{"title":"Genre - Singapura","description":"","products":[{"product_id":"xhin-the-images-within","title":"Xhin - The Images Within","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe signs were always there, for anyone who’s cared to hear. Xhin’s heterogeneous sounds always contained the signs of something, somewhere else. The multi-instrumentalist has, over the last two decades, low-key infused his electronic music and mixes with compositional flourishes, ambient touches, and live instrumentation. Finally, The Images Within — less a return to Xhin’s roots than a solo fulfilment of long-held, diverse desires; his true colours — offers an entry into his holistically experimental, analogue, and very human world. Incited by mortality’s harsh confrontation of us, his first album on his own label — The Document — may shock or alienate, but its intensely visual poetry of the medieval and antiquarian, its song cycles between and within genres, its independent core of melancholy and necessary catharsis: they are all, as ever, open to anyone who cares to step in.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eMastered by Christian Wright at Abbey Road Studios, the eight tracks within are akin to a soundtrack in search of a film —\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003esomething by Villeneuve or Lynch, perhaps, on a double bill with Ōshima or Toshio Matsumoto. Opener “This Is Not The Beginning”, unlike a tabula rasa, does not demolish but builds upon, further expands Xhin’s sound stage. Literally: the undulating static and metallic sheens wildly oscillate between the channels and surround; hints of nonhuman growls may make you check your speakers too. - \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/xhin.bandcamp.com\/album\/the-images-within\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"\u003eOn Bandcamp\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ciframe width=\"100%\" height=\"380\" style=\"border-radius: 12px;\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/album\/2yZcRu9mQXQvVwsbm4tMMo?utm_source=generator\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" loading=\"lazy\"\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ctable border=\"1\" style=\"border-collapse: collapse; border-width: 1px;\"\u003e\n\u003ctbody\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003cth scope=\"row\" style=\"border-width: 1px;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eLabel:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/th\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"border-width: 1px;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eThe Document\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e– DCMTLP001\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003cth scope=\"row\" style=\"border-width: 1px;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eFormat:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/th\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"border-width: 1px;\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"format_item_3SAJn\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eVinyl,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eLP, Album\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003cth scope=\"row\" style=\"border-width: 1px;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eCountry:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/th\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"border-width: 1px;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eSingapore\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003cth scope=\"row\" style=\"border-width: 1px;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eReleased:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/th\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"border-width: 1px;\"\u003e\u003ctime datetime=\"2022-04-18\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003e18 Apr 2022\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/time\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003cth scope=\"row\" style=\"border-width: 1px;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eGenre:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/th\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"border-width: 1px;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eElectronic,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eClassical\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003cth scope=\"row\" style=\"border-width: 1px;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\"\u003eStyle:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/th\u003e\n\u003ctd style=\"border-width: 1px;\"\u003e\u003cspan style=\"color: #000000;\"\u003eAmbient,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eExperimental,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eElectroacoustic\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/tbody\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e","brand":"The Document","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42147658104990,"sku":"11204","price":38.0,"currency_code":"SGD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0584\/5434\/3838\/products\/a2178888195_10.jpg?v=1665566750"},{"product_id":"tobias-wilden-a-path-to-open-air-ii","title":"Tobias Wilden - A Path to Open Air II","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIntroducing \u003cem\u003eA Path to Open Air II\u003c\/em\u003e, Tobias Wilden reimagines the tonal textures first shaped in his 2013 release, \u003cem\u003eA Path to Open Air. \u003c\/em\u003eDiving further into his perceptions of nature and music, the album blends acoustic intimacy with ambient depth, painting serene scenes of remote landscapes. Wilden combines guitar, cello, double bass, and Sanshin with orchestral layers and fleeting electronic glimmers. It’s an ode to the in-between, where jazz meets not-jazz — a musical terrain that blurs the lines between improvisation and structure, melodic allure and dissonant intrigue. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFrom tracks like 'Beneath the Stones' to 'Encounters,' Wilden probes deep into hazy nostalgia with each subsequent piece. Through evocative playing, he paints aural landscapes existing between seasons and shifting moods, from the elegiac tones of 'Spring Nomad' to the melancholia of 'Tidelands'. While echoes of the early influence of Nick Drake may subtly surface in the track 'Tidelands,' it’s not a direct homage but rather an organic inclusion of the ethereal quality of his sound that Wilden finds akin to his own meditative landscapes.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePushing the boundaries of acoustic guitar music, Wilden uses layered guitar techniques to achieve a rich sound without alternate\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"bcTruncateMore\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003etunings, a shift from the original album’s approach. The ambient textures and layered guitar work echo the spirit of Michael Hedges, bringing to mind the mood of Windham Hill — for what it’s worth. More than a collection of songs, 'A Path to Open Air II' invites listeners to delve into the resonant, quiet moods beneath the surface of sound.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan\u003e — via Label\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ciframe width=\"100%\" height=\"152\" style=\"border-radius: 12px;\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/album\/3yQO2xgDhvk4GesxPvIQv2?utm_source=generator\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" loading=\"lazy\"\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e↓\u003cbr\u003eLabel: Kitchen. Label\u003cbr\u003eFormat: Vinyl, LP, Limited Edition, White Vinyl\u003cbr\u003eReleased: 2024\u003cbr\u003eGenre: Acoustic\u003cbr\u003eStyle: Folk, Instrumental\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFile under: Singapore\u003cbr\u003e⦿\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Kitchen. Label","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45246511055006,"sku":"645637473973","price":39.0,"currency_code":"SGD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0584\/5434\/3838\/files\/a4011464155_10.jpg?v=1742103570"},{"product_id":"the-observatory-and-koichi-shimizu-demon-state","title":"The Observatory And Koichi Shimizu – Demon State","description":"\u003cp\u003e“\u003cem\u003eThere was something extra-political, extra-social, almost extra-human about it; it smacked of tidal waves, of natural forces . . . These emotions are my instruments.\u003c\/em\u003e”\u003cbr\u003e— Richard Wright, The Color Curtain: A Report on the Bandung Conference (1956)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn \u003cem\u003eDemon State\u003c\/em\u003e, long-time member Dharma and Cheryl Ong plus Yuen Chee Wai continue The Observatory’s bold partnerships, this time with electronic musician Koichi Shimizu  Together, they finally reach this long-gestating, total (yet I’m sure temporary), and rhythm-focused, electronic reinvention of The Obs—while briefly nodding to their past. The road is long; \u003cem\u003eDemon State\u003c\/em\u003e is one pit stop in glorious hell.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eDespite these multiple sporulations and alternate realities, the Gesamtkunstwerk-like \u003cem\u003eDemon State\u003c\/em\u003e is a standalone work: of human menace and potential, and the restorative quietude of nature like mushrooms.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe central pair of tracks—also the only two with discernible vocals—“Demon State” and “Imprisoned Mind” pulsate with rage and radical possibilities. Drawn from the subconscious, almost-automatic writing of multi- instrumentalist Chee Wai—who also voices his journal extracts in an uncanny tone, unintentionally akin to The Obs’s dark-wave masterpiece \u003cem\u003eCatacombs\u003c\/em\u003e (2012)—the “lyrics” of the title track morph “Demon State” from a noun to a verb (“Demonstrate”, the unspoken “Deracinate”) to adjective (describing the “various geographical demon states” we live in, as well as our souls and sanity, or lack thereof); from the singular to the plural and collective, even rhyming it with “Eviscerate” in its fiery conclusion. The “waste” referred to in this ritualistic chant is upcycled into Koichi’s “(Demonstrate Remix)”. Hearkening back to The Obs’s remix album \u003cem\u003eBehind These Eyes (2014)\u003c\/em\u003e, which imaginatively fucked up \u003cem\u003eCatacombs\u003c\/em\u003e, this existentially trying remix expands upon the “lies overflowing like secrets” with an alternate, demonic background chorus.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ciframe width=\"\" height=\"\" style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=990027182\/size=small\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/track=1620537191\/transparent=true\/\" seamless=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOn “Imprisoned Mind”, The Obs are joined by Sukarno\/Soekarno (1901–1970), Indonesia’s first president (from 1945 to 1967), and marching industrial kicks. Regarded as the leader of the Indonesian independence movement—which sparked off similar struggles in Southeast Asia—the imprisoned and exiled revolutionary was renowned for his oratory. It is Sukarno’s burning-through-the-scratchiness speech recording from the underacknowledged Asian- African Conference, AKA Bandung Conference, that is sampled here. In West Java’s capital in 1955, the “Third World” of Afro-Asian political leaders (“so-called coloured people”, representing more than half the world’s population) discussed how to fully wrest control back from the French, Dutch, even the Soviets. “Colonialism in all of its manifestations”— especially the insidious, modern form—was valiantly fought back against, then the fight was forgotten. Featuring the sound waves from this brief solidarity of the oppressed, “Imprisoned Mind” encapsulates a resurrection of radical energies.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ciframe width=\"\" height=\"\" style=\"border: 0; width: 100%; height: 42px;\" src=\"https:\/\/bandcamp.com\/EmbeddedPlayer\/album=990027182\/size=small\/bgcol=ffffff\/linkcol=0687f5\/track=238900011\/transparent=true\/\" seamless=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFittingly, the gamelan\/gamelang\/gamelin—Indonesian, ensemble-type, bronze gong sets struck with mallets—makes a return here, but counterintuitively. The orchestral instruments that inspired a whole generation of sound artists are reclaimed in “Panopticism” (originally titled “Evil Eye”) and seemingly mimicked in “Lichen”; on this enmeshed album, it is impossible to differentiate instrumentation, let alone who played what. The reyong, gong, and (sampled) jegogan, composed on The Obs’s own six-tone scale (like on their 2015 album CONTINUUM), is additionally layered with mechanised beats and dual prepared guitar by Chee Wai and Dharma, who clip their electric guitar strings with “stuff or junk accumulated over the last seven years”, such as spoons and screws, clips and metal picks. While CONTINUUM’s gamelan was mostly spiritual, almost ambient, and melody-based, the gamelan noise here restlessly skews towards furious rhythms. On the standout “Lichen”, for instance, an effected snare sounding like the gamelan vibrates with distortion, slow-then- fast tension, and insomniac hollowness of the mind. Hearing it (ideally sober, like with the rest of the album, it is intense enough) is akin to seeing things falling down in quick and uncontrollable succession: the tropical monsoon rain, hooked mallets, a masseur’s knuckles, preprogrammed motives, the scales from our eyes.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAmidst all this regal vigour, a slight reprieve of softer variation is weaved throughout. On the A side, “I–330” twitches and glitches amidst the bass crashes—the titular character from Yevgeny Zamyatin’s novel samizdat We (1924) would be disturbed. Meanwhile, “Animal” explores the higher end of the frequency spectrum to shimmering and tinnitus-bequeathing effect; “Psyberia” transports us to somewhere like Aldous Huxley’s Island [1962; a companion to Brave New World (1932)], where the subjects of this kingdom consume an indigenous concoction of psilocybin mushrooms to attain a trance-like peace and awareness. Sequenced as the penultimate track, before the closing return of “Demon State” in rehaunted form, this number glides with such grace and slightly psychedelic colours, grooving with the ostensible silence—finally—into similar states of potential being. \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA vinyl and digital release, \u003cem\u003eDemon State\u003c\/em\u003e features the cover-art illustration of Enka Komariah (Senyawa, Raja Kirik). As The Obs describe it, the “sense of wretchedness in this, the waste of capitalism, the evils of racial discrimination, the ever-spiralling mess, the awakenism of control” are confronted, head on in the band’s pattern, to disturb, comfort, confuse, worship, dance, rest, and resist. Ultimately, and returning from the collective, the singular form of \u003cem\u003eDemon State\u003c\/em\u003e refers to our personal, individual, and ineffable states of demonic possession. \u003cem\u003eDemon State\u003c\/em\u003e embraces us in the independent space of The Obs, where we can be alone together. It offers its listener some type of solace, if not an exorcism. For when the devil has been in us for this long, who’s to say who’s possessing who, who’s whispering sibilant sounds in our ears, who’s wearing the mask, who’s not yet dead and who’s still alive? Who’s still fighting for a just world?\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e— (via \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/theobservatory.com.sg\/Demon-State-2022\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"\u003eLabel\u003c\/a\u003e)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e—\u003cbr\u003eSince 2001, the Singapore-based band The Observatory has created an impressive oeuvre of ever-evolving avant-garde music. The band’s current constellation comprises multi-instrumentalists Cheryl Ong, Dharma and Yuen Chee Wai. In 2018, two of its cofounders—singer-songwriter and guitarist Leslie Low and Vivian Wang, fellow singer and keyboardist—left the band. Since then, the current trio, consisting of Cheryl Ong, Dharma, and Yuen Chee Wai, has ventured into more improvisational, instrumental, and noise-related realms, as impressively evidenced by an EP with Japanese musician Haino Keiji.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor their latest album, \u003cem\u003eDemon State\u003c\/em\u003e, they joined forces with with musician, sound designer, producer and long-term collaborator Koichi Shimizu. The album was released on the Singaporean label Midnight Shift, which in recent years has become a well-known platform for experimental music, ranging from polyrhythmic explorations of Düsseldorf-based Harmonious Thelononius to razor-sharp avantgarde electronic of Singapore-based Xhin. “The music scene in Singapore has grown and progressed a lot since the late 90s, but unfortunately the experimental music scene here is a rather small circle of practitioners,” Dharma tells us.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eCollaborator Koichi Shimizu has been producing electronic music since the 1990s and has also been active as a sound designer for installations and films, including regular collaborations with celebrated Thai film director Apichatpong Weearsethakul. After living in Bangkok for nearly twenty years, he moved back to his home country Japan in 2020 and released his EP \u003cem\u003eImprint\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“We’ve known each other for many years, since around 2005,” Dharma tells us about the long-lasting relationship with Koichi Shimizu. “Over the years, we’ve worked together on many occasions in Singapore and Bangkok. \u003cem\u003eDemon State\u003c\/em\u003e is our first collaboration as a studio production,” Koichi explains. “When the Observatory played in Bangkok most of the gigs were organized by Koichi and he also did live sound for us. Besides that we also got Koichi involved in two separate editions of Playfreely, an annual festival that we organize,” Dharma adds. The resulting eight tracks stem from an improvisation session that The Observatory and Koichi Shimizu recorded together, using mainly guitars, drums, modular synthesizers and effect pedals.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe feverish cover-art illustration of Enka Komariah displays a person trapped in a cage seemingly surrounded by its demons. “I first came across the work of Enka Komariah from an illustration on a Senyawa T-Shirt that I bought a few years ago and had been following his work. From a line art style, he developed his expression using oil painting which immediately struck a chord with me and I thought we have to find a way to present it. With the help of Kavan from Midnight Shift, we reached out to him and he was really collaborative and willing to experiment with ideas. Already the themes he was exploring were very similar to what we had been trying to articulate in our music and ideologies, making it very easy to art direct the overall feel of the artwork,” Chee Wai tells us.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhile at first glance the name and the cover suggest that the album is primarily about the dark and disturbing, a multi-faceted picture emerges upon listening. It seems impossible to list all the references, influences, and genres that can be heard and felt throughout the album, which is complex and fraught with tension, both musically and intellectually.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe percussive sound of Indonesian gamelan music, for example, is brought together with the raw and intense soundscapes that dominate the album. And then there is the track Lichen with its steely percussions and steady build-up, ready to leave you in a head-nodding trance. Imprisoned Mind, in turn, with its steady kick and harsh mechanical sounds would not be out of place on a Thursday night at Berghain’s Säule floor. The track also includes excerpts of a speech by the former president of Indonesia Sukarno, an important historical figure in the anti-colonial fight of the Global South who got imprisoned and exiled later on.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e“The contextual thrust of the album is a confluence of various ideas and influences that we have been inclining towards over the years. What we were reading and watching at that time, and the state of events happening globally amplified our desire to put these thoughts into something abstract yet layered. Some additional influences were Naeem Mohaiemen’s\u003cem\u003e Two Meetings and a Funeral\u003c\/em\u003e, Shirin Neshat’s \u003cem\u003eWomen Without Men,\u003c\/em\u003e and William Gibson’s \u003cem\u003eSprawl\u003c\/em\u003e trilogy. While this album could be read as an outright political statement, it could also be understood as the state of being a demon,” Chee Wai explains. — (via \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/www.collide24.org\/music\/the-observatory-and-koichi-shimizu-and-face-your-inner-demons\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"\u003eCollide24\u003c\/a\u003e)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ciframe width=\"100%\" height=\"352\" style=\"border-radius: 12px;\" data-testid=\"embed-iframe\" src=\"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/embed\/album\/6bD6vEy5YDOD3cUSgrPJhr?utm_source=generator\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" allow=\"autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; fullscreen; picture-in-picture\" loading=\"lazy\"\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e↓\u003cbr\u003eLabel: Midnight Shift Records\u003cbr\u003eFormat: Vinyl, LP, Album, Limited Edition, 180g\u003cbr\u003eReleased: 2022\u003cbr\u003eGenre: Electronic, Folk, World, \u0026amp; Country\u003cbr\u003eStyle: Avantgarde, Dark Ambient, Experimental, Gamelan, Techno\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFile under: Singapore Titles \/\/ Electronic\u003cbr\u003e⦿\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Midnight Shift Records","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46782706122910,"sku":"MNSXLP004","price":45.0,"currency_code":"SGD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0584\/5434\/3838\/files\/a0021732484_10_28013b44-0d78-4e76-a257-4e16e60340a9.jpg?v=1777708438"}],"url":"https:\/\/theanalogvault.mom\/collections\/genre-singapura.oembed","provider":"The Analog Vault","version":"1.0","type":"link"}