C I N T A

Whenever this beautiful song is played, it never fails to touch my heart. And this version is just fabulous (unfortunately the quality of audio video is not that great)! Enjoy!

Baking with seven dwarves

We had eight kids in the house from last Sunday till Wednesday - four of ours and the rest of my cousin who left for the Land of Kiwis Wednesday evening...(Superwomanwannabe - I hope you didn't hear the unusual cacophony over the four days!).

Wifey was at her wits' end on what to feed the kids for one of the dinners and I suggested pizza. Off we went to Bagus, Taman Melawati to get the raw ingredients and ready made fresh pizza base.

I saw at one of the aisles muffin pre-mixes and I thought it'd be fun getting the seven dwarves (minus Yusof who was at his cousin's house) at home baking! They enjoyed every minute of it and finished all the muffins one go! The most beautiful part was to see how a simple activity could bring them closer....After all, they only meet once a year. With them down under now...it'll be at least two or three years that they will meet each other again!

Pizza in the oven

NB : Pics are courtesy of MY DAUGHTER

Like A Star

Another youngish Brit singer songwriter, Corrine Bailey Rae whose song Like A Star has a laidback feel and her voice is a gem and angelic! This is the singer/songwriter whom Lilly Allen called boring which I totally disagree. Whilst Lilly was expelled from various schools (but a well read individual), Corrine, the more grounded one, graduated from Leeds University in English Literature.

They are neck in neck in terms of nominations for the Brits Awards 2007 which will be held in a few hours' time! Enjoy this song "Like A Star"!

Littlest Things

This is currently my fave song...by Lilly Allen(who's only 21 + y.o.), a Brit whom has been a centre of many controversies.

Indonesian Idol

This is what I call classy.... Video clip was taken during the performance at the Jakarta International Java Jazz Festival 2006. They were performing along the sides of world class jazz musicians...

Commendable rendition and interpretation of Bob Thiele and George Weiss' "What a wonderful world". Check out the guy in vest and beret whose name is apparently Luki.

I like the way they switched from yankee accent to Bahasa Indonesia and Javanese (at one point of time) after the performance. It does not matter, right? The bottomline is - talent!

If you are in to acid jazz......

An accomplished singer/songwriter in the jazz/r&b circle, Noryn Aziz, has released her debut album entitled Alam Maya as a come back to the mainsteream music industry. This is not an attempt of a music review by me but sharing one of my passions in life, which is music. In any event can't do a review since I have not bought her album... Bumped into her music whilst googling for some other stuff!

I first heard heard her ages ago when she was the other half of the duo Sister Sister in the nineties, if my memory does not fail me this time. But then, her break through to the music industry had to be the pop genre.

There is a sample of four songs in her myspace which I highly recommend you hear if you are in to acid jazz. I must say her music (in this album, at least as revealed by her sample songs) is highly influenced by Incognito, Brand New Heavies and the like. It's such a coincidence that I pulled out Incognito's 1996 album, Positivity yesterday to listen to it.... (you can listen to the album here)!

We need more singers like Noryn (as opposed to Siti sound-alike) who will push the music frontier to the next level! Kudos to her!

Check out her video shot during the Jakarta International Java Jazz Festival held in March last year!


http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=1050174463

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Ne Me Quitte Pas

The first video clip featured below is a version done by Sting. Got hooked to this song after watching Mukhsin, Yasmin Ahmad's latest movie, trailer. I've heard of the English version eons ago by Sinatra ("If you go away").......but the original version by Jacques Barel is damn haunting, poignant and heart-rending; equally so of Nina Simone's. I have also inserted Simone's and Brel's versions respectively below. BTW this song was released in 1959 and the songwriter is Mr Brel himself! Enjoy.....!

Ne me quitte pas
Il faut oublier
Tout peut s'oublier
Qui s'enfuit déjà
Oublier le temps
Des malentendus
Et le temps perdu
A savoir comment
Oublier ces heures
Qui tuaient parfois
A coups de pourquoi
Le coeur du bonheur

Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas

Moi je t'offrirai
Des perles de pluie
Venues de pays
Oÿ il ne pleut pas
Je creuserai la terre
Jusqu'après ma mort
Pour couvrir ton corps
D'or et de lumière
Je ferai un domaine
Oÿ l'amour sera roi
Oÿ l'amour sera loi
Oÿ tu seras reine

Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas

Je t'inventerai
Des mots insensés
Que tu comprendras
Je te parlerai
De ces amants-là
Qui ont vu deux fois
Leurs coeurs s'embraser
Je te raconterai
L'histoire de ce roi
Mort de n'avoir pas
Pu te rencontrer

Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas

On a vu souvent
Rejaillir le feu
De l'ancien volcan
Qu'on croyait trop vieux
Il est paraät-il
Des terres brulées
Donnant plus de blé
Qu'un meilleur avril
Et quand vient le soir
Pour qu'un ciel flamboie
Le rouge et le noir
Ne s'épousent-ils pas

Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas

Ne me quitte pas
Je ne vais plus pleurer
Je ne vais plus parler
Je me cacherai là
A te regarder
Danser et sourire
Et à t'écouter
Chanter et puis rire
Laisse-moi devenir
L'ombre de ton ombre
L'ombre de ta main
L'ombre de ton chien

Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas
Ne me quitte pas


ENGLISH TRANSLATION:
Don't leave me
We must forget
All we can forget all we did till now
Let's forget the cost of the breath
We've spent saying words unmeant
And the times we've lost hours that must destroy
Never knowing why everything must die at the heart of joy
Don't leave me don't leave me
Don't leave me don't leave me

I'll bring back to you the pearls of rain
From a distant domain where rain never fell
And though I grow old I'll keep mining the ground
To deck you around in gold and light
I'll build you a domain where love's everything
Where love is king and you are queen
Don't leave me don't leave me
Don't leave me don't leave me

Don't leave me
For you I'll invent
Words and what they meant only you will know
Tales of lovers who fell apart and then fell in love again
There's a story too that I can confide
Of that king who died from not meeting you
Don't leave me don't leave me
Don't leave me don't leave me

And often it's true that flames spill anew
From ancient volcano's we thought were too old
When all's said and done scorched fields of defeat
Could give us more wheat than the fine April sun
And when evening is nigh with flames overhead
The black and the red aren't they joined in the sky
Don't leave me don't leave me
Don't leave me don't leave me

Don't leave me
I will cry no more
I will talk no more hide myself
To look at you and see you dance and smile
And hear you sing and laugh
Let me be for you the shadow of your shadow
The shadow of your hand the shadow of your dog
Don't leave me don't leave me
Don't leave me don't leave me

Yeayy Rascal Flats

My daughter and I agree most of the times on my choice of songs..The latest is "What hurts the most" by Rascal Flats. The last time we had a disagreement is the song "Hate Me" by Blue October which I sooo like but she doesnt. Anyway enjoy Rascal Flats!

Bukan Diriku

Hey peeps...This is one of my fave songs but this version is by my fave singer, Anuar Zain...Enjoy! I'm soooo into Indon music of late; it's a pity that Malay songs have to be stereotypical.....! My latest discovery is a band called Dygta.





I have also taken the liberty to include the original singer's music video of the same song....SAMSONS...(the lyrics...scroll below!)




BUKAN DIRIKU

Setelah kupahami
Ku bukan yang terbaik
Yang ada di hatimu
Tak dapat kusangsikan
Ternyata dirinyalah
Yang mengerti kamu
Bukanlah diriku

Kini maafkan aku
Bila kumenjadi bisu
Kepada dirimu
Bukan santunku terbungkam
Hanya hatiku perbatas
Tuk mengertikamu
Maafkanlah aku

c/o
Walau....
Kumasih mencintaimu
Kuharus meninggalkanmu
Kuharus melupakanmu
Meski....
Hatiku menyangimu
Nurani membutuhkanmu
Kuharus merelakanmu

Dan hanyalah dirimu
Yang mampu memahamiku
Yang dapat mengerti aku
Ternyata dirinyalah
Yang sanggup menyanjungimu
Yang ramah menyentuhmu
Bukanlah diriku

Lokman Aslam of OIAM

This boy (Lokman Aslam) truly has got potential.....His voice is unique and fresh for the Malaysian music industry...But he only made it to the top 7 round which is a very disappointing news for me.... I did not follow closely One In A Million ("OIAM") but stumbled upon his video clip on youtube whilst searching for the song TERBAIK by ELLO which i really..really like. I think Lokman's rendition of this song is very moving....I've had enough of Mawi, Felix and the lot on the airwave....It's time to give talented persons with originality and individuality the spot which they truly deserve; not just some other singers' clones!....Enjoy the video clip and here's the lyrics (which is simple but meaningful).....

Just click on his name above for link to his website which will play the song terbaik once you are connected and you can sample his perfomances throughout OIAM! Enjoy!

TERBAIK-ELLO

Tak kusangka

Kau hadir di hidupku

Kau penuhi semua

Impian hidupku

Sungguh Tuhan

Ku bersyukur padamu

Kau izinkan aku

Untuk mencintainya

chorus:-

Kau terbaik

Yang pernah kumiliki

Jangan kau

Pergi dariku

Namun bila

Harus berpisah

Ku ingin kau tahu

Kaulah yang terbaik

Tower Records - you lost one sale!

Whilst waiting for the movie (CINTA) to start I loitered aimlessly on the 3rd floor of Mid Valley, going in and out of some sports related shops (didnt buy anything coz the sale starts tomorrow) whilst wifey and Khadijah were on a book-hunting mission at MPH (they actually bought about 5 books - 2 for Khadijah, 2 for Ib and 1 for Umar and none for me......sigh!). I discovered this music shop, Rock Corner, after my feet almost gave up on me, to my joy! The minute I entered the shop, I saw the Original Sound Track CD of the movie I was about to watch (CINTA). Actually, I called Tower Records yesterday to inquire whether it was already out but the sales assistant told me that it would be quite a while before the CD would be out (i suspect that that sales person was just too lazy to check - this is the level of customer service in Malaysia, if you have not noticed!).

Overall, the soundtrack carries two new songs for the movie while one is a cover version by VE for the movie specifically. The rest are nice songs....I give it 4 out of 5. Khadijah likes "Pantun" by Zainal Abidin and she's taken back her words that Perpisahan is not nice.... The last track on the CD is quite touching as it is excerpt of dialogue between Alisa and her Dad.

Well Tower Records, with one sale lost today, this might have not reduced your profit margin dramatically but think of other opportunities lost if you keep hiring staff with indifferent attitude!