Jerome Kugan a poet with a laptop and a guitar
The News Review:
- Jerome Kugan a poet with a laptop and a guitar
- MUSIC – washingtonpost.com
- Air apparent and Bjorn to rock
- SHUT UP & LISTEN #2: Studying music other than classical
Jerome Kugan a poet with a laptop and a guitar
Jakarta Post – Sep 22, 2007
Reverb: news and updates from Indie music scenes in Indonesia and around the world; who’s got a new album who is recording what gigs are coming up and other buzz. And now on to our first installment of Underground Hum: MAIN STAGE: Jerome Kugan a poet with a laptop and a guitar Jerome Kugan who was born in Kota Kinabalu on Borneo is a small man who is busy carving himself an ever-growing niche in the arts not only in his homeland Malaysia but internationally. Poet singer songwriter short-story writer culture columnist and visual artist Jerome is also cofounder of “”Trobadours KL”" an organization focused on promoting Malaysian singer-songwriters worldwide. The truth is that this bespectacled young man whose diverse inspirations include Bjork David Sylvian Bonnie “”Prince”" Billy Kate Bush Suzanne Vega and Tracy Chapman has become so busy organizing and promoting gigs for other performers that his fans and friends have become worried that he has left his own music on the backburner far too long… The result of this on-again-off-again approach to recording has been just a smattering of songs found in compilations or online. Needless to say fans of this artist who belts vocals (quickly bringing Jeff Buckley to mind) to the accompaniment of his laptop-produced John Vanderslice-esque mix of acoustic guitar and electronic beeps blips and beats have begun putting the pressure on for him to put up or shut up. Because shutting up is the one thing he could never do Jerome who started playing music in 1996 at the age of 20 while he was studying in Australia is now completing the tentatively titled Songs for a Shadow an album spotlighting his trademark traditional Malay vibrato combined with strong lyrical content (highly reminiscent of Suzanne Vega in its reflective quality but very much his own). This album which is due out early next year will feature songs that examine varied subjects ranging from a cynic’s return to love (This Excellent Love) to the feeling of connectivity one gets when one lives fully in the present (Now I Know How it Feels) and tales of solitude and isolation packed with sociopolitical metaphors (Song for the Service Industry). For now you can listen to Jerome Kugan on his Myspace page: www.
MUSIC – washingtonpost.com
Washington Post – Sep 22, 2007
He nonchalantly asked his accompanist Peter Hughes which fret to put his capo on for the rousing "No Children" and he described his early songs as "written by a young man who couldn’t play the guitar but meant well. " The hour-long set featured pounded chords that accented his distinctive nasal voice. That simple guitar style worked to Darnielle’s advantage: Anything more complicated would have detracted from his lyrics which are his real forte. He delivered his songs in sentences rather than as verse so his narratives came across as short stories most often focused on unhealthy or failing relationships. Whether Darnielle described cranking up his stereo volume to drown out his parents’ arguments (”Dance Music”) or running away from troubles with a friend (”Commandante”) his percussive delivery conveyed the urgency of his subjects’ bleak situations. Darnielle set his guitar aside after breaking a string during the encore but he proceeded to sing “Jenny” backed only by Hughes’s bass. The lyrics painted a carefree attitude that Darnielle captured in his delivery unburdened by an instrument as if to prove how inessential the guitar truly was to that song… That simple guitar style worked to Darnielle’s advantage: Anything more complicated would have detracted from his lyrics which are his real forte. He delivered his songs in sentences rather than as verse so his narratives came across as short stories most often focused on unhealthy or failing relationships. Whether Darnielle described cranking up his stereo volume to drown out his parents’ arguments (”Dance Music”) or running away from troubles with a friend (”Commandante”) his percussive delivery conveyed the urgency of his subjects’ bleak situations. Darnielle set his guitar aside after breaking a string during the encore but he proceeded to sing “Jenny” backed only by Hughes’s bass. The lyrics painted a carefree attitude that Darnielle captured in his delivery unburdened by an instrument as if to prove how inessential the guitar truly was to that song.
Air apparent and Bjorn to rock
The Age – Sep 22, 2007
My name is Bjorn Turoque. I’m a professional air guitarist. I’vecompeted in 11 air guitar competitions throughout the world andcome second five times. Was it fame I was after? Not really. Was it fortune? Wellsurely I am not the first person to tell you that the career of aprofessional air guitarist is anything but lucrative. Since that auspicious evening in 2003 when I entered my firstcompetition in New York I have travelled the world as anambassador of air bringing air guitar to the people. I’ve written the definitive behind-the-scenes tome on thesubject To Air is Human: ne Man’s Quest to Become the World’sGreatest Air Guitarist; I’ve lectured on the subject at theExperience Music Project museum in Seattle at Columbia Universityin New York City and at the High-Altitude Air Guitar Training Campin ulu Finland; and I star in the upcoming award-winningdocumentary Air Guitar Nation… Was it fortune? Wellsurely I am not the first person to tell you that the career of aprofessional air guitarist is anything but lucrative. Since that auspicious evening in 2003 when I entered my firstcompetition in New York I have travelled the world as anambassador of air bringing air guitar to the people. I’ve written the definitive behind-the-scenes tome on thesubject To Air is Human: ne Man’s Quest to Become the World’sGreatest Air Guitarist; I’ve lectured on the subject at theExperience Music Project museum in Seattle at Columbia Universityin New York City and at the High-Altitude Air Guitar Training Campin ulu Finland; and I star in the upcoming award-winningdocumentary Air Guitar Nation. I’ve also met a lot of air groupies. What’s surprised me most about this seemingly intangible artform is how one goes into it thinking it’s a joke which – asKriston Rucker co-commissioner of US Air Guitar and one of theexecutive producers of Air Guitar Nation points out in the film -it is; but then something remarkable happens: you begin tobelieve. I know the glory of dressing up in a spandex unitard andfanatically playing an invisible instrument in front of a crowd isnot something that everyone immediately grasps. When I tell people I’ve spent five years immersed in the worldof air guitar they often look at me bewildered like a dog tiltingits head at an unfamiliar command.
SHUT UP & LISTEN #2: Studying music other than classical
SBIndependent – Sep 22, 2007
With Strings: Live at Town Hall can be downloaded for free from the band’s website (eelstheband. The Mercury Project: Another instrumental group but not guitar driven. Sounds more like a jam session than a musical project. Makes great background music for reading or driving. [I] Ladysmith Black Mambazo: ne of the greatest groups of musicians to ever come from the continent of Africa. Studying to Ladysmith may lead to an urge and need to dance.
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