Pop culture musings by Kevin Mathews
Singer-songwriter Keith Soo-Tho, who goes by the moniker VVOLF, holds much promise for any music lover hoping for Singapore to throw up more proponents of #THENEWROCKNROLL!
Continue reading “SINGAPORE MUSIC SPOTLIGHT | THE NEW ROCK N ROLL : VVOLF – INDEPENDENCE DAY”
One band that fulfilled the immense promise of the so-called ‘post-punk revival’ of the noughties – acclaimed UK rock outfit British Sea Power are back with the forthcoming LP Let The Dancers Inherit The Party out March 31st on Golden Chariot (via Caroline International).
Continue reading “PoPTV | THE NEW ROCK N ROLL : BRITISH SEA POWER – BAD BOHEMIAN”
German composer Hans Zimmer has in recent times been closely associated with Geek flicks – superhero (The Dark Knight Trilogy, Man of Steel & Batman vs Superman) and scifi (Inception & Interstellar).
Continue reading “GEEK OUT! THE MUSIC OF HANS ZIMMER REINTERPRETED”
Whether rock ‘n’ roll is dead or not becomes a moot point when you are enjoying the new music out there. Case in point – Snowdonia from Surfer Blood.
Continue reading “PoP RECOMMENDS | THE NEW ROCK N ROLL : SURFER BLOOD – SNOWDONIA”
Proper Ornaments is the project of James Hoare (Ultimate Painting, Veronica Falls) and Max Oscarnold (Toy, Pink Flames).
Continue reading “PoP RECOMMENDS | THE NEW ROCK N ROLL : THE PROPER ORNAMENTS – FOXHOLE”
Labels are deceiving. What the hell is “post-metal”? Does that describe NZ duo Into Orbit?
Continue reading “BANDCAMP DISCOVERY | THE NEW ROCK N ROLL : INTO ORBIT – UNEARTHING”
Back in 1980, singer-songwriter Billy Joel was already railing against the stratification of rock & pop music.
Continue reading “ROCK HISTORY – IT’S STILL ROCK N ROLL TO ME”
Sex sells. That’s a given. From an artistic perspective, is the sex the payoff or is the sex there to make you think?
Continue reading “PoPTV | POP POWER!!! : BOY EPIC – DIRTY MIND”
Slowly but surely, Laneway Festival Singapore has been losing its guitar rock roots. When you consider that perhaps the most exciting year was 2012, when it was possible to enjoy the likes of The Horrors, Laura Marling, Feist and M83 all in one night, the 2017 line-up demonstrated how music trends had changed in four short years.
Continue reading “SEARCHING FOR ROCK AUTHENTICITY AT LANEWAY SINGAPORE 2017”
Suitably epic, Astreal returns with a new single “Colossal” and an appearance at the Laneway Festival Singapore at 3.10pm.
Continue reading “THE LISTENING BOOTH | THE NEW ROCK N ROLL : ASTREAL – COLOSSAL”
Singapore band Astronauts shares with many of their contemporary Singaporean musicians a love for urban millennial pop music.
Continue reading “SINGAPORE MUSIC SPOTLIGHT | POP POWER!!! : ASTRONAUTS – GET CLOSE”
There is a distinctive quality about singer-songwriter Molly Burch‘s voice that suggests an affinity with non-rock femme vocalists like Patsy Cline, Billie Holiday and Nina Simone!
Continue reading “PoPTV | THE NEW ROCK N ROLL : MOLLY BURCH – TRY”
Hailing from Iceland, Lucy in Blue channels the 70s progressive rock vibe of Pink Floyd, Van Der Graaf Generator and Camel so effortlessly authentic that it’s almost hard to believe that this eponymous album was released last December!
Continue reading “BANDCAMP DISCOVERY | THE NEW ROCK N ROLL : LUCY IN BLUE”
Star Wars changed the face of cinema when it was released in 1977, never mind the face of scifi movies. In the decade following its whirlwind success, 13 films (included the Star Wars sequels) built on the new paradigm which director George Lucas had provided.
Continue reading “GEEK OUT! 13 REASONS WHY THE EIGHTIES WERE THE GOLDEN AGE OF SCIFI MOVIES”
Years in the making, atmospheric dream pop band enec.e have made available its debut EP, Driftwood on Bandcamp and other digital platforms.
Continue reading “SINGAPORE MUSIC SPOTLIGHT | POP POWER!!! : ENEC.E – DRIFTWOOD”
When I think of what rock music means to me, the word “GLORY” comes to mind.
Another new year, another new feature as we highlight new albums to discover on the wonderful Bandcamp platform. As always our focus will be on rock n roll, pop-rock and pop with power! This time out, The Four Chords!!
TOMGIRL (a.k.a Cherie Ko and Ted Doré) have dropped their garage-pop second single “Heartbeats” and music video.
Continue reading “SINGAPORE MUSIC SPOTLIGHT | THE NEW ROCK N ROLL : TOMGIRL – HEARTBEATS”
Guitar rock bands with melodic songs are hard to come by in Singapore nowadays. Never mind good ones! Well, happy to declare that Bakers in Space fit the specs perfectly.
Continue reading “SINGAPORE MUSIC SPOTLIGHT | THE NEW ROCK N ROLL : BAKERS IN SPACE”
Dream pop merchants Lightcraft maintain their life-affirming joyous indie rock ministrations with a new EP that fulfils all the promise expressed in 2013 album, Colours of Joy.
Continue reading “PoP RECOMMENDS | THE NEW ROCK N ROLL : LIGHTCRAFT – ANOTHER LIFE EP”
The last time a scifi movie moved us as much as Arrival was Predestination (2014), the Spierig brothers’ adaptation of Robert A Heinlein’s 1959 short story, -All You Zombies-.
Continue reading “GEEK OUT! ARRIVAL IS ONE OF THE BEST SCIFI MOVIES EVER! (SPOILERS)”
Following the recent release of James Parry’s acclaimed album In The Lights, comes the new video for album track, “Every Weekend”.
Showcasing Parry’s laid back country-folk pop-rock style, the album finds the singer-songwriter effortlessly channeling the likes of Crowded House, The Shins and Paul Kelly in his pleasing songs.
The video follows a day in the life of a sleepy city, in keeping with the song’s feeling of walking through honey.
Watch:
Buy: Amazon | iTunes
… still there’s more …
The legendary David Bowie passed away on 10th January 2016, mourned by music lovers worldwide. On what would have been his 70th birthday (i.e. 8th January), the No Plan EP was released.
The third full-length from Jersey rockers The Black Clouds is a timely reminder of 90s post-grunge alt-crunch. Produced by the legendary Jack Endino and featuring Endino and Mark Arm (Mudhoney), this one certainly packs a punch.
Continue reading “THE LISTENING BOOTH | THE NEW ROCK N ROLL : THE BLACK CLOUDS – SELF CONTROL”
