Friday, February 12, 2010

YOH Head Butt! - Indie Edition (Extended Cut) - 11 Feb 2010

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the extended cut.... 

11th Feb 2010

Another week and another edition of YOH's Headbutt! Yeah we're a week behind but get ready for quite an explosive (and longer) edition of HEADBUTT! 

Sometimes when we're all sick and tired of reading the same iPad news on tech blogs, or just plain irritated by hearing another single or remix from Beyonce or Lady Gaga (or noisy CNY music all around), watching another screening of Avatar 3D, it's nice to take a breather and take the road less travelled sometimes. Thus we subtitled this HEADBUTT! the Indie Edition. 

Most music acts and movies (except probably from the big major blockbuster studios) had its humble beginnings as small basement projects, crafting pieces that few people appreciate but gained a following. A good example is a little known ditty that spent two weeks at the top of the Billboard Top 100 charts last year - Fireflies by Owl City. Adam Young worked on his music in his parent's basement and his song grew in popularity virally online and soon he got signed on to Universal Music. and next thing you know, we can't get that song out of our heads for a period of time. So this edition is pay tribute to such brilliant artisans that pave the way forward for many of what we consider 'popular' art!

CONGRATS!

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Firstly, congratulations need to be handed out. In our last issue of HEADBUTT! We've mentioned that the short films that were eligible for this year's Singapore Short Film Awards were being screened at the Substation. We're very happy to announce one of YOH's guest speakers - Loo Zihan won 'Best Script' for his short film 'Threshold'. 'Threshold' was also nominated 3 out of the 10 categories, namely 'Best Script', 'Best Soundtrack' and 'Best Cinematography'! You can view the trailer for 'Threshold' here

Other LGBT short film makers also took home awards. Sun Koh took home the award for 'Best Director' and 'Best Fiction' award for her short film 'Dirty Bitch'. Tan Wei Keong won 'Best Animation' for 'Hush Baby'. and Royston Tan recieved an honorary award for outstanding contribution to the local film community through his short films. Congrats to all winners!

WHAT's UP?
Probably in the next coming few days, you'll be either rushing around, doing last minute shopping for CNY, or making huge plans for an upcoming V'Day hot date...in which case there are a few things happening around town that you might want to check out. 

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Action for AIDS (AfA) is organizing an event on 12th Feb (yes it's tmr) night in PLAY club. It's for BOTH couples and singles - it promises to be an event that celebrates everything in a relationship. More details are as follows here:
  • Date - 12 Feb 2010, Friday
  • Time - 1130pm
  • Price - $10 cover charge
  • Venue - PLAY Club: 21 Tanjong Pagar Road

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If you are looking for a quiet place to celebrate that all important day of St Valentine's with your loved ones, our friendly neighbours at 'The Garden Slug' have prepared a GLBT-only Valentine's Day dinner on 15th Feb 2010. Please call to make your reservations. More details are as followshere
  • Date - 15 Feb 2010, Monday
  • Time - starting from 6pm
  • Price - $55 per head or $60 per head
  • Venue - The Garden Slug: 55 Lorong L Telok Kurau #01-59/61

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If you do recall during one of the stop's of YOH's own 'Rainbow' tour last year, we stopped by Utterly Art and found out that alot of LGBT artists held their first exhibitions there. Well we've just been informed by our dear Dr Pwee Keng Hock that there's a new exhibition from Singapore artist Wong Shih Yaw happening there. More details are as follows here
  • Date - 18 to 28 Feb 2010
  • Time - Utterly Art's opening hours
  • Venue - Utterly Art: 229A South Bridge Road (2nd Level)
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If you have been following Oscar news and buzz, this debut film from gay fashionista director would not be a stranger to you. Adapted from Christopher Isherwood's novel, 'A Single Man' is one of the most critically acclaimed film of this year. Be the first in Singapore to watch this film and at the same time help raise fund for the Fridae Community Fund. It will go into community led projects such as Indignation and Pink Dot - the Freedom to Love campaign. More details are as follows here
  • Date - 3 Mar 2010
  • Time - 9pm (Reception starts at 8pm) 
  • Venue - The Cathay @ Handy Road
  • Price - US $30 for VIP (with reception), US $10 for standard tickets. Get your tickets viaFridae Shop
Indie Shuffle!
Inspired by the recent spate of amazing music acts that have landed in Singapore (or are scheduled to appear), HEADBUTT! would like to highlight some of them have been playing in our playlist and be ready to be bedazzled by them! The tracks listed below are of course not exhaustive of the great library of songs produced by these acts. What's more, go googlearound for their remixes and alternatives mixes of their songs - they are bound to bring up some surprises!

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Florence + the Machine
She was just here in Singapore over the weekend and performed to a packed audience, Florence + the Machine rose to fame across quite a few music media in 2009. Her sound is generally described as soul-inspired indie rock and the band's debut album 'Lungs' rose to the number one spot in the top 40 UK charts earlier in Jan. Here are just a few tracks from their debut album to wet your appetite.  
Phoenix
This French alternative rock band recently won in the Grammys for 'Best Alternative Music Album' and rightfully so! Here in YOH, we do agree that their latest album 'Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix' was one of the best sounding albums of 2009. A few of their tracks were used in trailers for various movies and used in top prime time shows such as CSI. Although their sound is more of alternative rock, but they have smartly blend in synth pop into their songs, making the entire album a real joy to listen to. 
Passion Pit
Bringing back the sexy back on electro pop, Passion Pit's debut album 'Manners' was lauded as one of the best debut albums of last year. So far so that John Mayer recommended one of its tracks 'The Reeling' and 'Moth's Wings' in his Battle Studies blog! With a wicked mix of loose beats, fruity melodies and 'lil boy' vocals, 'Manners' is one album that will have you listening to it to lift any spirits up! (Lady Gaga took notice of Passion Pit and asked them to remix her upcoming single 'Telephone')
and to end off this really long extended HEADBUTT!, and in the same vein as Passion Pit's 'The Reeling', we found this two tracks to be absolute ear porn! 
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On behalf of all in YOH, we would like to wish everyone a Happy Chinese New Year and a Blissful Valentine's Day holiday ahead!

HEADBUTT would be taking a short break next week to recover from the overdose of bak kwa and chocolates...

Take Care, 
YOH

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