The Star Online: Entertainment: Music

China's Baidu, music labels launch online service

Posted: 19 Jul 2011 12:19 AM PDT

BEIJING (AP): Chinese search engine Baidu.com says it is launching a music download service with three global music labels in China in a deal that ends legal disputes with them.

Baidu said Tuesday it will distribute music online with Universal Music, Warner Music, and Sony Music and pay them for the content. The downloads are available only in China and will compete with a similar service run by rival Google Inc.

Baidu said it and the music companies also agreed to end outstanding litigation. Music companies have sued Baidu over complaints that it links to websites offering pirated music.

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Nicole Foo is made for the stage

Posted: 18 Jul 2011 08:38 PM PDT

Nicole Foo, also known by her moniker 'Bihzhu', is truly made for the stage.

According to Nicole Foo's bio, the efferverscent songstress was "already wielding household objects as a microphone and holding impromptu concerts for her grandmother in her earliest years in Penang."

Small wonder then, that she eventually went on to form the immensely popular pop-jazz duo Rhapsody together with Ywenna Carolin, back in 2005. Buoyed by Foo's charismatic vocals (drawing favourable comparisons to greats such as Ella Fitzgerald to Billie Holiday), Rhapsody took a legion of fans hostage and barrelled through high-profile shows at the Penang Island Jazz Festival, Actors Studio Bangsar, KL Performing Arts Centre and more. The partnership ended amicably in 2010 when Carolin moved to Singapore.

Long-time fans should take heart at the 27-year-old's recent return with a promising new solo endeavour under her alter-ego, Bihzhu. A five-track EP entitled Nightingale Tales is due in October, and she's also currently a leading musical collaborator for the Share The Love community movement, in which her new single The Heart Way features prominently.

Bihzhu's new material draws upon a wellspring of influences, from soul and reggae to a cappella, world music and pop. It's just this sort of broad-minded, keen appreciation for music that gives her a huge leg up over your typical flavour-of-the-week diva.

We recently got the low-down on what's in store for Bihzhu.

Why did you make a conscious decision to make an active solo comeback as "Bihzhu"?

Life gave me some wake up calls. Late 2010, it had been almost a year since I left my full time job, "supposedly" to pursue music, and I realised that I had nothing to show for it. Then in October, I was attending a spiritual seminar in the United States, and was invited to perform, and I had some of the most incredible experiences there that really put a whole new spin on why I sing.

It was almost like pre-Bihzhu, I sang for selfish reasons, only for myself, but now I know that I am only an instrument for the music to come through. I know this might come across as esoteric mumbo-jumbo, but those experiences I had were life-changing revelations.

Who are your major musical collaborators and partners these days?

With Rhapsody, I wrote all the lyrics and contributed partially to the melodies and Ywenna composed almost all the songs. I had a mental block that I couldn't really write music because I don't play any musical instruments. But early this year, I took a stab at it and most of the songs on the EP are my own works. My friend Savy Ho (producer, musician, arranger) helps me a lot with the arrangements, while for gigs, I work a lot with Faz Aznam (guitarist), we played together with Rhapsody and I really enjoy playing with her, but am looking to play with more musicians in the near future.

What has inspired or influenced you over the years?

I remember growing up listening to my dad's cassette tapes so I really loved groups like The Brothers Four, and Peter, Paul and Mary. I partly wish he was a jazz aficionado so I could've grown up digesting that music too, because believe it or not, I only started getting into jazz when I was in college. I am also a huge fan of Brazilian musician Caetano Veloso, and Fat Freddy's Drop from New Zealand, a cappella groups, world music, gospel etc.

What's the main difference with your music now, as compared to your time with Rhapsody?

With Rhapsody, it was very jazz-influenced. I always say being in a band is like being in a relationship, you need to have chemistry, love and trust each other, and want the same things. And I enjoyed every minute of it, but everything you do has to be mutual. Going solo now, the biggest difference is that I pretty much get to go in any direction I want, and express myself in ways that might not have been possible with Rhapsody, for example, Ywenna soooo did not like reggae, but I do! (laughs)

Tell us about your upcoming EP Nightingale Tales.

I'm really into jazz, but that's not the only thing I like, so Nightingale Tales is like a mini musical smorgasbord of all the different parts of me, a little folk, a little reggae, a little jazz, a little pop, a little soul.

I know some artistes are so clear about who they are and they have a very specific sound, but I feel like I'm just starting to explore who I am, as a person, as a musician, and these five songs are a good start, a small step.

I was chatting with my uncle in Penang and he said that the nightingale is a bird that isn't flashy but it's enchanting when it starts to sing, and I was like, heyyyyy, that's so me! I'm not the flashiest bird either but I think it's different when I sing (or at least that's what people tell me!) and since all the songs tell a different story about my life so far, I think Nightingale Tales is super apt. So far, the plans are for it to be independently released, and I'm looking at different distribution options right now, but nothing concrete yet.

■ Browse www.facebook.com/bihzhumusic.

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Kredit: www.thestar.com.my

Selasa, 19 Julai 2011

The Star Online: Entertainment: Music

The Star Online: Entertainment: Music

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