I know I still owe part 3 of the NYC taxi story.  And probably a lot of other posts as well.  I’ve been busy.  And I’ve been tired.  Crazy tired.  I don’t really know why but I suppose it’s long past time to get serious about dealing with my obstructive sleep apnea, especially given an article in the Times over the weekend about new links found between apnea and cancer.

Anywho, we were in Manila over the weekend.  It’s summer in The Philippines and it was hotter than fuck and I think the heat got to me on my last day there.  It certainly couldn’t have been that I got drunk on Sunday night – and it’s so rare for me to drink alcohol these days that it doesn’t really take much to get me drunk.  We were at Cafe Havana, one of my usual spots there.  They had a decent salsa band playing there.  Let’s see, drums, congas, keyboard, guitar, bass, trumpet, trombone, timbales and a female singer with the requisite large breasts.  (I was listening to some Fania All-Stars yesterday, the Live at the Cheetah album, it don’t get no better than that, and I was wondering why these bar bands have such a limited repertoire.  Well, gotta keep the customer satisfied.)  We bought drinks for a lot of other people. That’s easy to do in Manila, where the cost of a fancy concoction is about half the price of a beer in Lan Kwai Fong.  And apparently at some point my gf got me to dance, which is something I never do.  It ain’t a pretty sight, that’s for sure.

Anyway, we were there looking to get a place to live.  It started on our last trip, when we viewed a new Rockwell development.  This time a bunch of places from Ayala and Century (yes, we even looked at the joint that they got Paris Hilton to advertise).  Well, I know where I want to live.  It’s in the Fort, aka Bonifacio Global City.  Unfortunately, the place we saw and loved and can afford won’t be ready for occupancy until 2017 and while I don’t plan to leave Hong Kong in the near future, 5 years is too far off.

Oh, should mention, a place we ate at Saturday night, I think it’s called Seconds, or 2nds, it’s in the Fort, just off Bonifacio High Street, right next to Agave.  (The Agave in the Philippines is apparently not affiliated with the ones in Hong Kong.  One way to know that is that the ones in Manila feature “bottomless” margaritas for roughly HK$50, if memory serves.  I shit you not.)  Anywho, very nicely designed place, Filipino food made high end with a tiny bit of a fusion-y twist.  Comfortable place.  Dinner for 4, including a bottle of very nice Spanish wine, worked out to around HK$600.

I could probably write several blog posts about my apartment-hunting experiences there.  And perhaps I will, maybe better off once the whole thing is settled and done, should that ever happen.

I’ve noticed a linguistic change in the Philippines lately.  Not sure if this is new or if I’ve only just noticed it.  I did note that in the past few years, people went from addressing you as “sir” to “sir <your name>.” as in, “Hello, Sir Spike.”  I don’t recall people doing this years ago but it seems everyone does it now.  It makes me feel weird.  I’ve only just gotten used to being called “Sir” and now apparently I’ve been promoting to a Knight of the Round Table.  Spike, OBE.  Or I guess in this case, OPE, Order of the Philippine Empire?

And now, apparently a lot of people, instead of saying a simple “goodbye,” choose instead to say, “god bless.”  Not just one or two people. I’m hearing this everywhere.  It’s in almost every email I get from there.  The flight attendants said it on the plane as we were getting ready to “de-plane.” To which I said, out loud, “no thanks.”  Really, shouldn’t we get a “god bless” before the plane takes off?  By the time it lands, do we still need it?

We could have extended our trip by an extra night and gone to see Lady Gaga, who played there Monday night and I guess also tonight.  She was not an instant sell-out there.  I don’t think the shows sold out completely.  I saw ads from one of the phone companies offering buy one, get one free deals on tickets.  There are those protesting her concerts there.  Not to the extent that they did in Indonesia, where her permit was revoked and the concerts were cancelled.  But some bible-toting whack jobs eager for publicity spouting forth about how her “values are not their own.”  Because apparently if you don’t believe what they believe, you’ve lost your freedom of expression?  Or because if they think your beliefs are different from theirs and challenge theirs, then you don’t belong because they’re so insecure in their beliefs that you threaten them? Splendid.  Oh, they announced that police would attend the concert so that they can make sure there’s no nudity or anything lewd.  They probably just wanted some free tickets.

Louis C.K.’s got this famous stand-up bit about everyone being a crybaby about technology, how everyone complains and everything is wonderful.  He includes people complaining about airlines and flights.  You’re making a trip in hours that used to take years, a trip in which half the people used to die before the trip completed.  ”You’re sitting in a chair in the sky” or something like that.  Not sure if he really believes it or if it’s just comedy fodder.  It’s funny.

But, ya know, I almost always fly Cebu Pacific to and from the Philippines these days.  Okay, they’re a budget carrier.  You don’t get food or even water on the flight unless you pay for it.  You don’t get to check in luggage unless you pay for it. And always right after the flight takes off, just as you’re settling in for a good naps, the stewardesses (“the ladies on the plane” as George Carlin liked to call them) get on the P.A. and lead everyone in some mindless game for 10 minutes.  ”Who can show me … a pencil?”  ”Oh, you’ve got a pencil, you win a toy.”  Yeesh.

Cebu Pacific always plays music when you’re getting on board and off.  And for the past several months, the song they’ve played is what seems like an endless remix of Rihanna’s S&M.

‘Cause I may be bad, but I’m perfectly good at it

Sex in the air, I don’t care, I love the smell of it

Sticks and stones may break my bones

But chains and whips excite me

Oh, I love the feeling you bring to me, oh, you turn me on

It’s exactly what I’ve been yearning for, give it to me strong

And meet me in my boudoir, make my body say ah ah ah

I like it-like it

So this is okay for a “family crowd” of children and old people boarding an airplane but Lady Gaga performing her songs within a closed arena that you have to pay to get into is a threat?  I don’t get it.

I wonder if any Cebu Pacific flights ever leave on time.  Our flight to Manila was an hour late.  Our return flight was just under 2 hours late.  We sat there by the gate, listened to the announcements, delay this, delay that and then, of course, Gate Change!  200 people standing up and having to walk all the way down to the other side of the terminal.  Apparently that was easier than bringing the plane to us.

My arrival in Hong Kong was my first time to arrive at HK’s newer Terminal 2.  I was thinking to myself, “Okay, the flight was late and bumpy and noisy and I’m tired as fuck.  But landing at Terminal 2 is a plus because the car park is outside terminal 2 and this will save us shitloads of walking.”   (Yes, I drove to the airport.  Three days’ parking there costs HK$300.  Add in gas and tolls and it’s still cheaper than round trip taxis from where I live, which would cost HK$700.)

Except, apparently, they don’t have immigration counters or baggage claim at Terminal 2.  I know, I can’t quite figure that out either.  And you know how you get from Terminal 2 to Terminal 1?  Get off the plane, go in the terminal, walk awhile, go down an escalator, get on a freaking bus, stand on the bus forever while it waits on the tarmac for all the planes to taxi by.  Get off at Terminal 1, go up another escalator, walk a bit more, then wait on a long line because there are only two machines working at the immigration counter.

So, yeah, maybe my mood is a little off today.

By the way, in case you missed it, you do want to listen to Amanda Palmer’s latest album, “Several Attempts to Cover Songs by the Velvet Underground and Lou Reed for Neil Gaiman as His Birthday Approaches.”  Yes, Neil Gaiman is also on the album (speaking, not singing, probably for the better).  I loved the title and, surprise!, I love the album as well.

And I also wanna recommend the new Saint Etienne album, Words and Music By Saint Etienne, which is an absolutely joyous celebration of pop music and its importance in our lives.

And the new album from Soulsavers, The Light the Dead See.  This time around the featured vocalist is Dave Gahan and it gets emotional.

And a new double live album from the Tedeschi Trucks Band called Everybody’s Talkin’ (first song is a cover of the Fred Neil classic).  And speaking of Allmans, the new double live Warren Haynes is a big improvement over his recent studio album.

Oh, I didn’t get to this one yet but soon will.  Lisa Marie Presley has a new album out.  Yeah, Elvis’s daughter.  Michael Jackson’s ex-wife.  It’s called Storm & Grace.  It’s produced by T Bone Burnett.  Word is it’s actually quite good.

And Father John Misty, a pseudonym for the drummer from Fleet Foxes, who has left the band, and has this new album out, Fear Fun.

And Clock Opera, Ways to Forget.

Still haven’t worked up the strength to try Damon Albarn’s Dr. Dee yet but Graham Coxon’s A+E is quite worthwhile.

And this is a great one:

“Several Attempts to Cover Songs By The Velvet Underground and Lou Reed for Neil Gaiman as His Birthday Approaches.”  It’s by Amanda Palmer.  No idea if it’s any good or not but will have to check it out given that title.

Apparently she raised $100k on Kickstarter in just 6 hours to fund her recording projects so she’s got a few fans out there already.

UPDATE:  It’s really good. Seriously. Lots of onstage dialogue between Palmer and Gaiman and the cover versions are enjoyable.

For those of you who might care.  Here’s a shot of her outside the Ritz Carlton (not taken by me, btw).

Here’s a pic she tweeted, a rare natural look:

Along with the above image she wrote, “Exhausted after Hong Kong spin class! I love this city, you can work out & buy a fake Birkin on the same street.”  (Note that someone commented on that tweet by asking, “Is it clean? Do they spit all over?”

We still don’t have tickets, still kind of tempted to go.  Would be a no-brainer if I could bring the D800 with me.

I know that posting here has been sporadic lately.  Just a lot of things on my mind that are not bloggable, some related to work, some related to life in general.  Also I’ve been giving more time and attention to my photoblog, Spike’s Photos, trying to build up interesting photo-related content there and build up the number of readers.

Of course music is a constant in my life and I thought I’d run down some thoughts on things I’ve been listening to lately.  In no particular order:

Dion – Tank Full of Blues – I guess you’d need to be around my age to recognize Dion’s name at this point.  Hailing from The Bronx, his big hits came in the early 60s, alone and with The Belmonts, especially Runaround Sue and The Wanderer and later on Abraham, Martin & John.  He’s now 72 years old and it may come as a surprise to you that he’s never stopped recording.  Not only that, he’s made some great albums along the way.  This is not a great one but it’s a good one.

The Explorers Club – Grand Hotel.  A new album by a new(ish) band, I was attracted to this by its mondo retro cover.  The music is crazy retro as well.  Goofy fun.

David Sylvian – Victim of Stars.  Sylvian is one of those guys whom I always knew I liked but never paid enough attention to.  This double disc retrospective, curated by Sylvian himself, strikes me as both a nice career summation as well as an excellent introduction to a sometimes challenging artist.

Elvis Costello & The Imposters – The Return of the Spectacular Spinning Songbook.  As big a fan as I am of Costello’s, sometimes the last 25 years of his career leaves me perplexed.  This recent live set isn’t essential by any means but it does focus on his better material and includes a DVD of the concert as well.

Bruce Springsteen – Wrecking Ball.  Well, you all know that Bruce is #1 for me and has been for almost 40 years.  I intended to write a longer review of this but I guess I won’t get around to it.  There’s plenty of good stuff here, that’s an understatement.  I think it’s problematic that two of the songs are quite old and I think his admirable attempt to extent his sonic landscape via working with a different producer and some electronics backfires and takes away from the songs.

Punch Brothers – Who’s Feeling Young Now.  An alt-country band produced by T-Bone Burnett, the opening track almost seems more influenced by Philip Glass than Hank Williams.  Multiple listens have proved rewarding.

Hoodoo Gurus – 20 Golden Greats. I’ve got a real fondness for this punky power pop band from Australia and have always wondered why they never made it bigger than they did.

Madonna – MDNA.  You might be surprised to find out that I’ve been a huge Madonna fan from day one.  Nevertheless, this album is awful.  Cynically produced pop for the masses, this is the first album released under her mega-deal with LiveNation and it’s clear that the goal here is to sell concert tickets and not to produce lasting music.  She’s simply following trends and stealing from her older material rather than trying to get out in front again.

Big Brother & the Holding Company featuring Janis Joplin – Live at the Carousel Ballroom 1968.  Some are saying this is the best officially released live Janis album ever.  Considering the competition that’s not hard.  It’s also proof of how hopelessly inept Big Brother was as a band and why Joplin had to leave them.

Rocket Juice and the Moon.  Honestly, I’ve found many of Damon Albarn’s side projects borderline unlistenable and this collaboration with Flea and Tony Allen does nothing for me.  I take it as bad news that he recently announced that both Blur and Gorillaz are finished if this is what we’re gonna get.

Nicki Minaj – Pink Friday Roman Reloaded.  No less than the NY Times recently lauded Minaj as the most influential female rapper of all time and I’m a big fan of hers but this album leaves me puzzled.  There’s some good stuff here but you have to wade through a godawful amount of crap to get to it.

Dr. John – Locked Down.  The big news is that this was produced by the Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach and it’s already the best selling album of Dr. John’s 50+ year career.  I don’t much care for it.  I think too much Auerbach, not enough Rebennack.

Paul Weller – Sonik Kicks.  There are those who are fans of Weller’s increasing sonic experimentation – first on 22 Dreams and now here.  Yes, again, it’s admirable that he’s getting old and still trying to sound new.  Call me old but I wish he’d focus on the songs and leave the frills behind.

Chemical Brothers – Don’t Think (Blu-Ray/CD, DVD/CD).  This is one of the great concert films, shot at the Fuji Rock festival in Japan with 20 cameras and some great editing.  I’ve ripped this to MP4 and it’s on my iPad and I keep coming back to this.

Bonnie Raitt – Slipstream.  If I was only going to buy one album from all of these, well it would probably be Springsteen, but this would be my #2 choice.  I’ve been a fan of Bonnie Raitt’s since her second album came out back in ’72 or so.  I think her last few albums were a bit on the lazy side.  Now, after a 7 year gap, she’s back with one of her best albums ever, simply Bonnie doing what she does best.  Heartfelt bluesy ballads and lots of guitar.

Alabama Shakes – Boys & Girls. Classic Southern rock, this is one of the bands pegged for stardom in 2012, Brittany Howard does indeed have a pretty good voice.  But like that guy in Kings of Leon, she sings as if she’s got a mouthful of marbles and the material is okay but not really memorable.  I’m told this all comes off better live.

Jack White – Blunderbuss.  Hard to believe it’s taken so long for White to do a solo album.  As odd as it may seem, I’ve never been a big fan of the White Stripes but I am a fan of White’s.  This album is all over the stylistic map but I think will hold up to repeated listens.

Johnathan Wilson – Gentle Spirit.  Gentle, slow burning psychedelic folk that sounds like California in the early 70s but was released at the tail end of last year.  Best for listening late at night with headphones on.

That’s about it for now.  Here’s the stuff cued up for the near future:

Frankie Rose – Interstellar

Wynton Marsalis – The Music of America

Black Country Communion – Live Over Europe

Leftfield – Tourism

Andrew Bird – Break It Yourself

The Decemberists – We All Raise Our Voices to the Air

Brad Mehldau Trio – Ode

Garfunkel & Oates – Slippery When Moist

Loudon Wainwright III – Older Than My Old Man Now

Ray Wylie Hubbard – The Grifter’s Hymnal

Doug Jerebine – Is Jesse Harper

Justin Townes Earle – Nothing’s Gonna Change the Way I Feel About You Now

Graham Coxon – A+E

Quantic & Alice Russell – Look Around the Corner

Spiritualized – Sweet Heart Sweet Light

Sigur Ros – Valtari

Rufus Wainwright – Out of the Game

Which of these have you heard?  What else would you recommend?

This week’s issue of The New Yorker has an astonishing article by John Seabrook about how current pop hits are constructed.  It focuses in on “topline” songwriter Ester Dean and the Norwegian production duo known as Stargate.  (Unfortunately you need to be a subscriber to access the entire article.)

Whereas rock is about the sound of a band playing together (even when its members aren’t actually together) and features virtuoso solos played on real instruments, today’s Top Forty is almost always machine made: lush sonic landscapes of beats, loops, and synths in which all the sounds have square edges and shiny surfaces, the voices are Auto-Tuned for pitch, and there are no mistakes. The music sounds sort of like this: thump thooka whompa whomp pish pish pish thumpaty wompah pah pah pah.  The people who create the songs are often in different places. The artists, who spend much of the year touring, don’t have time to come into the studio; they generally record new material in between shows, in mobile recording studios and hotel rooms, working with demos that producers and top-line writers make for them to use as a kind of vocal stencil pattern. (The production notes for Rihanna’s single “Talk That Talk: say that her vocal was recorded on “the Bus” in Birmingham, Alabama, in Room 538 of the Sofitel Paris Le Faubourg, and in Room 526 of the Savoy, in London.)

There’s what I consider a ray of light at the end of the article, which comes when discussing the Grammy Awards and Adele.

… with the mention of Adele the air pressure in the control room seemed to change. Stargate knew well from their experience in London how quickly fads come and go in the pop business; a massive smash such as Adele’s “Someone Like You,” with its heartfelt lyrics, accompanied by simple piano arpeggios – no arpeggiator required – could be the beginning of the end of urban pop.

I guess it doesn’t really matter.  All forms of music can co-exist and all are equally valid in my book.  Just that some seem more valid than others.

Holy crap, Underground is staging their 100th show.

5 top local bands, Wu So Lui hosting and all sorts of prizes to be won.  Be there!

It all takes place this Saturday, 17 March, at 8 PM at Grappa’s Cellar in Central.

Who has the most albums to go to #1 on the Billboard album charts?  It probably won’t surprise you to find out it’s The Beatles.

Bruce Springsteen’s Wrecking Ball has just debuted at #1, giving him his 10th #1 album and he’s now tied with Elvis at 3rd place for most #1 albums.  Elvis may be lower than you expected because his biggest hits came in an era when sales were more focused on singles rather than albums.

So if The Beatles are #1 and Elvis and Springsteen are tied at #3, who is #2?  The Rolling Stones?  Abba?  U2?  Nope, nope and nope.  #2 is Jay-Z, who according to HuffPo has had 12 #1 albums.

The three HK Lady Gaga shows sold out almost instantly.  HKTicketing.com (owned by one of the mega developers, of course, New World) was a joke with plenty of complaints of people unable to get through.  This being Hong Kong, it was natural that plenty of people who did wait on line and manage to get tickets have no interest in the concert, they are merely looking to make a quick profit through scalping.  Top price tickets, face value of HK$1580, are currently going for between HK$3,500 and HK$5,000.  My optimistic assumption is that as the concert dates get closer and the tickets remain unsold, the prices will drop.

This ad on AsiaXpat.com today caught my eye and my admiration:

Gaga Tickets wanted – NO SCUMMY TOUTS

This is probably a waste of time, but I would rather stick my head in a blender than give money to these ‘people’ who are preying on teenager’s passions to make a quick buck.
Anyway, I’m looking for 3 tickets for Lady Gaga’s Saturday 5th May show. If any decent, honest people have tickets and can’t make it, please let me know what reasonable price you’d like for them.

Puh-lease don’t bother leaving comments about how you don’t like Gaga or you don’t see what all the fuss is about.   You like her or you don’t, that’s your prerogative.  It is exceedingly rare for an artist at their commercial peak to do a show in Hong Kong, especially one this popular.  While I didn’t much care for her most recent album, I have little doubt that she will stage a visually interesting show.  Personally, I’d much rather see Springsteen but he doesn’t seem to feel that a “world tour” should include Hong Kong.  On the other hand, my gf is absolutely, um, gaga to see Lady Gaga live and not just on video and I’m hoping to make that wish come true for her one way or another – but much like that person who took the above ad out, I’ll be damned if I’m gonna pay 2 or 3 times ticket face value for this.

So here’s the deal.  Lady Gaga is coming to Hong Kong, one of those very rare occasions when an artist at the peak of their popularity is doing a concert here.  The show is scheduled for May 2nd.  They did a “pre-sale” only for HK American Express card holders.

Now, AsiaWorld can hold up to 14,000 people in the main hall, depending on the size of the stage and some other factors.  Reportedly AmEx had either 5,000 or 6,000 tickets.  There are approximately 47,000 AmEx card holders in HK.  You were allowed to buy up to 8 tickets.  So let’s say that just 10% of the AmEx holders wanted to get tickets.  That means demand for 37,600 tickets, only 6,000 available, most of their card holders are going to be disappointed.  And that’s indeed what happened.

The sale was conducted via the always-count-on-them-to-be-inept HK Ticketing.  Tickets went on sale Thursday morning at 10 AM.  Depending on who you believe, these tickets were sold out in 30 minutes, 1 hour or 3 hours.  Either way, it was impossible to get through on HK Ticketing’s web site or phone lines because they don’t bother to scale up their infrastructure when the expected demand might scale up.  Meanwhile some people waited on line outside Tom Lee Music Stores (where HK Ticketing has “live” sales).  People waited online 3 hours or more and most came away disappointed.  HK Ticketing doesn’t care.  They don’t have to.  The tickets sold out, they collected their fees.

The balance of the tickets go on sale this Monday morning at 10 AM.  It ain’t gonna be pretty.

Meanwhile, Lady Gaga has added a second show, May 3rd.

Now for me, I think it would be interesting to see her live.  I can imagine a very elaborate stage show that ought to be entertaining.  And even if it’s not, the costumes that many of her fans, aka “little monsters,” would wear should certainly be worth seeing.  But I could live without seeing her live.  May 3rd also happens to be my birthday and I can imagine a lot of ways I’d rather spend that evening.

On the other hand, my gf is, well, gaga for Gaga.  She is desperate to go.

Here’s the fly in the ointment.  This Monday, we’re both in Manila.  And at 10 AM, we will both be in the hospital.  It’s doubtful that we will be able to access the internet or even have time to keep reloading HK Ticketing’s crappy web site.

So, if any kind soul out there who plans to buy tickets on Monday and actually manages to get through to make a purchase could pick up 2 tickets for me – any seats, either night – I’d be extremely grateful.

Year after year, the Hong Kong Arts Festival brings a parade of great artists to Hong Kong, most of whom probably wouldn’t appear here if not for whatever voodoo it is that the festival does to get them here.  Among this year’s shows, 2 nights with Dr. John and the Lower 911.  Of course, the good Doctor did not disappoint.

I had to look it up – Mac Rebbenack aka Dr. John is now 71 years old.  He’s been recording since he was a teenager doing studio work down in New Orleans.  (The last time I saw him live was in Boston around 1973 or 74.) His most recent albums have focused on the post-Katrina New Orleans and he’s also showed up in the TV series Treme, so it’s probably fair to say that 50+ years into his career, he’s the closest thing to being famous as he was back in the early late 60s and early 70s when his records got played on the radio and he had a couple of hits.  But you don’t go to see Dr. John because he’s “famous,” you go because the man is a truly unique performer, not just a legend but a walking encyclopedia of multiple genres that get too little attention these days.

His set certainly reflected where he’s been.  He kicked off with It Don’t Mean A Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing, followed by I’ll Be Glad When You’re Dead You Rascal You.  We got New Orleans classics like Tipitina and St. James Infirmary.  We got his two biggest hits, Right Place Wrong Time and Such a Night (loved when he ended that one with a bit of Rhapsody in Blue tossed in).  There was blues, there was rock, there was jazz, there was soul – it was, in short, The Real Deal.

And while I’m at it, I should raise a glass to The Lower 911, Dr. John’s backing band.  David Barard on bass, John Fohl on guitar, Raymond Weber on drums – these guys were able to follow their leader wherever he went.  The Doctor of course gave a master’s course in piano, occasionally switching to the Hammond B-3 and even cutting loose on guitar on a Champion Jack Dupree song.  The program said that the running time would be about 90 minutes but it was closer to 105 – and it started almost exactly at 8, meaning that there were quite a few late arrivals in the audience.  He almost never spoke to the audience – a couple of times intro’d a song by mentioning the songwriter and introducing his band towards the end.

I only wish I had some better photos to share with you.  The HK Cultural Centre seems to be one of the few venues where the ushers are actively going after people with cameras.  I had no way to adjust settings, just set to “P”, cover the back LCD screen, point the camera, click, drop it down out of sight again.

And speaking of the HK Arts Festival bringing in the kinds of stuff we don’t otherwise get in HK, tonight’s little program booklet mentions some of the stuff that I guess has been confirmed for the 2013 festival.  One of the items on this list makes me very happy indeed – Einstein on the Beach!  The only Philip Glass opera I’ve ever seen is Satyagraha, which was transcendent; I’ve always wanted to see this one on stage.