- Mogwai
- Boys Like Girls
- Camera Obscura
- Moscow Olympics
The November issue of Junk pays homage to the blood, sweat and tears of our favourite regional musicians both on and off the stage. Musicians have desk jobs too and we talked to a bunch of them to find out the real deal behind their jobs. Hopefully, you won't feel too bad about having to go to work after reading it.
Features
The Office: Ronnie Khoo (Furniture), Linda Ong (Lunarin) and Yanto (The Rebel Scum) are just a few of the musicians we spoke to about their day jobs. We also feature exclusive interviews with Mogwai, Boys Like Girls, Indonesian band The Changcuters and Filipinos Typecast.
Open Mic
Camera Obscura gets brutally honest, we get low with Flo Rida, Thrown Away tell us that they believe in free music and Taiwanese indie band The Shine & Shine & Shine & Shine let their music do the talking. Oh, and Shayne Ward tells us to wait 'til Christmas for his new hairdo and Diplomats International talk about their new album DiploDangerous. November marks the return of Heineken Music presents Impulse: A Junk Music Project and we talk to some of the musicians and visual artists involved in the gig–SUPA, Katsue, Kraftgrafik and Stephen Lau.
Reviews
We weighed in on the Nike+ Human Race 10K in Singapore where tons of people turned up to support and we also checked in on the Hennessy Artistry "The Global Art Of Mixing" party in Malaysia. Also read our reviews on Amateur Takes Control, Anberlin, Estranged, Mogwai and many more!
Junk Music Compilation
With all our powers combined, the Junk team came up with this month's compilation. We put together ten of our favourite tracks that we've been listening to in the past month and we hope that you like it. The compilation has a bit of everything from Singapore’s Bhelliom to The Changcuters in Indonesia to Moscow Olympics from the Philippines. Enjoys!
What we particularly like about Bhelliom is how the band’s music makes us feel like we’re all ready to win any combination of Mortal Kombat, Tekken, Street Fighter or whatever game that involves beating the crap out of the opponent. ‘Layer By Layer’ is a great introduction. If you don’t feel like crushing, then you obviously have a pansy imbalance.
www.myspace.com/bhelliomsg
This is another young Singapore band to watch. Recently launching their EP with gigs in both Singapore and Malaysia, For Better Endings have an excellent ear for crushing metallic grooves and melodic soft passages. The band sounds absolutely ferocious and ‘The Aftermath’ is one of the songs that showcases just that from their Variations EP.
www.myspace.com/fbecore
Fresh from dropping their new album Remain Unknown, we just couldn’t let their stirring sophomore pass us by. Plucking out ‘The Slave In Us’ for our compilation, we’ll let Estranged themselves tell you what this song is about: “‘The Slave In Us’ is about a destructive agenda that was becoming immensely disturbing. The song represents the unity that was needed if there was to be an order. It also speaks of the troubles that many of us are facing.”
www.myspace.com/estrangedinfo
One of Singapore’s brightest new bands, Amateur Takes Control is obviously influenced by the whole “post” whatever movement. But listening to them with or without hipster ears reveals a group that has a keen sense of melody and outstanding songwriting.
www.myspace.com/amateurtakescontrol
Filled with dream pop swirls and whispery vocals, ‘Ocean Sign’ is top on Junk’s playlist for its ability to make us all warm and fuzzy inside. The other songs on their album Cut The World are just as mind-numbingly good, and the very reason why the album has been picked up for release by music labels in Sweden, Germany, Japan and the US.
www.myspace.com/moskva80
This Malaysian band may be on extended hiatus right now, but there’s no rest for the band’s music. Hot off their free internet album is ‘Panda Love’, a sweet song spiked by the crush of loud, distorted guitars.
www.myspace.com/throneaway
Silent Scenery have a recording out called When We Escape From The Moonlight and it’s full of music that goes from soft to loud. The band takes a lot of pride in what they do and for that, you should check them out.
silentscenery.blogspot.com
When was the last time you heard some refreshing rock ‘n’ roll in the vein of the 50s and 60s? Not since Malaysia’s Couple have we been so enlightened. And that’s why it was only right that we got Couple lead singer Aidil to interview this Indonesian band (check page 67). The Changcuters are a self-declared garage rock band but we love their power pop connotations, especially in songs like their second single ‘I Love U, Bibeh’, which is featured on our compilation.
www.myspace.com/thechangcutersrock
Powered with a passion for Afro-Brazilian beats and the hot persuasions of percussion is Singapore’s Wicked Aura Batucada, who just celebrated the release of their debut album Louder Than Light a few months ago. ‘Something Wicked (Coming Your Way)’ serves as a warning to fans and new listeners alike about the repercussions of listening to the band–your body and mind will get seriously addicted to the batucada beat.
www.myspace.com/wickedaura
The Diplomats International actually have their hip hop family spread across three countries: Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore, making them the only 14-member musical crew that fuse a multicultural background and myriad influences. Malaysian-based member Vandal explains ‘Superheroes’, a track produced by Wizzow with cuts by DJ Nasa off the group’s new album DiploDangerous (reviewed on page 79): “A club banger with a twist, each rapper exposes their superhero alias. Inspired by the lack of originality in most club songs. Superheroes features vocals by Adinda, Vandal, Mistah, Wizzow and Ras Muhamad (DJ Nasa sings on the chorus).
www.myspace.com/dipnetwerk
Bonus track from Heineken Impulse: A Junk Music Project artist, Katsue.
Bonus track from Heineken Impulse: A Junk Music Project artist, Raysoo.
Bonus track from Heineken Impulse: A Junk Music Project artist, SUPA.
We did this month’s compilation ourselves. We had a hankering for it, so we compiled some tracks by acts we have been really into the last month or so. As usual, you can find these acts interviewed in different parts of the magazine. We went for a bit of everything this month. From the crushing sonic onslaught of Singapore’s Bhelliom to the jangly melodies of The Changcuters in Indonesia to the thrill ride of Moscow Olympics from the Philippines, we have it all this issue.
