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LITTLE SPACE DONKEY

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Oct 242011
 

Dreamer’s Manifesto EP

Ever wonder what rocking in space sounds like?

Little Space Donkey answers this question (indirectly) with their latest 4-track EP release, second only to their debut offering quirkily titled “Collection Of Songs That We Will Never Play Live, Ever”. You know that can’t be true.

A band from Jakarta, LSD is made up of Dhendy Mawardi and Amy Amanda on guitars, Made Indar on bass (and one of the contributing artists for this EP’s artwork), Dave Leonard on drums, and Anthono Oktoriandi on synthesizer and sampler. Young as they may look in pictures and in age, but don’t let that fool you. Their music and sound offerings as tight, united and focused  as can be.

The space sounding ambience is attributed to the inclusion of the synthesizer, which provides the musical journey into the other dimension. Not quite certain of the underlying story concept about a leader who united the world in his grasp, though. A glance through their listed influences (like Sigur Ros, M83, Explosions In The Sky, Daft Punk, The Flaming Lips and The Radio Dept. to name a handful) clearly ascertains their musical direction and genre, and then there is a surprise in mention of one of everyone’s classic favourite bands of all-time, The Carpenters (much celebrated!).

Two questions raised:
1) Are LSD really as young as appear to be?
2) Are you in space yet with LSD’s music?

Dreamer’s Manifesto is distributed as a free download at littlespacedonkey.bandcamp.com (FREE!), and you can find out more about Little Space Donkey on MySpace and on Tumblr.

Support Asian and local music too! Do your part!

(CJ)

 Posted by at 3:26 pm  Tagged with: , , ,

BAYBEATS 2011

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Aug 242011
 

As previously noted, this year’s coverage of Baybeats here at Power of Pop has been muted, mainly because of my mentoring of the Esplanade Youth Budding Writers which I hope will provide the definitive coverage of Baybeats 2011 for all posterity! Not only that but management duties with the Sons also meant less time watching bands and artists. But of what I did manage to see, here are my highlights.

Noughts & Exes

I caught this Hong Kong folk-pop band back in May for Music Matters and was impressed by their eclectic style, arrangements and presentations. The set at the Arena was truly well put together and provided a respite for those suffering from delay and metalzone pedal fatigue. Front man Joshua Wong has a remarkable voice that grabs your attention straightaway and their use of violin, melodica and typewriter (!) helps to keep things interesting. It did not hurt that there was additional eye candy in the form (pun intended!) of singer Karmen Cheung (subbing for the absent Kerri-Anne Butler) which gave the band a strong sonic and visual appeal! Word is that Noughts & Exes have been signed to US indie label Spectra Records, which is incredible news and hopefully the start of great things for this deserving band.

Hollywood Nobody

I was at the Observation Deck as this Indonesian band was interviewed and was charmed by their humble manner, albeit slight geeky (if I may say so). But once they started performing they were transformed into one of the coolest twee pop bands I’ve seen in the region. I latter saw them at the Chillout Stage and in full band mode, they were even more impressive. One to watch out for.

Turbo Goth

To be honest, I did not fully catch this photo-genic duo (from the Philippines) in action but I listen to them soundcheck and finish off their set (before the Sons) and I found that for a two-piece, they certainly filled up the stage properly. Also could not help but notice singer Sarah Gaugler’s nose-bleed high heels! She certainly made the Arena stage her own! Keep an eye out for Turbo Goth.

The rest, I had snatches of viewing here and there and to be honest, not that much impressed too greatly. The trademark ‘Baybeats’ sound was never my thing anyways (look at the bands I mentored last year!) and so the slightly different sonic approach is always going to get my attention. And to those lamenting the lack of Western (read: Caucasian) bands/artists, I think it’s about time Asia stands up to acknowledge that our bands are good as any bands anywhere in the world. So is it about the music or something else more sinister? Kudos to Baybeats 2011 for setting itself apart from the numerous indie rock festivals in Singapore and beyond.

Asian rock rules!

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POWER OF POP INTERVIEW – SAJAMA CUT

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Jan 012011
 

The complete unabridged interview with Marcel Thee of Sajama Cut. Basis for my TODAY article.

How did Sajama Cut form?

I essentially formed the band when I was 14 or 15, which is 15 years ago. Like most bands, we were made up of neighborhood and high-school friends. We were called another name back then and released a long-out-of-print cassette in 1999. The first official Sajama Cut release was “Apologia” in 2002, and it was an amalgamation between my love Norwegian Black Metal and horrible pop bands from yesteryear such as The Hollies and early Beach Boys; you know, just these second rate Beatles-esque bands. We grew to be a little bit more focused and went through a lot lineup changes, which is never my idea of a good time, but the guys that are here now seem to permanent ones ready to roll with whatever it takes to survive playing the kind of music that we do.

Continue reading »

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SAJAMA CUT

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Nov 232010
 

SAJAMA CUT Manimal (The Bronze Medal Rec/Aksara Rec/Shining Rec)

I love pop music. Y’know, “pop music” as written and recorded in the 60s/70s, when producing something artistic and distinctive with tunes, lyrics, instrumentation and arrangements was the order of the day. Power of Pop was established to highlight bands and artists – past or present – who lived/live the reality of 60s (and 70s) infused music making.

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BAYBEATS 2010

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Aug 162010
 

And here we are, on the cusp of another Baybeats! I don’t know about you but I’m really excited about catching all the great bands over the course of this festival. Last time out, my head was too wrapped up with playing with Chris Collingwood that I confess that I missed most of the performances. No such distractions this year, I’m glad to report!

First up, we have the bands who auditioned for the right to play at Baybeats. For me, it’s going to be Basement in My Loft, The Zozi, Meltg Snow, Run Neon Tiger, Postbox and Cockpit that will take pride of place. Then we have the S-ROCK contingent viz. Lunarin, Suchness, Rudra, Typewriter and Celina Foo – all worth checking out.

Around the region, we have the likes of Prema Yin (Malaysia), Carlos Castanos, Camerawalls (Philippines), Santamonica (Indonesia), The Standards (Thailand), King Ly Chee (Hong Kong) and more. Further beyond our shores – Jon Auer of The Posies, David Choi (USA), Handsome Fur (Canada), Mixhell feat. Igor Cavalera of Sepultura (Brazil)…

What a lineup! See what I mean, quite a buffet of indie music, don’t you agree?

For full information about dates and time, go to the Baybeats site.

Don’t forget to patronize the various merch tables to get your souvenirs of what will be a truly memorable rock event! You know the drill, come up and say hi! I’m the guy with the silver hair…

Songs From The Year Of Our Demise Only You Face Control

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POWER OF POP INTERVIEW: THE TREES AND THE WILD

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Jul 282010
 

Who are The Trees & The Wild and how was it formed?

Iga: The band was formed in 2006. Andra and I were childhood friends, having attended the same school together. Andra knew Remedy from school but after graduation, we went to different schools. It was only years later that we met again and decided to form a band because we had the same vision and approach to playing music. We started out playing original songs and it’s been that way ever since.

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 Posted by at 4:26 pm  Tagged with: , , ,

ROCKIN’ THE REGION – INDONESIA

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Jul 262010
 

I’ve always had a soft spot for music from Indonesia. Their country has produced very creative and musically strong music over the years, with bands like Mocca and Agrikulture playing in our little island.

As part of the third installment of the Rockin’ The Region series, Esplanade was proud to present 3 immensely talented musicians, Adhitia Sofyan, The Trees and the Wild and Risky Summerbee and the Honeythief.

As usual, I checked out the Myspace pages of all 3 bands and was quite impressed. I made it in time as Adhitia started playing Adelaide Sky, a beautifully written song about wanting to talk to a girl at a coffee shop and his thoughts. By then, there were a large crowd of people to the extent that a whole group of young Indonesians had to sit on the floor closest to the stage.

I liked how he was unpretentious, and chatted with the audience between songs. Towards the end of the set, he told everyone that he was aware that there would be fireworks and stopped playing, waiting for the fireworks to happen before continuing to play. When it didn’t happen, he played his last song, which was when the fireworks happened.

It was a breathtaking sight, watching the sky explode with colourful streaks, while Adhitia played. His honest, written-from-the-heart lyrics and vocals won me over, and I’ll definitely try and make it for one of his shows if I’m ever in Jakarta.

The first thing that came to mind when I saw The Trees & The Wild on stage was how big the band was, with 7 people on stage and how young they looked! I later found out that the band consisted of 3 members and the rest were sessionists who were friends of the members.

I was really impressed hearing them live! Their music was well-arranged, precise at certain moments, and it wasn’t too complicated until you lost interest after a few songs. They looked young but their talent belied their youthful appearance. Their lyrics were simple but made elaborate by the careful arrangement of each song. A simple task in theory but one very few bands manage to pull off.

The backing vocals of the female vocals was impressive! You wouldn’t be able to tell by her appearance that her vocals were so pure, almost hypnotic and they drew you into each song. They played songs off their debut album, Rasuk, and my favourites were Honeymoon On Ice, Fight The Future and Berlin. Their album has been on heavy rotation on my iTunes since I got it before their set and I predict it’ll still continue to be on long after.

I didn’t manage to stay for Risky Summerbee and the Honeythief because Lunarin was playing at the Substation but I enjoyed what the Indonesian musicians had to offer. I look forward to hearing more from our friends in Indonesia.

(Rebecca Lincoln)

Adhitia Sofyan
The Trees and The Wild

 Posted by at 11:14 am  Tagged with: , , , ,

BAYBEATS 2010: SANTAMONICA

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Jul 092010
 

Established in 2003, SANTAMONICA is the brainchild of Indonesian duo Joseph Saryuf and Anindita. SANTAMONICA plays an eclectic mixture of pop, bossanova, electronic, and classic waltz, drawing influences from inspirations as diverse as Astrud Gilbeto, Antonio Jobim, My Bloody Valentine and even classic Disney soundtracks. The duo gave us a short and sweet response to our queries.

Why make music?

It just happens.

When did you start making music?

Since we began to listen to our idols.

What is the most important thing about making Music?

The passion that creates it and the sound that translates it.

Where is your favorite place to make music?

Our recording studio.

How do you keep making music?

By being alive.

Catch SANTAMONICA at Baybeats 2010 on 21st August at 6pm – the Arena (Outdoor Theatre)

Myspace | Baybeats

Thanks again to Winnie!

 Posted by at 10:26 am  Tagged with: , , ,
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