My Brain and Good Music.

Lately.I think I'm having wut they call....A Writer's Block.

Hur.

Ah well, not that I'm much of a writer writer..but U know.

Ahem.

Yes. Damnation calls. Find myself writing halfway, or just cos I had my attention interrupted in the midst, and I just can't seem to continue there after.It just stops there dead in the tracks.Even the search for ONE word leaves me staring into space as I await for the mind to depict my exact thoughts in black and whites.

Damn it. Is this a dry spell? Or am I retarding?

Fuck its not age is it. It can't possibly have....caught up with me.

Numbers will be my enemy. And all its manifestations.

Where're those detestable very not delectable ginko nuts when I need them.

Help.me.U yellow squishy things.

Every piece of writing seems to keep ending up in drafts either cos they're incomplete...or they're incomplete.

Perhaps the mind can no longer keep up with the heart.

And so my degeneration process has started it seems.

Woe be me.

No strength to do anything abt it at the moment, and so we'll leave the mosses to breed.

For a while.

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I wonder if I ever got tongue tied when talking abt music.

Having vanished from the scene after releasing 2 (albeit the small number) wonderful sounding pieces to the airwaves, I'm sure many of us haven't forgotten this name. A sound, and a voice, that is truly, one of its kind. And still is.

Since its debut album, which states 1998, but my memory feels its somehow much further back( but then again wasn't I just lamenting on the possible degenerating works of my brain so 1998 must only be correct.), I have tried searching for other tracks from this artiste somewhere in between and along the years, but only in vain. Anyhow, with the availability of mp3s and file sharing softwares rampant like nobody's business, you would think finding them would be a piece of cake. Well not exactly. They were strangely enough, no where in sight.

Then came late 2004, or early 2005. I finally got my hands on new material, albeit 1.
I was thrilled like anything. This particular track, which seemed to be the only thing available other than the famous amoses. Its title, Mother We Just Can't Get Enough.
It wasn't bad, it wasn't boring, it didn't leave me feeling ' maybe I shdn't bother looking for the rest anymore'. In fact, it made me hungry for more. More now. More soon. I just HAD to get hold of them.

And well, perseverance paid off.

I remember being excited like I can't remember being that excited over any other album as far as I can recall but hell yeah I was over the moon.

At the same time, I was nervous, apprehensive, and cautious.

Minus the drama, rationale being, its been a really, really, long time. Disappointment would be slightly more than little if things turned out, well, disappointing. The same goes for excitement, satisfaction, happy feelings and all.Double if u've been searching for twice as long, over the top if u feel its been forever.

And today, I hope that more would be introduced to the many, many other gems produced in this wonderful piece of work.Why the hell things stopped after the 2 singles leaves me baffled, as there are many other tracks in the album that are definitely worth a listen over and over again.

And after an eternity of I-intended-to-go-right-into-who's-the-artiste-after-this-paragraph-i-really-did, here it is, finally.Foowh.


Gregg Alexander-The Musician

Wake up kids; we got the dreamers' disease. Age 14, we got you down on your knees. So polite, we're busy still saying please.

Born in 1970 in Grosse Pointe, Michigan, Gregg Alexander quickly developed into a multi-talented musician, proficient on guitar, keyboards and vocals. He developed quickly in height, too, and measured 6'5" on his 16th birthday. Not long after leaving school, Alexander signed a record contract with MCA - but because of his rebellious nature, he was loath to record a full album.

Finally, due to studio pressure in 1997, he scraped together a handful of studio musicians and slapped down his best five songs onto an album, under the guise of 'New Radicals'. The album, Maybe You've Been Brainwashed Too, undeservedly died a dramatic death on release(undeserved indeed! u can say that again! but death..DEATH? I will never understand..*exits*), but the featured single - 'You Get What You Give' - was a big hit on both sides of the Atlantic, and an MTV favourite.

Alexander, with his trademark Beanie hat and natural charisma, became a big hit overnight - although Andy Warhol's 'Five Minutes...' was only too prescient. The New Radicals split after releasing their second single, 'Someday We'll Know', and Alexander started work with Ronan Keating (Ro..roNAN KEATING?!) on the latter's solo album. The up-tempo hits 'Lovin' Each Day' and 'Love is a Rollercoaster' were both Alexander-penned, as was Sophie Ellis Bextor's 'Murder on the Dancefloor'. (Murder he wrote.)

For several years now it has been in vogue to have an Alexander track on the album of many mainstream stars - final acceptance perhaps of one of the decade's finest original songwriters.

The Music

Somehow the New Radicals got a reputation as a teeny-bopper type band, but Alexander's songwriting is considerably deeper. Brainwashed opens well with the storming big piano-led sound of 'Mother We Just Can't Get Enough', and continues much in the same vein with track two, the chart release.

Despite its mainstream reputation, 'Get What You Give' is a rebellious take on stardom, subverting its musical style very nicely indeed. The parent-shocking genre continues through 'I Hope I Didn't Just Give Away the Ending', which is about making pornography for cocaine (no, really!), and 'Someday We'll Know' - the requiem of an obsessed stalker.

Sounds cheerful? Well, it actually is. Alexander wraps these dubious sentiments in light major-key piano riffs and clean guitar sounds - all very radio-friendly. The terrific achievement in making songs about lunatic political activists ('Jehovah Made This Whole Joint for You') and anodyne pop artists (the title track) sound joyous and listenable and remains one of the album's great achievements.

Maybe the whole album is drug-obsessed ('Technicolor Lover' celebrates an LSD-induced girlfriend fantasy). Maybe it's overly cynical. Maybe Alexander overpowers too many songs with his vocal screeches (no way) . But the power and the soul felt when you turn the volume up and groove along to 'You Get What You Give' cannot be denied. They called it a one-hit wonder - but what a hit...

You can say that again.
After The New Radicals

Alexander's writings for Ronan Keating were generally acclaimed as being 'some of the best stuff Ronan's ever done' (Yikes.And I'd be damned.) . Certainly, the vibrancy of 'Life Is a Rollercoaster' and the dance-floor magic of 'Lovin' Each Day' were well received, and a refreshingly cheerful alternative to Alexander's usual misery.

With Ellis Bextor, however, he committed the cardinal sin of choosing the wrong singer for the song. Sophie's extremely Home Counties accent (south of England, a bit posh) trying to sing 'gonna burn this goddamn house right down' reduced many listeners to rolling on the floor, racked with laughter. Now if Gregg had sung it himself, that may have been a different story...

As disturbing as it is, the learning of the writer behind the *gag* rollercoaster, not to mention * gag gag* Murder on the good god! song, I can't help but replay the last sentence of the commentary and think to myself, ' It might actually sound good' .

Come on Gregg. Enough of this writing for crappy performers that don't do any justice to yer very essence. I want to hear you sing again.

The Album

Mouse, here.