Kuroshio Sea, by Jon Rawlinson

I want to share this amazing video by Jon Rawlinson featuring Please Don't Go by indie band Barcelona.

Cat-certo Cuteness

... because it brings a smile to my face at a dark time :) 

Please enjoy the performance of Nora the Piano Cat in a trademark cat-certo!

From Analog To Digital

My mom was sitting on the sofa reading the current issue of Newsweek. Inside were several letters to the editor from readers who felt that Michael Jackson was not treated with the respect that someone whose contribution to music was that significant. One letter-writer admitted that he was a fan until the sordidness of the child molestation charge severely tainted his admiration of the singer.

Nanay: What did Michael Jackson sing? I might know it?

This was tough, because she had no personal reference to any of the songs I knew.

Me: Er, it's hard to pick something you'd know, because you never really listened to the radio. I just realized now that you know absolutely nothing of rock and roll...

We try to explain to other people that my mom "was born in the 40s, lived twice through the '50s, totally skipped the 60s, and went straight to the 70s." It may sound inconceivable that rock and roll never even made a dent in my mother's life the way it knocked the breath out of ours, but it's true. She doesn't know any fast Beatles songs, only "Michelle". She knows that Elvis gyrated his hips into musical history, but the only thing that registered in her memory was "Love Me Tender". She can, however, sing songs from any Broadway musical you'd care to name, for as long as it was performed before or around the same time frame as "Fiddler On The Roof".

My mom's musical context is golden age Hollywood. She remembers "Lara's Theme" from "Dr. Zhivago". Henry Mancini's "A Time For Us" from "Romeo and Juliet". My dad courted my mom to the strains of "Love Is A Many Splendored Thing." Dance music meant very little to her then, she grew up bookish. She was very shy so even just my dad's big band sort-of-fast boogie made her nervous.

My mom knows ABBA's "Dancing Queen" because she hears it on her Thursdays senior citizen dance class at the clubhouse (which she attends sporadically), and because she watched Meryl Streep in "Mamma Mia". She was amazed that people knew all the songs and sang along to the movie, which she thought was a cheerful comedy remake. She couldn't wrap her head around why Pierce Brosnan and the other guys wore sparkly Spandex and platform boots towards the end credits. She knows disco as a place where one danced to fast music, but not the actual music itself, nor the lifestyle. She remembers songs she can sing along with rather than to dance to. I wonder what she'd make of the lyrics to "MacArthur Park", especially the part about "leaving the cake out in the rain". I don't know what to make of them either.

I tried to think of the most ubiquitous Michael Jackson song that my mom would have heard, and I came up with:

Me: Er, do you remember the Christmases when I was a kid? Almost all the holiday songs being played in the stores were sung by the Ray Conniff Singers? Well, Michael was the little boy who sang "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus".

Nanay: That was Michael Jackson??? How come I don't know what else he sang when he grew up?

Me: I don't think you would have known the words to anything he ever sang as an adult. They were songs we danced to in high school. There were some other good ones, but you never listened to the radio, so I don't see what difference it would make to you.

Nanay: I remember he used to be such a good-looking black boy. Didn't you ever buy a record?

Me: No, I wasn't a fan. I think I spent all my money on Duran Duran, U2 and The Police.

Nanay: If you weren't a fan, how come you know a lot of his songs?

Me: Well, he was so talented, he had such a long and successful career. They played his music everywhere. I didn't NEED to buy a record.

Nanay: But nobody listens to radio now...

Me: No. I think they'd rather watch on Youtube.

Nanay: (dreamily) Youtube... oh yes, I like Youtube...

My mother, who totally missed out on popular music on radio and tv the first time around, is now a bona fide Youtube music video surfer. She was last seen hunting down some Johnny Mathis. What can I say.

Prokofiev's "Peter & the Wolf", Animated

When I was a little girl, my mom played old tapes of one of her favorite classical compositions for me and my sister, over and over.  By tapes, I mean a huge reel as big as a dinner plate on an AKAI player.  (This was in the early 70s, before the days of the cassette tape.) We loved Sergei Prokofiev's 1936 work Peter and the Wolf - the main melody was as memorable as our other favorite, the Tchaikovsky's "Nutcracker Suite".  What made it stand apart from other works for us was that the recording had a narrator.  Now I am not sure, but I seem to remember that at the time it was the late British actor Sir Peter Ustinov.  (Listen to snippets for free here.)

While Joy was googling for a video of an orchestral performance on Youtube, what came up was a 2006 stop-motion animated film directed by Suzie Templeton that apparently won a BAFTA in 2007 and an Academy Award in 2008! (And three other awards.)   I highly recommend it to all parents.  Here it is, in four parts, on Youtube:

This series was originally posted on Youtube by Actealcien.

Rockabilly Meets Motown

To put you in a retro kinda mood, listen to Queen and Amy Winehouse remixed here on my friend Darlene's Blip.fm channel:



If the embedding doesn't work, just click on the link :)

Duran Duran in Manila

It was a trying weekend, and an even more trying Thursday. I was so busy dealing with the heinousness of a childhood friend's behavior towards me that I totally did not realize Duran Duran was in town. Righteous anger + tears + miserable summer heat = headache and lost productivity. Surely nothing could be so bad, you say? It was THAT bad.

"Hey, guess what," Jopet says, calling from his cellphone. "I'm here in Megamall, in line for tickets to the Duran Duran concert." There's a Duran Duran concert? How come I never heard or read about it? I, who at 18 actually became a bonafide member of the official Duran Duran fan club in Birmingham in their heyday (thanks, Ninong R)! Who had all the records, posters, shirts, pins, and whatnot? I felt middle-aged. I closed my eyes and wanted to cry, but nothing came. "Jopet," I said in this teeny voice, "I'd love to go, but I'm tired and emotionally drained and I don't have any cash on hand." At this point I had to tell him all I went through. "But you fixed it, right? You got an apology, right? So you won, it's all over, and now you have to celebrate. I'll call you when I've got the tickets."

For the next 5 minutes I was in shock. Each ticket for the upper box at Araneta Coliseum cost P2100 (reserved seating). Next thing I knew, I showered and dressed and met Jopet at Shangrila mall. He was right, I was victorious, and I was in a mood to celebrate. Life is too short to worry about all the details. We met Ryan at Cibo for dinner. I had the most wonderful sandwich, mushrooms sauteed in olive oil with garlic and herbs on grilled country bread. Nothing like food and friendship to restore you to your senses.














Once in our seats, we wondered how the producers were going to fill the venue. There was barely any advertising. No billboards, no fancy lifestyle articles. No product sponsors. Just MTV Philippines and Araneta Center. The seats filled slowly but steadily. The tickets said 830pm but the program actually started at 9. Still, we were in a mood to enjoy. Sandwich was the opening act. Sandwich! With Myrene Academia playing bass! When we were in college Myrene and I were Durannies together. What a dream come true for her to be sharing the same stage as the band, and to be playing bass because she was inspired by John Taylor.

The set was quite simple. A cityscape background and the instruments on elevated platforms. Lighting was quite good, though. Simple, but effective. When the band finally came out it was to loud cheering. Earlier we scanned the audience and found them to be of our generation - 80s kids - with their children! People brought out their point-and-shoots, taking pix and videos. The pics here were taken with my Asus V80 phone (whose camera I find superior to that of the Nokia 6120).

This time there were only four of the original Fab Five. Apparently, they no longer have a comfortable working relationship with Andy Taylor. They got a new lead guitarist, Dominic Brown, whom I must say was quite good. Simon Le Bon looked slimmer than he was in their heyday, dressed in a grey suit. Those narrow suits are back, just less shiny. The amazing thing was that his voice did NOT change. He still hit his high notes! John Taylor was still the prettiest. From where I sat I could see he still liked to tie kerchiefs to his sleeve. Nick Rhodes looked like an imperious Andy Warhol, hair and all, only he smiled more.

And Roger Taylor. I was so in love with Roger then. He was such a talented drummer, and I'm pleased to say, despite the long performance hiatus, he still is. I read some time earlier (just before Astronaut was released) that he had suffered from exhaustion from all their touring and had a nervous breakdown at some point, and withdrew to his farm. I also heard his wife Giovanna divorced him recently. By chance, I saw them perform Reach Out For The Sunrise on Top of the Pops a year or so ago, and was shocked at how much the fatigue had aged him. He used to have really great '50s Elvis Presley hair, and really sexy eyes (they all wore too much eyeliner in those days), and great-looking biceps. While he is no longer the pinup material he was then (his eyes are too sad now), I'm happy he got his mojo back.

The band interspersed new songs from their new album, Red Carpet Massacre, with old favorites: Hungry Like The Wolf, New Religion, Planet Earth, The Reflex, Wild Boys, Girls on Film, Ordinary World, Save A Prayer. If there were songs I forgot to mention, it's probably because I was in a happy daze for most of the concert. I was a bit disappointed that they didn't perform Is There Something I Should Know. They saved Rio for their encore.

Red Carpet Massacre is better than their previous album, Astronaut. Duran Duran have (Brit grammar) returned to their dance music roots, for which I'm glad -- there were several cuts from the album that felt like they had club remixes lined up for release. In one of his spiels Simon mentioned collaborating with Timbaland and Justin Timberlake (like many acts have done lately). Good move, boys! Nothing like keeping yourselves updated. Take your cue from Madonna.




























So we sang along, surprised that we still knew ALL the words. I discovered that Ryan was born just when Duran Duran were becoming famous, but there must be something universal about their dance groove, because Ryan thoroughly enjoyed himself. At one point we were standing and dancing for 5 songs straight! Simon's energy was infectious. His armpits were stained with sweat. There were barely any intermissions. What rock stars! What rock stars.

It may have been somewhat cheesy to be waving my cellphone to Save A Prayer, but I was one with my generation -- young enough to keep dancing, old enough to know when not to care, as long as I had fun. Afterwards we were so hungry we went straight to Italianni's, shared 2 different pastas and a huged baked cheesecake.

By the end of that long, trying Thursday I had reclaimed my cheerful self. My balance.

(You are a lifesaver, Jopet!!! Thank you, bro. Your karaoke nights in Boracay are on me.)

Rockstar: Denouement

When I think about it, it's a good thing Joy didn't give birth until AFTER Rockstar:INXS ended. As I've said before, the show (and episodes of various CSI's) made my midweek tv programming. The fact that INXS chose JD Fortune to be their lead vocalist wasn't much of a surprise; he'd focused his performances and songwriting toward that end, and got what he wanted. I just thought that it also meant INXS couldn't step too far away from Michael Hutchence's ghost. (Some friends of mine commented that it was the same thing with Journey and the singer they hired to replace Steve Perry, Steve Augeri. He sounded enough like Perry to be able to render the old hits. Compare this to Van Halen replacing David Lee Roth with Sammy Hagar, and the band went from strength to strength. Van Hagar sounded different from Van Roth but good enough to keep record sales up. I actually liked Van Hagar.)

I'm glad Marty Casey didn't win. That means he and his band Lovehammers can go on to carve THEIR OWN niche in their own name. I downloaded their song "Eyes Can't See" and it was great. The great thing about tv singing contests is the fandom it creates for its contestants, and that finalists can get offered contracts outside of the show. I didn't mind that Bo Bice or Constantine Maroulis didn't win American Idol 4 -- they got their own contracts in the end. So I'm not too worried about Suzie McNeil or MiG Ayesa. MiG might even one day win a Tony for musical theatre.

I must say this, though: at the end of the show, INXS and JD Fortune played a new song called "Easy, Easy" and it made ABSOLUTELY NO IMPACT on me. I voiced this in my yahoo group, asking, "Why am I underwhelmed by this? Is it just me?" Apparently I wasn't the only one who felt that way. What impressed me more was the song "Us", but I would prefer a Suzie McNeil solo version (I downloaded the recording session version from the show) as compared to the all-hands-on-deck version by INXS, Dave Navarro and the last five finalists. I guess it's because the band already wrote all the songs as is, needing only JD's vocal as a plug-in. Maybe the NEXT album after this one would actually showcase JD's songwriting skills.

Rockstar: INXS Download List

You gotta love Google, it brings you joy when sometimes chocolate cannot. Thought bubble: Nuninuninu... now where can I download mp3s or video files of the fantastic performances in my favorite reality tv show Rockstar:INXS?

In my earlier Rockstar:INXS post I mentioned rickey.org. Since Rickey already has heavy bandwidth consumption because of American Idol 4 and his favorite dance show, he has only posted download links to Jordis', MiG, Marty and JD's performances. [He also hosts a "comment forum" on Constantine Maroulis' fans, the ConCon Girls.] I've downloaded video files of Marty (my personal fave), one each of MiG and JD, and an mp3 of Jordis' "Man Who Sold The World".

And then, while Googling away... I found THE COMPLETE LIST TO DATE of all the performances since Week One!!! The list redirects you to 2 sites that allow people to upload, store and download large files (sizes per file up to 50mb and beyond). The sites then send email notification to the uploader's intended recipient that the files would be stored for 7 days, after which they will be deleted. I've just discovered a total of FOUR sites that do this for free (and offering expanded services to paying account holders). So useful!

At this point I will have to admit that even though I think JD can be a jerk, he did really perform well last night. I just downloaded his original song "Pretty Vegas".

But really the big news is that Suzie, whom I earlier thought would get eliminated before the top 5, has definitely earned my enthusiastic fandom. I am actually now counting her as my number two favorite. (Will be downloading her original song "Soul Life", which she wrote with the recently eliminated Ty.) Marty is still tops for me, of course. But don't hate me because I've relegated MiG to third place -- just continue to vote for him because he's Pinoy at heart and we all know that his combination of looks, talent and inner grace will always win him any number of good things.

Do enjoy.

Time Warp at Maxim's Tea House

They were playing some cha-cha tune when we came into the restaurant for an early lunch. We'd gotten lost a few minutes earlier, thinking Maxim's was still in the basement of Shoppesville Greenhills, not realizing Pancake House had moved into their old location. What had been the slightly seedy but popular Maxim's Teahouse had moved to the upper ground floor. It was given a snazzy interior design facelift and a trendy name to match -- MXT.

While commenting on the (so far) positive changes, Tristan remarked, "Whatever happened to Ling Nam? Didn't they try to become a Chinese fastfood?" "It didn't work," Joy replied, "Chow King is the only successful one in its niche. See all those billboards along the highway that make you hungry?" "I remember the teahouses then all had names like North Park, West Villa, East Ocean…," I added. Maxim's has had a branch in Megamall for several years. Luk Yuen and Le Ching are still in their old Greenhills locations. Hap Chang moved from Wilson St. to Megamall. North Park, which opened a branch in Metrowalk Ortigas, is currently our favorite.

As "My Melody of Love" (the one that sounds like a Polish folk song) played in the background, Tristan announces: "Did you know that there's currently a remake of 'Mr. Lonely', and it's a hit now in Europe?" "Isn't Mr. Lonely the station ID song for some radio station advice show?" I reply, as I order a Special Jumbo pao (P48) and a shrimp-and-vegetable one (P24). Joy adds, "All of a sudden golden oldies are in again. Even the Cascades are coming." "Yeah, I heard they're going to perform at the Manila Hotel soon," I nod. Dream dream dream, dream dream dream…

A Tom Jones hit from my early childhood plays next ("Please release me let me go..."). I roll my eyes up, saying: "Remember that song 'Let Me Try Again'? Wasn't that Frank Sinatra?" As I pinch some of the soft white bread off my Special Jumbo pao, Joy suddenly sings the dramatic refrain, "Just forgive me or I'll die, please let me try again…" Man, the things we remember. If publicly quizzed I think it's much cooler to admit that I learned the complete lyrics to Queen's "Bohemian Rhapsody" from my older cousin Mely back in elementary school. That and the Eagles' "Hotel California". Mely liked "I Shot The Sheriff" too. In those days if you were riding in a jeep you'd hear any hit by the Scorpions, or that British long-hair group The Animals singing "House Of The Rising Sun."

Tristan identifies the next song within ten notes: "Those Were The Days!" (as in, "those were the days my friend we thought would never end, we'd sing and dance forever and a day." Yes, the one that sounds like a folkie beerhouse polka.) He failed on the next try, which turned out to be the Beatles' "Till There Was You." I think it's lovely how hearing the Beatles never feels dated.

The shrimp-and-vegetable pao arrives, tinted a beautiful pandan green. It was freshly steamed and flavorful, the vegetable being kuchay (the dark green part of green onion shoots). I enjoyed both my siopaos, but the hakao (shrimp dumplings) Joy and Tristan ordered were a major disappointment. The rest of the food was satisfying, but not special (North Park food being our standard). I suppose you could say the food was better when MXT was still the seedy- but-popular Maxim's Teahouse. Those were the days, my friend.

Rockstar: INXS

Because of American Idol and CSI: Las Vegas, I had always been convinced that the middle of the week (Wednesday and Thursday here in Manila) had the best to offer in all of cable primetime programming. I was worried about what would take their time slots once their respective seasons ended, and then Rockstar: INXS came along.

I enjoy rock performances as much as the next person, so I eagerly looked forward to the reality vs. performance segments of the show. Jamming in the mansion was a treat. It's really not hard to predict who would get eliminated along the way. Haven't actually tried voting myself, but perhaps only maybe when the competition is really, really tight.

Jordis, MiG, Marty, JD and Ty, I felt, are all really majorly talented. Suzie, to me, would be a step better than Deanna and Jessica. Suzie reminds me of a young Annie Lennox but with a Sheryl Crow vibe, and I enjoyed her performance of "Never Tear Us Apart", which was my favorite. I mean, if it were posted online I'd download it in a second. She, JD and Ty had a string of mixed quality performances - so I must congratulate the producers of the show for making the competition particularly challenging in terms of song selection. Jordis, MiG and Marty, however, seemed like they could do no wrong. I downloaded Jordis' "Man Who Sold The World" from rickey.org, it was that good.

Now to MiG and Marty, my personal favorites:

MiG consistently delivers a good performance, rocking hard with "We Will Rock You", and dazzling everyone with "Baby I Love Your Way", where he accompanied himself on the piano. His vocal range is flexible (on the tenor side) and he exercises as much control over it as he can. And he doesn't look half bad, buff in a lean way, and gauging by the reaction of the women in the audience, he inspired major hysteria when he last ripped off his shirt onstage. He's got this easy-going personality, and seems really in touch with his feminine side (read: Sensitive Man who set off my friends' gay-dars. I did explain that he's married to a ballerina who was a long-time girlfriend, so that settled that.). He also gets along well creatively with others, as could be seen in the songwriting clinic. INXS and he being Aussie might be a factor. But best of all, he was born PINOY!!! Now what other reason would I need to root for him? He looks like the frontrunner, since it seems unlikely that INXS would have a female vocalist... (just my opinion).

Marty, while not conventionally cute, is very attractive. His voice, which has really good texture, has something to do with it. This texture was shown to advantage in his performances "With Arms Wide Open" and "Mr. Brightside". He accompanied himself on acoustic guitar for the latter song. He doesn't have a theatre background like MiG, but he has had concert performances under his belt fronting other major bands with his own band. Those two performances were so intense I wished I was in the crowd screaming with approval. When I get that kind of feeling I want to rush out to a store and buy a cd straightaway. Now before you tell me he's a Kurt Cobain or Creed clone let me remind you that being part of a band gives leeway for originality in songwriting, and that what you ought to judge in the end is the final, total overall product. But in the end, my connection with Marty's performance was emotional, and that's strong. MiG's last performance made me emotional too, but mostly my admiration for his overall vocal ability is intellectual. Listening to Marty made me feel like a young college girl. Let me ask you, what price would you set on THAT?

Now onto JD bashing:

Moni emailed me about his dislike for JD. Let me state for a fact that I consider JD highly talented, but perhaps he can develop himself as a solo act if he can land a recording contract. He needs a lot of training to condition his voice so that he can sing a greater range of songs, or he can write songs to fit his voice, but where's the growth there? I can't stand JD either, I emailed back, he acts too needy of the job and says things that make him sound evil and desperate. Actually, "evil" is Rickey's word. And the bitter darkness of it shows on his face.

In the beginning, JD looked kinda cute but that wore thin pretty quickly. I mean, his attitude might provide interesting tension and drama to the show, but in the end, what INXS needs is a lead singer with consistent performance quality, with magnetism, and the ability to get along and work with the other members of the band. If for instance JD won, it would be a shame if he ends up eventually needing replacement because of "personal differences". I mean, he doesn't need to diss the rest in public when it's plainly clear that there are other talented people in the competition, it just makes him stand out and not necessarily in a good way. He is SOOO PLASTIC!!! Making those remarks and then having to live with them in the same mansion!!! Again, let me remind you, this man is talented. Talented, but conflicted. Might be good fodder for a solo album somewhere there. I did think the song he wrote solo after breaking away from Marty's group was even better than the song written by Ty's group, which won. It was more in INXS' groove (now if it sounds like some of their old hits, is that a crime if there is potential to release it as a single? But we also have to think of INXS' growth and credibility...).

I want to shake my head when I think of that scene near the pool where MiG admits to JD that he said in an interview that JD was the most difficult to live with. Then JD says that banal and cringeworthy line, "When we're being human, just remember that we are all human beings." Or something like that. (Now doesn't that sound bite raise your bile?)

List of Last Things 2

Last Movie Watched - The Fantastic Four. Highly enjoyable, if you don't expect too much from it. As a comics-based movie with an ensemble cast, it's not a bad origin tale. It does well enough as a springboard for an entire franchise. Granted, Spiderman had a better human interest story, but Ben Grimm's development from muscleman to The Thing is compelling enough drama. As for Reed Richards, I guess what really makes him a superhero is his native high intelligence and not his elasticity as Mr. Fantastic. If you didn't realize this early enough, you'd think he was the wimpiest in the group. There are some scenes that made me laugh out loud: Johnny Storm bursting into flames while skiing, and ending up naked, melting enough snow to make a hot tub for him and his "hot" nurse; and Sue Storm having to strip down in public (twice!) and run away, invisible. The story and the action are equally engaging and fast-paced. It's definitely worth its ticket price, as long as you aren't seated next to annoying kids and people who haven't turned off their cell phones.

Last DVD's Watched - Asterix and Obelix Take On Caesar, and Six-Stringed Samurai.

My friends Dondi and Esmi invited me to their place for a sandwich-bar dinner while watching DVD's newly added to Dondi's collection. Asterix and Obelix Take on Caesar (1999) features Gerard Depardieu as Obelix, with Roberto Benigni (Life Is Beautiful) as the villain Lucius Detritus and Laetitia Casta as Obelix's love Panacea. Most of us had read the comic books by Goscinny and Uderzo as children, so we were pleased to discover that the movie had an English dub translation by Terry Jones. The film is funny, although not as funny as, say, Monty Python and the Holy Grail (still my standard for rib-tickling humor). The dog that plays Dogmatix is adorable. As for Laetitia Casta (who is currently Marianne, or the Face of France), she is easy on the eyes, for as long as you pay no attention to her distracting teeth.

If you enjoy Kurosawa samurai movies, plus Mad Max, Kill Bill, El Mariachi, music and all, you'll enjoy Six-Stringed Samurai (1998). This campy low-budget film features Buddy, our bespectacled hero with a katana sheathed behind his 1957 guitar. He ventures across a wasteland to get to his gig in Lost Vegas, pursued by Death and his minions, and along the way picks up a little boy who later becomes his sidekick. It's like a long music video with a surreal script full of allusions to the death of rock and roll. If you're the kind of person who gets peeved because you can't find a plot in this movie, skip it. But if you watched Kill Bill over and over just for The Bride vs. Crazy 88 samurai sword-frenzy with rockabilly music in the background, this would be more your thing. I enjoyed it, but I guess not enough to buy me a copy.

Last MP3 Downloaded - Gavin DeGraw's "Chariot". Great song, the kind you want to listen to on a rainy day when you're stuck indoors.

Last Book Read - Haruki Murakami's "Norwegian Wood" (English translation by Jay Rubin). Murakami's protagonist Watanabe hears his first love Naoko's favorite Beatles song and goes twenty years back down memory's highway to hip 1960s Tokyo. Along the way a girl named Midori comes into his life and makes him choose between the past and the future. Rather good read.

Last Restaurant Visited - Cafe Mediterranean Podium, last Sunday. Had a Kofta Kebab with buttered rice. Kofta are little meatballs made of ground lamb and beef (I think) mixed with chopped onions and herbs, slid on a kebab and grilled. Kofta are good with their yoghurt-based sauce. They also serve really good Kofta Burger, if you're bored with the usual patty-on-a-bun. Their food is on the healthy side, grilled rather than fried, with South Beach Diet versions of most popular dishes. They also have a very good Lamb Stew and Lamb Kebabs. Service is quick and everything is reasonably priced.

Weather With You

It was with some shock that I read online about Crowded House drummer Paul Hester's suicide by hanging in a Melbourne Park last March. I had a similar shock reading about INXS frontman Michael Hutchence's suicide several years ago. It's sad when talent leaves the world that way, abruptly.

I've been a Crowdie since "Don't Dream It's Over" hit the US Billboard Charts at No. 2 in 1986. Recently I completed my Crowded House mp3's (both studio and live tracks), and came up with a playlist of my favorite 21 tracks from across four of their albums (Crowded House, Temple of Low Men, Woodface and Together Alone). Their music has been alternately described as pop, folk-rock and blues. I love the energetic and soulful guitar on most of these tracks, and I always find myself unconsciously singing backup to Neil Finn's amazing vocals. Been playing it over and over; if you ask me, it's the kind of music I'd bring with me to a desert island:

1. Don't Dream It's Over
2. Something So Strong
3. Mean To Me
4. I Walk Away
5. Now We're Getting Somewhere
6. Tombstone
7. World Where You Live
8. I Feel Possessed
9. When You Come
10. Into Temptation
11. Distant Sun
12. Private Universe
13. It's Only Natural
14. Fall At Your Feet
15. Whispers & Moans
16. Four Seasons In One Day
17. Fame Is
18. As Sure As I Am
19. How Will You Go
20. She Goes On
21. Weather With You

Naturally, I've also been collecting Neil Finn's solo work ("Try Whistling This" and "One Nil"). I love his voice, the same way I love Paul McCartney's and Paul Young's voices. I'm not the first one to note the Beatles vibe; one reviewer on Amazon.com says, "Neil Finn has a McCartneyesque gift for melody and a Lennonesque gift for lyrics." Imagine, for example, The Beatles' "Blackbird", segueing to Crowded House's "Into Temptation".

Crowded House's strongest album, in my opinion, is "Woodface". My favorite lyrics come from "Mean To Me":

So I talked to you for an hour
In the bar of a small town motel
And you asked me what I was thinking
I was thinking of a padded cell
With a black and white TV
To stop us from getting lonely

Crowded House remains underrated and tagged unfairly (outside of Australia and New Zealand) as an '80s band. I beg to differ; the songs in my playlist always sound fresh and undated, except possibly for "Don't Dream It's Over" (as a result of its relatively heavier airplay, because it's such a classic). They also performed really well live. I believe they could've been managed and promoted better in the US, but then that's moot. They broke up way back in 1996, holding a mammoth farewell concert in Australia, and releasing their greatest hits album "Recurring Dream". Fortunately Neil Finn has gone from strength to strength in his solo career.

My favorite songs? The heartbreaking "Better Be Home Soon", the romantic "She Goes On", the atmospheric "Private Universe" and of course the anthem "Weather With You".