Resolutions for Y2K14

It's been 5 days into the new year of 2014 and its already lost the "new" feeling since I've come to terms with time, which passes ever so quickly. Before I finish reading Crime and Punishment, its already going to be 2015. Instead of resisting the current of time, I shall embrace 2014 and "go with the flow". I'm going to take initiative and make things happen for me this year rather than waiting around for opportunities to come to me. I'm going to make opportunities happen. I'm worried for what will happen in 2014 but yet I'm excited because I'm going to follow the "I don't give a fuck" mantra and start living. This year I want to meet interesting/odd/strange people and hope to befriend them since I'm sick of boring people who are obsessed with social status, wealth and "fitting in". I also have high hopes for Freak even though we have yet to assemble it together for its release on February 1st. 

After reflecting on 2013, I've come up with resolutions to improve myself and make 2014 the best yet. In 2014, I'm going to...

• Be adventorous and spontaneous 
• Stop caring about what people think
• Meet new people outside my social circle
• Start a journal 
• Get really fricken good at piano by practising at least 5 times a week
• Improve my Chinese (so I'll need to befriend more Chinese people)
• Be able to do sit-ups 
• Do a quarter (or half) marathon 
• Develop a Freak following (which means I hope Freak takes off and has dedicated readers)
• Use my initiative to reach my ambitions

These resolutions allow me to have some control over 2014 but I won't be able to control everything that happens for the next 12 months. Who knows what will happen? I may fall in love. I may move overseas (hopefully to New York). And maybe by the end of the year, I may also be enduring the start of a career in my preferred area of profession. I expect good things for this year but I know I need to restrict my optimism as its possible 2014 could be a disappointment.

- freak out

'Almost Famous' is not real life

Big Day Out held a media accreditation competition with the prize of interviewing the artists and in the description they said "like Almost-Famous style". With this film reference, I assumed they were allowing 16-year-olds to enter since the protagonist of 'Almost Famous' was sixteen and writing for Rolling Stone. The requirement was to write a music review of Arcade Fire's 'Afterlife' and at that time I knew nothing about Arcade Fire but I thought I may as well give it a go. I worked hard on this review with 'Afterlife' continuously on repeat.  I also delved into the background of Arcade Fire through wikipedia, youtube and other magazine articles. There were moments where I just thought, "do I even bother?", and I hadn't even finished the review by the day entries were closed. On the day I planned to submit it, I read the terms and conditions where I discovered I didn't meet the criteria. I wasn't 18 years old and I wasn't living in Australia. I was conflicted, "Do I or do I not send it in?", but I realised it would have been a waste if I didn't submit it. 

Heres my review:

Afterlife - Arcade Fire

The veterans of alternative music have effortlessly revived the Internet hype once again with their dance-rock fusion, Afterlife, clocking more than 1,000,000 youtube views in less than 2 weeks of its release. There’s been immense pressure for Arcade Fire to meet the high expectations of fans and critics after the release of the Grammy award winning album, The Suburbs. Patient fans shall be in for a pleasant surprise with the unpredictability of Afterlife and its genre-bending disco beats, Haitian inspired rhythms and resonating 80s synth. The song’s energetic pulse is complimented by the angelic backing vocals and Win Butler’s hushed voice that could easily be mistaken for Morrisey’s.  The ascending sequence of punchy French horns leads to the pinnacle before it suddenly dies down to the outro.  As Afterlife closes, Arcade Fire cleverly mimics a heartbeat as if someone is on life support, relating back to the song title. Butler’s melancholic singing comes into play, “its just an after life”, while he comes to terms with death over the minimal instrumentation – leaving a haunting impression on the listener. In 2013, we live in a culture obsessed with dance music for some unexplainable reason and Arcade Fire has showcased their ability to adapt to the current market in order to remain competitive and relevant. They have done this without selling their soul to the devil but with integrity as they remain loyal to themselves and their fans.

Almost a month later, I received an email informing me that I was finalist for the competition but I had to give them my details. 16 years old and living in Auckland. Obviously ruined my chances of winning but I'm proud that I was even a finalist since the entries would have been works of university students. They haven't announced the winners yet but I'm kind of hoping/wishing that they think my review is too good to dismiss and then they would give me the opportunity to be 'Almost Famous'.

- freak out

p.s. I know music journalism is dying. 

a rant for racists #1

I hate racism with a stark passion. I have so many rants about this issue with my friends and I could go on forever and ever. Racism should be assertively addressed but thats difficult when its your "friends" being racist. What are you suppose to do in those situations? Tell them that they're "fucking dumb bitches"? Probably not the most civilised response. Although they are "dumb bitches",  you can also call it ignorance.

People disgust me as they publish their racist remarks all over social media. I thought we would have moved on from the racial inequality but I guess not. People still think they're "above" other races as they continue to discriminate others for not conforming to their culture or society. Racism mainly derives from ignorance as some people just lack the knowledge and compassion. I don't think people understand the difficulties of being coloured in the western world. I've had many experiences of racial discrimination and I use to be rather passive in these situations but I've realised that theres no reason for me to not speak up. There was a moment when I was 8 years old and I was walking along the road to get to Mission Bay with my Asian friend who was 11 at the time and a car of teenagers sped past shouting "GO BACK TO YOUR OWN FUCKING COUNTRY!" Who the hell says that to a pair of little kids? I was born here, you dumb fucks. Sometimes the racism isn't intentionally directed at me but it still relates to me, my family and my coloured friends. When I see someone being racist towards a middle-aged Asian man, it makes me upset because that could easily be my dad.

I know change doesn't happen overnight and I know I have it a lot easier than the previous generations. I hope that my grandchildren will live in a world where racism nor race exists because "race is a myth, racism is real". People need to educate each other and educate themselves. Maybe everybody should read To Kill A Mockingbird or something.



- freak out

p.s. keep an eye out for  'a rant for racists #2'

Tamale + Kanye's uncoolness

This video is too awesome. Tamale is one of my favourite songs from 'Wolf' and the music video is honestly the coolest. The song's live performance has gone beyond my expectations as the the song's high energy infects everybody that is in its presence like a contagious disease. Ugh, seriously I should have been there like up on stage or something.  And wow, the moment when the "bass drops" - it gets HECTIC. Everybody looks they're having the best time ever apart from Kanye.

I never thought Kanye could ever look awkward or "uncool" until I watched this video. He looks so out of place like he doesn't know what to do while these younger guys go crazy. He's no longer a God in that moment, he's just a dad hanging around with crazy 20 year olds. It's so funny yet so hard to watch at the same time. You can't help but cringe and feel bad for him.

- freak out

M.I.A is back with power, power!

Rating: "wow, this is even better than the day I met Justin Bieber"

No matter how many lawsuits, album setbacks and disagreements with Interscope, M.I.A IS BACK AND KILLING IT. Matangi has proven that the three years of strenuous work and wait has been worth it.  This album's release date has been pushed back by almost 12 months and during this time M.I.A got so sick of Interscope delaying the release date that she threatened to leak the album herself  - talk about bad ass, am I right? I love M.I.A so much.  I don't care how Hirschberg portrayed her in "that" 2010 article. She's one of the very few artists that has a strong message  and makes us think about the issues in our world. As a coloured young woman, I can easily relate to her and therefore she is someone I really look up to in the music industry.

M.I.A delivers Matangi with her signature abrasive production while she displays ability to create variations in her vocal presence. The album opens with Karmageddon, a meditational track with whispering vocals and resonating drum beats - the calm before the storm. Throughout this album, M.I.A has cleverly repeated a motif of a wavering sitar and the hypnotising sound of "om" (a hindu mantra), which connects certain songs together such as Karmageddon and Warriors. However M.I.A's overuse of repetition has caused me some confusion as track 7, Exodus, and the closing track, Sexodus, are near-identical. Maybe she's trying to reinforce the message or maybe its suppose to be an encore sort of thing. Since M.I.A has signed to Interscope, I can see the influence of major record label on this album as there are more "hits" for radio compared to her previous albums.

My top picks of this album are Boom Skit, Come Walk With Me and Y.A.L.A. I enjoy these songs the most mainly because they are super catchy, which is shallow of me but at least all of M.I.A's songs have some sort of message anyways. 

Boom Skit is a short and sweet track that sits just above the one minute mark in length. Over a cheerful sample loop, M.I.A directs our attention to the occurrences of racism in our ignorant society.

Come Walk With Me is an obvious "radio hit" with its simple melodies and dance production as well as its lack of controversial content that M.I.A is known for. It is a "feel-good" song where you don't have to be a good singer to sing along with M.I.A. The song closes with a sample from M.I.A's 2007 song, Bamboo Banga, that insists "M.I.A is coming back with power, power!" and I agree - she is back with power and stronger than before. 

Y.A.L.A (you always live again - a spin on the popularised #YOLO) is another contender for radio play as it verges towards the dance genre instead of alternative. I'm going to be honest here; this song actually reminds me of K-pop and I am fascinated by K-pop at the moment so that probably contributes to my enjoyment of this song. M.I.A believes in Karma (a prominent theme throughout Matangi) and suggests that we should consider the consequences of our actions since "you always live again", instead of doing stupid things and "the same shit" because "you only live once".

I adore M.I.A and I reckon Matangi truly showcases her skills as a musician, messenger and artist.  I predict this album will help push music forward with its innovative production as I know it has inspired me and therefore will have inspired many others. 

-freak out

mid-teen crisis: episode 2

"Sometimes there's so much beauty in the world, I feel like I can't take it, and my heart is just going to cave in."- Ricky Fitts, American Beauty

I spent 2 hours at the park by myself as if I was having a 'Holden Caulfield' moment. I was just in the mood to feel like a protagonist of a 'rites of passage' novel. 

I chucked on my army green raincoat (ironically like Lindsay Weir), put my earphones in and strolled to Monte Cecilia park with my hands in my pockets. I only had the company of my music.

As the greenery opened out in front of me with the shadows of the hills and trees, I realised I was the only person there at that moment. I guess you can say I was alone. 

I was drawn to the trees in search of a climbable one because I wanted to feel like a kid again. It wasn't easy finding one since most of Monte Cecilia's trees are overwhelmingly massive as they've been there since the late 1800s. If the trees could talk, I can imagine them being wise with many tales to share. I tried my best not to trip over the giant anacondas dwelling in the fallen leaves.

Each time I thought I found the perfect tree, I got closer and saw that the tree was bound in thick spider webs, yuck. I walked through hovering curtains of leaves and I walked into another realm with the tree acting as a dome. I decided to make myself comfortable in this tree that was less extravagant than the rest. While I was looking up at the sun and the leaves, Lorde was singing to me about how she feels the same way about being a teenager.

I relocated myself to the grass to take advantage of the sun. My black jeans were soaking up the warmth as I laid there. I stared at the clouds, observing their movement and interaction with each other. It seemed like the clouds were dancing to Lana Del Rey's 'Black Beauty' while I was listening to it. Everything seemed so beautiful to me.

As I was trying to clear up my mind, more thoughts were hitting me;

Why does everybody want to get drunk and get with each other all the time? Am I the only 16-year-old girl that truly treasures her innocence? Why does everyone try so hard to impress each other? I wish I hang out with people that have similar interests and ambitions as me rather than having friends based on superficial reasons. I know I get along with almost everyone but it doesn't mean I connect with almost everyone. Sometimes I would just like to have conversations beyond small-talk and gossip. 
Oh crap, I'm almost seventeen. 

Gosh, the people that walked by me must have thought I was a strange girl, especially since I was wearing a raincoat on a sunny day. Oh well, at least I feel enlightened. 

- freak out 

Never thought I was going to say this... I like Lorde

Ever since NZ radio started playing Lorde, I despised her with a passion. I hated the fact that a 16-year-old girl was doing extremely well in the industry I plan to be apart of. I thought "damn, how am i going to make it big now?" because lightening doesn't strike twice. Listening to the radio was risky. I snarled each time I heard the entrance of the muffled drumbeats of Royals. I thought she was some serious try-hard-tumblr-teen-angsty girl.  

Rewind to January 2013 - I discovered Lorde on here (before Royals hit the radio) and I absolutely loved her. I linked her soundcloud to all my friends so lets say she owes part of her success to me. I even messaged her on tumblr in which she replied back and I doubt she would be able to respond to any tumblr messages now. Then the radio came into play and everyone was like "oh my gosh, can't believe she's sixteen!"- this got on my nerves like a fat kid on a trampoline. Her age has contributed a lot to her success - Would people still be in awe of her if she wasn't sixteen?

I hated having Lorde's success rubbed in my face because I felt as if I was going nowhere (and I still feel this way). How can this girl thats so similar to me and my friends reach #1 on the US Billboard charts? She's making a living from music, travelling around the world and meeting all these interesting people, while we're stressing out about NCEA exams and hoping that New Years will meet our high expectations. I also hated the fact that Lorde was developed for 4 years making me question if she was manufactured to not be manufactured. Maybe it was the label's tactic to appease the teenage community that is "alternative" obsessed? You can say that I was jealous. 

She's grown on me. 'Team' is by far my favourite song of hers as it helped softened my distaste for her. Being an Auckland teenager as well, I identified so easily with  'Team' as she speaks for all of us.

We live in cities you'll never see on screen / Not very pretty, but we sure know how to run free

 I like her now since I've realised that if we met we would get on pretty well. She admitted in an interview that she was "pretty arrogant" and thats what made me relate to her. Odd, huh? I know I'm "pretty arrogant" as well and I don't even care that its a negative connotation (thanks to Kanye).  I'm confident and comfortable with myself, which people misinterpret as "arrogant". Call me a hypocrite though - I don't usually like other arrogant people.

 Lorde is everywhere. If I can't escape it then I'll embrace it.

- freak out

p.s I didn't talk much about her music but I'll add that her songs' productions are my favourite aspects of her music. I think her producer, Joel Little, deserves a lot more credit than he has received.