daniel t. posted an article on I'm Waking up to... - Feb 9, 2012, 11:00 pm
Yes, it’s taken us a while to come up with this. We’re slow that way, you know? To start this 2011 recap off on a slightly moribund note, the death of Scottish folk singer Bert Jansch (1943-2011) in October rather cast a pall over the past year. Jansch has long been a part of my everyday experi...
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daniel t. posted an article on I'm Waking up to... - Feb 8, 2012, 11:20 pm
I haven’t been this excited in a long while. In fact, I think this is the best thing I’ve heard since 2012 started. Ekra is an NYC-based husband and wife duo, who make some of the most glorious, noise inspired melodies that reek of certain depravities and sensitivities. All at once, it is a hu...
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daniel t. posted an article on I'm Waking up to... - Jan 15, 2012, 10:12 am
SINGAPORE: I’m Waking Up To… Riot !n Magenta – CTRL Do androids dream of electric sheep? One thinks of such things when the contrast between the organic and inorganic meld together into a primordial blur of passion. Riot !n Magenta gently slip into the stream of your thoughts with Hayashida K...
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daniel t. posted an article on I'm Waking up to... - Jan 5, 2012, 1:21 pm
In the annals of post-punk otherness, Josef K has long held a rather exalted place and here’s one of the reasons why. The jagged perfection of “Crazy To Exist”, one of only a handful of songs this Scottish band recorded in their short existence during the early eighties, still sound singular a...
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daniel t. posted an article on I'm Waking up to... - Dec 22, 2011, 1:16 am
My occassional fliratatons with new age music, if you could even call it such, brought me through musicians who today aren’t quite known for that genre even if lasting streams of those influences clearly remain in their subsequent work. And I never quite enjoyed it. Sarah McLachlan’s debut album...
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daniel t. posted an article on I'm Waking up to... - Dec 21, 2011, 4:38 am
Television’s “Marquee Moon” is an epic of a song, bringing together such muscle and grace in its ten-minute form. Compositionally it builds majestically as the guitar solos weave their interlocking lines. Yet, more than the solos, it is the duelling guitars from Tom Verlaine and Richard Lloyd ...
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daniel t. posted an article on I'm Waking up to... - Dec 15, 2011, 10:36 am
SINGAPORE: I’m Waking Up To… Sonicbrat – Bed Of Forty Winks Sonicbrat is the enduring moniker of sound artist Darren Ng, whose work is characterised by an intricate tapestry of field recordings and found sounds, strung together by subtly processed acoustic instrumentation with a classical ben...
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daniel t. posted an article on I'm Waking up to... - Nov 29, 2011, 12:18 pm
“Baby baby baby ohhh like, baby baby baby nooo like, baby baby baby…” Great pop songs have great hooks, and this is why Justin Bieber’s “Baby” is one. In terms of great pop songs called “Baby”, it’s right up there with Os Mutantes, who gave us their very own in 1968. And if the cho...
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daniel t. posted an article on I'm Waking up to... - Nov 14, 2011, 11:01 am
SINGAPORE: I’m Waking Up To… Magus – Riders On Psychedelics Magus is a new collaboration between Mark Dolmont and Leslie Low, the latter best known for his work with Humpback Oak and The Observatory. Their debut effort is fittingly the first release by Ujikaji Records, a new independent label...
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daniel t. posted an article on I'm Waking up to... - Nov 13, 2011, 10:19 am
Most of the dust has settled following the mid-year hype and fashionable mystique surrounding young Manchester outfit WU LYF, but it seems never quite completely. I needed some distance from the flurry of media attention surrounding their self-released debut Go Tell Fire to the Mountain, but within ...
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daniel t. posted an article on I'm Waking up to... - Nov 5, 2011, 5:22 am
Of course I’m sad that it’s going to be B-Quartet‘s last gig this coming Tuesday, as they vacate the niche they’ve comfortably carved for themselves at the intersections, on one hand, between post-apocalyptic poetry and (most recently) the philosophy of Theodore Adorno, and on the other, acr...
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daniel t. posted an article on I'm Waking up to... - Oct 27, 2011, 1:47 pm
Black Kite is by no means a perfect album, but this debut from Silver Tongues shows skyward ambition, opening with a prayerful exhortation and closing with an angelic vision. In between, the effervescent vocals of David Cronin echoes through the songs, sometimes with the church hall ambience of a Fl...
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daniel t. posted an article on I'm Waking up to... - Oct 22, 2011, 12:46 pm
Clear some space out, so we can space out. Shabazz Palaces‘ Black Up, an album big on ideas and rich in detail, finds its sweet spot when the space is cleared and all that’s left behind is the barest and most essential of ingredients. Ishmael Butler’s crisp no-nonsense rapping takes its rightf...
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daniel t. posted an article on I'm Waking up to... - Oct 18, 2011, 1:48 pm
Listening to Megafaun reminds me of that magical feeling of hearing Wilco’s Yankee Hotel Foxtrot for the very first time, of marveling at its perfect balance of country-folk balladry and pop experimentation. While Wilco has since, for better or worse, moved towards solidifying their monolithic sou...
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daniel t. posted an article on I'm Waking up to... - Oct 14, 2011, 3:50 pm
SINGAPORE: I’m Waking Up To… Etc – Big Girl’s Blouse Etc is truly one of Singapore’s best-kept secrets. There are no fancy fashions or trends associated with the duo of Ben Harrison and Harvey Chamberlain, just well-written guitar-rock to a steady beat. Harrison’s jangle-raggedy guitar ...
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daniel t. posted an article on I'm Waking up to... - Oct 7, 2011, 7:00 am
This is a hazy moment in my life. I can’t see clearly, the air stinks like Pulau Bukom and Kalimantan burning together, and I can’t locate the hotspots giving off all this smoke, let alone put them out. And then R.E.M. disbands. I go through their discography in this haze, music that I knew pre-...
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daniel t. posted an article on I'm Waking up to... - Oct 6, 2011, 8:30 am
My affair with R.E.M. started when I was voraciously reading through interviews with Radiohead. Time and again, Michael Stipe’s name kept popping up and Thom Yorke would describe how he and Stipe were good friends. At the time, I decided that it wouldn’t be too bad to have an American version of...
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daniel t. posted an article on I'm Waking up to... - Oct 5, 2011, 9:25 am
My first introduction to R.E.M. was their 1994 album Monster. I had probably heard “What’s the Frequency, Kenneth?” enough times on the radio to finally decide – a few years later – to spend that twenty bucks at Tower Records for my own copy of the album. It was a limited edition gold CD (...
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daniel t. posted an article on I'm Waking up to... - Oct 4, 2011, 11:00 am
Out of Time (1991) sees R.E.M. at a point of reinvention. Their previous album Green (1988), their first on major label Warner Bros., featured relatively straightforward tunes and a consistent if conservative sound palette. On Out of Time, they incorporate baroque instrumentation, guest vocalists (i...
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daniel t. posted an article on I'm Waking up to... - Oct 3, 2011, 11:54 am
This week, we pay tribute to R.E.M. by selecting tracks where we felt they were at their most beautiful. And so the announcement came late last month that R.E.M. have officially called it quits, after 31 largely successful years and an expansive back catalogue of 15 studio albums. I must say that t...
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daniel t. posted an article on I'm Waking up to... - Oct 1, 2011, 11:59 am
A late afternoon conversation led us to the Kinks, which was a good enough excuse to relisten my beloved Village Green Preservation Society album. I remember buying a copy after reading a Kinks feature in BigO, which championed the band’s pioneering move in recording a concept album in the 1960s a...
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daniel t. posted an article on I'm Waking up to... - Sep 20, 2011, 1:52 pm
Look out, look out, for the man who came in with little fanfare and left just as unassumingly not too long after. For that brief hour or less, Mike Hadreas – performing as Perfume Genius – was laid bare for all, his music an intimate, knotted struggle. As in their recorded versions in his debut ...
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daniel t. posted an article on I'm Waking up to... - Sep 17, 2011, 2:31 am
I’ve been waking up to some of the most well-crafted songs in a while, all courtesy of singer-songwriter Nicholas Chim. The entire album entitled Forgiefan flows seamlessly from track to track. The song arrangements are astute enough that one gets the sense of a sculptor carefully and deliberatel...
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daniel t. posted an article on I'm Waking up to... - Sep 16, 2011, 1:49 pm
Why Moby never sampled this track will always remain a mystery. Sun Ra’s “Door to the Cosmos”, the centerpiece of his 1979 album Sleeping Beauty, provides that perfect entry point to Motor City Drum Ensemble’s DJ Kicks mix, an effortless blend of jazz, soul, afro-beat and various shades of D...
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daniel t. posted an article on I'm Waking up to... - Sep 14, 2011, 1:14 pm
SINGAPORE: I’m Waking Up To… Hanging Up The Moon – Water Under The Bridge Hanging Up The Moon is the self-titled debut album and solo project of Sean Lam, best known for fronting Singaporean band Concave Scream. After an extended hiatus, Sean’s return to songwriting has been welcomed by man...
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daniel t. posted an article on I'm Waking up to... - Sep 14, 2011, 6:31 am
I woke up a couple of mornings ago to Pulp’s “Live Bed Show”, the song lodged right in the middle of their unforgettable 1995 Different Class album. It was nowhere as anthemic as “Common People” nor as immediately tragic as “Disco 2000″, but its cynicism seemed to burn deeper than the ...
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daniel t. posted an article on I'm Waking up to... - Sep 10, 2011, 4:38 am
There’s something calming and therapeutic about listening to the Field on a rare breezy Saturday afternoon. Maybe it’s the neverending loops, that lulling repetition, or the soundscapes themselves that seem to caress and envelope. Or maybe it’s really the weather that makes it perfect. I don�...
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daniel t. posted an article on I'm Waking up to... - Sep 4, 2011, 4:30 am
Much of today’s 80s revivalist music filters away the period’s unfashionable bits until a distilled minimalist chic is left behind. For John Maus’ “Believer”, quite the opposite holds true. Although it begins on a sufficiently bare-bones new wave approach with that monotonously steadfast d...
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daniel t. posted an article on I'm Waking up to... - Aug 28, 2011, 11:59 am
It defeats the purpose to be describing music made purely to be experienced, but what then is left to be said? In the world of husband and wife duo Peaking Lights and their album 936, the medium of dub transcends its function as form or genre. In a loose Mcluhanesque sense, it has become the message...
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daniel t. posted an article on I'm Waking up to... - Aug 27, 2011, 4:55 am
It’s hard not to listen to London producer Zomby in the context of the long wait for Burial‘s next (dub)step. The two seem to work best in elusive anonymity, and more significantly, both share an uncanny penchant and deft touch for creating electronic music in mournful and evocative tones. Yet, ...
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daniel t. posted an article on I'm Waking up to... - Aug 17, 2011, 2:07 pm
When I came across Ian Cohen’s post for Pitchfork’s 15th anniversary feature and his selection of the Wrens‘ “Everyone Choose Sides” as the song that meant most to him personally in 2003, it dawned upon me how many years it’s been since I’d listened to that Meadowlands album I loved so...
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daniel t. posted an article on I'm Waking up to... - Aug 15, 2011, 12:01 pm
Reading from afar on the recent London riots, I’m struck by how Johnny Rotten’s “no future for you” still rings true more than 30 years on, hanging ominously over the aftermath at Tottenham. It gave shuddering perspective to what I’ve been listening to lately – Nine Types of Light by TV ...
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daniel t. posted an article on I'm Waking up to... - Aug 14, 2011, 12:46 pm
SINGAPORE: I’m Waking Up To… The Psalms – Johnny Mnemonic Fiercely upfront and dizzyingly discordant, The Psalms have been shaking things up in the music scene here, with growing expectations on their upcoming debut album. The band’s Ishmael’s Wishlist EP offers a raw glimpse of things to...
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daniel t. posted an article on I'm Waking up to... - Aug 3, 2011, 11:50 am
For all its obvious flaws that are perhaps emblematic of a relatively inexperienced filmmaker trying too hard to imitate John Cassavetes, Derek Gianfrance’s Blue Valentine still makes for absorbing viewing, particularly for those who are able to immerse themselves fully into the improvisational fe...
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daniel t. posted an article on I'm Waking up to... - Jul 30, 2011, 9:17 pm
frustration and fatigue, the banality of everyday life senselessly juxtaposed against injustice, train wrecks and massacres. uncontrollable bursts of tears at spurts through the day unable or unwilling to articulate the complexities and messiness. dressed in washed out, neutral, old man cardigan...
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daniel t. posted an article on I'm Waking up to... - Jul 23, 2011, 1:10 pm
It’s All True, the luscious new Junior Boys album (their fourth), doubles as the kind of hauntingly beautiful breakup record made only for the introverted romantics who never quite believed in truly happy endings. While Jeremy Greenspan and Matt Didemus may be drawing from more disparate influence...
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daniel t. posted an article on I'm Waking up to... - Jul 14, 2011, 12:43 pm
SINGAPORE: I’m Waking Up To… In Each Hand A Cutlass – A Universe Made Of Strings Outlaws, stargazers and free riders – that’s the sense of freedom apparent in the debut album of In Each Hand A Cutlass. The masterpiece is called A Universe Made Of Strings, and while allusions to string the...
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daniel t. posted an article on I'm Waking up to... - Jul 11, 2011, 11:05 am
The past few days have slipped me into a nostalgic mood. Not because I’ve been particularly reflective, but the things of old just seemed to creep up on me again, as they tend to do once in a while. I re-read Adrian Tomine’s 32 stories for the first time in years, watched the No Distance Left to...
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daniel t. posted an article on I'm Waking up to... - Jul 3, 2011, 12:43 pm
Over the weekend, Dean Wareham and Britta Phillips played a couple of shows in Asia (Taipei and Hong Kong) in which the pair performed songs from the back catalogue of Galaxie 500, the band fronted by Wareham that came to indie rock prominence during the late eighties. From the moment their Taipei s...
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daniel t. posted an article on I'm Waking up to... - Jul 2, 2011, 1:06 am
Bon Iver may have expanded the geographical range of his music beyond his reclusive cabin in Wisconsin, but the atmosphere remains wintry to the core. Only it sounds a lot less fragile, even if still resolutely vulnerable. On album opener “Perth”, Justin Vernon raises his signature falsetto in p...
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daniel t. posted an article on I'm Waking up to... - Jun 26, 2011, 1:29 pm
I’ve just finished reading 03, Jean-Christophe Valtat’s novella about a precocious high school student’s coming of age in the eighties, in one torrid sitting on a Sunday morning (with The Cure, Joy Division and The Smiths as super-emo background noise). Sublimely written in one single unbroken...
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daniel t. posted an article on I'm Waking up to... - Jun 21, 2011, 8:16 am
Undoubtedly, the focal point in the music of Tune-Yards is Merril Garbus’ voice. Intense and disciplined, it channels an immense depth of emotion and state of being, expressed across a staggering hybrid of reggae, soul, jazz and folk influences. But it’s not the only thing worth listening to on ...
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daniel t. posted an article on I'm Waking up to... - Jun 19, 2011, 11:19 am
Some thoughts and observations on this new Lapalux track: 1. This is the soundtrack for the moment, not for any specific event. Long, stretched moments, preferably. 2. I guess this is what you’d call atmospheric music, yet its movement and content betray its underlying pop/r&b aspirations. 3. I...
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daniel t. posted an article on I'm Waking up to... - Jun 14, 2011, 12:01 pm
SINGAPORE: I’m Waking Up To… Humming Kitten – Monochrome Little is known of Humming Kitten, and we get the impression they’d like to keep it that way. It is a little disconcerting at first, approaching this musical project without any preconceived ideas of who or what the band members are, ...
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daniel t. posted an article on I'm Waking up to... - Jun 10, 2011, 12:01 pm
It was always going to be an interesting collaboration, not simply because of the multi-disciplinary and multi-national backgrounds of the artists involved in this second installment of INSITU, but also the context of the subject of their work – Fort Canning Hill in Singapore. Known as the Forbidd...
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daniel t. posted an article on I'm Waking up to... - Jun 8, 2011, 10:40 am
Even with the departure of Tyondai Braxton’s cartoonish warbbles, Battles‘ sonic palette has hardly changed. And as a trio, they sound just as tight as their 2007 debut full length Mirrored, owing in no small part to John Stanier’s taut and rock solid drumming. The playfulness and abstract hum...
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daniel t. posted an article on I'm Waking up to... - Jun 5, 2011, 12:01 pm
The music of Efrim Menuck may be criticized for being simplistic or even naive. Whether delivered in stirring apocalyptic terms in Godspeed You! Black Emperor or channeled through the mournful communal excursions of A Silver Mt Zion, Menuck’s musical vision is a stubbornly straightforward one, an ...
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daniel t. posted an article on I'm Waking up to... - Jun 3, 2011, 12:01 pm
There is an almost instinctive rustic quality to the folk songs of The Tallest Man 0n Earth that I always found appealing about the Swedish songwriter Kristian Matsson, something that is perhaps more discernable when you are far away from home and living in the fringes of loneliness. On “Troubles ...
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daniel t. posted an article on I'm Waking up to... - Jun 1, 2011, 1:29 pm
Sea Change was the album that sounded least like Beck, but ironically remains the most gorgeous work he’s ever produced. Now as producer, he seems to have convinced Thurston Moore to attempt his own sea change. Titled Demolished Thoughts, Moore’s new album finally embraces the aesthetic of beaut...
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daniel t. posted an article on I'm Waking up to... - May 29, 2011, 12:01 pm
We were really excited when we found out that Yellow Fang was playing the night we arrived in Bangkok. By the time we checked into our accomodation and figured our way to Stu-Fe – the studio cafe opened by the Monotone group of artists and musicians – the Yellow Fang set had already ended. Of co...
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