

16. Revenge

It's a love/hate relationship!

There's something about British boys and cheesy music. Can someone tell me why? I have a few boys on my list, who I've dissed when I heard their songs repeatedly playing on air. But after awhile, I was made to swallow my words until I choked. (GASP! Look at those "delicious" photos of them) Not only do they sing corny poppy love songs, they flaunt their abs too?

Forgive me Gareth Gates, I thought you're such a sissy singing that song "Anyone of us"..It was too annoying with that whiny vocals of yours, repeating the chorus over and over...

and I hate you more for making me hooked on that one song...(I found it quite therapeutical after relating my life experience. ehem. )

Oh Shayne Ward... I know you're the young and talented winner of X Factor, but I'm sorry my friend thought you were some American bodyguard standing round behind us when we saw you in KL...and I hated "Breathless" cause the lyrics were too dumb, rather desperate and pathetic! C'mon... "If we had babies they would have your eyes?" I mean, I'm a hopeless romantic... but that's way too corny...

and most of all, I hate you for making me believe those words were actually sweet (I found me smiling to myself after awhile...with that "awwwhh" feeling inside).

Reminder to you Zigsters...Note: Never diss something you dislike, karma will somehow find its way and give you a slap in the face! (I think mine is already swollen)

Hooray to corny pop songs!

I love it but You hate it...

Ever like a song but everyone else seems to hate it? So you kind of keep it a secret until it comes on the radio in a car full of your friends and someone accidentally catches you singing along to the words? Eee.

Here at Zigs, we're dedicating our topic of the week to the songs that we secretly like, but everyone else can't stand the sound of.

Currently no.1 on my list is: Shontelle's T-shirt song. teehee. Why is it everyone seems to hate this song but knows the lyrics to it, eh?
NOTHING BUT YOUR T-SHIRT ONNNNN....yeah. it's hot.

Which brings me to my 2nd song I know everyone else hates...but I am confessing my partiality to:
Paris Hilton's Nothing In This World
Maybe it's because of Paris...Maybe it's because the video is really dumb...Maybe it's because of Paris...Maybe it's because it's so cheesy...Maybe it's Paris...yeah, maybe it's because of PARIS!

Oh dear...

My 3rd guilty pleasure? ooh...this is an oldie but goodie...Right Said Fred's I'm Too Sexy!
I used to imagine myself walking down the runway to this song...I'm too sexy for my shirt, so sexy it hurts!! Check out the video!

More good music!

Hey Zigsters!

It's Moonshine's 3rd anniversary!!! Happy Birthday!!! =)
Do drop by Laundry @ The Curve and be entertained by a great lineup of musicians like Reza Salleh, Tempered Mental and Rendra Zawawi.

We'd like to see you there supporting all your favourite local acts!
And we promise...you're gonna have a blast!

Whatever We Like

In lieu of Obama-rama I thought...I should pay some kind of tribute. Have y'all heard the song? Like all these famous people singing over his victory speech? What makes me completely baffled is how fast they came out with it. I heard it the morning after. Hoo-wee.

But we here at Zigs, instead of jumping on the bandwagon and spouting many good things about the man himself (and there are many many good things to say about Mr. Obama), I kinda wanna pay tribute to the other African-American men out there we love. (and there are many many many of them out there too...teehee).

First up on my list is the gentleman himself - Ne-Yo.

Oh pish posh to the rumours that he may be gay. I mean, come on, the man can sing his socks off and move like there's no tomorrow andddd he loves 'independent women'. Oh wait, oh dear...he *could* be gay after all....BOOHOO. But no, Ne-Yo, is most certainly NOT gay. We will not believe it here at Zigs. He is simply too much of a gentleman to be.

Next on my list...oh and I'm so excited about finally posting about this lovely lovely gentleman: T.I.

Oh pooh, about his numerous arrests and all that shizz about weapons and gang fights and all..but who cares. The man is an entrepreneur. And how hard can someone named Clifford Joseph Harris Jr be. Seriously. We love T.I. And you do too....Admit it!

Another lovely gentleman that I recently can't get enough of and for whom I have John Legend (another lovely but slightly *gatal* [another story for another time] man..kaka) to thank for is: Lupe Fiasco

So much respect for this man. He's 26 and he's already got a Grammy and the respect of literally anyone who's anyone in the industry. And I gotta say, Superstar is one of the best songs of 07/08. Seriously.

And there you have it....Zigs' Chocolate Deeelights! Have you any more to add to the list???

TELL US!

Fave local band: Damn Dirty Apes

I'm writing this as I'm listening to my favourite song from them, Rebel Scum. 

DDA was phenomenal. They were short-lived, but i think their existence left a permanent memory to many local music followers circa '99/2000. saw them live once, met the members a couple of times too... the guys from Penang have now parted ways and scattered all over the world. first time listening to them... it blew me away. it was all instrumental yet full of emotions. some people say they sound like Mogwai, but for a local band i think they're still pretty good. 

wonder what are these guys up to now?

click to have a piece of DDA in your iTunes. 

Damn Dirty Apes - The Rebel Scum

The Adil Johan Quartet feat. Melissa Suciati

Adil Johan feat Melisa Suciati Live at Bangkok Jazz Nov 8th 2008, this young and soulful singer will take the KL jazz scene by storm!
Melisa Suciati: vocals
Adil Johan: sax
Terrence Liew: keys
Hiro Maekawa: drums
Steve Naris Nanda: drums

NO cover charge


Checked out their live performance on Youtube and was quite impressed with their talents. If you're feelin' the groove, check them out this Saturday at Bangkok Jazz!
for more info: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=43241819534

Where Have They Gone?

We're back on track with the locals this week. That's how it's gonna work on Zigs...we feature international and local bands/musicians/artists anything music related, you name it...we're not gonna be biased.

I think I'm lucky cause my parents have always been music lovers. What got me into local music was this 80s band called Freedom. I can't remember how exactly but I actually went to their mini concert in PJ Hilton when I was barely 5 or so but I do remember vaguely how it went. I loved Ghani the long-haired guitarist and always told everyone I'd marry him. I always picked up the phone and called him up when in fact I dialed various wrong numbers and even THE POLICE!!! (no kidding) My maid freaked out and had to apologise, for Ghani's sake. The band is brilliant and no one can beat Seha with that low husky voice, it's quite rare for any Malaysian singers to own that sort of tone these days. The other vocalist was Abang Shuaib, with that Hindustani hero moustache I remember. Those were the days. We lost Seha in October 2006, sadly...but no doubt her music and Freedom will always remind me of my childhood days. Here's one of my favourite songs from them. click
Another "local band" sortof with Aishah in it was Aishah and the Fan Club. I'd sing to "Call me, Call me..." any time of day and always wanted to have big curls with biker jackets. Mum never let me. Such a shame. Sensation was my favourite album from them! Aishah is still singing these days, more local tunes and still sounding like a nightingale. If you love them too, I found this facebook group a tribute to this band!

How awesome is that?

My one and only local HERO: P.Ramlee.

This man is truly an irreplaceable talent. He's genuinely gifted I can't describe how in love I am with his music. Til' this day I still watch his movies and sing all his tunes. There's so many beautiful songs, lyrics, melodies that he's composed that I can't seem to even pick my favourite. How can anyone be so amazing? P.Ramlee definitely brought an impact to the Malaysian music industry with his remarkable talents. He's definitely one that inspires me and I'm sure it's not just me. There's this Australian man by the name Raymond Cook who actually covers P.Ramlee's songs on youtube too. Brilliant! We certainly have something to be proud of as Malaysians. No one will match up to this legend, that's for sure. Here's one of my favourites. click I think the lyrics are poetically beautiful.

What has become of our local scene today? What can we really make of it?

We shall continue inspiring one another, and I know we are capable of doing so. I've seen many talents out there. This post is a salute to all the local talents. Let's be brave and let our passion drive us to better our music industry.

Malaysia boleh rock!!! ;)

Zigs boleh rock jugak!!! ;)

Extreme Indie Night

Calling all indie cindys and garage geeks alike!

It's hip, it happens at Raw Bar in Soho KL (Solaris, Mont Kiara) and it's tomorrow night!!!

Good news for the ladies too...free drinks till midnight so milk it! *winkity wink wink*

DJ SETS BY:Aidil Rusli (COUPLE), Zack Yusof (THE DESERTERS), Edwin Raj (THEY WILL KILL US ALL) , LEE C BEATY (ENG) , SEVENLEVEN (AUS), MIXING IN ACTION-, JOHNNY MAYO (UK)

FREE B4 11PM

RSVP: FREE ALL NIGHT

Be there or be square...heehee!

Local Focal

It's that time of the week and although we generally loath Mondays, take comfort in the fact that Mondays mean new week new Zigs Flava of da Week! Yaaaay!!

This week, it's LOCAL FOCAL...

Who do we like locally?? Hmm....hmmm...hmmm...

I'd have to say, one band that always makes me turn up the radio and feel generally happy-clappy would be:

Estrella

I first saw this band live about a year ago. Again, late in the game but hey, I was outta the country and very clueless about the whole local scene. Until, that is, I heard this band on the radio. In fact, I didn't think they were local...then I saw them perform and I was even more enamoured.

In my clueless state, I was told that this band sort of subscribe to the brand of music called *shoe-gazing*. I am told it is very popular. Think ambient, dream like sounds inspired by the likes of Cocteau Twins and My Bloody Valentine and probably a bit of The Verve and Suede thrown in for good measure.

Estrella's sound though, is less abrassive. Lead singer Liyana's voice too has that heaven-sent quality to it. You bet your boots this girl has everyone falling over her too seeing as there aren't too many pretty girls with nice voices lurking around in your average mamak stall being nicer than nice.

They describe themselves as a brief respite from a headache-y traffic jam. I gotta say, it's TRUEEEE...I do get all comfy and dreamy when I hear them on the radio....gush gush.

Check them out!

http://www.myspace.com/estrellaband

Dates for upcoming gigs will be up soon!!!

Which reminds us:

All you local musicas...If you have any gig/event you want a shout out to, then email details to:

zigsmusix@gmail.com