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Arrr, the boys are back in town (again) this coming Thu. 12/04. Be there. Should be fun.

Los Amigo Invisibles are coming back. Exactly what we need to forget about the cold rainy Nor Cal winter. Be there.

Stuff I am listen to on my iPhone these days:

• I Close My Eyes and Count to Ten – by Marc Almond & Sarah Cracknell. Not a big Marc Almond fan, but a HUGE Sarah Cracknell / Saint Etienne fan. The song actually reminds me of the typical Hong Kong karaoke pop song. Wonder if anyone would actually duet this song at K. 😛
• 21st Centry Christmas – this is a free Saint Etienne song. Get it at their site. While you are at the site, download “song 2” – Through the Winter
• Happy Christmas (War Is Over) – John Lennon
• I Was Born On Christmas Day – Saint Etienne – Tiger Bay Album (damn, Saint Etienne loves Chrismas)
• Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas – 胡琳. Hong Kong artist covering the song in Jazz guitar style
• Lonely Christmas – 陳奕迅. Probably one of my favorite Eason Chan song too
• White X’mas – 側田 Justin Lo’s version. I actually know Justin from way back when we both still worked at Yahoo!
• Please come home for Christmas – 杉山清貴
• Christmaska – Tokyo Ska Paradise
• Baby, It’s Cold Outside – Dean Martin. If you are a single guy, this song will for sure get you laid.
• Silent Bells – 遊佐未森 & 古賀森男. Another hard to find late 80s’ early 90s’ J-pop duet by Yusa Mimori & Kogamorio with a Christmas twist.
• 最後のHoly Night – 杉山清貴. Listen to My Heart EP version. Thank you.
• Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence – 坂本龍一. Coda 1983 Piano solo version please.

Underworld is coming back to San Francisco to start their world tour. Be there.

Not sure how I was able to miss this in 2005. /04 done in pretty much full piano style. Sakamoto + Piano. Enough said. Get it.

The boys Los Amigos are back at the Bay Area *again*. With the all political unrest at Venezuela I think they should just stay… 😛

Anyhoo, they are playing at the The Independent aka the old Justice League at Divisadero.  This is also the place where LAI played  MANY MANY years again – (5+).  So they are really back to where it all started.  Two night. Tomorrow and Wed. It should be great.

Thanks to Scion/Toyota, you can see the boys from Venezuelan for free at Fort Mason Pavilion in San Francisco April 15h. Hmmmm someone at Scion Marketing Department has damn fine taste in music, or is it they just know their Target Market well? 😛

Anyhoo, Los Amigos Invisibles is back. Again. My 10th times see them live? lol. They are that good. Sign up here for free. In the mean time check out their previous live show here. Listen to it, and you know why they are so damn cool.

One of my fav. band Saint Etienne is coming to town. They will be performing at the historic Fillmore this Fri.

Arr, the Fillmore… once I was there backstage and hung out with Ryuichi Sakamoto… but that’s a different story.

I will be flying to Hong Kong fri. night, so I’ll miss the show. 😦 If you have nothing to do Fri. night check them out! The new Saint Etienne album is actually very very good – if you are into sweet Brit Pop, dance, and electronic music… Sarah Cracknell (the lead singer) is nice to watch too. 😛

Yay. Paul van Dyk is coming to San Francisco.

Not sure what the deal is since there will be 2 shows at Ten15… Should I buy tickets for the earlier show or the later one? The earlier show is 80 bucks (ouch)… If you have any recommendation do let me know…

I doubt he would play "Tell Me Why"… What can I say? I am a Saint Etienne fan after all. It’s also a CD release party… Politics of Dance 1 is pretty good, it’s actually one of those rare "Trance" (OMG, I’ve finally used that word) tracks I listen to fairly frequently.

This should be good…

Yay. Saint Etienne‘s new album is out. Have a listen here. I love Finisterre, but Tales from Turnpike House is no doubt a better album than Finishterre.

Another pop group I was introduced to by George just today is I am the World Trade Center. Like he said, the lead singer sounds a little like Debby Harry. Fun stuff.

Pop music is good for you.

Update: Received the physical CD today. The acompany bonus Saint Etinne EP Up In the Wooden Hills is apperently a preview of the up coming childern album. It’s sooooo good. In fact, it really is a Childern Album for the grown up. Don’t be fool by the word "Children". The signature sound of Saint Etienne is all there. Actually, the "feel" of the EP is a lot more "retro" than TFTH… Must get.