The UrbanWire      

After a 3 year hiatus, Benjamin Puah is back with a visually unsettling exhibition at Forth Gallery to shake the senses off all art and non-art patrons leaving them in a state of “Luan Qi Ba Zao” (Mandarin for Very Messy) which, of course, is the title of the exhibition.

During his break, Puah held the workshop “Colours of Life” which aims to allow primary and secondary students to enter the artist’s world and to create their own. The youths’ artworks were then displayed on Singapore’s National Day Parade in 2006. Other exhibitions of his were “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” and “Rats In A Lab”.

At the opening on Sat, May 19, people well acquainted with Puah’s work or those who were simply curious walked in for a world of possibilities. Instead, what greeted them was shock and unbelief. Clearly, the 10 year veteran achieved the effect he wanted.

Revolving around the theme of “Post Surreal Monopolyism”, Puah’s paintings explore a world of messiness and childlike innocence and at the same time reflect his mental state of mind. Interestingly enough, it took him just 1 month to finish the entire collection.

“The paintings are an investigation into my uncertainty state of mind in an organised structural space,” says the Lasalle graduate, “The tons of self-questionings have resulted in different routes that I took with life.”

With a little more than 80 square metres to display his collection, Puah was more than happy to explain that as an artist, “I have to be sensitive and be able to adapt to changes”.

In one aisle of Forth is a set of canvas with a bald man wearing different clothing in a seemingly different world. Labelled “Gong Gong” (colloquial tongue for ‘dumb’), Puah spoke of an insight where “being too clever is being too stupid” and being “Gong Gong” is a form of greater wisdom.

It can be said that “Gong Gong” is a representation of himself but yet the veteran seemed shocked when similiarity of baldness between the creation and the creator was pointed out. It was almost as though he did a self-portrait on a subconscious level.

Fellow artist and owner of Forth Gallery, Justin Ng, believes Puah’s work provides us with a new perception in life and to realise “it’s time to break out from the walls that we have been encased in”.

However, such philosophical thinking was lost on the other patrons.

“I feel that his new art has too much resemblence to a primary school drawing” says Nayang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) student, Chew Zhen Ling, 18, “Although, I quite like his previous work with the celebrity portrait back in 2004.”

Another patron, Terence Lau, Singapore International Airlines intern, 20, recalls seeing a painting with the chinese words “I think of suicidal thoughts everyday” and felt so perturbed that he simply left the place.

Ironically, Puah “wants to create artworks with/about the young ones to spread the message of peace, love and the celebration of life across to the masses”. In a weird way, the artist’s works and philosophy blends perfectly into the title of his works. In short, it really is all very messy.

Whenever someone used to utter the sentence, “there are good English SINGERS (here’s the emphasis) in Singapore.” My mind would draw a blank; literally.

You see, after the fiascos called Singapore Idol 1 and 2 where Jerry Ong and Joakim Gomez drew my ire but certainly not my votes respectively, the only singer who could be technically labelled as “good” in my opinion was not, Taufik Batisah or Hady Mirza.

Fans of Singapore Idol, please don’t clamour to kill me. Yes I agree that the 2 winners are decent, but I don’t rate them highly, especially after I heard one of Taufik’s songs which sounded eerily like a National Day song. The song’s definitely not the duet “Reach Out For The Skies” with Rui En by the way.

Rather the good singer I had in mind was singer and songwriter Corrinne May, the lady who sang theme songs for Ch 5’s dramedy, Chase, back in 2004 like the unforgettable “Save me”.

Then by some luck, I managed to chance/stumble upon singer-songwriter, Shirlyn Tan’s first solo album, Newfound Jealousy, thanks to a recommendation from a local music advocate and close friend of mine. And well, at least the word “singer” applies now.

For starters, like May, she isn’t exactly as young as she appears to be. Actually she’s already 31-years-old. Hey, at least she’s got tonnes of experience (I’ll explain this part later) which has helped to create a pretty decent album.

But that’s where the similarity ends, because unlike May, this lady’s one cool rock chick with a great dose of class and complexity as well who’s path to her album differs greatly from the more angelic sounding May.

Her path to glory includes a 10-year stint in the local bar circuit, at establishments like Wala Wala (the drinking haven for my co-editors) with bands such as UnXpected. But that’s not all, have I mentioned that she was the opening act for Jason Mraz’s performance at the 2006 Mosaic Music Festival?

Anyway let’s get down to business. It’s been noted that when Tan sings, listeners are able to sense the emotions and raw energy that she’s able to emote (probably honed from her time as a singer on the circuit) from her music.

But at the same time, there’s also a certain degree of angst in her voice that has caused me and a few other listeners to liken her to Canadian singer-songwriter Alanis Morissette.

Newfound Jealousy which is a 10-track pop-rock album produced by Leonard Soosay (he’s worked on the albums for bands such as Parking Lot Pimp and Electrico), was composed entirely by Tan which adds another brownie point to her repertoire of skills.

Tan’s songs are generally written with an intense outpour of thought and have a great degree of depth to them which surely helps to provide a certain amount of colour to the album.

Personally, I generally hate albums which pay no heed to the variety of the songs in it. I feel that the idea of merely plonking the songs here and there to form a mismatched arrangement spoils the listener’s hearing experience.

So thankfully with Tan’s ability as a songwriter and Soosay as the producer, there seems to be a careful train of thought planned on the song arrangement in the album that makes for delightful listening on my part.

The album first starts off with a bang, before the tempo slows and then slowly but surely building up speed to end off on a high.

The first single, “Window“ like explained earlier is upbeat and catchy, and simply infectious, acting like a magnet, drawing me in and making me to want to hear more from the powerhouse Tan.

And as the tempo slowed, one of the songs that stayed in my mind was the track, “You”, because it offers a very jazzy feel to the album, portraying a different side to the rocker and seriously showcases her versatility as a songwriter.

However, out of the 10 songs in the album, besides “You”, there is another track that warrants the listener want to listen over and over again.

The song’s none other than the lead single on the album, “Newfound Jealousy”, which is focused exactly on what the title suggests; jealousy. Its not one of the faster paced songs, but Tan’s emotions in this piece is particularly evident and the song definitely shows a vulnerable side of Tan as well.

And as the end draws nigh, Tan gets back to her roots ands closes the album with the song, “Walk Away”. With its more rock liked quick tempo influence about lovers walking away and sweeping the past under the carpet, it’s generally a feel good piece that leaves listeners feeling satisfied.

All in all, the 10 years that Tan has spent traversing the bar scene seems to have done her a world of good. Her songs in Newfound Jealousy are well written, her powerful voice beautifuly showcases her work brilliantly, it’s made me rethink the negative perception that I once had of local singers.

To me, Tan with her original compositions, spunk and voice definitely offers something that’s been lacking in the local recording scene here for a long time which has since been filled with Singapore Idols and Idles (Olinda, I’m still waiting for your album after 3 years!)

Alas, so now whenever anyone asks about good Singaporean singers, I know that there is at least Shiryln Tan as well.

UrbanWire gives Newfound Jealousy 4 out of 5 stars.

Very often, newer phone models are only marginally better than their predecessors and released just to keep brands in the radar of buyers. This isn’t the case for the Blackberry 8800 however, which altogether is an impressive mobile device.

First up, the Blackberry 8800 is the new Blackberry device from Research In Motion, a technological and stylistic update of the previous model, the Blackberry Pearl, and the differences, though not many, certainly do make a difference. It starts off with the size: the 8800 is wider than the Pearl but is thinner. Another difference is the 35-key, full QWERTY keyboard that the Blackberry 8800 sports, compared to the 20-key keypad running on SureType keyboard technology that the Blackberry Pearl has.

Looking at the Blackberry 8800, it is one sleek and sexy device. In hand, it has a very solid feel, and the finish on the plastics look high quality, and feels a lot smoother and more valuable than the typical mobile phone. The sides have a chrome-mirror finish, like the iPod, which makes stylish design. The 8800 comes with a full QWERTY keyboard that makes typing emails and messages smooth and quick (once you get used to it), but the keys are a little too. It also comes with a new navigation roller of a trackball that makes scrolling around the different applications and icons on screen easy and responsive.

By default, the 8800 will adjust the screen brightness on the impressive high-resolution 320×240 landscape TFT colour display (that supports over 65,000 colours) based on the ambient light conditions, but the display is difficult to see in bright direct sunlight.

The new Blackberry 8800 performs snappily without lag, powered by its 312mhz Intel Xscale processor. Web pages load fast, music and video files play well, and opening attachments and applications are a breeze . The 8800 comes with the whole range of standard Blackberry functionality that has made it such a popular device: the powerful, peerless email system, seamless web browsing, third-party application expandability and a host of other functions that makes the device very useful for the typical office worker on the go.

The large 6 cm screen gives more screen real estate that many phones today and users will definitely find that useful, especially with the bundled GPS navigator (works depends on your mobile service provider).

The 8800 also comes with expandable memory on a micro-SD slot, which actually serves the device well as it comes with a built-in media player. This reviewer found that the best way to load music into the Blackberry is by organising your music into appropriate subfolders on the memory card.

The Blackberry 8800 device has an insane battery life. The 1400 mAhr removable / rechargeable lithium battery has been rated at having 5 hours of talk time and up to 22 days of standby time, compared to 3.5 hours of talktime and 15 days of standby that the Blackberry Pearl has.

However, the fact that the Blackberry 8800 is not a 3G device, nor does it have WiFi might be an issue for web surfers. As mentioned earlier, the keyboard also has a cramped layout but the tightly packed keys are compensated with slightly raised grooves that keep your thumbs from slipping when typing. There is also no stereo Bluetooth support, and UrbanWire had problems figuring out how to transfer Bluetooth files between the device and his laptop.

The bottom line is that the Blackberry 8800 is a tremendously effective messaging phone, which is hardly surprising, as messaging has always been the brand’s forte. The Blackberry push-email system is still unmatched in eases of use and flexibility of merging multiple email accounts. The Blackberry 8800 is a truly amazing, stylish, sexy phone that you know you want, if you have the need for a powerful business phone.

Technical Specifications:

Size (LxWxD): Approximately 114mm x 66mm x 14mm
Weight(batt included): Approximately 134g
Memory: 64MB flash memory
Expandable Memory: MicroSD
Display: High-res 320×240 landscape TFT colour display (over 65,000 colours)
Battery Life: Standby: 528 hours (22days), Talk Time: 300 minutes (5 hours)
Keyboard: 35 key, backlit QWERTY keyboard
Convenience Keys: Send key, End key, Power key, Mute key, Volume key and a programmable key
Navigation: Trackball, ESC key, Menu key
Voice Input / Output: Integrated earpiece and microphone, hands-free headset, integrated speakerphone
Ringtones: Polyphonic – MP3, MIDI
GPS: GPS enabled and preloaded with Blackberry Maps application
Media Player: Supported audio formats:

MP3, MIDI, AMR-NB, AAC/AAC+/eAAC+, WMA

Supported video formats:

MPEG4 Part 2 Simple Profile, H.263, WMV

Bluetooth: Bluetooth v2.0; headset, hands-free and serial port profiles supported
Headset: Stereo headset capable
USB Ports: Enables charging and data synchronization via USB to mini-USB
Power Adapter: +5V DC / 500 mA AC power adapter with interchangeable, region-specific plugs
Modem: Embedded wireless modem, plus tethered modem support for EDGE
Network Support: Quad-band 850/900/1800/1900 Mhz GSM/GPRS and EDGE networks
Desktop Software: Synchronizes calendar, address book, tasks and memos between your smart phone and desktop
Smartphone security: Password protection and keyboard lock.

This summer, Hollywood has flooded us with highly anticipated third episodes of top-grossing film franchises. It started with Spider-Man 3, then Shrek 3 (opening May 31) and now it’s Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World’s End. At the risk of losing credibility in this review, I’d first want to point out that I’m a fanatical fan of Johnny Depp and the whole Pirates of the Caribbean franchise.

While it’s not as good as the first flick, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, At World’s End does the franchise good and helps finish the trilogy on a high note. The last half hour is a fun-filled roller-coaster ride of thrill, adventure and excitement that will guarantee you sit at the edge of your seat. (Read more)

She’s beautiful. She sings, dances, and plays the guitar, the piano, and the banjo. Leslie Feist’s talents are far and many, and one thing’s for sure, you’ll fall in love with her.

Born in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia but raised in Calgary, this feisty 31-year-old singer-songwriter is one busy woman. Apart from being a soloist under the name Feist, she’s a member of indie supergroup Broken Social Scene, who can be heard on the soundtracks of shows like Nip/Tuck and the movie Half Nelson.

She has also performed with electro punk singer and former roommate Peaches, and has collaborations with Norwegian folk-pop duo Kings of Convenience and Canadian indie rock group Apostle of Hustle, among many others.

The success of her second album Let It Die, with hits such as “Mushaboom” and a cover of the 1979 Bee Gees hit “Inside and Out”, won her 2 Juno Awards (the Canadian equivalent of the Grammys) for Best New Artist of the Year and Best Alternative Album of the Year in 2005. And it also made the world sit up and embrace this “musically schizophrenic” singer-songwriter, as she says in San Francisco lifestyle magazine SF Weekly.

Listening to her latest album The Reminder can be likened to listening to her heart sing. It’s sad yet happy, and somewhat unpredictable. Once again, she collaborates with fellow Canadian musician Gonzales, who worked with her in her previous album.

Next to Let It Die, which can be comfortably classified as “a combination of jazz, bossa nova and indie rock”, as said in Wikipedia, The Reminder is a more ambitious project.

The music can be labelled experimental, folk-pop, and alternative, all of which fail to describe her unique genre adequately.

All 13 songs in The Reminder are her stories of love and heartbreak, which will draw you to remember your own forgotten memories of past romances. It’s not just an album that’s about her. As you listen more you will find that it’s an album that’s speaking about you.

The album starts off with the beautiful “So Sorry”, which makes you drop your guard and let Feist creep into your heart.

Like a glass of wine with plenty of body and flavour, the album should be savoured slowly to fully appreciate a depth of emotions that leaves you floored.

The arrangement of the songs in the album is erratic yet strangely well crafted. It’s rather unnerving (and a little shock to your ears if you’re using headphones) to hear the gentle relaxing swaying evoked by “The Water” suddenly interrupted by loud cheers and claps which herald the more upbeat “Sea Lion Woman”.

Feist gives you the feeling that she has poured her experiences and feelings into the album without holding anything back. She said as much in an interview with music magazine Filter that, “This record wasn’t conscious. That’s just always been the way I [have] looked at life and music. It’s kind of a photocopy of reality.”

Occasionally, you may hear dogs barking, footsteps and doors closing in between her songs. These simple sounds make her songs seem more human, next to the over-produced, ultra slick pieces we’re bombarded with.

But it’s really her haunting, silky voice that stirs your heart as she coos and purrs, making you want to steal her away.

With “I Feel It All” and “My Moon, My Man”, you’ll find yourself dancing unconsciously without a care in the world. The lively strums of the banjo in “1234” however, is mismatched with lyrics such as “money can’t buy you love you had back then”.

The piano ballad “How My Heart Behaves”, in which she sings with Kings of Convenience’s Eirik Glambek Boe, is a heartbreaking close to the album. As the piano tinkles and she croons: “The cold heart will burst, if mistrusted first”, you just feel like you’ve fallen in love all over again. Now that’s a reminder that’s always worth having.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Film enthusiasts are familiar with the cliché, “Stop finding love and it will find you”. And since life imitates art, that holds true even off screen.

Boo Junfeng, 23, a promising Singaporean film director who had his works recognised by Singapore International Film Festival (SIFF) since 2005 knows that personally, having found his love for his work only after almost despairing of being able to create art.

“I[‘d] almost given up on the fact that I can express myself. I think I’m quite an observant person but, before I got into film, I didn’t really have a medium of expression. I tried fine arts, I tried sculptures. I tried a lot of these things but I didn’t feel like they were right.”

Although Junfeng had always wanted to do something revolving around film since his days in Chung Cheng High School (Main), he never once thought of becoming a director. The calling came only when he went on an exchange programme to Spain during his final semester as a Film, Sound & Video student in Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP) in 2004.

[In Spain] I understood a bit more about directing. Through that, I realised that film might really be a way for me to express myself.”

It was this desire for self-expression that pushed him to make Un Retrato De Familia (A Family Portrait), which won both the Best Film and Special Achievement awards at the SIFF 2005.

Even though the 2 accolades earned Junfeng the title of the next Royston Tan, the award-winning local director who produced 15, Junfeng “doesn’t like to mimic” but agrees that “originality can be quite subjective”.

“I think in art it’s quite impossible to be 100 percent original. You will have your influences. You will have to develop from your influences. For me, I don’t have one influence, I have many and I’m still exploring.”

According to him, his current biggest inspiration is esteemed Chinese director Hou Hsiao Hsien who produced Three Times, which was awarded best Taiwanese Film in the Golden Horse Awards 2 years ago. That same year, Junfeng was selected by SIFF director, Philip Cheah, to attend the Asian Film Academy (AFA) in Korea to understudy Hou, then the dean of AFA and to interact with other filmmakers through the various workshops.

Putting to practice what he learnt from Hou, Junfeng is working with 6 other directors on an omnibus project entitled Lucky 7.

“With the Lucky 7 project, I’ve explored a relationship between 2 people. I try to go very deep into [their] emotions and bring it out for my audience. That’s what I was trying to experiment. In fact, that’s what I learnt from Hou Hsiao Hsien..”

Jun Feng hopes that Lucky 7 can be screened at next year’s SIFF as “it’s quite meaningful ” as there are not many opportunities for local film directors to come together and shoot an omnibus project.

He also feels that every piece of work he has directed so far has been personal. They were milestones to mark the different periods of experiences but he has “learnt how to balance what [he] wants to put out professionally and what [he] wants to reserve personally”.

“I used to think that all my work has to be very personal so that it can be real. That’s still true to a certain extent, but now I feel that it should go beyond being personal. The film should be something I understand but at the same time I should try to explore beyond that comfort level because it’s like, ‘I know how this character will react because I’ve been through it’. But I think it’s important to explore beyond this comfort zone.”

Junfeng’s latest film The Changi Murals premiered at this year’s SIFF while Katong Fugue, an adaptation from Alfian Sa’at’s play of the same name in Landmarks: Asian Boys Vol. 2, was nominated for the Silver Screen Awards and won the Special Jury Prize at this year’s SIFF. Despite his success, the young director remains humble.

“[To claim it as success] would be overrating what I’ve done so far. Yes, I think some of my films have been very well received, therefore, successful. But there’s still a long way to go for me in terms of developing the craft. But I must say that I am where I didn’t expect myself to be at this age. It all happened very fast and very early for me when I’m really still learning. I’m just glad the films that I’ve created along my learning journey are appreciated.”

He puts it down to luck that he has made it this far in the film industry. “[Un Retrato de Familia] was recognised right before everyone started realising that they can make their own films from home. Because of this, a huge wave of film making started and I just happen to be riding right on the tip of it,” he explained.

With regards for the future, the hopeful director wishes to teach, with no particular school in mind, after completing his Master’s degree. He will be starting his undergraduate studies in LaSalle-SIA College of the Arts in August.

Despite picking up the books, he’s not turning his back on film. Aficionados can expect a feature film from this young talent within the next 2 to 3 years, he promises, although “nothing concrete has been planned yet”.

Do you have much to say about social issues but can’t seem to find a platform to make your voice heard?

Perhaps in your own words the world’s a terrible place to live in, with impending catastrophes like global warming and animal extinction set to wipe out life as we know it. Sad to say, no one else cares and you find yourself alone in your quest to save the world.

Well, it’s time to stop counting down to the End of Days because here’s a chance for you to make a difference and meet likeminded people.

Not only will you now be given an opportunity to speak, but you’ll also be able to show fellow Singaporeans what issues they should be focusing on instead of continually grumbling about the negative social effects that the Integrated Resorts (IRs) will bring about.

Okay, you got my attention. What’s this all about?

Jointly organised by the Singapore Institute of International Affairs (SIIA) and The Substation’s Moving Images, Reel Revolution 2007 aims to inspire youths aged 15 to 35 to develop a passion for thought and opine through a medium which they are all familiar with: visual and moving images.

The 8-week film programme consists of several public events: the introductory seminar, 2 learning talks, an international student film festival called Young Guns, and finally the Powwow and Immersion.

The public can also attend the kick-off of Reel Revolution 2007 – “Reflections on the ASEAN Community” with its introductory seminar at the Singapore Management University (SMU) on May 26.

Various workshops will be conducted by filmmakers and multidisciplinary artists with the likes of Wee Li Lin, director of Gone Shopping, and Don Salubaya from Philippines. There will also be talks by 2006 ASEAN Youth Award winner Glenn Lim and a panel discussion on filmmaking.

On The Substation’s part, they’re proud to work with the SIIA to champion the cause of film making for a social change.

And according to Ms Audrey Wong, Artistic Co-director of The Substation, “Film is a medium that many young people are embracing more than ever before, so here’s a chance for them to do something that synergises their creativity and thinking skills.”

To which, Mr Simon Tay Chairman of the SIIA, stated, “As Singapore celebrates ASEAN’s 40th anniversary, the SIIA hopes to encourage the young in Singapore to take a closer look at issues in the ASEAN region. Reel Revolution provides the platform to engage youths on multiple levels. Film and the Arts can connect us.”

So I can talk about anything?

M Elaine Teng, Communications Executive of SIIA, thinks that Reel Revolution 2007 is a very good platform to raise issues, “because whatever our neighbours do affect us, [Singapore] cannot be disconnected from the rest of the ASEAN and it is important for us to be part of the ASEAN community.”

Needless to say, censorship will still be an issue for the short-listed films that will be screened during the Reel Revolution Powwow on Jul 14.

“Basically, at the end of the competition, the Media Development Authority (MDA) will categorise the films. It has to safeguard the interests of the public as, educational as the films might be, we still need to take into consideration that everyone will have a chance to view it.” Mr Eric Tan, Assistant Director of the MDA, commented.

I’m interested but… I can’t learn the art of film making in just a day on my own!

Fret not. Interested youths would be paired up with a mentor to produce a 4 minute video essay on social issues. Ms Tania Sng, Creative Director of Aquafire Productions, feels that her role as a mentor in this competition would be primarily in the execution process by “helping the youths to focus on what they are trying to say and guide them to find their own voice and listen to that voice”.

I don’t own a camcorder, do I still qualify?

Although video recording devices will not be provided, The Substation will offer slots for editing opportunities at their office at 45 Armenian Street.

Age, check. Issue to discuss, check. Equipment, check. I’m all set to go! But what do I get if my film wins?

There will be 3 cash prizes of $1000, $500 and $300 each in the student and open categories. In addition, the first prize winners of each category will be awarded $2500 to produce a short film as part of The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC)’s Youth Excellence Initiative.

An awards ceremony for the top 3 prize winners of each category will also be held on Aug 23 at the SIIA’s ASEAN Film Festival Opening VIP Reception.

So after all that’s been said, what are you waiting for? As Mr Lionel Khor, an associate producer with The Substation put it,“Everyone has a message to share. You can either just tell your friends or tell the world. So make a film, tell everyone.”

Simply sign up by June 9 and submit your film on Jul 1 for the chance to show Singaporeans what’s really important. Log on to revolution.youth.sg for more information.

Pictures courtesy of The Substation

If mainstream pop ain’t your thing, chances are, you could be thirsting for some indie music, which by the way is sworn by some hipster snobs as “real” music. Well if that’s the case, you better get ready for some head-bopping, pit moshing action on June 3! From the energetic choruses of Anberlin, to the lush, breathy vocals of Copeland, these 2 aforementioned US-based indie rock bands will grace the very first concert presented by local label Wake Me Up Music (WMUM) in their 3-part series.

Come on down to this indie rock concert and be part of Singapore’s indie history-in-the-making! Before you could ask how, let UrbanWire show you the perfect way of fitting into the indie culture and become a true-blue “hipster/indie kid” (or at least enough to fool people to think that you’re one anyway).

First off, know your bands.

And what better way is there than to start off with the 2 featured bands of the concert, Anberlin and Copeland?

Any self-respecting indie kid would tell you that to be experts in indie rock, you’ve got to know some of the bands’ history, and it’s the depth that matters, not the breadth. In this case, the first step of course is to know the band members.

The Florida-native band, Anberlin, is led by singer Stephen Christian and consists of 4 other members – Joeseph Milligan and Nathan Strayer (guitar), Deon Rexroat, (bass guitar), Nathan Young (drums).The group has gained much indie street-cred since their debut back in 2002 when they were signed on to Tooth & Nail Records.

They have since released 3 full-length albums, from the charming, praise-worthy debut, Blueprints for the Black Market, to the more mature, energetic sounding sophomore, Never Take Friendship Personal, and the “progressively adult” Sounds of Cities released earlier this year.

Indie musicians pride themselves as being extremely experimental and non-conforming to society’s trends. The word “indie” speaks for itself, meaning “independent” from the mainstream.

Take Copeland for example. The Atlanta-based quartet, Copeland, formed by lead singer Aaron Marsh (guitar and piano), Bryan Laurenson (guitar and piano), James Likeness (bass and vocals) and Jonathan Bucklew (drums).

Refusing to compromise the sound of their current album, In Motion, the band took on the tedious challenge of using untraditional and innovative recording techniques, striving to make every song unique from each other. Each song was painstakingly dissected, rearranged and mixed; every little detail, right down to singular guitar tone, was relentlessly scrutinised.

The result? An ace record that has since won over numerous music critics and music lovers worldwide.

Next, get familiar with the local indie scene.

You can’t be a convincing hipster if you don’t know your Plainsunset from your Sonic Edge.

Well, if you don’t, there’s no need to worry (but then again, you should be ashamed of yourself).

The above mentioned are 2 of the more popular bands signed by local indie label Wake Me Up Music (WMUM), which happens to be the organiser for this event.

The event, aptly named Wake Me Up Music Presents, aims to celebrate “the contagious energy associated with the local indie punk rock scene” according to WMUM.

True to the spirit of the indie scene, this event also aims to provide a platform for homegrown independent bands to shine, with selected bands acting as tour supports for the 2 bands, performing alongside them.

The ones who got lucky are Vertical Rush, Marchtwelve, The Fire Fight Now, now, you might want to ask “why would I want to pay to see local bands?” (Yes, ticket charges apply. See details below.) The problem with many Singaporeans is that they don’t support their local music enough.

But on the flipside, by supporting the most obscure and unheard-of bands, you can build better credibility as a hipster!

Last tip: Looking “indie”

And the great thing about being a hipster is that you don’t have to worry about not looking the part because being “indie” is all about standing out and not conforming to any groups.

Ironically, there is indeed a way of achieving the “indie look”. A safe bet would be band tees, dark jeans and a pair of Converses or Vans. But whatever floats your boat, just wear whatever you’re comfortable in and enjoy the show!

When:3 Jun 2007
Time:1830hrs – 2230hrs
Where:The Glass Pavilion, Far East Square
Tickets:$50 (presale special for first 200 – SOLD OUT)
$60 (presale – available from Straits Records 22 Bali Lane, Drums Resources B1-13 Excelsior Hotel & Shopping Centre & Propaganda Machine #03-10A Far East Plaza)
$80 (at the door)

Pictures courtesy of WMUM

If there’s such a thing as being understatedly eye-catching, the new Nokia 6300 is it.

Simply designed with polished black finish and stainless steel covers, the design of the phone is nothing ostentatious at all. The seemingly plain design helps contribute to the phone’s style quotient by not trying too hard to impress.

In terms of function though, there is nothing much in the Nokia 6300 that we haven’t seen before. Its 2.0 mega pixel camera is nothing exciting compared to what its newer counterparts have to offer.

However, together with its ability to display up to 16.7 million colours, the phone is still able to capture a decent picture – just don’t expect to blow up a life-size poster of yourself. Also, with an expandable memory of up to 2 GB, it means tonnes of storage space for all of your pictures and music.

The phone also allows users to edit pictures using the phone itself. No longer do you have to transfer the pictures to your computer and then use editing software such as Adobe Photoshop to do minor edits such as the adjustment of brightness and contrast. Nokia 6300 allows you to do it within the confines of the phone itself.

Since the phone measures only 106.4 mm by 43.6 mm and boasts a mere thickness of 13.1mm, the phone fits snugly in your palm. Nokia 6300’s compact design contributes to its effortlessly chic, sleek, and elegant demeanor. Also, it’s the phone you can slip into the back pocket of your jeans without ending up with an unsightly bulge.

Ladies can also easily tuck the phone away into one of those tiny handbags and still leave plenty of room for other items such as lip gloss, foundation, mascara, mirror, concealer, and well, you catch my drift. Its relative light weight of 91g also means that it’s a hardly noticeable load, if you can even call it that at all.

Although small in size, the phone doesn’t come with those ridiculously miniscule keys and buttons that compel you to text message using the tip of your fingernails. The keypad is small enough to not be imposing, yet big enough for the thumb to maneuver about comfortably. Also, the buttons are soft enough to be pressed easily, which is a more important feature than most people actually realise – I once got a sore thumb due to impossibly hard-to-press buttons.

Another thing about the phone is also its ability to support .swf files. If it amuses the tech geek in you, yes, you can even create your own flash wallpaper!

Since most phones now play music files, it’s almost mandatory for the Nokia 6300 to come with an integrated music player which, according to phone’s official website, supports MP3, MIDI, AAC, AAC+, eAAC+, WMA file types. The phone also comes with the standard issue FM stereo radio, so you can tune in to local radio stations if you’re bored of the songs in your phone memory and begin to crave the latest offerings.

So given the phone’s portability due to its lightweight and compact size, you can now ditch your iPod (although this also means that you might have to compromise sound quality by just that bit) the next time you decide to go for your morning jog, your workout in the gym, or while you’re studying for a paper in school and need to desperately block out the noise made by the incessant and inconsiderately noisy crowds..

Admittedly, the Nokia 6300 pales in comparison when it comes to functions. It doesn’t boast the latest capabilities such as WIFI, nor does it have a 5.0 mega pixel camera. But Nokia takes away such features (that are mostly unnecessary anyway) and exchange them for compact-ibility. It also means that you aren’t paying for top-of-the-line technology that won’t be used anyway.

The Nokia 6300 may not be one of those power-packed tech phones that geeks show-off to each other in a language that might as well not be English, but your style will never be in question if you whip one out.

Nokia 6300 retails at $168 with a 2-year M1 plan.

In town for the second time in just a short span of 2 months, Angela Chang’s schedule was jam packed with media interviews and public appearances during the 3 days she spent on our sunny isle, from May 5th to 7th which also saw her make a special guest appearance on the Thye Hua Kwan Charity Show.

Looking much more mature and sophisticated, Angela is ostensibly changing with the vagaries of the entertainment industry.

Having just released her fourth album titled, Flower In Wonderland. Angela’s shedding off the chrysalis of her once-conservative image to present a whole new Angela that’s sexier.

In fact, amidst all that syrupy pouting and hip-strutting that is evident in Angela’s music videos, there’s a latent sensuality that lurks beneath.

However, one thing still remains an intrinsic part of Angela: her veritably strong vocals that take her aficionados hostage, and bestowing her performance with full of nuance and emotion.

Well, after having met the singer up-close and personal, I can safely say that the media frenzy surrounding the Taiwanese singer’s puny physique is nothing apocryphal. In person, Angela is so stick thin that her skeletal frame begs for a cheeseburger.

Skinny or not though, the Bambi-eyed, gamine lass oozes so much “kawaii-ness” (cuteness) and honeyed charm in person, so much so that it’s hardly a contrivance.

And at the autograph session held at the alfresco area of Bishan Junction 8’s Level 3, she greeted and waved to fans with alacrity, as she cavorted on stage with unbridled pizzazz.

Angela was a picture of sartorial elegance in a light mood gothic warm grey and gold tank top from Ed Hardy, paired off with a suspender jumpsuit with chunky buckles and a stylish wide-belt at empire line.

Looking absolutely refreshed and radiant in a pompadour hairdo, the dervish Energizer bunny seemed to possess a colossal amount of energy, albeit displaying a good sense of camaraderie. On stage, she was an abundance of frenzied energy, chatting effortlessly with her fans, all the while maintaining an unwavering, perennially-smiling expression.

Angela revealed that she had trouble acclimating herself to the hot, sultry weather of tropical Singapore. She also admitted to being afraid of the sun, as she doesn’t want to be too tanned.

The nubile nymph continued to ply fans with easy banter in between performances. At one point, when fans asked her what sport she enjoyed playing, she teased, ‘Basketball. Does anyone here want to play with me?” And, then single handedly brought down the hopes of thousands of screaming hordes of fans by adding, ‘But, that would be impossible!” before breaking into peals of laughter.

Flower In Wonderland is in stores now.

5 years after their last album Songs About Jane, American pop-rock band Maroon 5 is back with a brand new offering It Won’t Be Soon Before Long, the name (according to lead singer Adam Levine’s Weblo profile) being inspired by a phrase the band adopted to keep them motivated while on their Songs About Jane tour .

Hailing from Los Angeles, Maroon 5 is Adam Levine, James Valentine, Jesse Carmichael, Mickey Madden and Matt Flynn, formerly Gavin DeGraw’s drummer. He took over from Ryan Dusick who left the band because of arm injuries that made him unable to drum.

According to NEWS.com.au, Adam Levine, the lead singer and guitarist of Maroon 5, explained that the new album is a “little more self-confident and powerful lyrically…. you can dance to it, there’s a little more attitude”.

And more attitude is definitely what you get when you give this fantastic album a listen.

There is huge lyrical improvement over 2002’s Songs about Jane and Levine’s vocals are soulful and more powerful. The album is also upbeat and edgy, and has lots of groove, giving it a very retro feel. Levine was also quoted in the website saying that the new album is “sexier and stronger”, and the band gained the inspiration from iconic 80s artists such as Prince, Shabba Ranks, Michael Jackson and Talking Heads.

It starts of with “If I Never See Your Face Again”, a refreshing track that kind of sets the tone of the whole album and lays down the fact that the album is completely different from Songs About Jane, and that Maroon 5 has reinvented itself in the 5 years.

The second song, “Makes Me Wonder”, also the first single off the album, is an alternative dance number that looks set to heat up the charts the same way that the singles that came off Songs About Jane, such as “She Will Be Loved” and “Sunday Morning”, did. The groove and the beat will make you feel like dancing the moment it kicks in. “Little Of Your Time”, the third track in the album, is a fast-paced, up-tempo dance track that carries off where “Makes Me Wonder” leaves you, which is then followed by “Wake Up Call”, before “Won’t Go Home Without You”. Faintly resembling songs from their earlier album, it slows things down a bit but it’s a very solid song on its own.

The rest of the album is a mixture of dance-y tunes and lovely ballads. In particular, UrbanWire enjoyed track 9, “Not Falling Apart”, a song that takes getting used to and repeated listening before you really like it. It’s catchy, full of electronic groove and will surely get you off the chair you’re sitting on and jive to the beat. Track 11, “Better than We Break”, is a slow-paced ballad that also impressed this reviewer with its lyrics that brings forth a melancholic mood, what with its lovelorn lyrics – “it’s not right, not okay, say the words that you say, maybe we’re better off this way” – and music accompaniment that is a good mix of keyboard, guitars and drums,

Maroon 5 looks set to enjoy more chart success with this release (“Makes Me Wonder” is currently No. 1 on the Billboard Top 100, jumping from No. 64 in just one week), and just like their debut Songs About Jane that won them a few Grammy Awards, should win more them more music awards.

For more information on Maroon 5, visit their official website.

Maroon 5’s It Won’t Be Soon Before Long is available at all record stores from May 22.

Since his last 2 albums raced across every music chart globally, fans have not gotten enough of this irresistible Canadian-born singer. For more than 2 years, he’s left them begging for more. Their wait is finally over.

Only Michael Bublé can rock the world to this extent just by doing covers of oldies. The answer is simple: no one, alive at least, can deliver them the way he does. It’s his seductive voice, his titillating personality, and his classic style, which have become familiar to many worldwide; and they all resound, only more spectacularly, in his latest #1 album, Call Me Irresponsible.

After conquering timeless tunes like “Fever”, “The Way You Look Tonight”, and “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart” in his previous albums, Bublé revives another fine selection of mostly standards – some not as famous, but still tunes the world is better off never forgetting.

Listening to Bublé’s new album is like enjoying the soundtrack of a fantabulous musical – something similar to Chicago – the big band styles, the upbeat sounds, the mellow ranges and even an additional touch of gospel.

There’s such a dazzling selection of songs that it’s easy to visualise the multi-coloured neon lights come alive one by one on a musical stage with every snap of the fingers in the first track, “The Best Is Yet To Come”, making for a spectacular opening scene.

Familiar titles, like “Me And Mrs. Jones”, “Dream”, and Eric Clapton’s “Wonderful Tonight” (featuring Brazillian music sensation Ivan Lins) all gel together as fantastic follow-ups that outline, within the musical, a 70’s love story, and concluding with a special take on the all-time Nat King Cole favourite, “L.O.V.E.”.

Other popular hits included are Leonard Cohen’s “I’m Your Man”, Frank Sinatra’s “That’s Life”, and Mel Tormé’s “Comin’ Home Baby”, which features the vocals of Boyz II Men.

As we’ve come to expect of Bublé, these are all refreshingly arranged.

In the middle of the album – track 9 to be exact – is a delightful love song, “Everything”. Co-written by Bublé himself, it is 1 of 2 originals in the album. Be prepared to have this song on repeat mode. It encompasses literally everything a love song should – lyrics with extreme glorification of that special someone who makes your knees go weak – and a tune that hooks you. This is, without doubt, the track to look out for in the album.

The other composition, “Lost”, unfortunately isn’t as fantastic as previous Bublé-written tracks, like “Home”, sounding too similar to Michael Jackson’s “You Are Not Alone” in the chorus, but is, nevertheless, a decent song.

On the whole, Call Me Irresponsible is testimony to Bublé’s growth as a vocalist. with the singer taking risks with higher ranges of notes and pulling them off impeccably in songs like “It Had Better Be Tonight”. “I’ve Got The World On A String” and the title track also show how Bublé has matured vocally since his last album.

But his voice is still as supple as we know it to be. The moment that deep, sexy and enchanting voice of his comes through in the first track, one can’t help but feel the sheer transport of the entire self to a supernatural world – the Bublé world – which, one has to admit, is a pretty darn wonderful place to be.

This is ringing proof that the best is, indeed, yet to come from this guy, who, as far as at least the next 5 years (cause we can’t deny the fact that it’s getting more difficult to succeed continuously in this business, with many come-and-goers these days) is concerned, is definitely here to stay.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Call Me Irresponsible is available at every music store from May 1.

Pictures provided courtesy of Eric Ogden

Well, it’s not exactly the latest model on the market, but Fujitsu’s AMILO PRO V3545NP which is made for the Windows® Vista (Microsoft has already announced its decision to expedite the retirement of the Windows® XP), is one of the laptops offered as part of Fujitsu’s highly discounted offerings to all tertiary students studying in Singapore.

Sadly though, a colleague of mine bought hers recently for $1998 from Funan the IT Mall instead, rather than taking advantage of the $1542.45 it retails for under Fujitsu’s scheme. So after a few days of testing and getting acquainted with this piece of hardware, I’ll be frank, I wasn’t really impressed but nonetheless the scheme handles pretty decently and here’s my autopsy report.

The Good
Fujitsu has always been known for its Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) Screens. And the AMILO certainly didn’t disappoint, all 15.4 inches of it for that matter. The picture resolution was clear and crisp. In short, the quality was fantastic and it definitely made watching Little Miss Sunshine a more enjoyable experience (I love the movie so much; I’d willingly watch it on a crummy old television screen anyway).

The NVIDIA® GeForce® GO 7300 128MB VRAM Graphic Card certainly provides avid gamers on a budget with something to cheer about. Testing the laptop with one of the newest games on the market, ARMA: Armed Assault proved to be a relative success as the game’s graphics seemed pretty smooth. But at this point I was also lamenting the laptop’s lack of processing power because I was playing the game way too close to its minimum requirements which I’ll explain in just a wee bit.

However since the laptop was designed for the Windows Vista, the Windows® Vista Business™ operating system, the AMILO does offer its users a good platform to do their work in style (and boy does it does look good really) on the large LCD screen.

The Decent
Armed with a 1.66GHZ Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor with 2MB L2 Cache and 667Mhz FSB, the AMILO certainly has a decent amount of processing power to fulfil multiple processes at once, so you can run Adobe Photoshop, a few Microsoft Word documents and listen to music all at the same time.

But then again, some might say that the AMILO is a tad underpowered considering the competition it faces out there in the market. And like I mentioned earlier, I felt that playing ARMA would have been a much more enjoyable experience had the laptop have more processing power.

The Bad
Music heals the soul but the placement of the ear jacks is a bone of contention for me. Alright, so the Amilo already provides quite a decent sound system for simple music enjoy. Plus, the jacks offer the optimal position to plug in one’s ear phones.

But being the guy who enjoys his music with plenty of bass (I admit, I absolutely love rock music), I tend to prefer plugging my laptop to my stereo system to get that desired effect. So plugging the necessary cable for my speakers was a rather cumbersome and irritating experience for me.

Weighing in at 2.8 kg, the AMILO’s like a relic in the weight department. Yes, it beats me lugging around my sister’s 3.1kg laptop, but considering the fact I stay in Tampines and my office is located in Clementi, the notion of developing my shoulder muscles by carrying the AMILO around isn’t that exciting, though it’d probably spare me from spending more time in the gym.

The Ugly
A laptop’s keyboard generally differs between models and brands. And sometimes, innovative designs tend to wind up as innovative annoyances. And my one major gripe with the Amilo is its keyboard which to me was a nightmare from Hell. Not only does it look weird, but the logic behind a Shift key being smaller than the Cap Lock key still confounds me. As a reporter, the need to type quickly is an essential part of my livelihood (in fact, I’d estimate it takes up 80 percent of my time), because if I can’t type, you wouldn’t be reading this article.

Hence, the fact that I found myself continually wasting time trying to get myself acquainted with the AMILO’s keyboard was really an annoying process that I still couldn’t get used to at the end of the day.

The Rest
The laptop comes along with 60GB of hard disk space along with the usual assortment of necessities like wireless capabilities, USB ports (3 in this case) and DVD/CD ROM drive. For me, to sum it all up, the AMILO is essentially a no-frills laptop which thankfully is armed with just enough processing power and a graphic card that allows for some computer gaming.

While I’m not exactly crazy about certain aspects of the laptop, especially its “unique” keyboard, I still like it nonetheless, especially since as a student I’ll only need to pay an extremely low price of $1542.45 when I order it directly, unlike my colleague’s $1998.

While most DJs who’ve graced the covers of magazines seem to lead complex and sophisticated lives, this 26-year-old begs to differ.

DJ Yafith, Resident DJ of Attica Shanghai is actually a very simple, friendly and fun-loving person who just wants to make sure he delivers a good night out for everyone, UrbanWire discovers.

How did you get into the DJ scene (from picking it up to spinning professionally and then becoming a resident DJ of Attica)?
“Well… to cut the story short, I’ve loved music since I was young. I was involved in the military band from primary to secondary school, playing instruments such as the clarinet, the trumpet and I also played an organ at home. Then my “career” started as I got interested in becoming a club DJ. After getting to know some friends who’ve helped me out, here I am! I started playing in clubs at Boat Quay and Mohammed Sultan, a couple of parties in Sentosa, overseas, Clarke Quay (Attica Singapore) and now, Attica Shanghai! Phew… that was a mouthful!” (Read more)

Chances are you’ve heard horrific stories of Brazilian waxing. Stories of the agonising pain petrified me before I went for my first Brazilian on May 5, but I had mine done at Pink Parlour and I’m converted. (Read more)