Tag Archive for 'The National'

What’s your fave music moment of 2011?

by Christopher Toh
Published at 12:01 am, November 10, 2011

WELL, the end of the year is nigh and we’re compiling this year’s “best of”, “greatest hits and misses” and “definitive 2011 music moments”.

Overall, this year was a great year for music. Not only did we get to see some cool international acts passing by our shores, from The Drums to Shakira to The National, but we also had a flood of local releases from Seyra to Anuar Zain to Cheating Sons to Stefanie Sun. There wasn’t a week in which there wasn’t something exciting going on in the music biz.

For me, not only did I have the opportunities to talk to some musical heroes this year, such as rock legends Alice Cooper and Ramli Sarip, and so-cool-they’re-hot people like Hayley Williams and Kylie Minogue; I also got a chance to perform in a music video with the ever-cool Kit Chan, the always hot Alemay Fernandez, the lovely Joi Chua, the bubbly Maggie Teng and more; I got a chance to get onstage with Typewriter; as well as jam with Pat Chng, Kevin Mathews, Chee Wah Yong and Tan Boon Gee in The Fast Colors.

But what about you? What are your thoughts about music this past year? We want you to be a part of our story: Tell us your favourite music moment of 2011 (the list follows). Just pop in a comment on the blog. That’s all you have to do. And we’d like to acknowledge you guys for your support this year, so please feel free to leave your name after your comments.

Thanks for the memories 2011, here’s looking forward to 2012.

Favourite gig of the year (and why)

Favourite album of the year (and why)

Favourite artiste of the year (and why)

Favourite song of the year (and why)

Categories: Music and News
Tags: Alemay Fernandez, Alice Cooper, Cheating Sons, Hayley Williams, Joi Chua, Kevin Mathews, Kit Chan, Kylie Minogue, Maggie Teng, Patrick Chng, Ramli Sarip, Seyra, Shakira, Stefanie Sun, The Drums, The National.

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The National rally

by Christopher Toh
Published at 11:46 am, November 8, 2011

THE first time I saw The National was in Oslo, Aug 11, 2010. I didn’t plan to see The National. And up to that point, the only thing I new about The National was that they were the most talked about band at the time. Almost every single music mag, rag or blog had something to say about them. And my colleague the RAT kept telling me about them too. Continue reading ‘The National rally’

Categories: Concerts, Movies, Music and News
Tags: concert, Esplanade Theatre, Singapore, The National.

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STOP PRESS – Raul Midon and The National cancel appearances

by Christopher Toh
Published at 2:14 am, March 13, 2011

Due to the recent earthquake and tsunami situation in Japan, guitarist Raul Midón, whose flight to Singapore has been delayed, had to cancel a chat session and workshop for the Mosaic Music Festival today. At press time, Mosaic organisers said Midon’s performance will continue as scheduled on Monday night.

One act that won’t be going on is The National, who have cancelled their Asian tour, which comprised performances in Singapore and Japan. The band sent their regrets and said they looked forward to meeting their Asian audiences another time.

Mosaic organisers The Esplanade issued a statement saying it expressed regret at any inconvenience caused and they’ve already put in place refund measures for ticket holders to Midon’s and The National’s events.

You can call 6828 8377 from 8.30am to 10pm for refund details.

Categories: Concerts, Music and News
Tags: Mosaic Music Festival, Raul Midon, The National.

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Oh Weller and other stories – the last day

by Christopher Toh
Published at 5:45 am, August 19, 2010

Hey there Poparazziacs,

GREETINGS FROM FINSE (“fin-seh”) in Norway. For the Star Wars buff, this is the place to be in all of Norway, because this is where they filmed The Empire Strikes Back (ESB). This is also the highest point on the Oslo-Bergen railway, and the place where Captain RF Scott trained before heading to the South Pole.

And yes, this post is a little overdue but a few hours after the last notes of the Øya Festival faded out, I was on train to Flam (“flom”), situated somewhere in the fjords and apparently you don’t get good reception there at all – they don’t even have TV. Continue reading ‘Oh Weller and other stories – the last day’

Categories: Concerts, Music and Reviews
Tags: Diskjokke, Ingeborg Selnes, Lucy Swann, Motorpsycho, Oslo Opera House, Paul Weller, The National, The Sonnets, The xx.

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Øya, Øya, Øya – hey! A preface.

by Christopher Toh
Published at 4:58 pm, August 12, 2010

Greetings one and all, I’m here in Oslo, Norway, where the Øyafestivalen 2010 is currently underway.

sml oya stage enga IMG_1430

I’ll do a more in-depth report when everything is over but briefly here are some highlights of Day 1. (Well, technically, the festival started with a series of club gigs the night before, but I was too jet-lagged to attend.)

The “opening ceremony” – a gig by The National at the Opera House. As my colleague The RAT would say – woot!

sml the national IMG_1360

Not actually part of the festival per se, but held in conjunction with. Who wants to see them in Singapore? Make a big noise. I’m there.

Rain.

sml fans rain IMG_1445

Yup, no major festival is complete without rain. Thing is, for Oslo, that makes temperatures drop to the early teens. And since I didn’t wear galoshes, that means cold and wet feet for almost 12 hours.

Norwegian bands. They make up more than 50 per cent of the festival line-up (organisers, are you reading this?) and range from old school pop (Thom Hell), Tori Amos-esque stuff (Ingrid Olava), country-blues (Navigators), indie pop (Kenneth Ishak and the Freedom Machines) and weird psyche rock (Serena Maneesh). And this doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface.

Ingrid Olava

Kenneth Ishak and the Freedom Machines

Navigators

International acts. Can anyone say Iggy And The Stooges, Air or M.I.A.? But one of the best spotted today was America’s Sleepy Sun, described by someone as “stoner rock”.