Tune-in: Music for 2012

A little more than a year ago, I was asked to predict or recommend 5-6 music acts that were going to be the next big thing to watch out for in 2011. In January of 2011, 5 of my picks were published in a local magazine called FEMALE. I mentioned The Trees & The Wild (Indonesia), Inch Chua (Singapore), Rumer (UK), Warpaint (US) and Esperanza Spalding (US).

Picks for 2011

Here are some acts you should listen to in 2012 (in no particular order):
1. Jenny and Johnny

Born from the ashes of Rilo Kiley and the product of Jenny Lewis-Jonathan Rice’s relationship. Their debut album “I’m Having Fun Now”, released in 2010, is somewhat underrated. Jangly, catchy, and fashionably “vintage-inspired”. My favourite song is Big Wave!

2. Lana Del Rey

This is a case of why stage names are important - Lana Del Rey vs Elizabeth Grant? A little overrated now but I can see the machinery of the music industry working its magic. Well, she’s really pretty and does have talent to begin with. Also she hired a tiger for a music video… uhm, not that it matters. Actually, straight up, Lana Del Rey sounds like a slightly over-produced Duffy. Not a bad thing, just an opinion.

3. Protocol Afro

Protocol Afro sounds like a mixture of Arctic Monkeys, The Smiths and many hipster-loved bands. This was a very surprise find. I’ve had many friends comment that they do not sound like they came out of Indonesia. Hey, whatever that means ok! A relatively new and unknown band even in their home country and their own local press were surprised they were invited to play in Singapore.

Here’s their hit single

Radio- Protocol Afro

4. Shelves

Yet another Singapore indie superband of sorts. Shelves is made up of members from Silverspy, Suchness, Livonia and Leeson. If you ask me, Shelves sounds like Suchness with a tinge of Livonia – catchy, witty and jangly all at once. Keep a lookout for their 1st album, official release in March 2012!

Here’s their single

(She Wakes Up To) The Beat – Shelves

My Indie Designer Purchases from Bandung

I bought a total of 4 necklaces, 2 asymmetrical hem tops and 2 bloody awesome cloak/cape-like throw overs. I’m sure you’ll like them as much as I do!

The Birds necklace from Ami The Vintagist

Lily the Sprout Rope Necklace - Ami The Vintagist

T-Rex necklace from Mannequin Plastic My Toys Like Series

The Green Cat necklace from Mannequin Plastic

Teal asymmetrical hem top from Mannequin Plastic

Peppermint green lighting bolt hanky hem top from Ànti ßeauty

Dramatic gold cape/cloak thing from UNLABEL clothing

Crazy pink cape/cloak thing from UNKL347

Here are the links to these fabulous indie labels/designers:

• amithevintagist
• MANNEQUIN PLASTIC
• UNLABEL Clothing
• UNKL347
• Ànti ßeauty

Here’s my take on how I intend to wear the 2 tops. What do you think?

With a belt, and either opaque leggings or a pencil skirt.

Patches and buttons around the collar.

Ok I haven’t sewn the crazy things on this one yet. Maybe I’ll wear it plain as it is first before putting my own spin on it.

The Green Cat - what kind of cat is it? It has a long tail

Tune-in: Today’s Soundtrack #4

Today’s been quite an exciting day considering the fact that I wasn’t even expecting anything.

On other fronts, I’m glad I have worked out every day’s work outfits till March 11th. I have to start wearing the festival uniform from the 12th onwards, so… I gave it a rest.

This calls for a celebration with a good toe-tapping soundtrack!

1. Lust for Life – Iggy Pop & The Stooges

2. Teenage Kicks – Buzzcocks

3. Don’t Cry – Naked

4. Valentine – The Delays

5. Information Travels – Deathcab for Cutie

6. What It Takes – Aerosmith

7. You Sound Like Louis Burdett – The Whitlams

8. Stairway to Heaven – Led Zeppelin

9. Billy Brown – Mika

10. Foggy Daylight – The Oddfellows

11. Where is My Love – Cat Power

12. First Of The Gang – Morrissey

13. Pom Kard Khun – Apartmentkhunpa

14. Kennedy – The Wedding Present

15. You Do Something To Me – The Kinks

16. Any Way You Want It – Journey

17. Bang! Bang! – Le Tigre

18. Radio Radio – Elvis Costello

19. Rosanna – Toto

20. Turn, Turn, Turn – The Turtles

Tune-in: Playlist of the Moment #17

My one other frivolous New Year’s resolution for 2010 is to quit men – my ever-supportive friend Cal hopes I fail.

Here’s a playlist I put together as a reminder of all the bad dates/disappointing men in 2009. Up to you to decide what this all means. No, actually – just enjoy the music.

1. As What U Want – Cuckoo

2. Lemon Tree – The Crescendos

3. Lover’s Concerto – The Crescendos

4. Aurora – The Crescendos

5. Almost Crimes – Broken Social Scene

6. Not Now – Blink-182

7. Banquet – Bloc Party

8. Park Life – Blur

9. Ain’t No Other Man – Christina Aguilera

10. Lightbulbs – Cosmic Call

Tune-in: Playlist of the Moment #15

Ate well today. I’m celebrating with the following playlist.

1. Could Have Been A Contender – Ally Kerr

2. If You Found This It’s Probably Too Late – Arctic Monkeys

3. Is She Me – Apartmentkhunpa

4. Mueng U Hoo – Apartmentkhunpa

5. Qing Ren De Yen Lei (Lover’s Tears) – Budak Pantai

6. Betcha By Golly Wow / Say Yes – Budak Pantai

7. You’ve Changed, Baby Girl – Amida

8. I’m Sleeping in a Submarine – Arcade Fire

9. Neighborhood #3 (Power Out) – Arcade Fire

10. Rebellion (Lies) – Arcade Fire

If you download these tracks, it’d be best if you can go listen to these artists LIVE! Catch Budak Pantai (http://www.esplanade.com/whats_on/programme_info/happy_songs_for_a_great_recession/index.jsp) and Apartmentkhunpa (http://www.esplanade.com/whats_on/programme_info/club_m.i.a2010/index.jsp) in Singapore soon!!!

Tune-in: Runaway

Here are some songs, all called Runaway and they are all very interesting! As they say on the streets of Bangkok – same same, but different…

Runaway – Plain Sunset

Runaway – Bon Jovi

Runaway – Budak Pantai

Runaway – Electrico

Runaway – Pink

Runaway – The Misfits

Runaway – The Corrs

General mood of the moment… I want to just run away. Whatever happened my swinging a random bag of clothes and making a run for a spontaneous short getaway? Responsibilities is what happened… gah.

Tune-in: The Dø

The Dø are hand-clapping, toe-tapping, head-swinging goodness from France/Finland. Quirky and fun if you dig acts like English band Psapp.

They can be found here:

http://thedo.info/

http://www.myspace.com/thedoband

And they sound like this:

Playground Hustle – The Dø

Tammie – The Dø

The Bridge Is Broken – The Dø

Tune-in: RCRD LBL

In my line of work, I get to trawl myspace, last.fm and other music sites on a daily basis. I love http://rcrdlbl.com and you might too!

I discovered Miss Kittin (http://www.misskittin.com/) through here and have recently discovered the beautiful vocals of Alela Diane (http://www.myspace.com/alelamusic) and Diane Birch (http://www.dianebirch.com/) here. Great place to discover new bands you’ve never heard of and also sample their music because they have mp3s for download!

Here are some tracks I downloaded from the RCRD LBL site.

1. Electronic City – Miss Kittin & The Hacker

2. White As Diamonds – Alela Diane

3. Fire Escape – Diane Birch

Tune-in: Playlist of the Moment #14

I am at work on a Saturday night but things are still good. I had a good productive morning sniffing out bargains with my sisters and I also had a nice girly chat with some colleagues just now. Another 4 more work weeks and it’s 2010! Come January, I have several music concerts to look forward to. I got tickets to M. Nasir & Siti Nurhaliza, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Cat Power and Andrew Bird all in January!

This playlist is dedicated to a more exciting year of music concerts ahead:

1. Everyone Thinks He Looks Daft – The Wedding Present

2. 丟丟思想起 (Beat 武士 Joypack Dream Remix) – Kou Chou Ching 拷秋勤

3. Everybody – New Pants 新裤子

4. Kennedy – The Wedding Present

5. เป็นไปได้ไง – Apartmentkhunpa

6. Crazy For You – Adele

7. Gold Lion – Yeah Yeah Yeahs

8. Higher – Andrew Chen

9. Poor Places – Wilco

10. Date With The Night – Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Andrew Chen, Kou Chou Ching and Apartmentkhunpa are playing at the Mosaic Music Festival in March 2010 by the way. If you download their music, do come for their shows because nothing beats hearing it live!

Tune-in: Playlist of the Moment #13

We’ve come to the end of November. Hello December… You’ve come way too fast. November has been a month filled with too many activities – be still my heart. Emotionally, it has been a rollercoaster too. But this is a place for frivolous things, so let’s skip the heartwrenchers.

 

I watched

• Duck & Dive! The Ugly Duckling & The Frog Prince by I Theatre on the 8th
• Victor/Victoria by Zebra Crossing on the 10th
• The Jungle Book by The Little Company on the morning of the 26th and then Beethovan Festival: Ode to Joy by SSO in the evening
• the Buzzcocks rocking out at Zirca on the 27th
• Romance of the Bansuri by Rakesh Chaurasia on the 28th
• Odissi by Madhavi Mudgal

Had tickets for Maksim on the 18th but didn’t go because of a death in the family. Excluding the other free children’s performances I watched, I think I did quite well this month. I just want to point out to myself that I am thankful for my job because it allows me to mix work with pleasure.

 

So here’s a playlist in the spirit of THANKSGIVING,

1. Well, What Do You Know – The Standards

2. Jimmy Is A Live Wire – The Standards

3. Seberapa Pantas – Sheila On 7

4. 1979 – The Smashing Pumpkins

5. Juicebox – The Strokes

6. Only With You – Teenage Fanclub

7. Sour – Typewriter

8. I Love Vodka – Tabasco

9. Is This It? – The Strokes

10. Someday – The Strokes

Support the arts, support artists, go watch their shows!