One of my favorite discoveries when I moved to Singapore in 2003 was alternative rock act, B-Quartet. I haven’t checked in on the boys for a while, but it looks like I swung back by just in time, since they are set to launch their debut full-length ‘Tomorrow Is Our Permanent Address’.

According to the press release, the album promises to put a stronger emphasis on song craft over instrumental pyrotechnics. Incorporating electronic elements into their usual jumble of jazz, alternative rock and pop, the band blends Bani Haykal’s poetry with its love for soft-loud dynamics and sharply tuned melodies.

Listen to the stream of Disp rs, courtesy of Aging Youth Records, and then try to resist buying the album.

BOOKMARK THIS!

2 February, 8pm: Album launch at The Playden. Charge: $16.00 (pre-sale), $22.00 (at the door). Email enquiries@agingyouth.com for pre-sale tickets.

‘Tomorrow is our Permanent Address’ is available from EarShot Cafe, Gramophone, Roxy Records, Sembawang Music Centre and Straits Records.

The Lilac Saints are giving their fans a Christmas present in the guise of a holiday tune. ‘Give me Love on Xmas Day’ is a lovingly crafted and nicely written song to get yourself into the Christmas spirit.

The band enlisted ‘a little help from their friends’ for the vocals, and the track features artists including local music scene veteran, Joe Ng, Electrico’s David Tan, Saiful Idris of The Great Spy Experiment, female vocal powerhouse Shirlyn Tan, bossanova muse Olivia Ong and jazz singer Joanna Dong. Oddfellows/ Typewriter’s Patrick Chng contributes by appearing as a guest bassist on the single.

The recording is entirely self funded by The Lilac Saints and will raise money for the band’s adopted choice of charity, Boy’s Town. HMV and Gramophone stores will be retailing the single at $10.

Head over to their myspace for a taster of the track and ‘give the Boy’s Town boys some love … give them love … give them love on Xmas Day!’

The lovely Karl Maka boys are generously giving away a pair of tickets to catch the Karl Maka themselves, IGO and the DJ set of Goodnight Electric as part of the Esplanade Electrolab series. The electrifying gig is on Saturday, 15th Dec at 8pm, i.e. tomorrow.

The first person to email me with their name and contact details at cien [at] culturepush.com wins the tix! Jon and Ken will leave the tickets with the winner’s name at the door.

Update: The tickets have been given away!

If there’s a quality in a band that I appreciate — second to how vigorously they make my toes tap — it’s their ability to connect with the audience, i.e. me. Nothing makes my night more than to find out that the brains behind the music I love, also has a personality to match. It’s the equivalent of the musical first date, will I come out of a gig loving them or having my heart broken? And in that respect, I’m a sucker for the funny band, the sort that make silly jokes, take the piss out of themselves and thereby putting a grin on my face. And that’s where The Karl Maka come in.

Named after the famous HK actor, Jon Fong and Ken Hayashida make up the electropop duo that have garnered their fair share of fans for their cheerful pop ditties and their propensity to turn their gigs into impromptu karaoke sessions. On 15th Dec, they’ll be opening for Chinese electro band, IGO, as part of the Esplanade’s Electrolab series, a 3-day electropop extravaganza. I caught up with them to find out more about their friendship, the gig and that song about a certain foxy TV host… MORE »

THE MAN
My name is Giuliano Gullotti. I am an Italian multi-instrumentalist based in Singapore, and although I am not exactly a musician by profession, being in bands and recording music has always played a major part in my life. When I was three, my parents asked me what I wanted to do when I grew up. ‘A music conductor’, I said. Now I am quite happy to let people listen to the music in my head. And when I’m not putting my children to sleep, I like to hole up in the studio at night and dream up soundscapes.

THE BAND
Amberhaze represents a process towards a sound in constant evolution in which I let experimentation and trial-and-error lead the way. Very often my finished tracks sound nothing like what I had planned at first. But it’s these random surprises that attract me the most to making music. MORE »

About a month or so ago we wrote about the release of I Am David Sparkle’s six-song debut LP, ‘This is The New’, and we even slipped in a sample of the lead track ‘The Way of The Universe’.

The nice folks at Kitty Wu Records just mailed me a promotional copy of the LP. But you will have to be really damn fast to get your hands on it! Email me now with your name and mailing address!

Update 7.11pm: We have a winner! The contest is closed.

The MUON Love Drops EP giveaway closes on 31 October. There are only a few EPs left, so hurry up and email me pronto to score your copy before they’re all gone!

Update 12 October: There are no more copies left. More luck next time!

Ever since I first listened to I Am David Sparkle, I’ve been anxiously awaiting to hear news of their debut LP entitled, ‘This Is The New’. Especially after hearing last year’s ‘Apocalypse of Your Heart’ EP, which gave me a taste of the potential of what this instrumental and post-rock band is capable of. Amran explains, ‘Releasing a new record twelve months after ‘Apocalypse of Your Heart’ was a conscious decision. I guess the band is trying to catch up on lost time, as our first CD was put out only after having been around for five years- which is an awfully long time. I also think the band is in a phase where we would like to be more productive and have something to show for it, so I can definitely say that we don’t intend for ‘This Is The New’ to be the last of our efforts.” MORE »

Electronic shoegaze outfit, MUON started as a solo project of Nick Chan and revolved around electronic experimentation, fusing the sounds of IDM, ambient triphop, drum n bass, all within a backdrop of jazzy cinematic soundscapes.

The band bridges the disparate gap between the worlds of explosive rock and dark electronica without falling prey to the trappings of either. MUON is made up of guitarist/producer Nick Chan, drummer Edwin Leong and the reclusive Leopold von Berlin, who shares synths and electronics duties with Nick. The threesome has individually been members of other notable acts such as Astreal, The Death of Cinema, I Am David Sparkle, The Pagans and Starr. Find out how to win a copy of MUON’s latest EP after the jump.

MORE »

Sound art is still a rather mystifying concept to most arts punters in Singapore. Mention sine waves, beeps and glitches to the average man on the street and he’d think you were having computer problems. To add to the equation, sound art, like any other genre of contemporary art, can be sub-divided into a multitude of sub-genres that explore a mind boggling array of of sound forms from minimalism to plunderphonics. (A readable primer: Prick up your ears, The Guardian) What makes sound art so fascinating is its lack of boundaries. Without visual cues or a defined space, an arena takes on new energy, where soundscapes leapfrog over our heads and swirl around us with near physical tension, harnessing the power of a much neglected sense in our visually-oriented world.

Hadaka:K is the latest initiative by veteran sound artist, Yuen Chee Wai and together with Venzha Christiawan, George Chua, Dickson Dee, Atsuhiro Ito, Jin Sang Tae, Otomo Yoshihide, Vu Nhat Tan and Zai Kuning, the 9 artists will be taking over the Esplanade Theatre Studio for 3 days of sonic surprises. I shot Yuen a few questions in the hopes of finding out more. MORE »

Experimental electronica artist, Marcos Destructos, started out originally in 2003 as part of an acoustic folk punk project, but soon progressed into the electronica realm under the moniker One Man Nation. “I got sick of playing with bands and having to rely on others to create music,” he says. “In 2005, I started dabbling around with computers and discovered aleatory music.”

Also known as “chance music”, aleatory music is an open form of composition where the order of movements or elements are left up to the performer.

2007 has been particularly fruitful for Marcos. He released two albums, a solo record Rained and It Rained, Bullets It Rained under One Man Nation and Voluntary Human Extinction as part of electro-punk outfit, Elekore, together with Belgian member C-drik and fellow Singaporean, Mindfuckingboy. We recently caught up with him after an extensive three month tour of Europe and just as well, as he will be leaving our shores again in August 2007. MORE »

The Observatory’s legacy is already secured, and a new release from this Singapore band is always a matter of keen anticipation. This experimental collective gained pockets full of brilliant reviews for their bang-up albums, Time of Rebirth (2004) and Blank Walls (2005). Their music is a mesmeric mix of electronic soundscapes, and an enchanting snapshot of another world that will make you want to go back for more. The band just finished recording their third album, A Far Cry From Here, with Norwegian producer, Jørgen Træen. They will be opening for Jaga Jazzist during the Mosaic Music Festival and will be playing their first ‘live’ concert of the year at the NUS Arts Festival on 25th March. In an email interview, the band tells us more about the new album, which will be unleashed this March. MORE »