Lesson 6ix:"Emotionless wings grew from my back, and I am swimming in the greasy sky"-West Cabaret Drive

I really need to get this out of my system..

THEE MICHELLE GUN ELEPHANT IS THE FUCKING GREATEST BAND EVER!!

To support this quite radical claim, I present to you a glimpse of TMGE greatness.







Seee..I told ya. You can stop shakin your feet now, seriously.Lets talk about this mighty fine band, shall we.




















Thee Michelle Gun Elephant is(from right to left):
Chiba Yusuke-Vo,Guitar,Harmonica
Abe Futoshi(R.I.P)-Lead guitar
Koji Ueno-Bass
Kuhara Kazuyuki-Drum

Formed back in 1991 by four Meiji Gakuen University students(Abe joined in'94), the band's unusual name originated from the mispronounciation of The Damned album(Machine Gun Etiquette) by their first bassist.It is too rare of a chance that four amateurs with godly amount of talent to ever meet up and make a band, I sense divine intervention somewhere.
Dressed in sharp black suits, the band can easily be misunderstood as a member of Yakuza without their gears. No wait, with their gears on they became the Yakuza of rock n roll, forcefully converting anyone lucky enough to encounter their lethal mix of garage-punk-blues tune, to become loyal worshippers.

This band has been very influential to me. They make me start to notice what a great scene Japan has, and I immediately make Japan as my primary source of audio fetish. Although it is a bit hard to find a good band(overload of V-kei band) cos of the language barrier and such, any good finding sure beat the crap outta seemingly stale western 'formula' of recent music.Yeah, I dont understand a single word they said(even the engrish one) but good music need no translation. I think the language used have some degree of influence to the shape of the music,the song. Thats why most Malay stuff tend to be more leleh2 or jiwang2, cos it is natural for our language and customs and mentality....




Another big influence from this band is the bassists Ueno Koji. The fucker's tank-like bassline and equally cool stage presence make me realise that I need to upgrade myself from mere listener to a musician. Its like changing from a peasant to a pawn.And the road to be a king is almost impossible at this rate...almost.









Sadly they broke up on 2003, after 12 years of rockin and 9 albums up their sleeve. Maybe they want to try different things:Chiba was in 2-3 project before forming Rosso(more bluesy,equally great band) for a few years and the The Birthday with Kuhara(indie-like,prefer Rosso though) up till now. Ueno was in Radio Caroline(3-piece garage rock) up till early this year and they disbanded. He then join a supergroup band The Hiatus and side acoustic project with Katteni-Shiyagare drummer/vocal Syohei Muto which play 'Mariachi Punks' concept(this one is super-hard to find any recording of, apart from 2 amateur-taped songs in Youtube). Abe Futoshi is also hard to track, he kinda keep on low profile and only play as guest guitarist in a few band until he recently died suddenly of acute hepidural hematoma(a rare disease) at the age of 42 on July 22,2009.



Damn, I was hoping they could somehow do a reunion in the future but without Abe in the picture, we can kiss goodbye to that dream eh..Currently 'the industry', like any good industry try to dig some $$$ outta this and release their farewell concert "Burning Motor Go Last Heaven" to a digitally remastered DVD titled "Michelle Gun Elephant 'Thee Movie'-Last Heaven 031011":same shite but better quality,different editing. Also a compilation(Thee greatest hits) and the most important: a 10-disc DVD box "Thee Live"-comprising the bands live footage from concerts and tours, TV perfomance etc. Now, if I can lay my hand on this, I'll be a very,very,very happy boy.






Links(credit to http://community.livejournal.com/indie_yuuwaku)
(1993.11.25) (mini album) maximum! maximum!! maximum!!! [128 kbps]
(1995.10.25) (mini album) Wonder Style [various]
(1996.03.01) (album) Cult Grass Star [192 kbps]
(1996.11.01) (album) High Time [320 kbps](1997.11.01) (album) Chicken Zombies [320 kbps]
(1998.08.06) (album) Rumble [320 kbps]
(1998.11.25) (album) Gear Blues [320 kbps]
(2000.03.01) (album) Casanova Snake [320 kbps]
(2001.05.23) (album) Rodeo Tandem Beat Specte [320 kbps]
(2003.03.05) (album) Sabrina Heaven [320 kbps]
(2003.06.21) (mini album ) Sabrina No Heaven [320 kbps]

The grand finale-two version of the very last song TMGE play, Sekai no Owari(the world's end).Burning Motors and Thee Movie version. If you look closely in the end of the song Abe's string snap but he keep playing, like he know somehow this will be his last song with the boys. A mere mortal named Abe die but his name will be immortal in the mind that his riff had touched. Rest in peace.



p.s- the dude with moustache's figurine(blog title background) is Chiba, sold for only ¥5,880/US$66.19. Now if only anyone feel charitable enough..

Lesson 5ive:The dance of the rich always trample the head of the poor.

Found something somewhere, which really is something to think of.

A NOTE OF APPRECIATION FROM THE RICH.

"Let's be honest: you'll never win the lottery.

On the other hand, the chances are pretty good that you'll slave away at some miserable job the rest of your life. That's because you were in all likelihood born into the wrong social class. Let's face it — you're a member of the working caste. Sorry!

As a result, you don't have the education, upbringing, connections, manners, appearance, and good taste to ever become one of us. In fact, you'd probably need a book the size of the yellow pages to list all the unfair advantages we have over you. That's why we're so relieved to know that you still continue to believe all those silly fairy tales about "justice" and "equal opportunity" in America.

Of course, in a hierarchical social system like ours, there's never been much room at the top to begin with. Besides, it's already occupied by us — and we like it up here so much that we intend to keep it that way. But at least there's usually someone lower in the social hierarchy you can feel superior to and kick in the teeth once in a while. Even a lowly dishwasher can easily find some poor slob further down in the pecking order to sneer and spit at. So be thankful for migrant workers, prostitutes, and homeless street people.

Always remember that if everyone like you were economically secure and socially privileged like us, there would be no one left to fill all those boring, dangerous, low-paid jobs in our economy. And no one to fight our wars for us, or blindly follow orders in our totalitarian corporate institutions. And certainly no one to meekly go to their grave without having lived a full and creative life. So please, keep up the good work!

You also probably don't have the same greedy, compulsive drive to possess wealth, power, and prestige that we have. And even though you may sincerely want to change the way you live, you're also afraid of the very change you desire, thus keeping you and others like you in a nervous state of limbo. So you go through life mechanically playing your assigned social role, terrified what others would think should you ever dare to "break out of the mold."

Naturally, we try to play you off against each other whenever it suits our purposes: high-waged workers against low-waged, unionized against non-unionized, Black against White, male against female, American workers against Japanese against Mexican against.... We continually push your wages down by invoking "foreign competition," "the law of supply and demand," "national security," or "the bloated federal deficit." We throw you on the unemployed scrap heap if you step out of line or jeopardize our profits. And to give you an occasional break from the monotony of our daily economic blackmail, we allow you to participate in our stage-managed electoral shell games, better known to you ordinary folks as "elections." Happily, you haven't a clue as to what's really happening — instead, you blame "Aliens," "Tree-hugging Environmentalists," "Niggers," "Jews," Welfare Queens," and countless others for your troubled situation.

We're also very pleased that many of you still embrace the "work ethic," even though most jobs in our economy degrade the environment, undermine your physical and emotional health, and basically suck your one and only life right out of you. We obviously don't know much about work, but we're sure glad you do!

Of course, life could be different. Society could be intelligently organized to meet the real needs of the general population. You and others like you could collectively fight to free yourselves from our domination. But you don't know that. In fact, you can't even imagine that another way of life is possible. And that's probably the greatest, most significant achievement of our system — robbing you of your imagination, your creativity, your ability to think and act for yourself.

So we'd truly like to thank you from the bottom of our heartless hearts. Your loyal sacrifice makes possible our corrupt luxury; your work makes our system work. Thanks so much for "knowing your place" — without even knowing it!"

Lesson 4our: Blues is the roots, others are just fruits.

"A lot of people wonder what is the blues, now I'm gonna tell you what the blues is. When you aint got no moneys, you got the blues.A lot of people go about 'I dont got no blues', but when you dont have the money to pay for you house or buy you some food, you DAMN sure got the blues.Cause you're thinkin evil.When you think evil, you think about the blues" Howlin Wolf(1910-1976).

Pada aku musik ni macam harta karun. Die ade kat mane2, tapi ko kene cari. Kene korek sendiri. Masalahnya 'the industry' produce more garbage every passing day, resultnya harta2 karun nie makin tebal timbunan atasnya.Lagi susah nak korek, or more precise, buat org tak nak korek. Org biasa akan puas hati dgn 'tanah'je, sbb senang nk jumpa. And the gem will be forgotten..

And this particular gem, take me 20 years of living to notice and appreciate it. Takde musik lain yg sentuh aku cam blues. A song from the heart for the heart. Simple tp teramatlah natural dan powerful. Takdela macam lagu2 yg aku dgr dlm radio skrg, plastik gile dgn lirik2 dah beratus kali recycle(tp skrg dorg pkai skin 'indie' nk jual lagu) sampai aku dah tak dengar lagu dah, apa yg aku dgr hanya'Belilah lagu ni, xbli album single pon xpe. Korg suke lagu ni sbb ni lagu cinta. Cinta tu best.Tp jgn lupe beli lagu ni'.Haha. Kentot katak bagi aku lagi menarik.

Blues is started by the blacks kt America. Mase ni dorg dah bebas drpd slavery tp still didiskriminasi oleh the white. Hidup dorg miskin dan susah so dorg main lagu nk hiburkan hati. Nyanyi ape yg dorg rase, ape dlm hati dorg. Mase ni la muncul legend2 blues, antaranya Son House ngan Robert Johnson(RJ).

RJ ni antara bluesman fevret aku, yg paling legendary. Mesti korg pernah dgr 'sell your soul to the devil/rock n roll' kan. Mamat nie ar orgnya. Org cakap die tukar roh die kt devil kt satu crossroad kt Missisipi, in exchange die jadi the greatest bluesman ever lived. Skrg dah lebih 70 tahun die mati, takde sape brani cakap die boleh main gitar/blues lagi power dr RJ. Dienye lagu sikit je, dlm 30+ gitu.Sume gitar kapok+vokal+foot tapping kadang2. Gambar die pon ade 2 je yg wujud. Selain tu sume official record pasal die macam blur. Kira kalau xde rekod lagu ngan gambar tu dia jadi macam mitos je la. Cam unikorn. Lagu2 die pon,'Me and the devil blues','Hellhound on my trail','Crossroad blues' cam mengiyakan the devil legend. Aku ade jumpe manga pasal RJ, tp bukan 100% tepat ar..die cakap 'the unreal life of Robert Johnson'. Ade 2 vol. but so far aku jumpe vol. 1 je.Macam terbaca dorg takde planning utk sambung citer tu, walaupun tak habis lg. Gonna post the link, manga and some of RJ finest. Oh, and by the way, korg maybe will be interested on some other old legendary bluesman cam BB King, Howlin Wolf, Muddy Water and Son House. Ataupun kalau korg xleh stomach lagu2 lame, try John Spencer Blues Explosion or King Brothers(jepun).Diorg fuse blues ngan rocknroll/punk.

Tips utk dgr blues: Takyah dgr pakai mata, takyah dgr pakai telinga. Dgr pakai hati, dan blues akan ubah idup korg.

Blues Boys Tune-BB King and his guitar, Lucille. Crite pasal Lucille ni pun best gak, lain kali ar aku crite. Ni lah kuase blues, 10 album MCR atau A7X pon xleh lwn satu lagu ni. Dienye aura, memang antara 'Kings' of blues.




Me and the devil Blues manga.
http://www.mediafire.com/?mtxdajwgmdw

Robert Johnson - The Complete Recordings Disc 1
Robert Johnson - The Complete Recordings Disc 2

Lesson Thr3e: If you didn't know history, you didn't know anything. You were a leaf that didn't know it was part of a tree

Ok folks. Dalam post ni aku nak crite skit pasal adventure aku dalam dunia audio, sonic2 crossroads yg aku tempuhi dan choices yg aku amik. Akunye early introduction ngan lagu start mase aku kt skolah rendah. Naik kereta ngan mak aku gi skolah, 5-10 minit punye travel diisi dgn dendangan lagu2 hindustan dari kaset pasar mlm. Xtau la kaset2 ni wujud lg ke tak. Mase ni tak kisah sgt pasal lagu, aku lg teruja tengok crite Satria Baja Hitam atau Tomatoman. Dlm radio tgh hit lagu Itik Gembo2 kot.
Fast forward ke Form3. Mula lepak2 ngan budak2 asrama Yayasan Selangor. Dorg nye knowledge mase tu mmg aku respek r. Kt situ r blajar nirvana(ade org eja kirk kobeng, haha),butterfingers, roots n boots, acab. Dah mule ade faction2 grunge ngan skin. Kecik2 dah start cite boot dokmat r, ape la. Pastu PMR kantoi kene kick asrama, innalillah.Kt sini ade satu buku teks sains aku rase, ade conteng Korn dgn machonya.Aku pelik r, mnatang ape korn ni. Pastu jumpe kaset die kt kdai gambar kt pekan Sabak,Take a look in the mirror.Covernya mmg terlampau mmikat otak aku yg belum baligh ketika itu. 1st kaset yg aku beli. Telinga aku hilang virginity to Rock. Tahniah. Antara album2 yg aku beli mase ni, Eminem(EminemShow),Gorillaz,Nirvana.
Aku PMR ok, dpt pegi SBP. Yg slecknya SBP(Islam)R lak. Sekolah yg penuh dgn ustaz & ustazah serta ustaz & ustazah in the making. Penuh dgn propaganda nasyid. Nasib baik kubu2 rock dlm telinga aku ttp utuh. Dinding2 tahi telinganya bertambah utuh dgn penambahan band2 seperti Slipknot(nickname aku kt sane), RATM, Audioslave, Gerhana Ska Cinta, Rancid,GNR,Radiohead. Brape byk kaset aku ilang kt sini, kaset slipknot brape kali aku beli baru.2 tahun berlalu dgn menyorokkn brg2 haram-walkman,kaset,komik,kad Yugioh..
Pas Spm gi UNIM..Discovery band2 baru kt sini agak super-fuckin rapid gak la.Ade internet so coverage info lebih luas, tak tertakluk kpd tv, radio and peers. Aku rase aku spend lagi byk mase cari band/lagu drpd stadi. 2 tahun progress by repeat on final exam, some fuckin accomplishment eh. Srupe buang sijil SPM aku dlm tong sampah je. Anyway, kt sini start dgr band2 jepon-Dir en grey, deadman, TMGE, start dgr blues & jazz. Mula dpt seru nk angkat weapon,(4-string J-bass.The Shotgun).Mula dpt seru nk bukak blog,preaching about music to anyone who willing to hear. Mula berase jijik bile sume org tetibe simpan jersi baggy ngan bling2 dorg,simpan kasut2 shuffle dorg, simpan motor rempit dorg,dan cakap indie dulu, kini dan selamanya?

Lesson T2o:Tidolah kamu sblom kamu ditidokan.

Bangun tido. Jam dah pukul 1.30. Dah 3 minggu tak pegi lecture. Tersengih sikit. Teringat something. Cepat2 bukak laptop. Bukak Chipster Hot & Spicy(lunch aku ari nie). Bukak blog. Taip menatang yg korg dah bace up to this fuckin point..menjerit dlm hati:
HOLY.FUCKING.SHIT!!!!!!!!!

Post kali ni pasal mimpi yg aku hidapi mlm tadi. Nak crite pasal mimpi, aku ade beberape mimpi yg jadi bebetul. Takde la bende beso pon, mostly aku dah lupe pasal mimpi tu tp tetibe aku ade dlm environment mcm dlm mimpi tu. Mcm deja vu. So aku tau ape yg akan terjadi jap lagi. Tp kejap je r. Cam 5-10 saat je. Mase tu aku tringat pasal mimpi tu dan things that will happen. Contohnya tau bende yg akan jadi dlm iklan yg aku tak pernah tengok,in some miscellaneous event, tp yg paling impak kt aku jd mase aku darjah 6. Aku ikut 3-day perkemahan pengakap kat satu skolah ni. Die cam test r, aku dpt lencana keris emas kt sini. Pastu ade satu ari nie hujan, so sume aktiviti di on-holdkn. Aku ngan member2 aku gi jln2. Jumpe satu buaian yg boleh duduk ramai2 tu,ala yg ade 2 side face-to-face tu. Mase ni la aku tringat. Hujan. Buaian Hijau. Budak2 pakai baju pengakap tgh mkn asskrem. Aku cume leh ckp 'Whoo' je,tak reti nk swear lagi mase ni. Mase ni la aku mule sedar some of my dream will come true. And I really fuckin wish that last night dream will come true..

Pebende yg aku mimpi? Cam mimpi2 lain mimpi aku kalau dipikirkn balik die jadi tak logic, yg kadang2 kite bangun tido terus kite lupe. Tp mimpi ni mmg clear gile, full colour, Dolby Surround lagitu. Shit, dienye detail dah agak blur dah.. tp yg main pointnye: Aku dgn sorg lagi member(aku xtau sape) tgh enjoy dinner satu meja dgn sorg gitaris Jepon nie,yg aku assume ktorg kt jepon r.Dienye makanan masakan jpon aku rase.Gitaris ni aku xingat sape, tp between Aie-gambar solo(x-deadman, The Studs) ataupun T.K-gambar dlm group,kiri sekali(Toru Kitajima from Rin Toshite Shigure). Muke dorg due2 lebih kurang je. Lepas mkn ktorg pegi tengok gig in the same premis tp tiket abis xleh masuk. Pastu ktorg jalan2 and camne ntah die jadi citer antu ngan ade antu ikan besar anjing ade kaki oren lak. Last2 ikan tu kejor aku pastu kene langgar kereta.Haha. Rosak mimpi aku, fuck btol lar.

Persoalannya skrg, ape maksud mimpi tu? I really wish it will come true(only the first part please). Ataupun satu mase nanti aku jadi setaraf dgn die(hint:mkn semeja),ataupun hanya mainan setan semata nak halang aku pegi lecture(cibai setan).
Aku ade tengok satu interview ni dia kate satu bentuk mimpi ni adlh memori org lain yg dlm bentuk elektromagnetikshitpebendentah yg otak kite receive dan replay dlm minda bwh sedar kite aka dlm mimpi. It maybe that.And maybe not..

Antara Guitar2 Hero aku dr Jepon, Aie-nye strength ade kt song-composing, check lagu2 deadman, beautiful,dreamy-like composition but still rockin as hell. Plus vokalis Mako punye suara ngan dienye tormented psycho personalities and lyrics, deadman antara top 5 band favourite aku. Nanti aku post pasal band nie ngan album2 dorg yg aku ade( aku rase aku ade sume,ep,single, 2 full album). Sadly the band broke up in 2006.Aku ade dorg nye limited edition farewell consert, super-fuckin rare, yg mmg kalau ade org terdelete bende tu aku mmg aku bunuh tanpa budi bicara.







TK lak axeman utk band Rin Toshite Shigure/Ling Tosite Sigure( ake rase maksud die black summer rain). RTS ni more math-rock type of band, ngan TK nye forte kat die nye gorengan2 solo+efek2 pelik. Die pon lead vok. tp sore die..susah nk telan 1st time dgr.Tp lame2 ko dpt dgr jiwa die yg nyanyi. I will post more stuff about them in their own post.

Boukan- killernye gitar solo. Lagu ngan perfomance dorg fevret aku. Start cam agak slow tp last2 die jadi cam crite Exorcist lak, macam roh 100 org dead gitarist berebut badan TK nk goreng gitar tu. Still gives me goosebump!

Lesson One: WTF is Jari Tengah?

Penggunaan jari tgh bermula sjk zaman kuno lagi, rewind back to old Greek comedy, digunakn utk,well, insulting others.Didokumentasi sbg digitus impudicus(jari biadap) dlm tulisan Rom kuno, penggunaannya tersebar luas dgn berkembangnya empayar Rom dan tamadun Greco-Roman.Raja Rom, Caligula(mamat ni mmg saiko) dikatakn memaksa rakyatnya mencium jari tghnya, instead of his hand.Satu lg teori asal-usul jari tgh adlh drpd kepercayaan gipsi, dipercayai dpt mlwn efek evil-eye(salah satu jenis ilmu hitam dorg). Jari tgh dlm cawan adlh kepunyaan astronomer terkenal Galileo, yg kini bermastautin dgn bahagia di Museo di Storia del Scienza, Itali.





Tatatertib Jari Tengah

1. Takyah dimulakan dgn Bismillah.
2. Hulurkn tgn bersudut 90 darjah.
3. Bengkokkn siku ke atas, tapak tgn ke muka.
4. Genggam tangan dgn padu.
5. Munculkn jari tgh anda dgn riaknya.
6. Hold selama 10 saat ke 5 minit utk efek yg berkekalan.
7. Hamburkan kata2 mengikut kreativiti anda tersendiri, ttp kajian saintifik menunjukkn riak muka brutal lebih efektif drpd carutan melebihi 100 patah perkataan.
-Gambarajah disertakn utk pembaca yg buta huruf.