Film. TV. Music. Comics. Reviews and Analyses.
Laneway Festival Singapore is probably the biggest contemporary music festival in Singapore, bar none and it is exciting to see the organisers living up to their promise that more Asian and local acts would be added to the lineup each year.
Melodic rock bands with an alternative edge seem hard to come by in the Singapore music scene at the moment. So while other media outlets will be promoting artists specialising in urban music and electronic soul, S-ROCK lovers can trust in Power of Pop to help you discover new rock bands out there.
Thus, we welcome you to the S-ROCK UNDERGROUND (yes yet another hashtag!) where we hope you will find heavier and edgier sounds – that do not compromise on melody or grooves – in our own backyard.
Rock quartet Gilded Edge has been getting attention viz. as prizewinners after less than a year together at the Singapore finals of Global Battle of The Bands 2015, making it into the Noise Music Mentorship for 2016 and releasing their debut single “Lone Wolf” recently. We got together with the guys – Alan Francis (Guitar/Vocals), Melvin Lim (Guitar), Afiq Yusof (Bass) & Julian Stewart (Drums) – to find out more about Gilded Edge: past present and future.
Singapore musicians would be familiar with Mike Spinks, as Spinks has in recent years been instrumental in organising several open mics across the island, most significantly at the Hard Rock Cafe. Now, Spinks has taken the logical step of harnessing the online local music community to initiate the City65 Music Festival to be held on Saturday 15 April 2017 from 2pm. With City65 coming up very soon, we got Spinks to share with us his thoughts about the local music scene, his involvement and of course, the festival itself.
Jazz singer Rani Singam returns with a brand new single “My Muse”.
The song was featured on Singam’s previous album Contentment but now with a new arrangement from Chok Kerong.
It’s classy and smooth and one for the jazz purists out there.
Listen:
Singapore music trendspotters would have observed the rise of female singer-songwriters paired with electronic music producers that have ignited serious interest on streaming platforms like Spotify.
Old school rock goodness from two local artists in this edition of Singapore Music Spotlight.
GENERAL LEE – S/T
https://www.facebook.com/general.lee.sg
PENG-ER – OCEAN WITHOUT FISHES
Available now from http://oceanswithoutfishes.com/
… still there’s more …
Local music festival *SCAPE The Invasion is happening on 17 December 2016 (Saturday) at *SCAPE The Ground Theatre, with the lineup including artists like Inch Chua, Sezairi, Disco Hue, and Nathan Hartono.
Get together with a bunch of Music Managers as they share how they develop and work with their music artists. They will give some insights on how artists can build their own brand and develop an audience.
MARICELLE – LUCKY ONES
2nd single release ahead of her EP launch in January, Maricelle’s “Lucky Ones” is a wondrously constructed track with a melody that will twist and turn right into your heart.
FORBIDDEN PLANET – CAN I BORROW YOUR BASS
Animated video of “Can I Borrow Your Bass” from Forbidden Planet’s debut album, From the Bedroom to Oblivion: Two Decades of Obscurity (2015).
… still there’s more …
Photo by Axel Serik
You have got to hand it to Deon Toh and his merry band DEON. For the last couple of years, the singer-songwriter has built a steady following at home and made a life for himself and his band as touring musicians. Read what Deon has to say about his latest adventure in Toronto.
Getai Group is back yet again with local music and art programming during these two weekends at the Padang Atrium and outdoors of National Gallery Singapore as part of their first anniversary!
We shine the light on a couple of Singapore artists with new music for you to consider.
Photography – Rebecca Toh Styling – ArmCollective
It’s a brave new (music) world as far as SA is concerned. Founded in 2010, the band takes its name from Northern Chinese dialect, 仨, which means three, as a tribute to their traditional Chinese roots though all three are Singaporeans.
When it comes to sharing his opinion about the local music scene, singer-songwriter Nelson Tan does not mince his words.
“The local media, be it TV, radio or print, needs to get out there and feature more local content and talent, instead of the same old few over and over and over again,” Tan declared, “we have many many good songs and great bands made in Singapore that deserve airplay and I feel that we have to give ourselves a chance to appreciate what we have here, not just the familiar names.”
Check out the music video of “7dB” off the EP The Astral Journey by TAJ. Buy now from iTunes.
… still there’s more …
Artwork – Brandon Tay
Tickets now available from http://flow.peatix.com/
… still there’s more …
Photo credit: Beng Hui Eu
The Steve McQueens found time in between tours of Australia and South Korea to bring their magic jazz-soul-funk ride to home fans at the Annexe Sessions on Thursday, September 29th.
The Esplanade’s spanking new venue The Annexe got off to a flying start earlier this month with scintillating performances from the Chok Kerong Trio and In Each Hand a Cutlass.
Dear Kevin,
Been overseas since June and missing home, especially with National day and SG51 and the patriotism for Singapore bleeding proudly all over Facebook and instagram, my methods of connecting back to my motherland. Also, all my friends going cray over Pokemon Go, I’m missing out on that. #CHILDHOOD.
Singer-songwriter KisH cut his teeth with Angel Wine, a melodic rock band that released an eponymous album in 2013.
Soul boy Gareth Fernandez is back with “Bit Of Your Love” a guaranteed earworm that needs to be on your playlist.
Quite a few music videos and new releases out in the Singapore music scene as we head towards the biggest local music festival of the year this weekend — Baybeats 2016!
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.
It’s been three years since The Sam Willows released its debut EP. Since then, the quartet (Jon Chua, Ben Kheng, Sandra Riley Tang & Narelle Kheng) have gone from strength to strength, developing into arguably the top pop group in Singapore and signing for Sony Music Singapore.
I caught up with Jon, Ben, Sandra & Narelle recently at the official press event for the release of their first full-length album, Take Heart, and found them to be the same down-to-earth, earnest, fun-loving group that I met in 2012, except now with a major label backing their music.