RALEGH LONGRALEGH LONG
LISTEN TO “HEAVEN, ALMOST”
Credit : Michael Wood
English singer-songwriter Ralegh Long is back with a new song – “Heaven, Almost” – now playing at your favourite streaming service. A chamber pop instant classic.
Tag: Folk
ARTSCIENCE LATE : LESLIE LOW [LIVE REVIEW]ARTSCIENCE LATE : LESLIE LOW [LIVE REVIEW]
Photo credit : Yong Shu Hoong
By Yong Shu Hoong
When Leslie Low – of revered Singapore band, The Observatory, and previously from the 1990s’ Humpback Oak – was introduced by an ArtScience Museum staff as “the most important singer-songwriter that Singapore has given the world,” he seemed almost embarrassed. But, for the many fans gathered at the museum’s Expression Gallery, such high praise was no fluff.
SINGAPORE MUSIC SPOTLIGHT | POP POWER!!! : JEAN TAN – CROWNSSINGAPORE MUSIC SPOTLIGHT | POP POWER!!! : JEAN TAN – CROWNS
We have admired singer-songwriter Jean Tan for sometime now. Mainly for her confident yet sincere approach to jazz-folk pop.
THE LISTENING BOOTH | THE NEW ROCK N ROLL : GARRETT PIERCE – DISTANT THOUGHTTHE LISTENING BOOTH | THE NEW ROCK N ROLL : GARRETT PIERCE – DISTANT THOUGHT
Singer-songwriter Garrett Pierce specialises in folk songwriting that is literate and melodic, referencing the likes of Leonard Cohen, Paul Simon, and Joni Mitchell as influences. “Distant Thought” is the first glimpse music lovers get from his upcoming new album, Dusk, due on February 17th.
ALBUM REVIEW: RALEGH LONG – WE ARE IN THE FIELDS E.P.ALBUM REVIEW: RALEGH LONG – WE ARE IN THE FIELDS E.P.
Background
Ralegh Long is an English Singer-Songwriter. His critically acclaimed debut album, Hoverance — a beautiful pastoral record — was released on Gare du Nord Records in April 2015.
ROCK HISTORY: MAY 1966ROCK HISTORY: MAY 1966
Incredibly, this past week 50 years ago, saw the release of two landmark pop albums that changed the face of rock music viz. The Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds and Bob Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde.
ALBUM REVIEW: BILL BAIRD – EARTH INTO AETHER (PT. 1)ALBUM REVIEW: BILL BAIRD – EARTH INTO AETHER (PT. 1)
Background
Bill Baird is an American experimental musician. Formerly a member of Sound Team, Baird began performing solo in 2006, first as {{{Sunset}}} and later under his own name.
ALBUM REVIEW: SOME KIND OF ILLNESS – S/TALBUM REVIEW: SOME KIND OF ILLNESS – S/T
It has taken a while for Some Kind of Illness to release their debut full length album but it’s definitely worth the wait! Consisting of brothers Mark and Paul Hinks, SKOI encapsulates a myriad of genres that have captured the lovers of indie-alternative rock for decades.
EP REVIEW: ANISE – INWARDEP REVIEW: ANISE – INWARD
It’s amazing to consider that a mere decade ago, bands dominated the local indie music landscape. Now, singer-songwriters release music with a frequency that suggests some kind of epoch is upon us. This is a natural development of a maturing music scene. After all, singer-songwriters can express themselves to an audience without a band and thus, in practical terms it’s easier for singer-songwriters to find performance opportunities.
LIVE REVIEW: THE NOISE MUSIC MENTORSHIP CONCERTS – FYM SUMMER BRINGS IN THE WINTERLIVE REVIEW: THE NOISE MUSIC MENTORSHIP CONCERTS – FYM SUMMER BRINGS IN THE WINTER
Contrary to her name, local singer-songwriter Fym Summer sounded nothing that could remind you of the sun, sand or the salty breeze of summer season. Her performance at the Esplanade Concourse on Sunday, as part of the Noise Singapore 2015 Music Mentorship Concerts, was more like a nice winter’s day.
Decked in black from head to toe, Fym, who has been singing since 2003, enchanted the 40-member audience in the arts venue’s cozy area with her vocals, which swung from sounding sweet and dreamy (“Dream” and “July”) to haunting and dreary (“Wolf”).
She stood on stage with her acoustic guitar, accompanied by two musician friends – one played a melodica while the other another guitar. There was an air of melancholia around her as she moodily serenaded mainly about love, herself, and her sister (“Love”), during her 30-minute set.
The grandparents, young families and youngsters in the audience seemed captivated by her singing, keeping quiet and attentive throughout. However, things took an awkward turn during intervals when she switched to chirpy chattiness, leaving the audience somewhat in shock, speechless and unresponsive, each time.
Fym Summer was one of the 18 acts to perform as part of the mentorships concerts, and she was one of eight who were lucky to get two mentors. Her’s were guitarist Randolf Arriola and singer Vanessa Fernandez.
It would be nice to hear her project her voice better or perhaps, show off hints of soulful vocal dynamics she might have learned from Fernandez.
(Nurul Azliah)
Azliah recently completed my WRITING ABOUT ROCK MUSIC course. Find out more from KAMCO Music.
PoPTV: THE CROWD – PASIR RIS SUNRISE LYRIC VIDEOPoPTV: THE CROWD – PASIR RIS SUNRISE LYRIC VIDEO
KAMCO Music will re-issue The Crowd’s Pop album this coming Friday, 10th April. So I was thinking – what could I do to raise awareness about this event? Well, as you all know, a lyric video of one of the songs might do the trick. And so, I put together my first ever lyric video on iMovie and it only took this old fart of an amateur to get it done! The song I chose was “Pasir Ris Sunrise” which seems to have resonated with some folks despite being 18 years old. Hope you enjoy!
… still there’s more …
PoPTV – THIS IS ROCK!PoPTV – THIS IS ROCK!
Rock music is a genre of popular music that originated as “rock and roll” in the United States in the 1950s, and developed into a range of different styles in the 1960s and later, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. (W. E. Studwell and D. F. Lonergan, The Classic Rock and Roll Reader: Rock Music from its Beginnings to the mid-1970s)
So yeah, rock came from 40s/50s rock ‘n’ roll, which in turn is a form of pop music. So even The Carpenters or ABBA is rock, by that definition. So I am always comfortable to use the terms “pop” and “rock” fairly interchangeably, and get rather annoyed by the insane categorizations that is now so common.
In that light, let’s take a look at some of the different kinds of pop music, I am confident to label as ROCK!
BLUES
POWER OF POP LEGENDS PLAYLISTS ON SPOTIFY FT. BOB DYLANPOWER OF POP LEGENDS PLAYLISTS ON SPOTIFY FT. BOB DYLAN
Seems appropriate to start this series with Bob Dylan, doesn’t it? Considering that The Beatles are currently not on any streaming service, Dylan deserves top billing. After all, can one imagine talking about singer-songwriters without mentioning Dylan’s massive influence?
The man is the very definition of the modern folk troubadour but more than that, Dylan’s legacy extends to rock as well, of course. For me personally, I remember hearing Dylan on the radio when I was a kid – especially his well known early folk songs but I really got into his work (ironically enough) – with his controversial Christian conversion album Slow Train Comin’ (1979), which explains why I kick off the playlist with “Precious Angel” (which also features incandescent guitar work from Dire Straits’ Mark Knopfler). Including “Make You Feel My Love” was necessary to provide Dylan’s continuing relevance as Adele’s cover version proved conclusively. The rest of the playlist focuses mainly on his seminal 60s/70s works. Enjoy!
… still there’s more …
PoP RECOMMENDS: BIBIOPoP RECOMMENDS: BIBIO
BIBIO
Psychedelic flourishes. Alt-folk quirkiness. Excellent mix between technology and organic sounds. Welcome to the modus oprandi of Bibio!
Watch the trippy video for “Dye the Water Green” below.
Michael Robinson (Director) – To me the video for “Dye The Water Green” held a certain identifiable quality linked with a sense of possibility and exploration – when there is a new place to go, another bend around the corner to uncover, or a different vista coming into view.
Off Bibio’s 2013 album, Silver Wilkinson. Listen below via Spotify.
SUZANNE VEGA – LIVE IN SINGAPORE [NEWS]SUZANNE VEGA – LIVE IN SINGAPORE [NEWS]
Suzanne Vega returns to Singapore in April. Only 245 tickets will be available for this special intimate performance. Vega is touring in support of her new album “Tales From the Realm of the Queen of Pentacles”, to be released on 2 Feb 2014.
Date : 1 April 2014
Time: 7.30 p.m.
Venue: Esplanade Recital Studio
Tickets: $148 on sale at www.sistic.com from 23 Jan 2014.
LYON APPRENTICE – LIVE IN SINGAPORE [NEWS]LYON APPRENTICE – LIVE IN SINGAPORE [NEWS]
Yes, again pretty short notice from us but… we met indie popsters Fairchild last night and caught their set at Home Club and it was all good fun. Fairchild’s Adam and Nathan Lyons have a side-project, Lyon Apprentice and the brothers will be bring their brand of indie folk to Lowercase tonight (!) with backing from Joie Tan, Linying and Gentle Bones. It’s at Lowercase, it begins from 6.30pm and the cover is $6. Come on down!
CHARLES J TAN “ON YOUR SIDE” SINGLE NOW AVAILABLE [NEWS]CHARLES J TAN “ON YOUR SIDE” SINGLE NOW AVAILABLE [NEWS]
Charles J Tan is back with the first single from his upcoming album, Maybe Somewhere North. According to Tan, “the single is an upbeat tune that celebrates friendship, love and community”. The song features Aarika Lee (of SIXX) on guest vocals. It’s a toe tapper for sure, and perfect for those cool sunny mornings that hopefully we’ll get more of in surprising Singapore.
The official music video will be released on 14 February 2013 to coincide with Valentine’s Day. Charles will kick off a series of album launches starting with the first full band concert of the year at the Esplanade Outdoor Theatre at Mosaic Music Festival on 11 March 2013. Fans can expect to hear the new album performed live for the first time ever in Singapore. In the meantime, check out the lyric video below and if you like what you hear (and why wouldn’t you?), pick it up at iTunes.