The End: a critical commentary

I've finally figured out what's rubbing me the wrong way with 'The End', Lil Uzi Vert's collab with BABYMETAL. First, the song attempts to recapture BABYMETAL's child-like quality of 10-13 years ago, which in itself isn't a bad thing. But given the part they got to play in this song, it's just a caricature or a stereotype, at best, of the band they once were that this song is summoning.

The chorus in which we hear the girls' voices (or is it just SU's?) is cute and catchy, which is what we remember, but the lyrics are so literal, they're not even close to the relative sophistication of 'Doki Doki Morning', or their Sakura Gakuin songs from even earlier. 'Lalala... sing a song... sing along... love is all you need... we love all music' are just prosaic lines that mean exactly that. There's nothing to interpret, nothing to exercise the brain, or excite the heart, other than the solid hard-core metal behind them.

What I am most disappointed with is that this song fails to take seriously BABYMETAL as they currently are, and what they can now do. Instead, the production process to me feels like the girls were given some sheet music and told to sing it into some recording device for processing later, and the girls were nice enough to oblige. Looking at their world tour schedule for this year, perhaps that was all the time they had, anyway.

In comparison, 'Kingslayer' (harsh language warning) sounds more like a true collab between Bring Me the Horizon and BABYMETAL with the integration of their different strengths: sounds, styles, lyricism, imagery. There's thought and discussion apparent, resulting in a seamless throughline and a deliberate sense of artistry that synergizes the two bands in this one song.

Having said that, I still wish Lil Uzi all the best success in Pink Tape, their fourth album. Finding a new direction is difficult. I applaud the inspiration and courage behind the song, and appreciate its positive spirit. BABYMETAL started the same way.

The End... or the beginning?

A sudden, unexpected drop of new music from BABYMETAL just a few hours ago today. The girls feature in 'The End' by Lil Uzi Vert, a rap/hip hop artist of whom I am unfamiliar. The clip above is not a video, so it's hard to tell if all 3 METALS are involved in providing the chorus to this track.

This track sounds highly experimental in the attempt to merge hip hop with metal. The greater commitment is towards metal with a variety of electronic sound effects thrown into the mix. To me it sounds like a kid in a candy store making the noise of a bull in a China shop as he grabs everything he can carry because he can afford it all. Very enthusiastic.

BABYMETAL, themselves, sound completely manic, making me wonder if their vocals have been sped up. Their lyrics are sharp and clear, regardless, their voices cutting through the metal as always. The melody is cutesy, but the tempo makes me feel like I've had way too much coffee than is good for me. 'The End' ends with a music box, a sudden and jarring break from the metal, probably as an acknowledgement to the 'babies', which I thought felt more patronizing than appreciative.

It's nice of BABYMETAL to help a brother out ('brother' in reference to the generic expression, rather than to a specific gender) in exploring a fresh direction for his (their?) music. We are seeing some baby steps in Lil Uzi Vert's first attempts at distinguishing himself (themselves?) from within a highly competitive market, and we wish him (them?) all success in this bold new endeavor. Apologies for the parentheses. Lil Uzi self-refers in the plural but, linguistically, it's hell to wrap my pre-evolved boomer brain around.

Since this is my raw, initial reaction, let's just say that 'The End' (feat. BABYMETAL) will take some patience and several re-listens before I decide if I would put it in my playlist.

IDZ brings the evening to a close

(This post concludes my reaction to BABYMETAL's performance during their World Tour 2023 at Zepp, KL, 4 June 2023. If you start here and scroll downwards, the sequence will be in reverse order. If you prefer the sequence to be chronological, first scroll about 13 entries down to my 'Megitsune' review, then work your way back up.)

BABYMETAL gifts us with one final number to finish a 14 item set. The performance in the featured video (above) is the capstone to the showcase that riveted the band's place in metal canon. Sonisphere, UK, 2014, a major rock music festival, marks a glorious piece of historic lore in which an unknown band comprising a trio of uncomfortably kawaii underage frontwomen singing pop in a foreign language accompanied by a face-melting metal band got unexpectedly bumped up from the fringe event, and on to the main stage in front of 60,000 presumed hardcore metalheads. After immediately becoming the talk of the town, the band gained a beachhead from which to conquer the world.

Was their success really that unexpected? Well, even at this young age (14-16 years), the girls are already entertainment veterans, having performed in front of large numbers of paying audience for at least 4 years, if not more. The Kami band behind them is jaw-droppingly metal. Their performance package is tried and tested: the choreography is well-rehearsed, polished and perfectly coordinated; the trio's vocals are strongly melodic, and delivered with powerful conviction; their stage presence captivating. By this time, they've already picked up a global following through their MV releases on YouTube, 'Gimme Choco' being their most viewed. And judging from the display of a white neckbrace and a BABYMETAL flag from the audience (7:22) they probably have more friends in the crowd than they gave themselves credit for.

This song, 'Ijime, Dame, Zettai' (bullying, [to] stop, forever), represents a core value the band has embodied since its beginnings. Its use of metal to carry songs of positivity, encouragement, and cheer was a radical departure from what metal was 'supposed to be about' back then. Experimentation, innovation and adaptation still keeps this band fresh and relevant, even forward-looking, today.

Back in KL, the performance is over. SU calls, 'we are...?' To which we respond, 'BABYMETAL!!!' Then instead of the usual chorus of 'see you', she goes, 'berjumpa lagi', which is still literally 'see you again' but in Berhasa. It's a tiny, but heartwarming gesture to recognize the country that has welcomed them, on this effervescent and thoroughly memorable night of my mid-fifties.

Divinely attacked in the nicest possible way

It's been a few minutes since 'Road of Resistance'. The band has left the stage and we're left in darkness and silence. I'm not familiar with 'live' concert protocol, so I'm running some possibilities in my head. Was it supposed to be a 12 song set, and now they're setting up for an encore? Or could there have been a technical issue, but will be resolved quickly enough so there's no point announcing it? Or could the band need a little break to revive before finishing strong? Or did someone get hurt and they're assessing the damage?

Anyway, the band re-enters to perform 'Divine Attack', so I guess problem solved. The pace of this song feels like we're in a cooldown phase, given the choreo has slowed down. Although there's a definite metal foundation, the song is less frenetic, opening up some space to bring the focus back to SU's belting vocals.

According to these translated lyrics, the song inspires us to fight on against whatever holds us back or down, even though our backs are against the wall, as we push together towards the open road. That's great! But the English lyrics I hear in the chorus are

The time has come, stand up...

Time to go your way...

Yes, m'am, I take the hint. It was a really lovely evening, and you've been a very entertaining host. Thanks for having me over at your party! It was absolutely something to write home about!

Piece de resistance

'Road of Resistance' is the song I've been most anticipating and dreading at the same time. Placed 12th on the KL setlist, this song packs such an inspirational quality. From the instrumentals, to the vocals, to the choreo, to the set, the lighting, the pyrotechnics, to the audience participation, these 8 plus minutes takes theatricality to another level! First of all, I doubt any theatre company has ever played to a 'live' audience of 20000 in one sitting. Second, the entire crowd is completely in sync with the performance, and right on cue with their parts in the the singing and movement. What it must have been like to be in the crowd during this production!

It begins with a riff that will stick in the head for a while. The girls are absolutely still, faces serious, two adjectives we would hardly use to describe this band. Each bearing a flag across their shoulders, they march with great resolve to centrestage and halt. Without saying a word, SU authoritatively parts the crowd with a simple but firm gesture, creating a giant mosh pit. What an epic build up of anticipation as we count the seconds to the imminent wall of death.

1234! and all heck breaks loose. The girls mount their steeds and charge full tilt across the landscape, kicking off yet another electrifyingly energetic piece of choreography. At this point we can pick out a subtle difference between YUI and MOA's approaches. YUI is fully immersed in her performance. At 1:56 YUI's expression looks like she's really giving her heart away and she keeps this attitude throughout. At 2:15 MOA is having the time of her life doing what she most loves to do: sing, dance, entertain her audience. It's nice to see that despite their different personalities, they still sync so well together.

One thing that sticks out for me is how freely they use the word, "forever". To sing of forever at this young age shows a lot of youthful idealism and naivete. It makes me sad because YUI will eventually leave the band, and one of the guitarists will lose his life in an accident within the next few years. After these events, the band is no longer so casual with their use of "forever".

Anyway, just before they get to the audience participation bit, there's an instrumental bridge. The guitar and drums set a blistering pace, then impossibly accelerate even further before dropping back down. But the crowd has already been so excited that they gladly fill in the void when SU invites them to sing the "woah-oh-oh-oh" response, and we get this 20000-strong choir valiantly struggling to keep up with SU's higher notes. She lets them go acapella for a few bars before graciously taking back control and ending the song with a literal bang!

And the moment I've been dreading arrives. With a chorus of "see you" the show comes to a close. At least, it does in the video. Not in KL. Here, without a word, the girls exit stage right, and we're left in darkness and silence. We're not sure what's happening, but since there was no "thank you" or "see you" signal of dismissal, perhaps we're not done yet...?

Gimme BABYMETAL

I've responded once already to 'Gimme Chocolate', the song and video that launched BABYMETAL onto the world stage. So instead of featuring the official MV again, here's another fancam shot on location at Zepp, KL on their 2023 world tour.

'Gimme Chocolate' was indeed my very first encounter with the band. It was years ago, but in all places, a shopping mall in Bangkok, while I was on vacation. A song with a beat much heavier than all the other songs playing on the PA system made me perk up and pay attention. Then children's voices piped up -- in Japanese, and I was in Thailand -- and they kept repeating one English word that I could recognize: 'chocolet-to'. I remember thinking it could have been some weird commercial for chocolate, but the music went on longer than any commercial should have. Intrigued, I was determined to research this band and find out more about this weirdness once I got back home. But the Internet being what it was back then, and me possessing the attention span of a goldfish, I completely forgot about it.

The second time I encountered BABYMETAL was when they took their first tour to the USA, and they appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to publicize their new album. That's when my memory clicked back, and I could now connect this distant memory of a song with its performers. So I looked them up on YouTube, curious to find out what they were like back in Japan. I saw the Gimme Choco video, and I dimly remember watching 'Headbanger' as well. My brain instantly shut down due to sensory overload. Also, the girls were too young to be making this kind of music. It felt so wrong. Somebody behind the scenes had to be exploiting these poor kids for profit, and I really didn't want to give them any more of my attention.

I guess it was the third time, encountering them on The First Take that I realized how talented SU and MOA were. If it had been just a quick cash grab like I thought back then, they wouldn't have continued making music this long, and they wouldn't have evolved their music to grow up along with them. And so began my delving into the Foxhole, perhaps hoping that their art could help inspire something of my own.

Spicy Asian fruit salad

The papaya is just a humble, common Asian fruit. To most of us, it's a sweet dessert fruit, cut to bite-sized portions and served chilled. But in Thailand, the pre-ripened fruit is mercilessly shredded and served with cut chillies as a sour-sweet, spicy appetizer that explodes in the mouth with an overwhelming mix of flavours. That's how it is with 'Pa Pa Ya!!', where even the song title is shredded!!

The dance beat hits right from the get-go. Everyone is jumping and amplifying the rhythmic pa pa ya vocalizations provided by guest collaborator, F. Hero, a Thai rapper of some renown. The verse comes in, catchy as heck. The pre-chorus builds anticipation, then whack! The chorus smashes in with even more energy, and we all go nuts. Very simple lyrics and a predictable composition makes it easy for the crowd to know when to respond with a "hey!" a "yo!" a "pa pa... ya!" and a towel (or official merch bandana) twirl.

Just when things get too predictable, F Hero shows up, spittin' a hard hitting rap in Thai-English, though on their world tour concerts it's a recording. His harsh, staccato flow contrasts against SU's melodic lines. Each brings their own distinctive flavour to the table, but both complement each other so well in this one delectable, exciting, and fun dish of a song.

The choreography borrows from traditional Thai dance, though not as heavily as it does from traditional Indian dance in 'Shanti Shanti Shanti'. There's a more contemporary feel to these movements as the traditional ones are blended in with F. Hero's Molam sub-culture.

BABYMETAL's positive vibe continues through this song, but they politely let F. Hero deliver the main lines:

Knock, knock, knock, struggling

Pound our lives with some happiness and sadness

Papaya needs to be pound[ed] hard

So it can be yummy, crispy and delicious

Translated lyrics from here.

I appreciate SU making the effort to roll her 'R's every time she sings "brrring it on, brrring it" in the pre-chorus. The 'R' sound is absent in most long-established Asian languages, so it has to be learned and practiced consciously to be pronounced. Props to her for striving to respect the languages she uses to engage her internationally diverse audience.

It's hard to believe we're all jumping, sweating, and yelling ourselves hoarse in a cardio workout of roughly 4 minutes to a song about fruit salad. Thanks, ladies!

The fourth member of the band

Although there is an official MV for 'Distortion', the ninth song in the KL setlist, I've chosen to feature footage from another fancam on site. Again, I hope they don't mind.

What we see is a view from the audience's perspective of what it's like being in the crowd at a BABYMETAL concert. This song, in particular, seems to invite the audience to join in with simple repetitive English phrases, and a catchy 'Wo-o-o-o-o-o-oh!', while we respectfully leave the Japanese words to SU.

It doesn't matter how badly we mangle our parts in the song, we're all creating this shared experience together, and it's part of the fun. It's especially awesome that these performers encourage the crowd to sing along, yet they still deliver a bangin' show without getting distracted or thrown off by our awful accompaniment.

It's this feeling like they treat us collectively as the fourth member of the band that makes their 'live' performances so special. It's possibly the reason that despite my miscreant tendencies, I had to buy a ticket to the show without hesitation. I wasn't going to be there just to coldly audit the show, I was going to be a part of it.

This monochrome firework

I started this BABYMETAL journey with 'Monochrome' on The First Take. I'm just a whatever's-on-the-radio's-fine-with-me mainstream guy, so I have no alignment to any musical preferences at all. While I did listen to Linkin Park (which is sort of metal) for a while back in the day, I was no fan of the genre as a whole. But when I stumbled on BABYMETAL performing on piano, I was intrigued. What would a metal song sound like without the metal? The performance SU and MOA presented was beautifully melodic, passionately, and sincerely delivered with love and tenderness -- so uncharacteristic of my stereotypical conception of metal that I got drawn in right away. If this is what metal can be, I want more!

Immediately, I searched for and found the official lyric video. Certainly, the instrumentation was heavy, as I'd expected, but the guitar produced yet another beautiful melody of its own, leading in to SU's main vocals and MOA's supporting vocals that hit like hammer on anvil, respectively, with the drummer putting out rhythms at a speed I'd never heard before. I didn't see any choreography since it was a lyric video, but when I discovered more of their music, the dance was yet another layer on a package that was both thoughtfully composed, and movingly heartfelt. And I'm a sucker for theatrical performances with high production values. And poetic lyrics that make you think. This band ticks all the right boxes for me, so I'll be stuck in this foxhole for quite a while yet.

Anyway, the featured video (above) is not the official lyric one, but a fan edit that was clearly painstakingly put together to integrate the official video with the band's 'live' performance, as I would have experienced in KL, although the size of the audience would have been a tiny fraction of what we see here. The girls here are dressed in their pre-world tour 2023 outfits, but if you go back to look at their current concert attire (which I saw them wear for the first time on The First Take singing 'The One -- Unfinished ver.'), they're still wearing all-black, but with plastic chromatic frills that reflect light in a spectrum of multi-colours. It's a clever way to brighten up an otherwise drab monochrome dress with a costume feature that creates dynamic rainbow colours with every movement. I believe this song is the very inspiration behind this unique design choice.

'Monochrome' appears on the KL tour setlist right in the middle of the repertoire, making it the feature song of the concert. For the special connection I have with this song, oddly enough in its non-metal form, it's definitely this fanboy's favourite.

BxMxC (the x's are silent)

We're now smack in the middle of the KL setlist, arguably where the most fun songs in the repertoire are. The energy skyrockets with fan-favourite 'BxMxC', a metal hip-hop rap battle. Pardon me if I leave my brain out of this one, and just jump with the beat, shouting along to the 'B! M! C!' chant, since there's no way I can match SU's spittin', even if I knew Japanese.

I imagine a scenario in which SU is having a heated debate with her Other, but she is monopolizing all the airtime, while the Other can't get a word in edgeways. Her upward inflections at the end of every line in the pre-chorus suggests that she ain't done talking yet, so just shut up and listen, yo! The choreo is aggressive, featuring lots of restrained kicks and sweeping punches. It's clear they've conquered and assimilated hip-hop, with SU throwin' down some acapella bars in the final verse for good measure.

The video I chose to feature above is their performance for TV broadcast on NHK. I feel that the official MV contains an unnecessary storytelling element, and that their 'live' shows are much better at showcasing their newer music. This video also features a short interview with SU and MOA, so I thought I'd let the ladies speak a bit, and introduce themselves for a change.

The psychological truth of 'Mirror Mirror'

We're now comfortably in the middle section of the KL set. Starting with 'Believing', the songs now come from their latest album, 'The Other One', which dropped in March this year. These new songs show a much more mature side to the band. Gone is the child-like playfulness of their earlier music and choreography. What remains is the commitment to hard-driving metal which is core to their identity, while the vocal line remains beautifully lyrical and melodic. The tunefulness of the vocals is catchy and tempting to sing, or at least hum along to, like as if we could keep up with SU-METAL.

'Mirror Mirror' is a weird combination of familiar references from Disney's version of 'Snow White' and Shakespeare's 'Macbeth'. SU's line references the wicked queen as she indulges her vanity while looking into the mirror. MOA replies with the chant of the 'weird sisters' before they show Macbeth the illusory vision of his ascension to royalty, motivating his descent into serial murder just to maintain a brief, heirless, and ultimately pointless rule.

The point is that the mirror lies to us. Need I say that the mirror could also be social media that we allow to dictate our identity? Focused on our mirror image, we are stuck where we are, this illusory superlative sense of self, being either the 'fairest', or the 'worst'. Instead, stop focusing on yourself, and turn your back to the mirror. Then you'll see life, and navigate through life as it really is. Wow. That piece of wisdom alone has saved me 10 to 20 years' of therapy down the road!

Going back to the choreography, it's clear that the band is much more confident that their music does indeed transcend borders, regardless of language barriers. They are no longer bound to literal storytelling in their movements. They are not above doing it when performing their older songs, but it's not who they are any more. Their choreo has evolved to be more aesthetically appealing, hence the synchronicity and overall symmetry of movement, generally suggesting the constantly shifting patterns of a kaleidoscope, with every nuance of gesture deliberate and rehearsed to perfection.

Letting the music tell its own story, the dance has become an additional instrument in the band, providing notes and rhythms for the eye, enhancing what the ear already hears. The dance now contributes to the music instead of trying to talk over it, like it used to. While many of us miss the controlled chain explosions of tiny chaos that early BABYMETAL used to be about, they have allowed for the progression of maturity, and instead of fighting change, the band has evolved with natural grace. Taking their own advice, this band isn't stuck looking at itself in the mirror.

Seeking reassurance in 'Believing'

Doesn't seem to be an official video for 'Believing', so I've linked fancam footage (hope they don't mind) of the performance I was at in KL. I'm standing slightly left and back of where this cam is, FYI.

The evening started strong, and now, we're pacing. 'Believing' is a lyrical number with complex rhythms that give SU's vocals a chance to stretch and soar, while MOA and MOMO provide supporting harmonies which we can now hear and appreciate. This one is for the ears to savour, so the lighting and colours on the Jumbotron/cyclorama are more muted, while the choreography has slowed down a notch. Focus. Listen.

The verses are electronically enhanced, though I'm not sure 'enhanced' is the right vocab. Rather, SU's voice is suppressed with an echo-y, reverb-y effect. The individual words are delivered more mechanically than normal speech. Perhaps the verses represent internal monologues, the subject being 'I', who does not want to be 'confused' and 'afraid anymore'. The chorus restores SU's natural voice as she is now consciously engaging her Other, the one who, like the seasons has changed and is 'not the same' anymore. And as such, 'we are not the same' either. So when she says, 'believing you', she is seeking some reassurance of stability and consistency despite these changes.

Perhaps this song is meant to reassure us that despite the changes the band has undergone in terms of composition, style, aesthetic, and obviously age, they're still the same BABYMETAL that we remember from 13 years ago.

The lyrics of this song are entirely in English, so I hope nothing's been lost in translation.

In the meantime, is SU actually singing 'live'? I am pretty reassured that she is. At the end of this rendition, the mic picks up an uncharacteristic vibrato in SU's usually clean, spot-on vocals. It's this tiny imperfection that proves that what we are getting is the real deal.

Mesmerizing masterpiece

Iine was fan service, reassuring us that the band they used to be over 10 years ago is still more or less the band performing for us today, although MOMO has since officially replaced* YUI. The remaining songs in this KL set list feature their more grown up aesthetic, starting with 'Shanti Shanti Shanti' in which BABYMETAL goes Bollywood.

Right from the beginning, the melody and rhythm are identifiable as classical Indian. SU's vocals kick in, singing of love (or the feeling of being in love?) from the perspective of concepts from Hindu philosophy, according to these translated lyrics. The way SU vocalizes certain inflections without breaking into an accent suggests she's had some training in this type of traditional singing as well.

The dance is also inspired from classical Indian dance, and perhaps more than inspired, they have probably received some very professional training in executing the movements just right. Just look at the fine detail, like finger placement to make specific hand shapes, and the intricate footwork. It takes a lot of study and practice to get that confident and precise. Still, I've watched clips of these girls at dance practice, and they learn incredibly fast, like music is hard-coded in their DNA.

This performance isn't just a tip of the hat to Indian culture. It shows a deep appreciation for a culture they took effort to understand, and repay with a tribute of a respectful, beautiful piece of art done in their own unique style. And a mesmerizing masterpiece it is too.

*Disclaimer: That's not MOMO in the video, though. YUI had a rotation of replacements before one was finally made permanent.

Iine -- how many songs can we squeeze into one?

Iine was the third song on the KL playlist. It is both a throwback to the band's earliest days, and also to immediately bring the party to us as soon as the intros are out of the way. It's not canon, but I like to think this dance club is where the girls emerged out of the pit in 'Doki Doki Morning', explaining their difficulty waking up for school. They are, after all wearing the same clothes from the rave the night before.

Early BABYMETAL -- free from constraints of expectation -- experimented like crazy with a variety of sound mixes, styles, and instrumentation. Crude, compared to the band's current genre-blending sophistication, Iine mixes specific genres sequentially, beginning with a manic electronica rave, transitioning to 80's hip hop, then reminding us that death metal is still at the core of its music, and back to the rave party we started with. It's like listening to several different songs one after another, though it's really just one song. That's one way to get value for money, I guess.

More importantly, this performance shows how versatile the girls and the band are in owning each genre in terms of vocal quality, body language, and choreography (behind the scenes too, with camera work, and lighting) like they actually belong. Already we see full and total commitment to their craft even in these early stages. I can only imagine how much work they had put in to develop this level of confidence and stage presence at this young age.

And can I say that, normally, kids irritate the heck out of me? Playing and pretending are what they do, and they do it so badly! I'm like ewww... get them away from me! Not these kids. They aren't playing. They are absolutely respectable artists in their field and this, to me, is what makes them truly adorable. This is also why I don't and never will have kids of my own. My standards are too high.

Megitsune: BABYMETAL is Borg

For want of anything better to write about, I'll be running through the BABYMETAL setlist as performed 'live' @ZEPP KL, 4 June 2023. I already reviewed the opening number, 'Death' in an earlier post, so I'll skip it and go into 'Megitsune', which is an apt follow up.

Where 'Death' is a statement of identity for the band, and its members, 'Megitsune' details its purpose, like its corporate statement.

The song pays homage to the trickster fox of Japanese mythology, whose totem the band has adopted. Behind the fox mask, nothing is as it appears. The mask is the stage on which the girls and the band perform in front of their audience. The band dresses as spooks, possibly ancestral spirits, and as the Kami band, they are almost gods of their craft -- although in this MV, the band is very enthusiastically played by actors wielding traditional Japanese musical instruments which obviously could not make the metal backing music we are hearing. The presence of spirits in this Japanese house(?) brings a spooky vibe, but YUI and MOA are clearly having so much fun in this haunted house, like it's Halloween. Meanwhile, SU, who is older, is pensively preparing for her transition into womanhood, which is yet another mask protecting her private self from her public facade. Even the microphone SU holds is a mask hiding another surprise.

So what exactly are we looking at in this MV? Well, it's a metal band wearing an idol-pop face. Or is it the other way around? The integration is so tight, we can't tell. It's metal, but the band will assimilate any genre it can wrap its musicality around. Here, it's incorporated 'Sakura', a popular Japanese folk song, and metallized it with repurposed lyrics. The band will go on to assimilate music from many other cultures worldwide in their later tracks, giving the band constantly fresh material, and an unpredictable repertoire of things that should not go together, but somehow they do, and you'll love it! BABYMETAL is Borg at their most delightful. Resistance is futile!

BABYMETAL is itself an impenetrable mask as the girls are only seen in public in their METAL (and their earlier SG) personas. Their private lives are intensely private, which is as it should be.

Jumping with them at the concert, yelling sore together with the crowd was something I never thought I'd enjoy up to a couple of months ago, but

Check-it-out BABYMETAL. I can have a bit of BABYMETAL, can’t I?

But my dignity worries me a bit these days

However, BABYMETAL. I can have a bit of BABYMETAL, can’t I?

Such guilty pleasure. 

Hearing protection

Going to a metal concert at my age means taking safety precautions. If I'm voluntarily getting myself blasted with heavy duty sonic waves, I'm going to be protecting my ears. I found this set of Alpine earplugs online, quite reasonably priced, and shipped over within 8-10 days via Lazada.

The plugs themselves are very soft, light silicone. They sit comfortably in the ears like there's nothing there. The magic is in the three sets of filters graded bronze, silver and gold, in increasing order of decibel reduction. The gold filters can be seen inserted into the earplugs, which I opted for, while the remaining two sets can be seen as the pairs of tiny white and silver coloured circles nested within the carry case.

The entire set comes with an extra earplug, a lanyard (stuffed in the mesh pocket), and a vial of cleaning fluid for after.

How did it sound? The music from the performance was perfectly clear, even with the most conservative filters in place, but probably because I was standing right in front where the speakers were. Perhaps further back in the stands a lower grade filter would have sufficed. Oddly, it was the crowd that sounded muffled, and when we engaged in audience participation, it sounded like I was the loudest voice in the venue. 

Awesome concert, no ringing in the ears afterwards. A highly satisfactory purchase.

BABYMETAL World Tour @ Zepp KL 2023

I was there. 'Live'. In person. VIP section. Weird, as the people who paid the most got to stand right in front of the stage where, in Shakespeare's time, the poorest people would have been standing. And the VIPs then would have been comfortably seated at the back, where today, the cheapest tickets are.

Unfortunately, this was the best shot I could get of the three in one frame. While SU and MOA are relatively clear, MOMO is blurred out due to movement. Photographs are literally shots in the dark, when lots of factors have to precisely align: Lighting, moments of stillness (which are far and few as they move around constantly without any signs of fatigue), and no random 'fox signs' or other mobile phones obstructing the view.

MOMO (Edit: nope, that's MOA. I didn't notice the dimples earlier) at least gets one good shot here, and probably my best one for the night. And what a night! Well worth the 6 hour bus ride up north, well worth the 90 minutes I spent on my feet waiting for the show to start, well worth cramming shoulder-to-shoulder in a crowd of 2000+ other BM fans (a.k.a. The One) when standing so close to people actually makes me uncomfortable.

The show comprised 14 songs, altogether lasting about an hour and a half. Each song was performed exactly the way it was always performed in their official and unofficial 'live' shows on YouTube, so perfectly coordinated, rehearsed, practiced, and polished. The only difference being that I. Was. There.

I even survived a couple of impromptu moshes. My research into metal concerts indicated that waivers had to be signed if I wanted to participate in a mosh pit, but no documents had been presented to me for my autograph. Yet, I knew that where I was standing was prime location for a wall of death, but as the crowd was well behaved, I thought nothing of staying where I was. But when 'Gimme Chocolate' came on, that's when the pushing and shoving began, without warning. So I leaned into it, nearly getting knocked off my feet a couple of times, but leaning on other people kept me upright as I carefully edged my way out of the pit. It may not have been my intention to get involved -- considering my age -- but I got what I paid for and consider surviving the experience a bonus. So I knew well enough to stay at the periphery during 'Road of Resistance' and the closing number, 'IDZ' during which moshing was expected.

I really admire these three women who brought so much life, talent, energy and joy to this small KL performance, when they've been performing almost every other night in a different city each time around Europe and Asia, and they have yet to start on their US leg before returning to Europe to close out the year. Just look at their tour schedule for 2023 alone!

The souvenirs I'm bringing home include a lanyard with VIP pass, an official promo poster, and an official bandana used for audience participation during 'Pa Pa Ya!' which I believe is the most fun song in the entire repertoire.

Finally, I can't believe I saw BABYMETAL in person. Yes, anyone can see them in person as long as they have a ticket. What I mean is that I found something that I really wanted to do, and I didn't let my laziness, inertia, excuses, apprehensions, and doubts stop me from planning out this little trip and seeing it through to the end. Not often I can say this to myself, but 'mission accomplished'!

My own Headbanger

My hair in a Kcuts utilitarian style

I lament that what I have left on top will soon disappear fruitlessly

Clutching my cheap bus ticket in my hand

I head north, north

Where I hope to find a good spot close to the front of the stage...

This special night of my mid-fifties.

Leg day

A healthy staff Wednesday with a contingent of colleagues taking a morning walk starting from campus and making the return loop at Potong Pasir, with a brief stop for a hot drink at the kopitiam opposite the Hindu temple on Meyappar Chettiar Rd.

The highlight for me was this stretch of park connector following the bank of the Kallang River. Such lush greenery supporting local wildlife. There were tortoises and fish in the water, and someone mentioned a monitor lizard, though I didn't see it.

While the kids take a day off from work just before the summer hols fully kick in, it's nice for us staff to take a little break for ourselves too, just before grading madness begins again.

One in a million

This is the tree I planted with colleague Win. Some of us staff joined the Outdoor Activities kids in this tree-planting exercise, organised by NParks under the OneMillionTrees movement.

It was a good day for planting trees. Overcast with a distant possibility of thunderstorm, but the weather remained dry and cool throughout. Still, wielding a changkul and fully putting our backs into digging a hole deep and wide enough to support a sapling taller than myself got us in a sweat real quick.

Since the nation started this project in 2020, we're by now just over the halfway mark with the number of new trees planted islandwide. And this one is mine. And Win's. It's location is directly in front of the letter 'Q' of the name of the building in the background, TechQuest.

The tree itself is of the genus Lagerstromia floribunda Jack, and though it's listed as a myrtle, the flowers are reminiscent of the Japanese cherry blossom. So, according to the NParks lady, it's a local version of the sakura. Ok, that makes me happy since I've temporarily gone Japanophile, digging deeper and deeper into the BM foxhole.

Diablo VI Server Slam, as played on a 7 year old PC

Spent the weekend alternating between grading assignments and participating in Blizzard's Diablo VI Server Slam preview event. This event is a try-before-you-buy sample of Diablo VI (releasing June 6), and was open to everyone, no purchase required.

There were two similar free events earlier this year to stress test the system as we approach commercial release. I missed out on the first event but participated in the second, and discovered the game was practically unplayable on my PC, which I haven't upgraded in the last 7 years. I kept getting logged out, if the game didn't freeze, requiring a CTRL-ALT-DEL call for the Task Manager. Even with the graphics turned to minimum quality, the instances I could play were juddery, shuddery, experiences, and I was resigned to shop for a brand new PC with all the latest bells and whistles. I wasn't looking forward to shelling out for that kind of expense, but it didn't seem like I had a choice, since like an idiot, I buy-ed before I tried. Hey, I loved Diablo III, and wasted many hours dungeon crawling with it, while waiting 11 years for D4 to arrive.

This final Beta test before release, I was expecting more of the same glitchy nonsense since I hadn't got round to PC shopping yet. But this time, the difference was like day and night. Minimal waiting to get logged in, incredibly short wait time to load into a game, the cut-scenes played smoothly, and the game ran on my 7 year-old PC perfectly well -- granted with the graphics again tuned down to minimum, and yet, it still looked fantastic. And I was finally able to co-op with other players to take down the 'world boss', the ultimate objective of this preview experience for a sweet cosmetic reward I can display on my horse when I get to play the game for real.

It's a steep learning curve, especially since D3 offered a much simpler equipment and fighting system. D4 is deeply complex in comparison, requiring more strategising and optimizing than I want my filthy casual brain to engage in, but if D5 takes another decade to arrive, I have all the time in the world to learn. Regardless, any small upgrade I can build into my character makes combat so much more satisfying, with hoards of monsters blowing up everywhere under my ever-increasing might.

It's a simple reward cycle: kill monsters and level up with experience, or get lucky with an item drop that increases your power level sufficient to take on tougher monsters that offer even better item drops to take on even tougher monsters. Plus a crafting and a multi-layered ability upgrade mechanic that allows us to continuously tinker for even better performance. But knowing me, I'll just look at what the experts on YouTube are building and try to keep up.

But the best takeaway for me from D4 Server Slam is I'm not buying a new PC! My bank account breathes a sigh of relief.

GotG Vol 3: Parent terrible

In Vol 3, the Guardians are finally free of Mommy and Daddy issues. But without our parents' guidance, who are we? The Guardians, individually and collectively discover that they have to find out on their own.

This adventure mainly focuses on Rocket's (Bradley Cooper) backstory. Making a statement against the cruelty of animal testing, this movie takes us into the labs of the High Evolutionary (Chukwudi Iwuji), a being who believes his manifest destiny is to evolve all life to its maximum potential, making him the ultimate out-of-control control freak of a parent who is constantly dissatisfied with the monsters he makes out of his 'children'.

In his experiments on Rocket, which Nebula (Karen Gillan) describes as 'worse that what Thanos did' to her, the High Evolutionary creates some true horrors, including some who eventually become Rocket's friends whom he had to tragically leave behind to escape HE's intended fate for 'Batch 89'. All this exposition is told in flashback, as having sustained a life-threatening injury when Adam Warlock (Will Poulter) attacks Knowhere early in the movie, Rocket's life literally flashes before our eyes.

The Guardians spring into action to save the life of their friend, which means having to infiltrate HE's base of operations to obtain Rocket's tech specs without which any attempt to operate on him would prove immediately fatal. Of course, parent terrible HE takes not too kindly with corporate espionage on his most prize creation, Rocket, and enacts his own counter-plan to retrieve what he considers to be stolen property.

Hope that recap wasn't too spoiler-y. In between, as always, are glorious action sequences punctuated with internal squabbling among the Guardians, including a massive hallway set-piece that sets the bar way up high if you like Netflix's 'Daredevil' hallway punch-ups. I'll need to watch it again to see if it was all done in a single take, but if it was... wow!

Amidst the fighting and the relentlessly escalating crisis that they face, some Guardians really come into their own, while others feel the need to go find themselves, or reforge long-lost connections of their own. As parents, we really should learn to let go and let the children develop into their own beings, rather than force them into some predetermined blueprint of perfection, which will ultimately disappoint you, and screw them up for life. Either that, or die.

Anyway, the Guardians group, as put together by Director, James Gunn, go their separate ways, ending the three-story arc that turned a bunch of largely unknown Marvel properties into some of its best-loved characters today.

Unexpected act of mercy

Early BABYMETAL songs tell stories that are easy to follow, even if you didn't know the language. In 'Karate', three imposing death's head figures square off against our three METAL protagonists, although there is only one male aggressor who engages them in battle. In a back-and-forth contest, he lands a powerful blow, knocking the three girls down. Big sister, SU, struggles back to her feet and helps MOA and YUI up. Together, they gather their strength for one last strike. However, the antagonist who downed them has disappeared. SU's sonic blast hits the three masked figures, breaking their masks to reveal... themselves. It's quite true that we are often our own worst enemies. Having defeated their fearful, rageful, aggressive parts of their personalities, the girls are finally at peace. Easy story.

My first thoughts on watching this video was that all this Karate fighting seems to be at odds with one of the band's definitive messages of 'ijime, dame, zettai' (commonly abbreviated as IDZ) or 'no more bullying forever' and is one of the tracks in their self-titled debut album. I guess I was thinking 'Karate Kid' initially. But this fight is more of an inner struggle to defeat the worst parts of ourselves that keep us down and out, rather than directing violence against another person.

SU and YUI demonstrate strength in breaking things, but my favourite sequence is when MOA uses her heightened senses to pluck an insect in mid-flight out of the air. It had disturbed her meditation, and having caught it, she could have crushed it out of existence so that it would never bother her again. Instead, she gently releases it in an unexpected act of mercy, letting it rejoin its companions and go on its way. Her celebration of and respect for life no matter how seemingly insignificant packs the strongest gut punch. It truly embodies the spirit of IDZ, and watching it greatly uplifted my spirits.

With BABYMETAL, the positive emotional payoff is refreshingly different, in comparison to the cathartic release of angst and rage when listening to, say, Linkin Park, which I did listen to quite a bit back in the day. I'm all for it.

SU-METAL solo: 'No Rain, No Rainbow'

SU-METAL solos offer a change of pace within BABYMETAL's 'live' performances. Slower, slightly softer, the focus is often on the emotional delivery of someone longing for human connection. Perhaps it's also that SU is bereft of her supporting vocalists, MOA and YUI, that her voice sounds so completely alone, and lonely. It's a vocal quality that offers more variety than just headbanging for the audience to experience and appreciate.

For 'No Rain, No Rainbow' I chose to feature above a more recent version of the song as SU's voice has since matured, and as such carries a sense of loss with more gravitas. Her younger voice still makes for a beautiful rendition, but an older voice suggests having had more to lose, and more to regret.

I don't have the musical vocabulary to describe what I hear, but I feel this song is particularly effective in hitting the emotive elements through the way the chorus is structured. I don't know if it is accurate to say, but the chord progression sounds like the way water falls in tiers (yes, clearly an English pun, and probably unintentional), but that's what it sounds like to my ears. It then picks up, only to fall again, so I am constantly experiencing a sinking feeling every time the chorus comes around.

Then there's this breathtaking staging effect as a beam of white light appears to emanate from the grand piano, lighting a path to SU's feet. With poise and dignity, she walks to the piano while the band plays an instrumental bridge. The band cuts out so we can just hear her play the piano accompanying herself as she sings a couple of lines of verse...

But then there's a sudden, inexplicable length of silence that cuts in mid-verse. It appears to be a mistake or a glitch, perhaps in the audio recording, but in other performances, the band does pick back up and continues until SU comes in once more with the chorus. But in this performance, we next see SU at a different part of the stage, illuminated in a circle of light, dead centre within ripples of tears falling into perhaps a pool of tears, and she continues the verse where she left off. Guess you had to be there to know what really happened. Regardless, 'No Rain, No Rainbow' is still a beautiful song, beautifully rendered.

Great job!

Today being Labour Day is as good as any to introduce Black BABYMETAL with the song 'GJ!"

As we've seen, a BABYMETAL 'live' show is a full-on high energy effort that often goes on a few days running. The concept of Black BABYMETAL has a lore to it which I won't get into as it is confusingly inconsistent, and much is probably lost in translation. Regardless, to give each other a break without disrupting the momentum, parts of the performance are taken by SU solos, and some are MOA and YUI duets under the Black BABYMETAL label.

GJ likely stands for Good Job, as the phrase appears in the chorus. The opening beat is a cheerleader rhythm of encouragement for the team to put in extra effort, but done in metal with a bass guitar assist, the sound is heavy -- more like the beat of galley drums, getting the slaves working together to pull the oars.

Picking up from the instruments, YUI and MOA launch into rhythmic verse about the daily grind of sheeple going to work, comparing the daily commute to a 'wall of death', a term describing the commencement of a mosh when people from opposite sides of the pit run headlong towards each other and collide in the middle. Pretty accurate description for rush hour at the MRT station. During the verse, their movements are punchy sharp, imitating the pushing and shoving on jam-packed trains. For the pre-chorus, they revert to cheerleaders egging on the crowd. But their gestures are from their fingers and below their shoulders while leaning slightly back, which suggest less encouragement and more taunt, as if to say, 'is that all you got?'

The second verse is about the opposite of going to work, and that is going shopping. Likewise, shopping is yet another mosh pit as everyone tears through malls looking for the best discounts and offers of free extras. The movements here have become more combative, showing finger guns in the short instrumental break, and some defensive shielding amidst more pushing and shoving in the verse.

In between, the chorus hits with contrasting melodic lightness, incredibly catchy as their choruses usually are. Their movement also lightens up a little. They keep their sharpness, but throw in more fluid, rapidly flickering movements as they sing of escaping the crush and grind of the work-consume cycle. Being "happy-go-lucky" is the way to go: 'aiming too high brings us no good' so 'take it easy' instead.

Easy for these girls to say. It's clear they work very hard at what they do, and aim for the stratosphere with their ambitions of changing the world for the better with BABYMETAL music. The big difference is that they found their ikegai (the intersection of passion and competence in supplying what people need and are willing to pay money for) while they were still relatively babies, and went ahead to pursue it. The rest of us will just be grateful for Labour Day when we can put up our aching feet for a while, and hopefully not squander it on meaningless shopping. Take it easy, folks!

Cat-apple mutant drummer

On my YouTube feeds, this pops up. No surprise since the Google algorithm is overheated with my current BABYMETAL foxhole trawl. There's nothing I can say about this clip, other than that it demonstrates the chaos when a supporting cast decides to upstage the performance -- except that this character in the foam suit IS the performance.

Introducing Nyango Star. Apparently, this insanity stems from a dead cat whose spirit is reborn inside an apple. Visually, the suit is, in fact, a mashup of a cat face forcibly grafted on an apple, but where do the mad drumming skills come from? First, apple in Japanese is 'ringo', and the sound a cat makes, 'meow' in English, is 'nyan' in Japanese. So the fusion of Nyan-go for the first name. But Star? There's a big mystery around who the person in the suit could be, as that's never been revealed. While I have no guesses as to who it might be, I can guess the inspiration behind the name and how it all fits together. Do any non-boomers remember the drummer for the Beatles, Ringo Starr? Now think of him as a cat-apple mutant heavy metal drummer. There you go!

Oh, theory confirmed!

Death chant

I watched a different version of the video I'm sharing here. The one I did watch disturbed me for quite a while because it seemed so dark. We hear the crowd chanting "death" over and over again, and I couldn't fathom any reason for their rabid fanbase to wish them such ill. In the video I watched, SU gets crucified at some point in the item, much to the delight of the audience, and all I could do was stare, mouth agape. What. The. Heck.

The song, if that's what it is, begins with a sombre dirge over a disconcerting projected narration for which I have no translation. The girls enter wielding Sith lightsabres to a sped up execution drum beat. They take strategic points on stage and cheerlead the crowd in spelling out B-A-B-Y-M-E-T-A-L, commencing the "death" chant.

The girls then introduce themselves in turn: "SU-METAL desu", "YUIMETAL desu", "MOAMETAL desu", and then the realization hits. The whole thing is based on a terrible dad joke of a pun. "Desu" (I am) is pronounced "des", and when lisped, "death". That explains MOA's odd way of introducing herself in interviews sometimes, when instead of saying "desu," she sticks her tongue out between her teeth, turning the "s" sound into a "th" sound, which I thought was a bit strange.

It turns out that this song is usually their opening number, and it fulfills a number of functions. First, there are no melodic vocals, which gives focus to the band and its instruments, leaving no doubt that we are at a metal concert featuring blistering metal music. Right from the get-go, the crowd is amped up and already interacting with the performance, setting a pace and rhythm that is easy and compelling to follow. The chant of "death" sets a horror tone invoking the sort of fun, Halloweeny atmosphere this show thrives on.

The girls aren't just introducing themselves with their names, but are ritually casting off their everyday forms of Suzuka Nakamoto, Yui Mizuno, and Moa Kikuchi, and transforming themselves into the powerful beings of SU-METAL, YUIMETAL, and MOAMETAL respectively. Think of it as a dark Sailor-Moon type transformation sequence. Their final pose is crossed forearms over face, fingers of both hands making the fox-sign. Megitsune masks on, they are ready to engage their fans in another butt-kicking 'live' performance.

And in case you are still curious about the crucifixion thing, long story short, it's SU celebrating her 16th birthday like a drama queen. I mean, why not?

Awadama Fever: Literal bubblegum pop

To be honest, this song wan't on my list for review, but it triggered an unexpected memory for me from a long time ago that I decided to make a record of it.

This performance of 'Awadama Fever' opens with Kami band's super impressive solos getting the audience hyped and rockin'. Enter the girls, their vocals effortlessly slicing through the thumping beat. The song title translates to 'bubble' (awa) 'ball' (dama), so it's a song about being carried away in a bubble gum bubble. To get around the physics of bubble gum being heavier than air, flight is achieved by unlocking the power of dreams. Quite a Studio Ghibli conceit, and clearly a fun one for performers, musicians and the crowd to create the fantasy together. Ah, yay!

There's a lot more mime I observe in this dance. The girls' arms form the shape of the bubble, their hands shape the secret box, turn the locks, open the door, and I'm sure there a fox and sox in there somewhere too (says the voice of Zeuss). The recurring image is the giant bubble the girls maneuver around the stage, taking it anywhere, or maybe it's taking them as they 'ride on the wind'. They even mime the sensation of being lighter than air during the instrumental bridge.

I'm speculating that 'Awadama Fever' is an updated, upbeat, metallized version of the traditional children's song, 'Shabondama', or soap bubble in English. The two songs have the same idea, of ephemeral bubbles floating upwards on the wind, except that the latter focuses more pessimistically on the fragility of the vehicle and briefness of the flight, while BABYMETAL is more excited about the prospect of flying on dream-powered bubbles, even if it lasts only as long as an hour-long nap. Po! Po!

I'm not sure how far back the 'traditional' song goes, as I believe soap to be a fairly recent invention, but at least old enough for my dad to have learned it as a child, and in turn, he taught it to me when I, too, was little. Learning this song in Japanese school was probably one of my dad's more pleasant memories of the Occupation. It stayed with him at least long enough to pass it on to me, though I had since forgotten it over time. And now I have a reawakened memory, recently unlocked from my secret box of forgotten things. A 'mint-flavoured time machine' indeed.

Throwback to the early days with Doki Doki Morning

Welcome to early BABYMETAL, really a reference point as to how much the band has grown up and into the performers who released their fourth album just a month ago. This video release is ten years old, but even then it already features quite some quality production values for its time.

The concept fusing bubblegum pop with heavy metal instrumentation shouldn't have worked. It's crazy making the headline performers be younger than the legal age allowed at the venues they are performing in (assuming alcohol is being served). It makes no sense to have children's voices leading the brutal accompaniment, and definitely no business turning the whole thing into this addictive, cutesy, feel-good fusion of metal, rap, and pop all thrown into this delicious, incongruous sonic rojak (spicy mixed salad) of a song. It works so well, and the big mystery with BABYMETAL and their penchant for experimenting with genres like a mad scientist pouring test-tubes of multi-coloured chemicals into each other to find the most explosive combos is HOW does it work?

In this video, the Halloween theme does a lot to bridge the gap. In the midst of a face-melting opening riff, the girls emerge from the depths, lurching to a zombie rave before reverting to their 'human' selves, singing about how difficult it is to get up in the morning, yet being all excited to grow up and see what life has to offer. Maybe they shouldn't have been partying all night in you-know-where, then.

Musically, the swapping between the genres should have been jarring, if not for the instrumental transitions that skillfully smooth and blend the disparate styles so seamlessly that each has its time to shine. The metal packs a solid punch, the rap sounds bright and light in contrast to the metal, the pre-chorus builds anticipation (musically and lyrically), and the pop chorus lifts the spirit as much as it lifts the feet. This song deserves to be everyone's wake-up alarm -- who wouldn't want a dopamine hit first thing in the morning?

But the secret ingredient that makes the whole thing work is... work. We know the band is already seriously accomplished, but the girls aren't just freshly picked off the street. SU, MOA, and YUI have been in training to be professional entertainers for years even before this video got put together. Naturally gifted, yes, but also putting in hours of after-school training, rehearsals, and performances both 'live' and on music video as members of Sakura Gakuin, which is whole 'nother rabbit hole to explore.

BABYMETAL works because each component member could very well have their own highly successful solo career, but their choice to synergise their strengths instead, learning and growing together over these years, fully committed to developing BABYMETAL as a legit sub-genre in itself is how something that shouldn't work works. And the world is a much better place for it.

Kakurenbo with an Oni

Time to give the Kami band some attention. About half this song is taken by the instrumentalists' solos, and each one demonstrates very impressive abilities. Intricate fretwork from the dueling harmonized electric guitarists, and featuring one of a tiny handful of 6-string bass guitarists in Japan, and an incredibly fast drummer double-kicking double bass drums in double time. A very basic but totally skillful metal band without a doubt.

The song is 'Catch Me If You Can', based on the game of hide-and-seek (kakurenbo), except that the girls seem to be playing with an Oni, the seeker, who calls out "are you ready?" in a monstrous growl. The dance is choreographed to be cute and funny. The run movement is exaggerated to look like manga/anime running, taking gigantic steps with the trailing foot high in the air. While YUI and MOA play, SU stands in for the seeker, but when her vocals kick in, she becomes a player too.

Characteristic of BABYMETAL, the J-pop sound over metal is insanely catchy, the chorus yet another of the band's earworms that sticks in the head for days. The combination of feel-good music, plus the entire band's commitment and joy in what they do hits my emotional triggers in ways no other music has before. One song can make me grin from ear to ear, and another brings tears to my eyes, sometimes even both at the same time, and I can't understand why. As SU-METAL likes to say, "don't think, feel". So I suppose there is no explanation for it.

Yet I can't help but think a little deeper. If this were just J-pop, or pop in general, I would have blown it off as cute, but I wouldn't have dwelt on this song as much as I have. It's the metal that puts in the edge, the darkness, giving me a tiny feeling that there's more to this song than it appears.

It makes me reflect on my own mortality. After all, aren't we playing hide-and-seek with Death as long as we are alive? But Death is not scary, just inevitable, and he is patient. He calls out "Ooo... moo ikai, moo ikai?" to which we reply "Madda da yo!", and it's a fun game. As long as we're alive, there's no reason not to have fun. Even if we fall over, we don't cry because we are strong kids, and we can't wait to go another round.

The red shoes SU references are a bit of a puzzler. It apparently refers to a folktale about a child wearing red shoes who got kidnapped by a foreigner and is taken away on a ship, never to return again. To which I interpret as SU's advice to not do anything stupid and invite Death to cut short the game prematurely. An anti-self-harm, anti-suicide message embedded in this cheeky little number, perhaps? Knowing BABYMETAL's positivity, I wouldn't be surprised.

Edit: I hadn't noticed it before, but this song ends on the refrain, "madda da yo", meaning "not yet", and the final movement looks like a beautiful heart seizure over a drumbeat and bass note fading gradually to silence. Nobody is ready to meet their inevitable end, are they? Which makes the point about the red shoes a lot more poignant, now I think about it.

Metalizm (Official) by BABYMETAL: video first impression

Well, the official video for 'Metalizm' dropped today, taking me by surprise. This song is featured in BABYMETAL's latest album, 'The Other One'. It's clear the band has taken a whole new aesthetic and approach to their performances. No longer banking on kawaii, the focus seems to be more on creating this dynamic art form with all the talent they've developed over the years they've been performing.

I feel this art form to be unfortunately limited by the 2 dimensional medium of video it is presented in. This piece of work was designed to be more immersive than just the flat screen I'm watching it on. But the technology needed to fully appreciate this piece either hasn't been invented yet, or is simply as yet unaffordable. The best I could probably do is to strap on an Oculus headset to see and feel the swirling colours and rhythms everywhere I look instead of just straight ahead.

The song itself is hypnotic, trance-inducing. The pace of the music is somewhat slower, less frantic than many of their other songs, while the vocals are calmer, and (dare I say) designed not to test SU's range. In fact, from a quick glance at the translated lyrics, they remind me of descriptions of rather dramatic manga panels -- metal knights and metal kings in flight, bringing hope and light to the world.

The dance is full of sharp angles, perfectly synchronised, as always, creating beautiful patterns with the trio moving together, intricate yet powerful. What I see are depictions of the edginess of metal in the midst of swirling flames. The action to me is more reminiscent of forging rather than fighting, with the rhythmic pounding of hammer on anvil, and not the sharp clash of swords.

Perhaps this song is intended as a sort of palate cleanser within the concert repertoire. An item for a change of pace, and possibly a moment to recharge energy before the next big set piece.

The songs in this new album clearly signal maturity. Their performances of the past were quite literal storytelling theatre pieces. I'm happy they've now gained the confidence to simply play with their unique 3-D, multi-sensory canvas, comfortable in creating more abstract art, and letting their music speak for itself.

The chocolate crisis

'Gimme Chocolate' is the song that BABYMETAL tends to be most associated with. Most people who first encounter the band from this song are immediately hit with cognitive dissonance and are unable to process what they are watching for a while. Sometimes longer.

It opens with a monstrous growl demanding chocolate followed by a wall of metal noise as drums and guitar smash into your face. Three little girls wearing striking red and black frilly skirts take centrestage in a frenzy of perfectly coordinated dance. Within seconds the mind has to cope with so much dichotomy of sight and sound, and then the girls bring in a vocal tone that runs freely and lightly against the backing music, so heavy and dark.

This band is all about dualities of things that obviously do not fit, yet these incongruous threads are woven together into a surprisingly wonderful never-experienced-before tapestry full of music, energy and fun.

Going by the translated lyrics, the song depicts this duality in the dilemma of craving chocolate, yet worrying about gaining weight. We see this dilemma also played out in their dance. MOA and YUI are the devil and angel attending to each side of SU. Their words are gibberish: One says 'dokyun' and the other, 'zokyun', so there's no way to tell which is 'good' and which is 'evil', but both are unhelpfully egging SU on to choose between them. Do it, or don't do it.

Their dance moves between checking themselves out for signs of weight gain -- pats to the waist and face, the one tiny butt wiggle, and the back lean, like they are imagining what a rotund belly might look and feel like; alternating with miming a chocolate box in their hand, so near, and yet so far. They constantly revisit the move where they alternately point to their own heads with opposite fingers, suggesting the constant struggle to choose between temptation and consequence.

The song's conclusion is so BABYMETAL: consequence be damned, they gleefully bite into the chocolate bonbon they have been denying themselves this whole time, no regrets. It's like realising that not every choice needs to be the crisis it's made out to be. Have a bit of chocolate, be happy, work hard. Life doesn't need to be more complicated than that.

Meet the band, the show, and the phenomenon that is BABYMETAL

We've seen the headliners of BABYMETAL perform with just their vocals in the previous two videos. But the true BABYMETAL experience is when they are commanding an entire arena, giving their all in a theatrical extravaganza. Yes, behind the trio that is the face of the band, there is an entire theatre company that puts the whole show together. From staging, lighting, and pyrotechnic design; to sound production; to camera work; to the incredibly talented metal band -- when they're playing for BABYMETAL, they're called the Kami band -- that drives the merciless metal machine powering the girls' relentless performance onstage; to the participation of the audience 10s of thousands strong; it looks like no expense is spared in making each show a cherished life experience that I wish I could buy a ticket to.

Probably the best intro to the phenomenon that is BABYMETAL is this performance of 'Headbanger!' This performance was in 2013 (the video was released in 2014) making SU-METAL 16 years old while MOAMETAL and YUIMETAL would be 14, assuming my math is correct.

The title of the song refers to the instinctive movement of nodding or bobbing one's head vigorously to a metal beat. Constantly innovating, BABYMETAL headbangs side-to-side instead of the usual up-and-down, and it's genius for the show. The girls get to keep their kawaii faces turned to the audience at all times. Even their hair is cut and pinned back such that it never covers their faces while headbanging. It's also a trademark move, unique to the band.

Small details like these keep the audience constantly engaged, with every stimulus designed to enrapture the senses of sight and sound, and even touch as sonic waves of this intensity are highly tactile as they pass though the body over and over again, often in rapid succession.

The lore of this song is a little confusing for me, but apparently, it's about a girl who has just turned 15 attending her first metal concert and either experiences a night she will remember forever, or a night that will never come again for her because it was so transcendent.

The performance itself features BABYMETAL's characteristic high energy dance delivered with precise synchronicity, but more importantly, with so much infectious joy from the girls who are living their best lives, doing what they were born to do. If only we could all be so blessed.

There is also a little extra bit thrown in at the end of the song that we didn't ask for but they generously gave, anyway, The girls are clearly, and understandably, very tired after all that running around, headbanging, giving their everything to the music and the dance. The audience would not begrudge them a rest, but instead they turn that rest time into high drama with the slow and painful ascent up the peak for SU to strike the gong, ending the song. It's not an Oscar-winning performance, but it's a way to get the audience involved and invested, cheering the girls on to complete this last important mission, while the girls themselves get a well earned breather.

One last thing: SU-METAL's death stare. So fierce.

A gentle introduction to BABYMETAL pt. 2

Moving slightly backwards in time, this video features SU-METAL and MOAMETAL as a duet. This being The First Take, the same rules apply. One take is all they get.

The song is 'Monochrome', featured on BABYMETAL's latest album, 'The Other One', released almost a month ago.

SU takes the spotlight, showcasing her crisp, controlled vocals. She isn't just singing, she's performing, putting full emotion into her powerful, piercing belts. Her voice catches in the exact same spot in the first two verses, like someone who is trying hard to hold it in, but can't. There's a cry in there but not a selfish, attention-seeking one. It's more personal, perhaps reflective of the loss of someone or something, or perhaps of certain sacrifices she might have made along the way. Without the metal backing, SU turns 'Monochrome' wistful and ethereal, and beautiful to listen to.

MOA plays the stoic in her facial expression and vocal tone. Her grounded supporting 'oh oh's give the song gravity, while SU's voice soars. Between these two opposing forces, my heart rent like string cheese on a pizza slice pulled upwards and away from its base, leaving me an emotional wreck the first few times I heard this version. Their official lyric video is beautiful too, but it didn't hit as hard in the feels.

Every BABYMETAL song is a sort of story. By the last verse, SU sings of accepting change and lets go (at least that's what I'm getting from the subtitles). Melancholy night turns to day full of promise and hope. Their songs are positive and uplifting, though in this new album, the songs are less playful, less full of youthful idealism. SU and MOA are, after all, young adults now, and their sensibilities have matured, as they should. Babies no longer, but they are still BABYMETAL.

A gentle introduction to BABYMETAL pt. 1

I'm seriously late to the party. The girls have grown up so much, being in the business for over 10 years now. Thankfully, they have some new material released within the past month which I can review, then perhaps consider how much further down the 'fox hole' I want to delve into.

First, some context. The band has been described as pioneering the 'kawaii metal' genre. The formula was clearly explosive, but the talent agency that put the band together just went with it. Take three super talented multiple-threat pre-teens and make them front a band comprising some of the best talents in Japanese hardcore metal, infusing the hard driving beats with the melodies of idol pop. While the band members themselves are mostly session musicians, a few have stayed with the group on a semi-permanent basis. The mainstays who give the band the name 'BABYMETAL' are SU-METAL (lead vocalist) and MOAMETAL who flanks the lead with supporting vocals and dance. The original third member, YUIMETAL took the other flank, but left a few years ago due to poor health. She was a solid and much revered foundational part of the band, and greatly missed by fans today.

This video (above) is atypical of their music. On The First Take music artists of stature perform with their voices alone, accompanied by a simple unplugged music backing  Here, performers leave their bands and choreography behind so that the audience can focus on just the vocal presentation in isolation -- and record that performance in a single take. (Edit: oops, no. The featured guest can arrange their performance however they want, but it's all shot in just one take).

The video above is entitled 'The One - Unfinished ver.' which is a tribute to their huge international fanbase collectively known as the One. It is 'unfinished' as it is only a snippet of the full version. This video is significant as it features one of the first recorded appearances of MOMOMETAL as the recently confirmed third member of the group, finally returning BABYMETAL to its original trio status. While SU-METAL still sings lead here, the focus seems to be on MOAMETAL and MOMOMETAL who provide a beautiful backing harmony which we seldom appreciate, lost as it often gets in the sound and fury of their usual full metal performances, packed with so much frenetic choreography and theatrical spectacle. Also because of the loss of YUIMETAL, MOA up to this point has had no consistent partner to harmonise with.

Like the title of the song, the two-part harmony indeed blends as one, like their voices were made for each other. This harmonic base provides SU-METAL a platform for her voice to soar as she belts out a song of affirmation and identity. On one hand it pulls in the fanbase for whom the song is written, but it also welcomes MOMOMETAL into the band with an anthem of sisterly solidarity. And perhaps the song is 'unfinished' to symbolize the beginning of a new journey for this trio of amazing vocal talent.

In part 2, we will review the previous First Take release, 'Monochrome - piano ver.' by BABYMETAL.

Eulogy: Remembering my Dad

This is the eulogy I composed for dad, who departed a week ago. I'm adding in stuff I actually said, and some other stuff I thought of later that I should have said.

[Generic greetings]... I wrote this down to keep my thoughts focused and disciplined, like my dad was.

Usually, the eulogist would speak of their loss and the audience would commiserate with him. Instead, I will take this opportunity to offer my condolences to you, who have lost a husband, a father, in-law, a grandfather, a nephew, an uncle, a brother, a cousin, a childhood or work friend, a colleague and mentor. If you are here today, you must have meant something to my dad.

So many roles, and dad defined himself by the roles he played with each of us. He was a protector, a provider, a peacemaker, a policeman, a disciplinarian. Sorry I couldn't keep the alliterative streak going, but I want to focus on the 'disciplinarian' part. I remember his unique brand of discipline when I was in my teens. I was peer pressured into buying some apparel I wasn't comfortable with, so I wore it and asked dad what he thought of it. Fashion advice from my dad -- what was I thinking? He simply said, "if you dare wear it in public, I won't stop you." Reverse psychology works every time. I did wear it in public – once for my friends' sake. And after that, everything else I have worn since has been my own choice. Except for today [indicates loud, ill-fitting Hawaiian shirt, black background with pineapple motif], but it's a special occasion, so it doesn't count.

He taught me maths, and lost his hair over it. When I got older, he taught me to drive stick. Lessons I'll never forget. Driving stick for the skill, and maths for the trauma. 

Dad took all his roles super-seriously, even if they gave him lifelong anxiety. And the kind of kids we were, we didn't help. Regardless, I dare say that with him as our dad, we turned out pretty ok. My siblings and I all wound up in the education ministry. My sister and I got into education, my brother got into ministry. We have our own households, and are living relatively free from deprivation and desperation, so great fantastic job, dad!

One word that describes dad is "considerate". His final act on earth was one of consideration. His very last interaction with me was to say, "go!" as he waved me off at the A&E driveway. He didn't want my vehicle to block the entrance and cause an inconvenience to other emergency cases coming in. [Should have said: "My vehicle was blocking the entrance, and he didn't want to inconvenience the other emergency patients who were climbing over my car to get inside"].

Come to think of it, by passing at this time of year, he ensured that no one needed to bother HR with their leave applications to attend his wake.

That's the kind of joke dad would have told better. You would have been in stitches. It's all in the delivery. Let's use this remaining time to remind each other of his crazy antics [I retold dad's story about how he reflexively reached up and without looking caught a bird in mid-flight out of the air], grand adventures, and wacky conversations we've had with him. [Forgot to say: "Dad would want us to put the FUN into his funeral". Also forgot to tell the story about his conflict management process: Once he was playing mahjong with his sisters and needed to sneeze badly. He couldn't turn his head right or left, and he couldn't face straight ahead because someone would have got a faceful. So he turned his head upwards, looked towards heaven and showered everyone with his blessings].

Once again, my condolences to all of you for your loss. And thank you for indulging me in reminiscing our memories of my dad together.