Pop culture musings by Kevin Mathews
Pretty amazed at how much influence the music of the 80s post-punk/new wave bands continue to have on modern rock. Regular visitors would be familiar with my disdain for the Joy Division clones that continue to rear their ugly heads but it’s fair to say that there are legitimate artists out there who are doing great things with 80s music.
Continue reading “ALBUM REVIEW: WILD NOTHING – LIFE OF PAUSE”
Camp Symmetry
2 November 2013
The Meadow, Gardens By The Bay
Last Saturday, indie fans descended on The Meadow at Gardens By The Bay for the first edition of the annual Camp Symmetry, organised by Symmetry Entertainment, who has brought us gigs by Beach Fossils, Yacht, Carl Barat & The Libertines and The Drums. Starting at 12 noon, the festival line-up presented 12 hours of indie folk, indie pop, indie rock and post-rock. The festival expectedly attracted hipsters and music lovers ranging from the ages of 15 to 40. Camp Symmetry invited comparisons to Laneway Festival – having similar programming, targeting the same audience, being held at the same venue, and the festival held up very well. There was a good variety and somewhat affordable F&B choices for a festival, with more activities like bouncy castles and ping-pong tables. The festival also ran like clockwork, with each set starting and ending at its scheduled time, which is remarkable for a festival!
The year is ending and it does seem that the best way to celebrate a fine 12 months of live music in Singapore is to enjoy an indie music festival. Camp Symmetry delivers ten bands and is an ambitious event put together by local outfit Symmetry Entertainment Pte Ltd. Think of Camp Symmetry as being positioned somewhere between Laneway and Rock & Roots and a positive sign for the Singapore music scene overall.
It’s back! Considering the time constraints and attention span of modern web-users, I’ve decided to resurrect trusty ol’ Blurb-O-Rama, which will attempt to distill the essence of an album or EP with 50 or less words. Hopefully, this will be a weekly affair and we’ll focus on a trio of albums each time…
Cosmic Suckerpunch – Breathe EP
Melodic rock that treads the middle path between The Killers and Kings of Leon, a dynamic hybrid of post-punk and rock n’ roll styles. This 5-track EP is a superb introduction to this LA alt-rock outfit and will provide new listeners with a good sense of the band’s assets – memorable tunes, intense energy and hard driving guitars!
Official Site
Wild Nothing – Empty Estate EP
This EP follows two well-received full-lengths albums from the Jack Tatum vehicle. The EP strays slightly from the indie rock/dream pop agenda previously set by adding a synth-heavy sound that embellishes Tatum’s gift of angular guitar constructs. Songs like “On Guyot” and “Hachiko” extend Tatum’s experimental pop bent whilst tracks like “Data World” and “A Dancing Shell” will appeal to the dance pop pundits. Official Site
Dirty Beaches – drifters/love is the devil
Double-album set of experimental, avant garde noise rock. Really? Alex Zhang aka Dirty Beaches does not hide his arty ambitions at emulating The Velvet Underground with his droning, repetitive, minimalist approach. Certainly not for all tastes, both albums consist of live recordings, which either makes this enlightening or exasperating. I figure, somewhere in the middle. Choice nuggets – “Love is the Devil” and “Berlin”, atmospheric chaos. Official Site
… still there’s more …