Five Favourites : Utah Jazz

Luke Wilson as Utah Jazz – a name he adapted randomly – smashed the UK drum’n’bass scene with his remix of Roni Size’s It’s A Jazz Thing in 2006. His debut album – named after this career-defining track – hit the streets last month.

What is your favourite drum’n’bass record of all time?
That’s almost impossible for me to answer! I have so many. Possibly Pulp Fiction by Alex Reece, The Western by PFM or Horizons by LTJ Bukem.
What is your favourite album in 2008 so far?
Utah Jazz’s It’s A Jazz Thing from Liquid V. Well, I’d have to say that, wouldn’t I?
What is your favourite film?
Probably The Game starring Michael Douglas. I couldn’t believe the twist in that movie. I also like Dumb & Dumber for when I’m in a stupid mood.
What is your favourite city?
I’d have to say London. I’ve lived there all my life, my friends and family are all around me too, and it gives me lots of inspiration just being here.
What is your favourite transportation?
I do like planes as there are so many places I would not have been lucky enough to visit without them. But my favourite is probably long train journeys where I can mess around on my computer, watch TV, have a beer and chill out before the gig ahead.

The liquid funkster is hitting the dance floor with his Asian tour at Club Flamingo with support from Kay C, Cookie, Fat Demon, Blood Dunza, Saiyan, Teem, MC Z1BKR and VJ Forivermann on August 8. The gig starts at 11pm and entry price TBC.

Show Hands

Fama, the funniest and funkiest hip-hop crew in Hong Kong, are back. Though they never really left. But due to the whole photo scandal thing and the disappearance of boss man Edison Chen earlier in the year, Fama’s concerts were postponed from April to August. Now the time has finally come, and their two upcoming concerts under the umbrella title Famanation will parade some of what they have been through in the last four months. Famanation – or ‘Hold your hands up show-off show’ as its Cantonese title – will be a showcase of the all-round talents of C Kwan and 6Wing. The two rappers will sing – having taken lessons from veteran backing vocalist Silver Ko for the last few months, they will cover classic rap songs from LMF, Softhard, Roman Tam and even Natalis Chan – and they will even run a bit of a talk show. Contrary to conventional Chinese wisdom that people should be humble, the duo believe in showing off. Their latest hit Push Your Hands Up is about “showing-off humbly”, according to 6Wing: “When we even ‘show-off’ things that we are not expert in, people won’t think we are arrogant. They will think we are brave.”

The duo have been busy over the last two years, starring in a film (Barbara Wong’s Happy Funeral), being poster boys for various commercials and guest lecturing on hip-hop at Baron Music College – they believe it all adds dimensions to their music. “We’ve learned a lot through all these activities and it’s good that more people got to know us from different channels,” says C Kwan. “It also pushes us to work harder. We can now produce better music in a shorter time, as we are now more mature in technique.” And, of course, the Edison Chen scandal made the rappers more recognizable to the general public. Much attention will be paid to whether the 27-year-old artist and CEO of CLOT Media, which signed Fama in 2007, will be at the show. To the boys it is not a big deal, as they will film the concerts and show them to Chen anyway. “But if he actually comes, he will really be stealing our spotlight,” jokes C Kwan.

Fama may no longer be the underground hip-hop crew it used to be, but some things stay the same. In an interview with bc six years ago, Fama was described as “not interview savvy”. That hasn’t changed all that much. “We have learned how to talk in interviews during the past few years… but if we really have nothing to say, we won’t make things up,” says C Kwan.
Catch Fama’s Famanation concerts on August 2 and 3 at HITEC Star Hall. Shows start at 8:15pm and tickets are $400, $250 and $180 from HK Ticketing, 31 288 288.

Toe Tappin

“We are completely a live band. Our CDs are a kind of a guide for audiences to come and enjoy our live show,” proclaims Yamazaki Hirokazu, bass player of Japanese band Toe. Such a confident statement is not meant to provoke the whole ‘the digital era kills music, the only way to go is live’ debate all over again. Instead, formed in 2000 and active on the Japanese live music scene ever since, Toe have developed an infectious and emotionally engaging live performance that brought them fame. “Everyone can buy and listen to our CDs or get our music through iTunes or web-sites easily. We don’t say it’s not good but all our music is done for our lovely fans who always book tickets and come to see our show,” explains Hirokazu. Watching some of the live video clips of the band on YouTube, it is not difficult to see why Toe is on a level with international post-rock/math-rock bands like PELE, Mice Parade and 31 Knots. Most striking is Path (a track from their first mini-album Songs, Ideas We Forgot) where the audience encircles the band practically toe-to-toe. Towards the end of the song, the band gets quite savage – very different from the usual clean, melodic sound on their records.

Heavily influenced in his teen years by Japanese punk rock, heavy and trash metal as well as the Straight Edge subculture (a term taken from the title of a song by Washington DC punk rock band Minor Threat), Hirokazu followed indie labels like Ebullition and Jade Tree in his early 20s and started Toe after listening to a 7-inch single by Ghosts and Vodka. He was struck by the idea of instrumental rock sounds with a speedy guitar, but he won’t label Toe’s music math-rock – the genre often characterized by complexity in rhythm structure. “Actually, I don’t like categorizing our band,” he says, “but we don’t mind how people categorize us. It’s quite difficult for me to express anything about our band in words. I want you to listen to our sound and feel or judge for yourself.”
Toe will play in Hong Kong for the first time on August 2 at Grappa’s Cellar (Jardine House,
1 Connaught Place, Central). They will be supported by The LoveSong and doors open at 9pm. Advance tickets are $280 from White Noise Records (1/F, 4 Canal Road, Causeway Bay, 2591 0499) or $320 at the door; both prices include one drink.

Rock Marathon
It is almost a music marathon at Underground 65 – with seven bands playing, the organizer won’t pull the plug until 1:30am. The local line-up is Mandarin hard-rock/nu-metal four-piece Crazimals, guitar-pop band Sway Dog, Killer Soap, J-rock influenced Peri M and all-girl rocker Dovey. Also performing will be Macau emo quintet Scamp and Tae Kim, one half of acoustic duo Twenty Two based in New York City. The August 8 show at Club Cixi starts at 9:30pm. Entry is $100.

Panic Refund
The Panic at the Disco show on August 12 is cancelled. The boys promise to come back in the near future but before that ticket holders will need to get their money back. Refunds will be made before August 18 through original modes of payment. Credit-card payments will be automatically credited to the same card and those who purchased tickets by cash will need to present their actual tickets at the HK Ticketing Box Office, HKCEC from 11am to 7pm, Mon- Sat.

Learn ABC

Born and raised in Miami, MC Jin became famous with freestyle rapping that won him the televised rap battle Freestyle Friday seven times in New York. After releasing four English albums and breaking into the Billboard charts, the 26-year-old returns to his roots and is proud to pronounce himself ABC (American-born Chinese) on a Cantonese album. He talks about his street-smart lyrics and love of Hong Kong culture.

What is the story behind the tattoo on your neck? Did you do it so people can remember you?
I had it done for my 21st birthday. It was quite a big deal for me because after turning 21 you can do things you normally couldn’t before. I mean, I don’t, but officially I could drink, go to casinos and clubs, etc. So I wanted to find something exciting to do. But the first thing was to discuss it with my parents. I knew my dad wouldn’t say no because he has so many tattoos on him already and my mum just said I was grown up so she couldn’t control me. But she wanted me to make sure I had something I wouldn’t mind staying for the rest of my life on my body, so I decided my name was the most practical.
You have released four English albums already and ABC is your Cantonese debut. How did it come together?
I came back to Hong Kong for a show in 2006 and some friends suggested I make a Cantonese album, saying stuff like hip-hop was getting big. I said, “Sure, why don’t we call it ABC,” casually. I wrote some Cantonese rap on the spot – it was actually the first verse of the song ABC now. People just went crazy when I said, “Hey I am gonna release a Cantonese record. Do you want a listen?” on stage.
But you cannot read and write Chinese. In fact that is what the song Speak Can’t Read is all about. How can you record?
I have never written down my Cantonese lyrics in black and white actually. Only now, Universal is releasing my album so they need to print the lyrics, and they jot them down while listening to my songs. Sometimes they call me up and ask me what I was rapping.
How do you get to know so much about Hong Kong culture if you were born and bred in the US?
I am lucky! Though I was born in the US, I had a chance to get to know Hong Kong culture through watching TVB and Stephen Chow – I am a super fan of Stephen Chow. The music video of the new song Classroom Time is inspired by Fight Back to School actually.
The observation in Yum Dom Cha is really to the point.
Yeah, I am 26 now and in the past 20 years every time I go to the teahouse I see people fighting for the bill. Even if you don’t really want to pay, you have to say you will once without trying to take out your wallet. This is real Chinese culture (chuckling). This is the kind of trivial thing that people can really relate to. ABC is my fifth album but it is the one that I can relate to the most.
Any favourite Cantopop artist?
Jacky Cheung. I mean, which Chinese doesn’t listen to Jacky Cheung? One is not a Chinese if one doesn’t listen to him! (chuckle)
And Cantonese hip-hop?
You wouldn’t believe me if I told you who introduced me into Cantonese hip-hop! It was my mum – she introduced me to LMF actually. She gave me a concert VCD of LMF and she was like, “So you like hip-hop? You gotta check it out!”

MC Jin’s ABC will hit the street on August 6 and you can catch him in varies live shows throughout the month. Click http://jininhk.com for updates.

Play and Get Rich
Three questions for all rock-god wannabes: Are you in a band (a one-man band doesn’t count)? Do you have two (or more) original tunes? Can you play them live in front of a roaring crowd? If your answer to all questions is yes, now is the time to take a step towards to a US$100,000 cash prize. The Global Battle of the Bands, supported by bc magazine, is accepting applications and, for the China leg, heats will be held in Shenzhen, Shanghai, Macau and Hong Kong. The first Hong Kong heat will be on September 19 at Club Cixi, followed by the second and the last on October 3 and 4 at Club Cixi and The Cavern, respectively. After the Hong Kong finals on October 10, winners from the four regions will play one final gig on October 25 at The Cavern to decide which lucky rockers will fly to London for the grand final in December and, possibly, take the US$100,000 and a special gold ‘Best New Band in the World’ statuette home. Log on to http://gbob.com/challenge/2008/cn
/index.php for entry details.

Turning Points

Vocalist Rick Lau entertained a full-house crowd at the Fringe Club last month with his signature Broadway numbers, classic jazz standards and Cantopop hits. For his August show – the second of a July-September cabaret trilogy – he has adopted Turning Points as his theme. Lau decided to set his upcoming show on his life, past and future, after reading an article claiming that, if we plot a graph of our top 10 turning points according to their effect on us on a scale of -10 to +10 against an age scale, the graph will show our general outlook on life and where we are heading. He will be sharing his 10 ups and downs in life through song and is curious about the graph he will create. Join him and his special guest performer on August 9 at the Fringe Club’s Fringe Gallery. The show starts at 10:30pm and tickets are $120 in advance from the Fringe Club, or $150 at the door.

Canto Highlights

The HK Coliseum is closed for renovation, but our Cantopop stars have managed to find other places to show off their talents. For one, dance/pop four-piece EO2’s Ladies’ Nite Live 2008 will be at the HITEC Star Hall on August 30 and 31 at 8:15pm. Tickets are $350 and $200. Then, on September 6, Denise Ho, Hins Cheung, Wilfred Lau and Terence Chui will stage a Safe The Planet 2008 concert at the AsiaWorld-Arena to spread Greenpeace messages regarding environmental protection. Showtime is 8:30pm and tickets are $680, $480, $320, $220 and $120. Singer/songwriter Ivana Wong will be presenting shows on September 27 and 28 at HITEC Star Hall beginning at 8:15pm. Tickets are $400, $250 and $180. Tickets for all above shows from HK Ticketing, 31 288 288.

Jazz Giants
Multi-Grammy award-winning duo George Benson and Al Jarreau are visiting the HKSAR as part of their Givin’ It Up tour. Swing with some silky smooth jazz on September 12 at HKCEC Hall 3. Tickets are available through HK Ticketing, 31 288 288, price to be confirmed.