JUICE magazine – National Day edition

Got a pleasant surprise when we were reading JUICE magazine – we’re picked as one of 10 acts who’ve “outstandingly piqued (their) curiosity”! This was in the National Day copy of JUICE.

 

Enjoying our Year with our #electropop #synthpop #clubmix #mixtape

What did 2014 sound like for us?

This mix celebrates our favourite dance tracks of the year that came from ALFA MATRIX, international home of the best alternative electronic gothic EBM synthpop talent, and includes Cosmic Armchair remixes and songs that were released under ALFA MATRIX.

We had a great time remixing artists from all over the world like PSY’AVIAH, LOVELORN DOLLS, SIMON CARTER and MONDTRAUME, and of course our own ALFA MATRIX releases WE ARE WAITING EP and I DON’T BELONG HERE EP which are also in this mixtape.

If you enjoy the mix, please share it and have a Happy New Year!

Mixcloud version

YouTube version

A Christmas Gift from us to you – Silent Night #electronic #synthpop

Dear friends, we wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Here is our Christmas gift to you, our own indie electronic synthpop interpretation of a favourite Christmas Carol, Silent Night.
We hope you enjoy this free download and if you like it, please share it with your friends.

New Single is LIVE: I DON’T BELONG HERE #synthpop #electropop

Our new single  I DON’T BELONG HERE is now fully available for your streaming and buying pleasure! The EP features dancefloor-ready remixes (Trance by FXH and Deep House by Brendon P). title track mixed by the legendary Geoffrey Low of Soundfarm Studios (whose own band, pioneers of the Singapore electronic pop scene, Club E is reuniting in 2015), and two club remixes (Just One Look and Marching of the Days) given the Soundzipper mastering sheen by Adrian Lo. Here’s what you can do:

Stream our songs free (and we still get paid)

Yes, despite what Taylor Swift thinks, Spotify does pay us for all of your streams, so please go ahead and leave our EP on permanent repeat!

Buy the album online (we love you for it)

iTunes (if you have an account) | Buy on BandCamp (just use PayPal or credit card)
Buy on Beatport (for DJs) | Buy on Juno Download (for DJs)

Share the news with your friends (we love you for this too)

What is it like?

Here comes an exciting combination of 80’s ethereal synth pop with house-dance beats made in Asia! Their previous club-friendly EP “We Are Watching” brought them comparisons to bands in the likes of SAINT ETIENNE, GOLDFRAPP, LA ROUX, CHICANE or yet DELERIUM in their trance/dance era. Today, Singapore based duo COSMIC ARMCHAIR return with a new 5-track EP full of compelling dance beats, ethereal female vocals and melodic synth leads. “I Don’t Belong Here” is a relentless catchy tune revealing the band’s self-assured club determination at its best. This song has the privilege of being remixed by legendary Trance Republic DJ FXH (Felix X Hoo) for an awesome upbeat radio edit and by one of Singapore’s most famous deep house DJ Brendon Pereira (resident at club Kyo and superclub Zouk) for an extended floating dub mix. The EP also holds the more synthpop oriented song “Just One Look” and ends up with a lighter version of “Marching Of The Days” compared to its club mix we discovered on the previous EP, and which adds some more sound cohesion to the EP with its euphoric clubby touch and carrying melodic leads… This is alternative dance pop music with an edgy commercial appeal.

I DON’T BELONG HERE comes from our upcoming album CONTACT which we are intensively in the midst of producing and recording now. In the meantime, enjoy the EP and please share the news with your friends.

A review in German thanks to Seda of neodiscotheque.com

In the same week that we’ve been reviewed in Swedish, we also discovered that we were reviewed in German in June!  Thanks to Seda at neodiscotheque.com  – sorry we missed the review earlier!

“Weiter gehts mit einem zweiten Ohrwurm; electropop aus Singapur. Manchmal kann man, trotz allem, trotz all dem Dreck in der Umgebung und all den Unsinnigkeiten, tanzen; und der Tanz weckt Hoffnung auf, gegen all die Unsinnigkeiten. so klingen eben Cosmic Armchair “

To find out more about the music that Seda likes (and we’re honoured to be in the same article with A Spell Inside, Front Line Assembly, Peter Murphy, Ashbury Heights and more) click on the link below, and let Google translate it into your preferred language

http://www.neodiscotheque.com/yazarlar/seda/seda-grzn-top-10-15-06-2014.html

A review in Swedish thanks to synth.nu

We love seeing our music travel all over the world, and this time we’re very happy to get a review in Swedish on the website synth.nu

“Det första som slår mig med bandet är att jag tycker de påminner lite om Saint Etienne. Cosmic Jane har en riktigt skön och vacker röst. Minuset är möjligtvis att jag tycker de engelska uttalen svajar ibland.”

For more of the interview, click on the link below – and if you’re using Google Chrome, it should automatically offer to translate into your preferred language

http://www.synth.nu/artikel_visa.php?aid=1039

 

Live Improv Set and VJ Video Jam – Fri 3/10 Artistry

Photos are here! Ben played two live improvised electronica sets on Friday 3 October 8pm at Artistry Cafe as part the HEART OF GLASS EVENT. He played on Korg Taktile and Launchpads controlling Ableton Live on Lenovo laptops, VJ on Elektronika Live with Korg NanoKontrol.

HEART OF GLASS is brought to you by the 24 hour party people of Knight Runners, H.O.G. started out as a pop up concept featuring up and comers in the indie disco and leftfield dance scene. With no stiff clubbing rules to abide to, the group grew to play host to a variety of DJs like X’Ho, local indie collective 4imaginaryboys, Rachel, as well as collaborations with Amanda Ling and Norman C. More info at https://www.facebook.com/events/1564558957097025/

Celebrate National Day with Count on Me Singapore remixed :)

Singapore’s National Day is just around the corner, so we’re sharing this remix of a National Day classic for you to download for free at http://cosmicarmchair.bandcamp.com/
This is a remix that we made for the Singapore Remixed Competition, a competition to celebrate the past, present & future of Singaporean music, with Singapore’s DJ’s and music producers remixing some of our country’s most memorable national songs.
We hope you listen all the way to the end, and enjoy your National Day celebrations!

my unexpected live electronica jam on experimental spatial control instruments

[Ben writes:] How did I end up taking part in an improvised electronica jam session on experimental musical instruments, all on a Sunday afternoon? Well, I was on my way to the swimming pool at the Community Centre when I saw the Mini Maker Fair set up in the multi purpose hall, and right at the entrance was Mike Spicer and the Sonic Escapade team from Singapore Polytechnic, beeping and blipping on their experimental musical instruments!

Mike was very welcoming, as always, and showed me around their Spatial Controlled Music Instruments, which are four instruments linked by a custom software application written in Pd.

Very interactive. Very tactile – touching the space around the instruments, not the instruments themselves. And very tempting to jam on. So Mike and I improvised an electronica jam with, him on Alesis Air FX + Korg Volca playing bass, me on MIDI Wand + Korg Volca Beats, and a random boy playing Quantized Theremin controlling a Korg Volca. You have to watch the video to understand what I mean.

Not our usual Cosmic Armchair synthpop / electro pop / EDM style, but a lot of fun nonetheless 🙂

The video also features Mike and Irfan explaining how the Spatial Controlled Musical Instruments setup works. Please comment on the video if you have any questions or feedback!

Lovelorn Dolls reveals new video for Miss Friday Night (Cosmic Armchair Remix)

Our remix of Lovelorn Dolls’ Miss Friday Night is now on YouTube!

We were already glad to be invited to remix this song from Lovelorn Dolls’ new release, and even happier when our remix was released in the first single. So when Kristell Ladyhell of the band told us that they’d made a video of the remix, we were very excited. While the original song is a electro metal track, our remix is also getting good comments like these:

“The band also reveals here a second new song with the more moody “Miss Friday Night” released here in a laid-back radio mix by Singapore based label mates Cosmic Armchair….’Miss Friday Night’ has a more drum’n bass sound and another kind of vibe, showing off different possibilities and abilities” – Peek A Boo Magazine

“The B-side is the moody new song “Miss Friday Night” which is released in a laid-back radio mix by label mates Cosmic Armchair” – Planet Mosh

“Remix陣では、個人的にかなり注目度の高いAlfa Matrixからのニュー・カマーCosmic Armchairによる「Miss Friday Night」がお気に入り。(The Remix of “Miss Friday Night” by newcomer Cosmic Armchair from Alfa Matrix … is quite personally a favorite.)” – http://bloodline242.jugem.jp/

If you like the song, the remix or the video, please comment on YouTube or share it with your friends!