Last Friday (19th April) Fred Perry launched a vinyl exhibition at the Fred Perry Laurel Wreath Collection Shop, held in conjunction with Record Store Day, which is curated by #vinyloftheday and record store Vinylicious and showcases over 100 exclusive vinyl editions alongside all-time favourites.
The sixth Singapore edition of the Pecha Kucha Night (PCN) took place on Thursday, 17th Jan at Home Club. Originally from Japan, PCN consists of presentations made in the 20X20 format i.e. each speaker delivers their speech with 20 slides, each showing for 20 seconds. Which means that it’s long enough to give you the information to find out more but short enough so that you’d not get bored if the subject matter is less than intriguing to you.
It’s the sixth installment of Pecha Kucha Night* on 17th Jan at Home Club.
This event aims to grow the local community through sharing inspirational talks with new ideas, and personal stories from different backgrounds. Unlike other speaker events already seen in the city, the organizers have a clear vision to get local talents inspired and connected in this Pecha Kucha Night platform.
I will be 52 this coming February. Mm.
As I get older, the years seem to pass by faster and faster. I still haven’t quite figured out why but I hope it just means that I am living my life to the fullest and so…
My youngest son Jeremy turned 18 this year and it does feel like a whole new chapter of my life is unfolding before me. Pop culture remains the only true constant in my life. My earliest memories always involved TV shows (Astro Boy), scifi movies (Planet of the Apes) and pop music (The Chipmunks singing the Beatles) and that aspect has not changed.
Power of Pop has been the main outlet of my pop culture obsessions since 1998 (coming to 15 years) and whilst it’s not an income earner (I am too idiosyncratic and indisciplined for that) – it has provided me with free concert tickets, access to new albums, interviews with famous pop stars and a chance to work with young, talented writers and artists/bands. These fringe benefits were intensified in 2012 and I managed to watch many gigs (by local and overseas artists/bands) and expanded my contact base within our so-called music industry.
I have noticed many new music webzines sprouting out in our music scene and that is a very positive development and I wish these webzines all the best. I hope that they do not target merely commercial success (in dollar terms) but derive satisfaction and drive from the love of music writing itself, so that in 15 years time, they will still be doing what they love…
Whenever I talk to folks about what kept me occupied in 2012, there seems to be a consensus that I must be very busy. To be honest, I still have loads of time to do more of the things I love and I hope to do so in the coming new year. I am quite hard on myself in the use of my time and get restless when I seem to be doing ‘nothing’. What I have enjoyed most in the last three years are meaningful conversations and developing relationships. There have been numerous bumps and obstacles in this particular journey but that’s life. However, that’s not going to stop me from doing more…
For Power of Pop, I want to thank our fab writers – CJ Ang, Jeanette Chin, Melissa Ng, Samuel Caleb Wee, Desiree Boey, Hydar Saharudin, Cheryl Chew, Maricelle Wong and Rebecca Lincoln for their excellent contributions in 2012. I also want to thank all the wonderful promoters, publicists, managers, artists and bands that provided the materials from which our content was produced.
… and so on to 2013 and on the horizon: the release of Emo Fascism, the 20th anniversary of Democracy and one or more special projects which shall remain a secret for the time being.
…still there’s more…
KEVIN MATHEWS
info AT powerofpop DOT com
*From “Amateur” by Nada Surf.
Point of order. Despite the title above, this is not a year-end ‘best-of’ review of 2012. Why? It’s simply too much effort and after years and years of putting these features together, it all becomes pretty tedious and pointless. Fast. As you can guess from the featured photo above, pop culture is getting increasingly ridiculous with each passing year, so here’s my attention deficient summary of the year that we say farewell to in a matter of days…
Lunarin – The Midas Session, Nada Surf – The Stars Are Indifferent to Astronomy, Laneway Festival (Laura Marling, Feist and Girls), Jeff Litman – Outside, Cheating Sons – Time Trails (Live at Esplanade Recital Studio), Lambchop – Mr M, Sweet Diss and the Comebacks – Emerald City Love Song, Brad Brooks – Harmony of Passing Light, Friendly Fires (live at Avalon), The Observatory – Catacombs, Shelves – s/t, OMD (Live at Esplanade Theatre), Orbital – Wonky, James Morrison (interview), Bitch Magnet reissues, Music Matters, ShiGGa Shay – They Call Me ShiGGa, Rick Murname – Wednesday Child, Pugwash – The Olympus Sound, Keane – Strangeland, Marvel’s The Avengers, Fringe Seasons 4 & 5, Pink Floyd: The Story of Wish You Were Here (DVD), The Newsroom Season 1, Hot Chip (live at Avalon), Empra – s/t, Amazing Spider-Man, SING A NEW SONG, Prometheus, Breaking Bad Season 5 (Part I), Indus Gendi – I’ll Be Good If You Say Yes EP, Stone Roses (Live at Indoor Stadium), The Dark Knight Rises, Rufus Wainwright – Out of the Game, Peter Lacey – Worlds End Amateur Melodramatic Society Ball, Metric – Synthetica, Baybeats Festival, The Beach Boys (live at Indoor Stadium), Cosmo Jarvis – Think Bigger, Peter Doggett – The Man Who Sold the World: David Bowie and the 1970s, Metric (Live at the Esplanade Concert Hall), The Pretenders (Live at F1), Joe Bonamassa (Live at Esplanade Concert Hall), alt-J (∆) – An Awesome Wave, Regina Spektor – What We Saw From the Cheap Seats!, The Whigs – Enjoy the Company, Nelson Bragg – We Get What We Want, Ingrid Michaelson (Live at the Esplanade Concert Hall), Alan Moore/Kevin O’Neill – League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century: 2009, The Sam Willows – s/t EP, Kate Miller-Heidke – Nightflight, Looper, Mumford & Sons – Babel, Simon Townshend – Looking Out, Looking In, Chromatics – Kill For Love, Thunder Band Slam, The Bootleg Beatles (Live at Marina Bay Sands), Jersey Boys Musical, Christmas in Singapore, Fred Perry 60th Anniversary Party, Classic Albums: Peter Gabriel – So (DVD), Sarah Cheng De-Winne – Brand New, Troy Chin’s Bricks in the Wall, Tay Kexin – Get Set Go EP, Uncanny Avengers, Regina Spektor (Live at Esplanade Theatre), Another Sunday Afternoon – The Bookmark, The Smashing Pumpkins – Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness reissue.
*whew*
…still there’s more…
What is S-ROCK in this new indie rock era? Bands that have risen to prominence since 2010 tend to be post-1988 babies and the sum of their influences seems to be the Post-Punk Revival that was crystalized with the arrival of The Strokes, The Killers, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The White Stripes and others. Based on the 80s post-punk “movement” of the early to mid-80s, this style and sound is now the pre-eminent indie-alternative rock music of our times. In addition, this sound/style has been closely associated with the “hipster” demographic that is beginning to mark and distinguish this generation somewhat, fairly or not. In any case, here’s a bunch of new S-ROCK bands that come into this equation and it should be interesting to see where these bands will be, come 2015.
CITIZENS!
Where else can one get on a special guest list to watch 5 bands perform on the same stage, with high fashion on the wayside, at a place of significant historical value, and with easily accessible beer to down into stomachs and possibly ruined livers?
Fred Perry seemed to have the answer for that on the Sunday of 2nd December (check in with your own prescribed doctors for the liver problem, please). As always, Fred Perry is injecting its fashion roots into the music scene like it often is well known to have done, to be doing, and will certainly be doing into the future as well, without a doubt.
DIY comic book creator Troy Chin is back with a collection of tales that he hopes will “strip away the glamor of the (music) business and expose the sad, pitiful realm where delusions , ego and greed form a potent recipe for disaster.” These humorous short stories serve both as cautionary tales and historical dissertation on the music industry from the viewpoint of insider (Troy actually worked in the music industry in the 00s), fan and critic.
I was rather fortunate enough to be asked to play at The Pigeonhole’s launch early last year and was struck by the sincerity and passion of the owners to the arts/music scene in Singapore. Over the course of time, in my various capacities as music journo, band manager & S-ROCK fan, I’ve had many occasions to visit The Pigeonhole and have always felt at home there, almost as if this was a place put together by and for local arts/music scene lovers. Sadly, as is often the case in our inflationary times, The Pigeonhole is in danger of closing down unless its owners are able to raise funds to cover the rental costs and have set up a page at Indiegogo for that purpose. Please visit http://www.indiegogo.com/thepigeonhole, and kindly contribute to this worthy cause if you are so moved. Thank you!
Beginning a new series where we take a look at modern art’s impact on pop culture at large.
Portrait of Magritte by Lothar Wolleh, 1967.
“It is a union that suggests the essential mystery of the world. Art for me is not an end in itself, but a means of evoking that mystery. ” — René Magritte on putting seemingly unrelated objects together in juxtaposition.
Mystery. It is impossible to appreciate a Rene Magritte painting without considering this quality. This quality, of course, was the province of the surrealists – to see the world in different perspectives. Belgian painter Magritte (1898 – 1967) managed to combine classical works with the surrealist idiom to create something unique and distinct. Recording artists have a certain affinity with the works of Margritte as evidenced by the artist’s powerful influence on numerous album covers over the years.
Just in case, you were unaware, Power of Pop is a content provider for NewsLoop, now available also for iPhone. More info below.
· NewsLoop is optimised for the iPhone 5 to offer a superb news reading experience on the go.
· Current users of NewsLoop can access their personalised NewsLoop profile on both their iPhone and their iPad. This means that the smart app, which has learnt your news preferences over time, can continue to recommend articles that appeal to you!
· Apart from continuing to provide articles in a fresh and easy-to-read magazine-style format, the app has also been updated to allow readers to preview the latest headlines in Hot Topics before deciding if they want to read the detailed story.
· Readers no longer have to scan through long lists of posts and click on link after link. Instead, they can enjoy quick access to all stories and images with a few swipes, making it simpler and more entertaining than ever to discover, view and share content.
· The app now enables users to add news feeds and timelines from LinkedIn and Tumblr in addition to Facebook and Twitter. This gives readers more options to share articles either via email, social networks or SMSes.
A few random thoughts came to mind whilst I was at The Sam Willows EP launch at TAB last night, supported by Charlie Lim and ShiGGa Shay. One, was that I witnessing the future of our Singapore indie scene as these young talented artists – with all the potential they possess – are in the best position to bring the indie scene forward within and without our shores. Two, how different the indie scene looked in 2012, compared to 1992.
(Base Entertainment Asia Press release)
Singapore’s aspiring young performers will have the opportunity to audition for the roles of the penguins and Santa’s Elves in the forthcoming UK production of SANTA CLAUS The Musical, which opens at the Grand Theater, Marina Bay Sands, on 14 December 2012.
“In 1993 Stompin’ Ground’s e.p “We Set The Pace” sold more than 10,000 copies in Malaysia, more than any local underground or mainstream local acts have achieved under the Pony Canyon Singapore label.”
GUINNESS lovers from 55 countries around the globe will join together to honour the life and legacy of Arthur Guinness, and raise a toast to the founder of the world-famous Irish stout; celebrating all those who, like Arthur, embody the ethos of the GUINNESS brand: MADE OF MORE.
It’s been four years since I’ve been to the Singapore Toys Games Comics Convention (STGCC) – although back then there were no ‘games’ in the equation – and I must say that I was impressed with the size and scope of the event. It was very crowded over the two days and the public interest overall was high. However, the main focus was on toys with Hot Toys having the biggest booth (see above) and that left me a little cold, to be honest.
Two entire days of Toys, Games and Comics goodness at STGCC 2012! Here’s what we are recommending you should check out.
This one’s for us geeks! STGCC (Singapore Toy, Game & Comic Convention) is back!!
More information at the Official Site.
Power of Pop will be covering both days of the convention so stay tuned!
Strictly speaking, this is not a review of Sonny Liew‘s Malinky Robot: Collected Stories & Other Bits, which I already assessed here. This time around, I am sharing with you the newly minted Limited Edition Box Set which includes the book as well as a variety of goodies.
There have been numerous biographies of David Bowie, but never before a book that explains how he emerged as the most vital and influential pop artist of the 1970s, or identifies the full depth ad implications of his achievements.
This is the opening sentence to the preface of Peter Doggett’s magnificent new book about David Bowie and it encapsulates what Doggett set out to do and ultimately what he achieved with this remarkable tome. In this respect, Doggett was guided (and he acknowledges this fact as well) by the late rock journalist Ian MacDonald’s legendary Beatles book – Revolution in the Head – and postulates that even as the music of the Beatles shaped the sixties, the musical output of Bowie impacted the seventies in much the same way.
Skl0 is a Singaporean guerilla artist who has been responsible for street art that has been spotted around Singapore recently. On the sides of roads, she would paint “My Grandfather Road” and she would place stickers on traffic light posts which satirize the behavior of Singaporeans.
Coca-Cola Singapore invited bloggers and collectors to celebrate its 126th anniversary with several informative videos about the work that Coca-Cola is doing around the world (besides selling millions of drinks of course), not to mention a fabulous buffet spread and a hands-on session on cocktail making. Check out below one of the videos about the Overseas Filipino Workers project and make sure you have a tissue handy and nearby.
Thanks to Tiffany Goh for the invite.
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