Pop culture musings by Kevin Mathews
Vancouver’s Gnash Rambler is a godsend to pop lovers hankering for some old school punk rock!
Continue reading “THE LISTENING BOOTH | THE NEW ROCK N ROLL : GNASH RAMBLER – BAD KARMA”
The Probes, who are all still teenagers, have already toured with the legendary Echo and The Bunnymen and look set to be one of the most exciting bands to emerge from Liverpool’s vibrant music scene.
Continue reading “THE LISTENING BOOTH | THE NEW ROCK N ROLL : THE PROBES – AUTONOMY”
Within the first couple of bars of its new single – “Hearts on Fire”, Chicago-based Molehill convinced us that they are worthy of a feature.
Continue reading “THE LISTENING BOOTH | THE NEW ROCK N ROLL : MOLEHILL – HEARTS ON FIRE”
The hype screams out “The Future of French Rock” and describes La Femme as possessing such edgy music influences as Gene Vincent, The Velvet Underground and Kraftwerk. But what about the music itself?
Things appear to be on the up for Texas hard rockers Blacktop Mojo.
Continue reading “THE LISTENING BOOTH | THE NEW ROCK N ROLL : BLACKTOP MOJO – PYROMANIC”
It’s not often that bands that we feature on PoPTV actually get to our shores but on 27th March at Hood Bar & Cafe, Honeyblood will perform for the first time in Singapore.
Continue reading “LIVE NEWS : SONGS FOR CHILDREN PRESENT HONEYBLOOD LIVE IN SINGAPORE!”
Yet another Aussie band with a firm grip of what pop-rock music is all about, Sydney’s Middle Kids hit all the right notes on its eponymous debut EP.
Continue reading “PoP RECOMMENDS | POP POWER!!! : MIDDLE KIDS – S/T EP”
Long live the underground as German death metal band Defeated Sanity will perform in Singapore on 15th March 2017 for the first time ever.
Continue reading “LIVE NEWS : DEFEATED SANITY – DISPOSAL OF THE WORLD ASIAN TOUR 2017”
Adrian Jones (Basement in My Loft) is back with Cardiff trio Excellent Skeleton and a new eponymous EP featuring re-workings of previously released Basement songs.
Continue reading “BANDCAMP DISCOVERY | THE NEW ROCK N ROLL : EXCELLENT SKELETON – S/T EP”
Pure retro pop power is what Croydon singer-songwriter Nick Frater is about.
Continue reading “BANDCAMP DISCOVERY | POP POWER!!! : NICK FRATER – SOMETHING/NOTHING?”
First off, we are not really fans of musical theatre – we could not even get past the first scene of the much vaunted La La Land. But we know entertainment when we see it and if nothing else, Dream Academy’s Detention Katong is definitely good fun.
We have admired singer-songwriter Jean Tan for sometime now. Mainly for her confident yet sincere approach to jazz-folk pop.
Continue reading “SINGAPORE MUSIC SPOTLIGHT | POP POWER!!! : JEAN TAN – CROWNS”
Singer-songwriter James Patrick Morgan appears to have a strong understanding of what gives pop music its power.
Continue reading “THE LISTENING BOOTH | POP POWER!!! : JAMES PATRICK MORGAN – EXPECTED”
Any initiative to push the Singapore music scene forward is always welcomed. So we are thrilled to discover that Montreux Jazz Cafe Singapore (MJCS) has taken on board this programme to benefit Singaporean musicians – a non profit project to discover representatives to be sent to the semi-finals of the Montreux Jazz competitions in Montreux 2017.
Now and then a cover version will turn our head and warrant attention for its distinctiveness. Such is the case with Tara Jane O’Neil‘s rendition of Big Star’s classic “Ballad of El Goodo”.
Continue reading “THE LISTENING BOOTH | POP POWER!!! : TARA JANE O’NEIL – BALLAD OF EL GOODO”
Trust the Aussies to get as close as anyone out there to get POP right. Melbourne trio KINGSWOOD (Fergus Linacre, Alexander Laska & Justin Debrincat) source liberally the deep well of old school soul-R&B to deliver sumptuous retro-pop.
Continue reading “PoPTV | POP POWER!!! : KINGSWOOD – GOLDEN”
Jeff Hue is an electronic musician and producer from Singapore.
Continue reading “SINGAPORE MUSIC SPOTLIGHT | POP POWER!!! : JEFF HUE – TAKEN ME DOWN (FEAT. FFION)”
Pop music is more than modern day hipster folk or EDM or millennial neo-soul. It takes a brave artist in 2017 to reach back into pop history to find inspiration for true pop power. Like Lincoln Barr, perhaps.
Continue reading “PoP RECOMMENDS | POP POWER!!! : LINCOLN BARR – TREMBLING FRAMES”
Considering that rock legend Bruce Springsteen is famous for his lyrical genius, the very idea of a Springsteen memoir is exciting and intriguing. Would an autobiography match up to the cinematic lyrics found in classics like “Born in the USA”, “The Promised Land” and of course, “Born to Run”?
Continue reading “ROCK HISTORY : BORN TO RUN BY BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN”
PoP Legend Robyn Hitchcock is back with a new LP – out on April 21 on Yep Roc Records.
Continue reading “PoP LEGENDS : ROBYN HITCHCOCK ANNOUNCES NEW SELF-TITLED ALBUM”
As faithful PoPsters will know, we have a rather fluid understanding of what POP music is here. Which thankfully extends to idiosyncratic outfits like Victoria’s Teenage Wedding.
Continue reading “BANDCAMP DISCOVERY | POP POWER!!! : TEENAGE WEDDING – THE GREAT SADNESS”
So much music, so little time – as we are wont to lament. Sometimes that means being a little late on music releases, even in your own backyard. Such is the case with Teashhur, an Australian singer-songwriter based in Singapore.
Continue reading “PoP RECOMMENDS | POP POWER : TEASHHUR – DREAMS”
Nothing against millennial urban electro-jazz-pop but sometimes all you really want is real music with real instruments that touch your heart and soul. For real.
Continue reading “SINGAPORE MUSIC SPOTLIGHT | POP POWER : AMBERHILL – FOREST”
Aussie pop-rockers The Treehouse Children are readying a new EP – Please – for release on February 17th.
Continue reading “THE LISTENING BOOTH | POP POWER : THE TREEHOUSE CHILDREN – WOO”
“In Your Head” is the first single off of SKATERS upcoming album entitled, Rock And Roll Bye Bye out March 24th on Yonks Records.
Continue reading “PoPTV | THE NEW ROCK N ROLL : SKATERS – IN YOUR HEAD”