It gives me great pleasure to listen to wonderful music and even greater pleasure to share it with the world. In the case of Xenovibes, all these pleasures are doubled because Shueh-li Ong, half of Xenovibes (the other half being John Anthony Martinez), is a Singaporean sound engineer cum multi-instrumentalist who plays the guqin , the tin whistle and the theremin with world class talent. The theremin is an obscure and incredibly difficult instrument to master, probably the only musical instrument that you play without touching. And I’m convinced someone who plays the theremin can hear stuff that normal people can’t. (By the way, did you know that Lenin once learnt to play the theremin?)

The music shows very eclectic influences (reminds me of Ryuichi Sakamoto’s “Neo-Geo” concept) and sounds really progressive. Their version of Lovers’ Tears” which you can hear below is wonderful. It has something that other versions I heard don’t have – a respect for the original tune. And it captures the mood of the original without being derivative. “Lover’s Tears” is one of my favorite tunes. Their version has no heartbroken female vocalist (Poon Sow Keng) singing to wring your heart but surprisingly, it achieves the same effect nonetheless! I love it. My favorite Xenovibe tune! I can listen to it the whole day.

You can check out Xenovibes’ music here; where I got hooked on their version of “Lovers Tears”.

Here is an interview with Shueh-Li.

Here are some videos.

Tamorgano

Music From Another Land

Neu Genteels – Nuevo

Been There Too

Ethnicity