Electric Peacock was pretty great last night. I heard Avicii’s gig at CH was excellent as well. By the end of the night the Basement Jaxx DJ was dancing around on the beach and people were racing Go Karts around the city streets (as practice for tonight’s race). Down the Galle Face they were having an open air concert and the whole city just had a buzz I haven’t felt before. Woke up and saw that Colombo was featured in the New York Times as up and popping. Cool.

I normally avoid such things, but this weekend should be cool. There’s the Electric Peacock Festival OR Avicii on Friday and the Colombo Night Races on Saturday. The preceding links all go to ticket sales. The gigs are like Rs. 2,000 apiece but you can get race tickets for Rs. 250.

My friend Imaad is hosting a poetry jam at Green Path tomorrow. To quote: “Poetry jam(/open mic) this Wednesday, 30th november, 5 pm onward at Green Path, Colpetty. spread the word.” It’ll feature musicians, some sketch artists and poetry. The Green Path house is past the checkpoint (before Liberty roundabout), first left. There’s a map here.

Jahcoozi is playing tonight at La Voile Blanche, Mount Lavinia (8 pm). Interesting cause they’re an edgy electro, reggae, experimental funk act from (most recently) Berlin, but also because their singer is Sri Lankan born Sasha Perera. Above is their cover of a Cure song, closer to me. You can hear more track on their soundcloud.

Via Sayy’s 365, I heard this lovely Tamil song. It’s an unimposing song, sung in mixed English and Tamil, telling a simple story, nice slouchy beat, and a fun, real video. Sayy comments that’s it’s gotten over 3 million views in a week. I understand why. It’s beautiful and fun. The drum beat alone is enough to carry anything, but it’s got a haunting refrain and really sweet lyrics. And random hot girls in the studio, but not lolling around looking retarded and fake. It’s all really real. Here’s a lyric:

I was looking thru my logs and I found that a paper I wrote in University was cited in the Cardoza Law Review. One word, but still. The paper is called ‘Fuck’ and it’s by Christopher M. Fairman, Associate Professor of Linguistics, Ohio State University. The (unpublished paper of mine he cited was) ‘Fuck Linguistics’ written for my SocioLinguistics class in 2003.

The Electric Peacock Festival has announced that they’re bringing down the amazing electronic acts Basement Jaxx and Chicane this December 16th. These are not third tier DJs or saccharine pop acts, Basement Jaxx and Chicane are both artists that I own (have) music by and which have gotten serious airplay worldwide.

Sasha Perera is a Sri Lankan who’s settled in Germany, started an art-house band, and is returning this month (the 25th) for a concert. My friend Jan has been hyping her up for years, playing her bass-heavy dubstep, experimetronic records and getting me to listen. I’ve seen some of the videos and it should definitely be a great live performance.

Ra.One is a lovely, entertaining movie. I highly recommend it, especially this Diwali season. It’s not a great film per se, but it is great entertainment. Expertly packaged, playfully presented fun. With music by Akon.

However much people hate on Duminda Silva, you have to understand that he is surrounded by people that back him up, ranging from the President to thousands of urban poor. He and his violent, sociopathic ilk (like Mervyn Silva) live in a bubble where their behavior is reinforced. If they want further approval, they can always get in their jeeps and blast Gangsta Rap and nod their heads in complete understanding.