Kiss My Culture

Top 10 Things to do This Week (Jan 9-15)

Skream & Benga
Zirca l $20/32 includes two drinks
Jan 13, 10pm

At a time when dubstep wasn’t Skrillex and a oh-Steve-Aoki’s-in-it-too, its stamp on the music industry was lesser-known in the late 90s under the footprint of UK bass. Skream and Benga were at the heart of that sound when it came about, going from dark to melodic and funk to jazzy. With both forming part of the trio Magnetic Man, being pigeonholed into the current mainstream craze of dubstep was inevitable. In the same vein, a mix of underground to mainstream crossover tunes and educational classics will set the sound levels for this night. Audio-visual collective Syndicate’s Kiat opens the night together with Brandon Tay on VJ duties.

Zouk x HTC presents Trouse Brothers with Emma Hewitt
Zouk l $28/35 includes two drinks
Jan 13, 10pm

When you put trance and house together you’ll get trouse. Tiesto made a name out of it and Pete Tong is believed to have made fun of it (but still plays it). Marcus Schossow, Swedish House Mafia and even Laidback Luke have brandished their own versions. On the local front, the Trouse Brothers have been purveying the uplifting basslines of house and the euphoric drops and build ups of trance since their mysterious birth a year ago. This night, they will receive an additional hand (or vocals) from trance’s leading songstress herself, Emma Hewitt.

IS Tropical
Avalon l $30 includes one drink
Jan 13, 10pm

The London based-masked face trio has grown from hipster’s keepsake to blogosphere notoriety (and then some). The bass pounders of lo-fi dance music leans advantageously towards the growing popularity of fuck-the-world sing-alongs driven by the undercurrents of their culturally inspired whatevs’. If they start throwing brownies at you during their set before any of that was cool, it’ll be no surprise.

Foster The People
Fort Canning l $85/95 from Sistic
Jan 14, 10pm

They’ve advised pretty kids with their pumped up kicks to run with the threat of a homicidal teen lurking with a loaded gun. All that made sense courtesy of the Los Angeles band’s track “Pumped Up Kicks” (from the album Torches) that was seen swimming between number 1 to 50 in charts across the globe. Taken from the same album, the band’s latest single “Don’t Stop (Color on the Walls)” seems to be garnering the same buzz as their smashing hit; proving that the kids aren’t just another one-off running away with their pumped up kicks.

Yuksek
Zouk l $25/32 includes two drinks
Jan 14, 10pm

The Frenchman latest album Living On The Edge Of Time has given him a passenger seat right next to Moby. Being compared to the electronic music icon for producing and singing on his own tracks might sound like a lifelong achievement, but the biasness also resides in Yuksek’s desolation –accumulated from his tours and subtly found in his album. Guised as chirpier and entrenched in the stand of: don’t worry about me, I am OK; his pop-laden almost indie tracks like “Always On The Run” and “Off The Walls” holds a deeper truth in his lyrical endeavours. A darn good singer too.

MINK Presents Sgt Slick
MINK l $28 includes one drink
Jan 14, 10pm

The Aussie house DJ and producer has had a decade worth of experience under his belt. His moniker wasn’t all militant as Andy J, but it has served him well with allied releases and remixes with Chuckie, Angger Dimas, The Potbelleez and Avicii. From his grubbier electro basslines to the well-endowed proggy tracks and even nastier Dutch house inspired ones, MINK’s punters will be pleased to know that whichever way the Sgt chooses, they’re going to get an earful.

BASSIC with Ming
Velvet Underground – Dance l $25/30 includes two drinks
Jan 14, 10pm

Focusing on quality rather than popularity, Velvet goes back to what it’s known for through this new night helmed by resident DJ Ming. From future bass to house’s house and post-dubstep to techno’s maiden sound, nothing is left underneath the more commercial favourites of today. Jeremy Boon and Kiat supports.

You Say Party We Say Rave!
Fash, The Butter Factory l $21/26 includes two drinks
Jan 14, 10pm

Kurt of Clash The Disko Kids, Zushan and The LFK returns for another night to inspire all that air-punching, knee-bobbing and heel-tapping you can muster. From the percussion heavy tribal tech to the electro bass slappers and eclectic floor-filling selections from the trio, revellers are advised to do some physical warm up before the night –preferably laced with alcohol.

[PICK OF THE WEEK] The People’s Party
*SCAPE Playspace l $108-178 from Sistic
Jan 14-15, 3pm

What started in 2009, Hong Kong’s The People’s Party (TPP) has been procuring only the most whispered about cutting-edged acts and placating the thirst of its ever growing we-know-our-music community. On the last leg of its 4-city tour (Hong Kong, Taipei and Jakarta), they will be making a stop at *SCAPE together with 13 local and international acts.

On day-one, local stalwarts Monster Cat, Plainsunset, dance collective Eatmepoptart and Tenderfist from across the causeway will be joining The Jezabels and Metromony. TPP’s aim at placing undoubtedly top-notch home-grown musicians alongside international flavours should be noted and duly applauded. Coming off their fresh 2011 album releases, Jezabels’ Prisoner and Metromony’s The English Riviera, have both garnered them an even greater cult-following.

Day-two sees a headier brew of acts with Hong Kong’s very own Noughts and Exes (blew minds last time they were here), Singapore representatives The Analog Girl, Muon and In Each Hand A Cutlass; all joining New Zealand’s Unknown Mortal Orchestra (UMO) and The Naked & Famous (NF) and tipping the froth with Londoners Bombay Bicycle Club (BBC). Expect a kaleidoscope of music with UMO’s psych-pop to NF’s blaring guitar rudeness and BBC’s folk-indie soundscape.

Simple Plan
Fort Gate, Fort Canning l $99-121 from Sistic
Jan 15, 8pm

Canada’s pop-punk band returns to Singapore coming off their “Get Your Heart On” Australia tour. Emulating their sound and more than a decade worth of mainstream prominence, bands like We The Kings and These Kids Wear Crowns have stepped up. Catch Pierre Bouvier and his pals take on the stage.