March 5th, 2010
No matter what your musical inclination, you’ll find your groove at this year’s Mosaic Music Festival. By Hidayah Salamat
You are:
The Indie Hipster
You’re the skinny jean-wearing, album-streaming crème de la crème of music elitists. You don’t listen to the radio. You get turned on by unknown bands with weird names. You'll like ...
65daysofstatic (GIG CANCELLED)
Mar 13, 7:30pm, 10pm, Esplanade Theatre Studio
Sheffield-based post-math-rock (you like the sound of that, don’t you?) band creates immense electronic soundscapes with their atmospheric, crunched guitar and contemplative tinkling of the piano, (See interview, next page). $40 inclusive of one drink from Sistic and $48 at the door.
Goodnight Electric
Mar 14, 8pm, 10pm and Mar 15, 7:15pm, 9:15pm, Esplanade Outdoor Theatre
Armed with a fondness for '80s synthpop, synthesizers and computers, Goodnight Electric has been rocking stages all over the country. Free.
Khottal
Mar 16, 7pm, 10pm, Esplanade Outdoor Theatre
Armed with an accordion, glockenspiel, ukelele and other fun instruments, Malaysian 10-piece outfit Khottal skips among unpolished pop, indie rock, funk and fey melodies that perk up the consciousness of their audience. Free.
You are:
The Brooder
You like to dress down in a flannel shirt with unwashed hair. You’ve painted the wall of your room black and get off on madly hypnotic melodies, dark lyrics and vampires. You'll like ...
11th Hour — Melody Gardot
Mar 13, 11pm, Esplanade Concert Hall
Melody Gardot has mesmerized audiences all over the world with her smoky, sotto voice quality. Sink into the plush depths of night with this songbird as she croons haunting ballads, including an especially sultry cover of "Over the Rainbow." $40-80 from Sistic.
St. Vincent
Mar 15, 7:30pm, 9:30pm, Esplanade Recital Studio
St. Vincent is 28-year-old Annie Clark, niece of fingerstyle guitar virtuoso Tuck Andress, whose deliciously husky voice and dark, melodious music has won her critical acclaim. Experience her beguiling charm amid the chamber melodies that exude a film noir feel.$30 from Sistic.
Dinosaur Jr.
Mar 16, 8pm, Esplanade Theatre
The '80s gave birth to the legendary Dinosaur Jr., the slacker revolutionaries of a new crushingly loud sound, or alt-rock, as defined by today's Nirvana and Pixies. Witness history in the making as they perform decibel-defying sounds off their latest, most critically-acclaimed album, Farm. $40-100 from Sistic.
You are:
The Soul Sista
You have big hair (or none at all) and (secretly) know all of Boyz 2 Men’s songs by heart. Everyone you’ve ever dated plays an instrument; more commonly the sax. You'll like ...
Omniform
Mar 12, 7pm, 10pm, Esplanade Outdoor Theatre
A 10-piece jazz outfit headed by saxophonist Greg Lyons, Omniform has been treating the jazz-loving crowd to their funky and soulful tunes since 2007. Free.
The Greg Lyons Quintet
Mar 13, 6:15pm, 9:15pm, The Concourse
Go on a wild musical ride with famed saxophonist Grey Lyons and his band of merry all-star musicians as they surprise their way through the All That Jazz set. Free.
Jackson Twinz
Mar 15, 7pm, Esplanade Outdoor Theatre
Get ready for some soul with the Jackson Twinz, back again with their powerful vocals. Free.
You are:
The Beatboxer
You write, think and sometimes even talk in rhyme. Most of your clothes are twice your size and you refer to your neighborhood or home as “the ghetto.” You are most likely to live in the east or west side of Singapore. You'll like ...
D-Coy with the Beatmathics
Mar 14, 9pm, Esplanade Outdoor Theatre
Put together the west coast and east coast sounds of hip hop and mix them up with a dose of fiery Filipino flavor, and you'll have yourself D-Coy and the Beatmathics. Cheer these guys on as they deliver a brand of hip hop that's unique and a lot of fun. Free.
Q+A Vashti Bunyan
Mar 19, 11pm. Esplanade Concert Hall
Neu-folk chanteuse Vashti Bunyan shunned the music industry after her debut album 1970’s Just Another Diamond Day failed to make impact on the charts. Coming out of the woodwork 30 years later with the critically-acclaimed Lookaftering on indie label Fat Cat Records, Bunyan has gained more musical ground than ever before, with high-profiled collaborations with other folk faves like Devendra Banhart, Joanna Newsome, Idlewild and even, Massive Attack.
How does it feel like to make a comeback and be labeled one of the pioneers of neu-folk music?
Growing up, I spent a great deal of time listening to pop songs actually, like those clever little pop songs by Buddy Holly. As a musician, I try to keep to that formula as much as possible—which I believe I have and still do! I find it amusing that I’m being labeled as a folk singer because I’ve always considered my music to be pop! (Laughs).
Why took you so long to make a comeback?
After Diamond Day didn’t happen for me, I turned my back on music altogether … and I tried to make myself forget about music as much as possible and do as little to remind me of it. I had no idea that people would be interested in my music and didn’t know that this could actually be happening now; especially after Just Another Diamond Day got a re-release in 2000! I realized then that I could still write … it has been buried for so long that I had to get back to it very slowly.
But success has finally found you, with the critical raves for both albums and the many collaborations that you’ve worked on since…
I believe that as long as you keep your head in the right places and keep pursuing what you ought to pursue, it’d be alright. The collaboration with Massive Attack happened instantaneously actually. Someone sent me an email to ask me if I wanted to do the project (performing a tune from the classic Ridley Scott film Blade Runner with the Heritage Orchestra), and I said yes! Who knows, if another artiste sends me another email about working together and it feels right, I’d probably do it all over again! I’d certainly love to work with Lambchop’s Kurt Wagner for one.
So what can we expect at your gig for Mosaic?
I’d be performing all my self-penned songs for sure, and there’d a band, some guitarists … (laughs). And I’d try to sing a little louder too, as I heard it’s a big venue!—Terry Ong
$40-60 from Sistic.
Q+A 65daysofstatic (GIG CANCELLED)
The band is known for its fascination with the literary world. Which author has heavily influenced your sound?
As a band, we read a lot and have been inspired by a lot of different authors. Apart from Kurt Vonnegut, the Japanese writer Haruki Murukami is someone we all relate to, probably due to his sense of the magical destruction of the world, something that we have tried to capture in our music.
How has the 65days sound evolved?
Well, we sound less moody. I reckon our latest should be considered our dance album, and has a more accessible sound compared to our other albums.
So what kind of a gig can we expect from 65days for Mosaic 2010?
A chaotic, noisy and intense one for sure. When we walk on stage, we feel lucky that they (audience) have come and feed off their wild energy. Oh, and we would be playing material from our new album too.—Patrick Benjamin