Regular visitors to Power of Pop will be aware that my definition of “pop” is pretty wide. But of course, in the context of modern pop (read: vacuous) , that definition becomes somewhat irrelevant for my purposes. Also, if I say “rock ‘n’ roll”, most people will think of the 50s (read: dated) and so, sometimes I need to be uber-specific and say “country-folk-pop-rock” to describe the type of pop music that I love. Hope that clarifies. From that perspective, I wanted to share very specifically, the bands and artists in Singapore whom I feel fit that particular bill and hope that you’d discover some new music to love as well.
CHEATING SONS – JEFFERSON (LIVE)
Though still unreleased, this country-folk masterpiece always resonates with me whenever the band plays it – which in my view is not often enough!
Pick up the new Cheating Sons album from Bandcamp.
HANGING UP THE MOON – THE DIVERS
Sean Lam (aka Hanging Up the Moon) somewhat resists any attempt to associate his wonderful music with that of the past (which I appreciate) but seriously folks, this gorgeous music is highly evocative of early 70s folk-rock. And what is the problem with that??? Beautiful.
2014 has been a good year for music, make no mistake about that! And as the year draws to a close (yes really!), it’s time to take stock. Power of Pop will be announcing soon a tie-up with the kind folks at Spotify Singapore for you to share with us your favourite 12 tracks for 2014. Stay tuned for the details to come your way very soon. In the meantime, here’s a playlist of 12 tracks that made the Power of Pop alive again this year! Enjoy!
Inevitably for me, Day Three of most year’s Baybeats tend to be a little anti-climatic. After the hustle and bustle of the first two days, fatigue sets in and it has not been uncommon for me to sometimes entirely miss Day Three. So with that in mind, I decided to focus on the performances going on at the Chillout Stage (the Concourse) and found the experience thoroughly enlightening!
Pitch Feather delivered high gloss renditions of its excellent debut album – Mountains and Tides – singer Alberta Leong has an appealing voice that embellishes the band’s luscious take on 70s folk music that very quickly endeared them to the rapt audience. Considering this was the band’s very first live performance, there were nerves and a couple of errors but nothing fatal. Would love to see Pitch Feather develop further in the local indie scene.
.gif provide a polar opposite to Pitch Feather’s rustic warm tones with an electro-pop set that once again showcased the vocal talents of Weish. It was instructional as usual to see Weish construct ambient sounds from her vocals to utilize backings for the songs. Far from being cold constructs, the songs seemed vaguely personal as colours and shapes filled the room (figuratively, of course).
Pixel Apartment (aka Jordan Chia) was a sheer delight – both soulfully and intellectually. Operating his one man band (complete with video!) with the main focus on grand piano, Jordan provided a pleasing set which showcased his skills with electronics as well as songwriting. That said, perhaps the high point was Jordan’s wonderful cover of “What Sarah Said” (Death Cab for Cutie) sympathetically played on the piano. Yet another local musician with loads of talent!
And that was Day Three for me. Well satisfied with the slate of promising local musicians enough to believe that the future of the Singapore indie music scene is indeed bright! Thanks again to all the cool people I ran into today and once again to the Esplanade for putting together another first rate Baybeats Festival!
The first proper musical performance to be given by Pitch Feather! That’s just so special!! Let’s see what the band has to say about our FIVE questions about Baybeats 2014 – via Alberta Leong.
Why should fans check out your performance at Baybeats?
It will be our very first live appearance as Pitch Feather. Fans can come experience the special night with us. Also, it’s a great chance for our supporters to get to know us a little better, on a more personal level. We will be playing unplugged sets supported by a band of very talented musician friends, so they can expect to hear delicate, chillout versions of our songs with different arrangements, which is something you won’t be able to hear on our record.
Why are you excited about playing at Baybeats?
Chuan and I have been attending Baybeats almost every year and we’re always excited to discover promising emerging artisit/bands. As motivation to become better musicians, we tell ourselves that we have to play there someday. This dream is finally coming true, and it feels great to be part of the Baybeats family. We hope to make some new friends and share our music with more people through this experience. It will be a great start to our live performances too.
Why do you think you were selected to play for Baybeats?
Maybe some kind soul recommended us. Maybe they liked our recorded music and were curious to see how we sound like live? We can’t be sure but we felt very honoured and grateful when we were given this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.
If you had to choose just three bands to watch at Baybeats, which bands would they be and why? This is tough, there are so many acts we want to catch, but if we have to choose only three, we’d probably choose those that we can’t see often or have never seen before.
Lightcraft – they sound really melodic and full in their recordings. Curious to hear how they sound like live.
Giants Must Fall – we love it that they are also self-funded, self-produced indie folks like us. They also haven’t been performing in a while, so we’re keen to catch them live.
ENEC.E – we’re looking forward to hearing the soothing vocal harmonies and alluring melodies.
When and where are you playing at Baybeats?
We’ll playing on the 3rd day of Baybeats (29 Jun, Sunday) at the Chillout Stage (Esplanade Concourse). We’ll be playing two sets – 5.45pm and 8.45pm.
