Guest Blog: Amcheong’s Urbanscapes Report
Nuffnang blogger Amcheong was at the Box at KLue Urbanscapes 2009, watching the Junk Voters’ Choice bands. She give us her two cents worth on what went down for our guest blog this week. She wasn’t thrilled to bits, which is a dig at both us and you. But mostly you.
JUNK VOTERS' CHOICE
Amcheong
I was excited and had high expectations when I was asked to write about the Junk Voters’ Choice bands at KLue Urbanscapes 2009. The performance consisted of four indie bands, Khottal, Orange Free State, O-Two and Lovesick Avenue—but truth be told, I was disappointed. It’s not that I don’t like the genre, but it was the lack of music quality that bugged me. It was just mediocre, only good enough for a high school event. I understand the ideas that they were trying to deliver, but it just wasn’t there in a musical sense.
The bands had a high level of energy and enthusiasm, and they certainly entertained the crowd, but their musical ideas became boring and messy after the first song—it was monotonous! I have seen better indie bands using the same ideas, but with better execution, in terms of sound projection, musical variety and the way they captured the audience’s attention.
Some of the bands used ideas from Muse or John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s Wedding Album. But the composition and the results weren’t good. Some were messy, some had no form or direction—the story they wanted to tell didn’t come alive, and some became just became a mess of pure noise! The crowd wasn’t good either—people were walking out during some of the performances, and some of the people sitting at the back were actually covering their ears.
I get what they were trying to do, but what they need is better quality control of their music—they must not be content with mediocrity if they are passionate about their music. That is what being an indie band is all about: having total control of the music, not the fame and money.
No doubt these bands are performing everywhere, or in other words, are currently in demand, but sooner or later they will only be a one hit wonder if they do not improve and take it to another level. Music appreciation in Malaysia is not yet fully developed—so it is also their duty to themselves and to the future of music listeners in Malaysia to provide a better quality of music to their fans, who will grow in appreciation.
Music is an art and a science in one—a combination of creativity and quality in sound. Anyone can play a musical instrument and make sounds, but it’s about delivering the music. They have much to explore, learn and grow into true musicians.
ANNE MARIE CHEONG LAI WAN
www.amcheong.blogspot.com
Do you agree with Amcheong? Comments below!
If you think you can do better, and want to send in your own Urbanscapes report, click HERE. Click HERE for Amcheong’s profile, and HERE for our own post-Urbanscapes report.
@weakest link
Well to me its a major exposure for them to be on urbanscapes. So who wouldn't get nervous and things like that but its not an excuse to deliver their music.
To be passionate about something you wouldn't give excuses for it. Instead You would make it the best!
They have been performing a lot And as Junk's Voters Choice is no exception that the best is expected!
Cheerios ^^
@Fiel
If u want more detailed constructive comments on your band then just leave me an email and your band's name I will reply you ASAP.
@budakfelda
I am only giving a general point of view.
Yes I am expecting a high level of performance. It is healthy to have an high expectation because then we will grow and some day our music industry will go further!
I did layout on what they lack on. Please do read the article properly.
Cheerios ^^
hey hey...
Thanks for all the comments! ^^
Everyone is expecting heavy criticism from me. I wouldn't want to do that because as a growing and learning musician myself I wouldn't want to discourage them. This is not a judging panel or competition. But I did give TWO IMPORTANT CONSTRUCTIVE POINTS... THAT IS TO MAKE SURE QUALITY CONTROL AND NOT BE SATISFIED WITH MEDIOCRITY!
I did also say about sound projection, music variety and interpretation. If I were to comment on every single performance, point out every single fault and give constructive comments on everything- Then it wouldn't be an article.
Note to some people that say I don't like that kind of music. I listen to Arnold Schoenberg's music which is very much more avant-garde and also a very wide variety of music from all over the world.
As for my disapointment its because they are JUNK's VOTERS CHOICE! I expected a lot in sense of musicality, creativity and quality as mentioned on the article.
And as for references, Music is all around all they need to do is to listen and learn from them. Information on constructing music is available everywhere. They need to do their homework.
Cheerios ^^
r u talking bout ur band sumpah sampah?
@budak felda = betul
@armcheong = should try and give some referenceslah, so we know your opinion matters.
saya rase armcheong ni ikhlas dan berani dlm pandangan dia.
"It was just mediocre, only good enough for a high school event. I understand the ideas that they were trying to deliver, but it just wasn’t there in a musical sense."
komen saya, armcheong patut bg satu contoh yg boleh orang lain tgk dan nilai sendiri apa yg beliau maksudkan, apa yang dia expect.
Kalau setakat menggunakan perkataan "mediocre", "disappointed" sepuluh ribu kali pun band2 di atas takkan dpt tahu apa yg observer expect drpd dorang. Terutamanya oberserver yg high expectation mcm armcheong.
Penulisan seperti diatas boleh memberi efek yg negatif kepada mereka yg belum pernah dgr muzik dorang. Betul tak?
kalau armcheong ikhlas dlm review dia, saya juga ikhlas.
so please, apa standard yg takkan buat u you disappointed. adakah mcm gig radiohead? adakah mcm show2 kat david letterman? conan?
Penulis mesti bertanggungjawab terhadap penulisan mereka. Barulah orang sayang. :)
To be fair, her criticisms can be leveled at the majority of bands around the world, known and unknown.
Writing good music is a difficult art. You could spend a lifetime trying to improve and still not make any progress.
In any case, one person's headache is someone else's aural orgasm. Music tastes are subjective, and maybe she just didn't like these bands.
Music is also an art that provides subjective perception for everyone. Some would value the masterpiece while others don't. And urbanscape is the best place for musicians to present various types of unpopular tunes for the radio.
Maybe she was suggesting that these bands are not soulful, unique or dedicated enough to perform at the event, which perhaps brought down the quality of the event. Maybe those band members were nervous, sickflu, drunk or premature, but man.. who cares.. just as long they can make people understand the concept of their music.. probably they failed only for that day. And i doubt that the organisers would invite a band that has not prepared for their show.
Hopefully, people will treat urbanscapes differently in comparison to those other usual gigs and concerts around . Before this event, there were some bands complaining of not gettting the number to perform. Perhaps these fair critics will allow the organisers to identify which bands should be swapped with those new ones for next year's show.
phew.
I thought she said about my favorite band O-Two.
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