Tag Archives: monster cat

culture

Sunny Rainbow Days

8-bit adventure time

I think I over-extended my Christmas break from blogging, both before and during, so I’ll make up by being consistent again with the after.

I’ll admit, blogging is a bit boring for me right now, even with the curated day series. Mainly because curation is just so boring when it’s content out there that is easily available and all it takes is for bloggers like us to re-assemble there here. I suppose the things I have going to keep this going is that most of the content I highlight here tends to be rather niche, and that I still get to share my opinions in this section.

I do wish that I had more time, energy or resources to have more opinion pieces but crafting text is quite a time-sink. Something I’m sure you can appreciate if you’ve done this before.

Well, enough whining, this isn’t what it’s about. I hope you enjoy today’s Curated Day!

READ

A Big Misunderstanding

A good read if you want some analysis of how Apple changed the game for selling personal computers.

Apple is not selling caviar against cheese and crackers. They’re selling better-tasting cheese and crackers, and all you have to do is come into their store and taste some to believe for yourself. Anyone who believes Apple is about to have the rug pulled out from under the iPhone and iPad by commoditized Android devices should spend a few minutes inside an Apple retail store this holiday week.

TNV: Maurice Simon “The Rise of Female Model-DJs”

I don’t care much for Model-DJs and the way they look more than the music they spin, or how they spin it. I probably find most of what I’ve heard so far to be the same, mundane boring dance music, and I don’t really care much for scantly clad women parading behind a console. No, honestly.

I love what TOKIMONSTA said in a podcast, that as a female DJ, she doesn’t want to cut the queue just because she’s a girl. I respect that, even though I recognise that not many people take female musicians seriously enough, or put them in a certain box. She probably has more aptitude for taste then most of these Model-DJs anyways.

However, the other side exists too. There are many performers and artists in the electronic music circuit who are genuinely focused on their craft.
Unless as a female DJ, you were booked to play a gig at a themed or private party, it’s kind of over the top to be Djing at a club in your bikini or lingerie isn’t it?
To put things into perspective – Maya Jane Coles, Sister Bliss, Ellen Allien and many other top global female DJs wouldn’t be caught dead performing in a playboy bunny suit with neon pink headphones strapped to their necks.
These ladies are renowned for their excellent technical and creative skills. They have an innate ability in expressing their craft in a genuine and compelling way. Their credibility comes from the unique genres of music that they play at dance clubs and festivals.

LISTEN

Underwater (Cherry Chan x Kiat Remix) – Monster Cat

A real pleasant surprise from Monster Cat and the head honchos of Syndicate! If you thought the original Monster Cat was a brand of dark folk, Cherry Chan and Kiat turn this number into a glitchy after-dark horror party.

The Amen Project – Syndicate

More Christmas-y festivities with a whole album from Syndicate and their stable of artists! My personal favourite probably goes to Izak Stern, so maybe you could fast forward to that and chekkit.

WATCH

Whipping Post – Allman Brothers

From 1970.

Adventure Time: Video Game Intro

From 2012 with a 1980′s twist.

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culture

MONSTER CAT – Mannequins

monstercat

Making waves in the Singaporean music community, MONSTER CAT hurtle into the madness with a 5-track EP, Mannequins, that takes the listener into the murky depths of our emotions and depraved thoughts. Listen to the album at this blog, download it for free (for the month of May) HERE, or get yourself a physical copy THERE.

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culture

Snakeweed Sessions Turn Up The Singapore Music Scene

Snakeweed Sessions
“Music writes itself.”

Ask any Singaporean music maker, and they would have heard of Leonard Soosay’s Snakeweed Studios. It’s the quintessential recording studio where many bands choose to commit their songs to tape and breathe life into them. To those of us who’ve recorded music in Leonard Soosay‘s hallowed (and supposedly haunted) studio space, it was a special time, when magical things happened.

Now, for the first time, Snakeweed Studios, Siren and fellow music lovers are collaborating on a project to capture the sounds that come out of Singapore, record them in the legendary Snakeweed Studios and to understand the motivations and passions of people who choose to create music. What results is an incredibly unique entity known as the Snakeweed Sessions.

I love the idea and story behind this project. It stems from a pride in our local culture, especially when it’s been so sidelined by mainstream thought. For some reason, a vast majority of our own countrymen do not believe in local arts, but we still do it anyway. There are many reasons why a project like this wouldn’t be taken seriously, but the sweat, passion and solidarity behind the work really makes me believe that this could be the start of something very, very special.

Already, the pilot episode shines the spotlight on an upcoming band, MONSTER CAT that not many may have heard of. But I’m impressed by the production quality, cinematographic style, and how it invokes music makers to show a different side of the musical style. MONSTER CAT‘s tender folk style remind me of singers like Damien Rice, yet there’s something incredibly introspective about the music that tells us from the get go, Singaporeans do write music that matters.

The project is already being supported by music blogs like I’m Waking Up To, Power of Pop, Adventures in Solitude and We Talk Music. From my meetings with the crew, we’re hoping to invite international bands that come into Singapore to taste the musical side of our culture, and also have a personal memory of their time within our country. And perhaps most importantly, it’s about music we can call our own, created by our peers.

I hope you can lend your support to the Snakeweed Sessions, by checking and sharing the pilot video tomorrow, and staying in touch to know when new episodes come out. These things take an incredible amount of time and energy to plan, organise and produce, yet the content is all free. I hope this is something all of us can be proud of. -)

MONSTER CAT from Snakeweed Sessions on Vimeo.

Do get your updates from this blog, or from any of the other blogs that were listed above.

We’ll to see you on the other side.

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