Vinyl Revival

In the end, the temptation proved too much. Seduced by the surprisingly large number of outlets selling new and 2nd hand vinyl records in Singapore, I finally succumbed and purchased a nice new shiny turntable, the first one I have had for over 20 years. Yes, there are many easier ways of listening to music these days, however, it is a great nostalgia trip to see a record spinning on the deck and enjoy the warmth of the sound, notwithstanding the odd snap, crackle and pop on the older versions.

What has been most interesting is the unearthing of some long forgotten records which I had brought with me to Asia from Europe in 1987. The turntable has therefore become the 70's and 80's time machine - the forum for artists like the Average White Band, Luther Vandross and the Isley Brothers. There is a lot of soul music and I had forgotten that the younger version of me was very into the Sound of Philadelphia.

Of course, there are also a few embarrassing ones, but I'm not telling......

A Week of Musical Contrasts

Over here at Musings Towers, we like to embrace a broad church. On our first day back from holiday last week, we went to the Slash concert at Fort Canning Park with around 7,000 other like minded souls. From the teenagers at the front (including our two) to the older crowd from the Guns 'N' Roses days at a safer distance, there were no complaints as I am sure this was one of the best rock concerts Singapore has ever seen. The energy generated from the stage was remarkable and the guest singer, Myles Kennedy, proved himself to be one of the great rock frontmen with an energetic performance and a soulful voice not unlike David Coverdale's in Deep Purple's heyday in the early 70's. Our kids thought it was "awesome" whilst even I was moved to utter the word "epic." It will stay in the memory for a long time.

In stark contrast, almost a week later, was a hastily arranged visit to see Belle & Sebastian at the Esplanade Concert Hall, a great venue near the Singapore waterfront. For the uninitiated, Belle & Sebastian are a 7 piece Scottish "indie" band formed in Glasgow in 1996 with a cult following all over the world. With a sound described as wistful by some and twee by others, their appeal is indeed diverse. A recently announced concert in Mexico, for example, has sold out and the Singapore concert was attended by a wide cross section of the population. Of the two ladies sitting beside me, one was from Japan and the other from California. They, like most of the people around us, seemed to know the words of most of the songs performed. Augmented by a local string quartet, this was an exceptional concert complete with audience participation on a few songs and some good natured if poorly executed dancing on stage!

There is plenty of YouTube footage on both concerts but it is of the poorly shot, shaky hand variety. For a better idea of the quality of these acts, try these....

Neil Finn

Can it be true that when Paul McCartney was once asked what it felt like to be the world's greatest living songwriter, he replied "I'm not, Neil Finn is" or words to that effect? Fact or fiction, there is no denying that Neil is one of the very best songwriters of his generation. I have followed his career on and off since I first heard "I Got You" an early Split Enz recording from 1980 which received a lot of radio airplay in the UK and was an international hit.

Since then, there has been Crowded House, some solo albums, The Finn Brothers and now Crowded House again. Notwithstanding Neil's re-invention with a very dodgy moustache, the latest Crowded House album "Intriguer"contains some gems. There may be nothing to rival "Don't Dream It's Over" or "Weather With You" but there are not many of his contemporaries writing songs as strong as "Amsterdam" or "Falling Dove." For anyone in any doubt about Neil's enormous contribution to popular music, here are a few reminders. The first is the aforementioned classic "Don't Dream It's Over", followed by the lesser known "Won't Give In", an excellent inspirational song dealing with Neil's family problems which was recorded with his brother Tim.

Americano?

We must indeed be leading a sheltered life in Singapore. We have just spent a couple of weeks in Melbourne and surrounds enjoying the colder weather, a change in pace and a selection of nightlife. Within the space of of a few hundred yards, we enjoyed the full throttle rock bands of The Esplanade in St. Kilda and the ambience of a kitsch piano bar where we left the proprietor punching the air as his keyboard man performed The Four Seasons' December '63 (Oh What A Night). Elsewhere, on the car radio, on the TV and booming out of shop fronts was...We No Speak Americano.!

It was only when we got back to Singapore that I realized the "creators" of this very catchy tune are a couple of Aussies known as Yolando Be Cool. Now a worldwide No.1 including the U.K., I was wondering why it was so familiar. Of course, it is a heavily sampled version of an old 1950's Italian song by Renato Carosone. I first encountered this song in one of my favourite movies directed by the late Anthony Minghella, "The Talented Mr. Ripley" where Jude Law and Matt Damon performed "Tu Vuo' Fa L'Americano" in a memorable scene in an Italian jazz club. Whilst I am sure there are many Italian jazz purists unimpressed by this new version becoming a worldwide hit, I think there will also be lots of listeners feeling compelled to investigate the origins of the song and open up new horizons. Isn't it just great that an old Italian jazz song is now so familar all over the world thanks to a young Australian duo? Even if it does become irritating after a while....

Me vs Paul the Octopus

So..it has come to this. The World Cup Final is just hours away and here I am pitting my wits against an octopus. You may recall my suggestion in an earlier post of the possibility of Dutch success, based on nothing more than the following of a colour pattern. It's hardly clairvoyance but no more ridiculous than the idea that a two year old octopus could successfully predict results of important football matches....Except that it seems his track record is quite good; in fact, it is extraordinary.

Paul, who lives in a tank at a Sea Life Centre in Oberhausen, Germany is presented with two boxes containing food, each marked with the flag of a national football team in an upcoming match. Apparently, he chose the box with the flag of the winning team in several of Germany's six Euro 2008 matches, and in all seven of their matches in the 2010 World Cup including Germany's third place playoff win over Uruguay yesterday. He even predicted correctly that Germany would lose to Serbia in the qualifying round.

With a 100% success rate in the World Cup to date, Paul has now dipped into the box with the Spanish flag on it. I should be concerned but I'm sticking with the Dutch. Whatever happens, the World Cup will have a new name on it. The Spanish have never progressed further than the quarter finals and the Dutch, although reaching the final in 1974 and 1978, lost each time.

Which brings me to the real reason for this post. In those 1978 finals, apart from Argentina who defeated Holland 3-1 in the final, only one team managed to beat the Dutch. The decisive goal by Scotland's Archie Gemmill in a memorable 3-2 victory was one of the classic all time World Cup goals. Sadly, it was not quite enough to keep Scotland in the tournament. Archie can, however, be proud that it is the only known piece of World Cup action to form the backdrop to a sex scene in a major hit movie. You can see the goal below. In yet another You Tube video, Archie can be seen talking about his embarrassment the first time he saw that scene in "Trainspotting"!

England Get The Bird

Have a look at this picture. This South African pigeon, already recognizing that he would need to put up with a lot of noise at the Green Point Stadium in Cape Town, decided to at least perch somewhere he would not be disturbed. His chosen place at the top of the net of the Algerian goal during their World Cup match against England would appear to have been carefully calculated if it is true that, as suggested by Henry Winter of the Daily Telegraph, the canny bird actually changed sides at half time. Certainly, Mr. Pigeon's choice of venue ensured no ruffled feathers from a flying Jabulani. He would have been in more danger in the stands. Bookmakers should take note of the predictive powers of the South African pigeon.

By contrast, the England manager, Fabio Capello celebrating his 64th birthday on Friday, looked to be a man under considerable pressure. Before the match, the media enjoyed referencing the Beatles song "When I'm Sixty Four" inviting readers to suggest appropriate lyrics for the occasion. That moment has now passed. For the sake of Fabio's health, the nation will be holding it's collective breath hoping that another track from Sgt. Pepper will be invoked on Wednesday afternoon in Port Elizabeth. "Getting Better"....

Poor Britannia?

So, how bad are things in the U.K. really? Hot on the heels of the new coalition government's proclamation that things were much worse than expected, comes the inconvenient conclusion of the newly formed Office of Budget Responsibility that, actually, it's er..not THAT bad! Whilst the politicians argue about the details, a surprisingly upbeat set of results from Majestic Wines this week would suggest that there is, at the very least, some cheer left in the economy.

Majestic posted a pre-tax profit of £16m for the year to March 2010, a very impressive increase of 117% over the previous year. Interestingly, sales of fine wine (classified as £20 per bottle and above) rose by the largest measure - over 22% and online sales rose by almost 20%. For a nation barely out of recession, these are amazing statistics.

It's not new, of course, to suggest that the wine and spirit trade is immune to economic factors and perhaps in this case, the steep increase in consumption is directly related to the depth of the downturn. Has Majestic just had much greater nous than their competitors over this period or is this performance telling us that there is surprisingly resilient spending power left in the economy? Or is everyone broke but determined not to let a little financial difficulty get in the way of a respectable Pinot Noir? Above all, in credit crunch Britain, it would be interesting to know, apart from the 20% online transactions, how much of the £200m+ in store sales was accommodated with a little help from a "flexible friend".....