Off The Edge Review

patriotic songs by CH Loh (an excerpt)

Humour is the great antidote to tyranny and stupidity, and it's perhaps no accident that it is our greatest Malaysian survival tool. Great doses of it helped us survive the assault on recent Malaysian films such as Amir Muhammad's Lelaki Komunis Terakhir. As if anticipating the oncoming brouhaha, Hardesh Singh, with the help of lyrics by Jerome Kugan, has crafted for the film some of the funniest songs our land has ever produced.

It's a boon then that these songs are now available on CD in a compialtion of Hardesh's film music (the title is a mouthful, so henceforth it's EPFTTTNMMHGG). If you didn't get to see the film, you can at least get to enjoy its spirit on five cleverly crafted songs that form the sonic backbone to the 'odd' documentary the whole world got a glimpse of, minus Malaysia.


Off The Edge Sept 2006 is available now. It is one of my favourite magazine's, so go get it and read the full review.

Galaxie Review

Galaxie 1-15 September 2006, by Edward Gomez

It may be an exaggeration to claim that this collection of tunes by Hardesh Singh runs the gamut of human emotion. Then again, what if it's true...? Hardesh's debut album is a collection of his musical contributions to the cinematic works of Malaysia's most exciting filmmakers - Amir Muhammad (Tokyo Magic Hour and Lelaki Komunis Terakhir), Deepak Menon (Chemman Chaalai) and Yasmin Ahmad (Gubra and the upcoming Mukhsin). Admitedly, it isn't an easy listen. The tunes on offer range from surreal and avant-garde to rustic and romantic, and I can't really see someone listening to the whole album in one sitting, but perhaps that wasn't the intention of the composer in the first place. Perhaps, you're supposed to listen to it in segments depending on your mood. Perhaps then, you'll get a glimpse of the creative force behind these tracks. Me, I look forward to the "proper" debut - an album conceived, conceptualised and performed by Hardesh Singh. But till then, Pomeloes will do.

3 stars