Now that was a music weekend to remember! I had been under the weather for a while and it was good to finally catch #sgindie gigs again! But before the gigs, I attended an intriguing (albeit ultimately bewildering) meeting with the local arts community and had a quick chat with Vivian Wang and Leslie Low of The Observatory. I did learn that the proximity of timing between the new Oscilla and Leslie’s own new solo LP was borne out not of design but of circumstances. Not that I am complaining… the more, the merrier…

In any case, Saturday night at Hood Bar, I caught both Lost Weekend (above) and The Mad Hatter Project. Both bands may have different stylistic approaches but operate fairly within the milieu of melodic pop-rock. Always a joy to behold music where melody is king! A few kinks here and there to work out for each band but I believe they are both going in the right direction! It was also fun to hang out with Stopgap‘s Adin and Eldad, who as usual for these gents, provided support to fellow bands…

Sunday night I caught the final Originals Sunday at Beer Market with The Summer State and Gentle Bones. As always, I could have done without the somewhat clueless & superfluous emcee reading out band biographies verbatim but well, you know, that’s the way it is… The venue was packed to the gills – mainly for Gentle Bones – and it is a welcome sight to behold in our scene. “Until I Die” got a raucous reception as expected, it’s always fun to watch Joel Tan’s surprised look when fans sing along to his song – never change! Now, I am not a huge fan of punk-pop so I was enthused by The Summer State’s new material, which is more targeted towards pop-rock styles. Execution is still an issue but it’s a great start to move away from what they did before. One to watch out for…

Thanks to Hilary and Jaime for the excellent company – I love hanging with music people.

… still there’s more …

Art-rockers The Observatory return with a new line-up and a new album. Founding members Leslie Low, Vivian Wang and Dharma are joined by SA’s Cheryl Ong on drums and Yuen Chee Wai on electronics/synths for this latest chapter of the band’s amazing journey.

Oscilla will be released in various formats - a limited colour vinyl release alongside regular black vinyl LPs, CDs and for the very first time, a limited run of cassettes with free download – on 15th August, which will be supported by two performances on 15th and 16th at The Substation.

21st CENTURY S-ROCK

Bandcamp.com is a good place to listen to indie music that is fairly under the radar. No other ‘genre’ can possibly be more marginalized than S-ROCK (or Singapore Rock or Singapore indie or whatever the fuck you wanna call it – don’t get your panties in a twist!) i.e. music made in Singapore. BUT there are numerous indie bands and artists that worth are investigating and these are the ones you can find at Bandcamp.com. Enjoy…

… still there’s more …

“And now for something completely different…” – Monty Python

Three days of workshops, a panel discussion, deejay sets, and three intense sessions that bring together musicians from diverse genres and backgrounds to experiment in spontaneous group composition. This is what one can expect from Playfreely+ to be run over this coming weekend.

Playfreely+ is presented by The Observatory, in partnership with Ujikaji. Supported by the National Arts Council of Singapore, norsk jazz forum, Music Norway, Mackie, Electronics & Engineering Pte. Ltd.

Programme: -

DAY 1 Fri, 10 Jan

630pm
Doors Open for Evening Programme

645pm – 730pm
DJ Sessions
Prior to each evening’s main programme, Ujikaji will spin a selection of music that mirrors Playfreely’s themes of regional discoveries, unfettered stream-of-consciousness, and oddball juxtapositions.

730pm – 10pm
Main Programme
Yong Yandsen, Rit Xu, Sudar Shan, Zubir Abdullah, Christy Smith, Natalie Alexandra Tse, Wukir Suryadi

DAY 2 Sat, 11 Jan

2pm – 6pm
Workshops
John Hegre – Preparing to Play Freely
Norwegian musician and improvisor Hegre will share alternative approaches to free improvisation, including his methods of ‘preparing’ his electric guitar. He will also demonstrate what are, for him, ‘good’ and ‘bad’ conditions for spontaneous music making.

Hankil Ryu – Musical Structures
As an improviser, Hankil uncovers sonic and musical ideas through found objects in everyday life. His workshop offers a behind-the-scenes look at his practice from conception to realization and how one can produce creative sound through mechanics and movement.

Wukir Suryadi – Expressions through Experimental Instrument Building
Instrument builder and artist Wukir will share his personal experiences in creating self-made experimental instruments and how he develops his works. He will discuss his approach, processes and the instruments he has used in past performances.

630pm
Doors Open for Evening Programme

645pm – 730pm
DJ Sessions

730pm – 10pm
Main Programme
John Hegre, Darrel Xin, Cyril Wong, Lionel Tan, Hankil Ryu, Nizar Fauzi, Ramu Thiruyanam

DAY 3 Sun, 12 Jan

2pm – 6pm
Workshops + Sunday Jukebox

Koichi Shimizu – Analogue & Digital Hybridity

As a sound and multimedia artist based in Thailand, Japanese composer Koichi’s sonic worldview spreads into various avenues. He is a label owner and an active musician and producer within the Thai indie underground. For his workshop, Koichi will share his passion for analogue synth systems, how he performs live using real-time sampling, and how he traverses between analogue and digital platforms.

Sunday Jukebox – A Listening Workshop

Panel: Aya Sekine, Duto Hardono, Harold Seah, John Hegre,

Samuel Wong

Moderator: Mark Wong

Inspired by The Wire magazine’s famous Invisible Jukebox, Playfreely+ will be transformed into an afternoon listening party! A selection of music and sounds will be played for listening and this will form the basis for a discussion on improv, experimental music, sound art, noise, tradition music, and much more. Expect a stimulating afternoon exchange and insights into artistic practices, attitudes and experiences. Sunday Jukebox is presented by Ujikaji.

Mohamad Riduan – Sound Contraptions

Artist and improviser Riduan will explore ways of making sound with readily available materials, sharing quick and easy ways to build an improvised instrument by applying basic techniques. No special skills required in creating your own sound contraption!

630pm

Doors Open for Evening Programme

645pm – 730pm
DJ Sessions

730pm – 10pm

Main Programme
Andy Chia, Robert SK, Duto Hardono, Tan Boon Gee, Weish, Koichi Shimizu, Luqman Hakim, Riduan Zalani

More info: -

Tickets: http://playfreely.peatix.com/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/playfreelyexperiment/

Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/channels/playfreely

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/playfreely-2014

Ujikaji Radio for Playfreely+ (Eps. 1 & 2): http://ujikaji.net/radio/

Can’t say The Obs have ever been into the nationalistic thing. But our bond and deep attachment to Singapore is undeniable. Like it or not, it is home to us and always will be. This country is yours and ours, the people’s, lest we forget.

Watch at Vimeo.

Anger & Futility from The Observatory on Vimeo.

Performed live at the ‘Enter The Catacomb’ sessions at Goodman.
Filmed by Ler and his superb team at birdmandog.com

National Day Special
CATACOMBS – DELUXE CD at $20 last day (12 Aug)
Buy at:
www.theobservatory.com.sg or thru Paypal.

Follow the Headworm Hole on 24th & 25th August. Buy tickets.

Here’s the 2nd part of the the recent interview I did with The Observatory at its studio in the Goodman Arts Centre. You can read the first part here. More to come…

Ten years of The Observatory, what has been your best memory so far?

Vivian Wang – It’s a tough question cos it involves cycling through our memories and our memories aren’t want they used to be! Actually I was going through some old photos the other day and there was one – the first time we went to Malaysia, we had to stay in Dharma’s granny’s house in Petaling Jaya and it’s funny cos when we got there we were all sweaty and it was two am in the morning. One guy took a shower and then there was no water!

Leslie Low – Who was the person?

Vivian – Willy! He finished up all the water.

Dharma – The house had not been lived in for more than three months…so can you imagine the amount of dust? That was our first trip out of Singapore.

Vivian – Yeah, we took a van and watched this stupid VCD-

Victor Low – Starring Cecelia Chung

Vivian – Before she exposed herself! Anyways, there was a water shortage in PJ, so we were cleaning up like crazy and we cleaned till about 4 something in the morning and then we didn’t have water to shower!

Dharma – It was a trickle…

Vivian – And they had to go out and buy mattresses -

Leslie – But that was the next day.

Vivian – Yes the next day. But it was quite funny. I just saw pictures of how grimy we looked.

Victor – I almost got decapitated. The van’s seat could be lifted up so I went in to get the guitar cases and the whole seat come down on my head and I heard the thing latch!

Vivian – Les was behind you.

Victor – So we opened up the seat and I looked at Leslie’s face and his face looked like he just watched a horror movie! Somehow, I was lucky that my head didn’t snap or anything…

Vivian – And then we played at Paul’s place and it was so bad cos the cymbals were all chewed up and the mixer had a (thick) layer of dust. Funnily it was the worst set-up gig and we ended up playing our best. Well, not our best but you make the best out of it. So I remember that and also getting drunk at the karaoke lounge upstairs cos we waited till very late. It’s not a spectacular memory but it’s a fun memory cos we took a road trip – I think we were very innocent then and packed pretty much everything including a glockenspiel. And Leslie brought his classical guitar.

Victor – Actually the other fond memory I had was at the Substation – my first gig with everyone – the two-day launch for Time of Rebirth.

Vivian – It was all downhill from then.

Victor – That was the first time we did an official launch of an album – that was a good memory.

Leslie – For me it’s just snapshots of us traveling, stuff like that.

Vivian – Actually, a recent memory that was fun was Bali where we learned how to play gamelan instruments.I don’t know if it was fun but in Korea, Dharma broke his foot and then we had to do a show and we carried him with cast on the stage.

Dharma – That must have been the funniest appearance. They carried me on a chair, you know!

Victor – He played a gig with a broken foot-

Vivian – Resting on a teddy bear!

Victor – I was his official nurse.

Dharma – And translator.

Vivian – Yeah, it was crazy… that’s what happens when you get up to too much fun, you see…

…to be continued…

The Obs play the Substation Theatre on 20th/21st April to launch Catacombs! Tickets available from The Substation Box Office.

You can the Obs at the band’s studio at Goodman Arts Centre on Friday 13th April from 6pm to 8pm. Dharma, Leslie, Victor and Vivian will be on hand to sell Catacombs, its other albums and other merchandise.

It’s Heavy In Here

The Observatory may have a reputation for being an arty, cerebral band but deep down the quartet (viz Leslie Low, Vivian Wang, Dharma & Victor Low) is a rock band at heart. Whilst previous album – Dark Folke – had strong elements of neo-folk sprinkled throughout, there is little doubt that the main inspiration for new album Catacombs is music of a heavier nature. Apart from the dirge-like reveries of “Insomnia” and “Anger & Futility”, long time fans may be surprised by the sheer visceral metallic envelopes that the band wrapped this intricate songs in.

The title track is a prime example of this. As heavy as something you might find on that legendary first Black Sabbath album, “Catacombs” is a cathartic squall as Low sings, “Behind these eyes are catacombs”, you will definitely shiver. Likewise on unsettling “Headworm”, the disturbing metaphor is raised – “For the worms in my head/How are you?/You have been with me through thick and thin” Brrrrr. And then there is “Accidentagram”. Is this dark atmospheric track an examination of lunacy? Taking the words and music together, it is a representation of madness that one will find chilling.

There is no pandering to hip and cool tastes on Catacombs. Only an uncompromising honest work of art that expresses the deepest feelings and emotions of the artist and lays them bare for its audience to dissect, absorb and devour. Kudos to The Observatory for being brave and talented enough to bring us all this sonic tour de force.

Online ordering for Catacombs is now available. Proceed to www.theobservatory.com.sg

Catch The Observatory live at the Substation. Details below.

April 20 & 21
The Substation Theatre
45 Armenian Street Singapore
$18
Standing only

Tickets available from The Substation Box Office
Open Monday – Friday
12pm-8pm
Phone +65 6337 7800
Email boxoffice@substation.org

Regular PoP visitors will be aware that my favorite Beatles album is the ‘White Album’ so it’s terribly exciting when one of my favorite S-ROCK bands – none other than The Observatory – will be covering songs from this seminal double LP for the Arts Festival tonight! Factor also the guest appearance of one of my favorite people – Ray Aziz – on drums and this gig becomes one of those highly recommended, not-to-be-missed, once-in-a-lifetime affairs!!!! Details are in the above image – see you all there!

Now if I can only sneak on stage and do some backing vocals, the evening would be perfect! Heh.