TKY said:

This is just some of this year's lineup: Lucy Liu vs Zhang Ziyi in a showdown of Kung Fu and verbal spars; nurses making sly jabs at the recent NKF controversy, as well as urging patients to give a helping hand and donate; local men (played by the Dollies of course) discussing their preference for foreign ladies over the "overeducated" scary Singapore women.

Because I found the play very good, and I hope more people go to catch it. Must support local production~

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Fuzzybunn went to look at the North-East CDC National Song-writing competition

We sat on a big patch of empty land that ersembled a gigantic kitty-litter box on red National Day picnic-spreads, some 50m away from the raised stage. I am uncertain as to why we had to be so far away - perhaps they were afraid terrorists would throw trash cans at our budding talents. Some horrible old man kept giving us dirty looks because he claimed we were taking too much space and that the fifty supporters for his son (whom had written a song for the competition) would be arriving soon and that we had better make room for them then. They never showed, though, and we ended up sitting beside his son's two lonely supporters, a morose couple who didn't even bother to clap much for him.

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Singaporean band The Observatory are off to play in Europe:

we're off to bergen tomorrow night. not sure if i've packed too much or correctly for the weather there. i mean it's summer but it's not hot like here and it's apparently chilly at night. but it sure will be fun to be with the rest of the guys for 2 whole weeks!

The Observatory is launching their new album Blank Walls on September 2nd at the Esplanade Recital Studio.

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Zhao keeps a David Tao blog...

David still in Singapore following a strict schedule. In the morning he spends hour & a half in the gym then 8 hrs of rehearsal, after going back to his hotel, its voice training & memorising lyrics. He did said that he will be playing the guitar more in the concert & that's good news cos I love seeing him with his beloved guitars.

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decoding galvin said:

A week ago I posted an entry about a hokkien song that I’ve been looking high and low. Thanks to Terence Goh, I managed to get the song and converted it into mp3 format. The title of the hokkien song is “Ji Pa Ban“. Sing along if you want to…

Nah sih gua uh ji pa ban, ji pa ban, Gua uh ji pa ban, jit si lang tio khin san

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Gremlin said:

The winning band is called 3Dash1. They're a blend of power punk/pop. A 3-piece outfit that reminds me of another local band called Plain Sunset. Their infectious pop-punk ditty inspired the crowd to sing-along, especially the chorus. In fact, I'm so impressed by this band that I participated in the SMS vote and gave them my thumbs up.

Support local bands!

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The UnXpected said:

I'd like to specially mention Ngak for always asking for SMOKE ON WATER every saturday he's in Wala.

Ngak: I want SMOKE ON WATERRRR!!!!!

Ngak: SMOKE ON WATERRRRR!!!

Shirlyn: Er .... you forgot 'THE'...

Ngak: *blink* OK, I want THE SMOKE ON WATER!!!!

The local band The UnXpected have their own little blog, and its pretty funny as well! They are even fans of Rockson leh!

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Born on Ninth of August said:

"A Nation In Concert" features music ranging from evergreen songs to pop favorites, and dance items ranging from rhumba and cha-cha to hip-hop and Bhangra. The exquisite costumes are designed by Amor Meus' Francis Louis Ler. The show is penned by award-winning playwright Desmond Sim and directed by Jonathan Lim of Chestnuts fame.

All proceeds from this event will go to four volunteer welfare organizations and the Community Chest.

I believe we should do our part to help these people. A contribution as small as buying a ticket could mean the world to them. We are not only helping them financially, most importantly, we are helping them to gain more self-confidence.

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Michelle wrote about her favourite gig at Baybeats, the alternative music festival held over last weekend:

I'm a bit at a loss for what to write about Concave Scream, except that they just seem to have hit on how to write songs that work as songs and work for their sound as a band. To me they sound melancholic yet uplifting, reminiscent yet timeless, and always larger than the sum of their influences.

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Please trackback any Baybeats reviews or other relevant links to this post, or tell us about your own Baybeats experiences in the comments.

Ken's Reflections said:

Five Foot Broadway is an incubation program for the creation of new Singapore musicals. These are developed to the level of a no-frills public performance. ... The general public’s response was overwhelmingly positive. Not only did we have full houses every night, but we received a heavy demand for tickets, and eventually had a waiting list of 150 members of the public who were unable to get tickets. Theater practitioners came and were enthusiastically impressed. Critical evaluation of the musicals was generally favorable. Two of the musicals were taken up for further development and staging.

A report on Five Foot Broadway, aimed at creating new and original Singapore musicals by matching playwrights and composers.

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Baybeats said:

Copeland, Brandtson, Brand New Sunset, Electrico, Concave Scream, Surreal, Vertical Rush, Love Me Butch, Furniture and more...

When: 15 Jul 2005 (Fri), 8.00 PM 16 Jul 2005 (Sat), 5:30 PM 17 Jul 2005 (Sun), 4.00 PM

Singapore's biggest alternative music festival is back, featuring lots of local bands.

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burbur said:

we then realised we were at the wrong carpark. how looserish was that. this was like one of those secret raves where you call someone, who would call someone else, and then calls his friend's friend to find out the secret address of the very secret rave. we tried to follow the music that was booming in and around the quiet streets of the business district. it was kinda surrreal, skyscrapers usually buzzing with activity in the daytime, now deadly silent while a not-so-secret party was booming off the rooftop of some building.

A veteran clubber pans Elevation 280.

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The Mail Order Bride said:

Anyway, our upcoming event Youth Alive 2005 finals happen next Saturday. Ticket sales have been poor and it's very frustrating. We have been going around to find sponsors, where Pat and Pauline even took time off to meet potential sponsors, exhausting every source of contact we have, but not many people are supportive of local music...

Tickets are now selling at YMCA or at the door, all proceeds will be donated to Children's Cancer Foundation, Singapore's Children Society and Christian Care Services.

Youth Alive 2005 finals are on the 9th of July, Saturday. Get your tickets to support the very talented bands and help the children. And if you guys can help spread the word on your blogs, that would be cool too.

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Threez said:

Something's not right.

My husband asked me yesterday "How come Ho Yeow Sun's making it so huge overseas and here you hardly hear about her?"

I don't have an answer, or rather, I'm AFRAID to answer! Could it be that our multi-religious society "fail" to see her as a talented singer because they'd rather not deal? Could it be that they have beaten her up so badly in the press before it seems like a reversal of position for them to do any decent story on her? Do I really want to read about a lard-eating cardiologist who obviously has no respect for his own body when I could be learning more about this woman who is putting Singapore on the map AND SINGAPORE CHOOSES NOT TO NOTICE?!

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Shelley Leong, Malaysian singer-songwriter, will be performing on 1st and 2nd July at Northern Exposure. This event organised by MusicForGood will be held at the Esplanade Outdoor Stage.

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Shelley Leong website
Listen to Shelley's sample songs

My Precious said:

Hi there. We will be updating our mp3s soon, so these 3 songs currently on MySpace: Bliss, My Life Is Weird and For Virgin's Sake will be available for downloading soon but for ONE DAY ONLY!

We do not know yet when this will happen but most probably after our launch party next weekend. So do look out for our next post which should update you!

My Precious is a cool hardcore-screamo band that officially launched their latest split CD EP The Venom In My Veins with Aussie band Steve Towson and The Conscripts on June 18, 2005.

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Suck My Pop Culture said:

oh my god!!! i can't begin to express great regret in going to watch this musical!!! in fact, it was a bore, not a single laugh could be squeezed out of me. perhaps a few smiles now and then, but it just wasn't up to standard. thank god i didnt have to pay a cent for this blasted show, it wasn't worth it. tell me, would you pay to watch a show that promotes patriotism? loyalty to our narrow-minded, iron-fisted society? no, am i right? that is why NDP tickets are free-of-charge. but this, omg, it was beyond hope.

So this is the result of the hotly touted musical?

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After its inception in early 2004, doubleyellowline is rapidly becoming one of the leading organizations in gig execution, band support and live communication and networking. doubleyellowline confidently offers interested establishments an expansive spectrum of local bands/musicians of every genre. From clubs, schools, private enterprises or "indie" joints, we seek to provide the important cost-friendly alternative to foreign talent. There is a wealth of local musical talent in Singapore - and doubleyellowline can show you its wonders.

Check out this local zine that is working hard behind the scenes to help promote local bands and the arts. The name "Doubleyellowline" connotes the No Parking rule, which metaphorically is the message the organizers want to express to the performers and the audience - the notion of not stagnating, of always moving forward in the pursuit of musical excellence.

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Human Beatboxing is a fascinating vocal artform which involves the rapid and precise manipulation of the vocal organs to emulate the beats and rhythms of a drum machine.

Check out homegrown beatboxer, Dharni. Listen to some of his beatbox sample beats.

Rock On Singapore will be held at Orchard Green on 17th and 18th of June, starting from 6pm.

Rock On Singapore was conceptualised in April 2004 and in November the same year, the National Arts Council (NAC) and HeartRock Singapore started serious discussion on how to implement it into the Singapore Arts Festival 2005.

The 2-day concert will feature local bands like Electrico, Ugly In The Morning, The Observatory and Ronin to name some of the few. You can refer to the event programme for more details on who's performing.

Also check out the video/audio section.

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