August 2014 / Free
Michaela Therese Soul power
The Local Issue: #savezouk Ling Wu The Observatory Ong Shunmugam A place called Home
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Contents
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Noise
Style
Elsewhere
18 Buzz: One Voice Do the right thing and #savezouk
10 Buzz: Soft Rock How Ling Wu is playing it soft and supple this season
76 Feature: A Place Called Home Remembering Home Club’s best homeruns
22 Runway: Ong Shunmugam Fall/ Winter 2014 The cheongsam gets its modern-day due
86 Nosh: Sound Bites All that sounds and tastes good at Outpost
30 Abc: House Style Our local style scene, as read from A to Z
90 Listings: Dr. Martens presents Deap Vally Lindsey and Julie and all of us are gonna have a good time
26 Profile: Blonde Redhead “We were always part of our own world, our own island” 33 Rewind: The Observatory The Ob’s debut, Time of Rebirth, is born again Cover Photography: Olivia Sari-Goerlach Hair & makeup: Angel Gwee On the cover Michaela wears voluminous sleeve tube dress with abstract hearts and classic motorcycle jacket by Saint Laurent Above Michaela wears classic deep crewnecked T-shirt and highwaisted skinny jeans, plus pumps, by Saint Laurent
62 Incoming: Michaela Therese “I knew what I wanted to do and I knew I was willing to do what it took” 66 Talk: Disclosure “There’s an advantage because we know each other so well musically”
34 Lookbook: My Face For The World To See How The Sartorialist and Luxottica are framing your face 68 Feature: Endless Summer! The many ways we love H&M Loves Music
93 Parties: La Dispute @ The Substation Hardcore, you know the score
Hello
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#28: The Home Issue As is tradition, we dedicate our August edition to the local heroes that have made our island the creative playground it now is. While tipping our hats to Singapore’s key musicians and fashion designers, we also pay heartfelt tribute to Zouk, the club who dropped the island’s first house beat onto its dancefloor, and watched as it reverberated across 23 years and far beyond its four walls. As the lease on its legendary dancefloor nears expiration without the possibility for an extension, we urge you to add your name to the Save Zouk petition (save-zouk.com) to ensure the survival of our nation’s musical and cultural mecca. We’re surely not the only ones for whom Zouk is home.
Editor in chief
General Manager
Min Chen min@ziggymag.sg
Yu-Jin Lau jin@ziggymag.sg +65 9844 4417
Writer
Contributors
Indran P indran@ziggymag.sg
Editorial Intern Stacy Lim
Aaron Kok Angel Gwee Chuck Reyes Emma Neubronner Jeremy Fong Loo Reed Marie Soh Olivia Sari-Goerlach Rosalind Chua
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or part without permission from the publishers. The views expressed in ZIGGY are those of the respective contributors and are not necessarily shared by the magazine or its staff. Every effort has been made to ensure all information in the magazine is correct at the time it is sent to print. MCI (P) 083/04/2014 ZIGGY is published every month by Qwerty Publishing Pte Ltd. Printed in Singapore by Also Dominie Pte Ltd (L029/09/2013)
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“Home is where my habits have a habitat.� - Fiona Apple
Buzz
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Soft Rock Ling Wu Fall/Winter 2014 Text: Min Chen
The luxury innate in a Ling Wu creation doesn’t just end at its exquisite design and craftsmanship, but also extends to the realm of the senses. Downright pleasing to the eye, velvety to touch and comfortably fit to any shoulder, these carry-alls are evidence of designer Goh Ling Ling’s dedication to spontaneous and organic forms, on which she’s established her hallmarks of fluidly gathered folds, soft skins and offbeat accessorising. The results are, quite simply, beautiful bags that err on the side of the timeless and effortless. Come Fall/Winter, our seasonal serving of Ling Wu will be no less sensual and supple. Comfort and utility remain prime numbers, while Ling Ling brings back her signature skin, the svelte python. This elegant and exotic skin has been produced via a rubberising technique that offers a lightweight, buttery touch and long-lasting qualities, whilst arriving in an array of autumnal shades like olive, navy and brown, alongside pops of pink and yellow. It coats traditional silhouettes like the Bubble and Alice clutches, the Summer, Nina and Janis totes, and the Mia cross-body bag.
Besides being visually and texturally delicious, and built to age gracefully, the bags also host technical details like extra compartments, adjustable handles and heavy-duty clasps. No overt labels or monograms required: Ling Wu’s bags boast the kind of understated design and impeccable construction that make them as strong and versatile as instant classics should be. Let them onto your shoulder. Shop Ling Wu at Front Row, Isetan Scotts, Tangs Orchard, Robinsons Orchard, Quintessential, Doorstep Luxury, SUPERSPACE, W.E and lingwu.myshopify.com
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Good Vibrations Darker Than Wax x Cascade Records: Feelings In Colour Text: Indran P
Every year, the de rigueur 9 August celebrations escalate to ensure that “national pride” swells just that little bit. But even without all that pomp and ceremony, the local collective of musical deconstructionists, Darker Than Wax (DTW), has given us a hand-onheart reason to rejoice in the upward trajectory of our little island. In June, DTW locked arms with independent French label, Cascade Records, to release Feelings In Colour (FIL), a massive double-LP vinyl that serves as a gorgeously realised reconfiguration and re-imagination of house, hip hop and future garage sounds. This pan-cultural meeting of minds and sounds unspools across 17 tracks, with artists from DTW contributing to its first half and Cascade’s stable completing it with the second. Given its sonic scope, the coming together of DTW and Cascade is more than apt since both labels are devoted to using the musical lexicon of black music as a universal agent of body-moving, good-time-ushering soul. DTW’s honchos,
Cosa Nostra, most definitely make this clear with the striding drums, propulsive bassline and irresistible synth melody of opener, “Get Closer”, a sensual, floor-filling deep house cut. DTW’s expert craftsmanship also shows on Trian Kayhatu’s “Beats for B” and Samuel Truth’s “Let You Go”, where vintage hip hop motifs meet sparkling digital textures in ways that’d make Dilla and Q-Tip smile. Likewise, Cascade too sounds in with vividly kinetic allure. Turning in a stunning performance of alchemic ‘90s hip hop and ‘80s soul on “Ezout”, Tokyo producer, Fitz Ambro$e, makes a fantastic case for the eclectic wealth on FIL. Just after, Virginia beatsmith, OhBliv, takes percussive, chopped-
and-screwed jazz to voluptuously bass-y territory on “Need U Klose”. A multi-national effort with a global focus, FIL also bears an undeniably local imprint. As DTW’s own Rah says, “We’ve worked hard with our friends from Cascade Records to make this happen and now that it’s finally here, it’s pretty surreal.” And for the brilliant ways in which FIL enmeshes Singapore’s metropolitan modernity with Paris’ own cultural legacy, Rah is most certainly right. Head to The Vault on 9 August for the Feelings In Colour launch party to purchase the vinyl and to catch Samuel Truth take the decks
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Smooth Criminal Coupé-cousu Fall/Winter 2014 Text: Rosalind Chua
It was for an appreciation for smart fits and quality cuts that Coupé-cousu was born. Founders and creators, Alex Yeo and Xie Shangqian, may have had no formal training in fashion or design, but guided by an aware and sophisticated eye, an artisanal spirit and a fair amount of pragmatism, have headed up collections worth of cool and confident menswear. A good six years after its founding, Coupé-cousu’s designs and workmanship have only been refined to a sharp point, and on its Fall/Winter collection, the label is all ready with a dangerous new identity. This season, the Coupécousu man oozes intrigue and strength, in addition to a mysterious and menacing charm. It’s all down to the label’s tackling of the brooding theme of the mafia, which lends this new collection a decadent and somber intensity. Symbolism is potent here, with Russian and Japanese mafia tattoos being reinvented in the collection’s colour palette and embroidered
into luxurious fabrics, and the air of the Italian mafia reflected in Coupé-cousu’s sleek and subtle tailoring. Casual pieces like baseball-style shirts, cardigans and harem trousers sit neatly alongside more formal silhouettes like engineered shirts, slim-cut coats and bomber jackets, while the entire range comes regally coloured with teals, blood reds and oranges. As always, the label continues to uphold quality and design, so expect this Fall/Winter serving to deliver more fine and crisp looks. No fuss, no muss, the Coupé-cousu man stays criminally smooth. Shop Coupé-cousu at Tangs Orchard and coupecousu.com
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One Voice Let’s lock arms to save Zouk, the club that made us ONE Text: Indran P and Min Chen
In March 1991, at a time when Singapore was unschooled in anything that wasn’t ‘70s and ‘80s pop radio fodder, a dance club opened its doors for the first time at 17 Jiak Kim Street. Zouk, it was called, after a FrenchCaribbean word that meant “village-party”. Many were sceptical as to the club’s survival in the then – or still, we’ll see – conservative local social climate. But very quickly, as you well know, Zouk became one of those epicentres, Singapore’s finest club and an internationally venerated venue that has come to dominate the global clubscape as a mainstay in the top flight on any poll of the best clubs in the world. But now, 23 years later, with the lease on its historic Jiak Kim premises expiring at the end of the year, and with
the very real prospect of there being no renewal, the future of this much beloved institution is threatened. Ripping through the utter shock and incredulity that engulfed the scene when this news first broke, a clarion call was sounded with a campaign known as Save Zouk. Taking up the modern flare gun of the hashtag, the movement propelled a viral, awareness-raising exercise that included the signing of an online petition that urged an extension on Zouk’s lease. Save Zouk has since been picked up by the global dance community with DJ Mag and superstars like Afrojack, Laidback Luke and Gilles Peterson taking up the cause. At the time of this writing, the site has collected
an impressive 30,317 signatures. Still, more can be done. After all, more than 10,000 party faithful gather at Zouk every week to do good justice to all that the club offers. If we were loud enough for others to notice, we can be even louder now. As One Tribe and with One Voice we can make ourselves heard and hopefully, our Zouk will be saved. Sign the Save Zouk petition at save-zouk.com.
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Culture Club: Zouk’s greatest hits Enter Zouk In 1991, one Lincoln Cheng didn’t just fit out three disused warehouses with a sound system, a dancefloor and a music programme, but transformed them into Zouk, a shining light on the local nightscape. This feat, the club would accomplish with discerning taste, forward thought and a party-ready attitude that sought to equally entertain and educate local clubbers.
House Style In no way a KTV bar, Zouk was exceptional in its sound programming that played no small part in injecting house music into our collective vein. Besides roping in international DJs – from your Carl Coxes to your Gilles Petersons – to help with the 4/4s, the club grew its own base of resident DJs and fans, all of whom happily backed the beat. It’s no idle fact that generations on, electronic music continues to hold such mighty sway on our island.
Together Forever Zouk’s 23 years have been vibrant with numberless other theme parties and club nights, during which memories have been indubitably born. There’ve been sonic highlights from ReadySet Glo to TGIW, bassic to Bulletproof, alongside style-heavy happenings like Zouk Wardrobe and Flea N Easy, and the massive hits that are ZoukOut and Mambo Jambo. If you’re bored at Zouk, that’s your bad.
Room on Fire Zouk’s innovative and creative momentum has never simply been confined to its sound, but has also made for some darn good-looking interiors. Across its main room and the spaces of Velvet Underground, Phuture and Winebar (as well as the dearly departed MTV Bar) has the club spread sleek fixtures, distinctive design accents and kickass artwork, if only that we can – literally – party in style.
One Tribe It may have 23 years on its back, but know that Zouk’s still younger than ever. After two decades of cultivating tastes and illuminating our club-scape, the nightspot continues to bring parties, people and music together as ONE to make for legendary night-outs that you’ll still cherish and remember, no matter how bad your hangover is. And here’s to never losing that loving feeling.
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24-Hour Party People: Zouk staffers on their day jobs
Wayne Lee: Head of Entertainment Sofie Chandra: Head of Business Development and PR
Jeremy Boon: Resident DJ and Production Manager
What does Zouk mean to you? As a brand, it continues to intrigue me, having stayed relevant all these years. It is also about family, about inspiring people, about life-changing experiences, about a lifestyle, a vision, a community and a culture. Most importantly, it is a place I call home. So, I guess it means the world to me.
What keeps you doing what you’re doing? Having the opportunity to do what I love.
In your many nights at Zouk, was there one that was special for you? There have been dozens and dozens of nights where I have left the club completely satisfied, happy and grateful. In the past two years, TGIW has been that for me – building a new night with an amazing team, and watching it grow to the mid-week party that everyone talks about and attends. It holds a very special place in my heart. Why should we #savezouk? Why not?
What does Zouk mean to you? It’s my second home. What is your earliest recollection of Zouk? In 1991, I was told to introduce house music to the local clubbers and was pleasantly surprised by the overwhelming response. In your many nights at Zouk, was there one that was special for you? When we were voted into one of top five clubs in the world by DJ Mag in 2012. Why do you think Zouk is important to Singapore’s nightlife? It is an institution that has attracted many visitors from around the world. Why should we #savezouk? It’s made in Singapore.
What keeps you doing what you’re doing? Those happy faces at the end of each night keep me at it. What is your earliest recollection of Zouk? It was 1998 when I first came to Zouk to party (and I was legal). It was Fatboy Slim who was playing and I remember queue-ing for over an hour to get into the club, and then standing in the middle of the dancefloor (packed like sardines in a can) lifting my hands in the air when “F**king in Heaven” was dropped. Truly amazing. In your many nights at Zouk, was there one that was special for you? When I got to DJ alongside Busy P and JUSTICE in 2007, and host them for that weekend. That will always remain as a great memory. Why should we #savezouk? We need to keep one of Singapore and the world’s oldest and best musical institutions alive.
Ghetto: Resident DJ What keeps you doing what you’re doing? DJ-ing is my passion and playing in the best club in Singapore is my dream. I am really happy to be living my dream now! What is your earliest recollection of Zouk? My first visit to Zouk was when I was 18-years-old and still in the army. All my campmates decided to come out and party during our first book-out. It was Mambo Jambo that night and it was packed like hell! It was definitely an eye-opener for me as the atmosphere was crazy. In your many nights at Zouk, was there one that was special for you? My favorite memory and most memorable night of Zouk was my first ZoukOut in 2010. The feeling of playing to a sea of people at the festival was so surreal and I was pretty nervous! Why should we #savezouk? It is truly a local icon and a part of Singapore.
QH Yeo: Booker and Digital Marketing What does Zouk mean to you? Zouk means that it never has to be all work and no play. It means that my colleagues and I are some of the lucky few that get to flex our love for music in a way that also puts food on the table. In your many nights at Zouk, was there one that was special for you? The club business can feel like a series of trial-and-error exercises. Sometimes things fall flat, but sometimes they skyrocket after months of trepidation and these moments of unexpected success can make partying quite an emotional affair. Through ZoukOuts, Para//el and bassic – risks can be such feel-good ventures. Smiles on the dance floor! Why should we #savezouk? Singapore with a Zouk-shaped hole is absolutely dreary. It is like banning chicken rice. I shudder to think and my stomach growls.
Adrian Wee: Resident DJ and Marketing What does Zouk mean to you? Well, it’s a place I grew up at. From being a wideeyed army boy many years ago, going gaga over DJs like Laurent Garnier, Carl Cox and Jon Carter, to actually being a part of the team that powers the club, is an incredible journey that I would never have expected. What is your earliest recollection of Zouk? My earliest memory of Zouk is holding two jugs of Long Island Tea (because midnight madness) and dancing to Britpop at the MTV Bar. I love Britpop. I love Long Island Tea. Why do you think Zouk is important to Singapore’s nightlife? I think Zouk IS the frakking Singapore nightlife scene. Why should we #savezouk? I don’t want to have no place to go to on a weekend and end up at a Thai disco.
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Text: Indran P
Willis Earl Beal: Experiments in Time “[The man who signed me] doesn’t want to spend a lot of time thinking about all the lonely psychopaths that listen to music in the middle of the night while riding their bikes. And those are the kind of people I want to make music for” – and with that, the experimental, soul and lo-fi auteur has split from his former label, XL Records, to record his third full-length on his own. No sneaks have been given yet into what is shaping up to the most scrutinised work of his career, but if we can hazard a guess, it’ll probably be writ large with the cold blast of soul that fuels all us lonely psychopathic night-riders. Out 8 August
FKA Twigs: LP1
Kimbra: The Golden Echo
Cymbals Eat Guitars: Lose
As FKA Twigs, the precocious Tahliah Barnett has been making waves with her weirdo-fabulous looks and with her ghostly reconfiguration of the extremities of trip hop and alt-r&b. And with “Two Weeks” and “Pendulum” from her forthcoming debut full-length promising more pop deconstruction, there’ll be more proof that she’s not just some style icon. Out 12 August
“Somebody That I Used to Know”? Try Thundercat, John Legend, Muse’s Matt Bellamy, Omar Rodríguez-López, Bilal and John “JR” Robinson (Michael Jackson’s in-studio drummer) – Kimbra’s new friends who’ve each sounded in on her sophomore. It’s almost too good to be true until you hit play on the worldsized pop of “’90s Music”. Out 19 August
CEG stacked the odds against themselves on two prior releases of flourishgiving, Big-Questionsasking indie rock that harkened back to the what-once-was days of the genre. On Lose, the band looks inward as it negotiates death and disillusionment. But hit up “Jackson” for those life-sized guitars you love so much. Out 26 August
Ty Segall: Manipulator
The New Phish: Pornographers: Fuego Brill Bruisers
Über-prolific San Franciscan fuzz-rock machine, Ty Segall, is at it again. Fresh from a typically fertile 2013 that saw him drop albums under his own name and with the LA noise-pop trio, Fuzz, he’s back to bruising ear drums with his seventh long-player, as the fearless garage stomp of “The Faker” ably shows. Out 26 August
“This is a celebration record”, says frontman, A.C. Newman, on the Canadian supergroup’s sixth album. And the record’s spirit of festive joy is all over its first missive, the lead single, “Brill Bruisers”, in the carefree swirls of riffing guitars, anthemic, surging melodies and sugar-high choruses. Out 26 August
Who says jammy trad rock is dead? On its 12th showing, the polymaths of Phish return with an unspooling of rock, soul, reggae and blues, with a craftsmanship and grandiosity that you’ll be telling the grandkids about. For the good ol’ good ol’, just give your eyes-closed attention to “The Line”. Out now
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Listomania
National Anthems 9 homemade songs to rock to Text: Indran P
Van Detta: “Fly”
Muon: “Aqua Assault”
“I want to fly” is a sentiment that we’ve all harboured at some point in our lives. In this song, the chanteuse turns it into a smouldering coda whose hushed, impassioned fervour is urged by smoky beats and textures to intoxicating effect.
TAJ: “The Astral Journey” (feat. Eric Foenander)
The Boredphucks: “Zoe Tay”
Plainsunset: “Plainsunset” Easily the most controversial item in our national catalogue, “Zoe Tay” is also the most celebratory of all things Singaporean. “She speaks Singlish like Zoe Tay”, goes a line in the infamous chorus of this fist-to-thegut punk missive, simultaneously maligning our
local soap opera queen and our own charmingly hodgepodge vernacular. But beneath the tongue-in-cheek jibes and through its explosive rhythms and skyward trajectory, “Zoe Tay” is a loud-andproud appraisal of all our rough edges, Zoe Tay included.
Force Vomit: “Siti” A kingly song befitting the kingly rep of Plainsunset, “Plainsunset” is a feel-good number that spreads its good vibes on a legendary scale. Powerful, poignant and perfect, this is one that rain or shine, will light up any room or face.
What more is there to say about this truly immortal song? Perhaps the most-beloved jam by the longstanding local titans, “Siti” is Singaporean throughand-through. Bringing us immediate hooks and immediate joy over the years, “Siti” will continue to do its good work for years to come.
Like its title suggests, “Aqua Assault” is a seafaring odyssey through rushing waves of sound: there’s the ominous synth melody, the spitfire drums, the megaton bass and the wonderfully kaleidoscopic guitars. It’s a trip on so many levels and like the best of them, once is never enough.
Slowly blossoming from a spoken word passage that invites us to “open [our] mind[s]”, “The Astral Journey” is exactly that, a lush, vividly-hued dip into pulsating, transcendental sounds. Virtuoso chops also included.
The Sam Willows: “Glasshouse” Jangly, anthemic and bursting with life, “Glasshouse” is a ray of light that comes in the form of an earworm and shines whenever you need it to.
Monster Cat: “Take Me To Love” Earlier this year, Monster Cat served up The Violet Hour, a gravity-defying indie rock opus of showstopping musicality. “Take Me to Love” is the first flourish and with its red-blooded grooves and heart-on-sleeve emoting, is already an undisputable national treasure.
Astreal: “Snowflake”
With its irresistible, haunting beauty, “Snowflake” has long been a fixture in the local pantheon. Now’s as good a time as any to revisit why this song is so thoroughly unforgettable. Frontwoman, Ginette Chittick’s icy, gorgeous coos have something to do with it.
Runway
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The Modern Edge Ong Shunmugam Fall/Winter 2014 Text: Min Chen Acting on a confluence between heritage, architecture and her own contemporary ingenuity, Priscilla Ong Shunmugam has emerged on the runways with equal promise and confidence. Her design signatures are based on timeless silhouette of the cheongsam, of which she
has proposed progressive styles, textures and attitudes that represent more than just your standard “update”. Ong Shunmugam’s Fall/ Winter 2014 showing at the latest Audi Fashion Festival, then, did not lack for more bold and forward re-thinkings in a collection dubbed
Madness & Civilisation. Stepping onto the catwalk were ultramodern silhouettes, with traditional ideas of the cheongsam being re-cut with unique sleeves (pointed or flared), adorned with alternating batik patterns and painted with a host of seasonal shades. Also
in evidence were the label’s playful yet alluring offerings of playsuits, pantsuits and two-piece outfits rounded off with midriff-baring cropped tops. Balanced between mad invention and a sartorial civility, Ong Shunmugam scores yet another homerun.
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Runway
An Everyday Affair Saturday Fall/Winter 2014 Text: Min Chen With a crisp and effortless aplomb, Saturday stepped onto the runway at Audi Fashion Festival bearing its Fall/Winter goods. Long celebrated for its simple yet quirky use of geometry and draping, the label and its designer, Nic Wong, have embarked on a collection
that yet again, embodies the carefree and casual spirit of the modern femme. Employing a monochrome colour palette (save for some touches of red), the label’s chief concern was an array of loosely and asymmetrically cut dresses, before a
shape-shift into twopiece looks consisting of peplum tops, culottes, midi skirts and cigarette pants. Bonus points, too, for that badass drape jacket. The muted tones complemented the clean and wearable silhouettes, while interspersing textures of leather and
crushed metallics made for interesting finishes. Not just ready for the weekend, these looks are versatile enough to fit in the boardroom, the club and whatever avant-garde situation you may find yourself in. Pretty much, Saturday is everyday.
Collection
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Quiet Riot In Good Company Capsule 4 Text: Min Chen Avant-gardists and asymmetrical hipsters need not apply here, as In Good Company (IGC) deals with the straightforward task of filling our wardrobes with clean and crisp essentials. Then again, this is no small or plain undertaking, and the local label is more than up to scratch with its contemporary aesthetic that ensures fuss-free pieces that are made for mixing, matching and mingling. With that same and simple intent, IGC has launched its fourth collection, humbly titled Capsule 4, to supply us with a major load of interchangeable and versatile looks.
The foundation of IGC remains solidly built on the key features of geometry, graphic lines and fabrics. So while this season’s silhouettes may appear easy and slouchy on first look, closer inspection reveals structural tailoring, angular cuts and panel layering to make for equal fluid cascades on dresses, and light cubic forms on jackets and trousers. The use of various natural fabrics also offers a play on textures, with the crisp surfaces of waxed cotton linen and starched poplin juxtaposed again the airiness of crepe georgette. A further sophisticated touch arrives with cupro, a hallmark in any IGC collection, and with a double-bonded cotton jersey, which feels and
moves like wool, without the attendant heat and weight. Visually, the collection is strong with colour blocks of bottle greens, royal purples and day-glo pinks punctuated an overall neutral palette, and ripe with free-form graphic prints courtesy of designer and illustrator, Kuanth. So while subtle and relaxed throughout, IGC’s Capsule 4 still boasts a robust form and a compelling graphic character that don’t have to scream to be heard. And that’s often the best kind. Available at TANGS Orchard, Front Row and ingoodcompany.asia
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Collection Text: Rosalind Chua
YOUYOU Fall/Winter 2014 There’ll be no frowny faces around these parts, as YOUYOU greets the new season with the most unexpected thing of all: a smile. All manner of fun and good times inform the label’s latest collection, which prides itself on comfort, unlikely cuts and other design quirks. Armed with a carefree approach to structure, silhouettes here go from roomy (the harem shorts, the structured dress) to streamlined (the shoulder block dress, the smarty pants), and colours stay in muted monochrome, with
smatterings of blue. Taken individually, these pieces stand out for their infinite versatility, while styled together, they make for crisp and casual looks that’ll make you very happy in your own skin ineed. Available at Threadbare and Squirrel, EGG3 and Isetan Scotts Re-style
Melissa Fall/ Black Winter 2014 Chamber 8th Anniversary Collection
Ethnic and cultural diversity find their way onto Melissa’s latest collection, which consequently, can’t help but burst with friendship, harmony and community spirit. Dubbed Melissa Nation, the Brazilian footwear label’s latest drop falls into three unique moods fit for all modern explorers. Traveler contains enough sophistication and versatility to match your wanderlust, Guide is all cosmopolitan in its urban and ‘90s accents, and Local offers an avantgarde edge in modern yet functional silhouettes. Available at Melissa MDREAMS boutiques at Wheelock Place and 1 Raffles Place
It’s been a good eight years since Black Chamber set itself up on our local fashion front to champion such labels as Bounty Hunter, Undefeated and huf, while producing its own wares that hit the right notes in urban chic. To mark its eighth birthday and the opening of its new boutique at Orchard Cineleisure, Black Chamber is now heading out with a capsule collection, made in collaboration with Stussy and Bounty Hunter, that in typical street spirit, is exclusive and limited in edition. Check in for a range of six T-shirts and a cap boasting a play on the brands’ logos and aesthetics, and stay fresh wit it. Available at Black Chamber at Orchard Cineleisure, #03-03
PUMA Wilderness Pack
Heeding the call of the desert and other such barren landscapes, PUMA’s latest Wilderness Pack is all set with the toughest skins and soles. The collection’s first drop already contains two prizewinners: the R698 Wilderness Sahara, boasting a suede upper and sandy midsole to recall the desert’s windswept features, and pops of blue and green to serve as an oasis; as well as the XS850 Wilderness Inner City, which transports the action to a dusk-covered city with black leather uppers, mesh detailing and glimmers of yellow to mimic a gritty urbanscape. Available exclusively at Limited Edt Chamber and Limited Edt Vault
Profile
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Shaking The Habitual Blonde Redhead’s Amedeo Pace on the band’s natural habitat Text: Indran P
Avant-gardists have always occupied a curious place in the pop cultural firmament. There are those of the Syd Barrett lineage upon whom the doubleedged glimmer of recognition only falls posthumously and those like Charlie Parker and Lou Reed, who are venerated as reliable figures of a vague “alternative” counterpoint to the prevailing tenor of pop. But in 1994, Blonde Redhead emerged to test, frustrate and ultimately level those restrictive, fossilised perceptions. Through a catalogue
that marks a spellbinding transition from noise-based art rock to gorgeously diaphanous pop, the trio of frontwoman, Kazu Makino and twins, guitarist and singer, Amedeo and drummer, Simone Pace, have come to be esteemed as forward-thinking innovators on the terms of its music alone. And in our chat with Amedeo, we came to learn that this is just as well since, this whole time, all he’s been trying to do is “to express the sounds [he] hears in [his] mind”.
At every stage of its eight-album-long career, Blonde Redhead has given the world ample cause to guess what shape the next offering might take. While other bands have merely relied on the built-in, time-honed buzz of anticipation, Amedeo and co. have made a celebrated career out of teasing, then, ripping expectations apart. So, you can imagine how unseemly his assessment of his band’s evolution was: “Making an album is a long process and when the changes happen slowly, because of that, you don’t feel how drastic they are”. But “drastic” is just the word to describe the band’s ascent from its earlier days as feedbackabusing No Wave aficionados, especially on the unpredictably and
obliteratingly powerful Fake Can Be Just as Good to its current incarnation as makers of grandiose, state-of-the-art pop, as averred by its beautiful opus, 23. Undistracted by progress and intent only on its founding impulse, Amedo stays the course: “It’s all just part of my own drive to express my internal feelings”. Such illumination was impossible back in the day when it was so easy to be taken in by the band’s unpredictably seductive sway. Whether ephemeral and selfconsciously abstract, like “Symphony of Treble”, or heartbreakingly relatable, as in “Maddening Cloud”, its songs possessed a coy sense of mystery that made speculation and immersion inextricable to the endeavour of listening.
This was, is and forever will be a band that is entirely its own. Even in the fabled New York underground, as Amedeo reminds us, “We were always part of our own world, our own island.” This singularity will be carried on to the band’s ninth album, Barragan, which Amedeo tells us, is, yes, “really different”. With more acoustic elements, including the harpsichord, now featuring prominently, we can expect yet another lacy, and ethereally filigreed surprise. “It’s really growing on me, emotionally. Now that it’s finished, I’m ready to accept it”, Amedeo lets on. All we can do is wait. Barragan will be released on 2 September on Kobalt Records
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Next
AntiPop! Makthaverskan is not cute Text: Indran P
“F**k you for f**king me / When I was 17”, goes the hook on “No Mercy”, the unrelenting alterna-punk free-forall off this Gothenburg quintet’s excellent latest full-length, II. Take that as a guiding light into the Makthaverskan universe, a suspended realm in indie rock where “hearton-sleeve” means an unabashed and bloodied full-reveal of inmost emotional states with an immediacy that is, too, dare we say, real, to be disguised as coy secrets. And soundtracking these rips through memory are blitzes of nuanced,
shoegazed rock that are poignant, powerful and above all, liberating. Like indie rock’s best origin stories, Makthaverskan’s sprung from opposition, from lines drawn between the “thems” of the pretty, banal overground and the “us” of the restless underground. It’s hard being from the same country with a storied pop bloodline that gave the world ABBA, Roxette and more recently, Robyn, Lykke Li, Swedish House Mafia and Avicii when you’ve got something different and
something honest you want to say on your own terms. And it’s precisely because, in the words of firecracker frontwoman, Maja Milner, “The Swedish music scene was too cute for [them]” that herself, guitarists, Hugo Randulv and Gustav Andersson, bassist, Irma Krook, and drummer, Andreas “Palle” Wettmark, got together to make uncommonly visceral music “inspired by the punk essence”. And in keeping with its maker’s moniker, which is a masculinegendered Swedish
word that translates as “ruler” or “man of power”, II is an eminently uncompromising and riveting work. Inspired by the now-defunct Swedish alternative rock outfit, Broder Daniel, which was in turn spurred by Iggy Pop, The Velvet Underground and The Jesus and Mary Chain, II is an amalgamation of sounds from the shadowy flipside of pop. Bringing this sugarybut-decayed vision to life is the beautifully ugly “Antabus”, where Mary Chain’s missile-pop is swept up by the urgency of Milner’s lacerating
tale of a love bruised by callousness. On the world-questioning “Something More”, Milner, piercing through the sparkling but jagged gusts of noise, begs us to consider the truth embedded in the song’s title. Yet, the band is emphatic that is not some greatergood fight that it’s taken up. “I never wanted to combine politics and music. It’s just obvious that everyone deserves the right things”, Milner says. Unhindered by agenda and unfazed by their national
musical inheritance, Makthaverskan exists for no other purpose than to make music the way it wants. And that is the best thing we could ever ask of a rock band. II is out now on Run For Cover Records
Profile
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Loud Epiphanies Deafheaven bring the thunder of awakening Text: Indran P
Some people know how to enter a room. Contemporary indie rock is filled with those types. They’re the ones who’re always dealt the winning ticket in the lottery of virality. Then, there are others who know how to make earthmoving music that serves as a reminder as to why indieanything is such a preciously interesting phenomenon in the first place. San Francisco post-metal outfit, Deafheaven, fronted by singer, George Clarke and guitarist, Kerry Washington, is one such act that is going about its business in an inspired and inspiring way. For four years now, the band has taken metal on a
no-turning-back course of resolute reinvention, scorning the old rules and smirking at the new ones on a musical sway that is, well, loud as hell. But as we found out from George Clarke, who was in the “living room of the infamous Sargent House” when we checked in with him, the band’s mythically imposing maneuvers are informed by deeply personal emotional stirrings.
Deafheaven’s emphatically winning streak consists of many victories but its most admirable one is that it has singlehandedly reignited an interest in guitar-centric heavy music at a time when all that gets the blog-osphere hot and bothered are the electronically in-trend happenings on SoundCloud. But in 2011, Deafheaven’s debut full-length, Roads to Judah, confounded all with its indeterminate sound. Its panoramic 12-minute opener, “Violet”, was a warping of space rock, Sonic Youth-referencing noise
rock and a black metal thrust inherited from Norwegian demigods, Emperor. Unable to take this new hydra-headed behemoth for what it was, the tastemakers then forced-traced its lineage to chameleonic metal acts like Isis and Godflesh, under the banner, “postmetal”. But when asked about all this “post-” business, Clarke was smilingly dismissive: “We took different things that we enjoyed and just tried to make them all work together cohesively”. Already reeling from the incredulity of Judah’s pummeling, what-is-this? sound, the indie world was dealt a harder, heavier and more revelatory blow just last year on Sunbather, the band’s second offering. A marvel of widescreen metal sounds, the record also featured colouristic tonal touches cribbed from Johnny Marr’s best work, the transcendental, out-of-body pacing found in, as Clarke tells
us, “Death in June, Low, Slowdive” and, if you can believe it, the pop-rock grit of Oasis. “Our only goal was to do outdo what we had done previously and take strides to find more of our own personal sound”, Clarke says of the record’s variedly leveling thrall, also affirming the record’s dynamic of honing in on innermost reverberations by blasting outward on an imposing thrall. This is reflected in the songwriting, as on the particularly devastating “Dream House”, in the quoted line, “‘I’m dying’ / ‘Is it blissful?’/ ‘It’s like a dream’ / ‘I want to dream’”. Metal, ever-dependent on an all-powerful, largerthan-life impression of its makers, has never made allowances for admissions of vulnerability. But as the herald of its new dawn, Sunbather’s conception was different. “I remember wanting to focus on personal emotion in a surreal sort of way. Snippets of ideas come to me and I’ll write those down then bring them together to form a central idea”, says Clarke of its origins. And with that, we received a hand-on-heart document of unmitigated power and purpose. “Up the irons!”, was Iron Maiden’s salute to metal. Now, we have something more. Sunbather is out now on Deathwish Inc.
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House Style On our fashion front’s many sartorial and alphabetical highlights Text:Rosalind Chua
as in Ashley Isham. Ashley Isham may have landed in London in 1996 for a pattern-cutting course, but no way did he stop just there. His eponymous label followed, as did a high profile clientele (Zara Philips, for starters) and a host of fashion week showcases that established his elegant and glamorous signatures in the style cosmos. He ain’t one of Singapore’s top fashion designers for nothing.
as in Club 21. A household name in local fashion retail, Club 21’s come a long way since its beginnings as a humble storefront at Tanglin Shopping Centre. Now armed with four decades’ worth of pedigree behind it, on top of a mega stock of designer labels, the retailer has played no small part in injecting style into our collective veins, whilst giving local fashionistas a place to get properly dressed up at.
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as in Digital. Blessed be powers of the Internet! With sites like Bagaholicboy and street-style efforts like Shentonista taking off, as well as the advent of our own Digital Fashion Week (hello, Naomi Campbell!), our digital fashion front has never looked more chic.
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as in Eighth place. Remember when Singapore placed eighth in a 2011 survey of the world’s most fashionable cities? It was pretty swell and a point of pride that you may continue to wear on your well-tailored sleeves.
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as in Front Row. Front Row’s loyalty to fashion is evident, though with its equal alignment to art and the cutting edge, the boutique has also been a source for an eclectic and progressive brand mix that highlights finest in local design.
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as in Blueprint. While we tip our hats to Blueprint’s efforts in building connections and collaborations between the region’s designers and buyers with its annual tradeshow and emporium, our heart goes to its unflagging support of emerging local and regional designers.
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as in Granny’s Day Out. When it comes to vintage, Granny’s certainly knows best. Run with passion, authenticity and the right amount of kookiness, this treasure trove has spent 10 years dusting off old but gold threads and trinkets for your retail pleasure.
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as in hansel. Being an exuberant and playful breath of fresh air in a world of somber high fashion, Jo Soh’s quirky label has earned her great notices everywhere (Katy Perry digs it), as well as a standing right on top of our local style pile.
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as in Jonathan Seow. Long before your Blueprints and street style blogs, there was Jonathan Seow. A supremely progressive designer when there was none, Seow occupied a large part of the early noughties’ local fashion scene with his label, WOODS & WOODS, for which he showcased in Paris, Berlin, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Australia, while also bigging up other emerging designers with his Studio Privé platform. His label may look to be all but defunct, but his legacy won’t be.
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as in K.I.N. Know It Nothing may have began life as a menswear boutique, but over time, has grown its own sensibility that extends far beyond its brickand-mortar confines. Now situated at Orchard Central, it’s newly emerged as Sifr (also the name of its own clothing label) and a space where fashion, design, music and good conversation mingle, as they should.
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as in LASALLE, where our nation’s next generation of fashion designers go to get schooled. The institution’s Fashion Design and Textiles programme has been key in bringing fashion into academic focus, whilst grooming the young and the style-inclined to meet their life’s calling. Props, too, for the recent LASALLE Degree Fashion Show, which was no small hit on the Audi Fashion Festival catwalk.
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as in Mash Up. Because fashion should be fun too, Mash Up has been having its mad way with theirs. Founded by a trio of LASALLE fashion grads, the design collective is literally a mash up of ideas and concepts to make for bold and inventive street and party gear. Already, the label’s made a point of lobster motifs, technotribal prints and Japanese slogans, and it’s only just begun.
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as in Ong Shunmugam. The only way is surely up for Priscilla Ong Shunmugam, whose label has re-imagined and refashioned the traditional cheongsam to brilliant and contemporary effect.
as in Parco Next NEXT, the fashion incubator that, in its four-year existence, has spotted, groomed and championed such labels as evenodd, rêvasseur and max.tan. Local fashion design will certainly be less without it.
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as in Reckless Ericka. Surely and steadily, Reckless Ericka’s fresh and offbeat silhouettes have worked their way into our island’s wardrobes. Now in its fifth year, the label continues to draw attention with its strong tailoring and draping, and is almost a staple at Blueprint, Audi Fashion Festival and our local fashion consciousness.
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as in Surrender. Not just another menswear retailer, Surrender is where style becomes lifestyle, with its choice pickings of accessories, threads and homeware goods that have been the making of not a few gentlemen. And with its recently launched Salon by Surrender sub-division, the ladies can also have their pick of the brand’s well-curated high-fashion duds.
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as in True gents. No, clothes aren’t the only things that maketh the man. Proof is in our booming men’s grooming trade, with stops like We Need a Hero, Sultans of Shave and Trufitt & Hill offering all the shaves, trims and MANicures to get you in tip-top gentlemanly condition.
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as in Vice & Vanity. Vice & Vanity’s accessories don’t just make statements, but leave impressions with innovative materials, avant-garde forms and artful ingenuity.
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as in Wykidd Song. The first and last star player on our fashion scene, Wykidd Song was one-half of the team that brought us the legendary Song + Kelly – the first Singaporean label to show at London and New York Fashion Weeks – and since then, hasn’t found reason to stop. He continues to head up his own design studio, as well as bespoke and menswear collections that still bear his clean and ultramodern aesthetic.
as in Zalora. Now that online shopping is the new shopping, it’s only about time that we should have an e-commerce experience catered to our especial SG needs. Enter Zalora, which in a few short years, has become an online destination to acquire international and local labels. Better yet, you don’t even have to get dressed to get here.
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Cutting Edge No B.S. music
Sharpless is off the charts Text: Indran P
Well, isn’t this curious: Jack Greenleaf, a Chicago-based musician adopted the self-blunting christening, “Sharpless”, to make what he calls, “violent pop”. But if it looks like this sense of whimsy has been precision-engineered to mine some quirky (read: indie-“ironic”) vein, then, the music that bears the Sharpless name will set things right. Indeed, the far-flung and wildly disparate threads of music, from J-pop to Pinkerton-era Weezer to Broadway show tunes, that give boundary-less essence to this “violent pop” are the same ones that guide Greenleaf through deeply emotional and often heartbreaking emotional situations.
he bemoans a love that was only “ornamental”, Greenleaf combines power pop, power metal and post-hardcore to charmingly magnificent effect.
“Bridging worlds” is something that many artists have attempted. But never before has anyone erected the Tower of Babel on an approach as unique or as interesting as Greenleaf’s. Taking cues from his background in game design, which made him realise the notions of “ownership” and “participation”, Greenleaf sought to actively reinscribe meaning
onto J-pop and musical theatre, “two genres that are almost constantly made fun of by lots of people”, by situating certain reverberating personal stories within their supposedly frivolous forms. And the result is emotionally and musically stunning. The full-length, The One I Wanted to Be, is a fullyrealised tour de force that sees craft and intent interlock in completely unprecedented ways.
Spiritually rooted in “art that was surface level engaging and moving but digging deeper to lead to greater rewards”, Greenleaf, together with members of Brooklyn creative collective, The Epoch, produced a ninesong collection that feels like way more. The best case in point, “Greater Than (>)”, opens with a traditional Japanese folk melody before exploding
into an epic vortex of shrill synths and guitars, all given afterburner urging by frenetic drum patterns. The sounds are teeming and kitschy and Greenleaf’s digitallytreated vocals seem almost mocking but the song’s topicality is blood-red: “And when our hearts begin to feel cold / We just cruise along the edges, into patterns we can fold”. Later, on “Gemini”, where
The final clincher in this story of clinchers is that Greenleaf/Sharpless accomplished all this with the most scoffed-at tactic in the industry: bedroom recording. Yes. In his twinning of subversion and appreciation, he’s given us something new, timely and inescapable. The One I Wanted to Be is available online at sharplessmusic.com and will soon be released in physical form on Father/ Daughter Records
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Born Again Finding new life in The Observatory’s Time of Rebirth Text: Indran P Album Image: Kinetic Design
Rewind
Celebrating the early work of a prolific band is always a daunting task. Separating the impression that years of peerless output has shaped from the foundational offering can be tricky business. But in the case of Time of Rebirth (TOR), the first fulllength showing by local sonic polymaths, The Observatory, what we’ve been gifted with is a singularly realised musical modus operandi that, in its hushed sweep through a glorious spectrum of sounds, lights a path to new beginnings, new possibilities and to the very human ideal of rebirth itself. This is the story of a beginning and an end and each of its chapters pulses with a powerful, poignant heart. Here’s to Rebirth.
The beginning One of TOR’s greatest feats is that it affirms its intimately personal nature even before its first note is heard, by presenting itself as a diary. Just as one small black book can open a door into the innermost workings of a mind tested by the flows of the everyday, so does TOR begin with ripped pages that lead to lyrics, illustrations, photos and even a 14step to-do list (“Start a band”, “Watch less TV”, “Humility”), all of which collectively serve as entries documenting the path to a new life. As The Observatory’s Vivian Wang remembers, “The whole idea of going in this direction was to lay bare the process of thought and emotion, to celebrate the ruminating, imperfect nature of shifting states”. And beginning with rupture, with its torn pages, TOR invites us to, as Vivian offers, “unlearn what we think we know, sometimes, in order to start anew”. Unwinding hours Just like how reflection takes us closer to ourselves by removing us from ourselves and our entanglements, TOR’s 11 songs are spacey, atmospheric numbers,
teeming with movements and polyrhythms, but whose warm textures and sepia tones also make them feel earthy and immediate. This is evinced in the album’s opener, “How’s Life?” which, like its plainspoken christening, is a casual inquiry with grave implications. Frontman, Leslie Low’s measured, poised vocals and Vivian’s sweetly melodic lilt flit through crystalline instrumentation that nods to canons of music from different eras, including, as Vivian tells us, “The Divine Comedy, the Tindersticks… ‘60s and ‘70s English folk”. As the album progresses, the band’s shared love for “free/avant-jazz” and “dance and certain electronic acts like Björk, Matthew Herbert and Lamb” show on the twitching electronica of “Waste Your Life”, “Relationship With Sin” and on the smouldering bridge of “Hearts and Soul”. Throughout its fluid sprawl, The Observatory furnishes a vividly shimmering tableaux of these “ruminating”, “shifting” states on a musicality that, despite its quiet virtuosity, is tremulously relatable.
All in all TOR opens with a question, “How’s life? / Living like this” and ends with an apology, “Sorry that I missed the stop / Sorry that I can’t decide”. At the end of its runtime TOR doesn’t so much come full circle as much as take us through the complexity of the web of circumstances that make up what we’ve been led to believe is “reality”. Along the way, we meet characters like the persona on “Relationship With Sin” whose experiences show that the quest for meaning and the choices made in searching for meaning are inextricable from the humdrum rhythms of the day-to-day. When asked how she regards the record today, a decade after its release, Vivian had this to say: “The record still holds a special place within me, in retrospect, every day has been a new one for us as a creative unit. We are always looking forward to new things”. The time of rebirth moves ever on. Time of Rebirth is no longer in print but there are very limited copies available directly on mail order from the band. Visit theobservatory. com.sg for more details.
Lookbook
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My Face for the World to See
Faces by The Sartorialist Text: Min Chen No longer just a plain and practical necessity, eyewear these days has become a key accessory to everyday chic. Personal style and individuality are easily writ large in any humble pair of frames or sunglasses, and now, are all over Faces by The Sartorialist. Helmed by Luxottica Group, the world’s biggest champion of luxury and premium
eyewear, this campaign sees a collaboration with Scott Schuman, aka the man behind the groundbreaking street-style blog, The Sartorialist, and he with the keen and intuitive eye for easy and everyday style. For Faces by The Sartorialist, Schuman trains his lens on the streets of fashion capitals like New York, Milan, Paris and Shanghai to capture
individuals who’re donning their Luxottica eyewear with especial flair. Scott’s pictures now form the online portal, facesbythesartorialist. com, on which are unique faces made more distinctive by their choice in frames – from Oliver Peoples to Miu Miu, RayBan to Paul Smith. Says Schuman, “Eyeglasses are a fascinating accessory.
They can both reveal and transform a person.” Indeed, while unveiling the personal styles of some very savvy people, Faces by The Sartorialist also sheds equally compelling light on the innate and effortless chic that comes with a Luxottica frame. See more at facesbythesartorialist.com or @facesbythesartorialist on Instagram.
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Have Fun! Kate Spade New York Stationery and Gifts Collection Text: Stacy Lim
You already know Kate Spade New York for its bold, graphic play and joie de vivre, which has colour-coated collections after collections of utterly fresh and vibrant threads. Now, get to know another side of this sassy miss – one that doesn’t just dress the part, but lives, writes, paints, parties and gifts with the same snazzy aplomb. Yes, Kate Spade New York’s Stationery and Gifts Collection packs the brand’s trademark exuberance into a host of gift-worthy
accessories and stationery to light up even the dullest of desks. Launched just last year, Kate Spade’s new range is equal parts whimsical and wonderful to tickle the part of you that’s culturally curious and artistically alive. Its stationery offerings include notebooks, journals, organisers and greeting cards that, apart from being crafted with soft, smooth and premium Mohawk ivory paper, carry quirky quotes and striking prints to ensure you’re composing and organising in offbeat
style. The rest of your desk also won’t fall short with the collection’s array of the likes of paperweights, folders, paperclips and washi tape, which come awash with all manner of polka-dots, stripes and floral motifs. Outside of the office, your next shindig will be benefitting from Kate Spade New York’s party décor line-up. It’s spunky from its photo props right down to the last paper pom pom, while the brilliant tableware, which includes quotefilled placemats, clever salt-and-pepper sets
and classy glassware, will make for further playful and graphic conversation. Otherwise, the rest of this collection continues to burst with fun picture frames, brightly patterned luggage tags and jolly ol’ pop-up umbrellas. You may have to make your own fun but here, Kate Spade New York’s Stationery and Gifts Collection has already gotten you good and started. Available at MONOYONO stores at Plaza Singapura, VivoCity and Raffles City
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Trending
Top of the Crop
Choice Crops
Kate Spade Saturday Crossover crop top
DKNY Jeans Studded angora pullover
Whole9Yards Swallow tail button blouse
The crop top stays a cut above Text: Rosalind Chua It was the hit on last summer’s catwalks and as it turns out, the crop top’s got more staying power than it’s got inches. Once the domain of Madonna and Flashdance fans in the ‘80s, and pop starlets like All Saints, Britney and Christina in the ‘90s, this midriff showcase has since been seized by designers, who have shined it up with a post-millennial polish, and allowed it to run wild on the high street, the runways and the blogs. Since then, the crop top’s been showing off skin in variations like the
bandeau, the bra top and the corset, while nailing looks that run the gamut from the sporty to the sophisticated. But while yesterday’s crop tops were alltummy-baring, ScarySpice-style, the crops that are being harvested off today’s runways are chic options that choose to bare only a sliver of skin that’s just below your ribcage and above your belly button. It’s also a highly flexible and wearable animal: in last year’s Spring 2013 line-up alone, Balenciaga
chose to pair its boxy crops with flared skirts and Jonathan Saunders matched his cropped tees with high-waist pencil skirts to elegant effect, while Michael Kors’ long-sleeved crop top channeled red-hot sportiness and Miu Miu’s silky bralets made for cute yet classy statements. No flash in the pan, the crop top continues to reign supreme on the Resort collections of Calvin Klein, Jonathan Saunders, Jason Wu and Proenza Schouler, while
Proenza Schouler Resort 2014
informing the Autumn/ Winter output of the high street (and Miley Cyrus’ wardrobe too). And more than just a trendy little item, its in-built versatility and short-andsweet chic guarantee it’ll endure all manner of styling and layering, tides and trends to become very perennially yours.
Topshop Orchid print polo crop top
New Look Grey marl crop top
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Graphic Design Get graphic with a look that won’t fall short on strong lines and sharp contrast Text & styling: Min Chen
Urban Decay Pulp Fiction Collection 24/7 Glide-On Lip Pencil in Mrs Mia Wallace Tarantino’s masterwork gets due props in this limited edition collection that channels Mrs Mia Wallace’s potent sassiness into this red-hot lip colour
Make Up For Ever Fall 2014
Benefit They’re Real! Push-Up Liner Big up your eyes with Benefit’s innovative Push-Up Liner, which has been designed to hug your lashline from end to end
Eyeko Visual Eyes Liquid Eyeliner in Mocha When Eyeko’s Liquid Eyeliner glides on, it stays on, affording you the kind of cat-eye that’s thick, dramatic and long-lasting
Make Up For Ever Smoky Extravagant Mascara Make Up For Ever’s star pupil is the intense and dramatic sort that’ll provide your lashes the volume, length and attention they deserve
Laneige x PushBUTTON Serum Intense Lipstick in Dressy Coral In a collab with the quirky Korean label, Laneige dresses up its Serum Lipstick in four fiery new shades, including this electric pink hue
David Bowie Aladdin Sane Too Faced Cat Eyes Ferociously Feminine Eye Shadow & Liner Collection Just as it says on the tin, Too Faced’s new palette packs all the matte and shimmer textures, and hot and cool tones to help you with that feline eye
Clio Kill Brown Waterproof Pen Liner Get acquainted with Clio’s reformulated liners that offer a more concentrated and waterproof formula for more precise application and long-lasting wear
Urban Decay Perversion False Lashes Glitter Dip Instant drama arrives alongside Urban Decay’s False Lashes that come dipped in glitter and that’ll make for a bold finishing touch
Make Up For Ever Graphic Liner A pro when it comes to bold and sexy lines, Make Up For Ever’s new Graphic Liner is all of precise, intense and oh-so seductive
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Paint
Heavy Metal Polish up nicely with these shimmery surfaces, glittery textures and burnished finishes Text & styling: Min Chen
Dior Fall 2014
Bobbi Brown Metallic Long-Wear Cream Shadow in Antique Gold Add a little sparkle to Bobbi Brown’s legendary Cream Shadow and you’ll get this softly iridescent shade that stays strong and crease-free all day
Dior 5 Couleurs in 796 Cuir Cannage Dior’s new range of 5 Couleurs mirrors the textured effects of its runway, notably with this bronze-strong palette that offers radiance and lustre in its copper tones
M.A.C Alluring Aquatic Extra Dimension Blush in Sea Me, Hear Me M.A.C’s highly polished Alluring Aquatic Blush recalls the sea’s prismatic reflections with its crystallised effect
Sephora Colour Hit Nailpolish in Shimmery Light Grey Sephora shines up its metallic inclinations this season, not ending with this spectacular Nailpolish shade that subtly shines up a light grey
RMK Nail Color in Shiny Burgundy Hit up RMK’s Shiny Burgundy nail polish for the kind of razzle-dazzle, glitter and shimmer that’s too easy to spot in the dark
Marc Jacobs Beauty Twinkle Pop Eye Stick in Frannie All that glistens is in Marc Jacobs Beauty’s Twinkle Pop Eye Stick, which is an instant, shimmery pop of colour that’ll enliven even the dullest of eyes
NARS Shimmer Eyeshadow in Silent Night Power packed with pigment, NARS’ Shimmer Eyeshadow blends easily and creases none, furnishing your peepers the perfect shine and shimmer
Ellie Goulding Lights
Etude House Play 101 Pencil in #39 The Play 101 Pencil is the latest drop from Etude House and arrives in six glittery shades and textures for a look that won’t stop twinkling
RMK Ingenious Powder Cheeks in Orange Gold Set your cheeks aglow with this new shade in RMK’s Ingenious Powder Cheeks range, which proffers a shining finish with its gold polarised pearls
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The Bright Side bareSkin® Pure Brightening Serum Foundation by Bare Minerals Text: Min Chen
Because your makeup regime should be as beautiful as it is beneficial for your skin, here’s Bare Minerals to provide you with a glow that works from inside out. Believing that makeup and skincare should go together, the brand has established itself on key products, like its Original Foundation and Pretty Amazing Lipcolor, that, with the aid of some vital and bare minerals, offer flawless coverage and promote healthierlooking skin. Its revolutionary approach kicks into high gear with its 2014 star launch, the bareSkin® Pure Brightening Serum Foundation, which delivers the natural feel and finish you’ve come to expect from Bare Minerals. For the goods and goodness of the brand’s new champion, we turn to its Global Artistry Manager, Thang Dao, for the bare facts.
I’ve always loved Bare Minerals… for its philosophy. I always believe that whatever you do on the outside, it should be good for you on the inside. That’s what drew me to the brand.
skin, Titanium Dioxide, which is a non-chemical mineral sunscreen that gives you SPF20, and lilac plant stem cells, which are known for their exceptional healing abilities.
My design process… begins with the way that we view beauty. In order to design a look, I need to see what’s relevant. We don’t have to be trendy but we have to be on-trend, because what we think is beautiful today may not be what we thought was beautiful 10 years ago. I also work closely with product development to figure out what is great for this season and what looks are appropriate.
To me, beauty… is confidence. As Leslie Blodgett, the creator of the brand, once said, it’s not about the perfect lipstick shade, but how that shade gives you the confidence to go ask a guy out or to go ask for a promotion. Beauty comes from within. We do everything on the outside to make us feel and look good, but at the same time, true beauty happens when you feel confident about yourself.
The bareSkin® Pure Brightening Serum Foundation… transcends liquid foundation. It’s not even liquid foundation! It really truly fits into the integrity of the brand, being created with purity in mind, with no oil, no parabens, no fragrance and no silicone. It is really lightweight and ultrathin. And we went with ingredients that are not typically found in a liquid foundation, like vitamin C, which is well-known for brightening the
Shop Bare Minerals at Sephora.
How Bare Minerals’ all-new star player covers the bases bareSkin Pure Brightening Serum Foundation When Thang Dao calls it “the new future of foundation”, he ain’t kidding about the bareSkin® Pure Brightening Serum Foundation. Packing tone-correcting and brightening powers into one weightless formula, the foundation is all about providing seamless coverage, natural finish and a brighter appearance. It’s also available in 10 shades – from Porcelain to Bare Buff – so there’s surely one for you.
bareMinerals Perfecting Face Brush Designed to accompany the bareSkin Foundation, this brush is built with a mighty handy reservoir. To apply the foundation, shake the bottle well, drop it into the reservoir and simply buff on. Suggests Thang Dao: “I would recommend you try one drop at a time until you know how much you actually want to go with, ‘cos you don’t actually need a lot. People go from one to six drops.”
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Who’s Who on Superdry’s Spring/ Summer line-up Adventurer Beside being totally game-ready, the Adventurer also looks smart in its elegant white dial, and plays it tough with its hardy stainless steel case.
Adventureland Superdry Watches Spring/Summer 2014 Text: Stacy Lim Sitting still is for the tired. With the great outdoors, the playing fields and the deep blue sea calling, you’d more than want a slice of that action. And ensuring that you’ll never be running, diving or climbing all by your lonesome, Superdry arrives with a Spring/ Summer line-up of timepieces to match your own game face. These watches come inspired by the world of sports and adventure, and have got the forms and functions to prove it. There’s the Scuba Deepsea, which, following up on Superdry’s iconic Scube silhouette, tips its hat at vintage diving watches, the Adventurer, which sports multi-functions to aid your every exploit, as well as the Retro Sport, which nails a classic sporting look.
occasions. The Thor Super-Luxe takes its predecessor, the Thor, to a more premium level, while Superdry’s love for all things Japanese shows up on the Tokyo silhouette, which is kawaii right down to its last pop hue. However you choose to game or play this season, know that Superdry’s left equal time and style on your side.
Not just totally game for it, Superdry’s new collection also cleans up well with good-looking timepieces fit for dressier
Shop Superdry watches at Tangs Orchard, Tangs VivoCity, OG Orchard Point, OG People’s Park and Metro Sengkang
Exclusively for ZIGGY readers: from 1 to 31 August, simply flash this page to enjoy 15% off any regular-priced Superdry watches!
Retro Sport Indeed, this one’s equally retro and sporty, packing snazzy energy into its quartz movement and black dial. Its brown leather strap is sugar on top.
Scuba Deepsea One-upping the Scuba model, the Scuba Deepsea is bold all through: from its super chunky 47mm case to its stainless steel hardware to its dynamic colouring.
Thor Super-Luxe Make way, Thor, for here’s your Super-Luxe cousin. This one is all handsome with its crosshatchtextured dial, and its brushed and polished hardware finishing.
Tokyo Besides spelling out its good name, the Tokyo timepiece is also crafted out of plastic and resin, and arrives in three vibrant colourways to put the pop in your glock.
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Something Blue
GUESS Watches enters its blue period Text: Stacy Lim
Blue isn’t just a primary colour in GUESS Watches’ latest release, but a star player in the brand’s decades-long existence. Besides being an eternally warm and classy shade, it is, too, reminiscent of denim, a fabric upon which the empire of GUESS was founded and fashioned. And it’s only natural and pretty nice that that same potent shade and fabric now make their way onto a GUESS Watches collection, lending it a vital dose of style, as well as significance. Staying well and loyal to the brand’s signatures, Blue Print by GUESS Watches presents a series of timepieces that put the colour blue to
great and creative use. Whether liberally used all-over, patterned to mimic the texture of denim or paired with rose gold, this shade of blue – specially and exclusively engineered for the brand – coveys equal timelessness and fashion-forwardness, and is bound to leave its indigo-hued mark. Just note these highlights: the W0247G3, which works off GUESS’ signature RIGOR silhouette, applying blue tones to its dial and strap before enveloping it all in a rose gold-toned case; and the W0289L1, a ladylike iteration featuring denim accents on its glitzy multi-function dial and strap. And in
more brilliant options, the W0218G4 and W0448L5 sport the deep blue hue all over their chronograph forms, with their brushed and polished finishes adding to a truly elegant fashion declaration. Shop GUESS Watches at 313@Somerset, #01-K1; Plaza Singapura, #01-29; Jem, #02-02; Marina Square, #02-151; and at all GUESS boutiques and authorised retailers
Shopping
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Nice & Easy A day off with loungy, easy and utterly comfy fits Text & styling: Min Chen
ChloĂŠ Fall/Winter 2014
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Shopping
Birkenstock Matte-leather sandals
Kate Moss for Topshop Floral pyjama blouse
Topshop Leather look Bermuda shorts
Kate Spade Saturday Smocked romper
Neighborhood Raglan sleeve T-shirt
Sacai Cotton checked shorts
Thom Browne Striped cotton boxer shorts
Tsumori Chisato Scarf
Marc by Marc Jacobs Pre-Fall 2014
DKNY Jeans Scatter dot print trousers Topshop Platform wedges
Maison Martin Margiela Crew neck T-shirt
The Selby The Selby is in Your Place
DKNY Jeans Striped angora cardigan
Lacoste Casual shirt
H&M Long coat
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White Might The presence of chic in the absence of colour
A.P.C Fall/Winter 2014
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Shopping
Bao Bao Issey Miyake Prism tote bag
5cm T-shirt with contrast pocket
Pull & Bear Polka-dotted shirt
DKNY Sweatshirt with embellished sleeves
Whole9Yards Windfall skirt
Kate Spade New York Emmanuelle clutch
Kate Spade New York Lace collared silk top
Moleskine White notebook
Stella McCartney Autumn 2014 Tsumori Chisato Furry handbag
New Look Cropped sweater
Topshop Sleeveless doublebreasted coat
Maison Martin Margiela Egg doorknob
Miss Selfridge Super high-waisted jeans
Alexander McQueen Ivory silk blouse with beaded collar
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Red Alert
For a rose by any other colour would hardly smell as sweet
Marc by Marc Jacobs Resort 2014
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Shopping
Lacoste Pull sweater
Saint Laurent Monogram Université bag Tsumori Chisato Thigh-high socks
Tsumori Chisato Wallet
H&M PVC-look skinny trousers
Coach Wool shirt jacket
adidas Originals Gazelle OG suede and leather sneakers
agnès b. Dress with contrast collar Topman Fall/Winter 2014
Givenchy Embroidered star-trim polo shirt
Canali Silk hankerchiefs
JD Salinger The Catcher In The Rye
agnès b. A and B gloves
The White Stripes White Blood Cells
DKNY Jeans Multi-stripe shirt
DKNY Heels
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Sequined jacket, embellished lace top and beaded necklace by Topshop
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Homecoming Queen
Photographer: Chuck Reyes Stylist: Aaron Kok Grooming: Marie Soh, using Lorac Cosmetics Model: Raquel Radiske @ ave
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Faux leather skirt by Sandro, wool felt hat with arrow by Al Et Clar, and crystal ear studs by Swarovski
Faux leather bralet by Sandro, linen shirt by Uniqlo, beaded necklace by H&M, corduroy pants by COS, and crystal ear studs by Swarovski
Silk robe by Topshop, faux leather skirt by Sandro and crystal ear studs by Swarovski
Wool by COS, and crystal ear studs by Swarovski
T-shirt by Uniqlo, neoprene skirt by COS, and crystal embellished necklace by Swarovski
Cotton blazer with satin lapels and pants by The Kooples, crystal ear studs, cuff and bangles by Swarovski
Silk jumpsuit with lace inserts, faux fur coat and beaded necklace by H&M
Jumpsuit by Sandro, crystal earring and cuff by Swarovksi
Silk dress by H&M, crystal ear studs, ear cuff, bangles and cuffs by Swarovski
Incoming
Hey, Soul Sister Michaela Therese ushers in the good times
Text: Indran P Photography: Olivia Sari-Goerlach Hair & makeup: Angel Gwee Apparel: Saint Laurent
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No other styles of music can both subtly and uninhibitedly reflect the human capacity for transcendence more than funk and soul. With a harmonising power that surges with an earthy, alluring kineticism, both these forms have become idioms of triumph that cut through and across barriers like creed, colour and culture, and have become an enduring language unto themselves. As Singapore’s foremost funk and soul ambassador, Michaela Therese more than speaks this language with a verve that is as show-stopping as it is beautifully moving. A straight-up torch-song singer who can also switch to a honeyed, sensual coo that her musical hero, Erykah Badu, will most definitely approve of, Michaela boasts a vocal prowess that is an undeniable lodestar in the firmament of the local music scene. Long schooled in the disciplines of funk and soul, Michaela emerged as an even more eminently emotive artist on her debut full-length, My Name is MEEKELLAH, realeased in April this year. And for a better understanding of its many glorious hues, we sought out the soul sister herself. Take it away, Michaela.
Michaela wears classic evening shirt, high-waisted trousers and Le Smoking jacket, all by Saint Laurent
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Soul singers are a very rare sight in Singapore. How did you get started? It’s strange but I think that as a musician, you kind of know what’s inside of you. Halfway through junior college, I decided I wanted to do music. After my first year, I told my mum that I wanted to go to music school. I stayed for the second year just to finish my ‘A’ Levels. So I took a year off after that to brush up on my piano and in that year, I got my first audition. A friend of mine told me about a gig at Barcelona Bar at Robertson Quay. I went for it, got the gig and 14 years later, haven’t looked back! Were you nervous or apprehensive about this move at the time? No, I never was. It was what I wanted to do. I’m lucky to have had a parent who said, “Okay, go and do it”. Apprehensive? No. I knew what I wanted to do and I knew I was willing to do what it took. When did you realise you could sing and which artists did you look up to?
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I’ve been singing since I was a child and I guess no one told me I couldn’t and so, I figured that I actually could! I joined my church choir when I was 11 or 12 and that’s where I met Vanessa Fernandez [Van Detta]. We all just loved singing and music. I just sang and people didn’t hate it. So I guess it wasn’t only in my head! When I first heard Erykah Badu, there was an immediate connection. Mama’s Gun was the album that made me go, “Whaat!” She made me find my own space, my own voice and my own sound. There was an immediate resonance. She’s without a doubt my biggest influence. I’d say Jill Scott and The Roots influenced a lot of my arrangements and my beats. D’Angelo, Motown and Michael Jackson – all these artists had a huge influence on me as well. And how did your nightly stints at different clubs and bars shape you as a recording artist? That’s a good question. They must have. When it comes to recording and performing, all of it hinges on confidence. If
you go to the studio on a day you’re feeling not so good about yourself, it’s going to show. So, any sort of performance will prepare you for that. When you’re working in a live situation and you have a bunch of people in front of you, you just have to bring it, no matter what. No one’s going to care if you’re having a bad day. There were quiet nights and I took it as, “Okay, I’m going to use this time to practise on my piano”. I’d just jam on my own. I actually wrote a couple of songs during these lulls. They say when you’re riding a horse, every hour on the saddle helps, whether you’re walking or you’re galloping. It’s the same with music, as long as you’re doing something, it’s going to be good for you. You also got to perform with Brian McKnight at 2009’s Mosaic Music Festival. How was that like for you? That was really surreal. I was only asked to perform the day before the gig! I came in for Brian’s soundcheck and it was phenomenal. His voice is incredible and he’s such a perfectionist. I watched him go through two bars of the ending of one song with his band for five minutes just because he didn’t like the tone of the bass. Watching that, I was really intimidated! After his soundcheck, I got mic-ed up and did mine. Just once. He looked at me and said, “Are you happy?” And I when I said I thought it was cool, he said we were done. That was it. We sang the song once at soundcheck and once on stage! It was short, sharp and surreal! On that note, congrats are definitely in order for MEEKELLAH. It’s power and energy are palpable. Thank you! It was years
in the making. I released two EPs, one in 2008 and the other in 2010. I was too young to know what to do with the first one so it never really got out there. The second one was produced by Dream Academy, the theatre company. I knew that a full, actually conceptualised album was in order after that EP. It took me a while to figure how to put together this body of work that I’d been working on for so long. I wrote the oldest song in the album, “Standstill”, when I was still in JC. I just looked at my entire body of work, trashed the ones that I didn’t want, tried to find a common ground between the ones I wanted and realised that all these songs just kind of told my story. To cap it off, I wrote a couple more songs and the album was born. One of the standout features of the record is its hushed but virtuosic instrumentation. How did you go about putting together your backing band? Well, we’re actually a band on our own, L.A.B. [Listen and Believe]. In 2012, I went to see Erykah Badu at that Java Jazz Festival. It was a lifechanging moment for me. There must’ve been 6,000 people in the auditorium and no one could take their eyes off her. She was this goddess on stage, just owning everything and speaking to everybody. This was also when I decided that the album had to be made. The power of music is intangible, it just gets into you. When I came back to Singapore, I was asked by my keyboardist and now very good friend, Aya Sekine, if I wanted to do a night at Blu Jaz. A week or two after that, I played a substitute gig where the drummer, a
19-year old guy, knew “Orange Moon”, a Badu song I randomly called out on stage! I asked if he wanted to play the Blu Jaz gig and he agreed. He roped in bassist, Tim DeCotta, from his other band, TAJ, and we had our first rehearsal. The chemistry was there from the very beginning. We named the band in November 2012, and when I asked them if they wanted to do the album with me, they were for it. I love what they’ve done on it. We had a magic moment where we wrote the song, “If I Let You Go” entirely in the studio. And this chemistry definitely shows in the great dynamic between the earthy feel of your vocals and lyricism and the space-y textures of the album. Was this dynamic a conscious move on your part? No, this is the first time that someone’s telling me this! I think a lot of it came from Tim as a co-producer. Tim really helped me put the story together as we were putting the tracks together. I got so attached to some of the music I wrote but Tim would help me edit it into something new. The album starts off with an announcement asking you to “proceed to your gate” and its first song proper is “Final Call”. Do you see it as a concept album? Yes. “Final Call” and “Make You Think” were the last two songs I wrote for the album. “Final Call”, in particular, was the song that helped me make sense of the whole album. All the other songs were written over the course of my career. It’s life, you know? Things happen; there’s great happiness but there’s also severe sadness. When I came to the point of
wanting to release the album, I realised I had to leave a lot of that stuff behind because the album was a new chapter. When I wrote “Final Call”, I didn’t have to think much about it. It just came out of me. That’s when I knew what the album was going to be about – a celebration of all that had happened in my life, good and bad. “Final Call” was the glue. “Final Call” is also your first single. It reads like a statement of intent, especially in the lines, “In the dark I fought for sight” and “my heart has chosen”. Is there a personal story behind this? There are a lot. But the most personal one stems from my dad’s passing in 2012. We didn’t have the easiest relationship, but I think I learnt the most from him. A lot if it wasn’t easy. You either come out of these things a lot stronger or it breaks you down. I made the choice to come out stronger. I think that is the song’s main point. Another standout is “Make You Think” where you list how your music can, well, make us think. It’s tongue-in-cheek but it’s assertive. I wrote that song for Lauryn Hill. As an homage, I was saying to her, “The reason I want to make art that makes people think is because you made art that made me think”. It’s something that makes people see things that are a lot bigger than themselves. That’s how I see art and that’s what I think the artist’s responsibility is. Now, as I play the song more and more, it’s evolved into a tribute to all creative people. “Standstill” is the darkest song on the album and stands out even more because the
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other songs convey a general sense of optimism. Was it a rough time for you? I was 18 and emo! It was written when I was trying to decide what to do with my life. I was at the crossroads. At the back of my mind, I was wondering if this was the right decision to make. But this was only for a short period, though. Once I wrote the song, I was over it. The apprehension didn’t last really long. I wanted to portray the emo-ness of that period. I was protesting against the system but I was also an emo 18-year-old. The feelings behind “Standstill” are a mix of those two things. You also shine a light on politics on “Interlude for the Devil”. What issues in particular were you taking aim at in the song? I was going through a patch in 2008 where I was really prolific. I was writing and reading up a lot, particularly on mass markets, the meat industry and wide-scale exploitation. I had this “world perspective” and the songs I wrote then, like “Gaia vs Man”, were not personal. I was angry and indignant. I wondered why it was so difficult to see what we were doing wrong. “Interlude” deals with systems of government and how the people who run big industries are also orchestrating wars. The song is about how I felt about such systems. Now that it’s finally out, what does MEEKELLAH mean to you? When it came out, it meant everything to me. It was surreal and very emotional. It was such a labour of love. Even though we were in the studio for 10 months, it was in the making for more than 10
Incoming
years. When it all came together and when I had the master – that feeling cannot be described. It will continue to be what I consider my first real piece of art. These days, I can’t listen to it too much because I nitpick. I’m just really glad that it’s out and that it’s the real stamp of me as an artist. Would you agree that in terms of awareness and buzz, soul and its attendant forms are underrepresented in Singapore compared to other niche sounds like indie rock? Yes. That’s why there’s no audience. To be honest, we have amazing musicians here who can handle these sounds. We have Tim, The Good Life Project and The Steve McQueens who are all doing stuff with elements of soul. But the only people that come to the gigs are us. I don’t know how else to push it except by continuing to make music and keep the awareness up. I think we need to keep playing and keep pushing. My Name is MEEKELLAH is available at michaelatherese. bandcamp.com
Michaela wears classic deep crewnecked T-shirt by Saint Laurent
Talk
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Two of a Kind Disclosure bring the dance Text: Indran P
There’s a rare phenomenon in music where an elite breed of debutants becomes instant, universally feted superstars on the strength of a single song or album.
There’s no arcane science to it except for the simple fact that its songs are simply and exquisitely irresistible. Making their mark with their fire-starting,
scene-stirring and worldmoving debut, Settle, the brothers, Guy and Howard Lawrence, entered into this pantheon as Disclosure. Uncannily
belying their youth – 19 and 22 respectively – with a sound that married the tenor of modern pop and dance music with the dusty nostalgia of funk, soul and hip hop
with a studied and dashing verve, the brothers have singularly given the world a new dance sensibility and the best testimony that pop has seen in a long time.
We bro-ed up with them before their set at Zouk and got clued into the phenomenon.
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Talk
it’s been nice. We kind of see DJ-ing as fun more than as a job. It’s just so much easier than being at a venue all day and soundchecking. Howard: Yeah, we take the live show very seriously. We like to do after-parties more often than just DJ sets. Guy: But it’s not that we don’t take DJ-ing seriously, we do try. It’s just that playing instruments came a long time before DJ-ing. So we sort of see that as our main thing.
You’ve had quite a 2013. What’ve you been up to lately? Guy: Touring, man. Just non-stop touring. We’ve been writing a little bit on the road but we haven‘t really been home too much. We’ve been doing lots of live shows and not very much DJ-ing. So
And what nonelectronic music are you interested in? Howard: We were brought up with entirely conventional music – conventional songs, in terms of pop songs. We listened to The Beatles and anything from Motown and stuff from the ‘80s that mum and dad showed us. That’s how we were brought to learning instruments. It was only about five years ago that we got into dance music. Guy: We do listen to some new bands now, like Foals, Wild Beasts, Grizzly Bear, that sort of thing. The main non-dance music stuff we listen to now either is hip hop or neo soul. It’s great that you mentioned that since it’s been reported that your new album will feature a bigger American rap influence.
Guy: Hopefully. We want to work with some rappers. We were trying to do it for the first album but it’s difficult when you’re down here and they’re up there. You kind of have to wait for them to come to you. So who do you think is running rap now? Howard: It’s tough to say. I feel like last year was pretty much entirely owned by Kendrick Lamar and maybe a little by Kanye. I think Kendrick’s definitely making some of the best hip hop out there. Guy: Definitely. But the best beats that I’ve heard recently aren’t from rappers but producers. One of our favourite producers is Kaytranada, from Montreal. Actually, loads of people from Montreal are absolutely killing it in the sort of 100-110 BPM house-y, disco-y, hip hop stuff. We’re always checking what’s going on in Montreal. It’s very sick there. And about Settle, were you surprised by the massive success of the record? Guy: Yeah, definitely. We thought a couple of the songs there had a bit of potential. “Latch” came out way before we even finished the album and it did really well so we were like, “Okay, that’s great.” But with “White Noise” and “You & Me”, we didn’t really think that those songs would
fly. Then, “White Noise” charted even higher than “Latch” and that was really amazing. Also, the main thing that’s been surprising us recently is the success it’s having in America. “Latch” is two years old now and didn’t really peak in the UK but it’s still going over there. It’s just nice to see it happening. One great thing about Settle is how it achieves its own balance between contemporary dance sounds and nostalgic, older pop ones. How did you go about curating these sounds? Howard: Well, the only thing that makes what we do dance music is the production. The songs are written just like any pop song, with verses and choruses. I think that’s probably the main thing that sets us slightly aside from other dance music producers in the field of the ‘90s sound. Guy: I think that’s why it’s connected with a wide variety of people instead of just an underground dance scene or just a really young pop scene. It’s a bit of everyone. It wasn’t even in our heads when we made it. We weren’t thinking, “Let’s make a song that hits all the markers.” That way, you’ll make a sh*t song.” I think it was a bit of luck and good timing and a combination of what we’re into now, which is dance music and what we grew up on. When you mix
those two together, you end up with this album. Besides the nods to Chicago and Detroit, there’s a strong British presence on the record with AlunaGeorge, Jessie Ware and London Grammar. Did you also see yourselves as bridging cultures with the record? Howard: No, not at all. At the time of writing the record and at the time of releasing it, we didn’t think it was going to have any success, anywhere. Guy: I think the reason we picked those acts definitely wasn’t for any cross-cultural thing. Those were just acts we felt that were really good and hot at the time and we wanted to work with them. We love working with people who are just coming up and just starting up. There are no preconceived notions of how a session’s going to go. When you walk into a room with Sam [Smith], and you’ve no idea that he’s about to be one of the biggest stars in the world, it’s great. So, what’s the story behind “Latch”? Howard: As a song, we had already written the instrumental version of it a few months before we had the session with Sam. We have a mutual friend, Jimmy Napes, who helped write the song with us. So we got into the studio with both of them, which was when we met Sam for the first time and
started writing to this beat. Everything was completed in one day. At this point he was still was working in a pub! Besides the newer stars, you’ve also been working with bona fide legends, namely Mary J. Blige and Nile Rodgers. What was that like? Guy: They’re both very different to work with, actually. With Nile, we weren’t really sure how it was going to go because he plays guitar and we never use guitar in our songs. But we knew he was an amazing songwriter with an insane legacy. The best thing about the session was meeting him – just chatting with him, learning and listening to his stories. Whereas Mary was perfect for us. We knew what we wanted to do. She basically added two new verses to “F For You” and it became this new song. And what’s it like playing and making music together as Disclosure? Howard: I don’t think it’s that different from playing in a regular band. There’s kind of an advantage in writing because we know each other so well musically since we were brought up with the same stuff. It means you can be really honest with each other about ideas. Everyone always asks if we fight all the time like other brother-bands that I won’t mention. But we get on pretty well, so it’s fine!
Feature
Endless Summer! The meeting of summer style and sound at H&M Loves Music Text: Min Chen
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Summer’s not over until H&M says it is. And with the latest drop of the H&M Loves Music Divided Collection, we’ve got enough proof that the sun is very much still shining. A freewheelin’ summer style continues to rule this range that isn’t just fit for all your pool parties or rooftop barbeques, but is well and truly cut out for music festival fun. And when it comes to the season’s haul of festivals, H&M sure knows where it’s at: its presence at Laneway Festival Singapore earlier this year isn’t the only testament to that. So while summer and festival chic definitely won’t be lacking on its racks, the Swedish label will also not fall short on the most vital of elements: them tunes.
Feature
Sunny Delight: What’s hot in the H&M Loves Music Divided Collection Launching alongside this latest collection is H&M’s hmlovesmusic.asia mobile platform, which offers a view of the new collection, while being stacked full of summer’s most sizzling and exclusive tracks. Logging onto the site on your mobile phone or tablet will open up a cuttingedge sonic world that stretches from ice-cool electronica to hot-wired indie, with musicians such as Swede Blende, Ebony Bones, Shigeto, Ryan Hemsworth and Nosaj Thing holding fort. Style, after all, is best applied with the backing of great sound, and at H&M Loves Music are the best of both these worlds. Here’s more on H&M’s two great loves.
Light and loose, with a heady dose of boho and surfer-chic, the new H&M Loves Music Divided Collection is pretty much a guarantee that you won’t be naked at your next summer party or festival. Though supremely casual, these are pieces and looks that still maintain a fair amount of chic with a clever wielding of fits, prints and fabrics. Fun and flirty, the women’s looks come off a chiefly blue palette, with denim jeans, jackets and dungarees mixing in with equally cyan-hued tie-dye dresses and kimono tops. Also strong are cropped cuts, which result in sexy and cute bustiers and shorts, as well as a litter of accessories that range from ring sets to dainty necklaces. Meanwhile, the men’s pieces are set to surfer-cool. And with shorts, tees and tank tops bearing graphic prints, floral motifs and vibrant colours, and accessories like peaked caps and slip-on sneakers, you’re already halfway to a sandy shore. This capsule collection also earns itself a fresh enough campaign that gets to the heart of H&M Loves Music. Gathering a host of great acts for the occasion, the campaign stars the up-and-coming likes of Kilo Kish, Rebecca & Fiona, Chela, and Vinsten’s Calle Wachtmeister and Niklas Benjaminson. Look and see if that don’t shine a summer sun on ya.
I Only Got Ice For You bodysuit
Men’s printed tee
Floral bustier
Men’s shorts
Denim dungarees
Men’s hooded vest
Men’s denim shorts
Printed trousers
Silver bangles
White sneakers
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Play Time: What’s live at hmlovesmusic.asia No flimsy playlist of Katy Perry’s greatest hits, the hmlovesmusic. asia mobile site is a well-curated creature with an astute music policy that means only the finest cuts of indie, r&b, trip-hop and dance by a global cull of artistes like Nina Kraviz, Tian Yuan, Dream Koala, Liu Si Han and UNA get to set up home. We look in on two of these acts to check just how they’ve settled in.
70 TOKiMONSTA Jennifer Lee has been deft in juggling elements of hip hop, r&b and electronica as TOKiMONSTA, a project that’s taken her from Low End Theory to Skrillex’s Full Flex Express tour. Not that she’s lost any of her moxie or credibility in the meantime. Here’s TOKiMONSTA… On her 2013 sophomore Half Shadows: I’m really proud of that release. I think it was definitely an advancement from my first album. At the same time, that album was released over a year ago and I am already onto newer things. On her evolution as an artist: My mixes are definitely better now. My ability to write more complete songs has improved. I feel like my earlier works were a bit more meditative, in a way. My songs now tell a better story. On her underground roots: I think I’ll always be an underground artist because I’m too awkward to fully transition into the “big time” nor do I really want to. I still play at Low End Theory and still play shows with Skrillex – nothing about my roots has changed. I’ve just expanded my audience somehow. Not really sure how, but I think more people are catching onto what I’ve always been doing. On hmlovesmusic.asia: It’s a really neat platform that provides a means in which people can discover new and emerging artists. I’m glad I am able to be a part of it.
denitia and sene. Summer is writ large in denitia and sene.’s output, a series of r&bskewed soundscapes infused with pop hooks, chilled tempos and a dreamy haze. Following the release of their debut LP, His and Hers, the Brooklyn duo spill the goods.
On inspirations: Music and street wear are the biggest inspiration when we design the Divided collection, and DJs have a huge influence on our customers today, so it was fantastic to dress them up in our campaign. Apart from music we always get inspired from new emerging trends, people on the streets and what’s happening on social media.
Sene on His And Hers: I’m glad that we froze time long enough to make it happen. There are so many moving pieces in our lives that as a group, I’m impressed with how we were able to make that happen. I’m proud of that album. I like how we approached it. Denitia on their musical bond: I think we were on a similar page as far as how we both love to work and we are both passionate about creating and executing ideas. We sort of work and hang in the same social circles so you could say we were on the same wavelength. Sene on their creative process: I usually write the songs on my own time, so handing that off and letting Denitia try different things she hears is always fun for me. I’m always open to having something get even better. I think I get the songs to a point where they are ready to be recorded and then Denitia makes them even better. Denitia on hmlovesmusic.asia: We are totally excited to be involved. I think it’s super rad. I’m always a fan when people are interested in exploring the intersections of music and fashion, music and anything, really. So I think it’s awesome that H&M has created this platform.
Talk Shop: The design behind Divided To get the inside scoop on what went into the latest H&M Loves Music Collection, we turned to Anna Norling, designer at H&M’s Divided department, for talk of prints, process and everyone’s new favourite platform. On the looks: For girls, we present a flirty bohemian look with lots of denim, as well as summer favourites in matching separates, sheer tunics matched with worn-and-torn denim pieces and high-waisted shorts. The all-over prints make the look fun, young and vibrant. For guys, surf is mixed with street in a fresh and cool look.
On her collection favourites: Everything! But if I have to choose, my favourite pieces for girls are the long tie-dyed blue and white dress, and the all-over printed sets. For the guys, I love the cool prints. On the Divided design process: During any design process, we do a lot of research and whatever we do, we want to offer relevant fashion and great products to our customers. This season’s all-over prints, matching sets, printed tops, tunics, popover shirts and shorts, and bleached denim are in fashion. These looks are combined with music to accompany the summer feeling, which is highly relevant to our Divided customers. On you: H&M is for everyone, and so is this collection. This collection is for the ageless and the youthful person who wants to dress in fun, vibrant clothes with a bit of attitude to them. A lot of prints and bright colours, all in the latest silhouettes! On hmlovesmusic.asia: I think it’s a great platform for both music and fashion lovers. From styling your favourite looks in the collection to discovering new international artistes every week to creating your own music mix and sharing with your friends. It’s so fun and interactive at the same time!
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Naughty By Nature !!! on conquering dance-punk and beyond Text: Indran P
In 1982, Michael Jackson released Thriller, an album that still continues to reign as the best-selling album of all time and the one that reconfigured the lexicon of all of popular music’s distinct styles. Last year, Californian dance-punk forefathers, !!! released their
fifth full-length, the ingeniously conceived THR!!!ER, which like Michael’s own statementmaking opus, saw the band scale yet another new artistic peak. In its almost two-decade-long existence, !!! has flourished at the peripheries of indie rock, pop and dance music
by wielding a funk-fuelled sonic imprint that, because of its constantly evolving form, you could throw a thousand adjectives at and not quite nail down. The imitators have never been able to keep up and the pretenders have all but wasted
away. Before his band served up the dance at the Good Vibes Festival in Sepang, Malaysia, we checked in with Nic Offer as he took us through the band’s relentlessly funky and yes, naughty ways.
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Talk Hey Nic, what’s been keeping you busy lately? We’ve just been so busy working on the new record. The funny thing is, we always seem to be working on a new record! It’s great, all the same. You start at the bottom of the mountain and you can’t see the top but you never know what you’ll pick up along the trail. The last time you were in these parts was during Laneway Festival Singapore 2011. What was the best part of that experience for you? I remember the pouring rain! We were actually quite worried. But when we saw how cool the crowd was, we felt right. Seen under any light (indie, dance, etc), the !!! sound is truly singular. How did the band develop this funky, multi-genre aesthetic? Well, I was in a disco-punk band years ago and Mario [guitars, keyboards] was in a Sonic Youth-type rock band. I just thought it’ll be fun to start playing funk and disco in an experimental, art-rock type way to see what we got.
Props are definitely in order for THR!!!ER. Were you looking to make a statement in the vein of Michael Jackson’s Thriller? Thanks! It was certainly a tip of the hat to Thriller. With that album, Michael Jackson made the biggest album of all time. Since then, everyone has wanted to make the Thriller of their genre. It’s all about topping yourself and we felt that the time was right to take ourselves to a whole other level with a Thriller of our own.
One of the most revolutionary touches on THR!!!ER are the electronic elements that are now as much a part of the live instrumentation. What led to this? Oh, we’ve always had a fascination for electronics and we started to go more in that direction when we recorded Strange Weather, Isn’t It? [fourth album] in Berlin. That’s the thing about making records: each one opens the door to the next. And because of that, we learn how to make better records.
Mario once said that the songs on THR!!!ER were more “precise” than your earlier work. What do you think you did differently on this record? It definitely was new territory for us. It was also one of the most exciting times for us as a band, ever. We tried out new ways of writing, new sounds; everything just felt new again.
As far as left-field pop masterpieces go, “One Girl / One Boy” is definitely amongst them. How did that song come about and is there a personal story behind it? Yes, that’s pretty much one of the most autobiographical songs I’ve ever written. It happened really naturally too. Rafael [guitars, keyboards] emailed me a rough sketch one night and I looked through my notebooks and had the lyrics down in 15 minutes. I put that and the melody into his inbox the next morning.
Your songwriting is also extremely interesting and idiosyncratic. From your earliest songs like “Me and Giuliani Down by the School Yard (A True Story)” to newer ones like “Except Death”, there’s this interplay between humour and gravity in your lyrics. Do you intend for your songs to be this way too? Wow! That’s heavy! You know, what’s funny is that we’ve worked very hard on some songs just to get the lyrics right. But songs with nonsensical lyrics like “Slyd” mean just as much to other people. I find that amazing. “Heart of Hearts” is a good example of a song that means something like that to me. We’ve probably played it like a hundred times and it still means something special to me. From the post-punk of your debut album, to the rock-leaning sounds on Myth Takes, to the whole new beast that is THR!!!ER, what do you make of the evolution of the !!! sound? Well, all my favourite artists evolved. Blur, the Talking Heads, Stevie Wonder and Prince – they never were one way twice. !!! too, was never about being the same twice. And the whole of dance music itself has always been about what’s new and about moving forward.
As one of the founding fathers of the modern dance-punk movement, how does it feel to have thrived, flourished and outlasted the rest? It feels strange! We were the first to start it and play it the way we did before it became trendy. And when it did become trendy, we found out just like everybody else. I must say that it still feels fresh. Discovery is completely linked to songwriting. I not only need something new to write, or feel or express, I also need to be able to do it in a fresh way. What’s got you psyched about playing at Good Vibes Festival? We’re just excited to play a different country. I don’t know a lot about Malaysia but we’ve heard good things about the Malaysian audience so we’re psyched to see for ourselves. Catch !!! and a host of other acts at the Good Vibes Festival on 23 August at the Sepang International Circuit in Selangor, Malaysia. Tickets are available at goodvibesfestival.com
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Victory Lap
And after your experience at the apex of the industry what did you want an indie label like Glassnote to be? I wanted to create an environment, a home and haven for the best live artists in the world. So, if you mentioned Phoenix, Two Door, Childish Gambino, Temper Trap or Mumford & Sons and a new generation of artists like Givers, Robert Delong and Flo Morrissey, I just want you to feel that they’re the best live artists who also make great records. My job is to make sure we capture, memorialise and commemorate what they do. That’s all I do this for.
Daniel Glass is indie and owning it Text: Indran P
“Indie royalty” is a cultural catchall reserved for any trenchdeep act that has met with success on a grand scale. But at Music Matters 2014, a figure from an entirely different realm in the uppermost echelons of the indie world sat with us, and lent hardfought insight and inspiration to the proceedings. In an indefatigable career that has seen him
play a hand in the success of immortals like Billy Idol, D’Angelo and Erykah Badu, Daniel Glass has also emerged as one of indie’s preeminent arbiters of taste. Since its inception in 2007, his label, Glassnote Records, has seen its roster, which includes a dreamteam of acts in the likes of Phoenix, Two Door Cinema Club, Chvrches, Mumford & Sons, Daughter and Childish Gambino, swell
in the chartand-heartdominating mantle of universal acclaim. Here’s a front-row seat to a bona fide indie success story.
Why did you start Glassnote? It’s an interesting story. My wife and I started Glassnote as a result of some key situations in my life. I’ve always been an indie-minded, DIY executive. I started as a DJ, producing and mixing. Then, I worked at Chrysalis Records for many years before it got sold to EMI. It was the most devastating day of my career. After that, I was involved in various indies and major labels for many years until Artemis Records, a very good indie label run by my partner, got taken over by hedge funds. When that happened, I knew that I had to take matters into my own hands. So, my wife and I took our money out of the bank and started Glassnote. I wanted to look an artist in the eye and say, “You don’t need to speak to Japan, Germany or California. We can make the decision. The ethics will be stamped by me for anything whether it’s lyrical content or visuals.”
What was difficult when you first started Glassnote but has gotten slightly easier now? Well, that’s a very good question. Getting on the map and getting credibility from the media was always an issue. We didn’t have a problem attracting talent. But getting recognition from the media no matter who I was in the past was a challenge. People only care about the present and whether you can deliver. Once we locked in our first number one in Australia, the US, Canada and Malaysia, “Fall For You” by Secondhand Serenade, which also did very well in Asia, we were on the map. Before that we got no emails, the phone didn’t ring – until that one song. Once you deliver that, the managers line up. So, what do you look for in a potential Glassnote artist? I look for integrity, passion, a great live band and of course, I need songs. I just like “unique”, which is very hard to find. Look at Mumford and Phoenix, for example. Everyday, we get copycat records and it bothers me. People are stealing the sound, the vibe and even the setup on stage! I don’t
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want to mention groups’ names; they know who they are. Shame on them. What was that one act that took you a long time to lock down? The Temper Trap – they were a really long courtship. It was worth it, though. That band is a great example of a real “world music”. You have an Indonesian singer in a Melbournebased band. They’re fabulous. We followed them for nine, almost 10 months. We also signed an artist named Jeremy Messersmith as a songwriter. It took me a long time to recognise him for his recording. This also happened to great songwriters like Jackson Browne, Paul Simon, Cat Stevens and Carole King. That was a revelation. And was there an act that got away? The one that got away, or rather, the ones that got away were my fault because I either listened to other people or I was just stubborn. There were a couple of bands that had hits that I didn’t take up, like Queens of the Stone Age. Their new record was terrific but other than Phoenix, we haven’t ever signed an artist with a track record. I should’ve just listened to the record more. So, yes, that was one. As per the perennial rock ‘n’ roll cliché, was there an act that stood out the moment you saw them play? Yes! I went to London to see two hyped, buzzing artists, about three years ago. There was a bidding war on as well. The first band was so bad. In the middle, an agent calls me and says I have to go see this other band that’s playing. I said there was no way I could do that, given my schedule. Then, he said they’ll even play in a rehearsal studio. I thought it was the most sterile environment ever but I still went. And they
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took my breath away. That band was Daughter. I sat there and I couldn’t get up. All things said and done, why should an artist sign to Glassnote? I’m glad you asked! But I’ll tell why you shouldn’t sign with us. If you’re not ambitious, don’t sign with us. If you’re not willing to work really, really hard, don’t sign with us. If you’re not going to work on your live craft, don’t sign with us. Those are the requisites. Yes, I want the music to be good but above everything, you have to be prepared to work hard. I need ambition. Look at guys like Bob Dylan and Prince. They still want to be heard by radio. John Lennon was a freak about sales and the charts; he was obsessed about competitiveness. I like artists like that. Let me see the blood on your toes and the burn marks on your hands. In your time at Music Matters, what do you think Asia has to offer to global musical discourse, indie or otherwise? I think there’s a lot of talent in Asia. And based on the people I’ve spoken to, the talent wants to work with producers, mixers and engineers. It’s about working together – bringing them over to us and us coming over here. We all, whether in Asia or the West, have to travel and listen more. Another thing I’ve learnt is how different territories like Indonesia, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Singapore are. Everyone’s different. I grew up in Brooklyn, and prejudice and stereotypes were heavy there. Most of what we learnt and knew about Asia came from Japan. Now, the world’s a lot smaller and people are more aware simply by travelling. And, personally, I just need to spend more time here.
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A Place Called Home Celebrating the wild days of Home Club Text: Indran P
The coinage, “Home Club”, is sheer genius for one fundamental reason: where other clubs sought to mine the separation between the supposedly banal associations of home and the wild vistas of escapism that they were purpose-built to be, Home Club synthesised the
most enduring notions of “home” and “club” to become the adopted sanctuary for those looking to experience the heady joys of great music, great company and great drinks in a setting that felt like, well, home. In March 2005, when the tiny 2,800 sq ft venue opened
its doors at 20 Upper Circular Road, no one expected its humble confines to become the authoritative alternative to glitzy megaclubs. But it did and in the process, it became a veritably dashing beacon of the fearless independent spirit that empowered
different generations to create, realise and ultimately, celebrate their innermost creative and expressive callings with an audience that was there for that very purpose. After all, Home will always be where the heart is and here’s why this is so.
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Sounding off for home
Any memory of Home Club will always be coloured by its untiring support for local music. No other venue that also served as a stop for internationally feted acts put local bands, DJs and artists on a similar if not higher pedestal. Groundbreaking live music showcases like Identite and Electric Ballroom unveiled esteemed acts like Astreal, Plainsunset and I Am David Sparkle to a wider audience, while paving the way for up-and-coming acts and talents. When asked about the club’s staunchly “Made in Singapore” music policy, Identite mastermind and one of the architects of Home Club’s musical and artistic outlook, Razi Razak, had this to say: “It only made sense to start something with the community. It’s always important to get your foundations right. That’s why Home Club has played such importance in the local music scene. That’s why it’s called ‘Home’”. Not deviating from the rhythms of this beating heart, the club continued to rep the hometown hard
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even at the later stages of its development when big-ticket international names commanded a stranglehold on the weekend’s entertainment throughout the country. As the club’s sole proprietor, Roy Ng, lets on, “Even when we started bringing in international acts, it was to expose local musicians to global talents”, adding that in the face of overwhelming pressure to devote more nights to commercially successful international names, Home was dead set on giving Singaporean musicians “a space to experiment and explore their craft”. “We dared. We dared to do it, we dared to be different”, he says. And that’s how we’ll always remember Home Club.
Sounds like no other
Back when the dance fads of the day were in full blossom and even in the present day when bottle culture continues
its sway over the global club-scape, Home Club has always stood tall in its own resolutely unique glow. This was its founding premise even before “indie” emerged as a handy and perennially ontrend catchall for cultural phenomena that was beyond the pale of the mainstream. As DJ Anaiz “NEZ” Majid, one of the founders of revered local drum ‘n’ bass movement, +65, remembers, “When Home first opened, it found the need to represent underground music in all its forms”. Interpreting independent music’s ever-changing topography for almost a decade with a sincerely openhearted mindset and with winning discernment, the club served pathlighting sounds on nights like +65, Loop, I <3 Dubstep, Syndicate, led by local stalwart, Kiat, OM Project, and what became Singapore’s longest running indie night, BEAT! Its resident DJs, DJR, Ming and pioneer, Kelvin Tan aka loopinmotion, were unlike your regular “push-play” jocks. Having their fingers on the pulse of exciting new sounds emanating from musical temples like London, Detroit
and Berlin, Home’s DJs stood at the forefront of alternative dance music culture in Singapore. And even when international names swung by, they were of a distinct calibre. If names like Peaches, Mykki Blanco, Modeselektor, Africa Hitech, Shabazz Palaces, Handsome Furs and the Stone Roses’ own, Mani, mean anything to you, know that they all took their turn on Home Club’s small but storied stage. Ginette Chittick, bassist-frontwoman of Astreal and co-founder of BEAT!, attributes this progressive philosophy to Kelvin, whom she reagrds as “the soul and life-force of Home Club”, the maverick who set in stone the club’s “underground ideology” by “directing the music and by having a clear vision of which acts to bring in”. And so, with a musical language all its own, Home Club burned its mark on national consciousness and gave indie-anything a home and a reason to be.
Come as you are
Beyond the music, in a spirit of wholism that extended even to the club’s expectations of its patrons, Home Club was also revolutionary in that it was the only club here that did not insist on a dress code. It truly was a space that had no room for anxieties and inhibitions stemming from the superficial concerns of what you were wearing. Just as its artistic approach was non-discriminatory, so did it allow its crowd the comfort to engage with and enjoy it without fuss. As Roy explains, it was just so basic: “Come as you are or don’t come at all! It’s home – when you’re home, what do you wear?” Whether you were there for a band or a DJ, you could always be at ease knowing that the costume you came in didn’t matter. As Ming elaborates, “If you liked the music, if you liked the vibe, if you liked what we did, then you were part of the family and
the community”. And like family, Home took us all in its embrace, tees, shorts, slippers and all.
Thanks for the memories
This chapter of Home Club may be closed but its place is firmly marked in the memories of all the good times that unfurled on its floor night after night. Going to Home Club meant experiencing that sweet pang of recognition of the sounds and sensibilities that brought people together and lit the way for the ideas, conversations and friendships that continue to be the life blood of our diverse scenes. “By now, it has already created a certain legacy that everyone who has experienced it will probably remember as an important time, an important moment in Singapore’s music history. Over the years, it changed everyone, including me”, sums up Razi. Home truly was the gateway to inspirational culture and hand on heart, we can only agree. Home Club is now Canvas at 20 Circular Road.
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Bringing it all back Home: Home Club’s DJs, owners and regulars on their natural habitat
Roy, Razi, Ming and Jerls: The Home Guard
the forefront of the subculture.
What was the philosophy behind Home Club? Razi: It stemmed from a DIY ethos. As an entity, we did everything on our own and we then showcased it, shared it and experienced it together, with the community. It was focused in that direction: to do things together. Ming: We wanted to cultivate and share an exploratory philosophy.
What has kept you doing what you were doing at Home Club? Roy: Seeing people come together and having a good time was always important to me. It was worth it. Razi: To be able to work within the space, and work with talented people like Ming, Jerls and Gen. Also, Kelvin taught me a lot. Roy supported a lot of my ideas. If any of these people weren’t around, I don’t think I’d be around too. Friendship, trust and creative talent are what kept me going. Jerls: It was just very comfortable to be around and work with these passionate people who also believed in the culture.
One of the factors that set Home apart from other clubs was its programming. Why did you decide to keep it consistently indie? Razi: There was always a demand and we had to meet it. The programming was more or less tailored to the demands of the creative community. Whether it was techno, bands or street art, we met the demand and at some point, rose to
How do you feel about what the club has achieved after almost a decade? Razi: To be able to
last almost a decade is definitely something. Everybody who has come to the club has seen that we’ve been promoting different subcultures – educating and fostering an awareness of different kinds of dance music as well. Roy: I see it as a coming-together of the community: friends met friends, people got married – all this happened here. Jerls: Before I joined Home Club, I had no knowledge of music. Home Club opened me to music and culture. Kelvin was the one who got me to read up and study music before I could even touch the console. Ming: I’m glad to have been a part of it. To have brought different pockets of music from all over the world to Singapore is quite a feat in itself. It’s been hit-and-miss but the bad nights made the good nights better and more worth it. What has been the most rewarding part of your Home Club experience? Roy: Well, it hasn’t come yet. Everyone from Canvas is from Home Club. The rewarding part of Home Club will come now. The Home Club generation will do some really interesting things. Razi: I went through a quarter of my life experiencing this legacy and along the way, created some very strong friendships. Ming: One of the most important contributors to Home Club was Kelvin. He inspired all of us a lot. We would like to collectively thank him for everything he’s done for Home.
Kiat: DJ and producer, Syndicate Why did you decide to start Syndicate at Home Club? We just wanted a space that was raw and that we could change with every Syndicate night. We moved the console to the floor so people could be a lot closer to the performers, rather than us being on a pedestal, which I didn’t like at all. Home Club was extremely accommodating to our ideas and supported us in ways that most commercial places wouldn’t have. It was perfect for our brand of unfiltered expression and a place where you didn’t know what to expect. How do you think Home Club spurred an interest in alternative dance music in Singapore? Home Club kept to its guns and didn’t give a toss about whether things would be commercially viable. They, like us, believed in what they did so much that their energy became infectious, particularly on nights like BEAT! People know a good party when they’re at a good party. If the vibe is right, people will talk about it for a long time. Do you have a special Home Club memory? I really can’t pinpoint one because Home Club is a long memory for me. My most special memories are of when I’d just hang outside Home Club and see all my friends and grow with them through their different life stages. It was also nice to see all the people from different scenes come together at
Image: Simon Harsent
Home Club. My other personal memory would be of meeting Goldie and passing him my demo CD with Ashidiq, and him calling me the next day from Adelaide and telling me he liked it. Without this Home Club connection, a lot of things in my life wouldn’t have been the same. Is there anything you’d like to say to Syndicate fans and the Home Club community that grew up with the movement over the years? The support has been extremely overwhelming. I think it’s really important to support your local creators like Darker Than Wax, Midnight Shift, Pushin’ On and Good Times. Keep supporting the local scene.
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Ginette Chittick: Bassist and frontwoman, Astreal; DJ and and cofounder, BEAT!
Jon Masters: Club regular
How did you get involved with Home Club? Well, I guess it found me. There was a series of gigs that I used to do called RNDM and always after that, the club would play indie disco. One day, Kelvin and George Chua, who is the first indie disco DJ I’d ever known, asked me if I wanted to start an indie-disco night. They asked Joe Ng and then they asked me. That’s how BEAT! happened.
Benny Goerlach: Club regular Why is Home Club special to you? The people – it was the only place in Singapore you could escape from the uninspired crowds that frequent all other clubs in Singapore. As an artist and one of the club’s regulars, how did Home Club function as space of inspiration for musicians and creatives alike? At the heart of the club, the management was always prepared to let anyone have a go, no matter what discipline or medium. That kind of acceptance for all genres of creativity made it a safe haven for all types of artists to go and share what they do. What is your fondest Home Club memory? All the great friends I made there, they will all be friends for life.
Why is Home Club special to you? Home Club would always be special to me because of the ties forged through alcohol and love. It was the place that helped me forget who I was, whatever troubles I had and to just have fun. Many milestones and memories were made, some sweet and some bitter, but I guess what I’m trying to say is, Home Club was just... homely.
Would you have taken BEAT! anywhere else? No! Home Club was perfect. It was the exact space where what I wanted to do could be done. I was a round peg and they were a round hole. It was all very guerrilla and I just felt at home there. It incubated a lot of sounds and movements. BEAT! belongs only at Home, at that grimy underground bar. That’s the magic of it.
What is your fondest Home Club memory? It must be a BEAT! night. My memory’s blurry now but I remember feeling that when I’m up there with Joe, it always felt like a night that would never end.
How did you go about developing the BEAT! aesthetic? I must say that George was the first indie DJ I knew. He was the one who gave Joe and I a crash course in how to DJ. That’s how we started out. The choice of music was very organic. Sometimes it was just crazy sh*t. We’d just karaoke and jump around and never did any serious DJ-ing! It was really only ever about connecting with the audience. We learned on the job and Home Club was very generous with its support.
How do you think Home Club enriched the live music scene here? The size of Home Club is very important to me. There’s no other venue that can hold about 150 people and where you get drinks, stand in the crowd, feel in cognito, and still feel a connection with the band. By Home Club just being there, it’s already helped a lot of bands. It definitely created an awareness of live music culture, especially with movements like Identite. It was immensely important – our own CBGB.
How do you think Home Club played a part in the local music scene? Home Club was THE NAME for the local music scene. From your post-rock bands like ATC, to your deck warriors like +65 and Syndicate, Home Club was always the top location simply because it believed in our music. They believed in the ones that had talent and gave them a platform to perform. Identite is a clear example of just what that stood for – the chance to shine What is your fondest Home Club memory? The defining one has got to be the LASALLE VJ showcase four months ago. It meant a lot to me as a patron and as a collaborator that they were willing to give these students and myself a chance to work with them. I am eternally grateful for what they have done for me, and I wish I could have done more for them.
Olivia Sari-Goerlach: Photographer, The Home Club Portraiture Project Why is Home Club so special to you? Home Club’s special to me because of the people. I made some really good friends there. I felt very comfortable there, it was my real life version of Cheers! The Home Club Portraiture Project was a year-long portraiture series to document the individuals that I’ve met at the club. It’s all about the people and the music that happened at the club. As one of the club’s regulars, how do you feel about the way the club and its community grew over the years? The club grew organically with the music that it played. It drew in different kinds of folks. I’ve attended different types of nights but was there to mainly hang out with friends in the outdoor area. I think diversity is always nice. What is your fondest Home Club memory? My fondest home club memory has to be the book launch in June 2013. It was my first time exhibiting solo and I got to present the finished results of the book. Good times.
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Walk On The Wild Side Deerhoof wonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t stop the weirdness Text: Indran P
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If there’s one thing that unites all the various stripes and colours of rock ‘n’ roll, it’s that rules are tiresome. But it would take the sum total of all of rock’s transgressions and then some to come close to Deerhoof’s inconceivable sound of ray-oflight newness. As one of the most idiosyncratic bands in modern indie rock, the California noisepop outfit has brought the axe down on just about every sacred musical cow with frontwoman and bassist, Satomi Matsuzaki’s abstract, beyondwhimsical lyrics delivered in a surreal anime register, the spikily frenetic guitarplaying of John Dietrich and Ed
Rodriguez, and the mercurial, spitfire groove brought on by drummer, Greg Saunier. And in 2012, their body of work was joined by Breakup Song, their 11th and latest album that dealt with breakups the Deerhoof way. So with years of pent-up curiosity guiding us, we sought out John before the band’s set at *SCAPE for a glimpse of the method behind Deerhoof’s wild, weird ways. Hey John! What have you been up to lately? We’ve been working on a new record. I also just finished recording a great band from Italy called Father Murphy at my house in Albuquerque, playing a duo concert with Raven Chacon, writing like crazy and trying to learn how to make a proper pizza. Good luck with the pizza. What are some interesting things that have happened with the band since you were last here in 2011? We haven’t broken up. Okay. At which point of the band’s existence did you realise that you could make the music you do as Deerhoof?
We just focus on playing. The new record we’re finishing now practically wrote itself. We have enough material left over for three more records. It’s hard to remember what we used to think about. We’re more concerned with the future. Congrats on the very fantastic Breakup Song. What inspired the record and how did it develop as a whole? Also, did any actual break ups factor into your amazing sonic brew here? Satomi was listening to a lot of electronic music, so that was part of the inspiration. It’s like a dance record for people who don’t dance, and maybe they don’t dance because the right music hasn’t been made yet. And then it was made. And, yes, there were breakups and nearbreakups and imagined breakups. Going by songs like “Breakup Songs” and “Flower”, the record feels like a subversion and sending up of mopey, breakup music. Sure, that’s part of it. Interestingly, I think this music is probably closer to what most people actually do when they go through a breakup. There’s a sad side to it, but that can give way pretty quickly to something much more productive, inspiring and new. Eleven albums in, what do you make of your own unquantifiable sound? I’m more concerned with making it. It hasn’t been made yet. It’s in progress. Is there – even by the loosest understanding of
the word – a “process” to how the band writes and records? There’s no unified process. Each of us has been refining the way we work on our own for a long time, and the way we work within the group is always evolving. That’s the process. We write separately and then we play the music together to see what sticks. No other act in indie rock uses lyrics to such interesting effect. How does lyricism figure in the Deerhoof universe? It’s important to us, but it’s not always the first thing written. In fact, it’s often the last, after we have a clearer idea of what the album’s about. You’re asking the wrong guy, though, as I don’t write a lot of the lyrics. What is your stand on the Dada tag that has been used to describe your music? It certainly doesn’t bother me. What do you love most about playing in Singapore? Well, last time it was extremely rainy and we were worried that the show was going to be cancelled. I’m looking forward to sunshine! And rock ‘n’ roll.
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Review Text: Indran P
How To Dress Well: What is this Heart? “Is artistry conditioned by the contemporary situation? The answer is yes; the answer will always only ever be yes”, Tom Krell recently declared. Krell’s conviction is that warranted partly because his 2010 debut, Love Remains, was effectively the birth-cry of the alt-r&b sound that with Internet-age ease, gleefully cut-and-pasted whole eras and canons of music as it brought to contemporary light
an Internet-age sound. But as more imitators rose to the fold and as he himself took the reins on his sophomore, 2012’s AOTY-list mainstay, Total Loss, to define it further, the more the “indie-r&b” tag became a musical dirty word. But Krell never had to paint by numbers especially since he invented the numbers in the first place. And on Heart, his third full-length, with an intimate understanding of “the contemporary situation”, he has turned in a maximal, sign-of-the-times pop masterpiece. One inviolable truth about popular music made in the moment that we’re in now is that if you’re going to make it, you need everything you’ve got.
And while Krell’s earlier two records served as claims of ownership on a burgeoning trend, Heart stakes a claim on larger aims through much more comprehensive sounds. Consistently stunning throughout its length-and-breadth, the record opens disarmingly enough with the largely acoustic “2 Years On (Shame Dream)”, before unfolding into baroque complexity where synth-strings, horns and eddying low-end coalesce in pop-house hybridity on “What You Wanted”. Gone are the samples and the beat-heavy, software-assembled “tracks”. Heart is replete with gravitationally gorgeous instrumentation that casts the insistent minimalism of his earlier work in stark relief. This outward bent comes through emphatically
on the single, “Repeat Pleasure”, where a crystalline mid-song guitar solo is immediately followed by an ethereal harmony of keys perfectly in sync with space-rock textures. With its bright tones and Krell’s hushed coos given airy heft in the mix, the song’s also easily the catchiest he has ever written. And then, there are the vocals. Freed from the sleeper-hold of reverb, Krell’s voice is now the focal point rather than textural composite and on arena-r&b numbers like “A Power” and “Childhood Faith in Love (Everything Must Change, Everything Must Stay the Same)”, soars to a scale that matches his orchestral arrangements. Effects and filters still feature
but refreshingly enough, it’s his raw, untreated voice that takes the lead over his looped vocal reconfigurations in most of the songs, particularly on the skyward soul thrust of the former. Yet, as unsubtle as Heart is, no drawn-out emphasis is too cloying. Every flourish here is a revelation. Lyrically, this is Krell’s most unfiltered and uninhibited work to date. Alternately crushing and euphoric, lines like, “Look me in my face again and tell me what I oughta be / I really think you know what’s best for me” and “even broken my heart will go on!” are par for the course on an album that posits an unanswerable question especially in a modern age teeming, like it is, with possibilities.
Review
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Parquet Courts: White Lung: Sunbathing Animal Deep Parquet Courts’ Fantasy revelatory 2012 release, On its third outing, the Vancouver quartet gives an undeniable masterclass in punk fury but hews just closely enough to pop to give generational resonance to its hollow-point screeds. Frontwoman, Mish Way’s shout-chant vocals is the glue that binds the 10 songs that unravel after a blistering 22 minutes. Opener, “Drown with the Monster”, lays it all bare with its thrashmeets-hardcore riffs, quicksilver drumming and Way’s bracing philosophy about violence begetting violence. “Baby’s gonna bite”, she shrieks, leaving no room for doubt. Just as brick-and-mortar punk is sent up by the depth and textures that guitarist, Kenneth Williams, brings, so is the perennial pop trope of sacrificial love subverted throughout the album but most notably on “Snake Jaw” in the defiant lines: “Love me, I play hard / Either way, it’s just the start / Love me, I play hard / Don’t waste me in the dark”. For rage, pace and hooks, there hasn’t been something like this in a long time. It’s no wonder that the gents in Japandroids are fans.
Light Up Gold, was written and recorded in the band’s practice space over three days. It then went on to be feted on a still-unending parade of praise. Lo-fi and low-rent to the letter, it left the band facing an unenviable dilemma: polish up and lose what made it special, or keep it scrappy and suffer the charge of laziness. But exemplarily, the band has merged both paths into a dialectic that sees it pound out seething, lo-fi scorchers on a robust bedrock of production and mixing that takes nothing away from its free-wheeling charm. Sunbathing Animal bridges the metallic thrum of the Velvet Underground with the zanily earworm-making chops of ‘90s greats like Pavement and Hüsker Dü. Playful disregard is still a key rule here as the repeated refrain, “Slugs and guts”, on opener, “Bodies Made Of” shows. Later, on epics like the title track and the sixminute “She’s Rolling”, the band serve up polyrhythmic punk that isn’t afraid to let the jangle out with a newfound slickness, showing that growing up does not always necessitate throwing everything away.
SIA: 1000 Forms of Fear
It’s always interesting when the unsung heroes of pop step out of the shadows and assert themselves in the same arena as the currently reigning deities. Sia Furler is just the kind backroom agent whose prolificacy and golden touch has given Rihanna “Diamonds” and Beyoncé “Pretty Hurts”, to name just a few songs from a contemporary pop zeitgeist largely shaped by her. But a strong aversion to media and fame has kept her from the scrutiny of the limelight, until now. Released on the condition the she wouldn’t have to tour behind or do press for the album, Fear is a glorious partial uncloaking of one of modern music’s king/queen-makers. An extravaganza of state-ofthe-art pop, the album is imbued with every tastemaking pop signifier currently enjoying its time in the sun. There’s the starry-eyed EDM of opener, “Chandelier”, lyrically and musically a pop song to the very letter, the soul-pop of “Eye of the Needle” and “Burn the Pages”, and even throwback ‘60s sun-kissed FM-radio guitar-pop on “Hostage”. Its only flaw is that it gives us the very best of what’s working right now but never a definitive impression of the person who’s doing all the work.
clipping: CLPPNG
If purism and denial are the reasons why Death Grips can’t be admitted into the halls of rap, then clipping have laid the foundation stone on how run the game on some legitimately next-level sh*t. Unlike the former’s place on an hermetically statement-making plane, clipping are for and from the streets, so when MC Daveed Diggs hits you with, “It’s clipping, bitch!” after the ripping burst of white noise at the end of “Intro”, you know you’re going to be in for some sucker-punch rap grit. Opener proper, “Body & Blood”, makes this all clear with Digg’s breathless spitfire flow detailing a venus flytraptype scenario where a woman lures men with sex only to eviscerate them just for kicks: “She tryin’ to suck face off the bone / You should know she is prone to swallow the marrow”. Like this episode, the music is a transfixing gust of sharpedged synthetic viscera made up of obtrusive slabs of bass and invasive swathes of noise. Other times, on “Or Die” and “Dominoes”, the band gets its Yeezus on with otherworldly banger sounds that despite being piercingly desolate, possess a kinetic power that’ll unlock all your limbs in the club.
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Jungle: Jungle
Jungle owes its existence entirely to contemporaneity and its debut full-length is a good lesson in how an unconsidered jump on a bandwagon can betray you. Initially a faceless project by two producers known only as J and T, Jungle has since become an XL signee and a Kimmelappearing attraction. There was no reason why this shouldn’t have happened. Its two early drops, “Platoon” and “The Heat”, were great callbacks to Jamiroquai’s funk-inspired, dance-y blue-eyed-soul, but updated with pared-down grooves, and ultramodern signifiers like tactile low-end, reverbed vocals and slinky beats that hinted rather than insisted on their pop sensibilities. Both songs were good enough to build a powerful hype cycle around the duo and establish it as the BBC’s Sound of 2014 candidates. But one full reveal later, J and T glaringly come up short. With the same formulaic approach of threading a constantly whispered falsetto over slick, stylised percussion and poly-rhythmic beats without any variation, song after song, Jungle is another case of “good singles, not so good album”. Don’t J and T know that short attention spans are a perennially modern problem?
Review
F**ked Up: Glass Boys
In ways that are admirably surprising, the Toronto hardcore punk six-piece has risen to a remarkable level of name-brand recognition that has got nothing to do with its actual moniker. Answering the punk tradition’s minutelong raggedy, threechord call-to-arms with a three-guitar juggernaut and a double-album-long punk opera gave the band a plenty lot to f**k up, but with a winking glee, it always came through. Glass Boys diverges from this paradigm by sticking to the rulebook this time around, but with enough critical distance to remind you that this is still the same band that can use a genre against itself to better flesh out its tenets. To this end, Glass Boys is a compact, 42-minute bash through frenzied, haymaker tunes. Widescreen stompers like “Echo Boomer”, “Touch Stone” and the bass-y, atomsplitting “Warm Change” reprise the band’s Midas touch when it comes to volume but this time, follow a strict linearity that sees the band at its undistracted best. There’s even a sobering note of introspection and self-referentiality on the penultimate “The Great Divide”, when frontman, Pink Eyes, screams, “We ushered in all that corrupts / Now we’re drowning in the glut”. Crack your head on this.
Lana Del Rey: Ultraviolence
Let’s get this out of the way: Ultraviolence is spectacular. Its greatest triumph is that in its very conception and its inseparability from its maker; it draws credibility and legitimacy from all the hate that’s been leveled at the character that is Lana Del Rey. Pictureperfect from start to finish, Ultraviolence has Lana inhabiting the roles of “mistress”, “sad girl”, “poison ivy” and Lolita, amongst many other iterations of the ennui-ridden “wayward femme” archetype. And like her madefor-camera defeatism here –“I could have died right here / Cause he’s right beside me” – the Dan Auerbachhelmed production is lush, referential and fundamentally tragic. This is consummate art-ifice that is airtight in its invocation of the faded glamour of old-Hollywood. From guitar-heavy romps, like the six-minute opener, “Cruel World” and “Shades of Cool”, where a late guitar solo shatters the earlier calm, to slower dirge-pop hybrids like “Brooklyn Baby” and “Old Money”, which holds the telling line: “Sunsets, small town, I’m out of time”, Lana is thoroughly a construct of her own assembling.
The Antlers: Familiars
Since its breakthrough album, 2009’s fantastic Hospice, this Brooklyn trio has shown that making utterly devastating music doesn’t always have to be a shopworn indie rock trope. In the hands of frontman, Peter Silberman, multiinstrumentalist, Darby Cicci, and drummer, Michael Lerner, the dour and disquieting ends of the spectrum of human emotion have been enlivened with stark realism on a musicality that is legitimately spellbinding. And while Familiars makes good on all expectations, its even greater merit is that it’s no safe retread. Always The Antlers’ calling card, Silberman’s wispy, wounded croon ushers the horns – now at the forefront of the music – and keys that make up the space-y landscape on opener, “Palace”. Pristinely lush before, the band’s soundscapes are now more fluid, loosely connected by delicate passages and melodic phrases that ensure that this is too close to the heart to be an indulgent psych excursion. Continuing on this trajectory that not so much rises but unspools, gems like “Intruders” and “Hotel” quietly boast guitar solos that add to the record’s hushed reach towards transcendence. Save this for when you need to be alone with yourself.
Nosh
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Sound Bites Outpost Bar & Bistro puts food and tunes on the table
Text: Indran P The Shakespearean imperative, “If music be the food of love, play on!”, has been lived out by many a questing musician. Chiming in with a great gastronomic spin, Outpost Bar & Bistro has been offering up equal measures of fine food and fine musical accompaniment since it opened its doors in February this year. At Outpost, you can be guaranteed that as much thought goes into curating the live entertainment as it does into the preparation of its fine spread of burgers, pizzas and meat-heavy mains. Like a true idyll of flavours, Outpost’s menu boasts items that jump right off the page. In such a short span of time, even its starters have grown to become crowd favourites. Of these, special mention must definitely be given to the Outpost Trio Mini Burgers, which come in beef, pork and crab cake variants and a side of thick cut fries, prepared to a perfect crisp. In a one masterstroke that’ll earn it the heaven-on-earth devotion of fried food junkies, Outpost also serves up a lethal – in all
the right ways – payload of deep fried goodness in the form of its Fried Wings, Fried Button Mushrooms, Outpost Signature Calamari and yes, the street food gold, Spam Fries. Continuing, this palettegratifying streak in its pizzas and mains, Outpost more than spreads the love onto its bigger plates. This is evinced in its pizzas, where, with the Crispy Pork Belly Pizza, the Salami Pizza and the Outpost Signature Seafood Pizza, a wealth of textures and flavours is ensured. Likewise, Outpost stuns just as much in the meat department with sizzling, succulent cuts of its Braised Lamb Shank, Herb Roasted Chicken and lusciously creamy Pasta Carbonara. And adding to the already teeming flavours from these, its signature range of sauces, including Pommery Mustard, Sweet Chili and Curry Mayonnaise, can be relied upon for a sublime blast of flavour. To wash down its eminently scrumptious wares, Outpost also boasts a discerning bar
that serves up over a hundred different beverages. Wine-lovers, beer-lifers and cocktailsippers, none of you lot will be disappointed. But the good cheer doesn’t just stop at the stomach at Outpost. Regaling diners with their chops, up-and-coming and veteran local musicians like Jack & Rai, Juni Goh and Goh Ming Wei, will see to it that you get your earworms done just the way you want them. At Outpost, there isn’t anything more to ask for and that’s just how we like it. Outpost Bar & Bistro is located at 3 Sentosa Gateway, St. James Power Station, +65 9069 1109.
AN ELEGANT
Martell VSOP unveils Elegantology, a philosophy that embraces the elegant life and empowers you to rise above with style. Elegantology represents an independence of mind and spirit that encapsulates style, identity and taste. It celebrates individuals whose unique style, self-confidence and charisma are honed by a sense of curiosity and discovery that defines them as possessing the essence of elegance. The philosophy of Elegantology focuses on three aspects of contemporary life that represent Martell’s point of view on elegance: Look; Music and Bar. Look goes beyond surface appearances; it encompasses the confidence, charm and style of an individual. Also crucial to the essence of elegance is the Bar, which sees the individual embracing the finer pleasures and appreciating the aromas, textures, and subtle favours of a good drink. Likewise, Music manifests itself in the elegant life through a simple appreciation of authenticity and craft, which transcends genres. Music is a vital channel for personal expression and a great testament to the art of elegance.
Stay current with the latest events, style tips and music playlists compiled by the Martell VSOP influencers by following Martell Singapore on Facebook (facebook.com/martellsg)
Martell VSOP’s vision of Elegantology is brought to life by a group of individuals who define this spirit of holistic elegance. Well respected in their separate fields, they continue to redefine the standards of their craft, all the while epitomising the art of elegance.
NOTE
One individual who personifies Elegantology is Kurt Loy, one of the principal architects of local vinyl collective and community, #vinyloftheday. Known in the local party scene as Clash the Disco Kid, Kurt has also long been responsible for gifting the Singaporean clubscape with some of its freshest and most interesting left-field sounds. Forging his own path with the heady rhythms of experimental sounds culled from the disciplines of deep house and techno, Kurt has established himself on the decks as an intrepid tastemaker who does not bow before mainstream trends. It’s this stylish and uncompromising vision that has also taken him beyond our shores to the famed underground Shanghai venue, Shelter, where, as he fondly remembers, his set was so well received that he got two encores and extended his set for another hour. This is just as well, since Kurt, like all dedicated artists, adheres to an artistic philosophy that stresses “hard work, effort and most importantly, great passion for music”. Translating his musical vision into a dashing sartorial style, Kurt likewise stays true to himself. For him, elegance is about keeping it “simple, neat and stylish”. Like his music that emphasises substance over flash and does so with an alluringly kinetic power. And that, is true class. Enjoy Martell Cognac Responsibly
Listings
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Text: Min Chen
The Gathering with Travis 1 August @ The Star Theatre
REWIND Fellowship feat. Mr. Has 8 August @ kyo
A chance for aspiring and established house acts to take the dancefloor, kyo’s REWIND night gets a leg-up this month from Mr. Has. The highly styled artistic director of W Hotel SingaporeSentosa Cove has had his spin for fashion houses and clubs from Paris’ Le Baron to Berlin’s Chalet, and no doubt, will make a good point of a Singapore-strong night. Entry: $20/$25 (incl. one drink)
Travis may have been laying low since 2008’s Ode to J. Smith, but last year saw the Para//el Scottish foursome presents returning with the pretty fine hit that M.A.N.D.Y. ZSS presents was its seventh Pentatonix 15 August @ album, Where You Mr. C Velvet Underground Miss Nine 12 August @ Stand. Still trading 9 August @ kyo MBS Sands Theatre – Dance 16 August @ Zouk on that highly amiable and slightly melancholic indiepop – which has previously gifted us evergreens like “Driftwood” Not just handy with and “Why Does the harmonisation, this it Always Rain on a capella quintet has Me?”, and inspired Philipp Jung and Patrick Richard West’s been wowing one and Backed by all the right outfits like Coldplay credentials are obviously all with its knack for Bodmer obviously can’t 4/4 beats, Miss Nine stay away from us, so too many to list here, moving between genres has spent more than a and Keane – Travis here they come again but suffice to say, the as disparate as jazz, pop, decade honing her craft has apparently still to front the undying DJ, rapper, co-founder indie, folk and dubstep. behind the decks. The got a handle on phenomenon that is of London’s The End, After sweeping the result is an energetic, them pop hooks and owner of Superfreq and Billboard charts with its M.A.N.D.Y. You should progressive and eclectic already be on friendly choruses. Go see Plink Plonk Records, and EPs, containing covers sonic palette that’s terms with the duo’s frontman of The Shaman like “I Need Your Love” seen Kristin Schrot take for yourself when “Body Language” and has built his house on and originals like “The over clubs like London’s the band returns to solid gold foundations. Baddest Girl”, Pentatonix its Get Physical imprint, Ministry of Sound and our stages to show and more so for its taste Join him at kyo where will be heading to our Ibiza’s Privilege without you just what you’ve he’ll be sharing all the in booty-shakin’ and town to impress with even breaking a sweat. body-movin’ electrotrippy, sexy and haunting its stunning vocal She graces Zouk once been missing. house. Everybody dances more tonight and you facets of his beloved gymnastics. It’ll be pitch Tickets: $58 to tonight. tech house and electro perfect. best be ready to move. $138, available Entry: $28/33 sounds. Tickets: $88 to $148, Entry: $28/33 for at all authorised Entry: $20/$25 available at all authorised for non-members non-members (incl. (incl. two drinks) SISTIC agents (incl. one drink) SISTIC agents two drinks)
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Listings
Jimmy Edgar 16 August @ kyo
Disco:very presents Betoko
FACT Party with Philip Bader & Javi Sampol
Goldroom
23 August @ Loof
Every Wednesday @ The Powder Room, The Black Swan
FACT’s world domination continues apace with this stop at kyo to showcase two of Europe’s most vital electronic talents. There’ll be Javi Sampol with his deep and innovative take on the house and techno vernacular, paving the way for Philip Bader’s Berlin-styled minimalist techno that hits playful yet powerful notes. Entry: $20/$25 (incl. one drink)
Best known for articulating Los Angeles’ many splendid summers in dreamy and tropical disco grooves, Josh Legg continues to put his golden touch to remixes and productions, and lately, on his own Embrace EP. He’ll be bringing his rays of Californian sunshine to Loof again, so come and see if you don’t catch a tan. Reservations: +65 9773 9304, loof@loof.com.sg
Your midweek refuge that is The Powder Room just got a touch jazzier, thanks to the sound and presence of The Steve McQueens. This local outfit is set to seduce every Wednesday with its killer mix of jazz, soul, hip hop and Motown that’s as slick as one of James Brown’s moves. And with The Powder Room’s signature cocktails and snacks at hand, the rest of your week looks and feels smoother already.
22 August @ Velvet Underground – Dance 23 August @ kyo
A noted wunderkind since being picked up by Warp at age 18, Jimmy Edgar continues to venture electronic experiments, and his raunchy blend of electro hip hop, funk and techno have stood him in good stead amongst his Detroit peers. His slick EPs and LPs (see XXX) aside, Edgar can also be counted on for Ultramajic, his newly minted music-art-design
portal, which sees him pushing sound and art into metaphysical dimensions. With his fine grip on multi-mediums and message, Jimmy’s descent upon kyo is set to be an allsensory experience that’ll require all of your six senses. Entry: $20/$25 (incl. one drink)
The Mexican-born Beto Cohen has had quite the rise since he first touched down in 2007. His minimal tech-house stylings have since swept the planet’s club-scape, emerging on Wow! Records and Get Physical, besides being championed by Steve Lawler and Sven Vath, and informing his own imprint, Chilli Mint Music. He’ll make a swell night of Disco:very, so come and be swayed. Entry: $28/33 for non-members (incl. two drinks)
All That Jazz feat. The Steve McQueens
Listings
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Dr. Martens #standforsomething presents Deap Vally 22 August @ BEEP Studios Text: Indran P
Whether you’re a heart-on-sleeve punk, an indie scenester or a straight-up rockist who likes to get your mosh on, you’ll know by now that Dr. Martens has got its finely booted feet planted firmly in the heart of cutting-edge culture. Music has always been part of the brand’s storied cultural legacy and we received the fruits of this great bond when Dr. Martens summoned UK alt-rock princes, The Heartbreaks, to grace our shores last year. Now, the good people of Dr. Martens are at it again, this time packing the allgirl, all-rock duo of Deap
Vally, which promises nothing but “truly live music and guitar-based rock ‘n’ roll”. Having scorched a blazing path for themselves on Sistrionix, their widely celebrated debut full-length released last year, Lindsey Troy and Julie Edwards have also established themselves as a live powerhouse, sharing stages with rock gods old and new, like Thurston Moore, Iggy Pop, Queens of the Stone Age, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Muse. “I have always wanted to make heavy music”, says Julie, and to this
end, the band have combined soul, gospel and punk influences with r&b vocal melodies and a powerfully heaving rock sound that calls back to the glory days of Sabbath and Zeppelin. Sistrionix’s standout tracks like “Gonna Make My Own Money” and “Creeplife” showcase this fine melding of fantastic musicality with a gritty rock ‘n’ roll swagger, which we can definitely expect to be on full display on the live stage. And just in case you think that girls can’t rock hard and well, Julie has this to say to you: “I think people could
look at us and make one assumption, and then when they see us play, that assumption will be shattered. And that’s the beauty of it.” Well, there you go. Tickets: Complimentary tickets (limited to two per person) are available from Dr. Martens stores at Orchard Central and Wheelock Place. No purchase is necessary. Tickets are dependent on availability and will only be handed out to those aged 18 and above.
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Listings
Wax On Wax Off: Vixens of Vinyl 16 August @ Loof Text: Indran P
Wax On Wax Off, your favourite vinyl-only night will get a hot dose of girl power when the doyennes of our local nightscape bring out the eclectic gold of their vinyl collections and their vast array of mad skills. But before you get to jiving, check out what Casie Lane, Debbie Chia, Lisa Cunico and Jean Reiki had to say about the tunes that shaped them.
Debbie Chia
Casie Lane
Jean Reiki Lisa Cunico
What drew you to the decks? Casie: I would say it was a natural progression of wanting to hear music I like. Back in the ‘80s, you either turned on the radio, put a record on or snuck into your older sister’s room to use her cassette player. Lisa: When I was 15, my best friend in school happened to be the sister of DJ Brendan P. When he noted my interest, he taught me how to “listen” to music and then how to mix two records – my first mix was a Pepsi and Shirley X Pet Shop Boys mix! He is still a very good friend to me and I
will always blame him for my love of house music. Debbie: I always loved music but never quite imagined myself in a band. The decks appealed to me as a musical instrument as I could play all my favourite records, be a selector, be part of the party (yet not part of the party) and do a lot of it solo. Jean: Finding obscure recordings that were not available in CD or digital format. What inspires your sound? Jean: Fernweh – this quiet desire to explore another world beyond the
one that I’m familiar with! Lisa: I see shapes in sound, I am very sensitive to the energy that surrounds me and the music that I play – whether to people or for myself – has to be something abstract but at the same time “in the moment”. Debbie: Lately, I’m liking a lot ambient and electronic rock but still lots of techno and house. I dig back, randomise and often ask people about music tastes so my world gets bigger. Nonmusically, anything can inspire. Friends, nature to science, anything from pulsars to frequencies. Casie: I only have one
track that was ever released on vinyl, but that specific track was inspired by my daughter and this wild adventure of parenthood my husband and I are on. What vinyl record are you digging right now? Casie: I’m still cherishing this awesome 45 I found at the Thieves Market a couple years back: Nancy Sinatra’s “Boots”. Debbie: The new EP from Tapirus out on my label Midnight Shift. Jean: Xhin’s Claw Eyes EP. Lisa: Classical music. I have tons of classical vinyl records of Old Masters which I play at home.
Complete this sentence: “The power of wax is...” Casie: Holding history to its pure form. Lisa: That it brings a smile to everybody’s face. Happiness is infectious! Debbie: In the playback of our human soul. Jean: You never have to witness the tragedy of your music collection disappearing unless a sinkhole opens under your vinyl cupboard. For reservations, email loof@loof.com.sg or call +65 9773 9304.
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Deerhoof & The Trees and The Wild @ *SCAPE Text: Indran P Images: Lee Chang Ming
What: Opposites attracting gloriously Having a variety of bands on any given bill always guarantees the promise of diverse, far-ranging sounds. But a two-band roster where each is paradigmatically different from the other is something else entirely. On one stingingly hot night in June, Jakarta folk-rock alchemists, The Trees and The Wild, and San Franciscan avantrock lifers, Deerhoof, showed how polar cultural and musical ends could hold a conversation in enchantingly emotive and vivid ways.
Who: Fans, period Given the über-niche and thoroughly distinct aesthetics on which both bands operate, the implications of attending their shows leave no room for pretenders. So, this night, the hipsters and the hypebeats stayed out, as the fans of both bands gathered for the shared purpose of receiving some fantastic sounds. More than any forced impulse of “solidarity”, the shared-feelings vibe, unique to all great gigs, played out in full effect, so much so that even though most of the crowd couldn’t connect with the lingua franca of The Trees and The Wild, the band commanded everyone’s wide-eyed, rapt attention. Deerhoof, of course, just slayed us.
How: Quiet, loud and louder Coming on first, The Trees and The Wild offered a glimpse into what frontman, Remedy Waloni, once described as the band’s “sombre tropical” sound. While Waloni’s coinage itself was undoubtedly interesting, standing before the reeling heights of the living, breathing thing made for a truly majestic experience. But when Deerhoof took the stage, led by frontwomanbassist, Satomi Matsuzaki, decked out in a banana headband, the rules were entirely different. With madcap, maniacal and virtuosic verve, the band recalled the postpop wealth of its deep catalogue at a volume befitting its transgressive manoeuvres. Guitarists, John Dieterich and Ed Rodriguez, busted out the tinny, serrated riffage that is the bedrock of the Deerhoof universe while drummer, Greg Saunier, treated his kit to a beating that would’ve gotten Lars himself into a fit of selfdoubt. It was spectacular.
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Parties
La Dispute @ The Substation Text: Indran P Images: Dawn Chua (courtesy of Other Sounds)
What: Post-hardcore reborn As per the dictates of the ever-changing topography of rock, emo and all its subsidiaries like screamo and posthardcore enjoyed their time and got edged out by more contextually in-sync sounds once their moment was spent. Still, the vagaries of time and trends cannot totally silence the sound of those who keep on keeping on. Hailed as forerunners of the post-hardcore revival, Detroit’s La Dispute have done just that over the last decade on an eclectic musicality that is matched with pummelling and poignant power. Together with local upstarts, False Plaintiff, the band lit the fires of renewal in an exclusive one-off performance that we were fortunate to witness.
Who: Emos, punks and the fatally (they know why) hip For all of emo’s theheart-wants-what-theheart-wants wistfulness, its heavier, and even more expressive incarnations are legitimately brutal. Which is why this wasn’t one of those shows where you could stand around and nod to the beat. As the heaving freight of the guitars, drums, bass and screams descended on the full house, song after song, so did bodies rise, fall and get rammed about. The black bandT-shirted sects handled it well – after all, they started it. But the crisply dressed, Breton-striped tote baggers didn’t.
How: Raw power As far as rock shows went, this is one that Iggy (a Detroit native himself) would’ve been proud of. False Plaintiff brought the noise first with a studied and masterful approach to melodic hardcore, bringing compelling life to the blasts, breakdowns and red-eyed, heart-on-sleeve emoting that the genre holds as unnegotiable pre-requisites. After having its way rousingly paved, La Dispute then strode forth and answered the house’s collective anticipation. From the sparkling tones of opener, “HUDSONVILLE, MI 1956”, to the reeling, high-speed stompers, “a Letter” and “Andria”, the band validated the faith that post-hardcore’s diehards had held on to for so long. Weaving white-hot screams, and lyrically and imagistically dense spoken word passages into the transcendental noise, frontman, Jordan Dreyer, gave a masterclass in punk showmanship. Bands and fans, we all got to let it out that night.
Directory
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Stockists
Where to shop
agnès b. FEMME Available at Isetan Scotts, L2; and Takashimaya, L3 Al Et Clar Available at aletclar.com Alexander McQueen Available at Club 21, Four Seasons Hotel, #01-01/02 and #01-09/10/11 Benefit Available at Sephora at Marina Bay Sands, Raffles City, Bugis+, Great World City, ION Orchard and VivoCity Bobbi Brown Located at ION Orchard, #B2-45; and Tampines Mall, #01-28 Canali Available at mrporter.com Clio Available at selected Watsons stores Coach Located at Paragon, Raffles City Shopping Centre, Takashimaya, VivoCity, Wisma Atria, DFS Galleria, The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa COS Located at ION Orchard, #03-23; and Westgate, #01-41/42 Dior Fragrance & Beauty Available at counters at BHG Bugis Junction, Isetan Scotts, Isetan Tampines, Isetan Katong, Robinsons Raffles City, Robinsons Centrepoint, Takashimaya, Tangs Orchard and Tangs VivoCity. DKNY Located at ION Orchard, #03-02; Paragon, #03-43/44; Takashimaya, L2; and Isetan Orchard, L2 Etude House Located at ION Orchard, #B2-54; 313@Somerset, #B2-30; VivoCity, #01-K3; Wisma Atria, #B1-36; Plaza Singapura, #B1-26; Bugis Junction, #01-62/62A; Suntec City Mall, #01-098; and Citylink Mall, #B1-57 Eyeko Available at Sephora at Ngee Ann City, ION Orchard, Plaza Singapura, Great World City, Bugis+, Jem, The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands and VivoCity Givenchy Located at Paragon, #01-41, +65 6235 4438 H&M Located at 1 Grange Road,; ION Orchard, #B2-28; Suntec City Mall, #01-307, #01-308, #01-309, #01-310 & #01-311; JEM, #01-01, #0201/02/03 & #03-01/02; and VivoCity #01-19/20
Issey Miyake Located at Hilton Hotel Singapore, #02-07/10 Kate Tokyo Available at John Little, OG, BHG Clementi Mall, and selected Guardian, SaSa and Watsons stores Kate Moss for Topshop Available at Topshop, Knightsbridge, #01-05/05 Kate Spade New York Located at Raffles City, #0124; ION Orchard, #03-27; and Takashimaya, L1 Kate Spade Saturday Located at ION Orchard, #B1-27 Lacoste Located at Wisma Atria, #02-14/15; Suntec City Mall, #01-163; Centrepoint, #02-08/09; VivoCity, #01-135/137; and Marina Square, #02158/159 Laneige Located at Suntec City, #01-312; ION Orchard, #B3-66A; and Plaza Singapura, #03-77 M.A.C Cosmetics Located at Bugis Junction, #0117S and Ngee Ann City, #B1-13/13A; and available at Robinsons Raffles City, Robinsons JEM, Isetan Scotts, Isetan Tampines, Tangs Orchard, Tangs VivoCity and Sephora at ION Orchard Make Up For Ever Available at Sephora counters at Bugis+, Ngee Ann City, Great World City, Plaza Singapura, ION Orchard, VivoCity and The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands Maison Martin Margiela Available at eshop. club21global.com Mark Jacobs Beauty Available at Sephora at Ngee Ann City, ION Orchard, Plaza Singapura, Great World City, Bugis+, Jem, The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands and VivoCity Miss Selfridge Located at Paragon Shopping Centre, #03-48A/49; and Wisma Atria, #01-25/26 Moleskine Available at Kinokuniya stores, Basheer Design Books, TANGS Orchard, TANGS VivoCity and selected Popular and Times bookstores NARS Available at the NARS counter at Tangs Orchard
RMK Available at counters at Isetan Scotts, Isetan Serangoon Central and Takashimaya Shopping Centre Sacai Available at eshop.club21global.com Sandro Located at ION Orchard, #03-18 Sephora Located at Ngee Ann City, #B1-05/06; ION Orchard, #01-05/06; Plaza Singapura, #01-56/57; Great World City, #01-59/60; Bugis+, #02-06 to 09; JEM, #01-42/55/56; The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands, #B2-31 to 34; and VivoCity, #01-178 Swarovski Located at Centrepoint, Great World City, ION Orchard, Jem, The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands, Parkway Parade and Plaza Singapura The Kooples Available at Robinsons Orchard, 260 Orchard Road, L2 Thom Browne Available at Surrender, Raffles Hotel Arcade, #02-31; and mrporter.com Too Faced Available at Sephora at Ngee Ann City, ION Orchard, Plaza Singapura, Great World City, Bugis+, Jem, The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands and VivoCity Topman Located at Knightsbridge, #01-05/05; ION Orchard, #B3-02; Raffles City, #02-39; Tampines Mall, #01-25/26/27; and VivoCity #01-72 Topshop Located at Knightsbridge, #01-05/05; ION Orchard, #B2-01; Raffles City, #02-39; Tampines Mall, #02-16; and VivoCity #01-72 Tsumori Chisato Located at Forum The Shopping Mall, #01-30 to 34 Urban Decay Available at Sephora at Ngee Ann City, ION Orchard, Plaza Singapura, Great World City, Bugis+, Jem, The Shoppes at Marina Bay Sands and VivoCity Whole9Yards Located at Orchard Gateway, #02-06; and Wisma Atria, #01-05
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Distro
Where to find
Directory
Hair & Nail Salons
Artisan Hair 42A Lorong Mambong, Holland Village Choeur Raffles Hotel Arcade, #02-23 Essensuals Orchard Central, #B1-20; 1 Vista Exchange Green, #B1-22 Hairloom The Arcade, #03-08 Kizuki Raffles Hotel Arcade, #03-03/04 Manicurious 41 Beach Road Next Salon 271A Holland Ave, Holland Village; ION Orchard, #03-24A Prep Mandarin Gallery, #03-34 The Golden Rule Barber Co. 188 Race Course Road, #01-02 The Panic Room 311A Geylang Road Toni&Guy 170 East Coast Road; 24B Lorong Mambong; Rochester Mall, #02-01 What He Wants 181 Orchard Road, #03-30; The Cathay, #01-06
Fashion Boutiques
Art, Design and Music Stores
BooksActually 9 Yong Siak Street Grafunkt Park Mall, #02-06; 85 Playfair Road, Tong Yuan Ind. Bldg, #02-01 Lomography Gallery Store 295 South Bridge Road, #01-01 Supplies & Co Raffles Hotel Arcade,#03-07 The Substation 45 Armenian Street Tokyobikes 38 Haji Lane Vinylicious Records Parklane Shopping Mall, #01-26
Bars
Acid Bar 180 Orchard Road, Peranakan Place Alley Bar 180 Orchard Road, Peranakan Place Bikini Bar 50 Siloso Beach Walk Sentosa #01-06 Blu Jaz Cafe 12 Bali Lane Club Street Social 5 Gemmill Lane Maison Ikkoku 20 Kandahar Street Outdoors Café & Bar 180 Orchard Road, Peranakan Place Overeasy One Fullerton, #01-06 Paulaner Brauhaus Millenia Walk, #01-01 Sauce Bar Esplanade Mall, #01-10/12 Tanjong Beach Club 120 Tanjong Beach Walk, Sentosa The Merry Men 86 Robertson Quay, #01-00 The Vault 23 Circular Road
Clubs
kyō 133 Cecil Street, #B1-02, Keck Seng Tower Taboo 65/67 Neil Street The Butter Factory One Fullerton, #02-02/03/04 Zouk Singapore 17 Jiak Kim Street Mansion Bay 8 Raffles Ave, Esplanade
actually Orchard Gateway, #03-18 agnès b. ION Orchard, #03-24; Isetan Orchard, Wisma Atria; Isetan Scotts, Shaw House; Raffles City Shopping Centre, #01-26; Takashimaya Department Store, L2 Ben Sherman Paragon, #03-48; VivoCity, #01-24 Dr. Martens Orchard Central, #03-05; Wheelock Place, #02-17A Flesh Imp Bugis Junction, #03-22 Fred Perry Orchard Cineleisure, #03-07A; ION Orchard, #B3-01 Front Row Raffles Hotel Arcade, #02-09 Granny’s Day Out Peninsula Shopping Centre, #03-25 J Shoes City Link Mall, #B1-22 Leftfoot Orchard Cineleisure, #02-07A; The Cathay, #01-19/20 Little Man 7C Binjai Park Mdreams Wheelock Place, #B2-03 New Balance *SCAPE, #02-15; 112 East Coast Road, #02-25; Tampines Mall, #02-18; Novena Square, #01-39/42 Porter International Wisma Atria, #03-06 P.V.S Orchard Cineleisure, #02-05 Rockstar Orchard Cineleisure, #03-08 STARTHREESIXTY Wheelock Place #02-08; Marina Square, #02-179; VivoCity, #02-09; Paragon, #03-08 Strangelets 7 Yong Siak Street Surrender Raffles Hotel Arcade, #02-31 The Denim Store Mandarin Gallery, #03-09/10/11 Topshop & Topman Knightsbridge, #01-05/06; ION Orchard, #B2-01 & #B3-01B; Raffles City Shopping Centre, #02-39; Tampines 1 Mall, #01-26/27 & #0216; VivoCity, #01-72 Vans Orchard Central, #01-22/23; Marina Square, #02-160; Bugis Junction, #01-43/44; Orchard Cineleisure, #03-07; VivoCity, #02-111/113 Victoria Jomo 9 Haji Lane Wesc myVillage @ Serangoon Gardens, #01-04; 112 Katong, #02-19
Hotels
Hotel 1929 50 Keong Saik Road Klapsons The Boutique Hotel 15 Hoe Chiang Road New Majestic Hotel 31-27 Bukit Pasoh Road Sultan Boutique Hotel101 Jalan Sultan, #01-01 The Club Hotel 28 Ann Siang Road The Quincy Hotel 22 Mount Elizabeth W Hotel 21 Ocean Way, Sentosa Cove Wanderlust Hotel 2 Dickson Road Wangz 231 Outram Road
Schools
LaSalle College of the Arts 1 McNally Street, Block E, L1 Reception Nafa School of Performing Arts 151 Bencoolen Street NTU Students Activities Centre 50 Nanyang Avenue, L1 NUS Radio Pulze 31 Lower Kent Ridge, National University of Singapore Office of Student Affairs, Level 3, Yusof Ishak House, Show Ning Lab 751 North Bridge Road, #02-02 Tembusu College University Town, NUS, 28 College Avenue East, #B1-01 Thunder Rock School 227A Upper Thomson Road
F&B Establishments
Bar Bar Black Sheep 879 Cherry Ave; 86 Robertson Quay, #01-04; 362 Tanjong Katong Road Coq & Balls 6 Kim Tian Road Cupcakes With Love Tampines 1, #03-22 Doodle! Pasta Oasia Hotel, Novena Square 2 Estee 47 Duxton Road Forty Hands 78 Yong Siak Street, #01-12 Habitat Coffee 223 Upper Thomson Road IndoChine Restaurant 47 Club Street Island Creamery Serene Centre, #01-03; Holland Village Shopping Mall, #01-02 IZY 27 Club Street Kuro Clarke Quay, Blk 3C #01-11 Little Part 1 Cafe 15 Jasmine Road Loysel’s Toy 66 Kampung Bugis, Ture, #01-02 Oblong Place 10 Maju Avenue Oceans of Seafood PasarBella, #02-06 Open Door Policy 19 Yong Siak Street Outpost St. James Power Station, #01-11 PACT Orchard Central, #02-16/17/18/19 Papa Palheta 150 Tyrwhitt Road PARK. 281 Holland Ave #01-01 PasarBella 200 Turf Club Rd Potato Head Folk 36 Keong Saik Rd Selfish Gene Cafe 40 Craig Road Shots 90 Club Street Skyve 10 Windstedt Road, Block E, #01-17 SPRMRKT 2 McCallum Street SuperTree 18 Gardens by the Bay, #03-01 Sushi Burrito 100 Tras Street Symmetry 9 Jalan Kubor #01-01 The Forbidden City 3A Clarke Quay, Merchant’s Court, #01-02 The Fabulous Baker Boy The Foothills, 70 River Valley Road Veganburg 44 Jalan Eunos; Golden Shoe Carpark, #01-28D; Marina Bay Financial Centre Tower 3, #02-05; 200 Turf Club Road, #01-32 Wheeler’s Yard 28 Lorong Ampas
And Everywhere Else
Bottles & Bottles Parkway Parade, #B1-83K/L; Tampines Central 1, #B1-28; 131 Tanglin Road, Tudor Court Shopping Gallery Camera Rental Centre 23 New Bridge Road, #03-01 Mini Habitat (Showroom) 27 Leng Kee Road OCBC Frank VivoCity, #01-160; Singapore Management University, Li Ka Shing Library, #B1-43; Nanyang Technological University, Academic Complex North, Ns3 01-01; Singapore Polytechnic Foodcourt 5, (Fc512) The Central 6 Eu Tong Seng Street
Rest of the World
Zouk Kuala Lumpur 113 Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur Malaysia
Muse
96
Eat What Math Paper Press’ flavourful fiction Text: Min Chen
Not just a haunt for bibliophiles or standing room for bookshelves, BooksActually is also where local writing goes to live. Armed with that enduring love for the written word and a pioneering spirit that’s spearheaded happenings like the 24-Hour Bookstore Event, the literary haven has got its heart and ethos writ equally large on its publishing arm, Math Paper Press. Quietly ambitious, Math Paper Press is not one for loud or ostentatious
declarations, but in its catalogue of local literary gold, has directly made plain its raison d’être. In the three years since its founding, the imprint has published volumes of novels, novellas, short stories, poetry and visual art by such names as Cyril Wong, Verena Tay, Speak Cryptic, Jollin Tan, Jahan Loh and Joshua Ip, all of whom form vital parts of Singapore’s creative organ. It may be small, but in putting in a good printed word (and lots more) for our island’s
new wave of writers and artists, Math Paper Press remains mighty in intent and purpose. It’s an effort that won’t be ending with Math Paper Press’ latest anthology series, TwentyFour Flavours. Food and words co-mingle this project, each edition of which compiles flash fiction pieces by 24 local writers who arrive to reinterpret our nation’s first and last obsession in 240 words or less. A veritable literary buffet, Twenty-Four Flavours has already unveiled servings
of Sushi, Century Egg, Chicken Rice, Dolphin Meat, and Salted Vegetables and Duck Soup, featuring work by the likes of Pooja Nansi, Desmond Kon, Alvin Pang, Yeow Kai Chai, Toh Hsien Min and Carena Chor. More feisty meetings of food and fiction are set to be unveiled in the rest of the series’ 24-issue run that, as it happens with either a good book or a good plate of chicken rice, are bound to nourish, satisfy and hit the right spot.