They try to sing their wayward song, but oh what a way I found

strange that how you came along, 'cause what i want came out the blue

5:00am in the morning. It's the usual early morning, the usual route which led him back to the place called home. The odour of cigarette and sour alcohol of himself was a bit overwhelming and made him dizzy, actually he already forgot what kind of drinks or substance he had taken last night, or hadn't he? All he remembered was the empty talk and horrible jokes uttered by himself or people around. Empty but memorable, the memorable emptiness, huh, it sounded so contradictory, and absurd, like everything in the world. "Hey, don't be a cynic", he thought to himself. It's just a usual night out, to see the lights, to seek pleasure, "'cause pleasure is what the heart asks first" oh for god's sake, he disgusted his own pretentiousness, "don't quote any emily dickinson, you're not those f__king bourgeois art-school students, oh my, the word bourgeois itself is so bourgeois". He was always proud to be a working class, though actually there was nothing to be proud of. His anger just proved him to be a cynic which he denied earlier, and he was aware of it. He felt the dilemma. Oh even a trivial thought like this could be such intriguing. Easy baby, he was obviously too uptight, too serious. Yes, pleasure please. Pleasure was cheap, was primitive. Kicking leaves on the way back home, he felt the fallen leaves had thickened. Zipped up his jacket, he suddenly realized that winter would come soon, his favourite season.

on the road with you again, saw a stranger life decend

what constitues my favourite album of the year? of course it's not a rocket science so there is no formula. it just fits in/ clicks in/ kicks in. it may not be the most profound, meaningful, cool or melodic album of the year. sometimes my favourite may even be that neglected or forgotten album of the general public. funfairs & heartbreak of special needs and grown-ups of the lodger are respectively my most favourite in 2006 and 2007. it's always difficult to explain your fondness for someone / something so all i can say is that these are the albums i can listen to continuously without getting bored and these albums surely contain some sort of sentiments which get me everytime. Englishness. Melancholy. They get me everytime. when I first listen to Primitive World of Littl'ans, I know this one will be my favourite this year, though i also like that of sigur ros and dirty pretty things (oh yes, i like to rank rasn high, my taste and ears have problem) very much. The voice of Andrew Aveling is so tender and sweet, but he sings the wayward songs, the songs about the (primitive) life in a metropolitan city called London, the metropolitan blue. sometimes their songs remind me of those of the smiths, though Andrew is definitely not as morbid as Moz.

so, i was caged in my head, i was caged in my room, i was caged in the city, i have no particular person to meet, I have no particular thing to do, i just get on this ennui by playing the songs i like in my head, and i find freedom in my cage.

"Looked out
to the street up till now
at the crowd
through my window
sang along to the song
that played out
in my head laid in bed
watched the day go"

- Our Way, Littl'ans


Primitive World - Littl'ans

beware! beware! his flashing eyes, his floating hair!

A heart shouldn't be stolen too often, too much. I was already mesmerised by some, who make my life empty but rapturous, so if i was to grasp with reality the so-called normality day-to-day 9-6 no alarms no surprises work life reality, i should avoid indulging myself too much in any sedative material, but as i declared from day one by the name of the blog, i of course would not mind if my heart was stolen again in the neptune's dawn.

bian yuan the minstrel all at sea, together with polka dots liu hao, wicked xiao hong and prince of cuteness guan zheng, the beijing 4 pieces Joyside have made a very brief dragonfly visit to hong kong on 10/10. Shambolic and dynamic, in this moment joyside is absolutely beautiful, they are eager to have everything, they want the world, but at the same time they don't give a fuck to everything, to the world. They once said that what they wanted was our money, but i think it is our soul, or at least our sanity, is what they want. Click to douban and read those frenetic love letters/memoirs from their (male) fans/friends, you will see what i mean, they have the magic to turn their fans either to a chronic drunkard or a sentimental novelist. They may grow bigger, stronger, conquer the world or just remain to be your favourite tavern band, who knows about tomorrow? For sure in this very moment they burn so bright that sometimes i doubt their flame may scorch them inside like sister lunatic. Musically, they strike me as very new york dolls punk (or glam?), but of course i shouldn't categorise them as i only have their latest album and ep. They played most of the songs in Booze at Neptune's Dawn in the gig of hong kong and ended with 20th Century Boy. "Could I revive within me, her symphony and songs, to such a deep delight it would win me." Yes, this gang of gin from beijing does remind me of Coleridge, intoxicated and sentimental. Captivated, let me close my eyes with holy dread, for I on honey-dew hath fed, and drunk the milk of Paradise.

In one of their interviews the bassist Liu Hao once said, "truthfulness, wilfulness and sensitivity are what the band have in common and those have stayed unchanged", so no matter they really become big or just remain to be the favouite of d-22 in the future, this is the word, remember.




Though the beijing 4 pieces probably would only quote johnny thunders as their influence, yes, i deliberately draw the reference to another london 4 pieces, the influence was certainly there.



xiao hong and bian yuan


(thanks for the mini cd mr nowhere, my mandarin was too shit, sorry, i really like to watch you/your band again)

All farewells should be sudden

1 Oct 2008, a bank holiday, I was tidying up my messy bookshelves and drawers as usual (my routine on every holiday without any accomplishment), I decovered an old notebook which I used in london, within which there's some doodling, hand-drawn maps (couldn't afford to buy a proper A-Z London map), addresses, websites, unknown passwords, phone numbers. While i was musing about this pile of nostalgic yellowed and bug-bitten paper, i saw a monstrous black bug , i lost my head, killed it, was nervous if there were more inside, struggled if to throw it away or keep it whatsoever. sadly the decision was to throw it away, but I was feeling some part of me was being thrown away also. i cling to history and memory. a bad omen.

and evening came i read that news about the split of dirty pretty things. Yes, i want to write some sort of memorial but first, i was too shell-shocked to collect any thought, and then, I mean now, i become too calm to write anything. once you accept the fact, you lost the tragic feeling.

carlos barat is always regarded as the second best when being compared to peter doherty. I always try to be equal, as I think both gentlemen are equally important to the whole legend of that albion-arcadia stuff. The cruel fact is, dirty pretty things sells less than babyshambles. Fate. Blame it on the black star. Or personality decides the fate. Insecure and self-doubt, i could sense his uneasiness whenever he's on stage and this disoriented feeling proved to be interactive and reflective. maybe it explains why the gigs of dirty pretty things was never as exciting as babyshambles'.

having said that, i never doubt the craftsmanship of his songs writing. Personally, i love their latest album Romance At Short Notice more than their debut Waterloo To Anywhere. The frustration and anger in Waterloo To Anywhere is a bit too much and even my ears can taste the sour. Romance At Short Notice is on the other hand more playful, it fits so well for the noble aburdity of its members. I always like their propensity for foolery. Acutually one of those classic libertines moments are their silly mimics and farce. The tortured poets take their miserable existence by the sheer light-heartedness... aye, i start talking gibberish again. Pop and catchy songs with a few sincere moments, Romance At Short Notice is definite one of my favourite albums this year. Its commercial disaster is something I can never fathom.

so long, dirty pretty things, thanks for three years of good music. i wish all of you have a bright future cos' you definitely deserve to have one.




what? i said your concerts were less exciting as babyshambles? no no, i actually love the indie boys stripped shows.

you know you wanna run away

... but i don't expect you to run away so fast

all the best.