Kampai! - 5 best Japanese bars
[inSing] The Japanese invasion in Singapore is happening again, but this time it’s a welcoming endeavour. With both authentic and Nippon-inspired bars and restaurants cropping up all over the island, punters are spoilt for choice. We walked pass the chōchin lanterns and through the Noren curtains to try the ji-biirus, teppanyakis, sakes, sushis, yakitoris and kaiseki ryōri to suss out our favourite few Japanese bars.
10 Must Hear Releases
This week’s top 10 releases on Kiss My Culture’s YouTube video playlist puts together a amalgamation of indie, leftfield, drum and bass, dubstep, electro and a house number that is set to be the anthem of the season.
Two months ago, Jamie XX rework of Radiohead’s impending cult classic “Bloom” took the intrawebbies by storm, and now he makes public his second rework in the form of (Jamie XX Rework 3.) Opening with a ghostly and broody vibe, Jamie peaks it up from sunken bass and echoed chimes into funky house territory. Not wanting to lose “Bloom“‘s touch, the breakdown pits Thom Yorke’s moan over moody synths.
10 Must Hear Releases
This week’s top 10 releases on Kiss My Culture’s YouTube video playlist takes you on a journey through a kaleidoscope of sound.
Opening loud and hard with The Bloody Beetroots’ “Church of Noise,” the playlist peaks up on the intensity level immediately with a mad dubstep remix of Modestep’s “To The Stars” by Break The Noize & The Autobots and gears up towards some drum and bass from Tantrum Desire and Camo & Krooked.
New tunes from Yuksek and a follow up to Benny Bennasi and Gary Go’s club anthem “Cinema” fills the middle. Taking it down a notch, Wretch 32 drops his latest lyrical waxing and two tracks too good to miss from the mysterious Khat gets featured.
Closing the video playlist, Trentemøller’s “Sycamore Feeling” not only gets a frighteningly haunting rework from Marie Fisker but is also given an equally thought-provoking video treatment directed by Diana Tørsløv who was previously a psychologist specializing in the area of schizophrenia.
Video Playlist
Click playlist button on video to view all.
The Bloody Beetroots feat. Dennis Lyxzén “Church of Noise”
Modestep “To The Stars (Break The Noize & The Autobots Remix)”
Tantrum Desire “Reach”
Camo & Krooked feat Ayah Marar “Cross The Line”
Yuksek “Always On The Run”
Benny Benassi feat. Gary Go “Close to Me”
Wretch 32 feat. Etta Bond “Forgiveness”
Khat “Fast Food & Sour Diesel”
Khat “A.I.”
Trentemøller “Sycamore Feeling (Marie Fisker Version)”
5 poshest bars in Singapore
[inSing] Swank, style, and substance. These are the three characteristics that make a posh bar posh. From chic ambience to classy décor, and exclusive memberships to expert services, bars of such calibre are a few and far between. We invite you into the opulent compounds of 5 bars that epitomize a lifestyle of fine and exquisite taste. Live vicariously through us.
5 Must Hear Releases
Big Bad Wolf
Duck Sauce
3Beat
Award-winning music video director Keith Schofield has a knack for creating some of the most outlandish, mind-boggling and utterly entertaining music videos around. Think Charlotte Gainsbourg’s “Heaven Can Wait” featuring Beck, and Supergrass’ “Bad Blood” -winner of “Best Rock Video” at the 2008 UK Music Video Awards.
It seems like a perfect matrimony of creative minds when A-Trak and Armand Van Helden agreed to Schofield’s video idea for their latest release “Big Bad Wolf”. It is one thing to grow out of the success of their “Barbra Streisand” vibe but it is another to be made to look like dicks doing it.
In a recent MTV interview, Schofield didn’t expect the idea to fly, let alone having the duo fully committed to it. “Yeah, I don’t even know if that’s supposed to be out there, but that’s why I couldn’t believe they wanted to be the guys in the video! I mean, a couple days before we were about to shoot, I was telling them, ‘You know, we can cast other guys for the roles.’ I was trying to discourage them, like, ‘It’s not going to be fun. It’s going to be two full days of you sitting on your knees, having a guy straddle you,’” Schofield laughed.
5 best places to wine and dine with nature
[inSing] Bars and restaurants perched on towering buildings and those encased within the bustling city life, battalions of nocturnal dwellers attacking establishments for a night out, strobe lights and disco balls, queues –sometimes all you need is just a relaxing drink. In concrete jungle Singapore, a quaint night out surrounded by nature sounds like an ideal alternative instead of wall-to-wall debauchery. We took a stroll down some of the most picturesque green landscapes on the island in search of a place to wine and dine and park our life away.
5 Must Hear Releases
Osaka
120 Days
Club Mod
Cutting-edge Australian powerhouse of a label Modular Recordings have just launched their new singles imprint Club Mod, designed to take dancefloors where no dancefloors have gone before. Their first release “Osaka” is a broody acid banger of a tribal track from Norwegian quartet 120 Days. Look out for the monthly one-off releases from the new imprint, set to hold open musical doors with one foot on the dancefloors and the other into the future.
5 drinks to get you wasted
[inSing] As they say, it ain’t a good party if you remember it. And the brevity of such a night is often caused by the drinks one have had. Sure, we can have a table filled with drinks, but such will burn a hole in the pocket. So we went out in search of five cocktails that could burn a hole in your head instead. You can thank us later, once you understand that we are in no way responsible for the consequences you’ve chosen to indulge in. Note: be aware of where the toilets are prior to drinking.
5 Must Hear Releases
Vision
Gemini
Inspected
The upcoming English dubstep DJ-producer, Gemini is turning punters inside out with his ferocious bass and textural symphonic melodies offerings as heard on his recently released, Graduation EP. “Vision” shares the same stereosonic violence as his remix of Ed Sheeran’s “You Need Me”. A brief intro leads to the first bass smack, heading back to a breakdown and builds up to an ever-spectacular drop. The kid’s going places, and bassheads will most likely go mental in those spaces. We hear you Home Club.
The FFF Girl DJ Bootcamp 2011 | More Than Music…
[ActuallyMag] Discussed over frozen margaritas, Debbie Chia approached both Cherry Chan and Natalie Tan aka Pixiedub after their residency at an alfresco bar in 2008 with an idea that (unknown to them) will change Singapore’s DJing landscape.
These three ladies were already holding their own back then. Debbie was a resident at KPO, was about to kick off a dance music event organization called the Midnight Shift on the same year, and was Asia’s first participant at the 2005 Red Bull Music Academy in Seatle. Cherry has being going around pushing Intelligent Dance Music from London to Asia back then, started the first ever all-girls night PopMyCherry!, and was in the midst of building audio-visual collective Syndicate.
Having been DJing since 2001, Natalie is synonymous in nightlife circles having played at numerous parties including The Official After Party for rock band Muse and Stereophonics and at venues such as Stereolab, Hacienda, House, Blu Jaz Cafe, and Home Club. Her eclectic taste for music and her knack for picking out discerning niches have also seen her successfully shaped events from Art Stage Singapore VIP Opening to Singapore Writers Festival and Singfest 2008.
Three years on and the ladies have gained a wealth of experiences from their respective endeavours. And as lecturers of the FFF Girl DJ Bootcamp, they have grown on their own through the basis they wish to impart to future female DJs. The basis of the bootcamp is simple: educate women about electronic dance music and DJing while creating a community of local female DJs.
