Timbaland Presents : Shock Value

The most eagerly awaited album of 2007. Whatever Timbaland touches seems to turn to gold. He has produced music for the likes of Destiny's Child, Ludacris, Justin Timberlake, Aaliyah, Nelly Furtado, The Pussycat Dolls, Jay-Z and Nas just to name a few. The clubs have been banging his beats for years and now he's just rolled out a whole album full of em! Timbaland Presents : Shock Value just blew me off the hook. The opening track 'Oh Timbaland' sets the groove for what to expect. Almost like a self-introduction to him and the album. Sheer brilliance. I can see 'Give it to me' featuring Nelly Furtado and Justin Timberlake being a song that'll be over played at the clubs. It's catchy and makes u want to get up and dance! The same can be said for 'Release', another one featuring JT. It's a great mix of music. The collaborations include 50 Cent, Dr. Dre, Magoo, Nicole Scherzinger to name a few. A few i would've never expected were Elton John, the Hives and Fall Out Boy! Watch out for 'Come and get me', 'Kill yourself', 'Scream', 'Bombay', 'One and only' just to name a few. It's been a long time since i've liked every single song on an album. This is it. 10/10.

With their tanks and their bombs and their bombs and their guns...

Not this time, but it could easily have been (Reposted due to disappearing posts:)) It was bound to happen sooner or later. I said bye to my mum around 11:30pm. She was heading to the airport to fly off to Hong Kong. She must've got to the airport around 12:15am. I must've fallen asleep around that time. At 12:51am my phone rang and my mum, almost in tears, was saying that the airport was under attack and that she could hear bombs and gunfire and that the passengers were being evacuated. I panicked. All sorts of things ran through my head. There was no immediate information on the internet or the tv! We couldn't even get through to her 5 minutes later cause all the lines were jammed. We couldn't go there cause the roads were closed. At around 3:30am, having resigned my self to the fact that i can't do much from here, i tossed and turned and fell asleep. Was mighty glad to wake up around 6 to the news that it was only the airforce camp and not the civilian airport. Mum came home at 6:40am. Passengers had been taken to the Galadari in Colombo. This was to be expected. Our forces are pounding LTTE targets in the North and East. The civillians in those areas are constantly fleeing heavy fighting at the risk of their lives and their livelihoods. Our beloved president announces that he will use military force to drive out the LTTE and that it would take 2-3 years, obviously paying no regard whatsoever to the Ceasefire agreement. Fair enough, it has become a useless piece of paper. But then if you are going to make such strong statements publicly, can you not put your foot down and declare that the ceasefire doesn't exist? We're very lucky that the LTTE hasn't carried out an attack on the civilians of the south as of yet in retaliation to the recent pounding in the north. I believe that in the eyes of the international community the LTTE scored plenty of points last night by attacking a military target, which is allowed under the laws of war in retaliation to attacks on it's own military positions. Not that the laws of war have been respected at all in the Sri Lankan conflict. But i'm so relieved that the civilians at the airport, including my mum, were spared by the LTTE who could've very easily created much more chaos. I can't believe our government is still under the impression that this war can be won militarily. Both sides have tried and failed. Which in itself obviously is a clear indication to us as to the sheer deadlock in warring ability. But our leaders and theirs are oblivious to this fact. The international community too is calling for an end to hostilities. Over 20 years, over 68,000 lives (and that's only official records), and so many gajillions of rupees that could've been spent on making this island a true paradise have been lost on this useless war. I think it's time to bite the bullet. Everyone wants peace. Then why is this so hard to achieve?

CH & FC for live cricket! Go Sri Lanka!

I've just come back home in a state of happiness, if that is what it is. Sri Lanka just thrashed India! The safety of Sri Lankan's in India sorta worries me now coz we've effectively eliminated them from the world cup! WOO HOO! We went to the SSC first, which was rather dead. The screen was not clear. The people were the clapping "well done chappie" type. After a few rounds of drinks and after Sri Lanka finished their innings we decided to move to CH & FC down the road. What an atmosphere there! There were two papare bands playing in tandem, there were three big screens showing the match and it was brilliant. Everyone was jumping up and down and making merry. I know where i'll be for the next few matches.

Buddhist Monk Applies for Police Job!!!

Came accross this story in the Daily Mirror today. Without any prejudice and without mocking any religion i'm trying to understand why! Just for the record, a monk applied for the post of assistant superintendent of police. His application was rejected for the reason that he was not willing to give up his robes to wear the uniform. Fair enough that he didn't want to give it up. But why would he apply for such a job in the first place? How did he think he was going to perform his duties anyway? Was he goign to pin his badges on his robe and wear the hat? In my opinion, a religious dignitary is a religious dignitary. That's more or less his job out of choice. But why cross the line? I never agreed with the monks going to parliament. I wouldn't want to see Duleep De Chickera directing traffic either. The fact remains that being a monk or a priest or an imaam is such a person's day job. I believe that they should respect the sanctity of their profession rather than try to be seen everywhere. I'm glad that the administration is getting at least a few things right. It would've been mildly distracting to have a checkpoint manned by a group of monks.

Papare music, first thing in the morning!

When i get into the car to head to work the first thing i do is switch the radio on and tune into YesFM (for their morning show is damn entertaining!). It was a sombre morning thinking about work that needs to get done and about tonight's impending slosh session at ssc. Just when i thought "ah important match tonight", the radio starts blaring papare music! Immediately i was transported back to the Roy - Tho. Only my mum's imposing presence stopped me from putting my hands up in the air, kicking my heels and doing the silly baila dance. But bloody hell did it liven up the mood! I don't know what it is about papare music but to Lankan's there is no substitute. I don't know who started it or when, or where it found it's influence from. But these guys are musicians in a class of their own. These guys can improvise and do all sorts of shit and it just comes so naturally to them. Amongst other talents, they have an amazing alcohol capacity. Usually musicians fuck up when drunk. But these guys are fucked up if not drunk! Makes me think, maybe it's in the alcohol. Maybe i should ask them for some of what they drink. 30 minutes later i was at work, and the papare music was still going on. As i got out of the car this SUV passed me with the same papare music blaring out loud! It's great to be Sri Lankan.

Roy Tho 2007 - Pics of 3 long days!

The Good, the Bad and the Completely Wasted...Click to enlarge

Open Mic Nights in Colombo - A Distant Dream?

Every musician, whether amateur or pro, would love to play to an audience rather than just to the furniture in his/her room. It takes a lot of balls to pull off a live performance, but the rush you feel is magical. But in Sri Lanka there are almost no opportunities for people to play as often as they'd like to. The gigs that happen only showcase a limited list of hacked bands playing hacked covers. The majority of the crowd that go to those gigs are there only to be seen rather than for the music. It's pathetic. What I want to know is where are the real live music fans in colombo? Would they be open to a new concept to promote Sri Lankan artistes and music? I wish someone would introduce "open mic nights" over here, where people could come, pick up an instrument, play and/or sing something...anything. Who plays on the night would depend on who wants to play. I'd love to see people try to be different at such nights. The audience would be music fans and not 'wannabe's. There'd be no boo's even if the guy is shit. Only applause to cheer him on and for having the balls to go up on stage. There'd even be the possibility of an impromptu jam session! It would be a great opportunity for musicians of any level of ability to take the stage, to gauge audience reaction to an original song, to play a cover in a completely different way to the original, to be themselves! What do you guys think? any ideas? i'm dying for such a stage. But is this too much to ask?